lovenovelstory Chapter 124 Immigration Ships and Spy Infiltration
Chapter 124 Immigration Ships and Spy Infiltration
Chapter 124 Immigration Ships and Spy Infiltration
After a journey of more than a month, the 1,200-ton Messiah successfully crossed the Pacific Ocean and appeared outside San Francisco Bay.
"We've finally arrived."
Captain Thomas stood on the deck, his right hand pounding his lower back. "Mission accomplished. How about a drink at the tavern after we disembark?"
The first mate waved his hand in refusal: "No, I want to find a restaurant first, eat some fresh vegetables, and then buy some fresh fruit. I miss those things so much; I've been dreaming about eating apples these past few days."
Guided by the pilot, the Messiah sailed into San Francisco Bay with the tide. It came to a stop in the harbor berth, and mooring lines were thrown onto the dock, where dockworkers secured thick hemp ropes to the cast-iron bollards.
"After you've finished disembarking, remember to take it to a nearby shipyard for repairs."
Before the pilot stepped off the ship along the gangplank, he glanced back at the captain and said, "This merchant ship you stole is really dilapidated. I saw many rotten planks before I boarded it."
"I know, I know."
Thomas waved his hand, looked at the dozens of Han Chinese passengers moving around on the deck, and shouted, "It's time to disembark. Those with luggage in the cabin, hurry back and get it. Those with all their belongings on them can disembark directly; someone will meet you at the dock."
Inside the cabin, the sailors also started shouting at the top of their lungs. Their rough voices echoed in the narrow cabin, waking up the passengers who were still dozing off.
A commotion broke out in the cabin.
In the middle of the cabin, leaning against a pillar, Li Youtian squatted down and re-tied up the only two bundles he and his wife owned.
He looked at his wife and said, "We should be in San Francisco now. Hold the baby, and you hold my hand tightly."
""
The woman nodded nervously, grabbed Li Youtian's hand, and got up to walk out of the cabin.
They were all refugees, each with pitifully little luggage, and several burly sailors patrolled back and forth, driving back anyone who tried to cut in line. As a result, although the line was long, it moved forward much faster than expected.
Ten minutes later, it was their turn.
The family of three climbed the ladder to the deck, and under the guidance of the sailors, carefully disembarked and went to the dock.
"Keep walking forward, someone will register you up ahead. If you have family, go with them."
At the dock, people disembarking had already formed long queues in front of several tables.
After waiting a while, it was Li Youtian's family of three's turn.
"A family of three? Tell me your names and dates of birth." The young man behind the table looked up at them, his tone indifferent.
Li Youtian hurriedly replied, "Your Honor, I am Li Youtian, born in the tenth year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign; my wife, Liang Adi, was born in the fourteenth year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign."
Li Wencai, the youngest son, was born in the second year of the Xianfeng Emperor's reign.
The young man wrote swiftly on the paper, then took out a red wooden plaque from under the table. The plaque was about the size of a palm, with a number and a string of small characters branded on it.
He placed the sign on the table and pushed it in front of Li Youtian: "This is your housing certificate. Don't lose it, or you'll have to pay to replace it."
"Housing?" Li Youtian was taken aback. "Sir, are you really allocating housing?"
Although the sailors on the ship told them that they would be allocated houses and land upon arrival, they didn't really believe it.
There's no such thing as a free lunch. If there were, wouldn't those lords have already snatched it away?
"If we don't separate, where will you live?"
The young man waved his hand and said, "Alright, hurry up and move to the back. Someone will guide you from there."
Li Youtian and his wife exchanged a glance, clutched the red sign in their hands, and with a mix of fear and excitement, stepped over the table and continued walking forward.
After walking a few steps, they saw several tall horses leading a carriage trotting over and stopping near a signboard.
"Those who have received the red token, get on my carriage."
The coachman shouted, and soon, families of three, couples, or a large family with a small child filled the seats in the carriage.
Li Youtian sat with his wife and children in the window seats, feeling that the seat beneath him was the softest and most comfortable he had ever sat in.
He turned to look outside and saw the carriage running on the dirt road, with logs standing upright along the roadside, connected by long lines.
In addition, a group of men were digging holes by the roadside, and the dug holes were lined with bricks, which made Li Youtian feel a little sorry for them.
"These bricks would be great for building houses," he muttered to himself. "Why are they being used in a pit?"
