Wufeng Lin's family

  Taiwan in early summer of the 21st year of Guangxu in the Great Qing Dynasty

  On the calm sea, several sailboats set sail overnight from Wugou, a small fishing port in central Taiwan, carrying most of the Lin family members from Misty Peak, leaving behind their hometown where they had lived for generations.

  The moonlight is hazy and the night is far from over

  The surroundings were quiet and still.

  The lamp on the table casts a dim and cold light.

  Accompany me in lonely solitude

  People separated by thousands of miles without news

  Never asked from afar, ultimately there is no evidence

  Please ask Mingyue to pass on the message

  Send me a piece of paper to comfort my lonely heart...

  Outside the ship, the sea wind blows in gusts. In the dark cabin, the silver light on the surface of the sea flashes from time to time. A black-clad youth sits by the window, staring at a crescent moon hanging alone in the sky, lost in thought. His mouth hums a soft tune, and he wonders why he starts singing this song.

  Unconsciously, two lines of clear tears flowed down his cheeks. Lin Xiao let out a long sigh. The world is so big, yet one's own heart affairs can never be told to others! It has been nearly two years since he mysteriously traveled from the 21st century to the late Qing dynasty and possessed the body of a young man with the same name as him, gradually merging his thoughts and emotions together. Past life and present life, present life and past life - is it good fortune or misfortune for him to have memories of both lives at the same time?

  In my past life, I was a diver in the Fuzhou underwater archaeological team and participated in many underwater surveys conducted by the national underwater archaeological institute. Due to my hobby of repairing machines and electronics, Lin Xiu often tinkered with electrical appliances and sometimes operated, maintained, and repaired all the instruments and equipment for the underwater archaeological team. During an underwater survey of a Ming dynasty sunken ship near Xiamen, I was struck by a strange blue light. When I came to again, my soul had taken over the body of a young man named Lin Xiu who lived in the Foguanglin family in Taiwan during the Guangxu period and had fallen into the sea.

  Located in Foguang, the Lin family's rise began with the third generation of Lin Jiayin, who was only one word different from the first generation of Lin Yingyin who moved to Taiwan. Lin Jiayin was born in the 47th year of Qianlong, and his father Lin Xun died at the age of 22 in the same year. Later, due to the "Lin Shuangwen Rebellion", the family business was greatly affected, and the Lin family moved from Dali Township to Foguang. Under the leadership of his grandfather Lin Shi, he opened up land, rebuilt his home, and recognized the times. He reclaimed and cultivated land, cut wood and burned charcoal, acquired property, and started a business. The family's fortunes gradually prospered, with an annual income of 4,000 dan of rice, becoming a giant rich man. At this time, the Lin family already had nearly 3,000 hectares of land, which can be called a super large landlord. Later generations built "Jiayin Village" in Foguang to commemorate Lin Jiayin.

  In December of the 18th year of Daoguang, Lin Jiayin passed away at the age of 57. His sons, Lin Dingbang and Lin Dianguo, inherited his business and expanded it. When they divided their inheritance, Lin Dingbang, as the eldest son, received 1,700 hectares, while Lin Dianguo received 900 hectares.

  At that time, Taiwan was in the pioneering era, and robbery and armed fighting often occurred. Lin Dingbang was killed in a conflict, and his second son, Lin Wenming, was captured. Lin Dingbang's eldest son, Lin Wencheng, avenged his father by killing the murderer, Lin Heshang, rescued his brother Lin Wenming, and then surrendered to the government. However, he was valued by the Qing dynasty and used to suppress internal unrest. He led a large force to defeat the bandits in Keelung, and later pacified the great thieves in Fujian Province, receiving heavy use and being promoted to Water Master General, with the rank of Participating General, to direct Taiwan's military affairs. Later, Lin Wencheng died in battle against the Taiping Army's Li Shixian, and was praised by Zuo Zongtang. After Lin Wencheng's death, the Qing court posthumously awarded him the title of Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince, bestowed upon him the hereditary title of Knight Commander, and allowed a special temple to be built in his honor in Zhangzhou.

  After Lin Wencha's death, his younger brother Lin Wenming was also secretly harmed by Zhanghua County Magistrate Wang Wengui. At that time, the Lin family was a powerful clan in Zhanghua, with more than 3,000 "family braves", but under the interception of Lin's mother, they did not take revenge, but instead sued the Qing government in Beijing to avenge Lin Wenming. Due to the unsuccessful lawsuit for eight years, the Lin family began to decline.

