finally squeezed to the edge of the crowd, and Young Master Li saw that the pale face of Slow was surrounded in the middle, arguing with a few Chinese led by something, but looking at that posture, it is estimated that if it weren't for the bodyguards sent to him, he would have been greased on the soles of his feet according to this guy's temper.

Jiang Tianxiu next to him was also sweating profusely, and he tried his best to persuade the other party not to be impatient, and he could go in to talk about something, but this group of people also seemed to be a little timid, although they shouted fiercely, they never dared to enter the company.

"It's okay, it's not about robbing someone's daughter-in-law." In the face of the jerky Hokkien sound, Master Li, who was in the crowd, finally knew something about it with the help of Yan Fu.

It turned out that this guy Slow had finally completed his account of buying Luzon iron ore not long ago, and used the governor's relationship to coax and coax the two largest iron ore mines in Luzon to buy and sell all of them, and also bought off some Spanish garrisons, and under the threat of their bayonets and guns, forced several other small mines on the island to also sell all the raw materials to trading companies, and also set a minimum monthly quantity.

At the beginning, he did not stop the supply to Luzon after purchasing and coercing, but recently the Jinghai Project was launched, and the development of Ryukyu was urgently needed, and in the face of a telegram from the Government Council a few days, he was also a little anxious.

What's even more beneficial is that this guy used the abundant funds on hand to directly wrap up all the iron materials produced in several countries near Luzon, so that the Chinese blacksmith shops on the island can't even buy raw materials.

People are Luoyang paper expensive, but it's good here, pig iron raw materials are not expensive, you can't buy it at all!

In addition, the original control of one of the two major iron mines was originally a well-known Chinese gentry in the local area, and Sloe used some shady means when he bought it, which was recently exposed, so this caused the public anger of these big men who lived on iron making in front of them, and surrounded the company to ask for an explanation.

Just when Li Mo hesitated whether to come forward to make a round and let Sloe open up the supply to Luzon, there was a sudden rush of footsteps behind him, and after a few sharp whistles, dozens of Spanish soldiers in red uniforms scattered along the road, raising their rifles at the shouting of a second lieutenant.

Facing the muzzle of the black hole, the noisy crowd fell silent in the blink of an eye, and some people didn't even dare to breathe, only then did they remember that this Philippine trading company was the property of the Spaniards, with the support of the governor and the army!

Seeing the soldiers who suddenly appeared, Li Mo frowned slightly, in addition to thinking that Slona's guy was really good and could pull the support of the army, he was also shocked by this kind of behavior of the Spanish authorities sending troops at every turn, it stands to reason that this kind of civil dispute is at most a civil dispute, even if it is towards a certain party, it is enough to send the police, and the army is actually dispatched, which shows that the situation in Luzon has been really delicate recently.

The Spanish lieutenant who led the team tossed through the crowd, walked up to Slow, pointed to the surrounding crowd, and shouted as if to say if he should help solve the problem.

Although the guy Sloe was a little annoyed and wanted the second lieutenant to help disperse the crowd, Jiang Tianxiu finally had a sense of the overall situation and quietly pushed Sloe, who reacted again and again and said that it was just some ordinary disputes, and took out a few pesos from his pocket and quietly stuffed them to the other party, and the second lieutenant glared at the crowd a few times, but probably because he was embarrassed to take other people's money, he took the initiative to leave a few soldiers to stand guard, and then withdrew with a large group of people.

As soon as the soldier left, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, a young man of twenty-three or four-year-old walked out of the surrounding crowd, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and sharp eyes, but his cheeks showed more vicissitudes than his peers, such a contrast made Li Mo unforgettable.

I saw him cross the crowd, and instead of looking at Slo, he arched his hand towards Jiang Tianxiu: "Thank you for your help, but I still have something to say." ”

Unexpectedly, his small actions were seen, Jiang Tianxiu was also slightly stunned, and said: "Junior brother Jiang Tianxiu, this brother may as well say it directly, and he must find a way to do it within his duties." ”

"No, you're wrong, my words have nothing to do with duty!" The young man was flamboyant, and he didn't give Jiang Tianxiu any face, and drank: "As a Chinese, far away, it doesn't matter if you don't want to serve the country, you even help foreigners bully us, what is your reason?" ”

Unexpectedly, the man said these things as soon as he opened his mouth, not to mention Jiang Tianxiu, even Li Mo, who was hiding in the distance, was a little surprised, only to see him glaring at several Spanish soldiers standing guard, and continued to reprimand: "Lan Fang Dai Yan, hundreds of thousands of Chinese have been slaughtered, and the court has turned a blind eye.

