Chapter 505: Demolition Compensation

The Pioneer Army General Headquarters' circular requesting assistance with conscription was sent to every department under the Crossing Regime's jurisdiction. The only place it truly stirred up some waves was in a place like Taipei.

The reason was simple: profit.

For the people in Taipei, whether it was Wu Sanye or Yusheng Shaoye, although their daily lives weren't much different from elsewhere and their wages weren't low, they all bore an invisible shackle: they were forbidden to leave the cluster.

To put it bluntly, the higher-ups treated them as exile convicts.

Wu Sanye goes without saying—he was a genuine, hardcore violent reform-through-labor convict. And as for someone like Yusheng, though it was never publicly declared, everyone knew that clan members relocated to Taipei were also exile convicts in a different form, "forbidden to take one step out of Taipei without cause."

In the parlance of later generations, it was "deprivation of political rights for a period of time."

This punishment was, at certain times, quite severe. Take Wu Sanye again: after he arrived in Taipei, he had actually already submitted an application demanding the payment of his family's land requisition compensation for their property in Shanghai.

Yet the reply he ultimately received was: wait until your reform-through-labor term is complete, only then will you be qualified to go to Dayuan to handle this matter.

Yusheng was in the same boat: in theory, he could never leave Taipei in this lifetime. Perhaps once the Transmigrators' regime stabilized, his descendants might escape this place and shed this shackle.

So when the Pioneer Army's conscription circular reached Taipei, it immediately caused an uproar among these second-class citizens—the file clearly stated that all who joined the Pioneer Army would have their prior crimes completely cleared, their status equivalent to that of "ordinary people."

Everyone was fairly familiar with this routine, because since ancient times, emperors would not only grant amnesty to the realm during a change of reign, but would also conscript criminals, live-in sons-in-law, and minor officials into the army during foreign wars.

And this "ordinary person" status in the file was precisely the identity these exile convicts yearned for day and night.

Wu Sanye and Yusheng immediately began to seriously consider this matter.

From the general introduction in the file, the formation of this so-called Pioneer Army was for attacking the natives of the South Seas who "refused to submit to the king's civilizing influence." And this kind of work was something they had already done before on the Taipei natives; they were old hands at it, so there were no obstacles to execution.

As for no one having been to the South Seas... a joke—no one had been to Taipei before either, weren't both places beyond the pale of civilization? No matter how bad it was, it couldn't be worse than this. What difference did it make?

So after a brief discussion, Wu Sanye, Yusheng, and several of his brothers who had come with him resolved to seize this chance to wash away their crimes and go serve in the Pioneer Army.

That very night, the impatient men boarded a boat to Sulfon Harbor under cover of darkness, following the coastline and navigating by the distant light of the Sulfon Harbor lighthouse, traveling from Jinguashi through the night to Sulfone Port Town.

Early the next morning, a long line formed outside the door of the Human Resources Department of the Second Construction Company's Sulfon Harbor Branch: applying for a transfer to the Pioneer Army was a very popular move in this place teeming with reform-through-labor convicts.

The Human Resources Department manager, sporting a goatee and graying hair, soon opened Wu Sanye's file.

The periodic evaluation in the file read: Wu Meng, during his sentence, has abided by laws and regulations, shown positive initiative, and diligently engaged in labor reform. Seeing this line, the manager made no further difficulties and indicated that Wu Meng had passed the review. Thus, Sanye received the letter of introduction stamped with the red seal.

The other few people also passed smoothly.

Next, those who passed the review were given two days to settle their affairs.

Wu Sanye and his fellow bachelors had no affairs to settle. During those two days, besides handing over their work, they simply spent money on banquets, inviting former colleagues to a farewell party to celebrate their escape from the sea of bitterness.

Yusheng's situation was a bit more troublesome; he still had a mother and younger sister to settle.

But then again, aside from some sorrow of parting and worry, Yusheng and his mother didn't really have much to be concerned about.

In the territory under the Transmigrators' rule, the basic livelihood and dignity of the common people were well provided for. A mother and daughter running a general store posed no problem at all; none of the endless sordid affairs of Great Ming society would occur.

Taipei, in particular, was a penal colony for criminals, so public security was extremely strict. Anyone who committed a second offense here, no matter how minor—stealing even a single coin meant being sent deep into the Dense Forest as a slave. Therefore, although Sulfone Port Town was a penal colony, its public security had always been such that one could leave doors unlocked at night.

As for Yusheng's mother, this middle-aged woman was a traditional woman who still adhered to the Three Obediences and Four Virtues: "When the husband is dead, obey the son." So it was impossible for her to interfere with Yusheng's choice.

Moreover, Yusheng Shaoye had also explained clearly to his mother: this was a great opportunity. Once he returned from military service, or if he achieved some merit, he could openly and honorably bring his mother and sister to live in the bustling Tainan, where there were big hospitals and big streets, and everything they could want.

Finally, Yusheng also guaranteed that he would write home to his mother regularly. The postal service was well-developed now anyway; letters sent within the General's Mansion's domain all traveled by scheduled boat and wouldn't be delayed.

And so, after two days of facing two weeping women and their sorrow, Yusheng Shaoye, his head fit to burst, carried his fully packed luggage and met up with Wu Sanye's group at the dock.

At Sulfon Harbor dock that day, a contingent of roughly 200 people boarded the passenger ship that had come specifically to collect them.

After a round of waving goodbye to the family members who had come to see them off, the passenger ship set sail. Just like that, Wu Sanye hurriedly left the place that had imprisoned him and headed straight for Tainan, which symbolized freedom.

