Anda Fifteen walked in the mining area with his hands on his back. Behind him were more than a dozen soldiers carrying rifles. These men were worn out and unshaven, but their sharp looks remained unabashed. They looked like they were old fryers who had rolled on the battlefield.

The mining area in front of me is circular, like a deep pit. Because it had just rained, the bottom of the pit was filled with turbid mud and water. More than a dozen old-fashioned livestock pumps were pumping water out with difficulty, but this seemed somewhat useless in the rainy tropical areas, because as long as there was a heavy rain, the place would soon be filled with water again.

There are hundreds of Malays working in this mine. They use simple tools (mainly iron chisels and shovels) to dig out pieces of hard coal, then put them into baskets woven by rattans, and then transport them out by specialized people in carriages through tracks installed on slopes. Such work is difficult and dangerous, but these Malays have no choice. They are either prisoners of war captured by the East Coast people in previous battles, or slaves resold by the Eight Banners tribes of the island. In short, they have no freedom.

However, the people of the East Coast are kind. They announced to these people that as long as they serve in the Tacheng coal mine for five years and have no illegal records, they will receive freedom and some symbolic severance payments. However, according to Anda Fifteen's opinion, at least half of the people here will find it difficult to survive until that day. The harsh environment, heavy work, crude food and raging chronic diseases (scuremia, edema, lung disease, etc.) are all eroding their health. Even if they luckily walk out of the coal mine of the East Coast, they will probably not be able to live for a few years after returning. This world is so cruel.

There are also no wage workers in the mining area with free status. And the proportion is quite large. Most of them come from the Eight Banners tribes on the neighboring islands and some small tribes that have not yet been naturalized. These barbarians have a fancy to the "high" employment fees of the East Coast people: five cents a day, monthly salary. After they receive their salaries from the East Coast people, they go to the market outside the city to buy some cheap sweet potatoes or corn that are almost over the shelf life, and then take them home to subsidize their family rations. Some people with heavy burdens in the family even work with the East Coast people all year round, and regularly ask their fellow villagers to help bring the food back so that they can stay here to work more and earn more food.

The entire Tacheng Mining Bureau hired more than 500 such Malay workers. These workers, who were much harder than their close relatives in the East Indies, do low-court work that even South African workers were unwilling to do. They soaked humbly in a mine filled with mud and water, and exchanged their health and sweat for a tiny income. These people, plus two thousand Malay slaves and one thousand South African workers, were able to produce thousands of tons of crude coal every day, removing the days when the work could not be started due to bad weather or stopped production due to various reasons, the Tacheng Coal Mine produced 150,000 to 200,000 tons of crude coal annually, effectively ensuring the local demand for various industries, shipping, and private coal.

"On 2019, you won't have to go to work tomorrow, you're fired! Now you can get out!" A sudden shout came from an open wooden house beside the mine. Anda Fifteen frowned and looked forward.

I saw a darker skin and shorter Malay hired hunched over by the door. He seemed very tired and coughed violently from time to time. It was obvious that he had lung disease, a common occupational disease in the mining area. He held a list in his hand with a bright red stamp on it. Anda Fifteen knew the content of the stamp: "Free due to illness". The Tacheng Coal Mine never cared for patients. Once this person lost his entire labor force, he would be fired without hesitation. Unless he was a legal resident of the East Coast Republic, they were protected by some laws and regulations and enjoyed some rights. But the fate of these Malay hired workers was very tragic. They would be swept out of the floor as soon as possible, and then kicked out of the coal mine and let them fend for themselves.

"Today...the 29th...the salary...get me!" The Malay hired pleaded in Chinese that he was not very skilled, and suddenly coughed violently before he finished speaking. He coughed in pain, and his whole face was completely distorted.

"Baga! You Malu, still want money?! Get out!" The male voice sounded again before, with a hint of impatient voice. Two mine police officers who were originally sitting and chatting at the door turned their cold eyes here. This Malay hire is really ungrateful. He was fired and he still wanted a salary. Don't you know that your salary of one or two yuan has been divided by my brothers' reservations?

