Chapter 24

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"Deputy Governor, those guys are really too ungrateful! We kindly help them, but they just want to get benefits from us!" Li Decheng said with some anger. He was already over fifty, having been a pirate all his life. In his youth, he was a man who fought on the front lines with a steel knife. However, as he grew older, he gradually became more restrained! If he were still young, he might have drawn his sword against Liu Mingde of Balan Village long ago!

"Uncle Li, don't mind them! It's not us begging them now! They will soon realize the reality!" Long Yufei said. He knew what Liu Mingde was up to, but he would never let them succeed! What he wanted were the Chinese people in Balan Village to strengthen his own power. If they didn't agree, Long Yufei wouldn't force them. After all, the Chinese were having a hard time now. As long as Feiyu Company developed, he didn't have to worry about the Chinese not coming to join!

Li Decheng nodded. The thriving scene of Feiyu Company made him, the old pirate, very satisfied. Before this, he had never thought that the pirates of Feiyu Island would have such a day! Previously, they only thought about how to survive! But now? They might really succeed and rise from pirates to the top.

As the political officer of Feiyu Company, Li Decheng was also very busy. Feiyu City was under construction, and new farmland was being cultivated. He had a lot on his plate. After a few words with Long Yufei, he left!

After Li Decheng left, Long Yufei couldn't help but feel a bit melancholic. Foreigners say that one Chinese person is a dragon, but a group of Chinese people becomes a swarm of worms. The unity of the Chinese people indeed falls short of that of foreigners. Shaking his head, Long Yufei turned and left. He was also very busy, preparing to replicate a steam engine. Once successful, the development of Feiyu Company would be technically guaranteed!

After Long Yufei and Li Decheng left, the atmosphere in the hall became a bit awkward. Wu Yongxing also disapproved of Liu Mingde's attitude!

"Brother, what's wrong with joining Feiyu Company? At least the safety of our compatriots will be guaranteed! The Feiyu City we are building can accommodate tens of thousands of people! Balan Village can't miss this opportunity!" Wu Yongxing advised!

"Alright, Brother Wu, you don't need to persuade me anymore! I have my own thoughts!" Liu Mingde said with a smile. Then he added, "Brother Wu, do you mind showing us around?"

"Ah, okay!" Wu Yongxing sighed and stopped persuading. He had done his best. If the people of Balan Village wanted to live a hard life, it wasn't his fault!

Wu Yongxing took on the role of a guide, leading Liu Mingde and his grandson Liu Wu around Feiyu City. At this moment, Feiyu City was a large construction site. The outer walls were being built, but due to a lack of labor, the progress was slow. The roads and factories inside the city were also being continuously improved. Additionally, because many Chinese had joined Feiyu Company, houses needed to be built for them. The previous five hundred native slaves were far from enough!

"Grandpa Wu, do you still have natives here?" Liu Wu asked, pointing to the natives carrying stones.

"They are just slaves! The Buena tribe once sent over two thousand people to attack Wu Family Village, and we almost got wiped out! Fortunately, Feiyu Company appeared, or we would all have been killed! Feiyu Company helped us defeat the Buena tribe, killing over a thousand enemies and capturing over five hundred prisoners. Because we lacked sufficient labor, we used these natives as slaves! This is just a small part; most of them were sent to the mines!" Wu Yongxing explained!

"Grandpa Wu, aren't you worried the natives will come back for revenge?" Liu Wu asked. In his mind, the natives were extremely fierce, and the Chinese didn't dare to provoke them. Otherwise, they would be attacked. The Chinese were far less powerful than the natives, so they could only endure. To survive, they even had to offer goods and women to the natives, living in great humiliation!

"Ha ha! Revenge? We are waiting for them! The Governor is recently complaining about the lack of slaves, which is far from enough! If these natives come, we will make sure they never return!" Wu Yongxing said proudly.

"Brother Wu, it seems Feiyu Company is not simple! Do you know their background?" Liu Mingde asked.

Wu Yongxing glanced at him and said, "I'm not quite sure. But what does it matter? As long as Feiyu Company can lead us to a better life and protect us from the natives, that's enough!"

Liu Mingde smiled awkwardly and said no more.

