On the lawn, musicians in white uniforms play music, colorful lanterns hang on the trees, and hired waiters expertly move between tables with plates carrying drinks and food. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Traveling in Beijing, Tianjin, Qingdao, Suzhou and other places, Luo Deng and Lina returned to Shanghai after spending their honeymoon and held a reception at their home.

"How do you feel when you get married?" Chen Wenqiang picked up a glass of wine from a young waiter's tray and asked Luo Deng a little teasingly.

"Very good, very good...... Roden said, but his expression was a little confused.

Rhoden was confused by Lina's attitude on the honeymoon, and every time she had intimate contact, she always had a cold suspicion, and even reciprocated his gentle actions with a passive attitude of indifference and disgust, which made him always feel disappointed and lonely.

But Rhoden couldn't stand the fact that someone would laugh at him behind his back when they found out the truth. She's going to change eventually, he's going to have to think so. She will change, and he must believe that her indifference will one day melt away.

In normal times, Chen Wenqiang does not casually probe other people's minds. And Rodden has already established a company of relatives and friends in the United States and has become a reliable agent for Chen Wenqiang, and he feels that there is no need for that now.

Moreover, what he saw was the appearance of Linna holding her husband, and the satisfaction in her clear blue eyes. His judgment was that this was an enthusiastic, contented woman, so he didn't think anything else at all.

"It's a good idea to set up a transit warehouse in the Philippines." Chen Wenqiang said according to his own train of thought: "Your brother Luo Mai is very business-minded. ”

Roden nodded. Honestly, he said: "In this regard, he is really better than me. After a pause, he looked at Chen Wenqiang with puzzled eyes. Whether it's fame or wealth, you should get both. But why—"

Chen Wenqiang shook his head lightly and said, "A house built on the beach may look beautiful, but a gust of wind and waves can easily destroy it. What did you see when you walked a lot on your honeymoon? In such a society, such a country. What do you think is protection? I'm different from you, you have a powerful America behind you, and you feel safe wherever you go. But what's behind me? ”

"You can change your nationality." Roden cautiously advised: "In a country with a democratic and sound rule of law, you will be secured." With your current reputation, it shouldn't be that hard. ”

"Racism, you should know about this kind of thing." Chen Wenqiang said lightly: "What kind of democracy and legal system are sound? In you America. It's no exception. ”

Roden shrugged his shoulders. Reluctantly acquiesced to this fact.

"Let's go to entertain other guests, and the candidates for Yazhou will be discussed tomorrow. Well, Lena is a good lady and an excellent hostess. Chen Wenqiang hoped to bring a few more big-nosed foreigners to Yazhou (now Sanya) to scare the Manchu magistrates who were afraid of foreign people, but it depended on what Luo Deng meant.

Pulling the tiger's skin as a banner, this is very helpless. But Chen Wenqiang was different from what people thought at that time, in order to achieve great things. He doesn't get too caught up in the subtleties. It's like the Manchu Qing Dynasty conferred on him an official title, although it was an idle position. He also smiled calmly, and was ready to put on his official uniform and run to Yazhou to scare people with his might!

The invited Ministry of Industry Bureau band played the famous operetta overture, Neumann was talking to Citibank executives, and his wife, Allen, was walking from one guest to another, socializing freely, regardless of nationality and skin color.

Lina, dressed in an off-the-shoulder summer dress, was quietly shaking hands with a wealthy American businessman who had said goodbye early. The rich merchant's eyes were looking at her white skin with some timidity and interest.

Chen Wenqiang walked unobtrusively under a tree, sat down, and looked across the public garden to see an ocean-going cargo ship taking advantage of the high tide to go down the river. Flowing downstream, the light on the bow of the ship was suddenly obscured, and an inexplicable feeling of loss suddenly came up.

There was a rustle of clothes, and Lena walked over from the other side of the meadow, "You're here." She sat down casually next to her, "When the wedding was held, you were in Nanyang, and my father was disappointed. Do you know what he's going to talk to you about? ”

Chen Wenqiang tilted his head and thought about it, and said, "Is it a matter of medicine?" ”

"yes!" There was a hint of contempt in Linna's tone, which made Chen Wenqiang very strange, "He hopes to get the exclusive right to sell in the United States or the Americas after the next new drug comes out." It's impossible, right? ”

"He should go and talk to the Germans." Chen Wenqiang shrugged his shoulders, "Because of my shortcomings in biological bacteria, I can only cooperate with the Germans." On the scope of sales, I have an agreement with them. ”

"That's what I thought, he's going to die." Lina didn't show any disappointment and smiled.

