Chapter 164: [Reservation]

Lieutenant Van Buren continued, "Fort Leavenworth submitted your reservation plan to Congress, but unfortunately, it was not approved."

Ma Shao had expected this, so he was calm, but of course he still had to ask, "Why?"

Lieutenant Van Buren: "First of all, I want to make it clear that I am just here to pass on the message and I don't know much about this matter."

After a pause, he continued, "Your reservation plan is not without hope, but there is a prerequisite, that is, you must tell us the company that provides you with Browning revolvers."

Ma Shao shook his head: "Sorry, we can't do this, and this is not in the content of the Sleeping Bear Agreement at all. Also... when will you pay us back the money you owe us?"

"What money?" Lieutenant Van Buren frowned.

Ma Shao was silent for a moment: "Lieutenant Van Buren, have you read the Sleeping Bear Protocol yourself?"

"Um...no." Lieutenant Van Buren hesitated.

Ma Shao: "We advanced you $20,000 to buy the revolver. According to the agreement, you need to repay the principal of $20,000 and $5,000 in interest within six months."

"It's been more than a year now, and you haven't paid us back a single cent."

Lieutenant Van Buren paused, then said, "Maybe that's true, but no matter what, you first need to tell us about the company, and then we can discuss the terms of the agreement."

Ma Shao: "I said, we have a confidentiality agreement with that company. So you want me to breach the contract first before you can 'probably' abide by it? Is this the contractual spirit of you 'civilized people'?"

Lieutenant Van Buren obviously had no authority to negotiate; as he himself said, he was merely there to inform the Apache.

There is no doubt that the US government has no intention of fulfilling its promise, at least not until it knows who the unnamed European company is.

As for whether the US government will fulfill its obligations after knowing the truth, there is no guarantee.

And it is impossible for Ma Shao to reveal the identity of that company because that company does not exist at all.

So the two had nothing to talk about.

After a meaningless conversation, Ma Shao said, "Lieutenant Van Buren, I hope you can tell Fort Leavenworth and the U.S. federal government that Apache will abide by the contract and therefore cannot disclose information that should be kept confidential."

Lieutenant Van Buren nodded and said, "Well, I hope this is the decision you made after careful consideration. But I still want to remind you, Chief Albert, you should not help Europeans sell Browning pistols. They are illegal products."

"Thank you." Ma Shao didn't say anything else.

After Lieutenant Van Buren left, Horse Whistle and Rainy Day talked for a while in the Chief's Hall.

"It's almost time for me to set off," said Ma Shao.

Rainy Day: "Going to Europe?"

"Yes, but first of course we have to visit Governor Juárez," said Ma Shao. "It would be best if we could get some artillery in Oaxaca."

"artillery?"

Ma Shao: "The possibility of us facing military threats from the United States is increasing. We need artillery... In fact, I got some artillery and artillery in California, but the number is too small."

"I also need to bring some young students with me on this trip to Europe," Ma Shao said. "I plan to send them to European schools to study engineering."

He could handle most of the important scientific problems of the time, but he knew little about engineering.

If you want to get a group of outstanding engineers, the best way is still to send them abroad to study, just like what was done in the late Qing Dynasty.

In fact, until the 21st century, studying in the United Kingdom and the United States is still regarded as a vital and irreplaceable further study in many countries. The most outrageous thing is that even to study the history of one's own country, one has to go abroad for further study.

Rainy Day thought for a moment and said, "We may need to select carefully. The people we send to study abroad must have a certain foundation in mathematics and natural sciences, know some English, and more importantly, be reliable enough."

Ma Shao nodded: "Indeed. I don't want to see that the international students sponsored by the tribe will not come back..."

He is actually not too worried about this issue.

He trusted his students, and he trusted his wallet even more.

From the beginning to the end, the financial situation of Sleeping Bear City has been very good, not to mention after the gold mine was built.

The ample financial situation allows Ma Shao to spend a large amount of money to support talents, making the behavior of "studying abroad and not returning" not economically profitable.

It's not economically profitable, so naturally no one is willing to do this.

This is a huge victory.

Some backward countries have mines, but most of them find it difficult to compete with the quagmire of resource curse. The final result is often that the water is too deep to grasp.

For backward countries without mines, it is even more difficult to catch up, and they can only rely on internal exploitation, or the "scissors gap."

This is inevitable. Without external supply, backward economies that want to support the operation of high-end industries will inevitably have to exploit the blood and sweat of the vast number of workers, and summon high-end industries and talents by sacrificing hundreds of millions of pneumoconiosis and severed fingers.

The tighter the pursuit, the more rapid the development, and the more acute the social contradictions will be. Just like a person running, when you run fiercely, every cell in your body is screaming, hoping that you will stop.

There is a natural contradiction between catching up and harmony, and the balance between them is also difficult to grasp.

Perhaps only a time traveler like Ma Shao, with his advantages beyond the laws of history, can make the pursuit smooth and peaceful, without the mud of the resource curse or the torment of internal exploitation.

A few days later, just like the previous westward team, Ma Shao once again organized a team of about 300 people and set off south.

Naturally, he was not going to build a new city this time, so logically he didn't need so many people, but the war was raging in southern Mexico, so to be on the safe side, three hundred people were essential.

Most of these three hundred people were soldiers, fully armed.

Before officially heading to Oaxaca, Ma Shao first went to the town of Clark and stopped for a while.

The town of Clark currently has a population of more than 2,000 people, and can truly be called a "city" in the Midwest.

The town of Clark, with a population of more than 2,000 people, has a much more complex racial composition than that of Sleeping Bear City.

The main residents here are naturally white people, but white people only account for slightly more than half. There are also about 20% blacks and 20% Indians in the town.

White people came here as immigrants, mainly for the development opportunities here, while black people came here as refugees, mainly because there is no slavery here.

The Indians were mainly arranged by Sleeping Bear City to facilitate control of the place.

Although Clark Town's population is quite complex, its prosperous economy and strict law enforcement keep it stable.