After paying the lives of twenty-three sailors, the epidemic slowly decreased and disappeared, and then the five cabins in the bilge of the Malacca became a forbidden place, no one was allowed to enter or leave, and it was completely closed! The more than 30 sailors who had recovered were all quarantined in separate cabins, and were still not allowed to come into contact with others.

By the time the Malacca had no new sick numbers at all, the fleet had already sailed through the Sunda Strait. For the first time in more than a month, Hong Tao allowed the people on the Malacca to board the deck of the Golden River, and the two ships were moored in the shallow sea area west of Jawa Island, and all the Malacca command and management headed by Huang Ya, including the boatswain, the navigator, the first mate, the second officer, and the clerk, were all tied to the side of the Golden River, stripped naked and flogged.

Captain Huang Ya knew that he was the main culprit if he didn't report it, fifteen lashes! The boatswain and the chief mate belong to the coercion, and they have not fulfilled their duty of supervision, and they will each have ten lashes! The navigator and the second officer are not firm in their position, and they do not fight resolutely against mistakes, and each has five lashes! The clerk and the three sailors of the first class, who were in charge of supplying food, each had three lashes for causing an epidemic of disease by failing to strictly inspect the food on board. This is a felony, and if it weren't for the fact that those things were thrown into the sea and there was no evidence, they would probably have to go to the mines to cut stones for the rest of their lives.

"Give me a whip, not a single whip! I'm responsible for dying! "The whip is made of whale skin, thicker than a thumb, more than two meters long, and when the whip goes down, the flesh is gone. Since the invention of this punishment, few people have received flogging, and it is not a particularly serious mistake that Hong Tao generally does not use this punishment, even if the Cixi brothers did not use it often with slaves, because the flesh is easy to get infected after it is broken. In this age when there are no antibiotics. If you don't do it, you'll die. But this time he was really anxious. He can endure everything, and he can enlighten himself to turn big things into small things, but he definitely can't bear the matter of illness. If this thing comes, it doesn't care if you're a traverser or not, doesn't ask you how much knowledge you have, and doesn't care if you're the leader or not, whoever gets infected is unlucky, it's definitely a big killer!

Hong Tao felt that he was a little too kind to these crew members and officers, which made them already a little flustered, and always felt that the big deal was to fill two buckets of water, endure it and pass. No big deal. This kind of thinking is unacceptable, the navy is the most disciplined force in ancient and modern times, because the slightest mistake of any one person may kill the entire ship, more than any other branch of the military.

Therefore, not only did they have to whip the full number of whips, but they also had to be whipped in front of the entire crew of the two ships, so that these usually triumphant young officers cried at the top of their throats to see what faces they would have in the future. It can't be counted after the draw, starting from the Yellow Cliff and going down, all of them are downgraded to one level. Still want to be promoted? Wait, being demoted by the fleet is a stain on your life. This is a big taboo in Jinhe Bay, not to mention the fleet, and there will be no good fruit to eat when you go to whaling ships and merchant ships in the future.

"It's all to blame on Boss Luo's concubine...... Yes! Those fruits and barbecued meat were all sent to the boat by her, so she didn't check it, ah! …… Grandfather! Help me! "Huang Ya suffered the most whips, and at first he could grit his teeth and endure it, but after ten whips, he couldn't help it, and he began to cry and scream.

"Brother Hong, why don't I help him get the whip from behind, it was my mother-in-law who hurt them, and I should be the one who should be whipped!" Luo Youde looked at the row of bloody buttocks and the back of the dead sailors, and began to intercede for Huang Ya.

"Who proved that there was a problem with the food that your daughter-in-law brought you? From Karlburg onwards, the supply records were posterior, with the signatures of several of them. It is a crime and manslaughter to deceive, cheat, and deceive! Those dead sailors died in vain? The life of a sailor is not a life, but the life of an officer is the life of an officer? Stop, replace, you come here, isn't your brother sick and dying, you smoke! "Luo Youde doesn't plead for Hong Tao is not so angry, and now the more he talks, the more he can't stop, and he has to find sailors who have relatives who died of illness to enforce the law, and he can't do it if he doesn't pump hard.

After the flogging was carried out, the pilot, the second mate, the clerk and the three sailors of the first class of the Malacca could not rest, and after treating the wounds with trauma medicine, they went to scrub the deck. The captain, boatswain, and first mate were allowed to recuperate for three days, and whether the wound was healed or not, they had to wipe the deck every morning and evening. For those who have been whipped, wiping the deck under the sun is not much better than being tortured, the physical torture can be endured, and the mental blow is even more uncomfortable. Several of them have become the objects of ridicule and hatred of the sailors, because their actions have endangered the lives of all sailors, who would want to go to sea with an officer who plays with other people's lives. Don't even need Hong Tao to watch, a few of them have no good fruit to eat, dare to be lazy? Countless pairs of eyes are staring, and they can't wipe an inch.

