The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 1 Surabaya City

Early 1857
  The port town of Surabaya in central Java, Dutch East Indies
  Surabaya in this era was a tropical coastal city with an old and dirty environment. There were Dutch-style spire buildings and churches, as well as rich Chinese-style courtyard pavilions, and more low-rise shacks and wooden buildings.

This is a city where Eastern and Western cultures come together, bustling and diverse.

There are four-wheeled Western horse-drawn carriages, sliding sedan chairs and rickshaws in the city. There are also peddlers carrying burdens walking through the streets, and Fusang girls who love each other and smile at them fill the streets.

Feng Guohui, wearing a light-colored coarse cloth coat, is tall and strong, with a calmness that belies his age on his young face, and he is striding through the dirt streets.

Not long after walking, he suddenly stopped and looked sideways.

A man and a woman were sitting on a rickshaw passing by.

The middle-aged white man in a white suit had a cigar in his mouth, his face looked as if no one was around, and his furry arms were hugging a graceful Chinese woman.

This woman was wearing a cheongsam with high slits, revealing a touch of white between her legs in the breeze. She was holding a Western fan decorated with lace and gently shaking it in her hand. As she passed by, a fragrant breeze hit her face.

"Street boy, I advise you not to have any ideas about that coquettish woman. The red ghost guy next to her has a very strong background. Please don't cause trouble for us in Chinatown."

The person who spoke was Yang Jiafu, the owner of the shop next door. He was secretly wary of this tall young man with a green face. He knew that he was one of the gangsters who was ostracized during the Changmao Incident and lived in Nanyang.

Despite his young age, he has a lot of lives on his hands.

Feng Guohui turned his head and grinned, showing his white teeth, and replied calmly;
  "Look at the peep show... Jiaopo is indeed different. She is dressed so well and has such a great figure. It would be a shame not to take another look at her."

The words deliberately avoid the red ghosts. These white Dutch colonists are really not easy to mess with. They are the real masters of the vast East Indies in Nanyang.

Fortunately, these Dutch people have always been arrogant and pursued the policy of "ruling foreigners with foreigners" in the colonies. As long as you don't actively provoke them, there will be no trouble.

Since the Ming Dynasty, the Dutch have been called Hongmaofan.

"History of the Ming Dynasty·Foreign Biographies": "Helan, also known as Hongmaofan, is close to Folangji." In the Qing Dynasty, the British were also called Hongmaofan. Volume 2 of "Hai Lu" written by Xie Qinggao of the Qing Dynasty: "The Kingdom of Yingji is Hongmaofan, located southwest of Franji and facing the sea."

He said: Since ancient times, people with no knowledge of China have deep eyes, long noses, and red hair, so they call themselves red-haired fans.

Yan Shigu said: Among all the armies in the Western Regions, their shapes are the most unique. Today, the Hu people have blue eyes, red beards, and look like a monkey, which is their species.

It has been passed down from generation to generation that the Nanyang Chinese privately call the Dutch "Red-haired Ghosts" and "Red-haired Ghosts", and call the Spaniards or Portuguese "Frangji Ghosts". This is where the origin comes from.

Feng Guohui walked into the shop, leaned against the heavy counter and watched the clerk weighing the rice and noodles deftly, and continued talking as if he was chatting;

"Boss Yang's business is so big and prosperous that it's hard not to make a fortune. I hope we can work together in the future."

"Master Feng, don't be joking. If you peel off the skin layer by layer, how can you talk about getting rich? It's good to be able to make a living." Yang Jiafu shook his head and smiled bitterly, saying it as if it was true.

"Okay, Boss Yang, I don't want to borrow money, I just want to have a friend and a new path."

"Of course that's good. If we open the door for business, I won't push the God of Wealth out."

"Then it's settled."

While the two were talking, six or seven well-dressed men walked over from the side of the street. They wore leather belts more than four fingers wide around their waists. They looked at themselves and acted evilly, making people unable to avoid them.

