Chapter 245: Conflict

After the Police Chief left, Richard's expression turned gloomy. He said to the Staff Member beside him, "Who do you think is responsible for this?"

"Hard to say, but that is not the most important thing. What matters is that these damn Chinese are already on alert," the Staff Member said with some regret. "This means our previous plan has fallen through."

Richard and the Staff Member's previous intention was to use the method of boiling a frog in warm water to target those wealthy Chinese merchants one by one.

After pondering for a moment, Richard said, "Go help me check what kind of level this so-called Joint Defense Force the Chinese have put together is at. I'm going to meet with some big shots from England in the next two days."

The Staff Member said with some surprise, "You are preparing to play hardball?"

Richard said coldly, "Since we have already made a move, we might as well be even more ruthless."

……

"As expected, this Richard really is preparing to make a move against the Chinese in Brunei."

He Guorong put down the listening device and said to Li Yaohua, who was standing to the side, with some surprise, "How are you so clear about this?"

Li Yaohua gave a bitter smile and said, "Our family has known this Sultan Richard for a very long time. We even had dealings with him before he had even become Sultan."

"At that time, my father evaluated this guy as a ruthless person. It is only because Brunei has a small population and the army is just for show; otherwise, even without those Gweilo from England, he would have made a move against us."

He Guorong was stunned for a moment and said, "Since the old man had such high insight, why did things end up like this?"

"Perhaps he always thought that Shi Tiancai was a chairman who could be relied upon," Li Yaohua said in a somewhat low tone.

He Guorong nodded; only then did he understand why Li Yaohua had been so ruthless when dealing with Shi Tiancai.

"Now that Richard is preparing to make a move, what are your plans?" He Guorong asked.

Li Yaohua said indifferently, "Watch the show. They aren't miserable enough yet. When they are miserable enough, that will be the time for me to act."

"And also the time for you to win people's hearts, right?" He Guorong said with a smile.

Li Yaohua shook his head: "These people are not so easily bought. They are all merchants of the older generation—shrewd, calculating, and worldly-wise. I don't need their loyalty; I just need them to give me time to re-establish the rules."

"Fine, then let's wait and see," He Guorong said with a shrug. "We have plenty of time. The important thing is to handle things beautifully and not give anyone a handle to use against us."

The situation in Brunei was the thing Chen Jiajun was most concerned about at this stage.

This would affect all the changes that followed for him.

Although he let that kid Li Yaohua handle the operations, Chen Jiajun would still pay attention to what needed to be watched.

Just as Chen Jiajun was pondering, Wei Li pried open the door to Chen Jiajun's office and said, "Boss, the re-employment contracts for those Gweilo employees have been completed."

"Oh? How is it? Are there still people causing trouble?" Chen Jiajun immediately laughed.

Wei Li shook his head and said, "Causing trouble is inevitable, but as long as it doesn't endanger the interests of the majority, the others won't be able to stir up any waves."

"Very good. Send all those guys who are causing trouble to the bottom level to kill the chicken to warn the monkey," Chen Jiajun said coldly.

Richard's actions were fast, although he did not manage to get any manpower support from those Gweilo in England.

But in exchange for Richard's willingness to spend money, they supported him with a batch of arms.

Although they were items phased out by the military, they could be considered weapons of mass destruction in this place.

After returning with the arms, Richard called for his Staff Member.

"How did the inquiries into the situation go?" Richard asked aloud.

The Staff Member said with a smile, "The situation is roughly clear. The so-called Joint Defense Force organized by a few Chinese merchants has a total of only a hundred or so people, and even their gear consists of those backward Single-shot rifles. There is nothing remarkable about them."

Hearing the Staff Member say this, Richard breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he only had about a thousand men under his command, it was enough to crush these Chinese.

Richard stroked his chin and said to the Staff Member, "Go, find an excuse, have someone start a conflict with these Chinese, and then I will lead men directly to suppress them."

"Ah? But there is no conflict on their side," the Staff Member said, stunned for a moment. "Do you mean to manufacture a conflict?"

"Yes, as long as someone files a complaint, I will have a reason to lead men to suppress them," Richard said impatiently.

A few days later, in one of the Chinese plantations.

A native delivering goods suddenly had a conflict with a Chinese person at the plantation.

Both sides started brawling on the spot, attracting the newly formed Joint Defense personnel.

"What is going on? What are you fighting about?"

After the Joint Defense personnel arrived, they immediately separated the two people.

The Chinese worker said angrily, "This bastard wanted to scam me! I already gave him the money, but he still wanted more. When I didn't give it to him, he started grabbing at me."

Hearing the Chinese worker's words, the Joint Defense member frowned and said to the native driver, "What is going on with you? The money at our plantation is settled on the same day. How could it be that you weren't paid for the delivery?"

The native's eyes darted around, but he still stiffened his neck and said, "I just wasn't paid. Don't try to welsh on the debt."

The worker was furious and pointed at the native driver, saying loudly, "This bastard stuffed the money into his clothes after receiving it. Just search him and you'll see."

The native driver hurriedly covered his chest and said, "This is my own money."

"Screw you! The zip tie binding the money has our plantation's logo on it. You bastard are just trying to act like a rogue," the worker said loudly.

The conflict here attracted many onlookers who were ready to watch the excitement.

This kind of thing had not happened for the first time; after all, these natives were lazy and greedy, so it was not strange for them to do anything.

