Chapter 302: Establishing the System (Part 1)

Coming from the layered peaks of the Longyan Mountain Area to the wide-open views of the Xiamen coast, the soldiers of First Company immediately felt their mood lift considerably — these men had grown used to training on the sands of Dayuan Island, with the sea wind and fishing boats at their side.

Once they reached Xiamen, everything became convenient. This place was already practically the private domain of the Crossing Faction, and all the rules here were the same as those across the strait.

The gunboat Monitor and its escort ship were already waiting at the Xiamen naval harbor for First Company's soldiers to board.

The Monitor was the fourth ship of the Youguang-class, and also the newest and largest. After the Xiamen Pirate Campaign ended, the Cao Clan's reputation for powerful ships and guns had spread far and wide, its fame now known throughout the entire South China Sea.

Considering that the existing three Youguang-class ships and other light escort ships were already sufficient to suppress the situation and sweep away the Chinese-style pirates, the Navy had begun improving the follow-up main battleships — the Monitor's hypothetical enemy was the Western warships with their thick hulls and dense ribs.

This warship's tonnage was a cut above its sister ships, with a displacement reaching 500 tons. Unlike the previous ships that mounted ten Napoleon 12-pounders, the smallest caliber guns on the Monitor were all 18-pounder naval long guns, and the number of cannons was therefore reduced to four to six.

Recently, this warship had been conducting live-fire tests of different caliber cannon combinations in the strait... This time it happened to be returning to Dayuan for rest and reorganization, so it was taking First Company's soldiers home along the way.

On the morning of November 1, 1628, the orderly troops finally stepped onto the deck, and the Monitor and the 150-ton escort ship Zengwen River weighed anchor and set out.

Special fleets did not need to form up with civilian ships to cross the strait; after departure, the fleet's speed was quickly pulled up to a high speed of 12 knots, heading straight for Dayuan.

The distance from Xiamen to Tainan is 200 kilometers; at the fleet's current speed, they would arrive in about ten hours.

Only at this point did the Army soldiers finally relax. After over a month of living in "enemy-occupied territory," everyone could finally talk openly. The deck was full of Army lads who had come out for fresh air, shooting the breeze with the young crewmen.

Yang Er leaned against the stern railing of the Zengwen River, watching the rolling waves beneath his feet, his face full of melancholy.

Ever since that day he brought back Lin Shiwan's head, the youth seemed to have matured overnight. The frivolous mannerisms from before were gone, replaced by steadiness — the young man had begun to learn to carry things on his mind.

"I heard you took the bandit chief's head?"

Just as Yang Er was staring blankly at the sea, a question came from beside him. Yang Er turned his head at the sound and looked — so it was this guy!

Standing before him was a short officer wearing a Navy Ensign's uniform: Mao Wu.

Mao Wu and Yang Er were from the same training cohort. Back in the New Army Camp, their bunks were separated by just one aisle, making them brothers in shared hardship — everyone got beaten in the New Army Camp.

However, the relationship between the two was only so-so. Mao Wu was a born soldier, strict in manner and meticulous, so he somewhat looked down on Yang Er's sloppy, careless attitude. As for Yang Er... a street punk who came from begging, he was very sensitive to others' contempt, so the two had never been close and even had a somewhat competitive edge between them.

Later, Mao Wu went to the Navy, and Yang Er went to the Army.

Both later distinguished themselves in their respective fields. Yang Er, needless to say, his skills were all top-notch in the Army; as for Mao Wu... this short man had now become the First Mate and Acting Captain of the Zengwen River.

This was also a matter of necessity. Among the two hundred-plus Transmigrators, even counting the dabblers, the Navy Faction only had sixteen or seventeen people — this amount of manpower simply could not meet the needs of the ever-expanding Imperial Navy system.

Under these circumstances, the Navy Faction could only barely mobilize manpower down to the level of main battleship captain and fleet commander. As for the other ships and scattered vessels, they had to rely on the natives to handle them.

And so Mao Wu's group was put to use. Although it was a bit like pulling up seedlings to help them grow, the severe situation left no room for such concerns: authority naturally could not be handed over to those old rogue pirates who had surrendered; these "Officer Cadets" of pure and proper background were the cornerstone that would carry the Empire's great enterprise.

"I heard you took the bandit chief's head?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Er's face involuntarily revealed that cynical expression again: "Your information is pretty well-informed!"

"The whole deck is shouting about it; I'm not deaf." Mao Wu's expression was calm. He wore a crisp, indigo hard-canvas Navy officer's uniform with a lapel collar, and shiny leather shoes on his feet. Standing motionless on the swaying deck, his entire being radiated the word "standard," perfectly embodying the term professional soldier.

"Still can't compare to you, already a captain." Yang Er said this, then grinned, revealing a hint of a mischievous smile: "Daoist Scholar, you sure get promoted fast!"

The nickname "Daoist Scholar" was what Yang Er had privately given Mao Wu back in the New Army Camp. Hearing this nickname, which no one had dared mention for a long time, Mao Wu's brow could not help but furrow: "Mind your military bearing! Lax and undisciplined!"

Since they couldn't have a pleasant conversation, they might as well part ways... After saying this, Mao Wu turned around and left.