The carriage traveled for about ten minutes before stopping in front of a building.
"Get off the bus, get off the bus, we've arrived at your accommodation."
The more than twenty people on the carriage got off one after another and looked up to see the house.
It was a rather sturdy-looking building, about ten feet long and three stories high, facing south, with a long corridor outside each floor.
At the entrance of the house, a burly man glanced at the signs in their hands and led them into their respective rooms.
The Li family's house is on the second floor, near the stairs.
The room was about one zhang long and two zhang wide. Against the wall was a wooden bed, a table, and a wardrobe, and nothing else.
"The house is about the same size as our previous house, and it's very new."
Looking around the room, Liang Adi quickly noticed something was wrong and said worriedly, "But honey, there's not even a place to start a fire. How are we going to cook?"
Li Wencai jumped down from his father's arms and ran towards the bed. He climbed onto the bed and was about to stick his head out of the window when he bumped into something hard.
"Ouch."
The couple were startled and rushed over to pick up the child.
Li Youtian reached out and carefully touched the window, his fingers quickly touching a cold, smooth, hard object.
"That's glass. It's transparent, tell the little one to be careful." A voice suddenly came from behind. "If you break it, you'll have to pay for it; if you get cut, it'll be even more troublesome."
The three of them turned around and saw that it was the burly man who had led them in earlier, and they breathed a sigh of relief.
The burly man entered the house, demonstrated how to open and close the windows, and said, "I'm the building manager. My surname is Li, and my name is Li Hu. You can call me Li Hu, or Brother Hu, either is fine."
Li Youtian shielded his wife and children behind him and said with a forced smile, "Brother Tiger."
Li Hu didn't care about the family's attitude and said, "You guys continue. When everyone is here, I'll bang a gong down there to call everyone down and tell you where to eat, where to shower, and where to poop."
Li Youtian nodded hurriedly and wrote down these words.
His nervousness lessened a bit, and he mustered his courage to ask, "Brother Tiger, I'd like to ask, where are they hiring around here?"
"Hiring?"
As Li Hu walked, he said, "Tomorrow, someone will come to recruit people tomorrow. There are all kinds of jobs, and the wages are reasonable."
He paused for a moment, then said, "By the way, if your wife also wants to go out to work, the children can be placed in a nearby school."
Meanwhile, in Napa Valley.
Jack brought two helpers with him, one named Bill and the other named Sam.
The three set off from the camp yesterday morning. Fearing they might run into a Qing Dynasty patrol, they took narrow, winding paths, which took them most of the day, and they finally arrived in Napa Valley in the afternoon.
The towns in Napa Valley are small, with three streets running horizontally and vertically. The busiest places are the docks and the town square.
The three hid behind bushes on the cliff and carefully observed the valley using the binoculars Hook had given them.
They quickly discovered a clue.
Several flat-bottomed barges were moored at the dock, and people were unloading cargo from the boats and loading it onto horse-drawn carriages.
Jack counted them; not counting the people carrying things, there were ten guards on the dock alone, not counting the patrols in the distance.
Bill said in a low voice, "So many people, they're either transporting food or weapons."
Jack said, "Look at them, the place they've stopped must be the warehouse!"
The three of them took turns watching and monitoring the carriage's movements.
Soon, the carriage stopped outside a wooden house.
The wooden houses are located on the east side of the town and are surrounded by a wooden fence. Inside the fence, there are several rows of canvas tents, two sentry posts at the entrance, and a squad of soldiers patrolling inside.
"Found it." Jack handed the binoculars to Bill. "That fenced-off area to the east should be their warehouse."
Bill looked around and clicked his tongue, saying, "There are quite a few guards, at least two squads."
"Therefore, we need to find out their shift change times and the patrol situation inside and outside the town."
Jack marked the locations on the hand-drawn map and said, "Bill, you keep an eye on things. Sam and I will rest for a bit."
The three of them had been traveling for a long time and had barely slept, so it was time for them to rest and recharge.
Bill was about to nod when he suddenly heard a dog barking.
The three of them changed their expressions and looked in the direction from which the sound came.
Several Qing soldiers, leading a large dog, had somehow appeared not far away, and the dog was barking wildly in their direction.
"We've been spotted, let's go!"
Jack grabbed the map from the ground and crouched low as he ran into the woods. Bill and Sam followed closely behind, and the three of them tumbled and crawled through the bushes toward the ridge.
