It was the morning of December 27, 1901.

On the banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai.

Even the cloudy sky seemed to suddenly clear, the snow had stopped, and the blue sky was filled with a few piles of white clouds in the shape of cotton wool. The western-style buildings on the Bund stand amidst the noise. Nanjing Road, Longhai Road,...... Pedestrians are pouring like a tide to the banks of the Huangpu River.

The Huangpu River, with its turbid waters, giant ships with star-striped flags and rice-shaped flags, dull whistles, and thick smoke wafting from several factories in Pudong that have already started...... The docks were crowded with people of all colors. Suits and leather shoes, robes and coats all crowded to this pier, where people's shouts could be heard from time to time, and occasionally there were cries when parting with relatives, and even some young people who stayed abroad could be seen kneeling in front of their fathers, kowtowing with serious expressions.

What is in the high hall, the son does not swim, but the words of national worries come out of their mouths.

For the Chinese, the signing of the "Xin Ugly and the Peace Treaty of Various Countries" 100 days ago, the first one or two of the first person counted 450,000 taels of reparations, like heavy ears, even the most conservative old pedant knew that if it were not for staying abroad to become strong, I was afraid that the country would really be destroyed, and the wave of studying abroad was far worse than in previous years.

At about nine o'clock, a black and white carriage squeezed into the dock amid the crowd of people seeing them off. After the carriage stopped, three women and three men came down from the black carriage, and six people from different places at home and abroad came down from the white carriage, and three people, one man and two women, wearing a Western-style gauze hat and wearing a blue Confucian skirt and a velvet placket, looked a little conspicuous on the crowded dock.

"It's Boss Chen and Mrs. Chen of the industrial company!"

Two of the three were recognized at once. At this time, Chen Moran's name was already a household name in Shanghai, and the wedding turmoil made Ji Li famous in Shanghai, married a British aristocratic lady, and in the words of others, "fought for Chinese men". Next to the two of them, it was Catherine.

At this time, Chen Moran and Ji Li were close to each other, and they whispered their thoughts of parting, and the two of them looked like they were close to others, which only made the people on the dock speechless, and it was okay for this foreign lady to arrive, but the boss of this industrial company was also like this, so it was inevitable that he would not be ...... However, I was relieved that this Boss Chen had not also returned from abroad.

"Write to me when you get there!"

Caressing Ji Li's smooth and delicate face like a baby, Chen Moran gently kissed away the tears from the corners of her eyes, even if she was going to go by herself, when she could leave soon, she still shed tears.

"Then you have to write to me too!"

Holding her husband in her hand, Ji Li murmured softly, she was reluctant to leave here, but she couldn't help but go.

Catherine looked at the intimacy and reluctance of these two people, but her heart was a mixture, Chen Moran had no money, and it may be a secret to the outside world. But Catherine knew that he really had no money, and just a few days ago, he finally emptied his account at Huisheng Bank, and the deposit of up to $10 million was transferred from Huisheng to Citigroup, and that was the capital that Ji Li brought to Mexico.

"When you get there, you have to pay attention to your body, you know?"

When Chen Moran and Ji Li were saying goodbye to each other, Catherine, who was standing next to her, was there and told an old man who looked like an old servant.

"Morel, you have to take good care of Ji Li, understand?"

As the old butler of the Stirling family, even after the decline and bankruptcy of the Stirling family, Morel has always been by their sisters' side, and in Catherine's opinion, he is the person she trusts the most, and she will only feel more at ease if he follows her sister.

"Yes! Miss Catherine, I hope you take good care of yourself here! ”

Wearing an English top hat, Morel said calmly that from England to China, and from China to Mexico, he had become accustomed to guarding the two young ladies of the Stirling family.

The whistle sounded, and it was the last whistle to urge people to get on board. Wiped the tears from the corners of Ji Li's eyes with his thumb for the last time, looking at her Chen Moran was reluctant to do anything, but there was no way, he was almost destitute, after emptying the emergency account of 10 million US dollars, in addition to transferring 5 million US dollars to the usual account, he even did not hesitate to risk printing 5 million US dollars and put it in the accompanying luggage.