The boss Yang Jiafu also saw these people arriving. The smile on his face suddenly disappeared, and a look of disgust flashed across his face.

The leader, a strong man with a beard, walked in. He looked around and fixed his eyes on Feng Guohui's face. When he saw him looking over without avoiding it, he immediately felt a little hairy.

"You look a little unfamiliar, but you are pretty confident. What do you call me?" the bearded man asked.

As his words fell, several men around him gathered around him with a "hurrah", and they had the momentum to take action if they didn't agree with each other.

According to the saying in Jianghu, this is called Panhaihai.

Feng Guohui seemed unaware, and replied calmly: "When I first arrived at Guibao Land, my surname is Feng and my name is Guohui."

"Where is your family name?"

"Guangdong and Guangxi, Yong'an Mansion, I wonder if you have any advice?"

hiss……

The bearded man couldn't help but gasped after hearing this, and looked at the tall young man again in surprise. From his half-smiling expression, you can feel a hidden murderous aura, which cannot be faked.

Where is Yong'an Mansion in Guangdong and Guangxi?
  There is Guiping County under Yong'an Prefecture, and there is Jintian Village in Guiping County. It was the birthplace of the "Changmao Rebellion" that spread to most of the Chinese mainland, causing millions of casualties so far.

A person's name, the shadow of a tree.

This great change that happened in the Chinese mainland was well known even in the Nanyang region thousands of miles away, and almost everyone, young and old, knew about it. To the green-skinned gangsters in Nanyang who were fighting on the streets, the tall young man in front of them no longer looked harmless, but looked like a terrifying existence like a murderous god.

Feng Guohui, who was leaning on the counter, suddenly turned his body as if unintentionally. Several strong men surrounding him immediately dispersed as if frightened, which caused a burst of laughter from the crowd watching the excitement.

The bearded man suddenly felt that he had lost face, turned around and angrily yelled at the crowd watching the excitement: "Look, are you waiting for a few big bucks from each of the men? Get out of here..."

Then, he angrily said to his boss Yang Jiafu, "Boss Yang, you have to pay the customs fee at the end of the month. You don't need me to remind you anymore, right?"

"Of course, the counter is ready." Yang Jiafu took a bag of money from the counter clerk and handed it over with both hands.

The bearded man took it, weighed it in his hands, and handed it to his subordinates. Then he looked at Feng Guohui fearfully, arched his hands and said;
  "Mountains and rivers do not change. Since my friend is a dragon crossing the river from the mainland to the South Sea, eating his food on the territory of this red-haired ghost, then it is best to live in peace. You must abide by the rules here, and so do the bosses above. When I'm helping the red ghost guy, no one wants to offend anyone."

"It's easy to say that Feng and a few brothers were working on the dock. He didn't intend to cause more complications. The amount of money he should pay will not be less."

"That's good, I'm sorry." The bearded man nodded in agreement and told his men to leave.

When he reached the door, he stopped and turned around and said, "Let me get to know you. I am known as a bearded man in the world. I am a man with double red sticks in Anxi. I work for Mr. Qiao, the official legislator. Please forgive me if there are any shortcomings."

"Feng Guohui, a native of Yong'an Prefecture. Under the East Throne, I am the left deputy envoy of the Northern Puppet Army. I have the same position as the commander. I have been in the army for six years. Please enlighten me." Feng Guohui returned the salute with a solemn expression and cupped his fists.

After hearing this, Hu Xiong was stunned for a moment, turned around and left without saying a word.

I can't talk about this anymore, it's so heartbreaking.

Everyone around looked at Yang Guohui with astonishment. Feng Guohui couldn't stay here any longer. He left a friendly smile, patted his butt and left.

Going left and right along the dirt streets, he soon came to a low shack. After looking around and seeing that no one was paying attention, he ducked into one of the shacks and closed the firewood door behind him.

There was almost nothing growing in this low shack, just an old bed plank on a stone, with a tattered mat and two old clothes placed on it.

