4332 (the eighth year of Chongzhen), May 5th, Guangzhou Wharf.

Fifty-eight cargo ships are docked near the pier.

There are ten cargo ships loading goods at the dock.

A large number of horse-drawn carriages transported the goods to the dock, and they were all packed with ropes.

Steam crane on the dock, the hook is constantly moving.

Steam cranes are gantry cranes, and cargo ships and carriages are located below the gantry crane.

The steam engine drives the hook to move on the steel frame, which can easily transport half a ton of cargo directly from the carriage to the ship.

Li Shengli looked at the loading speed of the steam crane and said with emotion: "This is the steam engine introduced in the newspaper. This kind of machine is so advanced.

With the steam crane, loading and unloading that usually takes an hour can now be completed in less than a stick of incense.”

While the cargo ship is loading, the tax police from the Municipal Shipping Department are also checking whether the goods are consistent with the tax bill.

For temporary replacement of goods, you can apply to pay back taxes in advance.

Once found out, it will be treated as tax evasion.

Ten steam cranes work extremely efficiently, and ten cargo ships are already full.

They are being moved out of the dock under the tugboat.

Wang Fucai followed Yang Wencai, and he muttered dissatisfiedly: "My boss, if it weren't for these later maritime merchants who jumped in the queue, we would all have set off now."

Yang Wencai glared at him and said, "Don't talk nonsense. If you miss one day at sea, what impact will it have?"

The bigger the fleet that goes out to sea, the better. The more people there are, the more powerful it is.

Once an accident occurs at sea, one more person means more strength."

Wang Fucai heard what Yang Wencai said, and he also saw their ship raising its sail.

He kept chanting: "Mazu bless you for a smooth sailing, Mazu bless you..."

Wang Fucai looked at the boat moving outside, and then looked at himself standing on the dock.

"Master, we haven't boarded the ship yet, why did the ship leave?"

Yang Wencai slapped Wang Fucai on the head.

"I told you a long time ago, I ran away again.

We are loading up the cargo and want to make way for the dock.

General Manager Yu Fuyun will hold a small meeting for us in a while, and after the meeting we will take a boat to leave."

Yu Fuyun, general manager of the Guangdong Maritime Trading Company, called all the maritime merchants who went to sea with them for a meeting.

Yu Fuyun looked at these people and said with sharp eyes: "Before going to sea, I have a few things to make clear.

If any of you disagree, you can apply to withdraw after listening to what I have to say.

The first thing is that ships going out to sea must add a dish called cold bean sprouts.

You can choose soybean sprouts, mung bean sprouts or other bean sprouts according to your taste.

But this dish must be served cold, and every ship must have this bean sprout dish.”

Many maritime merchants don’t understand why the government requires this?

The government still has to control what kind of food they eat.

But this matter is extremely simple. Soybeans and mung beans are relatively cheap beans.

These beans are also shelf-stable, and only a handful of soybeans or mung beans are needed to produce a large number of sprouts.

It's just cold bean sprouts. This dish may not be delicious.

But they Cantonese people can't eat anything, just a dish of cold bean sprouts.

Yu Fuyun didn't understand either. King Su He of Qin wrote to him specifically and solemnly explained the reason why he must eat this dish when going to sea.

But when they went sailing, they originally had bean sprouts as a dish.

But most of them are fried or boiled, or served cold with bean sprouts. This way of eating is rare.

Yu Fuyun saw that the merchants did not respond, so he agreed to his request and continued:

"Everyone is willing to follow the fleet of our Guangdong Maritime Trading Company. This is your trust in our company.

But I have promised you in advance that if you encounter pirates or a storm, our company's armed merchant ships will do their best to rescue you.

However, our company is not responsible for compensation for losses caused by other reasons.

If someone leaves the fleet privately and any accident occurs, we will not be responsible for it."

Li Shengli cupped his hands and said, "Manager Yu is too polite. We are unlucky when encountering natural disasters and pirates.

Until then, I can only hope for the best, and I will not blame your fleet."

Yu Fuyun saw that the attitude of the maritime merchant was very good. He stood up and said, "You all board the ship. When you are ready, we will go to sea."

The merchants all boarded their own cargo ships.

Yu Fuyun did not board the ship. He was waiting for someone at the dock.

After waiting for a while, I saw a capable officer, followed by two guards, walking towards the dock.

He was wearing an active military uniform, a garment that Yu Fuyun greatly envied.

After taking it off, it is very difficult to put it back on.

"Consultant Cao, welcome to our company for guidance."

Cao Zhengyuan said politely: "Manager Yu, you are so polite. As a little person, what can I give you some advice? You are my senior and I want to learn from you."

Cao Zhengyuan was very polite. He was a little later than the agreed time today because he was waiting for an instrument to arrive.

He is a fourth-term student of the military academy, majoring in drafting in the Staff Section, a major with very few personnel.

Starting from the fourth phase of the military academy, the military academy began to be divided into public courses and professional courses.

Professional courses deeply cultivate a certain ability of officers.

The two guards behind Cao Zhengyuan said nothing, holding a large wooden box in their hands and looking around warily.

They are the guards of Li Qingmu, the governor of the South China Sea Fleet.

These people were not trying to protect Cao Zhengyuan, but the instruments in the wooden box.

Cao Zhengyuan is just a staff officer of the South China Sea Fleet. The staff officer does not have a leader and does not speak loudly.

"Manager Yu, can you wait a moment while we change these clothes?

It’s not good to wear a military uniform.”

"There happens to be our company's conference room next to the pier. There's no one there right now. It's a good place for you to change clothes."

Yu Fuyun immediately led them to the place where the meeting had just been held.

He knew that Cao Zhengyuan came with a secret mission.

He hurried to the dock without even changing into his military uniform, probably because he was afraid of missing the time to go to sea.

When Yu Fuyun saw them changing into ordinary clothes and coming out, he asked Cao Zhengyuan:

"Commander Cao, what do you need on the ship?"

"Manager Yu, give us a room near the deck.

We will be on the deck frequently during the day and night.

We will also often ask about the location of the fleet, and it is best to have a guide who is familiar with the sea routes."

When Yu Fuyun heard these two requests, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Both of Counselor Cao's requirements can be easily fulfilled.

Yu Fuyun quickly took Cao Zhengyuan aboard his flagship Hongyun.

This is a rather special armed merchant ship.

It is more than twenty meters long and has only a single mast and a single deck.

But on the deck, there are more than 40 artillery pieces, four of which are naval guns.

There are also two rocket launchers on the bow and stern of the ship.

There are four rocket launchers on each side of the cabin.

Equip rockets with heavy fire bombs and delayed fuses. Calculate the distance and the warhead will explode directly on the ship.

A large amount of fierce fire oil falls in the air and burns, and the sea of ​​​​fire can cover an area.

If the wooden hull gets a little bit of it, a big hole will be burned.

Rockets only have conventional black powder rockets, which can only hit close targets.

Those special rockets can only be used by the military, and their fleet belongs to the civilian armed forces.
To be continued...