Although Zhang Ruozhong is young, he is a genius, but his temper is a bit lazy. When he first managed books, his work was very leisurely. He would not let go of the books all day long, eating and waiting to die. Huang Chen couldn't see it and asked him to take care of the accounts. He couldn't shirk it, so he had to take over.
, managed the messy accounts in an orderly manner, and after surviving the hard days at the beginning, his life became leisurely again. Huang Chen couldn't see how lazy he was, so he threw all the equipment, food and other logistical things to him,
I didn't see him struggling at all.
Now Zhang Ruozhong is Huang Chen's big housekeeper, with dozens of people under him, including Zheng Qiu and other former merchant ship managers. They can be said to be scheming and cunning, but they are all honest, diligent in doing things, and never make trouble.
What kind of trouble happened?
Huang Chen would not let go of such a talented person unless his brain was broken. He must hold him firmly in his hands, which is why he said "take out his heart and lungs". After Zhang Ruozhong left, Huang Chen also slumped in his chair with exhaustion.
I almost crawled back to the bedroom. I didn't even bother to take off my clothes, so I just lay on the bed and fell asleep.
When he opened his eyes again, unlike before, he immediately learned the time accurate to the minute. A chiming clock with a bright golden appearance standing on top of the cabinet showed that it was 3:54. The same as before.
It was his lower body that held up a small tent. Of course, an eighteen-year-old young man has physiological needs. Ordinary people would have children of his age running around.
It would be a lie to say that he is not in a hurry. No one wants to be a bachelor for the rest of his life. However, most women in this era are illiterate and short-sighted. Huang Chen does not think he can get along with them. The limited number of outstanding women are mostly from good families. On weekdays,
Without going out the door or taking steps towards the second door, he would wander around the sea all day long, how could he possibly encounter him.
The mute girl suddenly popped into his mind, startling Huang Chen. He hurriedly dismissed it, was he crazy about women?
Huang Chen hurriedly changed into a set of clothes, washed his face with cold water to dissipate the heat, picked up the long sword and went out. He found that William had arrived, staring at Hikojiro with big eyes. Obviously he was not convinced by losing to the latter, and Hikojiro also felt that
The victory was somewhat unsuccessful last time, so both of them intended to fight again to see who was better, but without Huang Chen's permission, they did not dare to duel privately.
Huang Chen pretended not to see the eagerness of both parties to try, and asked William: "William, how long have you been here?"
William looked away "reluctantly" and replied: "About 20 minutes."
Doesn't that mean that William and Hikojiro had been fighting with each other's eyes for twenty minutes? Huang Chen secretly felt funny and said: "Then you came early enough, it's only four o'clock now."
William shrugged. It was his first time teaching, so he naturally had to be early to leave a good impression on Huang Chen.
Huang Chen said again: "Okay, shall we start now?"
"As you wish."
William took out his sword and demonstrated it to Huang Chen first, and then asked the latter to follow him again. The third time, Huang Chen performed the movements alone. William was on the side to guide him. His style was just like the Germans in everyone's impression.
Rigorous, rigid and meticulous.
Under William's prompting, Huang Chen took the trouble to draw the sword, correct it, draw the sword, correct it, draw the sword... over and over again.
In just over an hour, Huang Chen has become something like him. It is similar to what he had guessed before. Western swordsmanship is very simple to get started with. It is simpler than the Chinese boxing, spear and Japanese swordsmanship that he has learned.
It is a martial art that is easy to learn. However, it is easy to get started, but quite difficult to master. If you want to use it in actual combat, you must go through hard training.
Huang Chen stopped to wipe his sweat with a handkerchief. At the same time, he took out his pocket watch and looked at the time. It was exactly six o'clock. Since he had to study Latin with William later, Huang Chen invited him to have breakfast with him.
.
Huang Chen was very particular about food in his previous life. In the early days, his family was so poor that he could hardly open the pot. Every meal of gruel, pickles, and salted fish made him sigh and "he couldn't bear to die." After that, his life got better and better, and his requirements for food became more and more intense.
It is also getting higher and higher. Today's breakfast includes more than ten dishes such as meat porridge, wheat cakes, sugar cakes, snacks, fruits, etc., and there is also something quite rare in the Ming Dynasty - bread.
Huang Chen not only got a full cargo hold and many barbarian utensils from the "Houston", but also a lot of bread, rice, bacon, butter and other supplies, as well as Spanish and Portuguese wine, grain wine,
The latter is a kind of spirit produced in Southeast Asia. It is brewed with coconut juice, molasses and jujube wine. Huang Chen tasted it yesterday and it tasted pretty good.
