Chapter 41: The Governor of Kuwait

  "You once had a name that inspired awe, the Tiger Troop of Constant Victory, now still emblazoned on your shoulders. Unfortunately, you have nothing but this tattoo, because you are useless now, without war you are just a bunch of trash, only able to live humbly with hoes in barren land, waiting for death by recalling past glories."

  They eat but do not get filled, wear clothes but are not warm.

  "You're even begging for leftover food from others, the arm that once cut off countless heads is now holding dog food that not even dogs would eat. I really don't understand what's the point of living like this." Yang Feng said as he kicked a beggar's bowl flying with his foot.

  The owner of this rice bowl was a man in his mid-forties or fifties, thin and gaunt, with a messy head and a dirty face. His clothes were all tattered and worn out, but the tattoo on his shoulder still stood out. He looked at the broken rice bowl that had been kicked to pieces, and a hint of pain appeared in his eyes, it was unclear whether he was reluctant to part with his rice bowl or if some memories had been stirred up.

  "Now I give you a chance, a chance to change your fate, a chance to take up the sword and gun again, to win glory and wealth with blood and slaughter, but not on our own soil."

  The outside world is vast, the outside world is full of wealth, there you will get everything from the conquerors, gold, beauties, drinking and eating meat, killing and setting fires.

  Here is a contract, press your handprint here and you will once again become professional soldiers, not for the emperor, not for generals, but professional mercenaries fighting only for yourselves, hired guns of the American Umbrella Corporation.

  "Every year, one hundred taels of silver in wages, and before you leave, an additional one hundred taels of silver as a settlement allowance. For every year of work, you can get half a year's vacation. Now, whoever wants to come and work, sign here." Mr. Yang said generously and enthusiastically.

  In the end, almost a hundred old soldiers were left standing still in front of the results, staring at each other with wide eyes for half a day. The beggar from earlier finally spoke to someone next to him in a thick Xiangxi accent: "What's going on at Menggua Port?"

  The guard beside him, stifling a smile, said, "Young Master Yang, you'd better let me explain it to these rough men; they won't understand what you're saying."

  He then shouted at the old soldiers: "What's all the commotion? Young Master Yang is a noble guest of the governor, and this time he has come to recruit bodyguards from among you. The pay is one hundred taels of silver per year, and after working for a year, you will be allowed half a year's leave to return home to your wives. It's just that the place is a bit far away - you'll have to go to the foreigners' territory to work as bodyguards. Once you're there, the laws of our great Qing dynasty won't apply to you; you can kill and set fires at will. Whoever wants to do it, come over here and sign up."

  "Can we loot?" a coarse and sinister-looking old soldier shouted with gleaming eyes.

  "It's all right for everyone." Yang Feng said calmly.

  "How will we divide the loot?" another guy asked.

  "Double Five."

  "37."

  "Four to six at most, I have to spend money to buy you guys stuff too." Yang Feng thought to himself what kind of people are these, don't know if they think they've entered a bandit's den or not, he didn't know that this place was famous for farming during the day and doing side hustles at night.

  "Cheers!" A group of old soldiers immediately rushed over to grab handprints, as for whether or not to go abroad, no one cared about that. Staying in this poor and barren land waiting for death was nothing compared to going out to kill and set fires at will. Especially those young guys who crawled out from piles of dead bodies back then, they had infinite nostalgia for that kind of life.

  "First of all, let's get one thing straight. If you want me to work for you, then you have to listen to me and do what I say. I'll give you what you want, but in return, you must obey my commands and undergo training." Yang Feng blocked their path and said.

  "Eat your food and listen to orders, even if you're beaten with a stick or have your brains bashed in, you won't bat an eyelid. As for training, who doesn't know how to kill people and set fires?" an old soldier said disdainfully.

  Yang Feng smiled and beckoned to a bodyguard beside him, who was two meters tall and resembled a Swedish bear. The man drew a C96 from his waist and fired four shots in quick succession, turning the four sparrows in the sky into pulp. He then looked at the old soldiers with disdain.

  A group of veterans stared at the gun in his hand like they were looking at a woman.

  Yang Feng handed the pistol to the old soldier who had just spoken, and he took it with a loving gaze for a while before speaking with a smile all over his face: "Can I exchange it for a rifle?"

  Yang Feng signaled for his bodyguard to give him another Lee-Enfield rifle.

  After understanding the usage of this rifle, the old soldier raised his gun and aimed at a sparrow that had been scared onto a distant rooftop. With one pull of the trigger, the sparrow took flight amidst the gunshot. Amidst the surrounding jeers, the guy held the gun and hesitated for a moment before suddenly firing off a string of extremely fast shots. In an instant, four or five sparrows that were already flying in the sky vanished.

  "This foreign rifle is really good, it's much stronger than when I used to wield a spear." He said with a silly grin.

  "Keep them, from now on you'll all be using these two types of guns." Yang Feng said with great satisfaction.

