Chapter 24: The Fisherman (Part 2)

“I’ll definitely satisfy you!”
The Polish merchants said as they introduced a blond man in military uniform: “This is Major Jeken.”
Before Liu Yu could see his face clearly, he smelled strong alcohol on him. Jeken wore a tattered American military uniform, his hair was messy, and he carried a bottle of liquor at his waist. “Please call me Colonel Jeken.”
“Colonel Jeken?” Liu Yu smiled. “What do you want to teach me?”
The Polish merchants laughed. “Colonel Jeken can teach you how to shoot and aim. He’s a veteran of the Civil War.”
Oh no! Liu Yu almost covered his face and cried. Aiming and shooting—he was better at these than any soldier of his era.
He knew many disheartened Western soldiers came to the East to make a living. They were mere conscripts who pretended to be low-ranking Western officers, but even they didn’t go this far. A retired American colonel, even if temporarily promoted, couldn’t sink to this level. Liu Yu immediately lost confidence. “What else do you know besides shooting?”
“I know how to dig trenches,” said the American, whether a private named Jeken or a colonel, taking another swig of liquor. “Do you have shovels?”
They didn’t have shovels, but digging trenches didn’t require teaching—Liu Yu’s troops were experts at it.
The Polish merchants backed him up: “In this area, Colonel Jeken is truly an expert. He personally commanded many battles in the Civil War.”
Liu Yu had no energy to speak. Weakly, he asked, “What else can you do? Tell me everything.”
Colonel Jeken thought for a moment and listed his skills: “I train soldiers in marching, standing at attention, at ease. I can also command a division in battle, lead them to defeat the enemy… I can also teach them to drink and dance.”
Now even the two Polish merchants couldn’t stand it. They hadn’t expected this talkative vagrant to include drinking as one of his military skills. They exchanged glances before finally saying, “Colonel Jeken is definitely an experienced…”
As they spoke, Colonel Jeken’s face suddenly turned red. He poured another large gulp of liquor into his mouth. Drinking so fast, he almost vomited. With his strong smell of alcohol, he finally said, “I can also sing, military songs. I can shoot a revolver and throw grenades.”
Oh no! Where did this cowboy come from? Didn’t he know even the slightest useful skill or something Liu Yu didn’t know?
Everyone could see the disappointment on Liu Yu’s face. Colonel Jeken also realized he might not be able to fool them this time.
Oh heavens! Before coming to the East, he had heard that even a Chinese emperor could be fooled by the dullest Westerner. But why were the people of the East so sharp?
Was he going to lose his job again?
“I can ride a horse, build small boats, reload bullets… I also speak English and Chinese…” He listed a few more useless skills.

Liu Yu finally slapped his forehead in frustration, then suddenly froze in shock: “What can you do? Reload bullets? Jeken?”
Liu Yu knew that, in theory, with a cartridge case, one could reload various rifle bullets, but that was just theory.
Historically, the Eighth Route Army had reloaded various rifle bullets, but the reloaded bullets had many problems—they often jammed and their power decreased. So the Eighth Route Army specifically collected original bullets for machine guns—of course, this was related to their technical skills.
As for how bullets were reloaded in the 19th century, he wasn’t very clear. Anyway, he didn’t know this skill, yet it seemed quite useful—to prepare for reloading bullets, he had ordered in Liu Yu’s camp that every spent cartridge case must be collected.
Colonel Jeken’s face turned even redder: “Yes, no problem, but…”
He lowered his voice: “I need tools—a complete set of tools: a balance, a funnel, special pliers, tweezers, and…”
“I also need primers and gunpowder…”
The method he used for reloading bullets was still the most primitive manual method. Liu Yu asked, “Where can I buy them?”
Colonel Jeken finally breathed a sigh of relief: “I have a set. I’ll sell it to you for one hundred Mexican silver coins.”
Liu Yu remembered that Jing Shi Yi seemed quite interested in these things lately, and he always said things wisely—skills are never a burden: “Alright, I’ll find three people for you. Make sure they all learn how to reload bullets, for breech-loading guns, Jeken.”
“Call me Colonel Jeken,” Colonel Jeken said, not discussing payment with Liu Yu. “Is there any alcohol?”
“Any kind will do, even foreign liquor,” Liu Yu replied promptly. “Gentlemen, I agree to let you pay on credit… Hmm?”
Over there, Deng Cunyu, dressed in a suit and tie, was striding over confidently: “Young Master Liu, I’m here too. I’ve brought a gentleman with me.”
The gentleman he brought was also dressed in a suit, fair-skinned and delicate-looking, somewhat effeminate, with slender fingers. As soon as he met Liu Yu, he smiled at him: “Young Master Liu is truly remarkable.”
His speech was also a bit effeminate. But as soon as the two Polish merchants saw him, they paled and were speechless, only gesturing for Colonel Jeken to leave: “Go and teach the three people designated by Commander Liu how to reload bullets. We’ll pay you.”
Colonel Jeken wisely took the empty wine bottles and left: “I need alcohol.”
As soon as Colonel Jeken set off, the two Polish merchants opened fire on Deng Cunyu: “You only have three ships. Better take the goods from those three ships and leave.”
“No!” It was Deng Cunyu’s turn to be proud: “I’ve already raised enough money and prepared goods that will satisfy Mr. Liu Yu.”
“That’s impossible!” The two Polish merchants firmly refused to believe it. Even with the help of this powerful man, he couldn’t gather goods that would satisfy Liu Yu enough.
Haifang wasn’t Shanghai, Hong Kong, or Yokohama. It was only considered a second-rate city in Asia. To buy goods that Liu Yu desired, he had to go to those real big cities.
They still held out one last hope: “Then you don’t have cargo ships…”

The somewhat effeminate man laughed: “They have ships.”
“But all the cargo ships for coastal defense have been moved here by us.”
“There are still those you haven’t moved here.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Merchant ships from the Indochina Fleet.”