Gloat? Chen Wenqiang didn't believe his discovery, and realized that it was a little inappropriate to sit alone with Linna, so he stood up, slapped it twice, and made an excuse, "Don't mosquitoes bite you?" ”

Lina shook her head, "I rubbed Watson's new mosquito repellent oil, can you smell it?" ”

Chen Wenqiang smiled wryly, of course he wouldn't lean over and sniff, besides, his sense of smell was very sensitive, "Lemon scented, very good." ”

"That's right." Lina stood up, remembered something again, and said: "I took a fancy to a porcelain plate in an antique shop, and the boss saw that I was a foreign devil, and the price was very high. I'd like to ask you to confirm the authenticity and help me cut the price down a bit. ”

"I'm not an expert." Chen Wenqiang was a little funny, he didn't dare to compliment Linna's appreciation ability, "However, I can help you find one, let him help you!" ”

"Is the environment in Qiongzhou good? Is it suitable to build a holiday home? Lina couldn't help it, covered her mouth and yawned, "The waves, the beach, sounds good." ”

"It should be suitable." Chen Wenqiang was ambiguous and took the lead in walking forward, "It's just that there are very few foreign devils there, and it's not as lively as Shanghai." ”

"Oh!" Lina answered, paused, and said, "I hope you can find an expert tomorrow, as long as the boss is willing to ask for another hundred yuan less......"

…………….

Yazhou (now Sanya) is located at the southernmost tip of Hainan Island. It is adjacent to Lingshui County in the east, Baoting County in the north, and Ledong County in the west. It is bordered by the South China Sea to the south. From the topography point of view, it is bordered by high mountains (Wuzhi Mountain) in the north and the sea in the south, showing a long and narrow polygonal shape.

What Chen Wenqiang likes the most is that Yazhou's coastline is 258 kilometers long, with 19 large and small harbors and 40 large and small islands. Such geographical conditions are ideal for smuggling people and goods from the sea. There is the Nanyang Steamship Company, which has just been established as a joint venture with the Chang brothers in Sumatra. It's even more convenient.

At that time, Qiongzhou had a small population, but the proportion of overseas Chinese was the highest. Isolated from the political, economic, and cultural centers of China, dynasties regarded it as a "wild land" and a place of exile for "rebellious" people. Plus "Hainan miasma." It's embarrassing to chase customers". As a result, the degree of development has always lagged behind, and its economic development has lagged behind the national average.

Obviously, it is precisely because of such conditions and environment that both the Manchu rulers and the revolutionaries did not pay enough attention to Qiongzhou. Historically, several uprisings of the League were concentrated in the coastal areas of Guangdong and Guangxi, with Guangdong being the most numerous. But Guangdong is precisely the Qing army more. A heavily defended land. On the other hand, in Qiongzhou, there is only one Qiongya Guarded Road. By the time of the Xinhai Revolution, the five battalions of the Qing army under its jurisdiction were also old-style patrol battalions, which were acceptable for local security, but they were not even touched by the side of the new army.

Besides, can the Guangdong naval division of the Manchu Qing Dynasty become a huge obstacle to the transportation of personnel and materials by sea? After analysis and research, Chen Wenqiang believes that there are obstacles, but if they are huge, they are not so serious.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, China's maritime military power was divided into four divisions according to the region, and they were the Fujian Naval Division, the Nanyang Naval Division, the Beiyang Naval Division, and the Guangdong Naval Division. According to their respective areas, the defense areas of these naval fleets are the Fujian Naval Division, which defends the waters of Fujian Province and the Taiwan Strait; The Nanyang Navy Division is on guard against the sea surface in Jiangsu and Zhejiang; The Beiyang Naval Division guarded the vast sea area between the Shandong Peninsula and the Liaodong Peninsula, defending Gyeonggi with the strongest strength among the four fleets.

Guangdong is bordered by the South China Sea, and although the sea area under its jurisdiction is the most vast, the strength of the naval division is the weakest among these fleets, because the Qing Dynasty's national defense policy at that time was to emphasize the north over the south.

The other three fleets were all funded by the imperial court, but the Guangdong Naval Division did not have it, and all the funds for the addition of ships to the Guangdong Naval Division were raised by the Guangdong Province itself. Therefore, the Guangdong naval division was short of funds because of the lack of silver, and although the number of ships under its jurisdiction was considerable, they were small and chaotic, and could only act on inland rivers and near the coast, and had no ability to fight in the ocean. It is still useful for anti-smuggling and theft, but it is beyond its power to protect the maritime frontier. From a modern point of view, this is a full-fledged coast guard.

