Chapter 49 Haihan
The shipyard outside Victory Port has begun to take shape. Several work sheds have been erected on the beach, and people are constantly carrying long wooden boards in and out. It is a busy scene. The logs were lifted onto the workbench one by one, and then pushed under the rapidly moving saw blade. After a sharp cutting sound, the originally tough-looking pine and nanmu turned into thick wooden boards. , the whole process is as smooth as breaking the dead.
These cut wooden boards are sent by workers to the adjacent wood drying room, where they will be dried for fifteen to twenty days. The drying method uses a fan to send the hot air generated by burning charcoal into the drying chamber to accelerate the evaporation of the residual moisture inside the wood. The wood drying room currently built by the Travelers is actually a prefabricated building that was ordered before traveling. The amount of material loaded at one time can reach 200 cubic meters. According to the standards of this time and space, it is enough to build two 400-material sea-going ships - this It was also the largest ship allowed by the Ming Dynasty government to be built by the private sector. However, if a maritime fleet is to be built in the future, the scale of the wood drying room must be increased several times. For example, if a sail battleship has a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, the amount of ship materials required cannot be supplied by the current drying room. Yes.
The dried wood has now been sent to the finishing work shed. Cai Hongzhan used a measuring tape to measure the size, took off the pencil tip from his ear and marked the position on the board, and then used the wheel saw to easily cut the wood. The planks were sawed into the required size, and these processed planks would then be used to repair the damaged ribs of the small Guangzhou ship.
Luo Shengdong stood next to Cai Hongzhan and watched him operate. After watching for about ten minutes, Luo Shengdong sighed and said: "With such a sharp weapon, wouldn't the shipbuilding speed be several times faster than ours?"
"Are you envious? This is just a piece of cake." Cai Hongzhan responded without even raising his head. Luo Shengdong has been helping out in the shipyard workshop for the past two days. At first, there were people from the military and police department specially watching over him. Everyone knew that this guy was eager to get away and would not cause trouble, so they didn't pay much attention to him. .
Cai Hongzhan patted the wooden board on the workbench. Luo Shengdong immediately moved the wooden board aside with understanding, and then asked respectfully: "I wonder how many boats Master Cai has built before?"
"Building a ship? I have never built a ship. To be honest, I used to be a carpenter, specializing in making furniture, such as beds, cabinets, etc..." Cai Hongzhan glanced at Luo Shengdong's Look: "Do you think I'm lying to you?"
Luo Shengdong looked unbelieving: "Master Cai is skilled in craftsmanship and is better than many of the craftsmen in my Yazhou water village. He also supervises the shipyard here. How can I believe this excuse?"
Cai Hongzhan raised his finger and pointed at the two people who were squatting at the door of another shed and arguing: "Did you see those two young men? They are the shipbuilders. The big iron ships parked in the harbor are all like them. Made by people.”
Luo Shengdong was shocked: "With such a talented person, why not join the imperial court?"
"What are the benefits of joining your court? Can you get money or power? At most, you can just be a foreman." Cai Hongzhan sneered: "If nothing else, can the court provide so much iron for them to build ships?"< br>
Luo Shengdong said angrily: "The iron consumption of an iron ship is only tens of thousands of kilograms. Even if all the pig iron in Qiongzhou Prefecture is collected in one place, it will not be enough, so naturally it cannot be built."
"Pig iron... will be available in the future." Regarding the mining matter, the Executive Committee had already issued a hush-hush order to prevent Ming army prisoners from knowing the news too early, especially Luo Shengdong and others who were about to be returned to Yazhou. People, so Cai Hongzhan just laughed and didn't go into details.
Luo Shengdong sadly found that the more he got to know these overseas visitors, the less likely he was to resist them. No matter what aspect he saw, the abilities displayed by them were simply disappointing. Whether it was naval or land battles, or land reclamation, what these people did far exceeded what Luo Shengdong had experienced in more than thirty years of life. These people were even good at building roads and ships, and Luo Shengdong even I can't think of anything these people can't do. Although the carpenter named Cai refused to tell the truth, Luo Shengdong guessed that they might have some way of obtaining a large amount of pig iron.
What frightened Luo Shengdong the most was that these people were not pirates who came here to plunder, but planned to take root here and gradually expand their sphere of influence. Judging from the current speed at which the Chuangzong is absorbing people, Luo Shengdong does not even dare to think about whether the territory of Yazhou will still be under the rule of the imperial court in a year or two.
"Why are you looking so ugly? Let me tell you, as long as you continue to work with us after you go back, you can choose not only generals, but also generals and soldiers!" Cai Hongzhan saw Luo Shengdong's strange expression and thought he was I was worried about my promotion, so I gave him some casual advice.
Luo Shengdong sighed and said: "I come from a poor family and am not a general's son. I dare not think of being promoted to a high official."
