Chapter 171: [Buying a Gun]

Ma Shao stayed in Oaxaca for a few days and arranged the staffing of the news agency branch.

In addition to the twelve Apaches who had come before, the agency also had several more Mexicans.

Several Mexicans were recommended by Juarez.

Among them were Indians and white people, who would assist the Apaches in publishing newspapers.

"Sanchez, were you a lawyer before?" Sanchez was one of the people recommended to him by Juarez. Judging from his facial features, he was obviously a mixed-race person, looking both Indian and white.

"Yes, I'm one of Governor Juarez's assistants." Sanchez looked to be in his early thirties, had no beard, was dressed in formal attire, and looked gentle and refined.

Ma Shao asked, "Have you ever worked in the state government?"

"No... I mean, I was one of Governor Juárez's assistants when he was a lawyer. He used to be a lawyer," Sanchez explained.

Ma Shao nodded, and after a while he said, "Although you were recommended to me by the Governor, I still need to examine you. I hope you can understand."

"Of course," Sanchez said. "I believe I can pass the inspection. In fact, I came here on my own initiative and the result of the governor's request."

"Oh?" Ma Shao was slightly surprised. "Why do you ask for this?"

"I know the story of Apache and your story." Sanchez's expression fluctuated, and he looked a little excited. "I have to say, you are a legend."

Ma Shao smiled and asked, "Sanchez, can you tell me what you think of the indigenous people, or the Indians? For example, why do you think the indigenous people lag behind the white people?"

Sanchez thought for a moment: "My father is white and my mother is Zapotec... In my experience, I think it's because the vast majority of Indians don't have writing, only a little sign language, and without writing, there's no way to record and pass on knowledge."

"Then why do you think Indians have no written language?" Ma Shao asked again.

Sanchez hesitated and said, "I don't really understand this either. After all, I don't know how writing was born. Maybe it was just an accident."

Ma Shao didn't ask any more questions.

To attribute the emergence of writing to chance is actually a good answer for someone who has not been trained in historical materialism.

After all, faced with such a problem, many of our contemporaries tended to resort to strange things, such as ghost stories, or racial racism, believing that white people had writing and Indians did not because white people were inherently superior.

Even if it is made up, people will always find some reasons. The factor of "accident" is not so easy to be paid attention to, although many things are accidental.

"Sanchez, do you have a habit of writing?" Ma Shao hoped that the editor of the newspaper would at least have a certain interest in writing. "Or, do you have any ready-made articles that you can show me and my translator?"

"Yes, I can write a diary, mainly about the cases." Sanchez said as he took out the diary and handed it to Ma Shao.

It can be seen that Juarez is very concerned about the Apache News Agency and even has some intention of making preparations for a rainy day.

Perhaps, he had certain expectations about his future choices and experiences.

After all, he had always been a staunch opponent of Santa Anna and a fairly radical reformer.

If you want to fight against dictators and conservatives, you should naturally have some backup plans.

Otherwise, even if he were shot twenty times and committed suicide, it is not impossible...

In fact, in the original history, a few years later, Juarez would be exiled for a period of time and work to make a living.

As Juárez said, the Mexicans who joined the news agency were all excellent writers who could write moving articles in Spanish.

Of course, Ma Shao cannot confirm this.

His current Spanish level is still not very high, not because he is not studying hard, but because he has too many languages ​​to learn.

His role model is a certain wise man - no matter which country or region he goes to, he can read a script in the local language, and in some languages ​​he can even speak without a script and chat and laugh freely.

The more you learn, the harder it is to master.

Moreover, he had to learn not only the languages ​​of the major countries, but also the languages ​​of the major Indian tribes.

Of all the languages ​​he needed to learn, Spanish was the least prestigious.

After all, in later generations, Spain had little presence, and Ma Shao had no interest in it.

So naturally, his Spanish level is just like this. It's not very good now, and it will probably not improve in the future.

He is fine for simple conversations or reading from a script, but is unable to appreciate the quality of complex Spanish articles.

However, all the Apaches who are more proficient in Spanish said so, which shows that the articles written by these Mexican employees should be quite good.

The only thing he could confirm was that the attitudes and ideas of the Mexicans selected by Juarez were indeed more reliable.

Whether they are white or Indian, they are all supporters of the concepts of equality and freedom.

Equality and freedom, such concepts or slogans have become commonplace in later generations, and are even closer to the meaning of whitewashing the truth and being sanctimonious.

Everyone can say a few words, but not many people truly believe in it, and even fewer put it into practice.

But at the moment, this is not yet a popular pop culture, at least in North America, where slavery still exists, it is rare to find people who support this idea.

For an Indian-owned newspaper, this philosophy is very important.

If a white person working here doesn't even have this kind of mindset, it's hard to imagine what trouble he can cause in his journalism job.

Afterwards, Ma Shao mentioned the matter of purchasing artillery to Juarez.

"Juarez, you know, we are troubled by the fact that the Apache tribe is located within the United States," he said.

Juarez nodded. "It's hard not to be like that when you have neighbors like that, the Americans are aggressive and greedy."

"Especially the slaveholding Southern Americans," he added, "who were particularly aggressive and unabashed in their aggression and expansion."

"Not only did they invade, they also turned the invaded territories into slavery territories. This is truly a heinous crime!"

Ma Shao continued, "Yes. Although the professional army of slepping bear city is already quite large, I am still worried about being attacked by the Americans."

"Sleeping Bear was a rapidly developing Indian city that strictly abolished slavery. Those Americans who were keen on invasion and the promotion of slavery would certainly regard it as a thorn in their side."

"In order to better protect my people, I really need some artillery. I wonder if I can buy them here?"

"Cannon..." Juarez murmured for a moment.