"Wage...children at home...eat." The Malays were still standing there persistently and continued to beg in the gap between coughing. It seemed that his family was not burdened, and he was also counting on getting the salary of 50 cents to buy some corn or sweet potatoes at the market to take them home to help the family's food. The civilized level of these Betsmisalaka tribes was very low, and they were still in the slash-and-burn stage and spent most of the year trying to find food. After all, barren land could not support too many people. Even in tropical areas where food was relatively abundant, not everyone could fill their stomachs. Therefore, working here in the East Coast in exchange for food seemed a better way out - as long as you can stay healthy all the time.

With a "bang!", a bag of dried sweet potatoes was thrown at the feet of the Malays. This was one of the only benefits for the fired workers, and it was the food they ate on the road when they returned to their hometown. The hunting dog at the foot of the mine policeman looked up at the bag of dried sweet potatoes, and then closed his eyes uninterestedly and pretended to sleep. This crude food was not in its eyes.

The Malay held the small bag of dried sweet potatoes tightly in his hand. Although there was a faint smell of mold in it, he still refused to let go because this food was a life-saving delicacy for him. However, he still seemed unwilling to give up asking for his salary. He worked here for 29 days, but was expelled and even paid the salary, which made him a little unacceptable. You must know that a salary of one yuan and five cents can be bought for more than 100 kilograms of cheap corn. This food is enough for his family to eat a full meal a month. If you save some, feed some leaves and wild vegetables, and then go to the forest to find some fungi and fruit, it will be almost two months. Therefore, he really didn't have the courage to give up this salary that should belong to him, because it meant everything to him.

A mining policeman touched the scabbard on his waist and was about to stand up to teach this ungrateful Malay hirer a lesson. He suddenly heard a angrily shout of "Bastard!". The sound was so familiar that he stood up and stood attentively, looking ahead, and never dared to make any moves again.

Surrounded by the soldiers, Anda Fifteen walked into the wooden house. The room was filled with a stinking foot, sweat and the strange smell of burning tobacco. Anda Fifteen looked up at the somewhat scared Malay hired worker and sighed softly. Then he touched his waist, but only touched 50 cents. So he turned to the foreman who had just spoken and two mining policemen, stretched out his hand and said, "You three of you take 50 cents out, immediately!"

The three of them looked at me and I looked at you, and reluctantly took out 500 silver coins from each waist and put them in Anda Fifteen's hands. Anda Fifteen weighed the four full 500 silver coins, stuffed them into the ragged pocket of the Malay hired worker, and then turned to curse at the foreman: "Bastard! We people from the East Coast are credible! You are destroying our reputation on the East Coast! Now that the domestic industry and agriculture are developing greatly, the demand for high-quality coal is so strong. Next, our Tacheng coal mine will continue to expand production and will need more employed workers. You treat resigned employees so harshly will cause a very unfavorable evaluation in their tribe, which may cause us to recruit workers. Hitotaro, what you did this time is too much. You are punishing you not to have dinner today, and reflect immediately after you go back."

"Yes, I understand!" Foreman Taro lowered his head and accepted the scolding. Two French-born mine police also stood aside awkwardly, not knowing what to say. However, Anda Fifteen did not intend to let them go. They were punished to voluntarily overtime until 12 o'clock tonight, and inspect the entire mining area at least twice.

After scolding several managers who withdrew their salaries, Anda Fifteen inspected several other mines surrounded by soldiers, and told them to do a good job of rain protection and drainage, and to ensure output. After this, he took people to several newly built factories next to him: the honeycomb coal factory, the coal washing factory, and the brick kiln factory (coal ash washing, coal dust making, coal powder brick making). These factories have been built one after another in the past two years to make full use of the rich local coal resources.

However, although the factory was opened, the number of workers was seriously insufficient. The three factories still lacked hundreds of workers, which seriously restricted their development. However, there was no way. Tachenggang is now a military-controlled area directly under the Madagascar Development Team, with a population of only more than 1,200, mainly French, Guarani and their Malay wives, and occasionally some East Asians who stood up in the 1st squadron. Such a small population is not easy to support docks, forts, towns, and farmland, and there is no extra population to be invested in coal mines and factories. Therefore, it is necessary to use slaves on a large scale or hire Malays from nearby tribes at a low price.
Chapter completed!