Although hundreds of female workers were left in Yuguan City this time, hundreds more wounded were brought up.
In order to provide the wounded with a relatively good recovery environment, the ship became more crowded than when it arrived.
Jin Feng, Runniang, Zuo Feifei, and Qing Mulan were still crowded in the small cabin.
Fortunately, there is no need to drag a ship this time, and the wind is northerly, so the speed of Zhenyuan 2 is much faster than when it came.
In fact, it is not safe to run too fast at night, but Jin Feng was concerned about the situation in Xizhou, so he did not reduce the speed of the ship, but sent three speedboats ahead to explore the way.
Passing by the Donghai Shipyard, Jin Feng saw Hong Taoping and Da Qiang standing on the dock waving from a distance, but Jin Feng still did not let the Zhenyuan No. 2 dock. He just blew the whistle from a distance to say hello to them and continued on his way.
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But who knew that not long after we had gone far, the escort on the back deck ran over and reported that a speedboat was catching up.
"Catching up?" Jin Feng was stunned for a moment and quickly walked to the right deck.
Looking back, I saw a speedboat with the black flag of the escort agency speeding towards me.
The Zhenyuan No. 2 has a huge hull, and it is troublesome to accelerate and decelerate. In order to save time, Jin Feng asked the big ship to keep sailing at the current speed. Then after the speedboat approached, Iron Hammer threw a rope down and separated the speedboat and the big ship.
Tie them together, and then let Hong Taoping and Daqiang climb up along the rope ladder.
Daqiang used to be an Orion, and he climbed up in three strokes, five divided by two, but when it was Hong Taoping's turn, he struggled.
He was a homebody, and he was carrying a long and narrow package on his back. He was pulling it up and down, and it took a lot of effort to get it up.
After getting on the boat, he went straight to Jin Feng and asked with an aggrieved look: "Sir, you passed by the dock twice, why didn't you go and take a look? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, I'm in a hurry." Jin Feng was amused by Hong Taoping's words.
Hong Taoping's words just now contained a hint of blame and complaint.
With Jin Feng's current status, few people in Dakang would talk to him like this.
That is why Hong Taoping, a man of science and engineering who devotes himself to building ships, is so straightforward.
This also made Jin Feng seem to have seen himself in his previous life, so he explained: "You should know the situation in Yuguan City, so you didn't have time to dock when you passed by last time. This time something happened in Xizhou, and the Dangxiang people gathered several
One hundred thousand soldiers and horses may attack at any time, I wish I could grow arms and fly back now."
After Jin Feng finished speaking, before Hong Taoping could speak, Daqiang couldn't help himself: "Sir, are the party members dishonest again?"
"Yes," Jin Feng sighed: "Our airships and hot air balloons can't be used now, and the party members have started to provoke again."
"These white-eyed wolves should have been killed by Brother Tieniu from the beginning!"
Daqiang cursed, then looked at Jin Feng helplessly: "Sir, shall I take my brothers back with you to kill the party members?"
Now the dock has been transformed into almost a military base. Not to mention ordinary thieves, even pirates dare not approach it.
Daqiang gradually became bored. Now that he heard that Xizhou can fight, he immediately became excited.
Unfortunately, Jin Feng rejected his request without hesitation: "No, your duty is to guard the dock! Don't think about anything else!"
Then, without waiting for Da Qiang to refute, Jin Feng turned to look at Hong Taoping and changed the subject: "You are in such a hurry to find me, what's the matter?"
"By the way, I brought the drawings of the new ship and would like to discuss it with my husband."
When it came to business, Hong Taoping immediately became excited again, unhooked the package from his back and took out the bamboo tube inside.
"It's windy here, go over there and talk."
Jin Feng took Hong Taoping to a corner.
This is also where he works on the ship.
"Sir, do you work here?"
Hong Taoping looked at the half-drawn drawings on the table and was a little surprised.
"There are too many people on board this time, and the cabin can't accommodate them. I'll deal with them here."
As Jin Feng spoke, he rolled up the drawings on the table.
Hong Taoping didn't ask any further questions. He opened the bamboo tube and took out a thick roll of blueprints. Jin Feng visually estimated that there were at least dozens of them.
Jin Feng smiled bitterly and said: "Master Hong, there are so many drawings, I'm afraid we won't be able to finish them all in a while, right?"
"If you are in a hurry, sir, then I will go to Jinchuan with you," Hong Taoping blurted out: "This is a new ship that I designed based on the ideas you provided before. If you think there is no problem, I will start the preparation work at the shipyard.
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After hearing this, Jin Feng turned to look at Daqiang: "When you came over, had the defense work of the dock been arranged?"
Hong Taoping is weak and someone must protect him when he comes back.
Now that Jinchuan's manpower and speedboats are not enough, Jin Feng doesn't want to arrange additional manpower to escort him back. The best way is to ask Daqiang to follow him.
After he and Hong Taoping read the drawings, Daqiang will escort Hong Taoping back.
"It's been arranged," Daqiang said, "Sir, don't worry, Fifth Brother is here, he is much more reliable than me."
"That's okay, you can come along."
Jin Feng nodded and motioned to Hong Taoping to unfold the drawings.
Nowadays, airships and hot-air balloons have been restrained, and the role of speedboats and steamships has immediately become prominent.
Whether it is transmitting information or transporting materials, it is inseparable.
What's more, Jin Feng also wanted to build a heavy-duty ship that could sail across the ocean and cross the Pacific Ocean to search for seeds of high-yielding food crops in America.
Therefore, he has always attached great importance to the dock. Even if Hong Taoping does not catch up, when the situation in Xizhou stabilizes, Jin Feng wants to call him over to discuss the expansion of the dock.
In the next few days, Jin Feng did not return to the small cabin. No matter day or night, he was on the deck studying the blueprints of his newly designed ship with Hong Taoping.
When I feel tired and sleepy, I take a nap in the small tent next to me and continue working when I wake up.
It wasn't until Zhenyuan No. 2 went upstream and entered the Jialing River that the two of them finally read all the drawings.
By the time the two men re-finalized the plan, Zhenyuan No. 2 was almost arriving at Jinchuan Pier.
“It’s still comfortable to work with my husband!”
Although he has been living in the open air for the past few days and the food and accommodation conditions are very poor, Hong Taoping seems to be in high spirits: "Sir, if I have any problems in the future, can I come to Jinchuan to see you?"
"Of course, but bandits are rampant on the Yangtze River now, and the kings of Wu, Chu, and Xiang along the coast are also extremely dissatisfied with me. If you come here, there must be enough manpower to ensure your safety. Do you understand?" Jin Feng reminded.
Hong Taoping is Jin Feng's assistant who is the best at shipbuilding and has a very serious work attitude. Jin Feng never wants to see him in danger.
"Understood!" Hong Taoping nodded, carefully rolled up the revised drawings and put them back into the bamboo tube: "Then I'll go back first."
"We're going to Jinchuan soon, why don't you go and have a look?"