The Australian Revolution of 1828

There was one person on the stage (the mine manager), and more than two thousand miners below (excluding indigenous workers). They spoke one after another, completely drowning out the mine manager's voice, which made him stomp his feet in anger.

Lacking a loudspeaker, they were unable to calm the already restless miners down.

In that instant, the mine manager had a sudden inspiration. Grabbing a large megaphone rolled up from sheet metal, he shouted at the crowd, "Keep arguing! All miners' reassignment slots for today are canceled!"

Of course, this is not something the mine manager can decide. This statement is just to calm the restless crowd so that the job transfer can be implemented as soon as possible.

It was obvious that the miners closest to the mine manager had heard this and were worried that if, as the mine manager said, all the slots were canceled, they would suffer a huge loss.

For all miners, this job transfer is a great thing. They'll still get paid the same, but their lives will be much easier, and they might even be able to settle down in Hanyang. The quota absolutely cannot be cancelled!

After a series of exaggerated whispers from the miners, the news spread like wildfire. About ten minutes later, the mine manager's words changed completely. The new version of events was that anyone who made a fuss would have their job transfer cancelled.

The consequences were so severe that the miners present were too shocked to speak, and they all pricked up their ears, waiting for the mine manager's instructions.

The chaotic scene was brought under control. The mine manager unconsciously gave himself a thumbs-up, brimming with pride, and said, "Keep making noise!"

"I'll stand here and wait for you to argue until you reach a conclusion!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the miners on site clearly showed signs of agitation again, which frightened the mine manager so much that he dared not provoke them any further and quickly made a shushing gesture.

They were afraid that if they made a big splash, they wouldn't be able to finish their work that day.

Fortunately, the shushing gesture worked after the earlier intimidation, and the scene returned to silence.

At this moment, the mine manager, standing on the pile of gold ore, picked up the megaphone again, raised his voice, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "We want to thank the Governor's Office and Governor Han for giving you this opportunity."

"Otherwise, all of you will have to work your full contracts before you can leave the mine."

"The Governor's Office has now issued new instructions, giving you a rare opportunity. You must cherish it and not miss this chance to change your destiny."

Whether their fate changed or not, most of the miners on site didn't really care. What really attracted them was the governor's order to transfer them to another job.

Taking advantage of this exciting moment, and with the cooperation of those who were willing to help, shouts rose and fell throughout the mine: "We swear to serve the Governor's Mansion to the death! We swear to serve the Governor to the death!"

The mine manager could only say these two sentences because he was worried about forgetting too many things!

The response was excellent, with loud cheers from the miners, which pleased the mine manager greatly. He gestured for the miners to lower their voices and continued, "Now I announce that the first batch of 526 people will officially end their work at the mine on June 1st."

"Going forward, the Home Affairs Department will coordinate and allocate the work!"

The first batch of miners had 526 slots, accounting for one-fifth of the Chinese miners at the mine—no small number whatsoever. Given this number, the miners present were all filled with anticipation.

Fortunately, the mine manager didn't keep people waiting long and announced the answer directly, saying, "The first batch of personnel will be assigned according to the order of their contracts. Those who are not in the first batch will complete their transfer in the following batches."

"After this meeting, all the miners who came to the mine in 1823 and 1824, come to my office to finalize your job transfers!"

With the first batch of slots finalized, the miners who weren't included in the first round of job transfers were somewhat disappointed and downcast. Those who were included, however, were overjoyed.

Old Wei arrived at the mine in 1825, just one year too late, and failed the exam.

Thinking of the hard times ahead, everyone was envious. With a bitter face, they said, "Old Chen, what a mess this is! Your contract is almost up, and this is the policy we come up with!"

"Couldn't you have waited until you all left before announcing this policy?"

Old Chen had originally planned to return to Hanyang to become a free citizen, but now that he had encountered such a good thing, he stopped mentioning the free citizen thing and was actually quite happy to transfer to the security forces.

The security forces, although not part of the regular military organization, are armed and responsible for maintaining order in the mines and factories; they don't actually do any work!

This kind of work is definitely better than going back to the countryside to farm. Just thinking about it makes me incredibly happy!

Seeing Lao Wei's cowardly appearance, Lao Chen couldn't contain his joy. Showing off his hard work, he said, "Lao Wei, that's not fair of you. I've done my share of work these past few years!"

"Look at this..."

"I'm not talking to you anymore, I need to go to the mine manager's office to confirm my spot!"

Seeing a large crowd rushing towards the mine manager's office, Old Chen panicked. Without arguing with Old Wei, he hurriedly disappeared from the mine.

While the mine was dealing with labor issues, Han Qingyun of the Governor's Office was not idle either.

News of the expeditionary force's capture of Bali finally reached Hanyang, and Han Qingyun immediately summoned the heads of various government offices still in Hanyang to discuss the matter.

The first issue is naturally the status of Bali, and the second is the labor issue.

The three officials present—Li Guochen from the Trade Department, Luo Bingzhong from the Immigration Department, and Meng Xiong from the Industrial Development Department—were not there. The person who benefited the most from the event was Cui Wenzheng from the Mining Department.

Now that Bali has been captured, the labor force can be secured. Cui Wenzheng of the Mining Bureau was genuinely pleased and said, "Your Excellency, I believe that Bali should be brought under the jurisdiction of Hanyang Prefecture."

"In this way, we can solve the manpower shortage problem and also turn Bali into a battleship on the shipping lanes!"

This makes sense and aligns with Hanyang's development strategy.

Han Qingyun then turned his attention to the other directors, and found that no one objected, not even Dai Zhicheng from the Civil Affairs Bureau.

There was nothing wrong with incorporating it into the Hanyang system, but the biggest problem was that Hanyang was not a legitimate government, but a trading company mainly engaged in industry and mining.

Since it was a trading company, all its employees were company staff, and there was no such thing as ordinary citizens. However, Bali did have ordinary citizens, which led to conflict between the two governments.

Based on this, Han Qingyun also intended to formally transform Hanyang, a company-like government, into a local government.

Having made up his mind, Han Qingyun then made the relevant decision, saying, "Since Bali has recently surrendered, in order to facilitate governance, Bali will be officially renamed Xunyang County."

"Under the jurisdiction of Hanyang Prefecture, Xunyang County is under the command of Li Guochen, who is in charge of the expeditionary army. Luo Bingzhong is temporarily serving as the county magistrate, Zhang Yuanyang as the county assistant, and Wei Guochang as the county commandant!"

The confirmation of the county government marked the official start of Hanyang's rule!