In the open space on one side of the bed was a smoky iron pot set up on several stones, with a pile of firewood piled randomly next to it.

This is Feng Guohui's temporary residence. He sat on the bed, reached under the bed and pulled out a heavy cloth package.

Opened it and took a look

Inside the package were six gleaming willow-leaf flying knives, two small yellow croakers of one tael each, six or seven taels of scattered silver and dozens of copper coins cast by the Dutch. This was his entire property.

Feng Guohui joined the army at the age of 11 and served as a soldier under the command of the Eastern King Yang Xiuqing. He followed him in the southern and northern wars for more than six years. Due to his military merit, he was promoted to the left deputy envoy of the Northern Puppet Army, with the same position as the commander, and commanded a battalion of more than 400 soldiers.

He acquired good kung fu in the army, and was good at back-long fists. He also had six willow-leaf flying knives that were close to his body, and he could appear and hit here and there. He is good at wielding a long sword and is able to wield it in a weather-proof manner. He is a famous young master among the Long-haired Army.

Unfortunately, during the Tianjing Incident in 1856, Hong Xiuquan secretly summoned the Northern King Wei Changhui, who was fighting abroad, to enter Tianjing to kill Yang Xiuqing. Yang Xiuqing's family and tens of thousands of his staff were killed.

At that time, there were enemies on all sides, and the entire Chinese state had no place to stand. Feng Guohui, who was lucky enough to escape with his life, took dozens of his confidants from the camp to board a Western sailing ship in Suzhou Prefecture, and was forced to live overseas to this day.

He also has a secret identity. A few days after Feng Guohui contracted a high fever on the ship, the soul of a keyboard warrior from a later generation took advantage of the situation and took over this young and strong body...

What's unpleasant is
  Feng Guohui has confirmed that he does not have the golden finger that comes standard with time travel and rebirth, nor does he have any heaven-defying abilities.

Fortunately, the original body had a good foundation, and the force value was also among the best. All these were inherited without reservation.

Slowly letting out a breath of depression, Feng Guohui smiled bitterly and played with a willow leaf flying knife in his hand. The flying knife circled flexibly between his fingers, as if there was an invisible thread sticking to it.

He was thinking in his mind, how to get a foothold here?
  The current Lao Shizi "Chang Mao Incident" has nothing to do with him. His old owner, Dong Wang Yang Xiuqing, will die as soon as he dies. He has no intention of avenging him. It is purely meaningless.

Now that we are thousands of miles away in Nanyang, the most important thing is to stay on our feet and live happily.

Surabaya is an important town in central Java, with a population of more than 100,000. It is the capital of East Java Province, and the situation is quite complex.

Under the colonial rule of the Dutch, the highest local authority was the seven-member Parliament of Surabaya of the Royal Dutch East Indies, which was dominated by Dutch whites.

A total of five of them are white official members, including the chairman of the parliament, Link von Biedrins, who is the real native emperor of Surabaya. His ancestors are from the Netherlands and a white family that has lived in the area for seven generations.

Among the remaining two official council members, one is a wealthy Chinese businessman named Qiao Yunnan. He has developed aluminum and zinc mines in Surabaya, owns a large spice plantation, and is also involved in opium, gambling stalls and dock trade. He is a big businessman with astonishing wealth.

He is also the backstage boss of Anxi Hall, a Jianghu gang that begs for food at the Surabaya Pier. With a membership of more than 1700 people, Anxi is the most powerful among the Chinese Tangkou gangs in Surabaya.

Another official member is the local indigenous nobleman Irwandi Yusuf. The Yusuf family is a prominent family in Surabaya. They own large tracts of land and tropical crop plantations on the outskirts of the city and are extremely influential.

In addition, Surabaya City also has British businessmen, Spanish businessmen, and women from India and Fusang who sailed to the Southeast Asia. The various people are quite complex.

Feng Guohui thought about it, and soon the corners of his mouth curled up. He became more and more interested in this place.

(End of this chapter)