Chapter Sixty: Hunting at Sea

  These court officials now have no mood to drink with him, and they can't wait to run away as soon as they escape the devil's claws. One by one, they use various excuses to flee back to their own garrisons like rabbits that have been stepped on.

  Yang Feng was not interested in managing them, as long as he could control the port of Dagou, he sent two battalions of soldiers and a landing ship, two destroyers escorted Xue Fu to Taipei, Old Xue as the Governor of Taiwan naturally had to go to his own residence, with these thousand loyal troops following him, whatever he wanted to do was possible.

  As for Liu Yongfu and the two who were under house arrest by him, after they had cleared up their misunderstandings with Tang Jingxuan and others, they were allowed to return to their respective posts. These two people have now completely stood together with him. Zhang Zhidong has a favor towards Liu Yongfu, and upon learning that Zhang Quan is actually Zhang Zhidong's eldest son, the relationship between the two sides naturally became closer.

  As for Lin Chao-dong, it's even simpler. The Lin family of Wufeng controls the camphor industry in Taiwan, but after the Camphor War, the export of camphor is basically controlled by the British. After learning Yang Feng's identity from the British Consul, there is no possibility of having any confrontational thoughts with him again.

  After all, there is no conflict of interest between the two sides. What he wants is only Dagang Port, and he has no interest in Taiwan's indigenous things. On the contrary, he comes to scatter money generously. Such a person can be tolerated even if he is a bit arrogant.

  In the following days, Yang Feng didn't even bother to go to his General's mansion, instead operating his pirate base in Dagougang and recruiting new soldiers.

  "In this case, at least 4,000 new soldiers need to be recruited. When going out to work, there must be at least 5,000 people. At least 1,000 people should be sent to Taipei to deal with Lord Xue, and 1,000 to Dagou Gang. Then, 1,000 will be left as a mobile force. In total, that's 8,000 people."

  However, the town's pole is no longer available for recruitment. If you recruit again, Lord Zhang will not be happy. Where else in the south is suitable for being a soldier?" Yang Feng asked Zhang Quan, and now Zhang Dafu is his deputy officer, and it seems that Zhang Zhidong is also very willing to do so.

  "The Qi family army." Zhang Quan said after a moment of thought.

  Yang Feng suddenly remembered that apart from the garrison troops, there was indeed a suitable place to recruit soldiers in the south - Yiwu, which was the main source of soldiers for Qi Jiguang back then.

  "Alright, I'll leave this task to you. You will receive the same treatment as Zhen Gan. When you leave, bring a company of soldiers with you and have them do some propaganda work in the local area."

  "Enlist four thousand?" Zhang Quan said.

  "Over 40,000 now, and that place probably doesn't have many people left either. Besides, we're not just taking anyone, we'll select them according to Qi Jiguang's standards. I'm also recruiting locals in Taiwan, anyway, it's happening simultaneously on both sides, no need to limit the number of personnel, one or two million people is still manageable for me." Yang Feng said, he now has dozens of companies including pharmaceuticals, aluminum alloy jewelry, daily chemical products, plus General Electric, Yang's Power, People's Publishing House, Bofors... each with a monthly net profit of one to two hundred million pounds, supporting tens of thousands of troops is a trivial matter for him.

  Besides, he can recover his investment soon.

  Just after the three warships escorting Xue Fucheng to take office returned, four destroyers set sail immediately. Their mission was simple: to cruise from Taiwan eastward on the route from America to Japan, and to detain all Japanese merchant ships, whether they were importing or exporting goods, and then send them back to Dagou port. If the cargo belonged to the Japanese, it would naturally be theirs for the taking - this was war booty.

  If the goods are from merchants of other countries and are being transported to Japan, then compensate the other party at the price of the place of departure, and Boss Yang will take care of the rest.

  If the goods are shipped out of Japan, then it's easy to say, replace a batch of Chinese crew members and send them to their destination, and the ship will be taken care of.

  If it's a merchant ship from another country, as long as it's headed to Japan, the same rule applies: seize and send it back to Dagou Port. If the cargo on board belongs to Japanese people, Boss Yang will take it. If the cargo doesn't belong to Japanese people but is being transported to Japan, compensation will be given based on the price at the port of departure, and Boss Yang will also take the cargo.

  Moreover, on these four destroyers, Yang Feng also equipped them with special lawyers to ensure that all maritime blockade activities were carried out strictly in accordance with international law. This was something he had always attached great importance to in maintaining his image in the eyes of European people, even if he was a pirate, he wanted to be a good pirate who abided by the law.

  These destroyers that can reach thirty-five knots at most are not worried about safety issues on the sea, even if Yoshino comes to take them, they have no choice. Now there is no warship in this world that can catch up with them.

  Just after the destroyers were dispatched, all landing ships in the port also went to sea, but not for landing. These warships with a speed of nearly 20 knots can also be used as privateers. Their area of activity is the waters near Taiwan, three in the Taiwan Strait and three in the Bashi Channel, which basically blocks the route from Europe to Japan.