Over the years, foreigners have repeatedly used the natives to kill our people for no reason, and they have taken it! At this time, our generation needs to unite even more, but you still help foreigners, take away my mine, and cut off my livelihood! What a reason! ”

The young man said excitedly, and the people around him applauded loudly, and suddenly the momentum soared, and the Sloe and Spanish soldiers who couldn't understand the words next to him also became nervous when they saw this scene, but fortunately, Jiang Tianxiu shook his hand and said that it was okay, so he calmed them.

In the face of accusations, Jiang Tianxiu couldn't cry or laugh, he couldn't tell him that he was a staff officer of the Pacific Army, and he was just about to find an excuse to send the young man over, when he suddenly saw Li Mo hiding outside the crowd out of the corner of his eye, and he was so shocked that he almost screamed.

Fortunately, Li Mo shook his head in time, and pointed at the young man who spoke, Jiang Tianxiu immediately understood, and asked, "This brother said it well, I don't know the name of Gao?" ”

The young man was surprised and nodded when he saw Jiang Tianxiu, thinking that he had listened to what he had just said, and the dispersal of the army just now could be regarded as a favor, and it did not cause a catastrophe, and it was also a favor, so he immediately arched his hand and said: "Brother does not dare to be a brother, my surname is Liu, my name is Hengzhen, and the shopkeeper of the blacksmith shop." ”

Liu Hengzhen?!

Hearing the introduction, Li Mo twisted his eyebrows violently, where did he seem to have heard this name?

Without waiting for Young Master Li to remember where he had seen this name, Liu Hengyun saw that Jiang Tianxiu's side seemed to listen to him, and said: "Everyone was a little excited just now, and they were offended, but I still hope that you can persuade your family not to monopolize the iron business." And. Speaking of this, he glanced at the soldiers and Sloe around him, and seeing that they couldn't understand his words, he lowered his voice and said, "Look at your appearance, you have also drunk foreign ink, why do you want to be a foreigner's dog's leg?" If you really have the heart, why not go to Hawaii? ”

"To Hawaii?"

Jiang Tianxiu was surprised, could it be that this was sent by the young master to secretly collect talents in Luzon? Why wouldn't I know?! But without waiting for him to ask, Liu Hengzhen beckoned everyone to leave one step earlier.

Seeing that the crowd was gradually dispersed, Li Mo immediately glanced at Duan Fei, who understood and immediately led two people to quietly follow Liu Hengyun's back and chased after him-

The night in Luzon is so different from that of Hawaii, although both places have a tropical climate, Luzon is more muggy than Hawaii, and mosquitoes and flies disturb people's dreams.

I have been in Luzon for two days, and my mood is getting better and better.

Spain is indeed old, the monitoring of this resource-rich land is not as good as before, there are riots from time to time in various places, the local colonial officials are not thinking about how to continue to rule, but taking the opportunity to make money and expropriate violently, but this also gives Slow the opportunity to expand dramatically, in just two years, with the power of the Spanish colonial political axe, almost infiltrated into all industries, just the two iron mines are enough to make Master Li smile from ear to ear, not to mention the rubber planting plan that is advancing rapidly.

Luzon is a treasure trove of land, but the Spanish colonial authorities have occupied it for hundreds of years, but it has not been fully utilized, and there is little decent investment in construction except for the large-scale development of sugar cane and tobacco leaves.

If it weren't for the need to provide some maintenance for the Far East Fleet stationed here, a small shipyard was built in the port of Manila, and it is estimated that there would be no trace of heavy industry.

Sugar cane is a baby, tobacco is a baby, and rubber is a baby!

But compared with these things, Li Mo values the rich mineral resources here, and the excellent geographical environment, if he can control here, plus the occupied Ryukyu, Ogasawara Islands and the secretly controlled Guam, the entire Philippine Sea will become Master Li's private garden, even if he wants to expand the navy on a large scale, but he will also face the danger that the warship will not be able to return home!

Thinking of this, Li Mo even had an impulse to send a telegram to Chen Ping and the others now, and mobilize an army to take here!

But he also knows that behind the huge temptation, there are often hidden dangers, and if they are launched rashly before Cuba has done it, it will only make Spain, which has not yet completely aged, clench its fists.

Even if the Spanish fleet is defeated, it will also bring great trouble on land, not to mention how much inconvenience the sultry weather will bring to military operations, just the logistics and armaments of the Pacific Army are still weak, so he has to carefully consider the price of taking Luzon at this time, once there is a situation where excessive consumption occurs here, it will affect the already imminent war against the enemy, not to mention the crisis that Tsarist Russia may bring!