"Ressa, take care of Madame, understand?"

Casting his eyes on Ressa, Chen Moran's expression was full of please, Ressa will go to Mexico with Ji Li.

Ressa nodded, opening her mouth again but not saying anything.

"Jialiang, protect Madame!"

The hint of please, in the young master's eyes, only made Zhu Jialiang have the courage to do whatever it takes.

"Young master, Jia Liang and his brothers will live up to the young master's trust, please rest assured, the brothers will not hesitate to protect the lady's safety!"

Nodding, Chen Moran didn't say anything more, another whistle, and finally Ji Li and his party still stepped on the gangway of the first class, and the other nineteen entourages had already boarded the ship, but sixteen of them were in the middle class, although this is an American ship, Chinese can also buy first-class tickets, but only four people are in the first-class cabin to protect Ji Li.

When the "Mary Cruise" is about to set off, the shouts converge into a heat wave on the wharf, the Mary Cruise Ship docked at the wharf, the bow is full of colorful flags, red, yellow, green, purple, fluttering in the breeze, and the blue is empty, mixed with the yellow river, complement each other, the scene is spectacular.

"Whew!"

A long whistle from the Mary whistle was the whistle of the departure. On the river and at the nearby docks, several freighters and passenger ships also sounded their whistles, which was a tradition to see off the Mary.

Sun Xiyun, who was standing on the side of the board, looked at the wharf to see off his family, and two lines of hot tears poured out of his cheeks like spring water. Half a year ago, she didn't expect that one day she would embark on a cruise ship and leave her parents to study in the East, but now? In order to ask for her father's consent, after three days of hunger strike, her father finally agreed to her studying in the East.

Her eyes were cast on the other side of the dock, he didn't come to see off himself, he came to see off his wife, where is his wife going? Is it to the United States? Why do you have to make this ship? Sun Xiyun, who was in tears, only felt annoyed, but in the end, he let out a helpless sigh.

He is already married, and he has a beautiful foreign daughter-in-law with British aristocratic blood, why should he be thought of? Despite the thought in his heart, the teary eyes couldn't help but look at the man waving at the boat.

Did he see me? Are you waving at yourself?

Just as Sun Xiyun was about to feel a burst of joy in her heart, she heard a shout from the side, how many times did the person shout the name that appeared in her dream, and when she turned her head, couldn't it be his beautiful foreign daughter-in-law?

When the boat left the dock, looking at the faded figure, Ji Li wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and her heart was full of parting pain, and she turned her head, but saw a Chinese doll-like girl who was also tearful, but was as delicate as pear blossoms and rain.

"Miss Sun!"

Ji Li, who met an acquaintance on the ship, was just happy, "Miss Ji Li! ”

Sun Xiyun, who was seen, smiled helplessly, but did not call out Mrs. Chen.

After more than ten years of wind and rain erosion, the Mary looks old. The turbid waters of the Huangpu River swirl and rush through its sides.

Chen Moran, who was standing on the dock, waved to the boat as frequently as the people who saw him off, and he did not know that his wife had met an acquaintance on the boat.

At this moment, Chen Moran's mood was a little excited, even a little excited, but it was also very heavy, and it could even be said to be tragic.

Finally, the figure of the Mary cruise ship blurred, and the people on the dock began to disperse, and when he turned around to get into the carriage, Chen Moran stood again, looked back at the blurred shadow of the ship on the Huangpu River, and couldn't help but sigh lightly, and Catherine looked at his appearance, and originally wanted to say something, but stopped at this time.

"May God bless, Ji Li is safe there!"

After getting into the carriage, Chen Moran closed his eyes and muttered in his heart, he also knew that for him, it was time to restrain his children, and now Ji Li went to Mexico for his dream, and for him, perhaps the most important thing was to do his own thing.

