Hong Taoping walked out of the dock and looked at the endless stream of pedestrians on the street and the large and small ships coming and going on board. His eyes were full of disbelief.
I even thought that I had stayed up all night to build the boat, which was a delusion!
Just when I was confused, I happened to meet Zheng Chiyuan who was coming back from the pier.
Hong Taoping grabbed Zheng Chiyuan and asked: "General Zheng, what happened? Why are there so many people at once?"
Zheng Chiyuan glanced at Hong Taoping's messy hair and asked with a smile: "Mr. Hong, you haven't come out of the dock for a long time, haven't you?"
"Sir, aren't you in a hurry to use the building boat? I've been working overtime recently."
Hong Taoping smoothed the unkempt hair on his head, silently calculated the days of seclusion in his mind, frowned and said, "That's not right, I only stayed in the dock for less than a month."
The changes in Yuxi Town were so great that after Hong Taoping finished speaking, he even wondered if he had remembered the wrong date.
"Master Hong, one month is enough for you to do a lot of things!" Zheng Chiyuan said with emotion: "In this month, the picking and drying fields are recruiting workers like crazy. I have sent more than a dozen ships to Maolang Island.
There are more workers, and the drying yard will hire more people!”
"How can there be so many people in Yuxi?" Hong Taoping asked in surprise.
Zheng Chiyuan's warship was built by the Hong Family Shipyard, and Hong Taoping was very aware of the warship's carrying capacity.
A dozen ship workers are quite a lot.
The fishermen in Yuxi Town have been sent to Maolang Island before. Even if everyone else in the town is dragged over, there may not be enough for more than a dozen boats.
"There are not so many people in Yuxi Town, but there are many refugees."
Zheng Chiyuan said: "Now Jiangnan and the Central Plains are full of refugees. They only have food to eat. There are as many people as you want!"
"By the way, there are also refugees. It seems that I am really confused."
Hong Taoping shook his head: "How many refugees have you recruited, sir?"
"The exact number is unclear, but it should be quite a lot."
Zheng Chiyuan said: "It's not like you don't know Mr. He has a bodhisattva heart. As long as the refugees who come to seek refuge are willing to work, he is willing to give them a way to live."
"With so many refugees recruited, will they be used up?" Hong Taoping asked worriedly.
Jin Feng's original intention of recruiting refugees must be out of good intentions, and he wants to give the refugees a way to survive, but a refugee is just a mouth to eat. If he is fed, everyone will be happy. If he is not fed, it will cause a backlash from the refugees.
There have been more than one precedent in history where some wealthy businessmen and gentry gave out porridge in years of famine. As a result, too many refugees were attracted, and the porridge givers could not afford the porridge, and eventually died at the hands of the refugees.
"Mr. Jin is doing something good, Mr. Hong, aren't you still worried?"
Zheng Chiyuan said: "Not to mention anything else, even with so much kelp on Maolang Island, people will not starve to death. Not only will people not starve to death, Mr. Jin also pays wages to the refugees, and the wages are not low!"
"Pay wages to the refugees?" Hong Taoping was stunned: "I heard that Sichuan and Sichuan are currently in financial difficulty. Even if you are kind-hearted and want to do good things, you can't give money here anymore, right?"
"Mr. Hong, you are wrong again," Zheng Chiyuan said with a smile: "Not only did Mr. Jin not send money to Donghai, he must have made a lot of money from Donghai recently!"
"How do you make money?" Hong Taoping asked in confusion.
"Of course I make money from kelp!"
Zheng Chiyuan then told Tang Xiaobei about how he positioned kelp into four grades and made a lot of money in the Sichuan and Sichuan areas.
After hearing this, Hong Taoping praised from the bottom of his heart: "Mrs. Xiaobei is really amazing. She can make money from this. No wonder she can open the Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce on such a large scale."
"Mrs. Xiaobei is indeed powerful, but I think Mr. is even more powerful!" Zheng Chiyuan also echoed: "I have heard before that Mr. has the ability to turn decay into magic. As long as he goes wherever he goes, no matter what he was like before, he will soon be there.
It will be reborn and prosperous. I didn’t believe it before, but now I believe it!”
If it were before, Hong Taoping would have thought that Zheng Chiyuan was trying to flatter Jin Feng, but this time he and Zheng Chiyuan felt the same way.
"I believe it too!" Hong Taoping nodded with admiration: "Sir, I have only lived in Yuxi Town for a month, and Yuxi Town has undergone earth-shaking changes. It can indeed be said to turn decay into magic!"
"Mr. Hong, how's the dock going? Have all the ships been built?" Zheng Chiyuan asked.
Jin Feng once promised that after the building ship was built, he could grant one to the navy. Zheng Chiyuan had been looking forward to it.
It's just that recently, he has been running back and forth between the dock and Maolang Island. He is so busy that he has no time to go to the dock to inquire about the progress.
The appearance of Hong Taoping, a maniac who works overtime, shows that progress is good.
Sure enough, Hong Taoping scratched his head and replied: "The seven building ships have been assembled. Today we are conducting final inspections on the sixth and seventh ships. If there are no problems, they will be launched into the water tomorrow."
"Very good!"
Zheng Chiyuan slapped his thigh suddenly, turned around and ran towards the door.
After more than a month of getting along, he had become very familiar with Jin Feng, and he had figured out Jin Feng's character. He knew that Jin Feng liked to get straight to the point, so he no longer tried to figure out Jin Feng's thoughts as cautiously as before.
.
He is going to find Jin Feng and ask for the boat!
Hong Taoping looked at Zheng Chiyuan who left in a hurry, scratched his head in confusion, but was too lazy to think about it, so he scratched his itch and walked back.
He hadn't taken a shower for more than half a month, and he didn't feel it when he was working. Now that the work was over, Hong Taoping felt that his whole body was itchy. He had to go back and take a shower quickly, and then eat a big meal.
After eating, he originally wanted to take a nap, but after thinking about it, Hong Taoping decided to go to Jin Feng first.
When I rushed to Jin Feng's courtyard, I happened to see Zheng Chiyuan coming out of Jin Feng's study with an excited look on his face.
Hong Taoping has known Zheng Chiyuan for so long and has never seen him so happy. He asked curiously: "General Zheng, what happy event have you encountered?"
"Mr. Hong, Mr. Jin promised to give the navy two large ships!"
Zheng Chiyuan excitedly patted Hong Taoping on the shoulder and said: "It's not the wooden boat of the past, it's a building boat powered by a steam engine!"
The steamboat he had been longing for for so long finally got it.
And Jin Feng was so generous that he gave it to two ships at once!
If you encounter pirates again in the future, the navy will no longer be afraid of not being able to catch up!
"Congratulations to General Zheng!"
Hong Taoping also knew Zheng Chiyuan's desire for steamships, so he smiled and cupped his hands to express congratulations.
"Same joy!" Zheng Chiyuan returned the salute, then turned around and ran away.
He wants to go back and announce the good news to the naval generals, and at the same time select a group of good men from the navy to serve on the ships!
Hong Taoping rubbed the painful shoulder from Zheng Chiyuan's slap, and entered the study room under the leadership of Tie Hammer.
"Master Hong is here, sit down!"
Jin Feng signaled the female escort beside him to pour a cup of tea for Hong Taoping: "You have been working hard recently. Now that the building and boat assembly is over, why don't Mr. Hong take a good rest?"