Insufficient balance
This time, the main things that came with the ship were ports, shipyards, machinery factories, chemical plants and some mining equipment. Some scattered hospitals, schools and research equipment were left behind. Although in a short period of time, Keelung was still a large construction site and nothing could be seen or touched, after one year, it began to take shape. After three years, all the factories, docks, shipyards would be completed, plus residential areas, schools, hospitals and research institutions, Keelung would become the largest city in Taiwan.
The construction of the factory requires time, and personnel recruitment can be carried out in advance. The "Golden Elephant Pharmacy" in Tianjin, Shanghai, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou has been quietly absorbing refugees from their local areas according to Liu's requirements, and those who are willing to come to Taiwan to work have been transported from the mainland to Taiwan through Liu's merchant ships. In the temporary small dock of Keelung Port, many temporary houses have been built, all of which are wooden board houses, where refugees from the mainland live temporarily. After one month of sanitation and epidemic prevention, physical recovery, and discipline training, those with labor ability will be sent to various construction sites to participate in construction, while children without labor ability will be sent to school for free education. The elderly have not been arranged yet and can only stay in the wooden board house for the time being.
This time, the technical personnel brought by David from Europe, except for a part of them who are installation personnel following the equipment to Taiwan and will return to their country after finishing their work, all of them were hired by David according to Liu's requirements from European bankrupt factories and unemployed citizens. They all signed labor contracts, with the shortest term being 5 years in Taiwan, and the longest signing for 10 years. The longer the contract period, the higher the salary paid. There are also 10 retired German military officers, 7 from the army and 3 from the navy, which is what Liu specially asked for. Liu plans to train a factory guard team first, so that he can deal with bandits and thieves himself.
200 young people with good physical health and willing to serve as guards were selected from the recruited workers, handed over to German officers, and equipped with 2 interpreters. The training location of the guard team cannot be chosen in Keelung, a secluded place needs to be found, so that shooting targets will not be too conspicuous. Finally, it was decided to build a small courtyard near the gold mine, where is a mountainous area, there are few people, and mountain training can be conducted, and being close to the gold mine can also play a protective role.
One month later, all the equipment was dismantled and David left with his wife on a ship back to their home country after loading up on "anti-inflammatory tablets". He had originally wanted to take his son with him, but Shandru refused to leave, also wanting to go on vacation in America. So he didn't force his son and continued to let Liu Fei raise him. However, in order to strengthen his son's purity, David left behind a housekeeper and maid to take care of his son's daily life while teaching him English and French so that they could communicate later on. Now the child speaks pure Fujian Chinese whenever he opens his mouth.
The days passed in this busy way until 1888, when the cement plant had been operating for half a year. As the workers' proficiency increased, production stabilized at around 1.5 million tons, which was sufficient for self-sufficiency. The coking and steel plants also started small-scale operations, mainly experimental in nature, to give workers practice. The Keelung harbor was almost complete, with three 200-meter-long wharfs on the northwest side that could dock ships of 30,000 tons, and a shipyard wharf and dry dock on the southwest side, which were still under construction.
Due to the construction of the Keelung industrial base, a large number of refugees and workers as well as foreigners flocked to the area. Various factories, hospitals, residences, villas, and dormitories sprouted up, completely transforming the small port town of just a few hundred households. The land area expanded dozens of times over, the population increased by hundreds of times, and demand also increased by hundreds of times. Daily necessities such as food, meat, and vegetables were all supplied by merchants and farmers from Taipei and Danshui. Some astute businessmen began building simple shacks near residential areas, hiring people to purchase poultry, grains, and other essentials at lower prices from places like Hsinchu, Yilan, or even further away, transporting them to Keelung for sale. Gradually, a number of spontaneous markets formed. As the crowds in these markets grew, some began building restaurants, hotels, and even secret gambling dens and brothels. Slowly but surely, a small town took shape, separated from the residential area of Keelung Port by just one dirt road.
After half a year of training, the 200-strong guard team also took shape. Liu Yi expanded the scale again and recruited 400 new members. The original 200 people left 50 people who were relatively well-trained, and the remaining 150 people were mixed with the 400 new recruits. The old team members served as squad leaders, with 11 people in each squad, continuing to train under German instructors. The selected 50 people followed three retired German naval officers to a small courtyard on the edge of the shipyard and formed a water patrol team.