  He is very clear about what a complete break in external trade means for Japan, let alone this era, even if it were to be cut off more than 100 years later, the Japanese would have to kneel.

  After getting a 20% reward on the value of goods, his privateering fleet was highly efficient. Just half a day after setting sail, a landing ship intercepted a Japanese merchant ship in the Taiwan Strait. The opponent initially wanted to resist, but when the eight 76mm guns fired a round of intimidating shots, the crew immediately surrendered and were taken back to Dagou port.

  The commercial vessel, Shunro Maru, belonging to the Mitsui Company, was fully loaded with steel imported from Europe. Captain Sato, under threat of bayonets wielded by soldiers, nervously docked the ship at the wharf. A lawyer hired from Britain then boarded the ship under military escort, holding a document which he read aloud: "In accordance with Article ** of international law, as your vessel has transported war materials during wartime, Yang Feng, Commander-in-Chief of Taiwan, formally notifies you that your ship and cargo will be confiscated, and you and your crew will be arrested on suspicion of engaging in military activities."

  The lawyer finished speaking, and then three bailiffs from Fengshan County brought another batch of soldiers onto the ship. They read out an arrest warrant signed by the magistrate of Fengshan County to Sato, and with a wave of their hand, those ferocious soldiers immediately pounced on them, using wooden stocks to cuff the already stunned Sato and others, and took them directly to the Fengshan County government office to experience the beauty of Chinese prison life.

  As for his 2,000-ton ocean-going merchant ship and the thousands of tons of steel on it, as well as a batch of British-made machine tools, Yang Fengxia naturally took them over.

  The machine was about to be sold to Zhang Zhidong, and a telegram was sent to him. The two used telegrams to haggle over the price, and finally sold it to Hanyang Arsenal at 70% of the original price. In the construction of this arsenal, Yang Feng made great efforts, and more than 100 Bofors employees are still working there today. They have successfully copied the Yang Feng version of the Lee-Enfield rifle and C96 pistol. Mortars can also be manufactured, but due to material limitations, they cannot compare with those made by Yang Feng using modern alloy steel.

  But compared to Bofors made in Europe with self-produced steel, there is no difference at all. The 82mm caliber can fire a 3.5kg shell, and the maximum range can reach 2500m. Of course, it's relatively heavier, with a total weight of over 80kg. It's still possible for four people to carry it after disassembly. Now it can be sold to Li Ergouzi's miscellaneous troops.

  As for the steel, O'Connor contacted Jinling Manufacturing Bureau and sold it to them at a 30% discount. As for the merchant ships, they were simply taken to Hong Kong for auction. After calculating the costs, this business was quite promising and basically covered the expenses of maintaining the fleet.

  Unfortunately, however, it wasn't long before someone appeared on the scene to compete with him for business. When Li Hongzhang learned that this guy had made tens of millions of taels of silver in a single haul, he was stunned. He hadn't realized that things could be done this way. This guy quickly ran off to consult with people about international conventions and found out that during European wars, military vessels or even armed merchant ships would capture enemy commercial vessels at sea and then divide the spoils between the government and merchants. This could be said to be a glorious tradition that had continued for several hundred years. Immediately after learning this, he sent a telegram to his older brother Li Han Zhang, saying that such a good business opportunity couldn't be left to Yang Feng alone to monopolize.

  Li Han Zhang, who loves wealth as his life, couldn't sit still when he heard the news. All the remaining warships of the Guangdong Navy rushed out, including small gunboats, torpedo boats, and even wooden sail warships, surging towards the Taiwan Strait. Liu Kunyi on the other side couldn't sit still either, after all, he was the Minister of the Southern Ocean, and the Taiwan Strait belonged to him. Even if it meant robbery, he had to be the one to do it. This guy, while condemning Yang Feng and Li Han Zhang for overstepping their bounds, also dispatched the South China Sea Fleet, and the three parties turned the entire Taiwan Strait into a bloody and stormy place.

  However, he and Li Han Zhang are not big enough, of course, mainly also have self-awareness, knowing that they can't compare with Yang Feng. This guy has someone to wipe his butt in Europe, no matter what he does, Ming Ri Bao will turn it into a righteous move. The European powers currently cooperating with him on various matters will not offend Yang Feng over such trivial matters. But the two of them don't have this treatment, and if things go slightly wrong, they may trigger a diplomatic conflict. So, they can only take action against Japanese-registered ships, which makes them helpless.

  The two men finally sent a telegram to communicate with Yang Feng, and from then on, Japanese merchant ships were their responsibility, while merchant ships of other countries were Yang Feng's responsibility. The three parties cooperated with each other. When the warships of the South China Fleet and the Guangdong Navy discovered foreign ships heading for Japan, they would use wireless telegraph to notify Yang Feng's warships to intercept them. When Yang Feng's warships discovered Japanese merchant ships, they would notify the two families to intercept them, thus avoiding disputes.

  Yang Feng readily agreed to this. In this situation, the Japanese would not be foolish enough to continue sailing through the Taiwan Strait. The hunting here could not last for a few days. The real big head was in the Bashi Channel and the American route. Those broken ships of theirs were absolutely unable to reach there.