In December, the weather was not cold. Tang Shaoyi had already told Wang Yi about Zhang Shusheng's request for visit. However, because he had a lot of things to deal with some time ago, he did not arrange the time for the time being. It happened that a supply ship in Beiyang was about to be launched recently. Wang Yi also took this opportunity to invite Zhang Shusheng, and also invited the Governor of Liangjiang Zuo Zongtang. Because the first armored cruiser in Nanyang was also about to be launched. However, the money in Nanyang has not been given yet, the ship is temporarily under the control of Da Shang. However, the Nanyang Fleet has sent people to start preparing to board the ship for sea trials. Among the officials who followed Zhang Shusheng were Liu Buchan, who was classmates with Yan Fu, and Sa Zhenbing, who was still studying in the Maritime School, was naturally very enthusiastic when the three of them met.

This is the old street inside the Dashang Shipyard, and now two rows of sycamore trees are planted. The business of the restaurant on the street is very good. In the winter, steam is everywhere and the fragrance is everywhere. Boat workers come in to eat, both at home and abroad, and foreigners are used to it. However, occasionally seeing someone wearing a clean official uniform with a braid, it seems quite different. It’s just that Yan Fu is wearing a military uniform of the Dashang Navy, while Sa Zhenbing is wearing a casual uniform of the senior commander and cadet. It looks like he is quite famous at first glance, so there is no ship union to provoke them.

The three of them were the oldest, thirty years old this year. The second was Yan Fu, 28 years old. The last was Sa Zhenbing, which was only twenty-three years old this year. However, Liu Buchan looked at Yan Fu, and was really envious and loved, jealous and hated, shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Several, you are the first to be famous among us classmates. Now you have your own car and become the captain. The most important thing is to go around Nagasaki with a big swagger."

"The Reconnaissance cruiser, as well as a patrol boat and a torpedo boat," Sa Zhenbing showed even more envious.

Yan Fu smiled, always making people feel that he was deliberately coquettish.

"What's going on with Kaishi, Tonghou, and Yitang now? It's not very convenient to contact them in the past or two years."

Kaishi is the name of Lin Taizeng, Tonghou is the name of Ye Zugui, and Yitang is the name of Fang Boqian. These people, together with Yan Fu and Sa Zhenbing, are either alumni or classmates.

"They are all very good. But when you mention you, to be honest, there are many complaints."

"Oh? Brother Zixiang, what does this mean?" Yan Fu smiled, and the same was true for Sa Zhenbing on the side. Of course they understood what was going on. Now they were cheap and behaved and asked knowingly.

Liu Buchan didn't care about the performance of the two people and smiled and said, "They all said that you have forgotten all of us classmates after you climbed the high branches."

"Ding Ming, they are losing their conscience!" Yan Fu said to Sa Zhenbing.

Sa Zhenbing nodded quickly and said, "More than that, they really think we are enjoying happiness all day long."

Liu Buchan was puzzled. With the background of the two graduating from Greenwich Naval Academy, could they go to Dashang Naval Officer School and study again?

Sa Zhenbing said at this time: "Did Brother Zixiang see that? My skin is the school uniform of the school. This is the casual uniform of the senior command class of the Dashang Naval Officer School."

"Are you still in school?" Liu Buchan was shocked.

After Yan Fu gave Liu Buchan a cup of tea, he said, "I have only graduated not long ago, and it has been less than three months since I calculated. Deputy Commander Shang Yi appointed me as the captain of the Yishi. In fact, we are still conducting sea trials, and it is a necessity to participate in the war. It is completely different from what you think."

Liu Buchan is extremely smart, and he has learned a lot of information from these few words.

"What did your senior command class learn?"

Yan Fu shook his head at this time and said, "Sorry, Brother Zixiang, our school has confidentiality regulations, which cannot be discussed. Perhaps what can be said is the application of modern ship equipment and the indoctrination of modern combat concepts that match it."

"Is your class recruiting students from the outside?"

"Unlike other majors, this class does not recruit students to the public. It is only selected from the excellent students of the Maritime Academy or the excellent combat command of the Great Merchant Fleet. Once you graduate, you will basically be appointed as the deputy captain. However, now there are few people and many ships, so you are usually appointed as the captain. Of course, the premise is that you have passed the maritime internship from half a year to one year before."

