Chapter 21: Good People Will Be Rewarded

  Just as Liu Yi was wholeheartedly managing his own little world, Liu Fu privately told Liu Yi a piece of news: the peasants in Changhua, Taichung had risen up in revolt. Liu Yi quickly ran back to the provincial governor's office and asked his father about the general situation. It turned out that Liu Mingchuan planned to conduct a land survey in Taiwan, but Li Jiatao, the county magistrate of Changhua, who attached great importance to his political achievements, was somewhat anxious and used strong measures during the land survey, which led to conflicts with local villagers who opposed it, and even arrested people and used corporal punishment. As a result, a man named Shi Jiuwen led several thousand people in surrounding the county seat of Changhua, and Liu Mingchuan was now ordering the mobilization of soldiers and braves to rescue the city.

  "This county official must be corrupt." This was Liu's first thought.

  "This is not the time to mess around, what if we offend the imperial court and they send someone to Taiwan to inspect our work or transfer my father's job, that would be troublesome." Liu Mei listened and immediately felt that she should quickly control the situation, must not affect her own base construction. This was the second thought in Liu Mei's mind.

  "Pull our troops over to test their skills? It's said that a soldier who hasn't seen blood isn't a true soldier, take the opportunity to try it out." This was Liu Mei's third thought.

  Liu Yi's idea was ruthlessly rejected by Lao Lao, without any room for discussion. According to Liu Mingchuan's words, this kind of thing is not something Liu Yi can do. He doesn't have soldiers or generals under his command, and he doesn't need the factory guards to charge into battle. Besides, war is not a game, you should focus on taking care of your own factories and mines.

  Liu Ye was also helpless and could only suggest that his father quickly put down the civil unrest, making as little noise as possible. Additionally, he thought that the county magistrate wasn't a good person either, and it would be best to replace him.

  Liu Mingzhuan neither accepted nor rejected Liu Mo's suggestion, and without even leaving him a meal, he sent Liu Mo back.

  In the following days, Liu Ye paid special attention to the news of the civil unrest and specially let several local patrolmen change into peasant clothes to go to Changhua to gather information. At first, a certain Commander Zhu Huanming led his troops deep into enemy territory but was killed by the rebel army. However, in the next few days, reinforcements from Taipei and Penghu arrived one after another and dispersed the rebel army. The siege of Changhua County was lifted, and government soldiers were arresting the leaders of the rebellion everywhere.

  Liu Mou finally felt at ease, after all, the uprising was only for a dozen or so days, and it shouldn't have too much of an impact. Except for that unlucky commander and the Changhua county magistrate who got dismissed and investigated by his old man, there wasn't much damage or destruction.

  With the failure of the Changhua uprising, he quietly left in 1889 and welcomed the fifth year of his crossing, 1890.

  At the beginning of the year, Liu Ye received intelligence from various pharmacies on the mainland and saw a message that Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Hubei and Hunan provinces, was planning to set up an iron factory in Hankou and was raising funds for its establishment. Although he wasn't very clear about history, Liu Ye remembered reading that the scale of the Hankou Iron Factory was quite large, with decent equipment, and it was a state-supervised and privately-run enterprise. However, due to the unsuitable composition of the iron ore later on, the steel produced was not up to standard, and in the end, it seemed that the Japanese had taken advantage of this.

  With the principle of fighting against enemies to protect oneself and one's family, and helping each other when possible, Liu Yi passed a 200,000 silver yuan bill and a letter to Zhang Zhidong through Liu Mingchuan. The letter was written by Liu Yi in Liu Mingchuan's handwriting, mainly suggesting that they should first test the composition of the iron ore and then purchase suitable equipment to avoid wasting money and effort later on. Of course, this idea could not be attributed to either Liu Yi or Liu Mingchuan, but rather had to be attributed to a foreign engineer who was said to have previously worked in Hanyang and was familiar with the nearby iron ore deposits. As for whether Zhang Zhidong would listen or not, Liu Yi couldn't care less, it's up to fate.

  In addition, Liu Ye also learned from David's telegram that Germany and France had automobile companies, namely Daimler-Benz in Germany and Armand Peugeot in France. Seeing the prototype of the car gradually growing up, Liu Ye felt itchy in his heart, thinking several times to mass-produce cars and motorcycles with his own hands, but thinking of his own life, he endured.

  Seeing the world's countries making great strides forward, Liu Ye didn't dare to slack off. The industrial zone in Keelung had already taken shape, with steel mills, coking plants, chemical plants, machinery manufacturing plants, shipyards, cement plants, power plants and some supporting small-scale factories all basically completed. Coal mines, gold mines, silver mines, and copper mines were all being mined at full speed. However, the iron mine was a bit of a disappointment, as Taiwan was not rich in iron ore, with only some low-quality iron sand mines in the north of Danshui, and the reserves were not large either.

