Outnumbered? I'll conquer America with an unlimited number of suicide soldiers.

Chinatown at night.

In the center of the courtyard, a bonfire crackled, its flickering light illuminating the faces of the people sitting around it.

Dutch, Arthur, Hosea, and the others gathered together after a long time, holding bottles of wine, laughing and chatting by the flickering firelight.

"Why are you all drinking here so late at night instead of sleeping?"

Zeng Tai, who happened to be passing by, sat down by the campfire and raised an eyebrow. "What, reminiscing about the glorious past?"

Dutch handed Zeng Tai an unopened bottle of whiskey, grinning, "My lord, haven't we all finished our work? It's been a long time, let's celebrate with a drink."

Zeng Tai took the whiskey, uncorked it, and tilted his head back to take a swig.

The strong alcohol mixed with the aroma of oak barrels hit his throat, and the spicy sensation made him wince.

"No, I still can't get used to the taste of this wine. I can only tolerate rice wine at most."

He put down the bottle and asked, "Is everything settled with John Sartre?"

Dutch nodded and said, "It's all taken care of. After hearing the news of Brannan's death, the old man got completely drunk, laughing and crying at the same time. After waking up, he let go of his obsession and is preparing to find a beautiful place to retire."

"He also signed and fingerprinted the final supplemental deed regarding potential land rights in San Francisco. Under U.S. law, we now have the right to evict anyone in San Francisco."

"What about you over there, Hosie?" Zeng Tai asked again.

"Everything is going well on my end. The existing council members and the San Francisco Board of Governors are all on our side."

As for those who unfortunately perished, after "emergency consultation" and "reporting to the governor's office," they recommended a group of "virtuous and capable" individuals to temporarily fill the various vacant positions.

Of course, they are also our people.

"It's fair to say that San Francisco is now under our jurisdiction at the governmental level."

Hosea raised the bottle and took a swig, then slowly said, "However, there are two places where we have very little, or almost no, control."

Firstly, there's the customs side. Those bastards are directly under the jurisdiction of the federal Treasury Department, and their personnel and budgets are not local. We can only infiltrate them slowly, and it's difficult to completely control them in the short term.

Secondly, there are two military outposts: the Presidio Army Camp and the Mare Island Naval Shipyard.

He paused, then continued, "Presidio's commander is Brigadier General John Ellis Wool, who also serves as Commander of the U.S. Army Pacific Command, responsible for military affairs throughout California, Oregon, and the Washington area."

However, he is currently leading the main force of his army north to Oregon to deal with conflicts with local Native American tribes, and will not have time to look south in the short term, so he does not pose a direct threat to us at the moment.

"The problem lies with the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Its commander, David Farragut, a naval captain, is usually very secluded and currently focused on building the shipyard."

Zeng Tai listened intently, while at the same time, Guilliman, Su Song, Jian Yuan, and others gathered around the campfire and sat down.

"That shipyard is quite large, and it's said to be nearing completion. Once operational, it will become the most important base for the Federal Navy on the Pacific coast. It poses a potentially huge threat to our future maritime operations."

"My suggestion is to send someone infiltrate and find a way to kill David Farragut. If we can turn him into one of our own, then that modern shipyard on Mare Island, which cost the federal government a huge amount of money, can become ours."

"Use federal money to build our ships again."

This audacious plan made everyone around the campfire start to think.

Zeng Tai was somewhat intrigued, and Dutch, standing beside him, also brightened up, slapping his thigh suddenly: "Hosea, your idea is excellent, my lord! I've also come up with a new plan!"

"How come you still have a plan?"

Zeng Tai grumbled, "Come on, let's have our dear Western idea king tell us about his new plan."

Dutch didn't mind the nickname at all. Instead, he chuckled and said, "My idea is this: don't limit your sights to San Francisco, but look at the whole of California."

"Our influence in San Francisco is still quite strong for the time being, so we can take things a step further on Hosea's ideas."

"Let our people assassinate bureaucrats, legislators, and businessmen in all twenty-eight counties and numerous cities and towns across California."

My lord, your ability to [fear death] can now be used nine times a day, right? Even if you fail even once and can't turn the dead into your own people, simply killing them is definitely not a loss!

Every time a powerful figure in a region is removed, it creates a power vacuum and local chaos, allowing our infiltrators to rise to power and take control more quickly.

"If it succeeds, that would be even better; his wealth, connections, and power will all be at your disposal."

