Eight Northern Ocean people

  "Master, Mr. Long and Mr. Chen have arrived."

  Outside the door, Zhao Long's voice broke the silence. He waved his hand to signal Xiao Yatou to retreat first. After thinking for a moment, Li Mo suddenly pulled out the command knife from the wall and placed it on the table before saying, "Please come in."

  Actually, after clearing out all the foreigners, according to Long Guozhang's way of thinking, he wanted to throw these people into the sea and think of a way to sail back. But he didn't expect that Chen Ping would stop him and insisted on waiting for Li Mo to wake up before saying anything.

  Helpless, Long Guozhang could only endure and tied up a group of foreigners on the deck to catch the wind. After much difficulty, they finally waited until morning to see Xiaoqiao go fetch food, and then hastily pulled Chen Ping over.

  As soon as he entered the house, Long Guozhang first saw the command knife on the table. The sunlight shining through the porthole reflected on the knife, making it exceptionally bright. He couldn't help but feel surprised, wondering if this Mr. Li liked to play with knives early in the morning?

  "Brother Long, Brother Chen, please take a seat."

  Li Mo's words broke Long Guozhang's train of thought, and he was about to pull Chen Ping down to sit and talk, but the latter suddenly grabbed the long knife, flicked his index finger, "ding", and the blade emitted a clear dragon hum.

  "Good sword."

  "It's a good sword, unfortunately it didn't come in handy." Li Mo smiled slightly, his eyes fixed on Chen Ping. In fact, he had already seen from the continuous exchange between Long Guo Zhang and Chen Ping last night that the one who really made the decisions was probably this person.

  "It seems that Young Master Li Mo has recognized us!" Chen Pinghu's eyes lit up, and his hand gripping the knife tightened suddenly.

  "Got it! Don't know either." Li Mou munched on two mouthfuls of bread. "Damn, the black bread these days is really hard to eat." After cursing the baker, he continued: "Know, because my father was the commander of the Jinzhou Weihan Eight Banners, so I've seen the naval uniforms on all of you. Don't know, it's just that from the few of you with cloud and longevity on your sleeves, all holding important positions, why would you end up here."

  "Is the commander of the Golden State Guards?" Chen Ping furrowed his brow, thinking for a moment before suddenly asking in a hasty tone: "Could it be that Mr. Li Guotai is your father?" Chen Ping stared at Li Mo, having heard about this person's past and also knowing that the truth behind Li Guotai's suicide half a month ago was related to him as well. He hadn't expected that the person in front of him would turn out to be Li Guotai's offspring, and his heart couldn't help but feel anxious.

  "What's wrong? Does this guy have a grudge against Old Man Li?" Looking at Chen Ping, who suddenly started breathing rapidly, Li Mo nodded, but as soon as he did, Chen Ping suddenly slapped his thigh and cried out in anguish: "It's all my fault for wronging Lord Li!"

  "Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Li Mo felt like he was becoming more and more like an ancient person, at least his vocabulary was getting more and more elegant.

  As Chen Ping spoke, Li Mo only then knew that the military supplies sold to the Japanese pirates investigated by Li Guotai were under Chen Ping's jurisdiction. At that time, he had also submitted a memorial to Li Hongzhang and secretly notified the Jinzhouwei sentry post to intercept the goods.

  But he didn't expect that the person who intercepted him was Li Guotai, who happened to be on patrol, and this matter also shocked the imperial court. The Prince of Chun tried to cover up his corruption by arresting those who opposed him, and Chen Ping was one of the unlucky ones caught at that time.

  Li Mo didn't expect that there would be such a play between the two, but since Li Guotai is already dead, it's not necessary to pursue what happened. Besides, Li Guotai voluntarily exposed the dark side of Beiyang, so this matter can't be blamed on Chen Ping either.

  After a round of exchanges, Li Mo also gradually learned about Long Guozhang and Chen Ping's backgrounds.

  It turned out that Long Guozhang was originally a member of the Fuzhou Navy, but he didn't want to be transferred by Li Hongzhang's order along with some other leaders from the Fuzhou Navy to the Beiyang Fleet. However, his nature made him not good at flattering people, and he was suppressed in the navy, although he eventually became a captain. But whenever he thought of that small, broken ship that couldn't even sail on the sea, he would get angry. You can scold him, beat him, or even kick him back to his hometown, but humiliating someone like this is not something Long Guozhang could accept.

  He was so angry that he severely beat a young man from Beijing who was responsible for arranging the affairs of various ships. Unexpectedly, the young man could not withstand the beating and broke both legs. As a result, Long Guozhang ended up being detained for trial.

  As for Chen Ping, it was even more complicated. His ancestral home was in Guangdong, and he was a fellow townsman of Long Guoqiang. In his youth, he followed his grandfather to Britain, where he entered the Royal Navy Academy at a young age. While in Britain, he met Fang Boqian and others who were also studying abroad. Later, after seeing the "Yangwei" and "Chaozhou" return to China, Fang Boqian and others became officials, so Chen decided to serve his country. However, soon after joining the Guangdong Navy, he encountered the Sino-French War, in which the navy was defeated, and he himself was dismissed from office. Although he later joined the Beiyang Army with Fang Boqian's help, after many twists and turns, not only did he fail to become an official, but due to his name, he wasn't even allowed on a ship, and was assigned to be a clerk in charge of land-based miscellaneous tasks.

