The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 19 Expedition Ceremony
  Watching the brother and sister leave in a carriage, Feng Guohui said to Zheng Xiucai with a somewhat complacent expression: "Xiucai, what do you think of my performance just now? Was it polite and enthusiastic, with just the right amount of control?"

Zheng Xiucai pursed his lips and said, "Master, do you want to tell the truth or a lie?"

"Of course it's the truth."

"I think it's a bit too much, especially when I look at Mr. Qiao Er's rich daughter, she looks so straight..."

"Ahem, it's so obvious..."

"I said it as implicitly as possible, just because I was afraid that it would be embarrassing for me."

"Pujie, let's go. Do you want to go to the old camp and have a look? Go and check for the tiger." Feng Guohui looked a little embarrassed and quickly changed the subject.

laoyingli

It was already in the afternoon, around three o'clock in the afternoon, and Nanyang Company had already stopped recruiting manpower, and instead launched a completely militarized training.

At this time, there were still many people lingering at the gate of the old camp who did not want to leave. They raised their heads and looked at the guys in the old camp who were training in rows with envious eyes.

After entering the camp, these new recruits all had their braids cut off and put on uniform light-colored coarse cloth coats, indigo blue coarse cloth trousers, put on leggings, and round-mouthed black cloth shoes.

Arrange them from tallest to shortest, with five people in a group, ten people in a team, and hundreds people in a team. The first lesson is to stand in a military posture.

The veterans in charge of the training held thin sticks made of thorns, which were small sticks as thick as fingers with barbs. If they saw anyone standing irregularly, they would immediately hit them with a stick.

Some hunching over, holding breasts and sticking out buttocks, no nonsense at all, just two hard spanks, which made these newbies scream.

This rough training method is more effective than preaching.

Many newcomers don't know a word of Chinese characters. If you talk to them too much, it's all nonsense.

If you can't do it right, just hit it. If you still can't do it next time, then hit it again until you hit it correctly.

This kind of barbed thorn stick hits the body, and it hurts when the stick is used. A thin blood mark will appear on the body immediately, and it will take three or four days to heal completely.

The rough pain education made these newcomers quickly become standardized and gradually developed a uniform and strong military style.

The veterans in charge of training also came here in the first place.

War in the cold weapon era was particularly cruel, and military discipline was very strict. With an order, one would have to break through even if there were mountains of swords and seas of fire in front of him.

If you don't shrink from the former, kill!

Anyone who disturbs the morale of the army will be killed!

Anyone who disrespects the order will be killed!

Anyone who leaks military information shall be killed!

Anyone who escapes from battle shall be killed!

Kill those who surrender to the enemy and rebel!

……

The Changmao Rebellion swept through the southeastern half of China, affected Huguang, Sichuan, and reached Jinling, the capital, and divided the kings. The reason was not that the rebel soldiers were more powerful, but the strict military system, especially the superiority of Qingyao.

This group of veterans from Nanyang Company are very good at training new recruits, unlike others.

In just a day or two, it already looks pretty good.

Feng Guohui led Zheng Xiucai and others along the way. Along the way, the veterans leading the training shouted loudly one after another;

"Attention to all the new members of the second team, the commander has arrived, everyone salutes!"

"Attention to all the new members of the third team, the commander has arrived, everyone salutes!"

……

"Attention to all the new members of the fifth team, the commander has arrived, everyone salutes!"

New Team Five?

There are 100 people in a team, where do the 5 new teams come from?
  Feng Guohui frowned and looked over. The rookie team 5 had 10 people in a row, and they were lined up at the back. They were obviously a little shorter than the other teams, but not much.

"My dear mother, Hu Laohu, is this how you, a servant, keep a check on me?

I said you would charge more than 400 points, but you dared to charge me more than 490 points, so why not make up the whole amount?

Pujie, are there dozens of extra people coming to your house for dinner? There are already more people than my Gale Camp, I choose..."

Feng Guohui scolded him, and Hu Laohu's face turned red with embarrassment, and he quickly ran over and whispered his apology.

Staring at him fiercely, Feng Guohui ordered in a low voice;

"You servant, the rookie team is training first, and the scholar will take over as the chief training officer. This matter is not over yet, I will deal with you on the way back."

"It's all the fault of my humble position. I took a little more when I was soft-hearted. Sir, please calm down a lot." Hu Laohu replied with a smile on his face.

Feng Guohui was not easy to fool, so he cursed loudly;
  "If you can't stand me, just give me a basket. Dozens of extra people will be raised for nothing. Will you pay me? The money and paper are all blown by the wind? I'll have a good meal for two days, Ya Ting You don’t even know what’s going on right now, you street boy.”

"My fault, my fault, please punish me."

"I will remember this mistake for you first, and let you atone for it, and then deal with it together. I will never be lenient. Be careful with your head."

"Thank you, Mr. Ding, for being merciful. I was confused for a moment, but I will know what to do next."    "Hmph, just try to find trouble for me."

Although Feng Guohui angrily reprimanded Hu Laohu in person, he did not punish him severely. Instead, he asked him to perform meritorious service to see the consequences.

Hu Laohu is a general that Feng Guohui likes from the bottom of his heart. He dares to fight, kill, and is brave and fearless. Under his rough appearance, he has a flexible mind and values ​​love and justice.