After all, it's still too weak!

Beside him, Duan Fei also seemed to feel the young master's eagerness, and spoke quickly with the information he had just gotten: "Liu Hengzhen, the word Tuqiong, is twenty-three years old. ”

"At the age of eighteen, he came to Manila with his uncle Liu Yuan to make a living, and then learned the trade in his uncle's blacksmith shop, and later ran the sea with a boat, sold timber, and now runs a blacksmith shop himself."

On the wide balcony, while listening to the investigation information brought back by Duan Fei, Li Mo tapped the ground with his toes, and with his movements, the rattan chair under him made a creaking sound.

Yan Fu also pulled a reclining chair, shook the fan, and half-closed his eyes seemed to be recuperating.

"Although he didn't read much, he was diligent and studious in his spare time, not only proficient in Spanish, but also fluent in Filipino, and usually loved to study, not long ago, in order to improve the efficiency of the blacksmith shop, he also specially bought some forging machines from the French, and now there are nearly 100 people under his hands to eat."

"And this person is also very good at franchising, taking advantage of the opportunity to provide iron tools for major plantations, and got acquainted with many local Chinese gentry, and it is said that even Su Kaishan, the richest Chinese in Luzon, has a good personal relationship with him."

"Not only did he make friends with the Chinese, but he also had a pretty good reputation among the local gentry, and according to some of the information we initially found, it is possible that he also knew how to mix gunpowder and cast mountain cannons." Duan Fei put down the information in his hand, raised his head and raised his voice: "There may also be contact with the local rebel army." ”

"Gunpowder? Forge mountain cannons! Li Mo put down his feet suddenly, and the swinging rocking chair also stopped abruptly. Even Yan Fu, who closed his eyes and recuperated, stopped shaking the fan all of a sudden, and a cold glow flashed in his eyelids opening and closing.

"It's a character!" Yan Fu nodded and praised: "With a small iron-making skill, he can get to know so many characters, which shows that he is quite scheming and his methods are slick enough." If he really knows how to mix gunpowder and cast mountain cannons, I am afraid that his friendship with the local private army is not as simple! In my opinion, I am afraid that what happened yesterday was also concocted by him, and he may also see that Tianxiu was able to persuade Sloe to drive away the Spanish army, thinking that he should be Mr. Sloe's henchman, and finally deliberately stood up to leave a good impression on Tianxiu! ”

"This kind of person!" Yan Fu paused, and only took a breath after half a sound: "It's best if you can use it, if you can't, young master." ”

Yan Fu didn't finish speaking, but Li Mo understood what he meant, a person who has a good relationship with Chinese businessmen and locals, and most importantly, has a very good relationship with those revolutionary armies, and also knows how to mix gunpowder, manufacture ordnance, and maybe secretly supply arms to them, if they can't use it, then it will be a big trouble to stay!

But there is one thing Li Mo is very confused, if this person really has this scheming, why did he persuade Tianxiu to go to Hawaii in the end? Moreover, why does this person's name always feel familiar?

It seems that I have seen this name somewhere, but where is it?

After pondering and meditating hard and not recalling hearing this name there, Young Master Li decided to meet him directly, and immediately said, "Duan Fei, you send someone to invite Liu Hengzhen tomorrow, I want to meet him." ”

"Young master, I'm afraid it won't work." Duan Fei smiled bitterly: "Last night, Liu Hengzhen took the boat out to sea, and told others that he went to Malaysia to buy pig iron. ”

"Went to Malaysia?" Li Mo sighed, do you really want to pass by this guy? At this time, a sound of gentle footsteps came from outside, and I saw Jiang Tianxiu quickly come to his side and hand over a telegram: "Young master, the Nighthawk has sent news that it has caught the pirate's tail, and is currently heading to Palawan Island, waiting for follow-up troops to support." ”

"Palawan?"

"Palawan is located between Luzon and Malay, the terrain is long and narrow, the mountains are high and the forests are dense, and there are many indigenous tribes.

"Wait, you just said Palawan is there?"

Before Jiang Tianxiu could finish his introduction, he was interrupted by Li Mo, and hurriedly repeated: "Between Luzon and Malay, it is the natural dividing line between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea, from the geographical location. ”

Li Mo didn't listen to Jiang Tianxiu's introduction at all, and when he heard the word Malay, his eyes lit up suddenly, and he turned his head to look at Yan Fu, and found that the other party was also full of shock.

Wenxiu took people to Palawan, and Liu Hengzhen also said that he was going to Malaysia, so will their goals be.

"Pirate's Lair!"

Yan Fu and Duan Fei said their guesses at the same time!

(To be continued)