Twenty San Francisco

  Encountered an emergency, suspended updates for two days, extremely sorry. Today and tomorrow will have three updates each to make up for it, please collect and recommend!!

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  "It's not like it's the end of the world, just going to America for a trip. It's not like I'm never coming back." Li Mo stood on the deck, scratching his head, only to find that he didn't even have a single hair on his head, so he could only pout and purse his lips.

  Next to Long Guo Zhang and Chen Ping were covered in black lines, no way, their own thinking jumped too much, couldn't keep up with the rhythm, had to laugh and dodge.

  Li Mo had no choice, and because of the braid incident, he was nagged by Li Fu for two whole days. Just as they were about to leave, the loyal old butler wouldn't let them go without making sure that little servant girl accompanied them to take care of things, and also insisted on bringing Zhao Long along. But Zhao Long had long since flown away with his mind, ever since he got hold of Young Master's new training outline, and Li Mo's repeated instructions. As for Li Qiang, the day after he received the special forces manual, he disappeared into the depths of the forest with two people he had chosen, without even leaving a shadow behind.

  So in the end, they could only drag Du Dazhuang, this newly promoted imperial guard, along with them. According to Li Fu's private words, this kid was tall and sturdy, silly and lovely, at least he could help block bullets!

  What kind of people are you all!

  Li Mo had no choice but to bring Du Dazhuang along, while the little girl was too small and couldn't eat, so she steeled herself and refused, not looking at those big watery eyes.

  As they were about to leave, Li Fu led everyone in a chorus of "Master be careful" and "Master take care", reluctant to part with him for several miles before finally letting Li Mo escape.

  "Ah." He let out a sigh, watching the cargo ship speed downstream. Li Mo crouched down and slipped into the bridge, only to find Chen Ping and several others who had followed him to America waiting in line for Long Guozhang to cut their hair personally.

  Du Dazhuang was the first to have his hair cut. This kid originally refused to cut his braid, but under Li Mu's threat of expelling him from the Imperial Guard and sending him back home, he reluctantly had his braid cut off.

  When he saw his braid being cut off, Du Dazhuang almost cried out loud, holding the braid and hiding in a corner by himself.

  "Yes, it's time for a haircut!"

  Looking at Du Dazhuang's face, which was covered in tears, Li Mo took a deep breath but did not try to comfort him. He knew that this was a painful process and also a necessary one - it was the path he and those who pursued him had to take. This cut of the knife severed not only the Qing dynasty but also the century-long humiliation that broke the hearts of all Chinese people.

  Two tall masts were fully set with sails, and the steamer, going downwind, was very fast. After only one day, it arrived at the famous Vancouver Island. Li Mo stood on the deck, gazing out at the distant large island, his eyes extending southward.

  It is said that Liang Qichao's footprints once reached the sea area of Victoria Harbour today, and if he could go a little further north at that time, he might be the first Chinese celebrity to arrive in Alaska.

  Should we wait for Liang Qichao there? Mr. Li counted on his fingers and soon gave up, now Comrade Liang is probably only a few years older than himself, waiting for him to arrive here, who knows when the monkey year will come.

  What's the point of waiting for him anyway? With his current vision, can he see the value of this land located at the northernmost tip of the Pacific Ocean? Or should the Qing Empire spend a few hundred million dollars to buy all of Alaska? It wasn't until 1959 that Americans themselves elevated this land to official statehood, and the gold rush hasn't even started yet.

  "Master, Vancouver is just ahead. Shall we go take a look?" Chen Ping and Long Guozhang, who had already cut off their queues, stood silently behind Li Mo, gazing at the weak figure, staring out at the distant island, suddenly having an indescribable feeling, until the ship was getting farther and farther away, before hastily inquiring.

  "It's okay." Li Mo shook his head, sighing in his heart. If heaven could let him travel back a few decades, perhaps the one who bought Alaska would be himself.

  "How shallow human hearts can be!"

  He glanced at the corner of his mouth, smiled self-deprecatingly, and then put away the telescope. He thought that Long Guozhang was about to return home, but his identity as a prisoner was quite embarrassing, so he was somewhat worried and said to Long Guozhang, who still had a big braid on his head: "Brother Guochang, do you want Zhang Shun to accompany you back this time?"

  Long Guozhang shook his head and said resolutely: "Thank you for your concern, young master, but wanting to capture me, Long Guozhang, is probably not that easy."

  Seeing Long Guo Zhang so confident, Li Mo could only nod and continue: "Then I'll leave the recruitment to you."

  Long Guo Zhang was about to speak, when Chen Ping added from the side: "In my opinion, we can't just think about recruiting workers, but also consider the future. So this time, Guo Zhang, why not go back and make some connections with Fuzhou and Nanyang, see if you can gather some useful people."

  "Long Guozhang is indeed far-sighted." Long Guozhang patted Chen Ping's shoulder with admiration, saying: "Young master, rest assured that Guozhang will not disappoint you."

  "Heh heh, find some more people, otherwise the ironclad warship you promised me won't have anyone to operate it!" Li Mo suddenly chuckled and winked.

  "Ironclad warship!" As soon as they heard this word, not only Long Guozhang but also Chen Ping's eyes lit up. In this great era, perhaps only ironclad giant ships and thundering cannons could stir the hearts of men.

  "My battleship dream!" Facing the two who were already in a daze, Li Mo couldn't help but smile wryly. Even if he could build his dream battleship, where would it be docked?

  Isn't it great to be on the sea every day?

  A few days later, flying the British flag and under Thomas's escort, they arrived at San Francisco, the most famous city in the American West.

  In 1889, the San Francisco Bay was far from the prosperity of later generations. On the calm sea surface, most were fishing boats and some cargo ships flying the American flag. Li Yunfei looked up to see nothing but emptiness, and the familiar Golden Gate Bridge was probably still in its mother's womb at that time.

  The ship soon docked at the famous Fisherman's Wharf of later ages, and as its name suggested, it was indeed crowded with all sorts of small fishing boats. Watching Long Guozhang and his men skillfully throwing mooring ropes, Li Yunfei had nothing to do and idly watched the fishmongers haggle over prices, their faces red with excitement.

  But the ones who came to meet Li Mo and his party were tax officials and customs personnel stationed at the dock. At that time, the customs were far from being as powerful as they would be in later times, let alone the fact that the Americans' main energy was still concentrated on the East Coast and Europe, which can be seen from the throughput of the Port of San Francisco at this moment.

  Taxes were calculated based on the ship's tonnage, although it was curious why this British ship had come from the Pacific, but given Thomas' British identity, these people only suspected so many Chinese on the ship for a few sentences and left. It seems that the brand of the British Empire is still very loud at this moment.

  There are many Chinese in San Francisco, which can be seen after disembarking. Those who still have braids walking on the road are very eye-catching. On the contrary, Li Mo and his party became aliens in the eyes of the Chinese because they cut their hair.

  Soon, after completing the coal replenishment and purchasing some supplies, Long Guozhang set sail. Looking at the steamboat gradually disappearing into the distance, Li Yunfei's heart surged with emotions, and he took a deep breath.

  He turned his head and said to Thomas beside him, "Thomas, is there any way for me to become a British citizen immediately?"

  Several black lines suddenly fell on Thomas's forehead.