The corrupt and backward government of the late Qing Dynasty leased large tracts of land to the great powers of various countries, forming one country within another. But few people know that in the same period, a Fujianese, in Sibu, Malaysia, also leased a piece of land and built a Chinese town there with more than 1,000 farmers.
This Fujian man's name is Huang Naishou, a Fujian Minqing person, who has been a farmer for generations and has not been rich in his family. Since he was a child, he has loved to read, working to earn money while studying. Because of his belief in Christianity, Huang Naisheng came into contact with Western cultural knowledge earlier than others and laid a good foundation in English.
After working in the church for many years, Huang Naisheng took the imperial examination and passed the jinshi examination for the first time. However, within a few days of being an official of the Qing government, the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War broke out. Huang Naisheng's younger brother Huang Naimo was martyred heroically, and his position was the deputy pipe belt of the Beiyang Marine Division Zhiyuan Ship, that is, Deng Shichang's deputy.
Huang Naisheng was in the Qing government and knew the Western world, so he could see clearly the real reason for the defeat in the Battle of Jiawu. The humiliation of the great powers of various countries and the sacrifice of his brother made Huang Naisheng always remember it in his heart and did not dare to forget it at all. At the same time, he also clearly realized that the Qing government could only progress through drastic changes.
After the war, Huang Naisheng insisted on recommending new schools to Li Hongzhang and other important ministers, and intersected with Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and others, and jointly participated in the bus to write a book and plan the Penghu Reform Law. After Cixi launched a counterattack, the Hundred Days Restoration failed, and Huang Naisheng was wanted, first fleeing to Shanghai, and then returning to his hometown of Fujian.
After returning to Fujian, Huang Naisheng saw that the life of his father and people in his hometown was still so difficult. Each family has only a little bit of arable land, and the grain grown is not enough to eat for themselves, and most of the year can only rely on eating sweet potatoes to fill their stomachs. So Huang Naisheng came up with a bold idea: to build China's Mayflower.
Through his studies in the church, Huang Naisheng was very familiar with the history of the Mayflower. The Mayflower sailboat carried more than 100 people from England to the United States. After hundreds of years of colonization, the United States of America was finally established.
If people can, why can't Chinese? We can also go to sea by boat, but also find a piece of fertile land that is sparsely populated overseas, away from the Qing government, away from Empress Dowager Cixi, to create our own paradise and build a new Fuzhou.
Since ancient times, Fujian has been a port for foreign trade, and the coastal people have a tradition of going to the South China Sea to make a living, so many people have accepted Huang Naisheng's suggestion. In 1900, he took the first batch of Fujian compatriots to Sibu in Malaysia.
Sibu was determined after a long period of deliberation and deliberation by Huang Naisheng. Malaysia has a lot of wasteland and needs manpower to reclaim it. The two sides quickly signed a 999-year loan contract, and since then, Wong has become the owner of Sibu.
In order to protect the rights of Chinese in the local area, Huang Naishou has considered it very comprehensively. Not only politically and economically, but also with a great deal of autonomy. These conditions are related to his work in the church and the establishment of newspapers. The Sibu he wanted to establish was a new Fuzhou, completely different from the new homeland of the Manchu Qing.
The signing of this treaty is of considerable great significance, and it is a treaty signed by the Chinese people spontaneously with foreign countries, and it is also the first equality treaty. When Sun Yat-sen learned of this, he greatly praised Huang Naishou and regarded him as a model of popular autonomy.
Huang Naisheng took his fellow fujian compatriots and pioneered the land together. Chinese's cleverness and diligence allow them to open up a new world with their own hands wherever they go. With the gradual improvement of living facilities, more and more people came to Sibu, thousands of Fujian people came here, and a Chinese town was soon established.
Everything in New Fuzhou seems to be on the right track, with churches, schools, shops, and the Fuzhou United Company being built here, and the economy is thriving and prosperous. But the thin field was not cultivated, there was a struggle for ploughing, and some people began to blush.
The local Malay government watched Sibu thrive and always felt that it was making too little money from it. Therefore, they tried all kinds of ways to cram all kinds of illegal industries such as tobacco houses and casinos. Wong Nai-soo rightfully objected, and the Malay government fabricated charges and expelled him.
Although Huang Naisheng left, the Chinese who remained here insisted on pursuing his policies and plans. This new home for the people of Fuzhou has gradually developed into the largest city in Sarawak. To this day, the proportion of local Chinese is still 40%, all of whom are descendants of immigrants from New Fuzhou.
In that special era of turmoil, Huang Naisheng was just an ordinary peasant boy, who was worried about the country and the people, had the courage to open up, dared to think and dare to do, and sought a place for his compatriots. In his honor, Sibu City named a street and a school after him, and built a memorial hall for him in Fujian for future generations to see.