Chapter 23 Enclosure Movement

  Dallas, this small town that rose to fame with the cotton trade, those descendants of slave owners are on the platform at the train station, whispering to each other as they gaze out at the trains rumbling in from afar, spewing coal smoke. These guys are all dressed up in black tailcoats, top hats, and even wearing ties, looking like perfect gentlemen. Not far away, the black slaves who are bent over like shrimp, carrying large bundles of cotton with difficulty towards the freight cars, occasionally glance sideways at them. Among these black slaves, you can also see one or two Chinese coolies from time to time, using the same posture to carry equally heavy goods.

  Those young ladies from wealthy families, holding small flower umbrellas and wearing beautiful long dresses, with their slender waists tightly laced, stood in the sunlight for a while, each one breathing rapidly, pale-faced, and weak as a breeze.

  At this time, the train finally arrived at the station. The whistle sounded as the special train with only four cars and a flat car slowly came to a stop. The doors of the first and third cars opened, and dozens of burly men in black clothes quickly rushed out, immediately dispersing to surround the luxurious middle car. These guys, averaging over 1.9 meters tall, had black sunglasses on their faces, Lee-Enfield rifles in hand, and a peculiarly-shaped pistol inserted on either side of their waist, looking extremely menacing.

  As these people got off the train, a black carriage was unloaded from the last flatcar, four white horses were led out of the fourth car, and the coachman began to harness them to the carriage. The British royal crest on the carriage could now be clearly seen, and there was an immediate murmur of amazement on the platform, especially among the ladies, who gazed intently at the still-closed carriage with starry eyes, expecting their dream prince.

  The car door finally opened, and the Honorable Governor and the Honorable Senator Howard appeared at the entrance. Then, amidst a round of applause, the Governor said with a proud face: "Next, please welcome our most honored guest, Mr. Yang from England."

  In the midst of even more enthusiastic applause and the sound of camera shutters, a man dressed in an intricately embroidered black suit appeared between the two, and the platform was immediately filled with stunned gasps, especially from the ladies who were all dumbfounded, because this person's skin color was no different from those Chinese laborers.

  This scene stunned those Chinese laborers, who stopped their work one by one and stared at Yang Feng in the distance with incredulous eyes. Their actions immediately triggered the dissatisfaction of the white overseers, who shouted and cracked their whips.

  "Somebody told me that America is a country of freedom and equality, but why do I only see enslavement and flogging here? Does American law allow employers to use whips on their workers?" Mr. Yang said discontentedly, pointing at the scene.

  The governor next to him frowned and quickly made a gesture to the Dallas County Commissioner who was welcoming them, and several police officers maintaining order immediately ran over to stop this action that damaged the image of the United States.

  "Mr. Yang, I think this is just an accident." Howard said with a smile to Yang Feng.

  "I hope this is just an accident!" Mr. Yang said coldly, apparently this scene had greatly ruined his good mood, and this noble guest didn't even say a word of courtesy, directly getting into the carriage with the British royal crest.

  Behind him, Senator Howard and the governor exchanged a helpless look, then whispered something to Dallas County Judge, who looked conflicted and glanced at Dallas Mayor, who hesitated before nodding. A city-wide inspection began in response to Yang's visit. All employers of Chinese workers were strictly forbidden from physically abusing or mistreating them until Yang left...

  They've all left, so who's he performing for now?

  However, it seems that this matter has caused great harm to Boss Yang. At the welcome banquet on the same night, his emotions were not good all the time. Originally, according to what was said, the matter of investing in building a factory in Dallas was not mentioned again. The next day, he hurriedly left Dallas for Longview, which is the main destination of this trip, and then came his enclosure movement.

  Because this area includes too many places, including most of Gregg County and Rusk County, more importantly, it also includes Longview, although at that time there were only a few people here, in fact, the total population of the two counties is now just over 100,000, at that time there were even fewer people, Waxahachie county seat was only a small village, and Longview was at most a small town.

  But even so, it's hard to say that he wants others to move out entirely for him. These things didn't require him to show up, and were always handled by the provincial government officials and the two county heads. I reckon these guys, in order to be greedy, didn't dare to spend too much money to get rid of these loggers.