Cai Hongzhan said disapprovingly: "What's wrong with being born in poverty? Wasn't Zhu Chongba, the founding emperor of your Ming Dynasty, also a cowherd boy when he was a child?"
"This..."
Cai Hongzhan ignored Luo Shengdong's astonished look and continued: "There is a saying... By the way, princes, generals and ministers would rather have their own kind! Who said that a cowherd boy cannot be an emperor? The librarian You can't defy heaven?" Although Luo Shengdong didn't understand what a "librarian" meant, from Cai Hongzhan's tone, there must be someone who started from a humble position and achieved great things. Luo Shengdong was frightened when he heard this, but a thought emerged involuntarily from a corner - maybe I can really become a general one day?
April 26, 1627, March 11th, the seventh year of the Great Ming Dynasty.
Luo Shengdong finally waited for the moment to set off. He wanted to open his mouth and scream a few times to vent his excitement, but when he saw Tao Donglai and others coming to the pier to see him off, he still tried to put his Control your desires - if you act foolishly at this time, all your previous efforts may be wasted.
The pirates' heads and captured weapons have now been loaded on the ship. The uniforms, leather armor and weapons of Luo Shengdong and his men have also been returned to them. After more than half a month of reeducation through labor, Luo Shengdong and others put on their red shirts again, and they seemed to lack the chilling air unique to soldiers.
Tao Donglai walked up to Luo Shengdong and said in a deep voice: "I hope that after letting you go back this time, we can turn our hostility into friendship and forget all the unpleasant misunderstandings in the past. At the same time, I also hope that you will not forget what you promised. , if you fail to do so, we will remind you in our own way. ”
Luo Shengdong responded quickly: "Sir Tao, please rest assured that I will try my best to complete what I promised before. But there is one more thing I want to ask you."
"You said."
"If your department is going to Yazhou to trade with merchants, how should I introduce the origins of your merchants?" Luo Shengdong asked a very important question before leaving.
How to establish the external image of Chuanzhong as a group is also a topic that has been discussed by the executive committee many times, and a relatively clear plan has been made for this. Tao Donglai nodded and responded: "If you don't ask about this, I'm going to tell you. Our unified name to the outside world is Haihan."
"Hai Han..." Luo Shengdong pondered for a while and asked: "Does it mean overseas Han people?"
"This is one of them." Tao Donglai continued to explain: "The other meaning is that the Han people value sea power."
"May I ask what Hai Quan means?" Luo Shengdong continued to ask.
"Sea power means the right to control and use the ocean. Only nations that fully value sea power can win in the competition of this era... You probably won't understand what I'm saying. Your court has always believed that forbidden seas are Kingly way, but the result is that the coastline was given to pirates and foreigners." Tao Donglai ignored Luo Shengdong who wanted to argue, and continued: "It's good or bad, right or wrong. There's no need to argue now. It won’t take a few years to see the outcome, let’s wait and see!”
In later generations, China has suffered a lot on the issue of sea power. The passionate keyboardists have complained angrily in front of the computer late at night about the inaction of relevant departments. However, few people have thought that from the late Ming Dynasty, China’s control over the sea His power gradually declined, and he slowly lost control of the surrounding sea areas. It was at this time that the sufferings of future generations began. Many of the time-travelers are fanatical cannon and ship gangs, and are extremely interested in conquering the world by controlling the ocean. Now that they have come to this time and space, they will never let sea power fall into the hands of others again. The executive committee will collectively name it "Haihan" to the outside world, and it is also a time to remind ourselves not to forget our original intention.
Luo Shengdong got on the ship with mixed emotions and ordered his subordinates to weigh anchor and raise sail. The small Guangzhou boat slowly sailed away from the pier. The large repaired scar on the boat's ribs was still clearly visible, but it no longer hindered the sailing.
The crew members responsible for this trip also began to board the "Speed" one after another. Various supplies had been loaded onto the ship early in the morning. The food and drinking water they carried alone were enough for the more than 20 people in the action team. Five days of consumption. In fact, bringing so much food is just a precaution. The sea route between Yazhou and Shengli Port is less than 40 nautical miles. At the speed of the "Speed", you can go back and forth in a day, even if you really run out of food. Without supplies, people will not starve to death.
After most people got on the boat, they hurriedly entered the cabin to visit the internal facilities. After all, few of these people had ever boarded a real luxury yacht, so it was quite a bit of a spectacle. But soon everyone's attention was attracted by the two boxes of bright silver ingots in the cabin. Three thousand taels of silver weighing more than 100 kilograms will serve as the ship's anchor during the operation.
After Yan Chujie shook hands with Tao Donglai and said goodbye, he was the last one to board the ship. The crew untied the cables and raised the sails, and soon the "Speed" sailed away from the dock lightly and sailed quickly towards the southern harbor exit.
(End of chapter)