More than 50 days after leaving Cape Town Harbour, the Golden River and the Malacca reappeared in the sea off the mouth of the Golden River after a year and three months. The watchtowers on both sides of the mouth of the Golden River had already sounded the alarm, and before the two boats could get into the estuary, a string of small boats rushed out of the river, starting with the bells and whistles of the No. 38 whaling ship.

Although the people of Jinhewan have long been accustomed to their children going to sea for a few months or even more than half a year, it is the first time that they have experienced such a long and ignorant voyage, and many parents cry when they hold their children on the dock, thinking that these two ships will not come back. I didn't dare to say this kind of thing before, for fear of being scolded by the directors for being unlucky, but now that the child is back, he must be able to say it, and he has to say it loudly, that is, for Hong Tao. This is a disguised complaint that Hong Tao should not have run away with two boats without the approval of the board of directors, and he didn't dare to criticize them clearly, and the prestige that Hong Tao had accumulated over the years was still very effective.

But some people really cried, their children will never come back, twenty-three sailors died of disease, five sailors died of accidents, although it is said that the people who live by the sea have long been mentally prepared for this, but those twenty-three sailors did die unjustly. They could have come back, but because of the negligence of the management of the officials, their deaths were caused, and there are more than a dozen people who have not recovered, and they have to continue to be quarantined and observed when they get off the ship, and they can't return home.

The Malacca was anchored directly on the south side of the estuary, and the ship was considered a dead ship, and not a single sailor or officer wanted to board it. It is said that at night there would be a burst of groans and weepings in the bilge, and the sailors said that the twenty-three brothers were wronged and that they had died too unjustly.

"Uncle Huang, don't stare at me, what did Huang Ya do, you go and ask him, if he wasn't what I grew up looking at, I would sink him directly in the sea!" Hong Tao was not greeted like a hero, no one even cared where he went, and even some of the directors on the board of directors did not look good. Huang Ya's grandfather, Huang Hai, and the old man Bofu were the worst, and they almost glared at each other.

"I don't have any opinion on him, it's our Huang family who are sorry for everyone, but you are not without responsibility. The board of directors was established by you, and in the past we didn't care about anything, and we let you take care of your affairs alone, but now we are in charge, and you don't follow it. That's right, Jinhewan can't be done without you, everyone is worried about your good son, even if you are the emperor and rebel with the big guy, we are willing to follow you. But you never took us seriously from beginning to end, such a big thing, will we stop it? Huang Hai was not intimidated by Hong Tao's yin and yang strange aura this time, but asked loudly, justifiably.

......The crowd on the dock stopped crying in an instant, and all stood in place and looked at Hong Tao quietly, they wanted to know how Hong Tao answered Huang Hai's question, and there were probably some of these words that they had always wanted to say but did not dare to say.

"Son, I have to stand on your Uncle Huang's side in this matter, even if we are all outsiders, but you can't ignore Azhu and the child. Don't blame you Huang Bo for being angry, he is not because of Huang Ya, and our Tan family is not unseen dead people, and it is not called to live a life if they don't die a dozen times a year. But you've confused us, should you take care of your business, you should give us a happy word, if you don't need a few of us, then we will go home and pick up the children, so as not to be a director and complain. After Huang Hai finished questioning, the old man Bo Fu stood up again, and he didn't speak to Hong Tao, the questions he raised were more acute, and he really didn't help his relatives.

Not only did Huang Hai and Bo Fu stand up and accuse Hong Tao of his mistakes, but several other directors on the board of directors also expressed their positions, they did not speak, but they clearly expressed their position with their actions, and they all stood behind Huang Hai and Bo Fu. Wen Lao Er and Qi Zu didn't go over, but they didn't choose Hong Tao's side either, except for Carl who was far away in Europe, Cixi in Guangzhou, and Kong Pei, who had not yet returned, the board of directors was divided into three factions. The largest number of representatives from Huang Hai and Bofu were those who had opinions about Hong Tao's approach; Qi Zu and Wen Lao Er were among those who abstained, and Hong Tao became a loner.

"Dad...... He just came back, and he can't talk about it tomorrow when the meeting is in business! "Oh, no, Hong Tao is not alone, Bo Zhu is also a director of the board of directors, she represents all the women of Jinhewan, and she is not against the water at this time.

"Dad, Uncle Huang, Bo Zhu is right, even if I make a mistake, don't say it here, you said that if I can't hang my face, won't our contradiction intensify. What you just said is right, but this method has to be changed, unless you want to directly knock me down, just want to give me a step down in front of the big guys, and force me to resign as chairman, otherwise this is a bit too radical. If Rong Weng Weng was here, he would definitely not agree with you to do this, by the way, what about Rong Weng? Hong Tao let the two old men split their heads and cover their faces, there was no credit at all, it was all mistakes, but he was not in a hurry, and he also stood on a neutral position to analyze the communication skills of the board members present. Then I noticed a problem, Old Man Rong didn't come, he is also a member of the board of directors, and he is the most powerful one.

(To be continued.) )