Chapter 40: Tiger Might, Always Victorious Army

  The arrival of the Parrot Whirlwind, similarly caused a great stir in Shanghai. As a Chinese person with a reputation in Europe, it was only natural to attract attention from public opinion in this most prosperous city in Asia, especially since he was so high-profile, wearing a black SS leather trench coat in the drizzle of autumn rain, riding in a pumpkin carriage full of fairy tale colors, with fully armed white bodyguards following closely behind him, and an eerie yacht that could only be imagined in science fiction. In Yang Feng's days in Shanghai, almost every newspaper was reporting on his whereabouts on the front page every day.

  However, to everyone's surprise, Mr. Yang didn't stay long in Shanghai and only held a dance party on his yacht as a warm thank you to his friends in Shanghai, then paid a solo visit to Shanghai Taoist priest Dao Neng, before setting off along the Yangtze River upstream directly to Wuhan.

  He came to recruit soldiers, naturally the matter was urgent, since it was a mercenary recruitment, then he had to recruit the most suitable ones for this job.

  The target of this guy is the Hunan Army, although he has no idea what their actual combat power is like, but just based on the reputation of China's Xiang Army, it should be okay. Now is not the time to exterminate the Longhairs (Taiping Heavenly Kingdom), and originally their main opponents, the Miao people, have already surrendered. The vast majority of the Hunan Army have been disbanded, even their leader Tian Xingyao was kicked back home and died from anger. Others are probably now just staying at home, farming, and taking care of their wives, in that poor place in western Hunan, it's possible they don't even have enough food to eat.

  Give them a yearly salary of one hundred taels of silver, and they will probably go to work themselves to death.

  The shallow-draft steamship, Jiāo Miǎo (Sparrow), was speeding along the Yangtze River at a rate of twenty knots. Before long, it arrived at its destination. The ship docked at Hankou Wharf, where the British Consul to Hankou had already been waiting in welcome. After exchanging a few pleasantries, they were about to board a horse-drawn carriage for the consulate when suddenly a group of Qing soldiers rushed up from behind. Their leader, a burly man, hastily dismounted and bowed, saying: "May I ask if Your Honor is Mr. Yang Feng?"

  Yang Feng nodded slightly in surprise.

  "In the next Zhang Biao, Governor Zhang has an invitation." The big man said.

  An hour later, at the Wuchang Governor's Mansion, Zhang Zhidong looked with great interest at this strangely dressed man in front of him. Although he didn't look pleasing to the eye, he had to admit that this black leather trench coat looked far more majestic than his own official uniform.

  Yang Feng, who was casually waving his hand in greeting, was also curiously looking at the old man in front of him, dressed in a stiff suit, with a long white beard and a feather on the back of his head, a standard image of a corpse crawling out of a tomb. It's hard to imagine that such a person opened the era of China's heavy industry.

  "Ahem!" Zhang Zhidong cleared his throat with a stern expression, breaking the silence.

  "Junior official Yang Feng pays his respects to Your Excellency. I don't know what errand you have summoned me for?"

  "I've heard that Yang Tongyi has set up a factory in England, spreading the great name of our Qing dynasty. I have always admired him greatly. Today, hearing that he is visiting Jiang City, I took the liberty to invite him. Please don't mind, Mr. Yang." Zhang Zhidong said with a smile.

  "The elder is too polite, it should be the younger generation who comes to pay respects, but due to the difference in status, I didn't dare disturb you." Yang Feng said with a hint of sweat.

  The two of them exchanged a few more words, and Yang Feng couldn't bear this stifling feeling anymore. He hastily cupped his hands and said: "Sir, I'm an impatient person. If you have any instructions or errands, please just say so directly. If there's anything I can be of use for, I certainly won't decline."

  Zhang Zhidong was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said: "Since that's the case, I won't be polite either. You also know that the Hanyang Ironworks is currently under construction. Although progress has been smooth so far, it's still not reassuring to rely on those foreign technicians. I heard you have an iron and steel factory in your hands, and it's well-known in Thailand as well. Can you help me out?"

  Sir, to be honest with you, I've also heard of your steel mill. However, I must speak bluntly, the machines you're currently using are fundamentally unable to produce qualified steel. The iron ore from Daye contains too much phosphorus, and your current Bessemer acid converter can't remove it, so the produced steel will be brittle and can't be used for making rails.

  "In Europe, acidic furnaces must be matched with low-phosphorus ore, while high-phosphorus ore requires a basic Thomas furnace. The modification is not difficult, mainly the refractory bricks inside the blast furnace need to be replaced with dolomite ones. If you're interested, I can ask some engineers from BoFuSi to come and help you for free, it won't take long to complete the modification." Yang Feng said with a smile, actually the British didn't cheat him, this old man just didn't understand science, they reminded him to test the iron ore first, but he bought the steel furnace without testing.

  If he doesn't care about it himself, the British definitely won't be interested in caring about it for him.

