"Although I, Jin Feng, don't have much ability, I still keep my word."
Jin Feng signaled Tang Xiaobei to take a pen and paper, wrote a note, and then stamped it with his own seal.
He handed the note to Hong Taoping and pointed to the guide: "Tomorrow you follow him back to the Navy camp and find a man named Han Feng. He will arrange everything. You need money to build the dock, so go find him too.
he wants."
"Thank you Mr. Jin!"
Hong Taoping took the note with both hands, his lips trembling with excitement.
Chen Laowu next to him burst into tears.
The Hong family finally has hope of turning around!
"Sir, I, Hong Taoping, am a clumsy speaker and I don't know how to express my gratitude!"
Hong Taoping put the note on the table and saluted Jin Feng solemnly: "Sir, please accept my bow!"
"If you are grateful, Master, then help me build some good ships!"
Jin Feng smiled and supported Hong Taoping: "Master, have you made your choice? Will it still be ten ships in five years?"
"I choose neither of these two!" Hong Taoping shook his head.
"Choose neither?" Jin Feng frowned slightly.
"My husband is willing to lend me money. Taoping is very grateful, but more than ten thousand taels of silver is too much. Let alone five years, even if I build ships for my husband for a lifetime, it won't be worth that much!"
Hong Taoping said seriously: "So I can't choose either one."
The Hong family has been building ships for generations, and Hong Taoping knows his own value very well.
If he went to work in another shipyard, he would at best be a master craftsman.
The salary can last for dozens of taels of silver a year.
This requires the unique skills of the Hong family.
Based on this income, if Jin Feng lent him more than 10,000 taels of silver, he would indeed be able to repay it in his lifetime.
Jin Feng glanced at Hong Taoping appreciatively and asked, "Then what do Mr. Hong think?"
Although he had planned to spend more than 10,000 taels to invite Hong Taoping, Jin Feng was still very pleased when Hong Taoping said this.
Hong Taoping said this, which shows that he is not arrogant but has a sense of proportion.
"Thanks to your respect, sir, I would like to be your domestic slave to repay your great kindness." Hong Taoping said seriously.
After saying that, he took out his tooth tag from his pocket and put it on the table.
Before Jin Feng could say anything, Chen Laowu next to him became anxious.
Once Hong Taoping is sold into slavery, his life will be over.
There is no chance for the Hong family to stand up again.
Chen Laowu subconsciously reached out to get the dental plaque, but was held back by Hong Taoping.
"Young Master, you are serious," Jin Feng said with a smile, without even looking at the dental plaque, "I never accept domestic slaves, and I don't have a single slave in my family."
"Don't accept domestic slaves?" Hong Taoping and Chen Laowu were both stunned.
Although this was his first time meeting Jin Feng, he had heard the name of Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce many times.
Many salt merchants are envious and say that the Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce is very powerful.
As the boss behind the Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce, Jin Feng doesn’t have domestic slaves?
"Mr. Hong, you really think too much."
Tang Xiaobei said with a smile: "My husband-in-law buys a large number of domestic slaves from the tooth shop in the county every month. The first thing the slaves do when they arrive is to go to the government to be released from slavery."
"Why is this?" Hong Taoping was even more puzzled.
"Because my husband is kind-hearted," Tang Xiaobei said with a smile.
"Sir, you are so righteous!" Hearing this, Hong Taoping raised his hands to Jin Feng in admiration.
Jin Feng waved his hand indifferently.
In fact, he did this not to gain fame or win people's hearts.
Just asking for peace of mind.
Anyway, he is not short of money, so there is no need to exploit and squeeze those already poor people to death.
"Mr. Hong, I am willing to lend you money because I appreciate your talent. I also appreciate your character of selling your old house and ancestral land without defaulting on the debt."
Jin Feng said with a smile: "You don't have to think too much, and don't think that you will be inferior to me when I lend you money. We are a cooperative relationship, and we will have to rely on you to manage the shipyard in the future."
Jin Feng tested Hong Taoping, and Hong Taoping also tested Jin Feng.
Voluntarily becoming a slave is Hong Taoping's temptation to Jin Feng.
If Jin Feng really agrees, Hong Taoping will be very disappointed.
Fortunately, Jin Feng's answer satisfied him.
Not only did they confiscate him as a slave, they also said that the two of them were in a cooperative relationship.
This made Hong Taoping very moved.
"Don't worry, sir, I will do my best to build the dock as soon as possible!"
Hong Taoping patted his chest and said: "The most important thing about the dock is the boat pit. Although my dock was burned down, the boat pit and dock entrance are still in good condition. We just need to clean them up and build the shed again, and they will be ready for use."
.”
The so-called dock is a dock-type building used for shipbuilding and ship repair.
To put it simply, it is a large concave pit with a large shed.
The shipbuilding work is completed in this big pit. After the shipbuilding is completed, when the sea tide is high, the dock gate is opened, seawater is put into the pit, and the ship can go out to sea.
There are four ship pits in the Hong family's shipyard, but the large sheds above were burned by pirates, and the large ships under construction in the ship pits were also burned.
Not to mention rebuilding, just cleaning up the burned garbage will require a lot of money.
Hong Taoping had no money before, so he abandoned it.
Jin Feng came to see Hong Taoping. In addition to knowing that he could build ships, he also came to the Hong family's dock.
Building a new dock takes a lot of time.
The Hong family's dock can be put back into use with a little tidying up, which can save him a lot of trouble.
But since it was rebuilt, Jin Feng naturally needed to improve.
He took out a drawing from his arms and said, "This is my newly designed dock. Master Hong, please help me check if there are any flaws."
This time is not to test Hong Taoping, but Jin Feng is indeed a little unsure.
He had learned about ship hull structure in his previous life and had also been to a shipyard. However, the shipyard in his previous life had a high level of mechanization and automation, which was impossible to achieve in Dakang.
So he was really not sure whether the dock he painted was suitable for Dakang.
With the previous ship drawing as a basis, Hong Taoping did not dare to look down on Jin Feng anymore and took the drawing and looked at it carefully.
As a result, after just one glance, his brows furrowed.
Pointing to a shelf on the drawing, he asked, "Sir, what is this?"
"This is called a gantry crane. It is a kind of lifting equipment. The base is installed on the rails and can move forward and backward. The trolley above can move left and right."
Jin Feng said: "With this thing, it only requires the cooperation of a few people to easily lift tens of thousands of kilograms of heavy objects."
"A few people can lift tens of thousands of kilograms. How is this possible?"
Hong Taoping looked at Jin Feng like a madman.
"Why is it impossible? Our chamber of commerce now uses small cranes to lift goods on ships. But it saves effort. I can lift several thousand kilograms of things with one hand."
Da Liu was very dissatisfied with Hong Taoping's expression and couldn't help but yelled.
Seeing that Hong Taoping still looked suspicious, Jin Feng said with a smile: "I remember we brought the gourd, bring it over and show it to Mr. Hong."
The gourd Jin Feng is talking about is not the kind of gourd you eat, but a hand chain hoist, also called a fairy gourd or a chain hoist, which is the simplest lifting equipment.
Although the lifting speed is slow, it is small and very convenient to carry.
Escorts usually take one with them when they go on a long trip. If they encounter falling rocks on the mountain road and block the road, they can use a gourd to lift the rocks.