  Liu Ye secretly took a look at the tourist map, and the largest iron mine closest to Taiwan is Hainan Island. Where there is Shilu Iron Mine, and it's an open-pit rich mine, not only has iron, but also nickel, aluminum, copper, cobalt, sulfur and other resources, and the reserves are not small either.

  The mine is a good one, but how to extract it? After asking Liu Fu, Liu Ye knew that Hainan Island was now called Qiongzhou Prefecture, with Qiongya directly under the jurisdiction of the state and 11 counties. By referring to the map, he could roughly determine that the Shilu Iron Mine was within the boundaries of Changhua County. The location has been determined, and what remains is who will take charge, who will approve it, and on what grounds it will be extracted. This matter is not something Liu Ye can handle, so he still needs to ask his old man for a solution.

  Liu Mingchuan heard about this and agreed very readily, telling Liu Fei that good people will be rewarded, and the silver he sent to Zhang Zhidong last time should come into play now. Liu Fei was confused upon hearing this, as Zhang Zhidong was the Governor-General of Huguang, while Qiongzhou Prefecture belonged to the jurisdiction of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi. It was impossible for Zhang Zhidong to hold both positions concurrently, but he indeed had a close relationship with the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, as he was the previous incumbent in that position.

  Liu Mou is so happy, although he was the previous governor, but not retired, but transferred, and just transferred. The next one, even if they act quickly, can't clean up all the subordinates of the previous one as soon as they take office, after all, the face of the previous superior should still be enough, it's not a big deal, it's just mining, and it's self-funded.

  Time is of the essence, so hurry and have Old Father write a letter to Big Brother Liu Shengfen in Beijing, telling him to quickly go to Hubei to pay respects to Zhang Zhidong and bring with him another letter from Liu Mingchuan. Explain things clearly and also enclose 200,000 taels of silver as expenses for greasing the wheels. According to Liu Mingchuan's idea, it's not necessary to spend so much because there is still Li Hanfang, the current Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, who needs to be bribed later. However, Liu Fei thinks that more gifts are better than fewer, and if a problem can be solved with silver, then use silver to solve it.

  They let family members take letters to Beijing to find the eldest son, and the rest of the matter can't be solved in a day or two. Liu Mo couldn't help but feel anxious, actually, Liu Mo wanted to go to Hubei himself to find Zhang Zhidong, to see this supposedly very open-minded governor of the border region. However, thinking that he couldn't even speak a few polite phrases properly and knew little about the Qing dynasty, he was afraid of messing things up, so he patiently waited for news in Taiwan instead.

  News can wait, but the preparatory work cannot be delayed. The mining equipment does not have to be purchased immediately and can be bought later when it is confirmed that it will be needed. However, if mining is possible, then transportation becomes a major issue. Hainan Island is over 1,000 kilometers away from Taiwan on the map, so the mined ore cannot be transported back and forth by small fishing boats. Therefore, a fleet of ships must be established.

  David, this thing still relies on David. Send a telegram to have David set up a shipping company in the United States, buy or rent several large ships, and be responsible for transporting ore from Hainan Island to Taiwan.

  David's actions were swift, and for Liu Fei, this lifesaver and investor, David had no complaints, doing whatever he was told to do. With the "anti-inflammatory pill" as his backing, David wasn't afraid of losing money either. Within three months, David's Helena Shipping Company was set up, first ordering two 30,000-ton cargo ships, then renting three 20,000-ton cargo ships, and setting off for Keelung with a batch of materials purchased for Taiwan.

  Just as David was busy ordering cargo ships, Zhang Zhidong finally sent back a message. Old Zhang had a good impression of this Taiwan governor, and after seeing the handwritten letters from Liu Shengfen and Liu Mingchuan, he agreed to help with this matter. Then, upon seeing another 200,000 taels of silver, he let the originally impoverished governor feel deeply grateful. Writing letters and sending people off in one breath, it took only a dozen or so days for Zhang Zhidong's family members to rush to Taipei with the letter, meet Liu Mingchuan to deliver Zhang Zhidong's return gift and letter, and then immediately take Liu Fu to Guangzhou to meet Li Hanfang, the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi.

  Li Han-zhang had no malicious intentions regarding this matter, and with the addition of a governor and a provincial governor's face, it would not be good to refuse. The iron mine was within his own jurisdiction, and once built, it would be his political achievement. Although Li Han-zhang was not enthusiastic about promoting foreign affairs, having achievements was better than none, and most importantly, he didn't have to spend a single penny of his own money. As long as Changhua County issued an official document for the people's supervision, everything would be settled. Therefore, the matter of building the mine went smoothly all the way through and quickly arrived at Changhua County.

  Changhua County Magistrate has not been replaced, still the same person from Zhang Zhidong's time. The old superior brought a handwritten letter, and the new superior did not object, only a fool would go inside to investigate details, and it doesn't cost a single penny of his own money, there are benefits to be gained, let alone oppose, not being proactive is foolish.