"This is our steel mill, which can produce 5,000 pounds of steel per day! As the scale expands, this output will increase significantly!" Wu Yongxing pointed to the distant steel mill and introduced it to Liu Mingde and his grandson!

"5,000 pounds? Every day?" Liu Mingde and his grandson opened their mouths wide, shocked! Mindanao Island was rich in iron ore, and Balan Village had blacksmiths who could smelt and forge weapons and farming tools, but it was just a small-scale operation. Compared to Feiyu Company's steel mill, it was like comparing the sky to the earth!

"Brother Wu, what is that place? Why are there soldiers guarding it?" Liu Mingde asked. Feiyu City was not large, so they quickly reached the location of the armory!

"That is the armory, where we manufacture weapons!" Wu Yongxing said.

"Do they also produce muskets?" Liu Wu asked.

"Of course! That's why there are soldiers guarding it!" Wu Yongxing answered!

"Brother Wu, can we go in and take a look?" Liu Mingde asked.

"Brother Liu, I'm afraid that's not possible! The armory is a key area of Feiyu Company. Without the Governor's approval, no one is allowed to enter, and violators will be executed!" Wu Yongxing said.

Liu Mingde nodded, looking somewhat disappointed. Liu Wu, on the other hand, seemed somewhat disdainful.

"By the way, Brother Wu, didn't your son Daniu join the Feiyu Army? Is the Feiyu Army really that powerful?" Liu Mingde asked.

"Indeed, my son Daniu passed the Feiyu Army's assessment and is now a platoon leader, in charge of dozens of people! The Feiyu Army is certainly powerful, far surpassing the natives! It won't be long before we take the initiative to attack the natives and make them pay for the blood debts of the past few hundred years!" Wu Yongxing said. As one of the high-ranking officials of Feiyu Company, he knew the company's plans. With the growing labor shortage, Feiyu Company was trying to attract more Chinese to join, and the other option was to target the natives. Mindanao Island had many natives, all of whom could be excellent slaves!

Liu Mingde smiled, seeming somewhat disbelieving. The Chinese had been oppressed by the natives for two to three hundred years! The natives, though short and with primitive weapons, were fearless and familiar with the island's environment. Just defending against their attacks was a challenge, let alone taking the initiative to attack them, which was a pipe dream! In Liu Mingde's view, Wu Yongxing was just boasting for Feiyu Company!

Wu Yongxing led Liu Mingde and his grandson around Feiyu City, but they couldn't access the core areas! The armory, in particular, was a key area, and outsiders couldn't enter at all!

At this moment, Long Yufei was facing the complaints of the steel mill manager, Zhao Xingchuan.

"Governor, we have done our best, but the current output of the steel mill is only fifty tons! It's not the equipment, but the severe shortage of manpower! There are only about three hundred natives in the mines, who have to mine iron, coal, and copper. This has seriously constrained our development!" Zhao Xingchuan said.

"Brother Zhao, I know! I'm also very worried! However, fifty tons is enough for now! Once the new recruits complete their training, we will launch an offensive against the natives and capture more slaves!" Long Yufei said. The development of capitalist industry and commerce is filled with blood and tears. For Feiyu Company to develop, it would also have to step on countless bodies. However, Long Yufei didn't consider the natives as human beings. Making the natives pay with their lives for the rise of the Chinese would be a form of atonement for the sins of the past few hundred years!

"Right! Governor, you said the natives suffered a great loss last time, with over a thousand killed and captured. It's been over a month, why haven't they reacted at all?" Zhao Xingchuan said.

"Who knows? But even if they don't come, we will find them once we are ready!" Long Yufei said. The Chinese and the natives could not coexist peacefully; it was a matter of survival, and only one side would win!

At this moment, the military officer Niu Meng rushed into Long Yufei's office.

"Governor, the natives are here! They are only ten miles away! There are a lot of them, over ten thousand!" Niu Meng reported! After the last battle, they had been on guard against the natives' attacks, sending skilled hunters into the forest as scouts. Now, the natives had finally launched an attack, and they had committed over ten thousand, a significant force!

"Good! Order the troops to prepare for battle! Also, evacuate everyone!" Long Yufei immediately gave the order!

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