"Apache can pay a high price." Ma Shao said again.

Juarez shook his head: "It's not about the price."

"The real problem is that we don't have many artillery pieces right now." He sighed slightly.

"I told you that Santa Anna had been weakening the local army. The artillery units of the local army were naturally the focus of weakening. Many artillery units were cancelled."

"After the outbreak of war, this weakening was stopped, but the artillery has not been adequately replenished."

After a pause, he said, "So, even if you really need artillery, Oaxaca can't provide much in a short period of time."

"I can only provide you with three doors... well, four doors, that's the most."

"Four gates." Ma Shao couldn't help but frown. This number was indeed a bit small.

If you want to defend slepping bear city, you need at least ten cannons.

Juarez then changed the subject: "However, there are more artillerymen and gunsmiths."

"After the local artillery units were reduced, many artillerymen and gunners changed jobs, and you can find some in the city."

"For example, I know a gunsmith in the city who was actually a skilled artisan. People like this can be found not only in Oaxaca, but also in other states."

"If you can pay them a good salary, I think they will definitely be willing to go back to their old jobs."

Ma Shao nodded: "Recruiting artillerymen and artillerymen is not bad. But Apache may lack some materials for making artillery."

Apache had previously asked Clark Town to purchase various industrial raw materials and tools, including raw materials for manufacturing weapons.

This obviously has risks.

Maybe one day the US government will realize this and plug this loophole.

If possible, Ma Shao hopes to have more ways to obtain products from industrial society.

"You can buy the materials from Chihuahua or Coahuila," Juárez said. "I'll introduce you to several companies that should have what you want."

Ma Shao: "Thank you very much, Juarez."

Juarez smiled and said: "We are friends."

"Go and see those artillery pieces."

Soon, the two came to a place that looked like a blacksmith's shop. In fact, it was a gunner's shop, and the people working here were gunners who were responsible for making cannons.

"These four cannons can be sold to you." Juarez pointed to the four cannons in the house.

"These two cannons are six-pounders," he said, pointing to two small cannons.

"The other two are twelve-pounders." There were two larger guns that looked similar to the ones that MacArthur captured at Sutter's Fort in California.

Four cannons.

Two six-pounders and two twelve-pounders are not considered cannons.

But for slepping bear city, these four cannons are undoubtedly an important start.

At the same time, he also found some artillerymen and gunners, including many Indians, and hired them to Sleeping Bear City.

The salary for hiring them is naturally not low, and also includes a considerable amount of settling-in allowance.

If Apache was not rich enough to own a gold mine, this expenditure would be enough to hurt for a while.

It is for this reason that these artillerymen and artillerymen were willing to travel thousands of miles to work in slepping bear city, bringing their families with them.

Carrying four cannons and a dozen hired artillerymen and gunners, the Apache army set out to return to Sleeping Bear City.

Of course, they did not have to go back the same way. On the way, they also needed to contact several companies in Chihuahua and Coahuila to purchase raw materials and tools for the production of artillery and other important industrial products.

This made Ma Shao sigh at the difficulties of industrial development.

Relying on its unique agricultural conditions, the agricultural development of slepping bear city has been very smooth, with the per-acre yield and total grain output increasing every year.

If the population had not been expanding rapidly, Sleeping Bear City could have exported large quantities of food and become an agricultural base like Kansas in later generations.

In contrast, industrial development is much more difficult and insecure, as many tools and raw materials depend on imports.

The industry in Sleeping Bear City seems to be quite prosperous. It can be self-sufficient in simple daily necessities and can also produce Browning pistols in large quantities.

But all this is based on purchasing from Clark Town.

If the United States cuts off its financial support and strangles it, it will fall apart in an instant.

What's worse is that Ma Shao has not yet found coal, iron or copper mines for Apache, which are the basis for independent industrial development.

Without coal and steel, it would be impossible to develop an independent industrial system.

Therefore, before owning its own coal and steel, Ma Shao's only choice was to expand its import channels and not rely too much on Clark Town, the US import channel or smuggling channel.

Thanks to Juarez, things are going well on the Mexican side.

When Juarez becomes the president of Mexico in the future, Ma Shao will be able to get more support.

Next up is Europe.

"You're going to Europe?" Juarez was a little surprised when he learned about Ma Shao's plan.

"Yes."

"Now?" Juarez asked again. "I mean, you should have heard that Europe has been a little bit unstable recently."

"There was a revolution in Italy, and the people of Sicily drove out the army of the Kingdom of Naples and established their own government. Of course, I was not optimistic about the outcome of this revolution."

"France is next, and they are making even bigger noises. Other European countries also seem to be beginning to be affected."

Juarez groaned, "To be honest, Ma Shao... I feel like this might be a storm."

"I think so too. This will be a storm." Ma Shao certainly knows it and has known it for a long time, "but facing this storm, I don't intend to stand still."

It is now 1848, the year when revolution swept across Europe, and the famous French February Revolution has broken out.

But that didn't stop him at all.

Not only did it fail to stop him, it made him want to go even more.

Behind the chaos, there are also opportunities.

The impact of this European Spring was far-reaching, and it played a role in the rise of Napoleon III and the unification of Germany.

Moreover, he couldn't wait until the revolution died down before going to Europe to publish "Thermodynamics".

It won't be long before the first and second laws of thermodynamics will become clear one after another, and he won't have much time to grab the kill.

Ma Shao: "I will leave tomorrow and go to Veracruz or Villahermosa to take a ship to Europe."

If it were peacetime, just go to Veracruz and take a boat.

But now that the war had just ended, he was not sure whether he could find a ship in Veracruz. After all, Veracruz had just fought a big war last year.

Juarez saw that he had made up his mind. "Well, then, good luck to you, my friend, and may you get what you want in this storm."