Guilliman nodded slightly and continued, "My lord, I think it's feasible."

"Currently, the total number of California state legislators and key administrative officials is around one thousand. If we add influential businessmen, factory owners, and plantation owners in various towns, the target total could be between three and four thousand."

"If we follow Dutch's plan, at the latest within a year, the core political power nodes and a considerable part of the economic lifeline of California will be under our invisible control."

Su Song, on the other side, added thoughtfully, "When doing it, you can also have your colleagues pretend to be hostile forces taking action."

Not only can this achieve its goals, but it can also further sow discord and exacerbate the chaos within California, leaving them no time to attend to other matters.

Zeng Tai pondered for a moment, then made the decision directly: "The new plan is good, let's call it the 'California Collapse Plan'. Dutch, this plan was your idea, so you, Hosea, and Arthur will be in charge."

He paused, then said, "You've reminded me. Now that San Francisco is basically under our control, further construction can begin."

Jianyuan asked, "Does this mean starting infrastructure construction throughout San Francisco?"

"I'm not talking about that construction. The Chinatown area isn't even finished yet, how can we have time to build on the outside?"

Zeng Tai waved his hand and said, "I mean, national education for our compatriots in Chinatown can begin."

Today, in Chinatown, the vast majority of Han Chinese still wear queues on their heads, and their hearts are also filled with queues. Two hundred years of Manchu domestication have made them accustomed to kowtowing, obedience, and resignation to their fate.

"Without cutting off these ideological ties and rebuilding their national identity, even if we have guns and territory, our foundation will be hollow."

"First of all, let's open a literacy school. Classes can be held in the evenings, and a decent dinner will be provided."

Leaving aside the Chinese laborers scattered throughout California, just looking at Chinatown itself, after these days of investigation by our daredevils, we found that less than 10% of the more than 5,000 people in Chinatown are literate, and most of them are merchants from the six major associations.

If this part is removed, the literacy rate might not even reach 5%.

"As for the graduation standards of literacy schools, being able to recognize the Arabic numerals 0-10 and write and read one's own name in Chinese characters is considered as being literate."

"After he becomes literate, we will issue him a certificate, and our factory will give him priority when hiring. His wages will also be higher than those of illiterate people."

Su Song objected: "My lord, is simply being able to write a name and recognize ten digits considered 'becoming illiterate'? Isn't that a too low standard?"

"It's just the beginning, let's take it one step at a time." Zeng Tai waved his hand, "We can raise the standards later, and it's not too late to run a literacy class plus."

Actually, this standard is not low even by today's standards.

It's worth noting that India, one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, still had an illiteracy rate of around 28% when statistics were compiled in 24.

Their standard for determining whether someone is not illiterate is that as long as they can write their own name, it counts, regardless of language; they can write in one of the twenty-two official scripts.

If we use the modern Chinese standard for literacy: farmers should know 1,500 characters, urban residents should know 2,000 characters, be able to read simple newspapers and articles, keep simple accounts, and write simple official documents...

India's illiteracy rate should be over 70%.

Zeng Tai did not aspire to be on par with the new China; after all, it was only 1855, and it was sufficient to meet India's standards for literacy.

Jianyuan had some concerns: "Does it include meals? What if some people just come every day to get a meal, but they can't learn, or they pretend they can't learn?"

Zeng Tai glanced at him sideways and said irritably, "Do we lack a bowl of rice or a few dishes? Besides, it's a good thing that people want to stay and sit there to listen."

Su Song thought for a moment and added, "My lord, should we contact the Cantonese opera troupes and storytellers in Chinatown and have them perform at the literacy school from time to time?"

"As for the repertoire, in addition to traditional anti-Qing plays such as 'The Iron Crown' and 'Yue Fei's Mother Tattoos His Back,' we can also write some new plays for them, such as the story of Li Dingguo defeating two famous princes and Zheng Chenggong recovering Taiwan."

"The storytellers do the same, telling the historical stories we provide, such as 'Ten Days in Yangzhou' and 'The Three Massacres of Jiading'."

Let our compatriots know that shaving one's head and wearing a queue has never been a Han Chinese tradition, and who the real enemy is.

Zeng Tai listened and nodded approvingly, then suddenly had a new idea: "Should we add some unofficial history to it? For example, 'Da Yu'er Forces Hong Chengchou to Surrender,' which is why 'The Plain Blue Banner Supports Emperor Zhu' came about later..."