Although the Huafang Team and Water Patrol Team were established, in order to avoid suspicion, the security of Keelung was still handed over to Taipei Prefect Tang Jingyong. After all, Liu Ye was not an official, and intervening too much in local affairs would easily lead to gossip. However, this Taipei Prefect Tang Jingyong was also a proponent of Westernization, and he strongly supported the establishment of factories and mines. Moreover, Liu Ye was generous with his gifts, and the various rules and regulations were numerous and of high quality. Therefore, for matters related to Keelung Harbor and the factory and mine, Tang Jingyong generally did not intervene, allowing Liu Ye to handle them himself.
Although Keelung Port was managed by himself for a short period of time, it was not legitimate after all. For this matter, Liu Rong asked his father Liu Mingchuan again for advice.
Watching his son roll up a heavy industry base like a snowball, Liu Mingchuan was very happy. At first, he and the French were desperate not to let the country's mountains be occupied by foreigners, but now the Qing dynasty's foreign troubles are getting heavier and heavier. Since the two invasions of the Eight-Power Allied Forces in Beijing, the imperial court has also begun to try to manage foreign affairs and revive the country, but with little effect. Seeing his son successfully managing the foreign affairs that Prince Gong, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, and Zhang Zhidong had tried but failed to do, how could he not be happy? Now, if we say which place in China has done the best in foreign affairs, Taiwan should have a seat.
Hearing his son's concerns, Liu Ming also deeply agreed that it is easy to conquer a country but difficult to govern it. These factories and mines are the result of his son's hard work and also his own political achievements. If they were disrupted, not only would his son's efforts be wasted, but he would also lose face.
To consolidate the current good situation of Taiwan's foreign affairs development, Liu Mingchuan gave Liu Ye a position as a deputy director of the Taiwan Governor's Office for Foreign Affairs. This was not an official government appointment and did not come with a rank or salary, but rather was a subordinate agency under the Governor's Office. However, this institution had great power and directly took orders from Liu Mingchuan himself, overseeing all foreign affairs on the island of Taiwan. In other words, Liu Ye would represent Liu Mingchuan in handling all matters related to foreign affairs on the island, and only reported to the Governor, with no one else having any authority over him. However, this position was not without its costs, and even as father and son, they had to keep track of accounts. Liu Mingchuan proposed building an arsenal, which was approved by the imperial court, but there was no funding available, so it required self-raised funds. Liu Ye immediately agreed and sent a telegram to Germany to inquire about the specifications for the arsenal equipment, found suitable ones, and immediately had them shipped over to build an arsenal next to the Keelung railway station, which was also close to the steel factory and the railroad, making transportation of raw materials and finished products convenient.
With the joint defense seal, Liu Yi immediately put up a sign and started business. The location was the original 2-story small building that was supposed to be the Keelung train station. Anyway, the railway had not yet opened, so it was used first. The joint management was himself, with still the same few people under him, Liu Fu, Liu Dagui, Zhou Yancang, plus those 15 Green Camp soldiers, and they were all set.
The first thing to do after taking office is to establish the safety and security of the Keelung Heavy Industry Base. Liu Yi plans to set up 5 police zones within the base, with 10 patrol officers and one chief officer in each zone, responsible for internal security and safety; outside the base, including residential areas and self-built towns, 5 police zones will also be established, with 10 patrol officers and one chief officer in each zone. The chief officer will be appointed from among the green camp soldiers under his command, who have been very diligent since following him and have not shown any serious bad habits, making them suitable for the position of chief officer; the patrol officers will be selected from the factory protection team.
These new police officers were delighted, bowing and thanking them, feeling that following the third young master was a blessing. Although sometimes the work was tiring, the rewards were high, and now they could go to the foreign factory to enjoy good fortune. Although the third young master's tasks were heavy and there were many rules, in their eyes, wearing Western clothes every day, catching small thieves on the flat stone road, and handling disputes was not considered work, it was simply a comfortable life. Moreover, there was a monthly salary of 5 taels of silver, which added up to 60 taels per year, almost as much as the county magistrate's salary. As long as they didn't violate the young master's rules, didn't smoke opium, didn't embezzle public funds for personal gain, didn't collude with outsiders, and handled cases impartially, they would be set for life.
