The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 681 Do you want to cause trouble for me?
Seeing the passenger ship lowering the rope ladder, Lin Guoxiang told the deputy captain:

"I will take some people to see where the enemy comes from. You stay here. If anything happens, return to the camp immediately!"

The deputy steward nodded, but wasn't too worried.

Although we don't know who is on the ship or what their purpose is, it doesn't look like they are here to fight.

If the other party really has bad intentions, it will be useless even if we return to the camp.

These big ships can flatten the naval camp with just a few rounds of salvos.

Lin Guoxiang called a few of his men and climbed up the gangway.

After getting on the deck, I saw several young men in front of me. They were wearing trousers and shirts. They had the same yellow skin as me, very short hair, and looked very tough.

And in the distance, there are some Chinese sailors.

When Lin Guoxiang saw these people, he was stunned for a moment, his mind racing.

He vaguely guessed who the other person was and asked, "Chinese?"

"Yes, Chinese American! Who are you?" Li Xiwen smiled at him.

"Lin Guoxiang, the captain of the Guangdong Navy's Anlan!" Lin Guoxiang straightened his body and asked in a deep voice, "Who is on board... Mr. Chen Lao Hu from San Francisco?"

Lim Kok Siang was born in Malaysia and his father is a Malaysian builder.

At the age of 16, he returned to China to learn Chinese. Because he knew English, he was admitted to Fuzhou School in 1867 and became a classmate of Deng Shichang.

He has six brothers in his family, and now all of them serve in the navy.

Because he often had correspondence with the Chinese in Malaysia, he had heard of Chen Zhengwei more than once.

At this moment, he realized that it was Chen Zhengwei on the boat, and a look of longing appeared on his face.

He had long wanted to meet this leader who was very famous overseas.

He had heard about some of the things Chen Zhengwei had done overseas, and he felt encouraged just by listening to them.

However, along with Chen Zhengwei's deeds, his temper was also spread, which made him feel both expectant and wary.

"Come with me!" Li Xiwen nodded to him.

A parrot flew down from the sky and landed on top of Li Xiwen's head, looking down at Lin Guoxiang:
"Street boy!"

"Hua Pao, stop making trouble!" Li Xiwen raised his hand helplessly and drove Hua Pao away.

The group followed to the bow, and Lin Guoxiang saw a tall man standing there at a glance. His huge body exuded a tremendous sense of power and an unbridled brutality.

Just the back view can make people subconsciously take a detour on the street.

"Senior brother, they have brought them! They are from the Guangdong Navy!" Li Xiwen said behind Chen Zhengwei.

Chen Zhengwei turned around.

Lin Guoxiang looked at Chen Zhengwei carefully, and his unruly temperament was almost the same as he imagined.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Chen from San Francisco!" Lin Guoxiang said with some respect. "I often hear the Chinese in Southeast Asia mention your deeds, and I have admired you for a long time!"

"Oh? Are you a Southeast Asian Chinese? What do they say about me?" Chen Zhengwei asked with interest.

“I was born and raised in Malaysia!” Lim Kok Siang explained.

"Mr. Chen's deeds have greatly inspired the Chinese in Southeast Asia and boosted the morale of the Chinese. It's not that we Chinese are inferior to others. It's just that we need great talents like Mr. Chen to lead others to fight!"

"What kind of official are you?" Chen Zhengwei asked casually.

"The captain of the Anlan is a sixth-rank official!" Lin Guoxiang knew that Chen Zhengwei did not understand the official positions of the Qing Dynasty, so he began to explain.

"You were born in Nanyang and are in the navy. Are you interested in helping me? There are warships going to sea every month in San Francisco. I have plenty of ships, but what I lack is talent!" Chen Zhengwei said with a smile.

Hearing this, Lin Guoxiang's heart moved.

Chen Zhengwei's fleet is already magnificent, but he is still building ships? What is he going to do?
A merchant doesn't need so many ships.

Putting down the chaotic thoughts in his mind, Lin Guoxiang smiled and said, "Does Mr. Chen dare to employ people like us?"

Lin Guoxiang could guess what Chen Zhengwei would say.

Under normal circumstances, Chen Zhengwei would simply say some clichés like "trust people when you employ them, and don't employ people if you don't trust them."

Unexpectedly, Chen Zhengwei glanced at him and said, "I just said it, do you really believe it?"

Lin Guoxiang's expression froze for a moment.

But Chen Zhengwei burst into laughter again: "Just kidding! They all say I have a great sense of humor."

"So what if you are from the Guangdong Navy? If you can take away one of my ships, can you take away ten of my ships?"

"Besides, how many people in this world dare to take away my boat? The world is so small, where can I go?" Chen Zhengwei grinned, and the fierce aura and strong self-confidence came to his face.