On the first night of the new year, an iron-hulled steamship of more than 100 tons on the sea was spewing black smoke on the sea, and when the stinging sea breeze blew, Chen Moran, who was standing on the lookout, couldn't help but wrap his coat and take a look at Shengshan Island with a telescope.

Chen Moran looked at the soldiers on the deck who were preparing to attack, the troops who were temporarily withdrawn all looked eager to try, and the ruthlessness in their eyes when they were preparing only made people's hearts chill.

"Xianghuai does not train officers, Beiyang trains also trains officers, but now we only have soldiers."

Xiao Xinren said beside him, the unit in front of him did not have any officers, but relied on the elected squad leader to temporarily act as the squadron leader.

"Everything has to be done slowly, in March, we will graduate from the first phase of Whampoa, and then our training base will be selected on this Shengshan Island, pulling out two hundred cadet officers from the first phase, here we still have more than 500 non-commissioned officers, a veteran with three or four recruits, so that not only the shelves will be erected, but also leave time for those cadet officers to adapt, after half a year of training, the officers who were originally unfamiliar with the command are familiar with the company and platoon tactics, not to mention, but also can pick out the outstanding ones for further promotion!"

As Chen Moran spoke, twelve Western-style wooden boats were put down by the steamboat, each boat had eleven people, exactly one shift, the wooden boat went out to sea, let him hit the waves on the wooden boat, the soldiers on the boat rowed with all their might, the dark wooden boat was just a black shadow on the sea, and when they approached the island, the expressions of the people on the boat who were not selected became a little anxious.

When the wooden boat arrived on the shore, the icy sea water overflowed the leather boots and soaked into the boots, which only made people gasp, and Wei Ze, who was walking in the front with a rifle and a pistol in his right hand, gestured behind him.

"Silence!"

Although it was darkness that could not be seen, after everyone wanted to see Wei Ze's gesture, they lowered their breath, or held their rifles, or held their pistols, formed several triangular formations, and slowed down towards the slope, not fast, but very cautious. Ten minutes later, a grass hut on the mountain beam appeared in Wei Ze's sight, it was a sentry post, a dozen gestures.

Two people rushed out of the triangular formation behind him, with guns in their sleeves and bayonets in their hands, and after quietly approaching the sentry post, only a few small screams were heard, and the people on the sentry were eliminated.

Standing on the mountain beam and looking down, as expected, the bandit cave built along the mountain in a bay sheltered from the wind and sun came into view. Like the villages on the islands, the bandit cave also chose a semi-circular bay sheltered from the wind, most of the houses were grass huts, only a few stone houses, and the lights in the houses had long since been extinguished because it was late at night.

"Captain, don't stay alive!"

He Xiuliang, who was on one knee and staring at the bandit's hole, asked softly.

"The instructor said that he killed this group of bandits for the exam! In my opinion! Let's take them all."

With a gesture of his hand, He Xiuliang's eyes showed some ruthlessness.

His suggestion didn't surprise him, and he looked around.

"Brothers, what do you think!"

"Anyway, it's just a group of pirates who do all kinds of evil, kill them all, and you will be treated as eliminating harm for the people!"

The eleven squad leaders around him nodded their heads one after another, their eyes full of eagerness and even expectation, the sins they suffered on Hell Island had already made them cruel and ferocious. When a sheep under the whip becomes a wolf, it will only be more ferocious than a wolf.

Wei Ze nodded, and arranged the offensive echelon softly, the reason why Oscar, Rudolph and others chose him to command was mainly because he had been a studio chief, and he always had some experience.

"Use bayonets as much as you can!"

In the end, he gave an explanation, and the people who were lying on the mountain beam were divided into three groups and rushed towards the bandit cave built by the mountain from three directions.

"Worried about them?"

Xiao Xinren's question only made Chen Moran shake his head.

"I'm not worried about our people, I'm worried about those pirates!"

His words only made Xiao Xinren's face full of puzzlement.

