Insufficient balance

  Everything is ready, and the east wind is sufficient. Keelung Port began large-scale infrastructure construction. The cement plant was built next to the Badouzi Coal Mine, which not only produced coal but also had a large amount of limestone, volcanic ash, and clay, making it an ideal place for burning cement. The power plant, steel mill, and coking plant were built along a river in Keelung, close to the railway and port, with abundant water flow. According to the French engineer's estimate, if labor and funds are sufficient, the cement plant can be trial-operated within 3 months, the power plant can operate within half a year, the steel mill and coking plant can partially go into production within 1 year, and be fully completed within 1.5 years.

  The silver is enough, and the labor force has been recruiting all the time. Among these newly recruited laborers, some are reserved workers for the three factories. After the factory is built, they will stay in the factory to work. The remaining problem is the technical workers. Liu Wei has no solution in the short term and can only select suitable candidates from the workers to send to Europe and America for short-term training in the future. For now, we still have to rely on these technicians and engineers who came with the equipment to hold up the framework, and then use silver to try our best to see if we can knock out a few people to stay and work long-term.

  Having suffered losses due to the lack of talent, Liu decided to make up for it by building a regular primary school in Keelung and Taipei, recruiting teachers from mainland China, and setting up courses based on church schools. The original school was retained, where more than 90 children were trained as technical personnel, which would be his own faction after 10 years.

  Along with this batch of equipment, 5 French doctors also arrived. They were specially recruited by David and had signed contracts to work in Taiwan for 5 years, with their salaries paid by Liu. However, they only brought some simple personal medical instruments, and the complete set of hospital equipment has not been purchased yet, presumably it will arrive with the next batch of equipment.

  No equipment, no problem. Let's build the hospital first. The address is at the terminal of the Keelung to Taipei railway. This place will be planned as a residential area in the future. Although it's a bit far from the port and steel mill, mainly to avoid pollution. Who wants their home to be shrouded in coal smoke every day and hear the harbor's whistle day and night?

  Under the intentional or unintentional support of Governor Lao, all engineering progress is proceeding normally. The foreign technical personnel are very dedicated and the Chinese laborers are also very hardworking. Everyone is busy as can be, but Liu Ye has become idle again. He's definitely not needed for work, and he doesn't understand installation design either. Apart from spending money, there's nothing else for him to do.

  There's a saying that the busier you are, the more chaotic things become. Just as everyone was rushing to modernize, some bad news came from Fuzhou: Japanese people were causing trouble at pharmacies in Fuzhou. At first, they insisted on investing, and every pharmacy had received this request countless times. Liu Ye had already instructed them to ignore it, and if the other party's power was too great, they would bring out the foreigners. So the shopkeeper didn't take it seriously and didn't even bring out the foreigners, directly rejecting them instead.

  As a result, three or five Japanese ronin ran into the store and refused to leave. Whenever there were customers coming to buy medicine, they would use tactics such as causing trouble and intimidation to scare them away. The local authorities did not dare to intervene deeply because of the Japanese people, and foreigners were used to intimidate the Chinese people, but they could not really take action against the Japanese people either. This kind of disturbance happened several times, and today they even beat up one of the apprentices. The shopkeeper was at a loss and felt that the hidden problem here was not something he could solve on his own, so he hastily sent a telegram to Taipei.

  "Japanese people, you've come a bit too early. I'm still in the foundational construction phase and don't have the ability to compete with Japanese people yet. Forget it, let's endure for now." Liu Ye really wanted to take the automatic rifle from the cabin and go to Fuzhou for a thrilling adventure, but this wasn't the time to act on impulse. He was still weak and couldn't withstand the strong winds and waves.

  "Uncle Fu, send a telegram to Fuzhou, close the pharmacy and move all personnel and medicine to the concessions in Shanghai and Tianjin to reopen the store. Also inform all pharmacy staff to be vigilant and prevent kidnapping and tailing, and reduce the inventory of medicines to the lowest level."

  "Yes, young master. I'll go and take care of it right away. Should I also inform the old master and the Fuzhou governor to get them involved and put some pressure on the Japanese?"

  "No need, just do as I say. The Japanese won't be afraid of the Fuzhou governor, nor will they be afraid of my father." Liu Yi bluntly rejected Liu Fu's suggestion. This old man who followed his own father out of the Taiping Army was still immersed in the thrill of being a high-ranking official with great power and had not noticed that no one in today's China would go to war with Japan over such a small matter, even if it reached the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi in Beijing.

  "Alas... Such a great business opportunity, what a pity..." Liu Fu muttered to himself, looking at the third young master who was known as Taiwan's number one fool. He felt strange in his heart. Although the third young master had been staying in their old home in Anhui since he was young and didn't have much contact with Liu Fu, who followed Liu Mingchuan on his travels, they still met during festivals and when Old Master returned home to pay respects to their ancestors. This time, after surviving a shipwreck on the way from Beijing to Taiwan, this third young master had changed completely, except for his appearance, birthmark, and accent, which were all the same as before.

  I had discussed this issue with Master many times, but except for being possessed by a ghost, there was no suitable explanation. In the end, Master didn't bother to think about it anymore and just let me report all of Third Young Master's actions truthfully.

  After going through the pharmaceutical factory, pharmacy, running a school, repairing roads, opening mines and other things, not only himself, but also his father was caught in a mixed emotional state of love and fear, because these things are difficult for a young scholar who has never even touched a woman to accomplish. However, Liu Mou not only accomplished them, but also achieved extremely excellent results.

  After the arrival of the two large foreign ships, the massive equipment shocked everyone, including Liu Mingchuan himself. However, this third young master seemed not to be surprised. On the second day after the cargo ship docked, Liu Mingchuan called Liu Fu to his study and asked him many detailed questions about foreigners. Liu Fu understood that Master was afraid that his son would be controlled by foreigners and help them do something unfavorable to the Qing dynasty. After all, Master had fought bloody battles with foreigners, although he also supported the opening of foreign affairs, but still had a deep-seated guard against them. However, Liu Fu didn't see any signs that the third young master was being controlled or manipulated by foreigners. On the contrary, it seemed that the third young master was controlling the foreigners. When Liu Fu told Master about this, he was also at a loss.

  As the steward, Liu Fu still reported the Fuzhou matter to Master Liu. After listening to Liu Fu's account, Liu Mingquan sighed and said: "Old brother, we're old now, let's just do as Chunyuan says. He has several hundred foreigners at his beck and call, so he shouldn't be taken advantage of."