Jin Feng stood up: "The dockyard is the ancestral property of your Hong family. It belongs to your Hong family at all times. Why do I need your house deed?"
"Sir, without you, I would never be able to pay off the foreign debts owed by the Hong family in my lifetime. I can't even hope to get my old house back, let alone the dock."
Hong Taoping said: "I can't remember how much money, steel, wood and other materials you invested in the shipyard. Anyway, it must be a huge number.
Although this dock bears the name of Hong Family Dockyard, I am actually ashamed."
"Young Master Hong is so presumptuous in saying that," Jin Feng said, "You also know what the situation was like when I came to you. To put it bluntly, I had nothing but money.
It was you who led the people and worked day and night to build the dock and lay a solid foundation for the dock. Without you, there would not be Zhenyuan 2 and Zhenyuan 3, nor would there be so many speedboats.
Without Zhenyuan No. 2 and No. 3 and speedboats, it would be impossible for us to defend Yuguan City, and it would be difficult to ensure supplies during the Xizhou Battle!
It can be said that without Mr. Hong and your shipyard, the situation in Sichuan and Shu would be much more difficult than it is now!"
In fact, with Jin Feng's current status, he is already the rule maker.
If he really wants to plot the dock, he can still take it away without the title deed, documents and seal.
Hong Taoping also knew this, but Jin Feng's attitude made him very satisfied.
"Sir, you are flattering me with your words!" Hong Taoping waved his hands a little embarrassed: "If you say you can't build a ship, Dakang will not dare to have another person dare to say that he can build a ship."
"I can only draw blueprints and talk on paper. If I were to do it myself, I would be blinded." Jin Feng said with a smile: "What I just said was from the bottom of my heart."
This is not because Jin Feng is modest.
Although he knew the structure of the ship's hull and how to draw pictures, Dakang's industry was too backward. Jin Feng did not understand many tools and shipbuilding techniques.
If you ask him to build a dock, I'm afraid he won't be able to find a clue for a while.
Hong Taoping studied shipbuilding since he was a child, but he knew nothing about it.
For the dock to be built and put into use so quickly, in addition to Jin Feng's full supply of materials, Hong Taoping should be the main contributor.
"Master Hong, put your things away. You built the dock brick by brick. No matter when, the old dock and the land where the dock is built belong to your Hong family."
Jin Feng said: "Xiao Bei will find a suitable person to manage the shipyard. From now on, we can just concentrate on building the ship. As for the chores, let others do it."
"Okay, from now on I will learn from your husband and focus on technology and not care about other things, so as not to make more mistakes."
Hong Taoping put away the land deed and other documents, but kept the seal: "Sir, this is the shipyard's seal. It is used for many documents. You can take it."
"Okay," Jin Feng did not refuse this time and reached out to take the seal.
Now that everything has been said, it would be unnecessary to talk about it anymore, so Jin Feng changed the subject and talked about shipbuilding.
When it came to shipbuilding, Hong Taoping's eyes immediately lit up. He dragged Jin Feng into the laboratory and did not let Jin Feng leave until mid-afternoon.
This was Jin Feng's request because he was worried about Tang Xiaobei's porridge, otherwise Hong Taoping might have kept him chatting until midnight.
After leaving Hong's house, Jin Feng saw two carriages pulling kelp into the escort camp.
Jin Feng followed and found that the school grounds where bodyguards usually trained were already filled with wooden boards and straw mats.
Next to the two wells next to the school grounds, the escorts were constantly pumping water up with windlass. There were more escorts carrying buckets and delivering the water to the wooden boards and straw mats, and the navy soldiers were cleaning the kelp.
On the west side of the wooden planks and straw mats, there were more than a dozen tables lined up side by side. The escorts of the cooking company waved their swords and chopped the kelp sent by the navy soldiers into squares the size of mahjong.
The whole campus was busy with people coming and going.
Tang Xiaobei stood on the wooden platform at the edge of the school ground, talking to Zheng Chiyuan.
"Ms. sir, are you back?"
When Tang Xiaobei saw Jin Feng approaching, he quickly took a few steps to meet him, made sure there was no one around, and asked in a low voice: "How is it?"
"It went very smoothly," Jin Feng recounted what happened after meeting Hong Taoping.
"Master Hong handed over the seal so quickly?" Tang Xiaobei was a little surprised.
"Master Hong is a pure man, he doesn't have so many tricks. He just wants to build a good ship."
Jin Feng said: "You don't know that when he talked about shipbuilding just now, his eyes lit up. He pulled me to tell me his thoughts, and I almost couldn't come back."
"Some people are good at disguising," Tang Xiaobei asked: "This shipyard not only produced Zhenyuan No. 3, but also produced many speedboats. It will also produce building ships and armored ships later. It is very important. Otherwise, let Brother Han arrange it."
Can people keep an eye on it?"
Jin Feng understood the implication of Tang Xiaobei's words.
Hong Taoping is the person in charge of the shipyard, and may be lacking in management, but he is extremely serious in shipbuilding.
Zhenyuan No. 3 was built by his eyes. Hong Taoping also knew the blueprints of speedboats, building ships and armored ships, as well as the structure of the new dock and gantry crane.
Once Hong Taoping rebels, the consequences may be more serious than Wei Laosan's rebellion.
Although Jin Feng believed in Hong Taoping in his heart, he was also afraid that he had seen the wrong person.
So he didn't object to Tang Xiaobei's proposal, but nodded and said, "Just look at the arrangement."
After talking about Hong Taoping, Jin Feng asked again: "How is the progress on your side?"
"It went quite smoothly," Tang Xiaobei raised his voice and said, "Thanks to General Zheng's help, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get so much kelp in such a short time."
Just now, when Tang Xiaobei walked towards Jin Feng, Zheng Chiyuan knew that they were going to whisper, so he was smart enough not to follow him.
Now that he heard Tang Xiaobei take the initiative to talk about himself, Zheng Chiyuan knew that their whispers were over, so he walked over with a smile: "Madam, you are serious, you and your husband are also for the people of the East China Sea, and I should fully cooperate in public and private matters!
Sir, please see if there is enough kelp. If not, I will send someone to pick it up right away."
"Enough, enough!" Jin Feng smiled and waved his hands.
Although there is not as much kelp in other places as on Maolang Island, there are so many ships that Zheng Chiyuan sends out.
There are kelp everywhere in the yard now, and there are still a few carriages that have not been unloaded in the open space next to them.
Even if you only eat kelp, this is enough to feed all the workers and escorts in the dock for several days.
But just eating kelp wasn't enough, so Jin Feng looked at Tang Xiaobei again and asked, "Have you prepared the food?"
"It's ready," Tang Xiaobei said: "I asked the person in charge of the porridge shed. There is extra porridge prepared. Even if there is an accident, we can ask the escort to eat later and stay close to the porridge shed first."