"Our people have been tortured on the training ground for several months, and after being forced out of their beast surname, it is a group of beasts that have been suppressed from the beast surname, and now they are released from the cage, you and I both know what this group of people who are now more than ferocious will do, I dare to say ......"

"They won't stay alive!"

Xiao Xinren's face changed, and he understood Chen Moran's worries.

"It's not just pirates ...... there"

These pirates were more fishermen than pirates, and although they could be described as vicious, there were certainly not only pirates but perhaps their families in the den of bandits.

"It's just a military exercise!"

Chen Moran's eyes were cold, and he held on to the railing of the ship's side.

"The reason why I didn't say anything was to see if they had any bottom lines, I said, we soldiers only need to grasp a few bottom lines, I just want to see where their bottom line is!"

This is testing the bottom line with human life!

Xiao Xinren's heart was shocked, but he opened his mouth and didn't say anything, he knew the price of doing this, and he also knew the meaning of doing this. This army has to maintain some bottom lines.

What's the bottom line? The bottom line of people's surnames!

The deathly silence of Shengshan Island in the curtain was suddenly broken by the sound of gunfire, and the next moment the gunfire was loud, listening to the faintly audible gunshots, Chen Moran's heart was twisted into a small handful, and the hearts of everyone on the same boat were twisted into a small group, Oscar, Rudolph and others were also nervously listening to the gunshots in the air, looking at Shengshan Island a hundred meters away like a beast lying on the sea.

Suddenly, in the twilight, a fire broke out on the slope of the bay of Shengshan Island, like a crouching beast on the sea, first a few clouds, and then half of the mountain burned, it was the flame when the grass house was ignited, and after a few seconds, two green signal flares dragged the smoke dragon into the night sky.

The flare only made Oscar's face smile, which is a sign of success.

"Mr. Chen, I think we can go check the results!"

Chen Moran nodded, and the steaming iron ship began to move towards the bay.

At the same time, on Shengshan Island, Wei Ze, who was pale, stared at the two brothers who were being held back.

The sneak attack was originally very smooth, but after finding women and children in the house, things changed, although the big guy had long been eager to kill a few people to relieve his anger, but he really killed those women and children, and not everyone really did it, the sneak attack became a strong attack, most of these pirates had some earthen guns, big knives and other things, and it was okay to scare the people, and when they encountered this group of people who pounced like wolves and ghosts from hell, they immediately softened, not to mention that they still had foreign guns in their hands.

I thought that the officers and soldiers would kill them, but after the bag of cigarettes, they knelt down and surrendered, and the battle went smoothly, but the problem was ...... looked at the two ragged women who were crying not far away, and then looked at the two brothers, who couldn't walk when they saw the woman, although they didn't make a big mistake, but ...... Thinking of the military regulations in the camp, he sighed in his heart, and clenched his hand holding the gun.

took two steps forward, and met the eyes of the two brothers, Wei Ze lowered his waist.

"I'm sorry, brother, the military rules are like a mountain!"

As soon as the words fell, before the two of them could speak, the cold danger in his eyes raised his hand and two shots, and the burning flame was restored in the middle of the mountain, and everyone looked at the two corpses that fell softly, and most of the pirates and women and children who surrendered looked at this scene in disbelief, although the two pulled the woman into the house, but they were stopped before they could succeed, which would have lost their lives.

The more than 100 people with guns around were not shocked by this scene, although they were a little sympathetic when they looked at the two corpses, but they looked like they were taken for granted.

"Class 7 out!"

Wei Ze let out a deep sigh, and nine people stood up, and as soon as they stood up, the guns were taken down by the people around them, and they knew exactly what would happen next.

"One person is wrong, the whole class is dangling, silver plunders women, kill! The whole class will be flogged fifty times to set an example! Execute! ”

When they stepped on Shengshan Island by boat, Chen Moran and his entourage were greeted by nine people who were being executed on the beach, with their hands and feet on the ground, holding their buttocks, "Forty, forty-one......

The snapping of sticks on the buttocks echoed across the beach, accompanied by a muffled grunt of pain.

(To be continued)