The three of them talked about the matter after separation, and then the topic turned to the Nanyang side. At this time, the guy put the wine and vegetables on it, four dishes and one soup, two meat and two vegetables, and the three of them talked while eating.

"France will not let Annan go. Nanyang will not be peaceful in the next few years." Yan Fu spoke.

Liu Buchan obviously knew the situation and said, "I know too, but the Prime Minister's affairs offices hope that Britain can mediate."

"Mediation?" Sa Zhenbing sneered. "The great powers are all birds of a feather. What are they mediating? There are a lot of interests behind them and conspiracy. France really wants to do it. Can Britain still fight him for us? I really don't know what the people in your yamen think."

"Ding Ming, it's over!" Yan Fu scolded. "How to drink some wine, you will become a cannon."

Liu Buchan smiled bitterly and shook his head. He didn't know these things. But although he was appreciated by Li Hongzhang, what could he do? He couldn't help but Li Hongzhang? The court had no money, and the Lafayette built a garden, and the officials were full of their own pockets. It would be good if he didn't turn into a foreign chicken in this big dye vat.

As the three of them ate and drank, the atmosphere became a little dull and the food was no longer fun. After finally finishing the meal, after sending Liu Buchan back to the station, the three of them said a few polite words and then they broke up.

As winter begins, Da Shang returns to his usual businessman.

Li Yuzhen and Tang Shaoyi negotiated a deal with the Qing court, spending 500,000 taels of silver as intermediary expenses to recruit young and strong laborers from the Central Plains and southern provinces. This matter is somewhat of a forced meaning, but under the intimidation of the airship, the Qing court had to submit.

There is a family named Wang in Huang County, Shandong Province. The fourth son Wang Yunzhao is only seventeen years old this year, and there are three younger brothers and three younger sisters. Now there are many people in the family and they are always hungry and full. My father and three older brothers work in the mine, and his income is not very good.

Not long after the Chinese New Year, the magistrate began to help some outsiders promote things. I heard that they came from Fengtian, and the recruiter claimed to be Da Shang. Wang Yunzhao knew about some of them, but it didn't matter if he didn't. Someone in the recruitment department held a strange loudspeaker and shouted at Da Shang's recruitment policy.

When Wang Yunzhao heard this, he gave a lot of things, so he joined in the fun and asked.

"How long will it take to go out to work?"

"Let's go according to the contract."

The answer to him was a gentle scholar, but the people of Dashang were dressed very strangely. No one wore long robes and jackets, and they looked more like foreigners. Although most of them had braids, they were fake at first glance.

"This Da Shang is probably a group of fake foreigners." Wang Yunzhao, wearing a torn cotton jacket, hugged his arms, and was almost curled up, thinking in his heart, a little contempt.

"How much does it cost to go to your place?" This is the most concerned question for everyone.

"It depends on the type of job and the length of the contract signing. Generally speaking, a railway construction worker a year costs about twelve silver dollars a month. In addition, food and accommodation are three meals a day, one meat meal, and one rest every seven days."

This made a group of people interested and talked a lot, and many people's attitudes immediately became enthusiastic.

Wang Yunzhaoxin said, "I'm lying! I'm still eating meat... Our family can eat some fat meat and slags after frying oil during the Chinese New Year, and there's still a meal of meat a day. The wealthy families don't live like that!"

"Don't worry, these things are clearly written in the contract. If you are illiterate, you can ask your literate people to come and read them. Besides, there is a visa for the General Affairs Office on it, and our Da Shang has always been a good man. If you think we don't have the financial resources, we might as well tell you. A few months ago, we and the French and Japanese started a war and finally won a great victory. The Japanese paid us 75 million taels of silver. How about it? With this money at the bottom, everyone should believe in my Da Shang's financial resources."

Many ordinary people don’t know about the battle between the Da Shang and the French-Japanese coalition forces. On the one hand, it is because they don’t care about foreign affairs at all, and on the other hand, it is also deliberately suppressed by the Qing court. Otherwise, the Qing Dynasty would have lost all the losses after two Opium Wars. Now a local force has won. Compared with the two, this is not good to say.

The people were talking a lot, but many people thought Da Shang was bragging. Later, two locals who often went to Yingkou to do business came forward to explain, and then everyone believed that what Da Shang said was true.

"Oh my god, 75 million taels of silver! My buddy has never seen anything like a pile of ten taels of silver in my life. I will sign up for this money!" A boy who is very close to Wang Yunzhao on weekdays shouted.

