Several women were imprisoned in a wooden hut in the corner of the outer wall of the warehouse. Only a small gap at the door of the dark and damp hut allowed some sunlight to penetrate. A woman was standing in the crack of the door and shouting: "Help, I'm wronged." ,"
Yin Feng asked Lin Xiao calmly: "What's going on?"
Under the chairmanship of Yin Feng, the China Company promulgated public security regulations in Taiwan and Hong Kong. If women committed crimes such as stealing and abduction, they would work hard in the company's textile factories, livestock farms, farms and other places for free. However, in Taiwan and Hong Kong, There are more Han immigrants than women, and the male-to-female ratio is more than six to one. Therefore, almost no women are forced to do hard labor because they violate company rules and laws.
Lin Xiao scratched his head and said in embarrassment: "Here, which Tang opera troupe are these people from?"
"Tang Family Opera Troupe,"
Yin Feng suddenly remembered: "Is it the one from the beginning of the year... What happened? You have locked them up for more than half a year. Haven't you already found out that the assassin concealed his identity and infiltrated the troupe temporarily?"
"The assassin has nothing to do with the troupe, it's just..." Lin Xiao also felt embarrassed. In fact, it was entirely because of too many things that he had forgotten the entire Tang family troupe here for more than half a year.
The Tang Family Theater Troupe was the same theater troupe the assassin was in when Yin Feng was assassinated while watching a Gezai opera with the people in the dock area at the beginning of the year.
Yin Feng stepped forward and pulled the gate, pushed open the door, "Oh my God," screamed, and a thin and delicate woman with disheveled hair rushed out, knelt down at Yin Feng's feet, and kowtowed. Yin Feng was startled and quickly stepped forward to help the woman up, but saw that she fainted in his arms.
This was a thin and delicate girl about fifteen or sixteen years old. Her appearance was not yet fully grown. Her face was covered with dirt and her hair was disheveled. A younger girl also appeared timidly in the room, looking at Yin Feng in surprise.
"Send this girl to Madam and take good care of her," Yin Feng ordered the guard captain Lin Yue. He took a long breath and shook his head helplessly.
Zeng Jingshan said on the side: "Those who arrested the wrong people will be let go. However, those who slander you and the company must not be let go."
Others quickly agreed.
"Several people were arrested for secretly colluding with the government," Yin Feng said without continuing to blame Lin Xiao. In essence, the China United Company he founded had a joint-stock organizational structure that was beyond the times, with a strict division of labor and collaboration mechanism internally. It is an operating organization coordinated by the central government, but in reality it mainly relies on the coordination of his personal influence. Without his persistence, it is impossible for anyone to implement a large number of rules and regulations. The entire company is still a system governed by individuals, regardless of whether However, the influence accumulated by history, tradition and culture is something he cannot resist.
Therefore, Yin Feng said helplessly: "From now on, anyone who only verbally opposes me and the company will be given a warning and no more arrests will be allowed."
Lin Xiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said: "We caught a few fishermen and merchant sailors who reported to the Fujian government. According to their accounts, there were people in the company who secretly handed them secret messages and passed them to Wuyu Water Village, but every time This person came to meet at night and always covered his face, so they didn't know who he was. Since this person always submitted letters, he must be a scholar who can read and write, so we Investigations are being carried out among clerks, secretaries, accountants and others in technical schools and company headquarters,"
Yin Feng nodded and said: "Be careful not to alert the snake. From now on, the Investigation Section of the Company Security Department will be mainly responsible for the supervision and investigation of personnel within the company, focusing mainly on corruption and abuse of power by company personnel." He turned to Zeng Jingshan: " Brother, I have to trouble you to go back to Manila. You can take over the security department of the Luzon branch. Let Chen Zhongji be the head of the Military Supervision Department. Let Brother Li Mo return to Taiwan. Stop monitoring Li Dan. Guards The Military Intelligence Department and the Military Supervision Department have all stopped arresting people within the company. From now on, any arrests of people within the company must be reported to me in advance,"
As soon as Yin Feng and others left, Lin Xiao called over the security staff who were organizing the release of the prisoners and ordered: "Those scholars who spoke ill of the ship owner behind his back are not allowed to be released. Hand them all over to Brother Lu. Let them go to the farm to do hard labor. Our captain is famously kind-hearted and can even tolerate these people who slander him. Ha, as subordinates, we have to help him deal with these troubles... Remember, this must be done secretly Di Gan, don’t let the captain know, understand,..."
The collective petition at the headquarters of China United Company and in front of Yin Feng's house has temporarily subsided. Finally, the solution was relatively timely. Not many people knew about it, and the Fujian government has not received any news.
Some adjustments within the company are inevitable. Lin Xiao's power has not been reduced on the surface, but anything involving arrests must be approved by Yin Feng. Moreover, Zeng Rui's Guard Supervisory Department has taken over the original Security Department's supervision of the military. Regarding the power of personnel, Lin Xiao's power has actually been reduced.
On this day, Yin Feng personally rushed to the dock to greet a merchant ship. The ship was not carrying rich businessmen or high-ranking officials, but horses.
This is the dozens of Arabian horses and several Portuguese horse breeders that Yin Feng obtained from the Portuguese through Bernardo's relationship. In the previous Battle of Manila, the Chinese army was short of men and horses in the battle. Coordination and failure to communicate in time. An important reason is that there are no cavalry who can quickly contact the news. There are southwest horses and mules on the island of Taiwan that pull carts, and there are many donkeys, but there are no horse breeds that can be ridden. In order to be able to ride on the domestic battlefield in the future. To adapt to large-scale maneuvers, battlefield intelligence reconnaissance and intelligence cover, cavalry is a must.