Where can I drive to? Back to the Qing Dynasty?
I’m afraid that the Qing Dynasty won’t dare to accept it!

Lin Guoxiang's mood was like a roller coaster after hearing Chen Zhengwei's words. He also felt that he couldn't figure out Chen Zhengwei's thoughts. He could only say: "Mr. Chen is so generous!"

"Go out and see more, and you'll know why I say that!" Chen Zhengwei said with a condescending look. "If you Malaysian Chinese have any talented people, please introduce them to me!"

"You are an official of the Qing Dynasty, so you naturally know what the Qing Dynasty is like. Can you trust it? With internal and external troubles, the court is now just patching up and struggling to survive."

"If you want to achieve something, you can't rely on the Qing Dynasty. You have to rely on me!"

Lin Guoxiang was silent for a moment after hearing this. He had some understanding of Chen Zhengwei, all of which were news from Nanyang, but he didn't know that much about Chen Zhengwei.

But the self-confidence that Chen Zhengwei exudes is extremely contagious.

People subconsciously feel that what Chen Zhengwei said is right.

Besides, how could he not know about the shortcomings of the imperial court and the weakness of the navy?

Then he looked at the surrounding warships: "I don't know why Mr. Chen is here? If you want to land for supplies, you need to report it!"

Lin Guoxiang pointed to the distance, where some large ships were parked on the sea and some small boats were pulling beside the large ships to load and unload cargo.

"In addition, Huangpu Port cannot accommodate large ships. We can only use small boats for supplies. If Mr. Chen wants to dock for supplies, he has to go to Hong Kong or Shanghai."

"I'm from Taishan. Do I need to report when I go home? Whose rule is this?" Chen Zhengwei raised his eyebrows.

Lin Guoxiang's tone paused. There were indeed no rules for people like Chen Zhengwei. After all, other overseas Chinese would not make such a big fuss when they returned.

Thinking of this, Lin Guoxiang said: "If Mr. Chen is only returning to visit relatives, he does not need to report. However, someone still needs to go on board for quarantine... This is the regulation. In addition, these ships cannot enter the coastal waters..."

"Quarantine? That's your rule, not mine!" Chen Zhengwei sneered, "Who dares to come to my ship for quarantine?"

"Also, where is Zhang Shusheng? I came back this time to meet him!"

Hearing Zhang Shusheng's name, Lin Guoxiang's heart trembled, and he bowed his hands and said, "How can we know the whereabouts of the Governor-General? Mr. Chen, do you have any letters? I can hand them over to the camp and have someone deliver them to the Governor-General."

"That's none of your business!" Chen Zhengwei waved his hand!

"I wonder what Mr. Chen's plan is?" After all, it was Lin Guoxiang's duty, so he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"Change boat and go ashore!" Chen Zhengwei said directly.

"Mr. Chen, please wait a moment. I will go back to inform the camp and arrange a small boat to pick Mr. Chen up. Mr. Chen's fleet can dock here." Lin Guoxiang said after a moment of hesitation. In his opinion, this was already a concession.

After all, Chen Zhengwei's fleet was not allowed to enter the near sea.

At this time, Chen Zhengwei's fleet was just 3 nautical miles (5.5 kilometers) away (the limit was set at 1982 nautical miles in 12.)
It was easy to see at Huangpu Harbor, causing some commotion at Huangpu Harbor and Daying. "Forget about your ship. I'm on my ship, and you're still planning to stop me?" Chen Zhengwei's face turned cold, changing faster than turning the pages of a book.

"Mr. Chen's ships are all American ships, not registered in the Qing Dynasty. They are also warships, so they must be reported to the Zongli Yamen. This is my duty! Please don't make it difficult for me!"

"Then I'll see if you dare to stop me!" Chen Zhengwei sneered, murderous aura emanating from his body. He raised his hand and signaled Li Xiwen to drive them away.

"Mr. Chen, this might cause diplomatic tension between the two countries!" Lin Guoxiang took a deep breath.

"It's okay to be nervous, but at worst we can just start a war! Do you know what I do when I go to other countries? I always fire a round of artillery first to let them know I'm here! Who among them objects?"

"None of them had any objections!"

"If you still think this is difficult, then don't do it!" Chen Zhengwei sneered. He has restrained himself now.

He asked Li Xiwen to take the person away, and he called his men:
"Give orders to lower the flag and sail the ship over."

Also, let the army prepare to change ships and land. Let's go home! There's so much to do!"

After saying that, he turned around and walked back to the cabin: "Have you packed up yet? Why are you taking so long?"

"Okay, okay!" Lin Changning held the child, while Wanyun and the nanny dragged the luggage.