"I'll treat you to grilled deer kidney when we get back!" Yang Er, leaning against the railing with his collar hook undone, saw Mao Wu retreat and his mood inexplicably improved.

At 5 p. m., the fleet of two warships crossed the strait and sailed into the Tai River Channel.

From the moment they entered the channel, the soldiers on board began shouting and yelling, like wanderers who had left home for ten years... In truth, they had only been away from Dayuan for less than two months.

Aside from the eternally unchanging Seabed Scoop, the bustling banks of the Tai River could be described as changing with each passing day, extraordinarily prosperous.

Large numbers of ships shuttled across the sea surface along the navigation markers; ant-like workers gathered at the work sections; the forest of tower cranes lining both banks of the Tai River and the constantly rising buildings were unique to the 17th century, with no branch elsewhere.

After the Monitor fleet entered the Tai River, it did not stop at the military dock near Chikan but went directly to the Taijiang Shipyard dock — there were still very heavy cannon refit tasks to follow.

On the way to the shipyard, the soldiers were still very excited. They greedily gazed at the Villa District along the Chikan shore, fantasizing that one day they might own a villa inside.

Yet this was impossible — just like the suites in the Imperial City, money alone could not buy one.

In the special area along the shore that had been forcibly transformed with green shade, ancient trees, and villas, the vast majority of the Transmigrators now lived.

What the soldiers on the ships did not know was that, as they gazed over there, that place was likewise staring back at them.

... The Villa District, with nearly 200 houses, covered no small area. It was a fully functional community: the Villa District not only had an internal supermarket, restaurants, and bars, but even a gym, KTV, and a bathhouse.

Speaking of entertainment facilities, the most famous bar in the Villa District was the "Old Man Bar." This name was originally given by the Transmigrator Feng Guanjie, who was in charge of infrastructure at the time. The reason was probably that this guy still had a bit of a literary youth mentality left over after crossing over, plus he had spent a few years in France and was a bootlicker, so he transplanted the name from France's Les Deux Magots bar.

The Old Man Bar naturally could not be of European style: when it was first built, it was constructed in the simplest, most rugged Chinese natural log style. Now, since the first batch of barley had long since ripened, the Transmigrators could finally drink pure, genuine home-brewed barley beer. As a result, the Old Man Bar, where home-brew enthusiasts often gathered to exchange brewing tips, became the most popular spot in the Villa District.

In the backyard of the Old Man Bar, there was a pavilion situated on relatively high ground. A person sitting in this pavilion could easily enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Tai River — the pavilion was called "Wind and Wave Pavilion."

Originally, this pavilion had no name. The reason it got one was that one day, after losing a "Parliamentary Struggle" in the Imperial City, a group of Minority Party members who had been driven out gathered in this pavilion, drinking black beer and discussing countermeasures.

At that time, a bunch of furious people not only cursed the powers-that-be in this pavilion, but some even clamored to go find Cao Chuan and question the Emperor, "Do you intend to stand by and watch loyal and righteous men be persecuted to death by powerful ministers?"... If so, then everyone would treat this place as the Wind and Wave Pavilion today, and so on and so forth...

Of course, in the end, no one dared to go question the Cao Emperor, but the name "Wind and Wave Pavilion" was thus retained. And this pavilion, in the days to come, became the exclusive place for the Minority Party bigwigs to discuss matters and conspire.

At this moment, inside the pavilion, two people were silently watching the Monitor and the Xingang Creek as they slowly sailed past the shore.

One of them was Bai Hongda. This man was one of the original five who crossed over first, naturally fond of poking the leadership in the backside — in other words, it could also be understood as not fearing power. Later, after the Party Ban was lifted, Bai Hongda was like a fish in water, professionally opposing Xia Xianze. Now he was the spiritual leader of the "Imperial Han Faction," the number one opposition party boss.

Reclining on the lounge chair opposite Bai Hongda was a tall, dark-complexioned man. This man was called Wei Hu; on the surface, he was an accountant, but his hidden profession was the party chief of the "Tang Cavalry Society."

When these two were together, there were usually no idlers near the Wind and Wave Pavilion — both opposition party chiefs were here; there must be all sorts of shady schemes being conspired, toxic fumes spreading everywhere, so it was better for uninvolved people to keep their distance.

Watching the two gunboats on the sea disappear into the distance, Wei Hu, reclining on the lounge chair, first took a sip of beer, then said leisurely: "Only ten days left. With just this little progress from the talks so far, I think it'll be hard for Cao Huangshang to ascend the throne."

"Tch, the Emperor isn't worried, but the eunuch is." The short-statured Bai Hongda curled the corner of his mouth, his gaze fixed on the sea: "If he can't ascend the throne, Old Xia, as the head of the administration, who else will take the blame?"

"It won't fall to us." Bai Hongda picked up his beer bottle and took a swig: "It's a good thing, too; let everyone see some people's true coordination ability."

"In that case, we don't need to make any concessions at all." Wei Hu chuckled at this: "I'm just afraid we'll really miss Double Eleven!"

"If it passes, it passes; isn't there still Double Twelve?"

Bai Hongda said with a smile.