Chapter 97 Bicycle

When Luo Shengdong came to his senses, he discovered that all his one hundred and fifty taels of silver had been replaced by Schneider into small pieces of paper called "trading coupons." He immediately led the people anxiously to the warehouse at the port.

It wasn't until he successfully exchanged the circulation coupons for three thousand kilograms of salt that he heaved a sigh of relief. He thought that the Haihan people were quite trustworthy, but they had no intention of using this colorful piece of paper to defraud me of my money.

Luo Shengdong planned to sell this batch of salt directly to Wenchang on the east coast of Hainan Island. The Qianhu of the Guardhouse there was an old acquaintance with his father. In terms of seniority, Luo Shengdong had to call him "third uncle". These three

As long as a thousand kilograms of salt is wholesaled to the Qianhu adults at one hundred and twenty cents per kilogram, Luo Shengdong himself will receive a gross profit of more than two hundred taels, and as long as the other party sells this batch of salt, he can also make a profit of one hundred taels.

With the benefit of silver, there is no need to worry about cooperation in this business. If possible, we can help the Haihan people recruit a group of immigrants on the return trip, which can also subsidize the expenses on the journey.

The only inconvenience is that Wenchang is far away from Victory Port. With the speed of Luo Shengdong's fleet, it will take at least two or three days to reach the destination. Luo Shengdong is very envious of the wide-body sailing ships of the Haihan people.

, sailing very fast on the sea, even if you go to Wenchang, you can probably get there in the same day. But for some reason, these Haihan people have never built more sailing ships of this kind. Luo Shengdong saw the shipbuilding workshop on the west side of the sea at the port.

Here, the keel of a ship has been laid, and it seems that the plan is to build a blessing ship.

"There are so many big iron ships left unused, so we built this small wooden ship..." Luo Shengdong looked at the giant steel ship parked at the port and couldn't help but sigh.

"Boss Luo, if you don't leave in a hurry, I'll take you to the upper reaches of the river to see some good things." Schneider appeared from beside him at some point.

Luo Shengdong actually wanted to refuse Schneider's invitation, because this place really left him with too many unpleasant memories. If it weren't for the money, Luo Shengdong felt that he would never come to this place again until he died.

But in the end Luo Shengdong agreed by mistake, because he was really curious about what new gadgets the Haihan people had come up with. The muskets and artillery he saw last time in Victory Port left a very deep impression on him.

.

So Luo Shengdong left his men at the port to load the goods, and he followed Schneider alone. Schneider originally headed towards the mouth of the river, walked a few steps and stopped: "How about we go by car? It's better to go by car than by car."

The boat will be faster."

Luo Shengdong didn't know why, so he nodded and said, "Just follow Mr. Shi's arrangement... I wonder if it will be an ox cart or a horse carriage?"

"Our kind of car is called a bicycle. I think you have seen it before." Schneider said with a smile.

Luo Shengdong had indeed seen bicycles, more than once or twice. He clearly remembered that every time Ren Liang appeared at the hydropower station construction site, he was riding that strange two-wheeled car, which was much faster than walking.

However, Luo Shengdong didn't quite understand how the car's two wheels were lined up one behind the other, and it looked like it was clearly unstable, so why it would not fall to either side.

"Can you give it a try?" Luo Shengdong asked in astonishment. In his opinion, the two-wheeled car was like a wide-body sailboat, a treasure that the Haihan people would not easily let outsiders touch.

"Of course." Schneider responded: "I heard that you have practiced kung fu. You must have a good sense of balance and you must learn quickly."

Luo Shengdong didn't quite understand what "sense of balance" meant, but Schneider's praise for him was obvious. He said proudly: "I started exercising with my father when I was five years old, and I haven't stopped for more than 20 years."

"Although I haven't practiced any advanced kung fu, my skills are among the best in Yazhou Water Village."

However, in the next half hour, the man who claimed to have good skills fell down several times, and then he realized that this thing called "bicycle" by the Haihan people was not as easy to tame as it seemed. If you just ride in a straight line,

It was okay. After Luo Shengdong mastered the essentials, he could basically ride away in a crooked way, but when it came to turning, he felt that the straight handle was really unruly.

"It's very difficult to control this thing, but it travels fast, so it's a good tool for transportation." Luo Shengdong, who stopped to drink water, expressed his opinion breathlessly.

"It's not that difficult. In our country of Haihan, almost everyone can ride a bike, from seventy to eighty years old, down to seventy or eight years old." Schneider hit Luo Shengdong mercilessly.

Luo Shengdong said angrily: "Why did Mr. Shi lie to me? How can a coward old man control this bicycle..." As he spoke, Luo Shengdong's voice dropped because he saw two teenagers riding the bicycle from a distance.

