Chapter 53

After a short while, James emerged from the woods with the mercenaries. One of the mercenaries was being supported by his comrades, his left leg bleeding profusely, staining his entire camouflage pants red. Another mercenary was carried out, and it seemed that he had been shot through the lungs, but he had already received some basic treatment. James's face was ashen, and he was furious about his team members being injured.

"Let's go back first. We need to treat their injuries. Each injured person will receive 300,000 USD for medical expenses." Gao Yang's words brightened the mercenaries' eyes, and even the groans of the injured became a bit quieter.

The convoy arrived at the intersection, and the cautious James brought all the mercenaries stationed at the ferry to escort Gao Yang back to the villa in the small town.

After returning to the villa, the injured were sent for treatment. Gao Yang walked into the living room, took a bottle of whisky from the liquor cabinet, poured a glass, and handed it to James, who was behind him. He then poured a glass for himself. Walking slowly to the window, he said, "You all worked hard today."

"This is our job, boss," James said, dropping a few ice cubes from the ice bucket into his glass, his tone somewhat somber.

"What's wrong? Is there something on your mind? Speak up," Gao Yang sensed that James was not in high spirits and asked.

James hesitated for a moment and said, "I checked the assassins, and two of them were women."

"Ah," Gao Yang nodded indifferently. James was such a gentleman. Leaning against the window, Gao Yang watched the sun in the sky, which was freely pouring out its heat. The sky was clear and windless, and the heat waves on the ground seemed to have solidified the air.

Gao Yang sipped the whisky and said lightly, "This damn weather." James stood behind him, silently drinking his whisky without a word. Gao Yang finished his drink, turned around, and went to the study to take out a piece of A4 paper. After a moment's thought, he wrote down the names of the company executives who had initiated the assassination attempt, as reported by Origin.

After finishing, Gao Yang sighed lightly, picked up the list, and looked at the names, saying softly, "If you don't court death, you won't die. Don't you understand that?"

Putting on a cold expression, he took the list to the living room and handed it to James. "Find these people. Tell them to leave the mine within one hour and never show their faces to me again! If they don't want to leave, then they don't have to."

"Yes, boss," James saluted Gao Yang seriously. Cheirkov had already reported to him that Gao Yang had taken out the sniper. When he had inspected the battlefield earlier, he found the sniper's death suspicious, but he never imagined that the boss had done it! For these mercenaries, you could hire them with money to work and even die for you, but when you had the strength they had to look up to, you would earn their respect!

After James left, Gao Yang rubbed his stomach and instructed the high-salaried French chef to prepare dinner. The work meal at the mine at noon had made Gao Yang very uncomfortable.

After making money, Gao Yang decided he would no longer deprive himself. He took a bottle of whisky from the liquor cabinet and poured a glass for himself. Sipping the whisky, he murmured to himself, "Making money is important, but you need to be alive to spend it! I hope you make the right choice!"

An hour later, Gao Yang sat at the dining table, enjoying a delicious Rossini foie gras steak. When it was served on a porcelain plate, it looked so appetizing.

The first layer was the smooth and rich foie gras, which melted in the mouth. The middle layer was roasted apples, soft and smooth with a light fruit aroma, sweet and delicious. The bottom layer was the pan-fried beef, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a rich mushroom sauce that made it melt in the mouth, truly delicious.

Gao Yang was very satisfied with the chef's skills, and it was worth the high salary he paid him. After finishing the steak, he drank a small bowl of fresh and delicious vegetable soup, and his somewhat depressed mood improved a lot.

After dinner, Gao Yang returned to the living room, lit a post-dinner cigar, and leaned back on the sofa, rubbing his forehead and muttering to himself, "I should take a break. Why be so busy? This isn't the life I want." After continuously shuttling between two timelines and handling various matters, Gao Yang felt very tired.

Not long after, James walked in. "Boss, I've found all the people on the list. However, they all refused your request," James said solemnly.