In particular, in the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle, three 1,000-ton cruisers Guangjia, Guangyi, and Guangbing were sunk one after another, and the Guangdong naval division never purchased an ironclad warship equal to or larger than these three ships. Although the number of ships in the Guangdong naval division is nearly 40, most of them are small gunboats and torpedo boats in shallow water on inland rivers, with a total tonnage of only more than 11,000 tons, and their strength is weak.

Obviously, the Guangdong naval division was already very reluctant to maintain the defense of Guangdong's coastal and inland rivers, and it was unable to tightly control the sea surface of Qiongzhou. Although Chen Wenqiang did not want to fight a naval battle with the Qing army, there was a hole to exploit, after all, it was a very pleasant thing.

The preparations were in full swing, ready one by one, and by mid-September, Chen Wenqiang finally embarked on the journey to Qiongzhou.

…………….

The island fades below the horizon, and in front of you is a flat delta with bamboo forests and palm trees on its shore. Ahead, a liner was tossed from side to side by the waves, and large clouds of white smoke were spewed out of the chimney. The steamer quickly overtook and sailed past the town of Humen.

Last year, he was ordered to go back to Qiongzhou for development, and this year he returned to Shanghai to report on the situation, and Li Jiajun, who was Chen Wenqiang's guide, was staring intently at the turbulent water of the Pearl River. He remembered the story his father had told him many times, but he always begged to tell it again.

That was more than 30 years ago, and my father was sitting on a small steamer, also driving on this river. While the boat was moving at full speed, there was a sampan full of miscellaneous goods not far from the center of the river, and the four boatmen were desperately rocking their oars, trying to avoid the big one's channel. Father and the people on deck were expecting a signal to stop or slow down so that the boatmen would have time to row aside.

But there was no signal, the British captain held the rudder in one hand and the accelerator in the other, and when the assistant asked him if he was stopping, he replied "No, keep going." At the sound of exclamation, the ship shook and continued to move forward, and the father walked quickly to the stern of the boat, and saw only one boatman struggling in the water, surrounded by debris. The passengers on board were stunned by the terrible scene, but the sea breeze blew the captain's shout: "Damn, they must learn how to dodge." ”

Li Jiajun always asked his father to tell him this story. As soon as he remembered the tragic situation in the story, he couldn't hold back the anger in his heart. Although it happened before he was born, it has always deepened his hatred of foreigners.

However, he had changed his mind a little now. That is, foreigners are not necessarily bad, some foreigners are still very helpful, and foreigners' guns are indeed good things. For example, the blonde American who is now on the ship, and the German with a beard and glasses......

And these foreigners are all subordinates hired by Chen Wenqiang, at least partners on an equal footing. A Chinese can have foreigners, which makes Li Jiajun both surprised and admired. Thinking of this, Li Jiajun couldn't help but turn his head and take a look.

Chen Wenqiang was looking thoughtfully at the riverbank, where a thick layer of sediment had accumulated, and there were duck keepers standing on the wooden pier, each carrying a few ducks in their hands, looking like they were carrying bunches of white flowers.

Walking with Lin Rongxuan, who contracted the Chaoshan Railway, and went to Guangzhou for a short stop, Chen Wenqiang naturally had his arrangements. At that time, the quickest and easiest way to communicate with Shanghai was the cable telegraph, but this tool was only available in Guangzhou. Therefore, he first had to go to the secret base in Guangzhou to inspect and arrange. Second, he also made an appointment with more important people to meet in Guangzhou, and if the negotiations were successful, he would receive a large amount of research funding.

At first, before his trip to the South Seas, Chen Wenqiang announced that he would develop a new antimalarial drug, in order to make the Dutch suspicious, so that he could buy or rent a small island, and then establish a base on the island to raise troops, train soldiers, and hoard supplies. And the refusal of the Dutch really made him angry, and he decided to work hard to teach the Dutch an unforgettable lesson and break their monopoly on quinine's profiteering.

The fanfare for the development of new drugs for malaria was originally an excuse for the trip to Qiongzhou, but Chen Wenqiang did not expect it to attract the attention of others. And although this person's reputation is not too loud, he is also a rich party, and he has a father who is like thunder. (To be continued.) )