C3427 Annan's drudgery

The colony was a land of wealth and gold on their faces for the statesmen of the Founding Fathers, but for those who had gone to develop the colony, the colony was a mud pit.

Politicians in Paris could sing praises in the National Assembly, saying how much the empire had expanded, how much its population had grown, and how much its business interests had increased.

The newspapers reported that the people cheered as the officials continued to rise to the top!

But the colonists had to be controlled and garrisoned, right? In this case, there was a difference between being lacking fat and having hard work to do!

For those regions occupied by the Europeans in the last two or three hundred years, although for so long the Europeans had been engaged only in the plundering of resources and the dumping of commodities, there had been no investment.

But Europeans tend to make some of the cities they often live in prettier, closer to the West.

For example, there were port cities in North Africa, such as Bangladesh and the North America. They were places where France had colonized for a long time, and not only were there a lot of immigrants in Europe, but their lives were also closer to home.

You can eat food that tastes alike, you can pray in a European church, you can even spend money to find a European - born whore to be happy!

The streets were paved, the cities walled, the ports fortified against pirates, and even the natives had learned some French in the process of colonization.

To live in a colony like this, that was heaven. You could not only enjoy the glory of a European lord showing off his might in front of the natives, but also obtain a quality of life similar to that of Europe.

A colony like this would be called the 'Fatty Fei'!

But this was not the case here. The French had colonized this place since 1860, and it was the French Fleet that had been on an expedition to the Qing Empire.

It had only been ten years, and during this period, the French had to constantly fight against the local resistance forces. In the middle of these ten years, there were even a few conflicts with the Chinese.

Especially during the battle against that tyrant. Although no warships were provided here, the army still sent out a battalion of elites to assist them!

The war must have been devastating to the economy, for there was always a need to guard against the attacks of the natives and the growing strength of the Chinese, and these Annan's French troops were in constant high alert, fearing that the Chinese would come from the sea.

In this kind of tense atmosphere, there was simply no one willing to carry out the Infrastructure construction, nor did they have the energy to do so! The only achievement of the decade was the construction of this General Governor's Mansion, as well as the continuous military exploration.

Continuously detailing the map in the dense forest, constantly enriching the hydrological data of the coastline … All this is to prepare for France's long reign here.

Of course it was hard work. Annan had become what the native soldiers called hell!

Many letters from the French army stationed in Saigon to the locals indicated this point!

"This is a cursed land. I really don't know why the Emperor wants to fight here …" The air is wet, and it rains half a year a year... "

"The road is muddy beyond compare. The strongest leather boots will rot in less than a month... Countless of us brothers have had eczema and are in excruciating pain … "

"None of you would have thought that the mosquitoes here were even bigger than moths. The mosquitoes that drank enough blood couldn't even fly anymore, and a slap was enough to cause blood to flow from their palms …"

"There are Big Mosquitoes, Mozzie, Blossom Spot Mosquitoes, Poisonous Mosquitoes... "There are also all sorts of tiny biting insects. Even the finest mosquito nets can't stop them …"

"These locals are so stupid that they don't even know how to cook French food. No matter how you teach them, it's hard to understand … I miss my hometown cheese so much... "

"What a disgusting place, we don't even know how to spend the military pay. Other than gambling, we don't know what else to buy …" Even the wine here tastes strange … "

"Although the women here are not bad, they are still too young, as small as dolls … "Furthermore, his skin is very dark. The tropical sun is truly too vicious …"

Almost all of the letters contained the grumbling of the French army of Annan, and not all of the new colonies had been created by the Europeans for the benefit of their descendants in exchange for the hardships of the first generations.

The Governor was helpless in the face of such feelings. He could only use strict military law to suppress the soldiers' complaints, but no matter how fierce the whip was, it could not quell the grievances of the people.

But Annan was a newly developed colony, and the financial security here was good enough, and the governor could not come up with much to boost morale.

This place was just as the soldiers had said. Even if one was rich, there was no place to spend it. The amount of things that could be used for entertainment was simply too little.

If the pressure did not work, and there was no money reward, the only way was to lie!

Both of Annan's governorships had been a big bluff over the years, deceiving soldiers into saying that His Majesty the Emperor had been encouraging everyone and even writing letters to the colonies.

Read to the soldiers the Emperor's disguised letters, using the soldiers' loyal monarchical ideas to motivate the soldiers' morale.

The priest kept proclaiming the greatness of the France and asked the soldiers to give mass, using religion and patriotism to stabilize the hearts of the people.

Then there was the blank cheque, which said that no matter how hard it was, it would eventually pay off, and that when it was transferred back to the mainland, it would pay off as appropriate.

And after retiring, there would be a very generous pension!

He had been coaxing and deceiving them, but he had managed to stabilize them for ten years. These two governors were truly talented!

But today, Xiao Hexin had exposed all of their lies!

"Gentlemen, soldiers of the France! Are you still waiting for the Imperial Military Department to distribute your manure to you? Do you still dream of high pensions? "

"Regretfully, I must regretfully tell you all that this is all an illusion. These nobles are lying!"

"Don't say it, shut up …" "Don't listen to his nonsense …" The Governor rushed forward to stop him, but was blocked by the Chinese soldier.

Xiao Hexin jumped onto a few piled up ammunition boxes and said, "Gentlemen, I think you all already know about some of the local changes. The empire has collapsed, a new government has come into power, and the empire has become a Republic …"

"Of course I know the unease in your hearts. I also know that the His Excellency the Governor will definitely give you guys a lot of promises.

"But, gentlemen, give up the illusions in your hearts! A blank cheque can never be redeemed! "

"The outbreak of such a serious foreign war and civil war in the The French Empire has nearly burnt down the entire capital city … Your imperial military has been raided several times! "

"Gentlemen, do you really think your files are still there?"

"Let me tell you the truth, right now, Thiers's government does not even know how many troops are stationed at Annan, nor do they know each and every one of your names!

"He doesn't have a list at all. He disappeared into the flames of war long ago!"