Looking at Nanyang Company, there are still two to three hundred people gathered at the door and unwilling to leave. You can see how popular the recruitment today is.

Hu Laohu also saw so many good talents, and he suddenly felt a love for talents, so he took the risk of being punished and hired dozens more people.

Nanyang Company's current development momentum is really good. If it can successfully open up business routes, the future will be bright.

As Feng Guohui's confidant, Hu Laohu knew a little bit about Nanyang Company's family background, and it was not difficult to support dozens more people, so he took it upon himself to recruit more newcomers.

Of course, this does not include the private wealth of Jin Yagen who was sitting in the former water house. Only Feng Guohui himself knows that.

No matter how you say it

Feng Guohui wants to give Hu Laohu a good beating because he has crossed the default bottom line. This trend cannot last forever. He just needs to find a more suitable opportunity.

Afterwards, he inspected the bundled cargo carriages, the mules and horses kept behind, and even carefully inspected the newly beaten horseshoes and the accumulated fodder.

The more details you prepare, the fewer accidents you will encounter on the road.

After giving some final instructions, Feng Guohui handed over the old battalion to Zheng Xiucai, and then left with a dozen people.

12 April

auspicious day
  It is suitable for getting married, sailing, traveling, starting construction, laying a foundation, trading, starting construction, getting married, getting married, making a bed, getting livestock, burying, going to a funeral, giving betrothal gifts, remarrying, going to work, enrolling in school, and migrating.

Taboo, capping, beaming.

At dawn, all 586 clerks from Nanyang Company gathered in the old camp. The doors, windows, and stoves of the old camp were all pasted with red paper with good meanings, making it look festive.

Nanyang Company's plan for the first trip to Kaishan Gate requires a lot of attention, and the meeting must be extremely solemn, with no mistakes allowed.

Chinese immigrants are generally extremely superstitious and take this aspect very seriously.

All the veterans and newcomers were fully armed, with swords, guns, shields and armor one by one. The tents were all put away and lined up neatly in the empty field.

At this time, the sky was getting brighter, and the big bosses from various gangs who had been invited arrived one after another and stood under the eaves of the corridor.

"The auspicious time has come, let's play music and worship the heaven and earth."

The muezzin roared out with a loud voice, and suddenly the drums and erhus and suonas vibrated together, and the high-pitched melody of traditional music soared into the sky.

Feng Guohui led a group of his men to the scene with red faces. He also wore a Spanish helmet, a breastplate, and a revolver around his waist. The breastplate was wrapped with red cloth, making him look like a groom.

The earthen platform for the offering table has already been set up. It is a square earthen platform one foot high, with an offering table incense burner on it. There are three animal offerings on the offering table, and the big pig has a red cloth flower tied on its head, which looks particularly festive.

At this time, someone had already taken three large incense sticks as thick as a finger and lit them. The band nearby was playing hard, and a dozen bald monks were also banging wooden fish and chanting scriptures.

"The head of the family comes forward to worship the heaven and the earth."

The muezzin shouted again, and all the music playing over there stopped immediately, leaving only the sound of the monks reciting scriptures.

Feng Guohui stood on the platform with a solemn expression. Behind him, only Zheng Xiucai and Hu Laohu could stand on it. The others could only form a circle and stand under the platform.

Ma Ganqiang was also among them. Looking at the two people standing behind Feng Guohui, he felt not only a little sad;

After all, he followed Mr. Feng a step further and was already left behind by these two people.

In Nanyang Company, the symbolic significance of being able to follow Feng Guohui on the platform is self-evident.

You said that in the eyes of the top master, your status and importance are no less than those of your right-hand man. Then why are the tigers and the talented people going up, but you can’t?
  Looking at the high-spirited Hu Laohu and Zheng Xiucai looking around on the platform, Ma Ganqiang secretly made up his mind;

Street boy, after thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi, one day I will be stronger than you and let Mr. Ding know that I am not a waste.

Under the corridor, there were already many guests watching the ceremony.

Today Qiao Peiyun and her brother Qiao Zhongxing are here, but she is dressed very low-key today. She does not wear a bright white western skirt, but only wears a lake green flag skirt.

The so-called flag skirt is a flag jacket on the upper body. The popular flag jacket in the south has a double round high collar, trumpet sleeves, and a slim cut, which can well outline the graceful figure of a girl.

She wears a pleated skirt down to her ankles, and wears round-top calfskin shoes on her feet.

Qiao Peiyun's curious eyes looked at the neatly arranged Nanyang Company guys below. They were as strict and orderly as an army before going out for an expedition, which made her feel a faint murderous aura.

That was a trait that Qiao Peiyun could not see in any Jianghu gang, and it aroused her strong interest.

A pair of big, watery eyes looked around, and soon fell on Feng Guohui who was standing on the earth platform.

This tall young man no longer had the playful smile on his face. He looked solemn like a young general before going on an expedition. He was heroic and had an invisibly attractive temperament.

Perhaps feeling that he was being watched, Feng Guohui turned around and found Qiao Peiyun in the crowd.

The two looked at each other, and Feng Guohui suddenly blinked twice playfully. Qiao Peiyun immediately broke her guard and stamped her foot angrily.

Unknowingly, her pretty face turned red.

(End of this chapter)