Su Song quickly shook his head and said seriously, "My lord, I suggest we don't. At the very beginning of this enlightenment, the information must be clear, accurate, and have a clear direction."

Such palace secrets or fictional legends, whose veracity is difficult to discern, can easily obscure the focus and may even lead some to the mistaken belief that "the Manchus were also a branch of the Chinese people," which is detrimental to the future cause of overthrowing the Qing dynasty.

"Okay, okay, I'll do as you say."

Zeng Tai regretfully abandoned his clever idea and asked, "Speaking of which, are there actually any Cantonese opera plays about resisting the Qing Dynasty? Didn't the Qing government care?"

"My lord, Cantonese opera's resistance against the Qing dynasty, and even the Cantonese people's resistance against the Qing dynasty, are old traditions."

Jianyuan said, "I heard from the newcomers that just last year, Li Wenmao, a Cantonese opera martial arts actor, joined forces with Chen Kai and others from the Heaven and Earth Society to lead the Red Boatmen in an uprising in Foshan in response to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. They besieged Guangzhou for several months, and I heard that the siege is still ongoing."

"For this reason, Ye Mingchen, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi under the Qing government, ordered a strict ban on Cantonese opera, disbanded all Cantonese opera troupes, and killed many Cantonese opera artists who had interacted with Li Wenmao."

"A few days ago, some Cantonese opera performers escaped from that pig boat. After they had their medical check-ups and received medication, they were picked up by the opera troupe."

Zeng Tai nodded and said, "Then the matter of literacy schools and ideological propaganda work will be entrusted to Jian Yuan and Su Song, who will be in charge of the overall coordination."

"You are in charge of everything: compiling teaching materials, selecting teachers, arranging venues, and contacting storytellers in opera troupes."

After speaking, he glanced at the faces of those around him and said, "So, our future strategy is settled? Does anyone have anything to add?"

"Yes, my lord, yes!!!"

Li Shizhen appeared hastily from the darkness outside the courtyard and said, "I have something to add!"

Zeng Tai was startled and looked him up and down as he ran over: "There's no need to be in such a hurry. What do you want to say?"

Li Shizhen paused for a moment, then said, "I only have one thing to say, and that is the issue of medicinal herbs. As the population grows in the future, there will definitely not be enough medicinal herbs. We can't keep shipping them by sea, can we?"

To prepare for the future, I applied to establish several planting bases near San Francisco to cultivate Chinese medicinal herbs.

"As for manpower, I've already decided. I'll use the compatriots that Arthur recently brought back."

They've all become addicted to opium, and they witnessed our men kill Brannan. It's not right to just let them go. We should hire them to grow medicinal herbs, and let them leave after they've kicked their opium addiction."

Zeng Tai breathed a sigh of relief: "I thought it was something serious. No problem, go do it."

He paused, then suddenly remembered something and turned to ask, "Speaking of which, Su Song, shouldn't the development of sulfonamides have started by now?"

Su Songdao said, "It has begun. The nitration process to produce nitrobenzene has been successful so far, but we are stuck in the subsequent steps. We are lacking vacuum equipment, and the mechanical team is working on a solution."

"I've done the calculations, and it's estimated that it will take about another month to prepare the sulfonamide samples. As for industrial production, it's expected to be six months or even a year from now."

Zeng Tai was slightly taken aback: "Does sulfonamide take this long too? I thought it would be much faster than penicillin."

Su Song shrugged and said, "Compared to penicillin, which is expected to be industrially produced in ten years, sulfonamides are indeed much faster."

"However, there is also good news. The equipment that the mechanical group is trying to design for the industrial production of sulfonamides, such as corrosion-resistant reactors, high-efficiency separation devices and vacuum systems, should also be able to be used for penicillin in the future. It will only take a few iterations."

"You don't need to go into the technical details."

Zeng Tai was very self-aware. At most, he could only rely on his memories from his previous life to guide the assassins on what to develop and explain the principles.

But he was completely clueless about what difficulties they would encounter along the way, how to deal with them, and even how long the research and development would take. He could only rely on the assassins to figure it out and overcome it themselves.

Of course, Zeng Tai can also use the [Lord of Humanity] skill to copy the knowledge of the scientific research and engineering suicide soldiers, thus starting his own scientific research path.

However, he's a lazy dog.

"Alright, alright, you guys go do what you were doing."

He stretched, feeling a wave of drowsiness wash over him. "I'm going back to sleep now. You all should get some rest too."