Chapter 392 - The Clock Tower Project

The Netherlands was a country of religious freedom, so the Banckert family enjoyed religious freedom when they were in the Netherlands. But ever since they boarded the East India Company’s ships, they had to abide by the company’s rules: everyone had to participate in Protestant prayer services, otherwise they would be treated as rebels.

This worried the two teenagers, who were away from home for the first time. So, after hearing that there was a Catholic church here, they decided to go to the church for confession.

“Sister, let’s walk there slowly,” Westerly said. “The roads here are very good.”

The roads here were surprisingly good. Only in the most developed and prosperous cities of the Netherlands could one see such well-maintained roads. Although the road surface was not paved with stone, the road paved with black gravel was smooth and flat, with stone curbs on both sides and covered drainage ditches.

The newly planted trees along the road were already lush and green. Although the trees were still short, they also blocked a lot of sunlight.

Kretia was a little worried and asked, “Should we ask a guard to escort us to the church?”

“I don’t think so. It looks very safe here,” Westerly said excitedly. “This place makes me feel like I’m back in the Netherlands. Everything is so clean and orderly. Let’s go.”

The guards at the trading post had already been ordered to allow them to move freely in the designated area, so they did not interfere with their leaving the trading post.

The distance from the trading post to the church was not very far, but it would take more than twenty minutes on foot. The two of them walked slowly along the road, breathing in the fresh air with the sea breeze, and admiring the bustling construction scenes along the way. Westerly was very interested in everything on the construction site: steam cranes, manual dump trucks, mixers… these crude but large engineering machinery and construction vehicles from Lingao aroused the boy’s infinite interest.

“It’s a pity I didn’t bring my sketchbook…” the boy said with both excitement and regret. “I must buy a sketchbook when I come back from the church!”

“Alright, alright,” Kretia said with a smile.

After walking for a while, they found that a new road appeared parallel to the road ahead—no, it wasn’t quite right to call it a road. It should be two iron rails, lying on top of a series of wooden logs, stretching into the distance.

“Sister, this is a railway, right?” Westerly said. “I’ve heard from the sailors that the Australians’ docks are all paved with this kind of track that can run heavy vehicles—similar to the ones used in the quarries in England.”

The track laying work had temporarily stopped because the rails had not arrived in time. Only the materials for the roadbed and some equipment were piled up. Westerly couldn’t restrain his curiosity, got off the road, and climbed onto the roadbed.

Westerly squatted down and began to study the rails and sleepers, and then carefully looked at the connection of the spikes. Kretia knew her brother’s hobby and stood by waiting for him.

“No climbing on the roadbed!”

Westerly had only taken a few steps when he heard someone shouting—he didn’t understand Chinese and could only stare blankly in the direction of the sound.

He saw a handcar speeding along the track. Westerly looked at the car curiously and said to Kretia, “I think it would be faster if we could take this thing to the church…”

As they were talking, they saw a young woman alone, pushing the handcar back and forth. The two of them recognized her as Zhong Xiaoying. These days, Zhong Xiaoying came to the trading post every day to chat with Kretia and teach her Mandarin. The two had become good friends.

Zhong Xiaoying wiped the sweat from her forehead, “Hey? It’s you? Why aren’t you resting at the trading post? Why are you climbing on the railway?”

“Our vaccinations have healed,” Kretia said first. “There’s a church over there. We decided to go and have a look.”

Westerly stepped forward and greeted her in broken Cantonese, “Miss! Can I have a ride?”

Zhong Xiaoying smiled and shook her head, gesturing, “This car isn’t safe…”

Westerly shrugged helplessly. Suddenly, an idea struck him. He took out a beautiful small cloth bag from his pocket and waved it at the woman, “I won’t ride for free. I have a gift…”

Zhong Xiaoying still shook her head. Kretia was more resourceful. She went up to Zhong Xiaoying and chattered on with a combination of words and gestures. Finally, Zhong Xiaoying smiled at them and said, “Alright then, get on…”

Westerly was overjoyed and jumped onto the car, looking at the handcar curiously, as if he wanted to ask about everything. Zhong Xiaoying knew what he meant and waved her hand repeatedly, “I only know how to use it. Don’t ask me how it works—you should ask my father.”

“Dr. Zhong? I will definitely ask him,” Westerly said, full of curiosity about Zhong Lishi. “Where is he now?”

