Chapter 57: The Yellow Bull Party Begins to Show Its Might

  The Yellow Bull Party begins to show its might.

  Yao Fenggang had just arrived outside Shili Fort when he saw a group of people gathering at the edge of town from afar.

  Yao Feng waved his hand to greet, and was discovered by the crowd. Those people rushed over from afar, surrounding Yao Feng and asking about his well-being.

  He Shicheng hastily ran to Yao Fang's front, hugging Yao Fang's arm, and said with a nose full of snot and tears: "Master! You're finally back! These two days have scared me to death."

  "Fourth Master Zhou also cried out: 'Master Dong, you've been wronged!'"

  Li Jun asked: "Is Master Dong's body and bones okay? Has that bandit ever beaten Master Dong?"

  Yao Fenge patted He Shicheng's head, and then shook hands with everyone, laughing: "I'm doing well there, the bandits take care of my food and sleep, and don't make things difficult for me. I thought to myself that I couldn't be caught for nothing, so I ate a lot more than usual, almost starving them."

  Everyone saw Yao Cong's usual humorous self, apparently unaffected, and burst out laughing.

  Liu Jinbao wiped away tears and said, "I knew the master was a lucky and blessed good man, wherever he goes, there is always the protection of heaven." The crowd of fellow workers nodded in agreement.

  Yao Feng smiled and comforted his companions, seeing Fu Bo still standing there, he smiled and bowed: "Thank you, Uncle Fu, for saving us."

  Fu Bo's old face flushed with a hint of red, saying: "Yao Dongjia has the appearance of a lucky person, where is it that a mere group of horse bandits can break his good fortune?"

  Yao Fan didn't say anything, just smiled and nodded slightly.

  Fu Bo said: "My young master is waiting for your news in town, you'd better go and report back safely."

  Yao Fan agreed and took He Shi Cheng into the Ten Mile Fortress.

  The Li family had borrowed a courtyard from a landlord surnamed Wang in Shilihe Town and temporarily settled here, with a canopy made of bamboo and oilcloth set up outside the courtyard to provide shade, surrounded by the Li family's armed guards.

  When he heard the servant report that Yao Fang had been released by the bandits after paying a ransom, Li Mochou rushed out like flying, and when he was more than 30 meters away, he hurriedly shouted with his fists: "Brother Yao! Brother Yao!"

  Yao Fan was also moved, a chance encounter with a stranger, and this young man from the Li family turned out to be quite sentimental.

  The two men approached and hastily paid their respects to each other, then Yao Feng and he entered the courtyard rented by the Li family, and together they met the three brothers of the Li family.

  Three people sat down around a simple round table. Yao Fan saw that Li Jingyu's eyes were red, as if she had cried.

  Li Jingfang sat beside Yao Fang, excitedly holding onto Yao's hand and said: "Brother Yao, you're back! What a wonderful coincidence! Don't worry, I'll definitely help you with this matter!"

  Zheng Tingguo, the county magistrate of Nanhui, is truly incompetent! He has no control over the local area, allowing bandits to roam freely. It's as if he has eaten the heart and gallbladder of a bear, daring to rob people in broad daylight on official roads! When I get to Jinan, I will definitely find Ding Baozhen and report him!

  Li Daoyu said apologetically: "My elder brother originally wanted to send someone to disperse those bandits, but who would have thought that they would intercept Brother Yao instead? It really made my brothers anxious. Now that Brother Yao has returned safely, it can be considered a relief for my brothers."

  Fu Bo interjected, "If you want to blame someone, blame me, this old man who refuses to die. I'm really getting old and muddle-headed, not only did I let Ma Fei escape, but also got Yao Dong's family into trouble."

  "What's the big deal about robbers? They're just a bunch of hoodlums, taking money and goods by force. It's nothing to be afraid of, Uncle. As long as you're out on the road doing business, who hasn't been robbed before?"

  Fu Bo saw Yao Weng's calm demeanor and was deeply impressed, saying: "After Yao Dongjia was taken away, my young master initially wanted to report it to the authorities. But I thought about it and realized that this group of bandits wasn't large, only a few dozen people. They kidnapped him just for money. If we reported it to the authorities, the soldiers would swarm in and scare them off, causing them to abandon Yao Dongjia. Sure enough, that night the bandits sent someone to negotiate a ransom."

  "Fortunately, the old man has rich experience and saved my life. I thank you here!"

  Yao Feng praised the three young sons of the Li family, and Fu Bo was extremely pleased. He quickly helped Yao Feng up and asked: "I saw that Yao Dong's carriage was loaded with many military crossbows. It's a pity that if it weren't for the tall sorghum fields on both sides of the official road, they would have been able to take precautions earlier and shoot those bandits off their horses."

  "Those aren't military crossbows, they're Western-style ones," Yao Weng hastily covered up. "They were made in our family's factory and sold to the royal families of various countries in the West for hunting purposes."

  Fu Bo Dao said: "I had your family's He Shi Cheng try it out for me, and that crossbow has a range of over one hundred paces. It's truly more powerful than the ones used in my Qing army! The top doesn't even use cow tendon, but instead uses steel strings! All the mechanisms are made of high-quality steel, and the most amazing thing is that it's cocked with just one foot, unlike ordinary crossbows which rely on a hand-cranked handle. And it can also be folded up - truly a one-in-ten-thousand excellent piece! The only thing is that the crossbow bolts don't have reverse barbs, they only have steel cone-shaped heads, so it seems like they're indeed for hunting."

