Chapter Twenty-Three: A Visitor to a Desert Island

Yunguam is an isolated island, and after the town troops stationed on Yunguam are withdrawn, only some fishermen will occasionally visit this isolated island and come to fish on this isolated island.

Yun Guam is named after the clouds that often cover the island, and the first thing He Teng Xiao saw on Yun Guam was the dense clouds above the island.

In winter, the sea ice is strong, and there is no need to take a boat, He Tengxiao and his party directly stepped on the sea ice and landed on Yunguam Island on foot.

There are few people on the island, and in the early years there were more than a dozen fishermen living on the island. As the Japanese became more and more violent, Yunguam Island, which is located in the inland sea of the Bohai Sea, was not spared, and there are two recorded cases of Japanese pirates landing on Yunguam.

Walking through the bushy lowlands, He Tengxiao reached the top of the island. The altitude of Yunguam Island is not high, and the highest point is only about fifty or sixty meters above sea level. There is a pier platform built on the top of Yunguam Island, and there are several decadent barracks next to the pier platform, which should be the military camp that was stationed in the town army of Yunguam Island before, depending on the scale of the barracks, the town army stationed in Yunguam Island before the abandonment of Yunguam Island should have about three to four hundred household teams.

The bottom end of the pier is made of bluestone strips, which is very strong. After more than 200 years of wind and rain, it still stands proudly on the island, but the vicissitudes left by the years are difficult to erase, and the whole pier looks mottled.

Ling Feng lifted a half-foot-long stone and smashed it at the pier, leaving only a shallow smash on the wall.

"This pier is so strong, no worse than the fort wall of our Pingshan Fort." Ling Feng touched the shallow marks left by the stone on the wall and sighed.

Military fortifications built on islands also need to take into account the factors of wind and waves, and a large number of stone materials are used to build military installations. Military fortifications on islands are generally more fortified than those on the mainland.

"Someone has been here." Zhang Yuyang brushed aside the snow under his feet, revealing swarthy charcoal. It seems that someone has already taken the lead.

"There's that too." Evergreen crouched down, brushed away the snow, and pointed to the carbon trail on the ground.

"It seems that what He Shihu said is true, and indeed many people have already set their sights on Cloud Guam." He Tengxiao looked at the clouds above his head and said.

"Whether it is the Huang family or He Shizhong's refusal to have clouds, Guam is very unfavorable for us." Zhang Yuyang said that Yunguam is the only island in the waters around it, and whoever controls Yunguam can monitor every move in the waters near Yunguam. Shi Yufeng delivered private iron to He Tengxiao, and the sea area near Yunguan Island was the only way for them, and they couldn't get around it if they wanted to.

He Tengxiao climbed to the top of the pier, where he could see the entire Yunguam Island. The circumference of the island is about nine kilometers, and the area is roughly estimated to be six or seven square kilometers. The island is uninhabited all year round, full of bushes, and there is a small grove in the east windward. If you look closely, you can see several straw huts around the grove that have been roof off by the sea breeze.

"How many people will it take to re-run this small island? How many silver taels? He Tengxiao blew the sea breeze and stared at the frozen sea.

"A lot of the facilities on the island are sturdy and can be used with a little bit of repair, and that alone can save a lot of silver. The islands can also be used for fishing, and in some places, the land may be fertilized and grain can be grown. Zhang Yuyang said, "As long as we have the support of He Shihu, we can also build a dock here." ”

He Tengxiao nodded, "Building a small wharf on Yunguan Island will not only facilitate our access to private railways, but also allow us to purchase products from the Liaodong region and sell them to the mainland to make profits." Such a good place, the imperial court is willing to abandon it. ”

"What do you mean by a thousand households to run Cloud Guam?" Zhang Yuyang's eyes lit up.

"Whether it is the Huang family or He Shizhong, or the imperial court sending the Qin army to Yunguam Island, they can choke our throats. To take control of our own destiny, we must preemptively occupy Unguam and build Fort Hirayama into a formidable fortress in a short time. He Tengxiao said, "If we have this island, even if the southeast half of Liaoning can't be kept in the future, we can retreat to Yunguan Island and survive." ”

Zhang Yuyang digested what He Tengxiao said, but he didn't expect He Tengxiao to think so far.

"Even if we have the old facilities on the island that we can use, I am afraid that it will be difficult for us to manage this island with our current financial resources." Ling Feng interjected. He Tengxiao has just made some progress in running Pingshan Fort, and if he starts to run Yunguam again, I am afraid that he will not be able to do it.

Ling Feng's worries were not unreasonable, the reconstruction of Pingshan Fort and the soldiers' salaries had already cost He Tengxiao more than 10,000 taels of silver, and He Tengxiao now had only seven or eight thousand taels of silver on hand. Seven or eight thousand taels of silver, even if all of them were invested in Yunguam Island, it would not be enough. Pingshan Fort will not be harvested until the autumn harvest in September at least, and if it really waits until September, others will probably have a firm foothold on Yunguam Island.

"Can you borrow some from General He?" Chang Qing interjected on the side.

He Tengxiao shook his head, "Second Uncle is also short of silver, even if we borrow it, we can't borrow much." ”

"Someone!" Ling Feng pointed to the beach to the east, and a dozen people walked to the grass hut by the grove after going to the island.

Who will land on the island at this time? What are these people here for? He Tengxiao waved his hand and motioned for his people to get off the platform, those people had not yet discovered that He Tengxiao and they were also on the island, and He Tengxiao could observe them in the dark.