  As the days went by, Longguo Zhang and Chen Ping's ambitions faded away, and they became sworn brothers due to their similar temperaments. They had originally planned to mix around for a few years before returning to Fuzhou, but who would have thought that last year the Empress Dowager renovated her garden, diverting 30 million taels of silver, causing the entire Beiyang government's finances to become strained all at once? Immediately after, Chen Ping discovered that Prince Chun, who was in charge of the Navy Ministry, not only embezzled military funds but also made a profit from selling cannonballs. This enraged Chen Ping, and he immediately informed Li Hongzhang while secretly notifying the Jinzhou Guards, hoping to intercept this batch of military supplies.

  Who is Prince Gong? He was the number one bloodsucker on the Beiyang Navy, more poisonous than the old Buddha in the Forbidden City. Most importantly, he was also Guangxu's father and led the Admiral of the Navy, directly strangling Li Hongzhang's neck. After a round of fighting, like Li Guotai, he became a political sacrifice and ended up being "exiled".

  Fortunately, Long Guo Zhang and Chen Ping had good relationships with the people in the naval department, and there were many others like them. So the two of them joined forces with over 20 people, seized a small boat, and escaped. However, they didn't expect that as soon as they sailed out to sea, they would encounter Rudolf's gang who were capturing people everywhere. Lacking weapons and being physically strong laborers from Shanghai, Rudolf naturally wouldn't let them go.

  "Grandma's, it's Uncle Wang again!"

  Li Mo couldn't help but sigh at the coincidence of fate, that descendant of Aixinjueluo seemed to always be entangled with him, making it impossible for him to enjoy his life as a young master, and almost becoming a miner no better than pigs and dogs. However, he probably didn't expect that within the Beiyang government, there was still such a talented person, not only a graduate of the British Royal Navy, but also a participant in the Sino-French naval battle. Unfortunately, the vast Beiyang New Army had almost become an arena for power struggles, and even with great talent, who would be noticed by that person?!

  Chen Ping was also unlucky. The ancients were superstitious, and because "Chen" and "sinking" are homophones, the rule that Chen surname generals cannot go to sea has been around for a long time. Even in modern navies, this unconscious hidden rule is not unheard of.

  But after sighing, Li Mo also knew that he had encountered a treasure. To say nothing of Long Guozhang and others, this British Royal Navy Academy graduate who had participated in the Sino-French naval battle was enough to make him drool!

  It seems that Prince Soo has indeed given himself a treasure, but the question is how to get them in his hands?

  Li Mo Zheng was thinking, whether he should exert his own "king eight" aura and then take them all down at once?

  Fortunately, his arrogant aura had not yet emerged, and Chen Ping spoke up: "I don't know what Mr. Li Mu plans to do next?"

  "What to do?" His gaze swept over Long Guo Zhang and Chen Ping. Li Mo clearly saw the helplessness and confusion about the future in their eyes, two people who had once dreamed of sailing across the four seas, now looked like they were at a dead end, coming to ask a twelve-year-old child what to do next, it was enough to illustrate the state of mind of the two men at this moment.

  Chen Ping and Long Guozhang were also at a loss, after all, the two of them were criminals, even if they returned to Fuzhou, they would likely implicate their families in their crimes. Unless they fled to Southeast Asia, but thinking about the situation of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia at that time was enough to make the two men hesitant.

  Of course, there is another way for Chen Ping, but thinking that his grandfather had spent all the family's wealth to let him enter the British Royal Navy Academy in the name of a dispatched student, he was not a real dispatched student after all, and could not communicate with Fang Boqian and others on an equal footing, nor could he go to the UK for naval internships. So, it's better for him to venture out to Nanyang.

  "It's simple, two roads." Since the words were already spoken, Li Mo didn't beat around the bush and said straightforwardly: "The first road is to escort us to our destination, then the boat will belong to the two of you. The world is vast, I'm sure with your abilities, there's nowhere you can't go."

  "What about the second road?" Chen Ping frowned and asked.

  "Follow me, just like Zhao Long and the others. I don't dare guarantee that you two will become extremely rich and powerful in the future, but I can guarantee that within five years, both of you will be able to command real ironclad warships, roaming freely across the seas!"

  Li Mo suddenly stood up, his words loud and clear. He knew that in this world, there was no such thing as loyalty or honor, only interests combined was the right way. And to make two people follow him wholeheartedly, he had to draw a huge pie for everyone, whether it could be done or not. "Let's talk about that later..." Li Mo, who didn't have confidence in his heart, knew that at this moment, he absolutely couldn't weaken the morale of his troops. His sharp eyes stared at Chen Ping and Long Guozhang, waiting to see their reaction.

  "Five years? Ironclad warship? Ha ha, surely Master Li Mo is joking."

  Not to mention ironclad warships, even if there were a few gunboats, Long Guozhang and Chen Ping would probably agree immediately. After all, they came to the Beiyang New Army just to show off their ambitions! But thinking of everyone's current situation, these words sound incredibly absurd.

  "Five years, not long or short, why don't the two of you give it a try?" Li Mo was reluctant to let the two go just like that, but he also knew that he didn't have any attractive chips at the moment, so he gritted his teeth and said: "If I can't do it within five years, the two of you can take people away!"

  "Five years..." Long Guo Zhang muttered to himself, turning his head to look at Chen Ping. The two of them exchanged a glance before Chen Ping resolutely declared: "Alright, five years is the limit!" As soon as he finished speaking, he stretched out his large hand.

  "Believe me, Li Mo will never disappoint both of you!"

  Two big and one small hands grasped tightly together, the three of them looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  "Now where should we go?" Long Guozhang asked immediately as the atmosphere cleared up.

  Li Mo's mouth curved upwards in a sly smile: "Then you should go ask that Captain Rudolph!"