Chapter 49 Haihan

The shipyard outside Victory Port has begun to take shape. Several work sheds have been built on the beach. People are constantly carrying long wooden boards in and out. It is a busy scene. One log after another is carried to the workbench, and then

After being pushed under the fast-moving saw blade, there was a sharp cutting sound, and the originally tough-looking pine and nanmu turned into thick wooden boards. The whole process was as smooth as breaking through decay.

These cut wooden boards are sent by workers to the wood drying room next to it, where they will be dried for fifteen to twenty days. The drying method is to use a fan to send the hot air generated by burning charcoal into the drying room, allowing the wood to

The residual moisture inside accelerates evaporation. The wood drying room currently built by the time traveler is actually a prefabricated building ordered before time travel. The amount of material loaded at one time can reach two hundred cubic meters, which is enough to build two four hundred cubic meters according to the standards of this time and space.

This is the largest ship that the Ming Dynasty government allowed private construction. However, if a maritime fleet is to be built in the future, the scale of the wood drying room must be increased several times, such as a ship with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons.

For a sailing battleship, the amount of ship materials required cannot be supplied by this drying room.

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 in the shipyard workshop for the past two days. At the beginning, there were also people from the Military Police Department.

He was specially guarded, and everyone knew that this guy was eager to get away and would not cause trouble, so they didn't pay special attention to him anymore.

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 tell you the truth, 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 serving 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?"

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 were collected in one place, it would not be enough. 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. No matter what he saw, the abilities displayed by the other party were simply disappointing. No matter it was a naval battle,

Whether it was land warfare or land reclamation, what these people did was far beyond what Luo Shengdong had experienced in more than thirty years of life. Even building roads and ships, these people were equally good at it. Luo Shengdong couldn't even think of it.

There was something these people couldn't do. Although the carpenter named Cai refused to reveal the truth, Luo Shengdong guessed that they might have some way of obtaining a large amount of pig iron.

What makes Luo Shengdong feel most frightened is that these people are not pirates who come here to plunder, but plan to take root here and gradually expand their sphere of influence. Judging from the current speed of the time traveling group to absorb the people, Luo Shengdong is now even

I dare not think about whether this Yazhou territory 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 would never dare to think of being promoted to a high official."

Cai Hongzhan said disapprovingly: "So what's the matter with being born poor? Zhu Chongba, the founding emperor of your Ming Dynasty, was 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

Is there no way to defy heaven?”

Although Luo Shengdong didn't understand what a "librarian" meant, from Cai Hongzhan's tone, he must have achieved great success from a humble position. Luo Shengdong was frightened when he heard this, but he had an involuntary thought.

The earth came out of 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 until the moment of departure. As soon as possible, 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 his best to put his

Control your desires - any foolish behavior at this time may lead to wasted effort.

The pirates' heads and captured weapons have now been loaded on the ship. The uniforms, leather armors and weapons of Luo Shengdong and his men have also been returned to them. After more than half a month of labor camp, Luo Shengdong and others

Wearing that red shirt again, it seems that it lacks 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 it, then 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 say."

"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 an issue that has been discussed many times by the executive committee, and a relatively clear plan has been made for this. Tao Donglai nodded and responded: "If you don't ask about this matter, I am also prepared to ask.

Let me tell you, our unified name to the outside world is - Haihan."

"Hai Han..." Luo Shengdong pondered for a while and then 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 up to pirates and Western barbarians." Tao Donglai ignored Luo Shengdong who wanted to argue, and continued: "Is it good or bad, right or wrong, there is 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 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 starting from the late Ming Dynasty, China's control over the sea

The power of the time is gradually declining, and the control of the surrounding sea areas is slowly lost. It is at this time that the sufferings of future generations begin. Many of the time travelers are fanatical cannon and giant ship parties, and they are eager to conquer the world by controlling the ocean.

I have great interest. Now that I have come to this time and space, I will never let the sea power fall into the hands of others. The Executive Committee will collectively name it "Haihan" to the outside world. It is also to remind myself at this time not to forget the original intention.

.

Luo Shengdong boarded the ship with mixed emotions and ordered his subordinates to raise anchor and sail. The small Guangzhou ship slowly sailed away from the dock. The large repaired scar on the ship's ribs was still clearly visible, but it no longer hindered the sailing.

Already.

The crew 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 was just a precaution. The sea route between Yazhou and Shengli Port is less than 40 nautical miles. At the speed of the "Speed", it can run back and forth in one day.

Even if there is really no food and no supplies can be found, 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. However, everyone's attention was soon drawn to

The two boxes of bright silver ingots in the cabin attracted me. The 3,000 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" left the pier lightly and sailed quickly towards the southern harbor exit.
Chapter completed!