"Newton, tell the quartermaster to increase the rations for these laborers, make it the same as what the soldiers get. Also, give them a stove and kettle, so they can drink boiled water, drinking raw water will give them diarrhea. And, give them some tobacco." Mu Yang ordered Lieutenant Chak Newton.

  "It's an order, I'll tell Ensign Chakotay." Lieutenant Newton replied immediately.

  Although Newton was somewhat perplexed by Mu Yang's order in his heart, and even slightly resisted it, military orders are military orders, and he had to execute them.

  In the army, especially in the front-line troops, if you offend your superior officer, the consequences will be severe. If the superior officer wants you to die, with just a single order for a sneak attack, you can only go to your death helplessly. For some food, Newton didn't want to offend Mu Yang and get himself into trouble.

  "Find someone to cover this place with a canopy, at least add a roof. Now it's summer, if it rains, do you want these people to squeeze in the corner like ducks?" Mu Yang ordered again.

  "It is an officer." Newton replied again.

  Everyone left the labor district, and Mu Yang no longer had any interest in going to the border to take a look.

  "When there was no one around, Newton still expressed his doubts: 'Boss, our material allocation ratio is not high either. If we add those laborers, I'm afraid we won't make it to the end of the month.'"

  "I've already figured out a way to solve it, I think there will be results tomorrow, don't worry Lieutenant Newton, following me won't let the brothers go hungry." Mu Yang smiled and patted Newton's shoulder, leaving the third row of barracks.

  Mu Yang walked a little further ahead and suddenly stopped his communication soldier, "Forte, go get that Chinese laborer named Wang Da Guan over here."

  "What's his name? Which one is it?" Ford couldn't remember the names of those Chinese workers.

  "It's that bald-headed Huagong who just spoke with me, bring him to my office." Murong said.

  "Alright, officer." This time Ford understood and immediately ran off to call someone.

  It wasn't long before Ford brought Wang Daquan to the office. Wang Daquan was a bit nervous and somewhat afraid, he didn't know why the officer had called him over, could it be that he had misspoken earlier and the officer wanted to punish him.

  It is known that Huagong was often punished by soldiers in the army for some minor matters. One time, Wang Daxiong went to the latrine to defecate, but when he came out, he was caught by a soldier who reported him to the squad leader, and Wang Daxiong was subsequently punished.

  He was ordered to stand beside the toilet for half an hour before being told that this was a latrine for British soldiers, not for Chinese labourers.

  This was still okay, because Wang Daquan personally saw that a Chinese laborer who was carrying bullets, due to the box of bullets being too heavy, accidentally dropped it from his hands onto the ground, and the bullets scattered all over the place. The soldier in charge of supervising the work took out a wooden stick and gave the laborer a blow on the body, and then didn't stop, hitting him several times in a row.

  The Chinese worker's body was covered in bruises, and although he eventually went to the All-China Federation of Trade Unions to report it, nothing came of it. At most, they would give him a bottle of medicine and send him away.

  "Sir, what are your orders." Wang Daixia bowed his waist, making his tall stature appear somewhat shriveled.

  "Don't be nervous, I just wanted to ask you about the current situation at Hua Gong. Please sit down and let's chat slowly." Mu Yang said with a warm smile, while pouring Wang Da Xuan a cup of newly brewed green tea.

  "I don't need a chair, I can just stand."

  "Sit down."

  After Mu Yang finished speaking, Wang Da Shuai sat down honestly in the chair opposite Mu Yang.

  Muyang pushed the tea over and then pulled out a cigarette, asking: "Want one?"

  Wang Daquan's face broke into a smile as he stretched out both hands to take the cigarette handed over by Muyang, his mouth still saying "Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir..."

  "Do you know about the current situation of Hua Gong?" asked Mu Yang.

  "General, I've been working on the battlefield since I was sent to France by boat. Except for one visit from someone from the Chinese Labour Corps to offer condolences, I'm not very clear about other things."

  "Then tell me about your own experiences." Murong said calmly.

  Wang Daquan took a few puffs of his cigarette and then slowly began to recount his experiences from the time he was recruited.

  In 1916, Wang Da-diao heard from a Christian in the village, Wang Pei-ming, that Britain was recruiting Chinese laborers to go to various places in Europe and Africa for reclamation, mining, and railway construction. Those who participated would receive a monthly salary of $8 per person, plus an additional $5 living allowance provided by the church for their families each month.

  With 8 yuan, you can buy several hundred kilograms of sorghum. So, Wang Daxue and villagers Yan Daxin, Wang Lixiang, Wang Donghai, etc. discussed, "Our family is so poor, why not go abroad to work as a laborer?" Someone said: "I heard that Europe is at war, if we go to Europe, isn't it looking for death?" Another person said: "The European war has probably ended! We are workers, what does their war have to do with us?" Although everyone had different opinions, the common belief among them was: If they seize this opportunity, make a fortune abroad, and return home rich and glorious in the future, wouldn't that be great? At least they won't go hungry at home. They were all young men in their early twenties, full of energy and courage, so they didn't consider much anymore.

  In the autumn of 1916, Wang Daquan and 14 others from his village, led by Wang Peiming, went to the British Church on Lingzhi Street in Taizhong to register. The Taizhong church immediately issued a letter of introduction, asking them to go to Weihai in two batches for assembly.

  They had originally planned to take a train from Jinan to Yantai via Weihai, but it was said that Wu Dazhou led a regiment to occupy the area around Zhoucun and rebelled, causing the Jiaoji Railway trains to be suspended. They were forced to change their plans and head to Tianjin instead, where they took a ferry from Tanggu to Yantai. However, upon arrival in Yantai, they were detained by the police for ten days. According to the police, the British were recruiting workers in China without the approval of the Chinese government. The British person in charge of recruitment said: "The Beiyang government's Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui have different opinions on the issue of Chinese laborers, but once the British government has negotiated with them properly, they can leave the country." When Wang Dashan listened to the private discussions among the workers, someone said: "According to the instructions of Shandong provincial governor Xiong Bingqi and Jinan garrison commander Ma Liang, the British recruitment in Shandong is limited to only four locations: Weihai, Jinan, Weixian, and Zhoucun. Recruitment points are not allowed to be set up in other counties and cities."

  Wang Da-diao crushed the cigarette butt under his shoe and then, to Mu Yang's astonished gaze, directly stuffed it into his pocket.

  When Wang Daqi was doing this set of actions, he kept saying in his mouth: "Anyway, those big men in the Republic of China are quite messy, and I, as an ordinary citizen, don't understand much. The general idea is that some people agree and others disagree, but we still came in the end."

  Wang Dahe thought that Mu Yang was a foreign military officer and probably didn't know the names of those Chinese government officials, so he explained it himself. In fact, he didn't know that Mu Yang had specifically read books to understand that period of history in the early Republic of China, and knew about people like Duan Qirui, Li Yuanhong, Feng Guozhang, and Xiong Bingqi.