A flurry of footsteps and shouts came from behind.
Jack glanced back and saw that the Qing soldiers nearby, hearing the commotion, were all rushing towards them.
"Mount up! Hurry up and mount up!"
The three men rushed to where the horses were tied, hurriedly untied the reins, and mounted their horses.
"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out, the bullet whizzing past Jack's ear and striking a nearby tree trunk, splattering sawdust all over his face. He ducked low, spurred his horse on, and the horse neighed and charged forward.
Bill and Sam followed behind, the three of them running north along the ridge. The pursuers were close behind, firing shots every now and then, which, though they missed, were still terrifying.
boom!
The three ran for several miles when a horse suddenly neighed and collapsed. Bill and his horse fell to the ground, half of his body pinned under the horse, and he howled in pain.
"Bill!" Sam shouted, trying to turn his horse around to go back and rescue the people.
"Don't go back! Going back is suicide!"
Jack roared, but Sam wouldn't listen, and his horse quickly turned around and charged back.
boom!
After the sharp gunshot, Sam fell off his horse, rolled twice on the ground, and lay motionless.
"idiot!"
Jack gritted his teeth and whipped the horse desperately, but the sound of hooves behind him grew closer and closer, as did the whistling of bullets.
Just when he thought he was about to die, he suddenly heard the sound of rapid hoofbeats coming from the path on his right.
Two young white men rode out of the side road on horseback, heading straight for the Chinese. One on each side, each carrying a revolver—four guns in total—and they pulled the triggers!
"Bang bang bang bang bang bang!"
A series of gunshots rang out, and smoke rose into the air.
The two Qing soldiers at the front fell from their horses, and those behind them slowed down upon hearing the intense gunfire.
The two young white men didn't linger in the fight; after their first exchange, they turned their horses around and rode away. One of them rushed to Jack's side and shouted, "Come with us!"
Jack paused for a moment, then, without thinking, followed the two into the side street.
The three of them ran along the winding path for nearly half an hour until the pursuers behind them completely disappeared, and then they stopped in a valley.
"Thank you, gentlemen."
Jack, panting heavily after escaping, asked, "I'm Jack. Who are you?"
"Just two ordinary cowboys."
Two young white men dismounted, and the older one took off his hat, revealing brown curly hair and gray eyes.
"I was fleeing for my life when I saw you being chased by those Chinese guys, so I helped you out."
Jack asked, "Run for your life?"
"yes."
The younger cowboy said, "San Jose was taken over by the Chinese. We were not happy about it, so we killed a few Chinese and escaped from the city."
Hearing this, Jack lowered his guard and invited, "In that case, would you like to come with me?"
The two agreed.
The three continued along the valley, winding their way through countless bends, and returned to their cave camp at dusk the following day.
Hook was standing at the cave entrance wiping his rifle when he saw Jack bring back two unfamiliar faces, and his brows immediately furrowed.
"who are they?"
"Mr. Hook, they're from the south, their names are Martin and Paul." Jack briefly recounted the reconnaissance, including Bill's murder.
After listening, Hook extended his hand to them: "The California Salvation Army welcomes every American who dares to rebel!"
Meanwhile, in Napa Valley.
Inside a makeshift medical tent, two Xinghantang suicide soldiers lying on hospital beds were grimacing as they received "comfort" from their comrades.
Squad leader Zhao Laosi lay on the bed, a bandage wrapped around his left buttock and right thigh, cursing, "Damn those Dark Angels! Why did they have to shoot me in the arms and legs? Now I have to have someone else clean my ass."
"Squad leader, you should be grateful," the soldier on the next bed said dejectedly. "You only got shot twice, that bastard shot me six times, six times! My calf, thigh, arm, both sides, he didn't spare a thing!"
Upon hearing this, the Xinghantang soldiers surrounding the hospital bed burst into laughter.
"Who told you to chase so fast?" a tall, thin man laughed. "If we're going to go all the way, chasing too fast will get us shot."
"I already said it was a charade, just slow down and pretend. But you two are acting like you're vying for the credit, running right into the line of fire."
""
The laughter inside the tent grew louder.
The light at the doorway dimmed. The military doctor walked in and began to shoo people away: "Alright, alright, the patient needs to rest. You bunch of brats, stop bothering them here."
"Also, the company commander is calling the whole company together; you should all assemble now!"