“He’s at the customs house. To be precise, in the clock tower of the customs house—he’s installing a large clock,” Zhong Xiaoying said. “Hold on to that handle and push down. That’s right, we have to work together…”

Zhong Xiaoying and Westerly pushed the handcar together, heading towards the Church of St. Anthony. On the way, Westerly kept asking, “Can I go and see the large clock Dr. Zhong is installing? I’m very interested in these machines—” As if worried his request would not be accepted, he added, “I learned metalworking and carpentry from an artist. I can help.”

This was a bit difficult for Kretia, whose Cantonese was at a very elementary level. She had to use all her skills to basically express her brother’s meaning.

“Of course you can,” Zhong Xiaoying said with a smile. “Father’s carpentry skills are not good. He would be very happy to have a free worker.”

Kretia asked, “Are there so many people here? Are they all immigrants from China?”

“Yes. This place, Taiwan, originally had no civilized people, only headhunting natives.”

“You are truly amazing,” Kretia said sincerely. Although Dayuan had existed for many years, it was still a desolate trading post. If not for the Fort Zeelandia under construction, Dayuan could hardly be called a town.

“The Yuanlao Senate is amazing,” Zhong Xiaoying’s face showed infinite admiration.

The church established by the Lingao Church in Kaohsiung was very small, a small wooden church. This church was next to a New Taoist temple: they were just across the road from each other. The two sides coexisted peacefully. Their purpose was the same: to continue the battle of “eradicating heresy” that began on Qimu Island. He Ying’s instructions to the two major churches clearly required them to “save souls” with the strictest attitude.

The missionaries sent from Macau were single-mindedly focused on winning the battle of “saving souls” and were very fanatical in the “eradicating heresy” battle in the refugee camps, to the point that a priest accidentally contracted an infectious disease and was called by the Lord. Because there was no one available from Macau for a while, the Lingao Church sent John Dermot. This red-haired Irishman was very happy to be able to escape the endless work of painting stained glass and murals and came to his post with great joy.

However, when Zhong Xiaoying accompanied the siblings into the church, John Dermot was still squatting by the wall, painting a mural with a gloomy face. This prefabricated chapel, made by the Lingao General Construction Company, had no decorations and had to be done by himself.

And that wasn’t all. Ever since that slightly balding Elder Zhong arrived in Kaohsiung, he had been constantly pressuring and bribing him to make iron hands and numbers for the large clock—and he had specifically requested them to be in a floral style.

John Dermot felt it was difficult to balance the three tasks of beautifying the church, saving souls, and serving the Yuanlao Senate. Especially the first two, which were of paramount importance to him. But, thinking of the teachings of the president before his departure, he did not dare to refuse Elder Zhong’s request.

Today, Elder Zhong appeared again. Just when he was at his wit’s end, the arrival of Zhong Xiaoying and her party temporarily saved him from his predicament—Dr. Zhong was pestered by Westerly: the boy was full of curiosity about the large clock he was building and kept asking this and that.

“Mr. Zhong, can I go and see the machinery inside the large clock?” Westerly finally asked.

“Of course you can. Aren’t you going to rest for a few more days?”

“This child can’t wait…” Kretia said with a smile. “Dr. Zhong, you can rest assured. My brother knows metalworking and carpentry. You can make use of him.”

“Alright, you can come directly to the clock tower of the customs house to find me tomorrow,” Zhong Lishi nodded. “Xiaoying and I have been staying at the customs house these days.”

“Then can my sister and I also stay at the customs house? That way we can ask you for instruction day and night,” Westerly said.

Zhong Lishi thought for a moment, “You can. But you need to apply to the trading post and go through the necessary procedures.”

The next day, the Westerly siblings moved into the customs house with their luggage. Although the Kaohsiung Customs House was already in operation, its actual business volume was very small, and there were many empty rooms on the second floor and above. After the siblings found a room to stay in, Westerly couldn’t wait to join the construction team for the large clock.

There were several craftsmen on the clock tower, mostly carpenters, led by a refugee from Shandong named Ma Linxi.

Ma Linxi had been sent to Jeju Island after surviving the icy sea. He stayed there for forty days. He was a skilled craftsman and was treated differently in the refugee camp. He was soon assigned to the directly subordinate labor team and participated in the construction on Jeju Island. Naturally, the quality of the food he received was better than that of ordinary refugees.

In a few months, he obtained a Class C diploma. Then he was transported to Taiwan to be transferred back to Lingao to supplement the skilled worker team of the Lingao General Construction Company. However, Ma Linxi’s skills had already earned him a small reputation, so he was intercepted by Hong Laojun and assigned to the directly subordinate engineering team. Shi Dafu thought he was a promising talent and taught him some simple techniques for reading and drawing blueprints.