  Zhang Zhidong was stunned for a moment, and after half a day, he cautiously said, "Is what Brother Yang said really true?"

  He doesn't pretend to be cultured and refined anymore.

  "You see, I've told you it's free, so of course it's not fake. And these are all basic things. If you don't believe me, send a telegram to the London or Berlin embassy and ask them to consult with any steel engineer in Europe, they'll know. And if you're not afraid of trouble, you can even send some iron ore samples over there for them to analyze." Yang Feng said with a smile.

  "This time I really have to thank you, otherwise it would have been a big mistake." Zhang Zhidong said with emotion.

  "It's just a small effort, actually, from now on when you enter the new steel furnace, try to use the Martin furnace, it's more cost-effective than the converter." Yang Feng said.

  "When can the engineer arrive?" Zhang Zhidong asked impatiently.

  "Now send a telegram to Sweden, it's estimated that even at the earliest, it will take a month for them to arrive. You can still build the steel plant as you see fit, and when they come, you can directly reform the steel furnace. If you're in a hurry, let the current foreign engineers be responsible for the reform. We don't lack limestone domestically, I remember there's some in Yexian County, Shandong Province, but I forgot which specific place. You can have several engineers go to Yexian County to look for it, maybe they'll find some." Yang Feng said.

  Since that's the case, the relationship between the two naturally became much more cordial. Yang Feng took the opportunity to mention that he was going to recruit workers in Zhenzhuang and hoped he could provide some convenience.

  "Zhen zhu? Yang lao di, that place has a fierce folk custom, but it's not suitable for being a worker." Zhang Zhidong kindly reminded him.

  "Adults, the kind of workers who are recruited are like this. You probably don't know that my most important business abroad is providing security services, or as we call it domestically, bodyguards. Of course, that's not just a few dozen people escorting goods, although that's also within our scope of business."

  I work for Umbrella Corporation in the US, our business includes private security, that is, bodyguards, security in dangerous areas such as factories and mines. For example, if I were to open a factory in Tibet, I would need a small army to protect it. We also provide military training, for instance, your Self-Strengthening Army, if you need instructors, you can hire them from our company, they are all retired officers from the European powers. Additionally, we also offer proxy wars, if you want to attack a certain place but don't have enough troops, no problem, as long as you pay, we can provide as many men as you need, just like the foreign rifle corps back in the day," said Yang Feng.

  Zhang Zidong was almost stunned. He didn't expect there to be a company like this, but according to what Yang Feng said, this job is indeed suitable for people from Zhenzhuang to do.

  With his help, Yang Feng's journey to Phoenix was much simpler. Zhang Zhidong directly dispatched a team of Qing soldiers, paired with an officer who personally led the team, carrying the flag and signboard of the Huguang Governor's Office, taking an inland flat-bottomed boat up the Yuan River against the current, watching the scenery along the way, and stormed into the ancient city of Phoenix, scaring the county magistrate to come out and welcome him in a hurry.

  "This Young Master Yang is an honored guest of the Governor, and he's short on bodyguards. I heard that the veterans from the Zhuo army are quite skilled in combat, so he wants to recruit a few from here. Your department should show him some extra courtesy." The guard said with a hint of intimidation.

  "The humble official will definitely cooperate with Young Master Yang." The slave-like attendant of the Phoenix Hall said, Zhang Zhidong is a big shot, and killing him would be as easy as crushing an ant. Such an important guest, how could he dare to neglect?

  "Are there still people alive from the Tiger Victory Army back then?" Yang, the big boss, took off his sunglasses and asked with great impatience, gazing at the overcast sky.

  "There are, but they're all old, already in their forties and fifties. I'm afraid they can't compare to the young people." The deputy of Feng Huang Hall continued to speak obsequiously.

  "Get together and let me take a look." Yang Feng said casually.

  Soon, hundreds of middle-aged men in different attire were gathered at the Tongzhi Yamen. These people had a relatively large age gap, with some in their fifties and sixties, while others were in their forties. The Huwei Battalion was also an important force in the later period of fighting against the Nian Army, so not all of them had fought against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. However, when they showed off their arms, the tattoos on their arms were quite intimidating, and a whole group of such tattoos would have even greater visual impact.

  However, these old soldiers looked like they were not doing well, with several of them being tattered and suspicious, just as Yang Feng had guessed. Those over fifty were definitely useless, but in order to buy people's hearts, Boss Yang still gave each of them a reward of ten big dollars. At this point, not only the old soldiers, but even the Green Camp soldiers maintaining order around them had their eyes shining brightly.

  This effect made Yang Feng very satisfied. As an outsider, he thought that if he wanted to recruit people to work for him, he had to throw money around first, and if the troops were useful, this place would become an important source of soldiers in the future. It was necessary to build a good reputation, and several thousand dollars were not considered money to him, but here it was a huge fortune.