At the same time, Chen Zhengwei's fleet sailed towards the mooring point outside Huangpu Port.

Only a few ships of the Pacific Squadron did not cross the border, but they also stuck to the three-nautical-mile edge.

Lin Guoxiang, who had just been driven away and was taking a boat back to the camp to report, looked gloomy when he saw this.

"They've crossed the border! What should we do?"

"Let's go back to the camp first!" Lin Guoxiang gritted his teeth.

Both the deputy captain and he knew that they could not fire, and they didn't even think about it.

Now it’s up to the main camp to decide.

At the same time, in the navy camp, Admiral Li Jun was looking at the sea with a telescope. When he saw Chen Zhengwei's fleet invading, he cursed and turned to look at He Sikun.

"Should we fire a cannon to warn them?"

Li Jun was a general under Zhang Shusheng and knew a little about this incident.

"You can't fire!" He Sikun was frightened by Li Jun's words and hurried to stop him.

"This man has a violent temper. If you fire at him, he will definitely fight back! If that happens, the Guangdong navy will be burned to ashes, and the imperial court might even blame you for starting a war."

It's okay to start a war easily, but if you can't win and destroy the Guangdong Navy, that's another matter.

"He dared to invade directly because he was sure of us!" Li Jun said angrily. He knew in his heart that there was no chance of winning.

"Wait until he comes ashore, then negotiate with him and send a telegram to the Zongli Yamen!" said He Sikun.

This is the safest option.

"This is the only way." Li Jun said.

Chen Zhengwei's warships almost rushed into the anchorage outside Huangpu Port. Whether it was the ocean-going merchant ships anchored there or the small boats transporting goods between Huangpu Port and here, they all talked a lot when they saw the reckless fleet.

Especially when I saw that the ships were full of Chinese sailors.

"Look, that person above is Chinese, I thought he was a foreigner..."

"Who are these people?"

“What a majestic ship!”

While people on the loading and unloading boats were still discussing, the ocean-going merchant ship nearby had already noticed someone was coming.

"Raise the anchor, drive the ship forward and avoid them! Don't block in front of them!" A French merchant grabbed the captain and shouted loudly.

"You should fucking know who that is! Hurry up, don't get yourself into trouble, and most importantly, don't get me into trouble!"

On the American merchant ship not far away, without anyone's reminder, the captain and sailors directly collected the anchor and rope ladder, and the steam engine started.

Foreign merchant ships began to move their positions one after another, especially those in front of Chen Zhengwei's fleet.

The captain wanted to carry the boat and run away.

This made the Chinese who were responsible for loading and unloading cargo in the small boats even more surprised.

"Why do I feel like they are avoiding the plague?"

"Whoever they are, they've stayed away, so let's stay away too!"

Before long, a large area of the space that was originally crowded with large ocean-going merchant ships became empty.

"Look, these foreigners are so sensible!" Chen Zhengwei stood on the deck and pointed at the ocean-going merchant ships that were giving way.

Then he turned his head and looked at the navy camp, and ordered:

"Open all the gun bays!"

The gun compartment on the side of the Warrior was opened, and all the cannons were aimed at the navy camp.

The main and secondary guns at the front of the Los Angeles and San Francisco were also pointed at the navy camp.

It's full of deterrence.

There was even more chaos in the navy camp, but it soon quieted down.

"It seems like they are not going to stop me!" Chen Zhengwei grinned and took Lin Chang and Wan Yun to a torpedo boat.

Many people also got off the supply ship and boarded several torpedo boats, and then headed directly into Huangpu Port.

After the ship approached, Chen Zhengwei jumped onto the dock and looked around with interest. The port workers with braided hair, thin bodies, and numbness and fatigue in their eyes overlapped with the black and white photos in his memory.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way!" There was a noise coming from the distance.

A group of customs officials and yamen runners rushed over.

A group of Chinese people in hunting suits also jumped down from the boat behind Chen Zhengwei, holding guns in their hands.

The same is true for the two docks next to it.

The sailors on the boat clasped their hands across their chests and watched the fun with a smile on their faces.

The customs officials and yamen runners pushed the crowd away, and then saw guns pointed at them.

I swallowed back all the words I wanted to say.

In particular, Chen Zhengwei's huge size and unbridled momentum made the customs official who rushed over feel a little tight in the throat.

"Excuse me, who are you? What is your purpose here?"

"What? Do I have to report to you when I get home?" Chen Zhengwei grinned with a somewhat sarcastic smile.

The customs officer glanced at the other people around him.

"Can't you see that they are going home too? You can't recognize them after they have grown like this? Are you blind?"

"Or... do you want to cause trouble for me?" Chen Zhengwei's smile was full of malice and ferocity.

(End of this chapter)