Gao Yang took a deep breath, exhaled a smoke ring, and said with a stern expression, "Since you chose this path, I have no other choice." He looked up at James and said softly, "Stay here and guard the villa. No matter what happens outside, don't be curious, understood?"

"Yes, boss," James replied, his face tightening.

When the sky outside the window was completely dark, Gao Yang stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, the moonlight shining through the glass and casting a faint glow on the floor. Gao Yang was immersed in the moonlight, his brows slightly furrowed, lost in thought.

After a moment, Gao Yang raised his head and finished the whisky in his glass, saying in a low voice, "Go." The Governor, dressed in black and wearing sunglasses even at night, flashed a red light in his eyes, turned around expressionlessly, and left. Origin had already implanted the target mission into the Governor.

Watching the Governor, dressed in black and wearing sunglasses, stride into the town, Gao Yang sighed softly. "What are you hesitating about?" Origin's voice sounded.

"Before I met you, I was just a simple person. I worked every day and spent time with my girlfriend, and during holidays, I went home to be with my parents. Life was simple and plain, but it was also peaceful. Back then, the most I did was argue with people online. But now, heh, it's either killing or being killed! I feel a bit lost, not sure what I'm really pursuing," Gao Yang said calmly.

"I can't understand human emotions, but I know that if you don't kill them, they will kill you! If you die, your family, your loved ones, your story, everything will end. Your fate is already set, and it can no longer be simple!" Origin's voice was cold.

"Ha, I've been a bit sentimental lately. Well, let's not talk about this. Now, let's go to 1925. I need a break, and I need to handle things before I take a vacation," Gao Yang said with a light laugh after a moment of surprise.

In the study of the Nanjing Inspector-General's residence, Gao Yang quickly reviewed the recent reports. He wanted to reduce the workload as much as possible before his vacation so he could rest well during the break. He only needed to show up occasionally. There were also some essential matters that required his signature and seal.

Gao Yang quickly browsed through various reports and made comments. The payroll for the army, the teaching progress at the Army Officer Academy, the production report for the Jinling Arsenal, the acceptance report for the Nanjing Waterworks, and so on.

Sighing, Gao Yang shook his head when he saw a report from the Navy's Yangtze Fleet.

Since the end of the Jiang-Zhe War, the Yangtze Fleet had been relying on Gao Yang. In the Yangtze Fleet, Gao Yang's orders were more effective than those from the Navy Department in the north, simply because Gao Yang had money!

At that time, the Chinese Navy was divided into three main parts. The Navy Minister Cheng Biguang and the 1st Fleet Commander Lin Baoyi led nearly 20 ships to join the revolutionary government in Guangzhou. In the north, Marshal Zhang appointed Shen Honglie as the commander of the Northeast Sea Defense Fleet and began to吞并直系留下的北洋政府渤海舰队。再有就是在江浙战争之后一直赖在南京的由杜锡珪率领的长江舰队。

对于穷得掉渣的海军来说，在整个中国只有巨有钱的高阳才养得起海军，也只有高阳才有钱买军舰！天可怜见，自从甲午之后中国海军已经几十年没有买过大舰了！

尤其是在高阳的SC贸易大红大紫日进斗金之后，杜锡珪就隔三差五地去拜访高阳。刚开始几次高阳还接见了他，不过这位海军大佬一见到高阳就开始哭穷，希望高阳能可怜可怜海军，从手指缝里漏点油水让海军添置几艘大舰！海军全体官兵必将感恩戴德云云。

高阳对极度排外的海军闽系完全没有好感，在整个民国史上闽系海军就是墙头草，谁给好处就跟谁。张大帅自己搞东北海防舰队，后来的蒋校长也是自己建了雷电系意图取代闽系海军。