Speeding over on an identical bicycle. What made him even more speechless was that these two teenagers clearly knew that they were not from Haihan. One had a bun on his head, while the other had long hair shawl and a hair tied on his forehead.

The red flower headband clearly represents the local Ming and Li people.

These two teenagers are local guides Yu Xiaobao and Fu Li. They hang out with the traveling crowd every day. They have long learned the skill of cycling and soon became obsessed with this sport. Now they usually ride bicycles.

Traveling between the two bases, the two of them stopped when they got close and greeted Schneider: "Hello, Mr. Shi!"

Schneider greeted them with a smile, and then shrugged at Luo Shengdong. Although Luo Shengdong didn't understand the meaning of Schneider's funny shrug, the sarcastic look on his face was so obvious that even a fool could see it.

Luo Shengdong felt a little embarrassed and quickly changed the subject: "Why do I hear other people calling Mr. Shi 'Mr. Shi'? Someone also seemed to call Chief Tao 'Mr. Tao' before. What does this mean?"

"This is a respectful title for senior leaders." Schneider explained patiently.

"I see." Luo Shengdong nodded, wondering whether he should ask his subordinates to change their titles in the future. "Mr. Luo" seemed to sound much more imposing than "Master Luo".

"Let's set off, it's going to be dark soon if we don't walk." Schneider looked at the sky and realized that there really was no time for Luo Shengdong to continue practicing slowly, so he might as well practice while walking.

The two of them rode slowly and leisurely for a full hour on the more than ten miles from Victory Port to Base No. 2. When they arrived at the gate of Base No. 2, the sky had begun to darken. It was just in time for dinner, and many people were crossing the road.

Seeing Schneider actually riding a bicycle with Luo Shengdong, they all stopped to watch the spectacle. Luo Shengdong was so nervous that he forgot to brake and almost rushed directly into the defensive trench outside the No. 2 base.

Schneider took Luo Shengdong into the cafeteria, ready to solve the dinner problem first. Luo Shengdong found that not all Haihan people were here, there were many Ming people waiting in line to get food, and his appearance here was not what he expected.

So abrupt.

Luo Shengdong asked Schneider in a low voice: "Do you remember that people in Ming Dynasty used to eat on the construction site, but now they can enter the canteen?"

Schneider nodded and said: "These Mingren are all people who work in the factories we opened, and they are considered one of us. It is natural to eat together."

During the meal, Luo Shengdong also met many acquaintances, but no one seemed to be particularly concerned about his appearance. Even Tao Donglai and Yan Chujie just said hello and went about their own business.

"Do you feel that you have no sense of existence?" Schneider seemed to have guessed what he was thinking.

Luo Shengdong did not deny Schneider's speculation: "Before, here, I would be stared at anytime and anywhere, and points would be deducted if I was not careful. Nowadays, no one seems to treat me as an outsider, which is really weird."

"That's because everyone regards you as one of their own." Schneider patiently enlightened him: "First of all, you have been here for a long time and you know very well what our style of doing things is and you can understand how we do things.

.Secondly, you have a business cooperation with us now, which is a partnership of interests, and both prosper and suffer. From our point of view, there is no need to guard against you."

If he hadn't seen Schneider's talking skills several times, Luo Shengdong might really be moved by these words, but now his thoughts are more practical - the only reason why the Haihan people will not continue to guard against him

, in fact, it should be because he saw through that he did not threaten their ability.

Of course, Luo Shengdong would only keep slander like this in his heart. As he interacted with Haihan people more and more, he gradually discovered some characteristics of Haihan people. For example, all Haihan people have sharp mouths.

, wishing they could speak of the living as dead and the dead as alive, and when they deal with themselves, although there is no deception in their words, they are not telling the truth, and what they say often has a strong purpose.

.If you don’t pay attention to distinguish them, you will easily be deceived by these Haihan people.

After dinner, Luo Shengdong, led by Schneider, headed to the factory area to the east. It was already dark, but from a long distance, he could see that the factory buildings were still brightly lit, and from time to time they were still brightly lit.

There was a ping-ping-pong-pong sound.

Luo Shengdong followed Schneider into the factory. The first thing he saw was a huge cylindrical iron can, about three feet in diameter and as tall as a person. The most peculiar thing was that Luo Shengdong discovered that this large iron can was

The tin can seems to be sealed at both ends, with only two iron pipes as thick as eggs protruding from the middle of the can. I wonder what use they can be put to.

Luo Shengdong saw that this thing was actually a sample of a hot water boiler that the Cliff Office sent back and requested to build. The Cliff Office just said a word, but the metallurgical workshop here was already so busy because of it. Zhang Guang was not wrong.

, the manufacturing process of this hot water boiler is not difficult, but that is only for future generations. At present, the biggest problem in building boilers is welding.
Chapter completed!