The Australian Revolution of 1828

On March 21, 1828, Gao Jingyi successfully entered the family and became the Viceroy's concubine!

After living there for a period of time, Gao Mingcheng fell deeply in love with this free and leisurely land and completely abandoned all his past with the Qing Dynasty.

In gratitude for the warm hospitality of the Governor's Office, Gao Mingcheng ultimately decided to stay in Hanyang Prefecture, becoming a part of Hanyang and putting his efforts into it.

As for his relatives on the mainland, the Governor-General's Office made proper arrangements. When the Immigration Bureau's fleet returned to the mainland the next time, Gao Mingcheng personally went back to Yongping Prefecture in Zhili to bring his parents, wife, and children over.

From then on, the Gao family would officially settle down in Hanyang Prefecture.

Han Qingyun expressed his high praise for this and gave her the best reward, saying, "Jingyi, you did a good job, but you still need to keep up the good work and add more members to the Han family."

In fact, the reason why Gao Mingcheng is valued so highly is not entirely because of Gao Jingyi.

At present, Han Qingyun's power base is unstable, and he desperately needs relatives and in-laws to consolidate his power. However, his relatives are few in number and have no achievements, making them unsuitable for appointment. Therefore, he can only cultivate in-laws to consolidate his power.

Just like his father-in-law Meng Xiong, Han Qingyun placed great trust in him. Not only did he manage the affairs of the Industrial Bureau, but he also served as the Left Commander of the Grand Commandant's Office, making him second only to the emperor and enjoying great favor.

Perhaps Gao Jingyi shared the same idea, intending to cultivate Gao Mingcheng or his offspring into talented individuals. After enjoying Han Qingyun's favor, she lazily said, "Husband, I'm in my fertile period today!"

The concept of a "dangerous period" was popularized by Han Qingyun and is currently regarded as a standard practice in Hanyang Prefecture, especially among married women.

Now, coming out of Gao Jingyi's mouth, it was practically a blatant hint, like a bugle call to charge, giving Han Qingyun tremendous motivation.

The earth shook violently, and darkness fell.

The next morning, after having breakfast with Gao Jingyi, Han Qingyun rushed to his wife Meng Yu's room. He affectionately kissed Meng Yu's forehead as a reward and said, "Yu'er, you're pregnant, so don't overwork yourself."

"Leave the affairs of the manor to Jingyi as much as possible. You just need to make the decisions! If you can't stay idle, send someone to call Mengjie over to keep you company."

"She is lively and active, which is good for both you and the baby."

Actually, Meng Yu had only been pregnant for a short time, so there was no need to be so cautious. It was just that Han Qingyun, being a first-time father, seemed a little impatient, which made him appear a bit overly fussy.

As husband and wife, Meng Yu was well aware of her husband's little scheme. She rolled her eyes at Han Qingyun and said, "Husband, I didn't sleep well last night. I want to sleep a little longer. You go and do your work!"

The blatant attempt to shoo him away was obvious to Han Qingyun, who smiled and said, "Okay, I'll go take care of my business first, and I'll come over to keep you company tonight!"

Pregnant women are prone to jealousy!

Just as Han Qingyun arrived at his office in the front hall of the Governor's Mansion, Chen Anguo, the Director of the Finance Department, came looking for him and reported on the recent progress of fundraising, saying, "Governor-General, the fundraising for the war preparations has been completed, with a total of 130 million silver dollars raised."

"In addition to the loans repaid by immigrants, Hanyang Bank has 210 million silver dollars in deposits, of which 90 silver dollars can be used for war preparations."

The bank deposited silver and raised funds, totaling 220 million silver dollars.

220 million silver dollars does seem like a lot. However, once the preparations for war began, the silver dollars flowed away like water and couldn't withstand the spending, especially with the need to emigrate 10 people annually.

I absolutely cannot think about money; it gives me a headache.

However, the Finance Department managed to raise the first tranche of 220 million silver dollars, which should be enough for a while. As for the subsequent funds for war preparations, they would have to find a way to secure them from the gold mines.

After Finance Director Chen Anguo left, Han Qingyun sent someone to summon the newly appointed Mining Director Cui Wenzheng to his office. He inquired about increasing gold mine production, saying, "Director Cui, could you perhaps find a way to increase ore production at the gold mine? The Industrial Bureau's gold panning plant is eagerly awaiting gold ore!"