He Tengxiao only brought seven people to the island in disguise in order to hide people's eyes, but these seven people were all veterans of the Xiao Cavalry Battalion, and two of them were still scouts, and they were all among the best elites in a hundred battles.

"They haven't discovered us yet, there is a small forest on the east side of the island, we can sneak over and hide in the forest to observe them secretly." He Tengxiao took seven people to sneak down the mountain. When approaching the grass shed, He Tengxiao ordered to lie down and not move.

"Yuze, you come with me to see how many of them there are and what they are doing." He Tengxiao said to a soldier.

Xiao Yuze replied softly, and the two quietly touched the grass shed. Xiao Yuze is a scout in the Xiao Cavalry Battalion, scouts are his old profession, and it is a trivial matter for him to spy on the enemy.

"It's a bad day, the waves almost tossed us all overboard." A hoarse voice came from the crowd, and through the gap in the grass shed, He Tengxiao saw that these dozen people were dressed in strong suits, with wrist guards on their wrists, and four or five of them were too muscular, and their clothes were bulging. At a glance, you can see that it is a practitioner.

"Qian Laosan, close your crow's mouth, there are three long and two short in the world, let's throw you into the sea to feed the fish." A big man with a beard said in a voice like a bell, and glanced at Qian Laosan contemptuously.

Qian Laosan was reprimanded and didn't dare to say more, as if the bearded man would really throw him into the sea to feed the fish.

"Let the brothers warm up what they brought and eat some of them, and then we'll explore the situation here." 'Shizi' said.

After He Tengxiao confirmed that the surroundings were safe, he motioned for the rest of the people to come up together. These people were completely unaware of the presence of another group of people on the island. It may be that I haven't met anyone on the island a few times before, and I have subconsciously thought that there will be no other people on this isolated island, otherwise I wouldn't be stupid enough to start a fire just after I got on the island.

In order to avoid startling the snake, He Tengxiao didn't call everyone, but just ordered Ling Feng, Zhang Yuyang, and Chang Qing to grope up a little.

"Lord Shizi, this island is really so important." The bearded man handed a ball of hot roasted dry food to the 'Shizi', who took the dry food and ate it with a mouthful of water.

In the towns of Liaodong, there are not many people who are qualified to be called the prince of the world. Except for the prince of Liao, Song Yuli, the king of Liaoyang, only the sons of the four major families of Liaodong are qualified to be called the princes.

Song Yuli, the king of Liao, fell into the vassal and returned to Beijing, the Yu family descended to Liao, and the remnants of the Wu family were scattered in the area north of Gaizhou. It is impossible for the descendants of these three families to land on the island, since they are not from these three families, the rest of the situation can only be the son of the Huang family in Liaoxi, or a certain son of the He family.

"The old immortal of the He family will not live long, and if the old immortal of the He family dies, the He family will inevitably be in chaos." The 'prince' said, "If our Huang family can occupy this island, we can garrison troops here when the He family is in civil strife, so as to deter the He family and directly interfere in the He family's family affairs." ”

Listening to what the 'prince' said, He Tengxiao can be sure that this 'son' is a certain 'son' of the Huang family in western Liaoning, and the Huang family has a good calculation, and now they already have the idea of meddling in the family affairs of the He family.

"The key is that we have to make a good move in Guam." A medium-sized man said, "The three brothers of the He family are not compatible, He Fangxiong is clinging to the clan power, and on the day of his He Fangxiong's lifetime, the He family can barely maintain the surface peace. As long as He Fangxiong dies, the contradictions that the three brothers of the He family have suppressed for many years will inevitably break out. At that time, as long as my Huang family can present soldiers on this island, no matter which one we support, it will have a great impact on who will be the head of the He family in the future. ”

The breaking of the border of the Liao army broke the delicate balance of the four great families in eastern Liao, and now the strength of the four great families is relatively well preserved, and only the Huang family in western Liaoning and the He family in southeast Liaoning are relatively well preserved. The Huang family was basically unscathed in the Liaodong War, and the strength was the most intact, and the He family lost the He family's proud Xiaocai battalion in the Battle of Yingzhou, but then Wu Tingzhen's remnants of the Wu clan joined the He family to make up for the losses caused to the He family by the fall of the Xiaocai battalion to a certain extent. Now the two can be said to be half a pound and eight taels in terms of strength.

However, the head of the Huang family, King Pingliao, is in his early fifties and is in the prime of life, while the head of the He family, He Fangxiong, is too old and is already in his last years. In terms of cohesion, the cohesion of the He family is obviously not as good as that of the Huang family. If the people of the Huang family really get involved in Yunguam and then intervene in the inheritance issue within the He family, Liaodong will form a situation in which the Huang family dominates in the future.

"Sir's right." 'Shizi' nodded and said, to be able to be commensurate with Mr., this person who does not look amazing is naturally different from others, "At that time, whether we directly interfere in the family affairs of the He family, or the internal friction of the three brothers of the He family, the strength of the He family will be greatly weakened, the He family will be weakened, and there will be no family members in Liaodong who can sit on an equal footing with my Huang family." At that time, I think Wu Tingzhen will also regret that he chose to vote for the He family instead of my Huang family. ”

"Shizi, what I'm most worried about is the pseudo-Liao." The man who was called Mr. said worriedly, "If one day in the future, the puppet Liao will occupy Liaodong, and with the strength of my Huang family, it will definitely not be the opponent of the puppet Liao country. ”

"As long as we have enough strength, whether it is serving Zhao or serving Liao, there will always be a place for us in Liaodong." 'Shizi' said indifferently.