更别说高阳现在连个海港都没有，完全没必要买军舰，就是等到高阳占领魔都之后也是要重建海军的。南京的江南水师学堂就是高阳心目中未来中国海军的摇篮。

海军必须是国家的海军，而不是闽系的海军！在此之前，高阳对长江舰队的态度就是养着他们，反正高阳有钱，给长江舰队提供足额军饷和日常训练维护费用，至于买船提都别提。

杜锡珪大佬再来的时候高阳都是不见的，没想到他这次竟然直接交上来购舰申请报告，洋洋洒洒上万字，先是痛陈百年来有海无防的恶果。接着说海军现况如何如何之惨，什么海军全是小船啦，什么都是多少多少年的老古董啦，什么世界各国海军发展日新月异我们已经落后多少多少年啦等等等等，简直让人闻之落泪。最后就是请高阳能够慷慨解囊为国家海防添砖加瓦，总之满篇文章总结起来就俩字“买船。”

这篇申请报告文笔之精彩完全不是杜锡珪能够写出来的，看来是花了不少钱请高人代笔啊。高阳无奈地摇摇头，不是不想买啊，也不缺这个钱，只是现在自己连个海港都没有，买来了往哪放啊？

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Since the end of the Jiang-Zhe War, the Yangtze Fleet had been relying on Gao Yang. In the Yangtze Fleet, Gao Yang's orders were more effective than those from the Navy Department in the north, simply because Gao Yang had money!

At that time, the Chinese Navy was divided into three main parts. The Navy Minister Cheng Biguang and the 1st Fleet Commander Lin Baoyi led nearly 20 ships to join the revolutionary government in Guangzhou. In the north, Marshal Zhang appointed Shen Honglie as the commander of the Northeast Sea Defense Fleet and began to吞并 the Beiyang Government's Bohai Fleet left by the Zhili clique. Additionally, there was the Yangtze Fleet, led by Du Xigui, which had been lingering in Nanjing since the Jiang-Zhe War.

For the impoverished Chinese Navy, only the extremely wealthy Gao Yang could afford to maintain it, and only Gao Yang had the money to buy warships! It had been decades since the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 that China had not purchased any large warships!

After the SC trade became extremely profitable, Du Xigui visited Gao Yang every few days. At first, Gao Yang still met with him, but each time, this naval leader would start complaining about the Navy's poverty, hoping that Gao Yang could be kind enough to let some money slip through his fingers to buy a few warships for the Navy! The entire Navy would be eternally grateful.

Gao Yang had no good feelings towards the extremely xenophobic Fujian clique of the Navy. Throughout the history of the Republic of China, the Fujian clique was like a reed in the wind, following whoever gave them benefits. Marshal Zhang had established the Northeast Sea Defense Fleet, and later, President Chiang also built the Lei Dian series to replace the Fujian clique Navy.

Not to mention, Gao Yang didn't even have a proper port, so there was no need to buy warships. Even after Gao Yang occupied Shanghai, he would need to rebuild the Navy. The Jiangnan Naval Academy in Nanjing was the cradle of Gao Yang's vision for the future Chinese Navy.

The Navy must be the Navy of the nation, not the Navy of the Fujian clique! Before this, Gao Yang's attitude towards the Yangtze Fleet was to support them, as he had the money to provide them with full military pay and daily training and maintenance costs. As for buying ships, it was out of the question.

When Du Xigui came again, Gao Yang refused to see him. However, this time, he unexpectedly submitted a ship purchase application report, a lengthy document of over ten thousand words. It began by lamenting the dire consequences of having a coast without defense for a hundred years. It then described the current miserable state of the Navy, such as how the Navy only had small ships, how they were all ancient relics from decades ago, and how the navies of other countries were advancing rapidly while China had fallen behind by many years, and so on, making one weep. Finally, it pleaded for Gao Yang to be generous and contribute to the nation's coastal defense, summarizing the entire document in two words: "buy ships."

The writing in the application report was so excellent that it was clearly not written by Du Xigui himself. It seemed he had spent a lot of money to hire a professional writer. Gao Yang shook his head helplessly. It wasn't that he didn't want to buy ships, nor that he lacked the money, but he simply had no port to house them. Where would he put them if he bought them?

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