  Of course, he couldn't just recruit these hundred or so old guys. All the veterans who had signed up and joined Umbrella Corporation were to go back and find more people, at least ten strong young men each, with the same conditions, a salary of one hundred taels of silver per year.

  They must have recruited their own relatives and friends, people like this are united in battle, and the combat effectiveness of the troops is largely due to this point. Moreover, with one person leading a small team like this, with these old soldiers as the core, paired with two foreign military officers, it can basically serve as a combat unit.

  After the old soldiers dispersed in high spirits, Feng Huangting, the deputy magistrate, came over and said cautiously: "Young Master Yang, if there are too many, it might be a bit inappropriate. Many of them are military households, and they have registered names at both the Town Zhen General's Mansion and the Military Equipment Office. If there are fewer people, it won't be a big deal, but if there are over a thousand people, this humble official will find it difficult to bear the responsibility."

  Yang Feng glanced at the guard, and the guard nodded. Zhang Zhidong did not know that Yang Feng was going to recruit a large number of people. In his opinion, this guy was just recruiting a hundred or so people, which was insignificant. He let the guard carry the flag of the Huguang Governor's Office to escort them, actually telling the officials here not to stop him from recruiting people. But Yang Feng wanted to recruit so many people, definitely beyond what he could think of.

  The Phoenix is a continuation of the Tuntian system that has been going on for hundreds of years. The common people are all registered military households, belonging to the Green Camp, under the command of the General Town and the Military Governor. Although the Green Camp system had already become corrupt at this time, he wanted to recruit regular national defense troops to serve as his mercenaries, which was still unacceptable.

  "Where is General Zhen and the Military Preparation Circuit now?" Yang Feng asked after a moment of contemplation.

  "Both gentlemen are stationed in Fenghuang City, but they have both gone out on patrol at the moment." said the deputy magistrate of Fenghuang Hall.

  "Then trouble you, sir, to invite them all over. I'm a person who's best at making friends and also likes spending money with friends." Yang Feng said calmly.

  Phoenix Hall Tongzhi still doesn't understand his meaning, to be honest, the Green Camp is not that important now, in the past it was for dealing with the Miao people, but now the Miao people have been assimilated, and the town of Zhenxu is dispensable, besides, it's not like during the Taiping Rebellion, even if troops need to be deployed from Zhenxu, it's just for maintaining local security, which doesn't require many people. In fact, whether it's the Commander of Zhenxu or the Military Defense Circuit Intendant, they all rely on embezzling money, as long as there are benefits, they won't care how many people Yang Feng takes away from here, even if he directly pulls them out of the Green Camp army, they will turn a blind eye.

  So after each of them received 5,000 taels of silver from Yang Feng, the Zhenxiu General and the Bingbei Dao patted their chests to guarantee that as long as Yang Feng was short-handed in the future, they would come to recruit people here, and they would recruit as many as they wanted.

  After solving this problem, under Yang Feng's personal supervision, he recruited 2,000 mercenaries here at one time. These people were overjoyed to board the ship and leave Xiang after each receiving a settlement fee of 100 taels of silver, and then went to Shanghai where they were sent to Western Australia by the Bofors company for military training.

  These things don't need him to be responsible for, leaving 20 bodyguards behind, and then reluctantly leaving Caiyi's sister to take charge. It just so happens that she can also go with the ship to Western Australia to see her father. However, unexpectedly, Ye Zifen wants to stay behind with Caiyi, since this is the case, he has no choice but to agree. With her help, he feels more at ease, after all, this little girl is extremely clever.

  Yang Feng returned to Wuchang alone, and as soon as he arrived, he received some good news. Holland spent 50,000 pounds to buy the position of Governor of Kuwait from the Ottoman Emperor, which was specially created for him, and also gave him the title of Pasha Luk.

  This is indeed a sentimental point, it seems that these officials all like to use various furs to show their status. The Qing Dynasty used pheasant feathers, the Ottoman Empire used horsehair, cow hair, and Europeans also used bird feathers in the past. Are they using this special form to reminisce about their own nature?

  This cargo did not stay long in Wuhan, visited Zhang Zhidong's self-strengthening army, and then left a few bodyguards as military instructors. He immediately followed the flow back to Shanghai, and then set off southward. In Hong Kong, he received nearly two hundred newly recruited sailors and rushed straight to Singapore. In Singapore, he sent the sailors to a merchant ship returning to Europe, and the Parrot Shell accelerated its speed and rushed straight to the Red Sea. After exiting the Suez Canal and turning north, it quickly arrived in Istanbul, where he came to accept the appointment of the Ottoman Emperor.

  At Y?ld?z Palace, Yang Feng had an audience with the then Ottoman Emperor Abdul Hamid II and received from this infamous tyrant in Ottoman history, who was said to have slaughtered tens of thousands of Armenians, all symbols of his identity. From that moment on, he became the highest ruler of this empire in Kuwait in a legal sense.

  Of course, if you want to make it a real sense, then you can only rely on cannons to speak.