  "This won't do, my time is very precious, and you must understand that the longer this drags on, the bigger these people's appetites will become. The longer it takes, the more they'll demand, possibly even doubling their price. We have to take the most effective measures." Mr. Yang said discontentedly, as he was worried about safety issues, he had already returned to Dallas, and those loggers all had guns in their hands, if they were provoked and shot at him, it would be troublesome.

  The governor of Texas and Senator Howard looked at each other with scowls on their faces, as did the two county judges.

  "It won't work, you can mobilize the police to evict them! The state government announced the abolition of these two counties, and then forcibly evicted all migrant workers without permanent land ownership here. If the police are not enough, replace them with the National Guard."

  As for those who own land, agree to sell it to them at the price you are currently discussing, and let them leave immediately. As for those who do not agree, first pick out a few leaders, frame a crime against them, and send them to prison. When they agree to the transaction, release them.

  "If we really can't find any crime, let's get a group of people to do some dirty work, use some extreme measures, if that doesn't work, then kill one or two of them. I'll give you another half month, if after half month this problem still isn't solved, then this business is cancelled, or the efficiency of Florida state government will be higher." Yang boss said discontentedly while drinking iced grape wine in the hotel lobby.

  Howard and the four men looked at each other, Senator said viciously: "First arrest Mayor Langweiyu, say he is corrupt, then find someone to testify against him, I will arrange a few lawyers to take over."

  County Magistrate Greg nodded and said, "No problem, I remember two months ago, he just received $100 from a foreign lumber merchant. I'll contact this person, and when the time comes, give him $500, and he will definitely come out to testify."

  "Ah, right! Remember, we are the rulers, don't be swayed by those plebeians. Giving them money is charity, if they don't know how to appreciate it, then there's no need to give them face anymore." Yang Feng said with great satisfaction.

  "But to prevent them from causing trouble, and also to scare them a bit, I think it's best to call in the National Guard, which can be easily assembled in Dallas," said the Waxahachie County Judge.

  The governor hesitated for a moment.

  "Tell the Mayor of Dallas that if he helps me out, I'll not only give him $5,000 but also build a pesticide plant in Dallas to produce insecticides." Yang Feng said immediately.

  He had been thinking about this for a long time, and organophosphorus was temporarily not guaranteed, but organochlorine was not difficult at all. In fact, whether it was DDT or Lindane, they had already been invented, but no one had applied them to pesticides yet, especially Lindane, which was also very effective in medicine.

  The inventor was probably Austrian, found him, if he didn't apply for a patent, he would be his own engineer, and if he did, he would buy it out, this kind of unattended patent wouldn't cost much.

  Now that this good thing has happened, what is there for the Mayor of Dallas to hesitate about? And Yang's investment plan also solved the resistance of the local council. Soon, a state order was signed, and a national guard of hundreds of people was gathered in Dallas, then led by two county mayors, they marched towards Longview with great momentum.

  Langueville's mayor, who had led the resistance against the citizens, was arrested on charges of corruption. However, during his arrest, clashes broke out between the National Guard and armed Langueville residents, resulting in the death of one National Guardsman and two others.

  The Governor of Texas immediately seized the excuse, under the name of Longview riot and armed protection of corrupt officials, to re- dispatch National Guard troops to join the suppression, with a regimental force surrounding Longview, while sending people to Longview to issue an announcement that all those who accepted the conditions and relocated would be paid off immediately, and if they still stayed here, they would be regarded as rioters and eliminated directly.

  It wasn't until then that those loggers came to their senses and realized this was the real deal. In less than a day, Langweiyou was left with fewer than fifty die-hard holdouts, who claimed they would defend their land to the death. If that's how it was going to be, then the governor had no choice but to grant them their wish. After all, they were armed and attacking state police - it was already a full-blown rebellion.

  A company of National Guards immediately launched an attack on Longview, and in less than an hour the riot was quelled and all the rioters were killed.

  "Not bad, this is a strong and powerful government's performance, the governor's charisma is impressive. Now I think we should talk about the price of this land, how about 1.5 million?" Yang Feng said with satisfaction.

  "Mr. Yang, we Texans are the most honest people, especially when it comes to not cheating our friends. The land you want is worth at most $700,000," said the governor with a sincere face.

  "It's a bit too little, isn't it?" Yang Feng said.

  "Not less, if you think this number is suitable, we can also give you some for free." The governor said.

  "That's no problem then." Mr. Yang nodded his head.