  Lin Wenchin, the third son of Lin Dunquan, father of Lin Xiangtang, not only inherited the legacy of the Lin family, but also had a vision for the future. During the French invasion of Taiwan in 1884, Lin Wenchin led his troops to support the government army and provided supplies and equipment. His cousin, Lin Wencha's son, Lin Chaodong, also led his troops to fight against the French. At a critical moment, Lin Chaodong's wife, Yang Shuiping, led her family members and local militia of over 3,000 people to support the government army in Keelung, where they defeated the French army. The reputation of the Lin family in Taiwan rose even higher. Later, Mrs. Yang was granted the title of First-Rank Lady by the Qing court.

  In the 11th year of Guangxu, Liu Mingchuan was appointed as the Governor of Taiwan. Due to his support for Liu during the Sino-French War, Liu Mingchuan gave Lin's family members important positions. He appointed Lin Chaodong as the head of the Colonization Bureau, in charge of the island-wide colonization and land reclamation work. As a result of opening up hundreds of miles of land, he was awarded the title "Gong Yong Batu" by the Qing court. Soon after, Liu Mingchuan granted Lin Chaodong the exclusive right to sell camphor throughout Taiwan and allowed the Lin family to open up land along the central mountain range and coastal areas for cultivation. The Lin family began to enter the modern industrial era, becoming one of the wealthiest families in Taiwan.

  Ma Guan began to negotiate a peace treaty, and news spread that the Qing court was going to cede Taiwan. Lin Chao-dong convened a meeting with his clansmen to discuss the matter, and the elderly lady made a decisive decision for the family to move inland and relocate to Xiamen. After escorting his mother and family members to settle in Xiamen, Lin Chao-dong hastily returned to Taiwan.

  After the Sino-French War, Liu Mingchuan reorganized Lin Chaoding's troops into Dongjun, which was affiliated with the Huai Army system. Initially, three battalions were set up, and later expanded to six battalions, responsible for local security and pacification in Taichung area, supplied by the provincial government. The "family braves" of the Lin family transformed into a regular army of the imperial court.

  Because he possessed the memories of that youth also named Lin Xiu, after being revived, Lin Xiu did not exhibit anything out of the ordinary. He carefully concealed himself, and in the eyes of others, the third young master of the Lin family was merely changed by his near-death experience, becoming more taciturn and cautious in his actions.

  Lin Xiu was left with his mother at the age of six or seven after his father's death. Fortunately, the family business was taken over by his uncle and great-uncle, and since his grandmother had always regarded him as a precious gem, as the Lin family prospered, the property under his name also grew to tens of thousands of taels of silver.

  The Lin family rose to prominence through military achievements, and the young men in the clan were trained in martial arts from a young age. Lin Chong's physique was quite robust, and at the age of twelve, he joined the army for training just like his elder brothers. By fifteen, he began learning how to manage the family business under the guidance of his uncle.

  Since his rebirth, Lin Xiao gradually showed his extraordinary business talent. At the age of 16, his eldest uncle Lin Chaozhuang finally felt at ease and handed over the management of the three houses to him alone.

  Lin Xiang initially took over the family business and coincided with the First Sino-Japanese War during the Guangxu period.

  From the memories of history in later generations, Lin Chong already knew the outcome of the war, and Taiwan would also be easily ceded to Japan by a corrupt court. But what's the use of knowing? A sixteen-year-old boy was powerless to change all this.

  As a former member of an archaeological team, Lin Xiao's knowledge of history was quite rich. Although some specific details were not very clear, the general trend was still very clear. Following the original historical trajectory, after the First Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan was ceded, and the Lin family moved to the mainland. A few years later, the Japanese confiscated most of the Lin family's property in Taiwan, and the story of the Lin family's wealth in Taiwan would end here.

  But this life is somewhat different because of his existence. Before the First Sino-Japanese War, Lin Xiang began to sell most of his assets for silver and then used the power of the Lin family's control over the camphor business in Fujian and Taiwan to hoard large quantities of camphor. As Taiwan was one of the world's main producers of camphor, production could not recover normally during the two or three years after the war, and due to the sharp decline in output, the entire camphor market would inevitably skyrocket. Now Lin Xiang can only take advantage of this opportunity to make more silver from foreigners.