Cui Wenzheng of the Mining Bureau also wanted to increase production so that he could secure his position as director of the Mining Bureau as soon as possible. However, there were only so many miners in the gold mine, and they were mostly indigenous short black people who couldn't understand anything, which made things quite difficult.

Taking advantage of Han Qingyun's pretext of increasing production, Cui Wenzheng of the Mining Bureau directly brought up the difficulties of the mine, rambling on like a shrew, saying, "Chief Inspector, it's not that the gold mine isn't working hard, it's just that the casualties at the gold mine are quite high."

"Since I took over as director, more than 30 Negritos have died in the gold mine! If you add the copper, coal, iron, and lead mines, the number would be several times higher."

People die in mining; it's unavoidable. Han Qingyun understood this and said, "Director Cui, don't complain. I've given you plenty of money from the short, dark-skinned people."

"Furthermore, the calculations didn't include the miners; only the Chinese laborers were counted. If you're talking about the casualties among the Negritos, then I'll have to calculate the number of miners for you!"

Of course, this number of workers is the total number of Chinese and Negritos!

The squeaky wheel gets the grease; this is an age-old truth.

Having perhaps grasped Han Qingyun's overall strategy for developing Hanyang Prefecture, Cui Wenzheng felt he had something to rely on. Complaining about the many difficulties at the mine, he said, "Chief Censor, it's not that I'm complaining, it's just that the number of casualties among the pygmy people has been too high in recent years, and we're already running out of manpower."

"If it weren't for the Chinese workers stepping in, the mine would definitely have reduced production."

"Your Excellency, how about the Governor's Office brings in another batch of Negrito laborers? I guarantee that the task of increasing production will be completed."

Hearing this, I almost laughed out of anger.

However, Han Qingyun understood that Cui Wenzheng was acting out of loyalty to the king, and said helplessly, "Director Cui, there are no more Negritos within hundreds of kilometers around here. Where am I supposed to find Negrito laborers for you now!"

Cui Wenzheng of the Mining Bureau, genuinely wanting to get things done, defied Han Qingyun's decision, saying, "Chief Censor, there are indeed none left near Hanyang Prefecture, but there are plenty of other islands!"

If it were usable, we would have used it long ago; why wait until now?

Looking at him as if he were a clueless fool, Han Qingyun still explained a few words, saying, "There are many islands, but these people are not so easy to bring in. If war breaks out between the two sides, the foreigners near these islands will notice our presence."

"What should Hanyang Prefecture do then?"

"We are preparing for war now because Hanyang Prefecture is at risk of being exposed, so we have no choice but to start preparations to prevent foreigners from invading."

Perhaps eager to achieve results, or perhaps genuinely concerned for the war preparations in Hanyang Prefecture, Cui Wenzheng of the Mining Bureau, unwilling to return empty-handed, said, "Chief Censor, since there's a risk of discovery, then bringing in a group of Negrito laborers now won't make the situation in Hanyang Prefecture any worse!"

Clearly, there is a difference between risks.

The risk Han Qingyun was referring to was the incident of Henry Holt landing at the port, and he was worried that Henry would report the matter of Hanyang Prefecture to the Governor's Office of Sydney in advance.

Although it is possible, it is also possible that it will not happen; the possibility is very small, with a probability of about 0.1.

The risk mentioned by Choi Moon-jung of the Mining Bureau refers to a war between Hanyang Prefecture and the Negrito people on the island. While this war would not be large-scale, it would be protracted, lasting anywhere from ten days to several months.

Given such a long period of time, it was inevitable that foreigners would discover it, and therefore, it was also inevitable that Hanyang Prefecture would be discovered, with a probability of 1.

Two different risk indices create two different probabilities. Clearly, 0.1 is less than 1; this is the difference between different risks.

Han Qingyun pondered for a moment, considering the Sydney Governor's Office's determination to colonize the west, and decided to play along, saying, "Director Cui, you proposed the labor program, so let the Mining Department base the labor program on a monthly output of 10 taels of gold!"

"If we're going to do it, let's do it cleanly. All Chinese miners in gold, coal, iron, and lead mines should be withdrawn from the mining industry, and the Ministry of Labor should take charge of all mining operations in the mines."

No one can exchange a gold nugget for the goods they want, even if it's right in front of their eyes. As for increasing gold production, that's nothing short of wishful thinking.

Han Qingyun's move to use laborers from the islands of Southeast Asia to solve the problem of increasing mine production was also intended to liberate Chinese people from arduous mining work and place them in a more important position, so as to make a greater contribution to ensuring the safety of Hanyang.