Chapter 52: Setting Sail; The Rise of Two Book Merchants

  Yang Feng's actions inevitably raised suspicions among the British, after all, a massive fleet with a total tonnage of over 20,000 anchored in their home port would make anyone uncomfortable. However, his nearly ￡10 million deposits at Rothschild Bank and Baring Bank were enough to dispel any doubts the British might have had, so all British ports allowed his fleet to dock flying commercial flags, and he began recruiting retired naval officers on a large scale.

  Four destroyers and six landing ships, at least a thousand sailors were needed. The Hong Kong branch of Jinyuan also sent him 500 Chinese people, so he still needed 500 European employees. However, it was not difficult to recruit people here, even if they were told that following Yang would require them to be prepared for battle. Those adventurous foreigners flocked to join, the reason being simple: high salaries and old-age insurance, with high compensation for those who died in battle.

  To know the ordinary British people at that time, their annual income was only a few dozen pounds, just enough to buy a bottle of shampoo there, and the minimum wage he offered to mercenaries and sailors was ￡100 per year. The salary for officers and senior sailors was even higher, and there were other benefits. Such good conditions, not to mention those retired sailors, even active-duty personnel are eager to move.

  Apart from the crew, he also needed a commander, a real naval commander to command an armored cruiser. The captain of the privateer-turned-warship Balmers could barely be considered qualified for that position, but commanding a fleet consisting of over ten warships would probably be too much for him.

  "General Langworthy, I invited you here for a simple reason. I believe you should know that my fleet is currently anchored on the Thames River. You can call it a squadron if you like. I need a commander for this fleet, and I wonder if you have any interest in this position?" Yang Feng said with a proud face in his own manor to General Langworthy, the British reserve fleet commander he had invited.

  "Respected Pasha, as an active officer of the Royal Navy, I find it difficult to comply with your request." Langley said with difficulty, he didn't dare put on airs in front of Yang Feng, this Chinese man had enormous influence both in the navy and in Congress, and could send him back home to farm with just one word.

  "General, this is an easy problem to solve. I will let the Minister of the Navy give you a leave of absence. As for how long, we'll talk about it later. Your military rank will be retained. When you work for me and want to come back, I think there will be a new military rank waiting for you." Yang Feng said.

  No matter how later generations evaluate Langweili, it must be acknowledged that he is quite capable of managing a fleet. Moreover, having stayed in East Asia for so many years, he must be very familiar with this sea area, which is very important for himself.

  Yang Feng had already said so, Lang Weili naturally couldn't refuse anymore. As for his salary issue, it was very simple. Now money was just a tool for Boss Yang, and with a casual wave of his hand, he offered 300 pounds per month. This number immediately solidified Lang Weili's determination to follow him. To know that the Beiyang Navy only gave him a monthly salary of 700 silver taels, which was equivalent to over 100 pounds, now Yang Feng not only gave him three times the salary but also promised to promote his military rank by one level, so why wouldn't he do it?

  After all, he is now the commander of this reserve fleet, and it's nothing more than a salaried cold bench. If he can get promoted to a higher military rank in ten years, that would be great. Now, not only does he have a high salary, but also has the opportunity to get promoted if he serves well, so why not?

  Yang Feng's fleet was finally completed on a day with dark clouds and turbulent waves, under the rainy farewell of London's wealthy people. The respected Yang Feng Pasha set off to inspect his territory with his fleet, of course, such a big man would not go to sweltering Kuwait for vacation. It is said that Yang Pasha's final destination was Western Australia, where he still had a vast ranch, and it is believed that he will spend a wonderful summer there, which can be seen from the four beautiful women behind him.

  This time, in order to keep a close eye on her fiancé, Lin Luoke even followed along, and took the opportunity to visit old Erikson, who had been a missionary in China for over a decade. It's said that he has now spread his teachings all the way to Jiangxi. If not, Yang Feng would have been able to meet his future father-in-law when he went to China last time.

  An armed yacht, five battleships and six troopships formed a line ahead and steamed out of the Thames Estuary at 18 knots, turning southwest, then south through the English Channel, east through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean, through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea, then north to enter the Persian Gulf and reach Kuwait, the territory of Sheikh Mubarak.