"May I have your name?"

"Han Dahu."

"Can you read?"

"know!"

When Wang Yunzhao heard this, he almost spit out a mouthful of blood.

"Read these two words!"

"Foot house."

"Damn it, this is dirty!" Wang Yunzhao scolded in anger.

"Okay, we know you're literate. Let's wait first. Call your name later. Come over and sign a contract with us." The scholar of Dashang had a good temper. He did not tell the lie that Han Dahu was illiterate, but just made a hook on labor.

"It's done!" Han Dahu went to wait. When the people around him heard this, they all began to get enthusiastic and wanted to sign up.

The scholar of Dashang looked at Wang Yunzhao at this time and said, "Little brother, do you think you have studied?"

Seeing that the other person was polite, Wang Yunzhao nodded and said, "My father and brother taught him some, but they couldn't recognize him."

"So do you know these two words?"

"Covet."

“What about these four?”

"Deprived, verdict."

The scholar deliberately took a few difficult exams, but Wang Yunzhao answered very smoothly. The scholar smiled and asked, "Brother, would you like to work in our Dashang business? If you read, you can earn twenty silver dollars a month. If you work harder in the future and take the certificate, your income will double."

"Then do you still give meat every day?" Wang Yunzhao didn't quite understand what the scholars said about the certificates and licenses were. He only knew that giving meat was a good thing.

"Yes! As long as you are in my business, this is the most basic thing. But later on, you may prefer to eat vegetables and fruits." The scholar smiled very kindly.

However, Wang Yunzhao did not rush to agree, and after a long time, he said, "Let me go home and consider it."

"sure!"

My mother and sister at home are doing some sewing work. My mother is less than fifty years old and looks similar to those in her sixties. The youngest younger brother Wang Yunqing, who is only four years old this year, is sitting on the kang and watching her sister sew things.

"Brother, are you back?" The second and third sister greeted him. The eldest sister is now married and is only thirteen years old this year. She shouldn't have married, but the eldest brother wants to marry, and the family doesn't have enough money, so the two parties are equivalent to interchange. The other party's sister comes over and his own sister comes over.

When Wang Yunzhao saw this son, he scolded: "Your brother has gone to work in the mine, so you can't save some fun at home. The big boss can be determined, so why is it more and more people live."

Wang Yunzhao didn't say anything, and his mother had been nagging him for a long time. But for some reason, it sounded more and more harsh today.

But Wang Yunzhao did not refute, packed up a few torn clothes and brought nothing. After kowtowed to his mother three times, he said, "Mom, I'll go to Yingkou, Fengtian to work. I don't know when I will come back. I will send money to my family on time."

After saying that, he wiped his tears, carried a rag roll on his back and ran out of his own courtyard gate. His mother didn't care. Wang Yunzhao had done this before. His son was different from other sons. In the words of neighbors, he was not sure.

Perhaps no one expected that the son would go to the Northeast for no reason. The man was not lost, but because he signed the contract, Wang Yunzhao himself was unwilling to come back, so his family had no choice. Besides, there were not many people recruiting workers to Dashang this time, but not many. A group of people went together, and they would not suffer any losses when they arrived in the Northeast.

Wang Yi didn't give this opportunity at all. As soon as all the laborers arrived at Yingkou, they began to break up directly on the dock. People from all provinces were mixed together and did not give opportunities to local groups that were too concentrated.

Anyway, Wang Yi believes that local groups will eventually become closed and conservative, and what the Northeast needs is communication and integration. Wang Yi does not want to appear on his own scene, with bandits who are tied to local provinces and counties.

Wang Yi is a bandit, but what he cannot tolerate the most is that new bandits emerge under his nose.

However, such things are always inevitable, and it is easy to say in Yingkou and other places. Now in Shengjing City, there is a complete chaos. This gang and that gang do all kinds of business, smuggling, drug trafficking, buying and selling people, and some even collude with foreigners.

General Chongqi of Shengjing also turned a blind eye to this, especially those who had something to do with Da Shang, so he didn't dare to offend him. Now Da Shang is a big tree with lush branches and leaves. A bunch of ghosts and monsters are invisible. From time to time, a few big ghosts and little ghosts can pop out, which harms the place, which has really brought a lot of infamous to Da Shang.
Chapter completed!