Chapter Thirty-Six Arrival at Kalimantan Island

  Guo Yu looked at this robust man, about thirty years old, one meter eight in height, barefoot, and the only difference from other pirates was that he wore a jacket.

  "Tell me about your situation, identity, and background. I'm very curious about the profession of pirates." Guo Yu asked, then pulled out a cigar, Er Zhuang dared to take out a lighter to light it up.

  The dark and thin man hesitated for a moment, then said: "My name is Ma Lian, our base is on Black Shark Island, so we are called the Black Shark Pirate Group. I am the leader of this pirate group. Since you have defeated us, we will accept whatever punishment you give us, but please spare the old people and children on the island." After finishing speaking, Ma Lian lowered his head. All the pirates also lowered their heads, possibly fearing that their families and children on the island would also be harmed.

  "You are pirates, didn't you ever think that this day would come?" Guo Yu said after looking at the behavior of these pirates.

  Ma Lian raised his head and looked at Guo Yu, saying: "Sir does not understand the hardships of Nanyang Chinese, we also had no choice but to become pirates."

  "Hey, you guys are Chinese?"

  "Yes, we were originally from the Lanfang Republic, a Chinese state. Later, our country was destroyed by the Dutch and we Chinese people began to wander aimlessly. Our land was occupied, and the local indigenous people hunted us down. I was still young at that time, my family took me and we struggled to survive on the sea. We had no choice but to become pirates."

  "Ranfang Republic? I've heard of it, what's the current situation?" Guo Yu became interested.

  "Lanfang was destroyed by the Dutch thirty years ago, and its land was divided among local indigenous people. Originally, Lanfang had a population of nearly two million, mainly Chinese, but now they are scattered all over the place. Now this place belongs to the Dutch, managed by local indigenous people, who are mainly from three tribes: Kadazan Dusun, Bajau and Murut, with a total population of around two million. These were told to me by my father in previous years, as he was an interior official of the Lanfang Republic."

  Guo Yu rubbed his chin, it seems that he needs to find some local Chinese people to understand the situation. The current situation on Kalimantan Island is not what is written in the textbooks of later generations, there will be a big difference, and only by understanding the real situation can we prescribe the right medicine.

  Kuo Yu looked at Ma Lian: "You now have two roads, one is to be shot directly and then fed to sharks, the other is to be my subordinate, which one do you choose?" This question was asked too well, who wants to die? There's only one road left to take.

  Ma Lian hesitated for a moment, then knelt down on one knee, his right hand stroking his chest and said: "I am willing to follow Mr. Xie, thank Mr. Xie for sparing my life." Those pirate soldiers saw their leader kneel down, they also knelt down, all swearing allegiance.

  "Ma Lian, how many people are still on your island? What's their daily life like?" Gu Yu brought Ma Lian back to the captain's quarters and asked about the situation on Hei Sha Island. The other pirates were taken by Da Zhu to rest.

  "Master, there are over 600 people left, all of them old, weak, women and children. Life on the island is difficult, with no land to cultivate, we can only make a living by fishing. Even in normal times, the elderly and children have to go out to sea to fish, and then we take some money to the port to exchange for food." Ma Lian has already pledged allegiance, now he addresses him as Master.

  "Then don't stay on Hei Shark Island anymore, take everyone to Ma Zhen, and from now on, go to the manor to work and live a stable life." Gu Yu said.

  "Thank you, sir, that's great, but Ma Chen also has local indigenous people living there, how can we get the land?" Ma Lian was somewhat puzzled.

  "I have already purchased a large tract of land, enough for several hundred thousand people to farm and live on, and we also do business, and later there will be even more people."

  After saying good things, the crowd began to busy themselves, pulling up the small boat and heading towards Black Shark Island. Several hours later, a small island was seen in the distance, Ma Lian pointed and said that it was Black Shark Island. The island is not big, with steep cliffs all around, only one beach can be landed, and the big ship has already been unable to move forward. The crowd dropped the wooden sailboat and life raft, heading towards Black Shark Island.

  It's been over twenty days since we set foot on land, and the feeling of stepping onto sandy ground is so comfortable. The islanders had already discovered the fleet, but with Ma Lian leading the way, a group of old men, women, and children in tattered clothes stared at Guo Yu and his companions with wide eyes, unsure what these people were here for.

  Kuo Yu and others walked into the village, a row of low thatched cottages, with dried fish hanging on bamboo racks, a pungent smell hitting their noses. All the people were dark and thin, and not one of them wore shoes. This was no pirate's lair, but a refugee camp.

  Guo Yu's previous sense of adventure and treasure hunting suddenly disappeared. Has anyone ever had a treasure that turned out like this?

  He also lost interest in searching for treasures, and directly ordered Dazhu and Ma Lian to organize people to board the ship. Don't bring anything worthless like broken clothes, broken pots, and broken furniture. This pirate's nest probably doesn't have any valuable things either.

  After several hours, all the people were finally loaded onto the big ship, and the fleet set off again. Guo Yu also brought Ma Lian's father, an old man who was said to have been a Lanfang official.

  "Old sir, I heard from Ma Lian that you used to be an official. Do you still know the general situation of this Kalimantan Island?" Gu Yu hoped to learn more about the island's situation for future reference.

  "Old master, that was thirty years ago. Many things have changed over the past few decades. I can only tell you what I know now, and hope it's useful to you." Then the old man started talking about the Lanfang Grand Unified Republic, anyway, since they were on a boring road trip, it was like listening to a storytelling session to pass the time.

  Although it was a bit outdated, he had given Guo Yu a general impression of the island in his mind, which still had some use.

  There are approximately one million ethnic Chinese in Kalimantan today, mainly the original Lanfang people and later Chinese laborers who came to work here. These people generally have a low standard of living, and there are not many Chinese families on the island. The majority of Chinese families in Southeast Asia are concentrated in countries such as the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. However, the total number of ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia is substantial, likely around 20-30 million.

  Two days later, the wind and sun were fine, the sea was calm, and a huge fleet sailed into Makassar on the island of Gallemandan. The third largest port in Southeast Asia after this era, now known as Little Fish Bay, was broken by its tranquility.

  Ma Zhen Harbour is not a large deepwater harbour, but it also has its advantages. The bay outside the port is very suitable for anchoring ships, but this requires two tugboats to load and unload, which is slightly more troublesome, but not a big problem.

  Guo Yu stood on the bridge of the ship, looking at the distant harbor, with a sense of pride and grandeur in his heart.

  The 740,000-square-kilometer island of Kalimantan, which is as large as Qinghai Province in China, will be the starting point for its own journey.