Two days later, the 200-odd people who had come by ship were already settled in a vacant military barracks in Tainan.

The chaotic barracks were a scene of noisy clamor. There were not only bold fellows from Taipei here; in fact, there were recruits from all over, reaching a total of 500 people.

Still in a long queue, Wu Sanye and the others, holding their letters of introduction and personal documents, stood patiently in line on the campus until a middle-aged civilian clerk, sitting behind a wooden desk, wearing tortoiseshell-frame nearsighted glasses and an olive-green military uniform, took the documents from Sanye's hand.

After a process of questioning and registration, Sanye finally received the small "Temporary Pass" he had been yearning for day and night.

Formal military status would still take some time to process, but now, with this small document, Sanye could freely enter and leave the barracks, had his "political rights restored," and could move about in the society built by the Transmigrators as a normal person.

The group who had received their documents quickly left the barracks—military discipline here was not strict; after all, the Pioneer Army was not a regular unit, just a half-military, half-civilian pioneer cultivation regiment.

As soon as a few of the brothers stepped out the door, they cheerfully went off in a group to sightsee on Chikan Street. But Sanye and Yusheng had no time for such leisure: they had important matters to attend to.

Over the next two days, Yusheng accompanied Sanye as they constantly went in and out of several government offices in Chikan and on Dayuan Island, including but not limited to the Chikan District Government, the Port Authority, the Land Resources Bureau, and they even made a trip to the terrifying No. 76 on a certain street.

There was no helping it; the matter of Wu Sanye's personal claim regarding the Zhang Su Private Port demolition compensation was truly too troublesome. First, a long time had passed. Second, there had been many twists and turns—he had even broken the law by going to Taihu to join the rebel faction, and now he was shamelessly coming back to demand money, so the various departments were all uncooperative.

Furthermore, this matter also involved Master Xiong, who was far away in Shanghai, as well as the Intelligence Department and the port construction department, so it was inherently very troublesome and couldn't be clarified by just one or two offices and a few words.

Fortunately, the Transmigrators' government was newly established, in a vigorous and thriving sunrise moment, and the civil service system had not yet developed any slackness. So, troublesome as it was, the matter was still slowly progressing.

Thus, one week after Wu Sanye arrived in Tainan, a clerk from the Land Resources Bureau specifically came to the barracks and found Sanye.

This clerk's surname was Zhang, and he was not very old. He brought good news: Master Xiong's side in Shanghai had already replied to the telegram, not denying Wu Meng's prior de facto ownership of the Zhang Su Private Port, and had reported the actual area of that private port.

Although this area was not large, only four mu in total, and did not include the nearby Zhang Sutan, this was four mu of land in the most central area of Shanghai Port!

Clerk Zhang, at this point, told Sanye with undisguised envy in his voice: ultimately, there should be 30,000 to 50,000 taels of silver in commercial real estate demolition compensation returned to Sanye. However, this process would be very long, because everything had to wait for paper documents to travel back and forth between Tainan and Shanghai by ship, and then undergo multi-department review, which would probably take two to three months.

Upon hearing this, a burst of wild cheering instantly erupted in Sanye and the others' temporary dormitory. A few brothers excitedly grabbed washbasins and mugs and started banging on them: "Big Brother, we're rich! We'll be bosses! No more hard days!"

"Many thanks to Zhang Ganshi for the information!" Wu Sanye, long tempered by battle, naturally would not lose his composure at this moment.

He knew that Grand Commandant Cao governed by military law; there were many civil servants in Taipei who had been exiled for corruption, so Wu Sanye dared not try to bribe Zhang Ganshi at this time.

As he saw Zhang Ganshi out the door, he spoke nothing but pleasantries, took out the high-grade Black Lanzhou cigarettes he used for business to offer Zhang Ganshi a smoke, and at the end, even entreated Zhang Ganshi to keep a close eye on this matter: "When the silver comes in the future, it'll have to be invested eventually. I'll have to trouble Zhang Ganshi then to offer some guidance. If there's a good path, we can all make a fortune together."

And so, after making a vague implicit promise, Wu Sanye, all smiles, saw Zhang Ganshi out of the barracks.

After returning to camp, Sanye, Yusheng, and their group first spent a good while marveling at Grand Commandant Cao's benevolence and scrupulousness: with a shameless style like his, had this been the Great Ming, after becoming a rebel, would he still dare to demand demolition compensation from the government? A deal involving tens of thousands of taels of silver—a rebel like him, forget the silver, would have long since had his head chopped off by the officials, who would have swallowed every last bit clean.

They never imagined that with Grand Commandant Cao, it was one thing is one thing, two things are two things, each matter kept strictly separate. Truly, truly remarkable!

After that, there was nothing much else to say; they would settle their minds to work hard in the Pioneer Army and wait for the silver to be distributed.

Wu Sanye was very clear that the idea of taking the silver and becoming a boss was unrealistic—the reason those government offices were willing to deal with him was because he had signed a five-year contract with the Pioneer Army, meaning he was in a state of atoning for his crimes through service.

The moment he took the silver to become a boss and failed to fulfill the contract, he would be prosecuted in minutes and sent right back to Taipei as an exile convict.

Wu Sanye now had a considerable understanding of the operational laws of the Crossing Regime. It was still that same saying: one thing is one thing, two things are two things.

No matter what, he had to struggle for his life in the Pioneer Army and survive these five years first.