  Sometimes, looking at the troops equipped with iron ramrods loading bullets from the muzzle of the front-loading rifle, he also wanted to let this army switch to advanced rear-loading repeating rifles. However, such an idea was not feasible for Lin Chao-dong. Firstly, each new rear-loading rifle and ammunition on the market cost 46 or 47 taels of silver, and with over 4,000 troops in Dong's army, switching to rear-loading guns would require nearly 200,000 taels of silver, which Lin Chao-dong was not willing to spend. Secondly, the weapons in the hands of the Dong army were more than sufficient for local security, and if they switched to the latest firearms and ammunition, it would be somewhat suspicious of "rebellion", and the imperial court did not trust this private army composed of rural militia very much.

  Lin Xiao also wanted to secretly purchase several thousand rifles from foreigners like some Chinese did, but later found that this approach was not feasible at all. Firstly, rifles and artillery were prohibited items, and the inspection on the sea was very strict, large transactions could only be made by official or military personnel, private purchases were almost impossible. Even if smuggling was possible, it would only be a small part of it. Moreover, as a young man buying thousands of rifles for no reason, this matter itself was too shocking and outrageous, and there was still a good chance that he would be reported and lose his head.

  There's a long way to go, why rush for the time being, Lin Xuan could only comfort himself like this.

  Logically speaking, his life is still worth a lot of money, and if he hangs himself in the hands of the devils, he will lose a lot. Now the only thing he can do is to accumulate as much camphor as possible.

  The imperial court has begun peace talks with the Japanese, and there are rumors that Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula will be ceded to Japan. The Lin family discussed their future course of action, and the elderly matriarch of the Lin family made a decisive decision to move the entire household to the mainland. Since the Lin family already had extensive properties in Xiamen and Zhangzhou, their ancestral homeland, they would not have to worry too much about their future livelihood.

  Thinking of the future, Lin Xiu didn't sleep well for a whole night. After dawn, the fleet arrived in Xiamen, and everyone started to settle down. After paying respects to his grandmother, Lin Xiu went to find Lin Chaozhong again.

  Lin Chong sat in the great hall of his new residence on Gulangyu, wearing a black eye patch over one eye which he had injured during martial arts training in his youth, giving him an uncanny resemblance to a legendary Western pirate, with a sharp glint in his single eye that inspired awe.

  "Is Great Uncle going back to Taiwan?" Lin Xuanming asked knowingly.

  Lin Chao-dong looked at Lin Xiao and said: "The current situation is clear to you, either everyone goes to be a Japanese slave, or we take up knives and guns like in the past and fight to the death to defend our country! Our Lin family has been loyal for generations and does not want to sell out and become a Japanese slave. Moreover, if the Lin family wants to stand firm on the mainland, I must go back!"

  Lin Hui said: "The tens of thousands of Huai Army in the North cannot defeat the Japanese, and the situation in Taiwan is even more precarious. But we cannot abandon those troops and civilians who want to return to the mainland."

  Lin Chao-dong did not speak, but with just the bravery of his soldiers, he had more than 10 battalions and over 4,000 men. If you add to that the tens of thousands of villagers who followed the Lin family, finding a place for these people would be a huge problem.

  "Those people are mostly the sons of the Lin family, and over the years, they have been loyal to the Lin family. These people are also a guarantee of the wealth and nobility of the Lin family. Our Lin family rose to power through military merit, and the army is the foundation of the Lin family. If we lose the army, we will be nothing."

  Lin Chaodong was somewhat moved, silent for a long time, before raising his head and saying: "Alright then, this matter requires foreigners, we need to think of a way to use their ships, best if it's the foreigners who take the lead. Even if it costs more money, it's fine. I still have to go to Taipei, you'll be in charge of arranging for personnel to return to the mainland!"

  Lin Chongdong handed over a token made of ebony to Lin Xiang, holding this token, Lin Xiang could mobilize the troops under Dong's command in emergency situations to coordinate with his actions.

  A few days later, Lin Chaodong took a boat back to Taiwan, while Lin Cong stayed in Xiamen to contact the foreign trade ships, ready to transport personnel from Taiwan.