Yin Feng asked Chen Di, who had fought against the Mongols in the north, what kind of horses are suitable for riding in Taiwan, but the answer disappointed Yin Feng. Basically, horses produced in southern China, which are adapted to the warm climate, are not suitable for riding. , Generally speaking, Chinese horse breeds are small in size, resistant to rough feeding, and have a large base, which is suitable for China's large population. However, selective breeding is always a weak point, which is different from the European culture where everyone from nobles to common people are keen on breed breeding. The breeding of horse breeds in China (including the northern nomads) is quite haphazard and lacks scientificity and planning. Pedigrees have never been established, resulting in the genetic loss of many good horses. Especially because China was founded on agriculture, there is a demand for different types of horses. The majority of cavalry horses are drawn, so most of the horses used by cavalry are drawn and drawn. There are very few real riding types. How can a horse pulling a cart fight against the nomadic cavalry? Due to its closed geographical location, Chinese horses The species had been closed for a long time, with very little external blood flowing in. The "horses of sweat and blood" brought by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty during his thousand-mile expedition were later generations of Central Asian Akha and Tak horses. Until then, they were regarded as outstanding figures with outstanding appearance, endurance, speed and strength. Horse breed, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty hoped to use it to improve the horses used by cavalry. Unfortunately, because the genetics of the long-term closed Mongolian horse line were too stable, this good horse had no impact on Chinese horse breeds.
There are also several Japanese horses brought by Japanese businessmen on the island of Taiwan. The horse breeds are very inferior. Yin Feng checked his manuscript and found out that the Japanese horses of this era were very bad. In another time and space, Japan introduced and After breeding a large number of Anglo, Arabian and other horse breeds, the Chinese people saw the "Eastern Horse" of the Japanese during the Anti-Japanese War.
It must be an endurance riding horse to be an authentic cavalry horse. European horses such as British purebreds are beautiful, but they can only be used for racing and breeding. Moreover, such horses have not yet appeared in this era. Mongolian horses have good endurance. , but it is not suitable for Taiwan's subtropical climate; the Arabian horse is truly the world's number one war horse, and has strong climate adaptability and can fight in tropical and cold areas; the similar North African Pab horse is the Mamulius of the Turkish Turks in Egypt. The mount of the Kremlin cavalry. When Hulagu's Mongolian cavalry swept across Central and Western Asia, they were defeated in Syria and lost the opportunity to march into Africa. To a certain extent, they lost to the mount. The more famous one is the Don horse, which is fierce. The Cossack cavalry mount has inherited the hard-working nature of the Mongolian horse, the amazing endurance of the Akhal and Tak horses (sweat-blooded horses), the strong bones of the British purebred horses, and the flexibility and agility of the Kaba Jin horse (the excellent mountain horse of the Caucasus). , tall and handsome in appearance, although it is considered slightly defective in appearance by Western European standards, we have to admit that its ability to endure hardships and long distances is very good and difficult to match. It is often the most practical cavalry weapon. Horse standard, but the Don horse is not suitable for fighting in the humid areas of the south.
Yin Feng spent a lot of money to buy these fine Arabian horses from Goa, and planned to rely on the hired Portuguese horsemen to train himself a cavalry team.
Just when Yin Feng, who loves big horses, couldn't put it down, the forts on the north and south sides of the harbor fired warning cannons.
"Boom, boom," the hollow sound of cannons echoed over Taiwan Harbor. All the busy people involuntarily stopped what they were doing and looked up at the mouth of the bay to the west. The patrol ships of the war fleet were already heading there.
Yin Feng patted Lin Yue, who was looking at the big horse in a daze: "Stop looking at the horses, quickly take them to the military camp and take good care of them."
After all these precious horses were safely transferred from the dock area, Yin Feng was relieved. At this time, messengers from the northern and southern forts had arrived to report that a Japanese fleet with the Japanese Hachiman flag and the shogunate's seal ship mark was already outside the port. There were a total of ten Western-style Japanese ships equipped with cannons and other weapons, so the fort issued a warning.
To be honest, the Chinese Company has been in a state of no war or peace with the Japanese since it seized the Keelung and Tamsui areas in northern Taiwan from the Samurai warriors a few years ago. In Manila Port, several Japanese ships tried to break out and escape. The Chinese company's naval warship was sunk, the Japanese town in Manila was burned, killed and looted by the foreign mercenaries of the Chinese company. The Chinese company in Siam and the Japanese businessmen in the Japanese town were robbing business... With all these, Yin Feng faced the Japanese Tokugawa has always been unceremonious. He had a finger on the pulse of the Tokugawa shogunate. The Tokugawa shogunate did not have the ambitions of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. It was now busy stabilizing the order of rule in Japan and had no intention of expanding overseas. It was interested in the Takasago Kingdom in Taiwan. The developing Satsuma Domain is not something to be afraid of with just the power of a feudal state. The Chinese Company is fully capable of resisting.
The warships patrolling the war fleet intercepted the Japanese fleet. Soon, a fast ship brought news: this fleet was sent by the Shimazu family, the lord of the Satsuma domain, and there was another ship sent by Date Masamune, the lord of the Sendai domain. The merchant ship was led by Shimazu family retainer Yuuki Kawasaki. They claimed to be envoys, envoys who came to negotiate with the China Company.