  More than a year has passed since I came here, and this small town has been completely renovated. The city walls that were destroyed by him with cannons have all been repaired, including the damaged houses inside, which are even more prosperous than before. This is not surprising, it's hard for a free port to be unprosperous, this place was originally an important commercial port in the Persian Gulf, and in the past, due to water source constraints, after Boss Yang took over, he arranged a 3,000-ton merchant ship to transport water from Basra, and this problem no longer exists.

  Honorable Mayor Hyde, even lavishly built public baths, divided into male and female sections, of course not free, but with very low fees, just enough to maintain normal operation. This move made him and the great master immediately gain the unlimited support of those young men and women, as for the reason, it doesn't need to be said. So when Yang Pasha got off the boat, he was welcomed by the people's enthusiastic cheers.

  "You are a foreigner, who drove out the monarchs that ruled them for hundreds of years with bloody means, and killed thousands of their people in war, and even allowed your subordinates to slaughter the city. Now, just over a year later, they can support you so much. Don't you have some kind of sorcery?" Xue Fu Cheng said in amazement. Of course, he could see that the respect on the faces of the residents who were cheering for Yang Feng in languages he couldn't understand was genuine.

  "Because I gave them what they wanted." Yang Feng said with a shrug, waving his hand to the crowd welcoming him on the Tiananmen rostrum: "See that ship? It's specially for transporting water, and this city is even drier than our Northwestern Gobi Desert. So, nothing in this world can't be bought, it just depends on whether what you offer is suitable."

  Of course, this guy didn't plan to stay in Kuwait, living in such a hot and deadly place was simply torture for him. The next day he left 500 garrison troops behind, then the other 2,000 mercenaries boarded the landing ship and headed straight to Western Australia.

  After arriving in Western Australia, the fleet stopped at Fremantle Port. The mercenaries who came along disembarked to rest and were informed that the second batch of mercenaries being trained in Kalgoorlie would be rushed over. Yang Feng brought Lin Luoke's four daughters and Xue Fu Cheng, Zhang Quan, and two others to Perth. After entering the city, he found that it seemed more desolate than when he came last time.

  "Premier, I feel like there are fewer people in Perth." He asked with a puzzled face after meeting the Premier of Western Australia.

  "Mr. Yang, many people used to come here to pan for gold, but now that the gold is gone, they naturally won't stay here anymore," said the Premier of Western Australia with a wry smile.

  They won't be able to pan for gold, the real gold mine is in Yang Feng's villa! The Golden Mile has long been transformed into Yang Feng's resort, and this cargo ship has planted tens of thousands of trees on top of it, almost turning it into a Karl Guli forest. You know, planting trees in that place isn't easy, to maintain Mr. Yang's hobby, the workers there have to use cars to transport water for irrigation.

  "It can't be like this, I don't want to see the city decline. So, from now on, I will invest as much as possible here. However, there is one thing - local workers' wages are too high, making it difficult for enterprises to compete. I have to employ a batch of Chinese workers from China, but I will keep the number of local employees and Chinese workers at a ratio of 1:1. The Western Australian government must give Chinese workers the same political status as whites." Yang Feng said, this is a good opportunity to take advantage of.

  "Mr. Yang, we must know the extent of your investment, otherwise it will be difficult for the Western Australian Parliament to agree on this matter." The Premier of Western Australia said, although anti-Chinese sentiment is not severe here, Chinese workers are not very welcome either. Yang Feng's hired troops were one thing, but large-scale Chinese immigration was another matter altogether.

  "I'm not sure about this now, but actually the best choice here is to develop the steel industry. Until now, there is no steel mill in all of Australia, and no valuable iron ore has been found in Eastern Australia either. Yang's mining company will conduct large-scale exploration in Western Australia. If we can find iron ore, then a steel mill can be built in Perth. With a steel mill, everything else will follow: railways, machinery factories, munitions plants... you can build whatever you want."

  Well, let's wait until he finds iron then. However, the Premier of Western Australia is very skeptical about this. In recent years, several British companies have come here to mine, but they all left empty-handed.

  "But even if it's mining, it requires a lot of investment, so I must get the exclusive exploration and mining rights for a certain area, otherwise I won't invest." Yang Feng said calmly to him.

  This is understandable, as no one would want the mine they worked so hard to find to end up in another developer's hands.

  "That's alright, so where are you going to go prospecting?" the Premier of Western Australia asked.

  Yang Feng took a map of Western Australia, first lying on it for a while, thinking with concentration, then picked up the pen and drew a circle on it, threw the pen and said, "Here."