  Yao Feng glanced at the three members of the Li family, smiled and said: "Since Uncle Fu likes it, I'll give you one. This crossbow was originally only provided to foreign royal nobles for hunting, and one is worth over a thousand taels of silver. Uncle Fu, you're a connoisseur, just take it and play with it."

  Fu Bo Dao said, "I can't afford to take care of such a treasure. Besides, this is a taboo thing. In the future, Yao Dong's family must not bring it out in front of people, only for personal appreciation when hunting."

  Li Jingfang calmly said: "It turns out that Brother Yao's family has factories overseas with such divine and powerful weapons."

  Yao Fan smiled and covered up: "My family's factories in the western regions of Thailand are all making high-end items, this folding one is just one of them."

  Li Desu asked: "Why did the foreigner trust you, Brother Yao, to entrust such a good imperial object to your family to handle?"

  Yao Feng smiled and said: "This is all about connections, my family spends no less than 100,000 silver coins every year to maintain relationships, only then can we get the royal orders from foreigners.

  To say more, this crossbow, although it was made in my family's factory, is actually assembled. The steel wire is customized from the Toulouz Ship Steel Cable Factory in France, and the machine core is customized from the British Royal Iron Factory. The rest of the components are also purchased from many famous factories in Taiwan, and then carefully polished and manufactured by craftsmen with excellent skills, which can be made.

  Because all the parts were purchased from foreigners, so foreigners did not mind."

  Li Jingfang suddenly enlightened and exchanged a glance with Fu Bo, both nodding in agreement. They also couldn't believe that Yao Feng had privately made weapons from head to toe.

  Fu Bo Dao said: "The steel mouth of this crossbow, and the steel mouth of that bicycle, are in no way inferior to the best hundred-folded steel made by my great Qing dynasty for making knives and guns."

  Li Jingfang asked: "Brother Yao, isn't it easy for your family to get these good steels?"

  "Brother Li, don't you have a factory at home? If you want to buy guns, cannons, steel for ships or anything else, I can procure them for you. I guarantee that if you go to the foreigners yourself, they will absolutely refuse to sell."

  Li Jingfang seemed to be thinking deeply, and thought that Yao Fang was indeed a good helper. In the future, if Father couldn't buy from foreigners, he could secretly get some genuine goods from within the foreign community through him.

  Yao Feng said up to here, and suddenly a bold idea emerged in his mind. He then turned to Li Jingfang and said: "I heard that in 1862, which was the first year of Tongzhi, the imperial court entrusted Nelson, a British national who was in charge of taxation at the time, whose Chinese name was Li Taiguo, to purchase seven warships from Britain.

  Later, due to the exorbitant cost of shipbuilding, it was also occupied by 600 foreign sailors hired by the British Asbin, who refused to let Chinese sailors board. The intention was to control the naval power of China. The British minister said that if they did not agree to let the British control these ships, they would not hand them over. Later, in 1863, Li Da-ren angrily returned the warship to Britain, and the British sold it at an auction back home.

  It is said that the imperial court not only did not receive compensation, but also lost 380,000 taels of silver in total. Is this true?

  Li Jingfang was taken aback and thought to himself, "He actually knows about such a major national affair? Hmm, this embarrassing matter must have already been spread far and wide by foreigners overseas."

  Fu Bo said with a hint of anger: "You heard it from Yao Dongjia in Taixi, right? Indeed! There is such a thing, but Lord Li is loyal and dedicated to the country! He did this without any bias!"

  Li Jingfang waved his hand at Fubo, and then Fubo stopped talking.

  Li Jingfang said: "This is indeed the case, the British are too deceitful! Our Qing dynasty bought these ships, yet they want us to be controlled by them. The navy is manipulated in their hands, isn't this making our country a vassal state of Britain?! Such a great shame and humiliation, absolutely cannot be tolerated!"

  Yao Fang said lightly: "After those wooden ships were towed back to England, I also boarded the ship to take a look. They are just British rubbish. The largest one is the 'Jiangsu' with a displacement of 1260 tons, 300 horsepower, and a speed of 12 knots. It has two 68-pound muzzle-loading cannons and four 18-pound muzzle-loading cannons. Even if it's at its best, it can only shoot a distance of about 2 miles."

  The rest include one 'Beijing' with a displacement of 670 tons, one 'China' with a displacement of 669 tons, one 'Guangdong' with a displacement of 552 tons, and one 'Tianjin' with a displacement of 445 tons. The others all have displacements of over 300 tons.

  "These seven pieces of trash, forget about them."

  Li Jingfang's eyes widened as he listened to Yao Fang's tone, and immediately followed up with a question: "Brother Yao, are you saying that you can buy an even better ship?"

  "It's not only available for purchase, but it's an ironclad warship, not a wooden-hulled one. It's powered by a pure steam engine, without sails, with a speed of around 15 knots and a displacement of around 2,500 tons. It's equipped with 10 to 16 guns, with a range of over 3 li."

  Li Jingfang said excitedly: "Our Qing government's Fuzhou Shipyard spent all its heart and soul to build the wooden-hulled sailing 'Yangwu' cruiser, with a displacement of 1393 tons and a speed of only 15 knots in favorable winds! It was equipped with 13 British muzzle-loading cannons, costing 254,000 taels of silver! How much did that ship cost, Brother Yao?"

  Yao Fan blinked and said, "I estimate it's about 15,000 taels of gold? However, that's an ironclad ship! No need for sails, just burn coal and it'll do!"

  Li Jingfang roughly calculated it and found that it was exactly 250,000 taels of silver. He was delighted and said, "Brother Yao, this matter must not be spread out, wait until we arrive in Jinan, I will introduce you to someone!"