The Joint Defense member said to the driver, "Take the money out. If it is yours, we will compensate you double. If it is not, you kid are going to suffer today."

Seeing the Joint Defense members surrounding him, the native driver was clearly a bit panicked. He immediately lay down on the ground and shouted for help: "Murder! Murder! Robbery and murder!"

"What kind of trick are you playing?" The Joint Defense member frowned, intending to pull the native driver up.

But just at this moment, a police car happened to drive over from the side, and seeing this scene, it stopped.

"What is going on here? I heard someone say murder?" The native Police Chief looked at the crowd coldly and said.

The native driver immediately climbed up and recounted the previous incident at a rapid speed.

The Police Chief said with an exaggerated expression, "You want to beat someone to death over such a small matter? How about this: you guys come back to the Police Department with me."

As he spoke, he took out handcuffs and prepared to arrest them.

Unfortunately, the previous Li Family incident, as well as the Shi Tiancai affair, had already made many Chinese hold a strong sense of vigilance toward the native police.

Seeing the other party using the same old trick, the Joint Defense Captain sneered: "Police Chief, we are very clear about how the Li Family was brought down by you. You don't think anyone will obediently go with you, do you?"

As he spoke, a dozen or so Joint Defense Force members holding Bujiang walked out, eyeing the two native Police with hostility.

Yet even while being aimed at by guns, the native Police sergeant was completely unafraid, sneering as he said, "Are you resisting arrest?"

"Resisting what arrest? This bastard doesn't have a single scratch on him, and you say we beat him just because you say so?" the Joint Defense Force Captain said viciously. "If you want to play any more tricks, don't blame us for being impolite."

"That's right, impolite," all the Joint Defense Force members raised the gear in their hands and said loudly.

Facing a dozen guns, the native Police sergeant had no intention of clashing head-on, but instead gave a strange laugh and said, "Fine, you've got guts. Just don't regret it."

"Get lost. You aren't welcome here," the Joint Defense Force Captain shouted.

Seeing the Police leave with the native driver, the crowd let out cheers one after another.

It seemed as if they had truly just won against these natives.

But little did they know, this was exactly what these natives wanted.

That evening, after the plantation finished work, all the workers returned to the dormitories to sleep.

The Joint Defense Force members at the entrance were patrolling.

"Keep your spirits up tonight; we've offended those native Police, so be careful they don't sneak over tonight to cause trouble."

The Captain patrolled a circle, then exhorted his subordinates.

The members, however, appeared very confident, laughing as they said, "Don't worry, Captain, we have guns in our hands; if they really push us to the edge, it's not like we don't have the ability to fight back."

"Exactly, if those natives dare to mess around again, we'll definitely put a hole in their heads."

Several Joint Defense Force members raised the guns in their hands, looking eager to try.

The purpose of the Joint Defense Force was mainly to protect the property of the Chinese in Brunei, so they were all relatively serious.

When night fell, they even turned on the searchlight in the plantation.

Meanwhile, on a low hillside.

Li Yaohua brought He Guorong here.

He had already heard about the conflict during the day from others, so he specifically brought someone from the Political Department to take a look.

"Are you sure the other side will make a move tonight?" He Guorong looked at the silent surroundings and said with some suspicion.

Li Yaohua nodded: "Those native Police are definitely not that easy to dismiss; the only possibility for them to retreat so easily, I think, is that Richard is preparing to take action against them."

Just as the two were talking, Long Wu suddenly said in a low voice from the side: "Wait, there is the sound of vehicles in the distance."

The group looked toward the road in the distance and sure enough saw rows of trucks driving toward the plantation.

"They really came," He Guorong said with some surprise: "This Richard is truly ruthless."

Soon the convoy approached the plantation and was discovered by the Joint Defense Force members inside.

"Something's wrong, hurry and notify the Captain," one member saw several trucks driving over and immediately reminded his companion, speaking rapidly.

The companion was also frightened by the formation in front of him, stood up at once, and ran toward the Captain's room.

Another Joint Defense Force member led men to block the entrance and said loudly: "Stop, this is our Chamber of Commerce's plantation..."

Richard looked coldly at the Joint Defense Force members blocking the vehicles and said ruthlessly to his subordinates: "Open fire, kill them."

The thousand-plus men under Richard were, strictly speaking, not an army.

They were more like military police.

After all, Brunei was under the jurisdiction of England, and according to regulations, they were not allowed to have their own army.

However, because Richard's "money power" was activated, he had managed to get quite a lot of weaponry from England.

Once equipped, they looked the part.

These military police were Richard's private armed force, so as soon as Richard gave the order, these military police raised the guns in their hands and aimed them at the Joint Defense Force members at the entrance.

Just as the Joint Defense Force Captain was hurrying over, preparing to say something.

The military police under Richard opened fire directly.

The powerful firepower brought by the automatic rifles was simply not something the Joint Defense Force members could compare to.

In one encounter, the Joint Defense Force members at the entrance were shot into sieves and fell to the ground.

Soon, the military police under Richard shot the resisting Joint Defense Force members one by one.

Richard issued an order again: "Grab them, grab all these people from the Citizens Society for me; if they dare to resist, execute them on the spot."

Seeing his military police beat back the Joint Defense Force members in one encounter, he couldn't help but reveal a satisfied smile.

It seems the money spent on bribing the England Gweilo was not spent in vain.

(End of chapter)