Huang Chen took a bite of the hard bread and couldn't help complaining to William: "Is this really bread? Why does it feel like I'm biting into wood?"
William concentrated on destroying the wheat cakes, sugar cakes, snacks and bread in front of him without even looking at it. He replied: "It is indeed as you said, difficult, difficult, difficult to eat. Whenever I eat it,
I will particularly miss the buttered, meat floss, dense, soft, sweet and delicious bread in my hometown. But you must know that it is not delicious, but it can fill your stomach, which is very important for sea voyages. The scariest thing in the world
There is nothing better than starving at sea, and then all bad luck will find you."
Huang Chen nodded and expressed his understanding. Although he has always been active in the offshore and has never sailed deep into the ocean for a long time, he was an avid enthusiast of "Navigation" in his previous life. Once supplies and nutrients are lost in the game, extremely terrible things will happen.
It is not uncommon for people on ships to die.
William didn't eat much yesterday. He was very hungry at the moment, and the food looked a bit ugly. When he realized this, he said: "Your country is rich in ingredients and its workmanship is exquisite. I have been in Asia for two years. This is the first time."
Eat such delicious food.”
Huang Chen smiled while drinking porridge: "Eat more if you like, no need to be polite."
After dinner, Huang Chen took William to a study room. There were papers, quill pens, and ink bottles on the table. It is worth mentioning that Huang Chen was not used to writing brushes, and once wanted to use a quill pen instead for writing. Facts have proved that his
The idea is stupid. Quill pen books are more suitable for italic letters. It is very easy to break Chinese characters written with square fonts. Since history has given the answer, it naturally has its reason.
William may be an excellent swordsmanship instructor, but he is certainly not an excellent Latin teacher. The two-hour lesson made Huang Chen sleepy, wondering if there was anyone else on the "Heusden"
Knows Latin? If so, he should probably consider a different teacher.
Huang Chen did not change teachers, because he had a companion in the second class - Zhang Ruozhong. He heard that Huang Chen was studying Latin with William, and then learned that Latin is a common script in Europe. He proposed what he wanted to learn.
Huang Chen naturally agreed to the idea.
While Huang Chen was learning Latin, he taught William Chinese instead. It was very inconvenient for the two of them to communicate in a non-native language, and one party had to compromise. Huang Chen obviously thought that William should compromise with him.
The next day, Ruan Jin and Zhang Xing returned in the evening. They failed to capture the Dutch ship, but they did not return empty-handed. They captured a bird ship of the Dutch fleet, and most of them were people from the Ming Dynasty. They found that they were attacked.
Surrounded and unable to escape, they surrendered with little resistance. Twenty red Yi sailors on the ship also surrendered with them. A total of six red Yi cannons, eight revolvers, and five muskets were seized.
Boarding ax, sailor's knife, spear, halberd, etc.
Huang Chen was overjoyed. He originally only had six red cannons, and the "Houston" contributed sixteen. Now the bird ship has contributed six more, and the total has reached twenty-eight. Not to mention Zhou Lao, Li Kuiqi, and Zheng Zhilong.
Not as good as him. I just don't know whether the latter's trip has gained anything. The twenty Dutch sailors were an unexpected surprise. The number of "Houston" was as high as 134. Unfortunately, only 65 remained after the war.
, thirty-six of them were seriously injured, but less than thirty were still alive and kicking.
In the evening, Huang Chen held a grand celebration. His original intention was to celebrate at home, but many pirate leaders came uninvited, and it was difficult for him to chase them away. The scene became bigger and bigger, and if the venue couldn't be packed, I'm afraid that
There will be people coming.
At the banquet, Huang Chen announced that Zhuang Mo and Lin Xishan would be the new team leaders.
After hearing this, everyone had different reactions. Zhuang Mo used to be the leader of the team. He was suppressed by Huang Chen for nearly half a year because of his mistakes. It makes sense for him to be re-employed. Lin Xishan was a bit beyond everyone's expectations. He has outstanding abilities, but the time he joined the team was unexpected.
Later than any other ship owner, Huang Fang was secretly jealous of Hong Ju. No matter who Huang Chen promoted, he should not be promoted. However, Huang Chen always kept his word and no one dared to doubt him.
Lin Xishan was also greatly surprised. Huang Chen didn't communicate with him beforehand. He was very human after all. He quickly stabilized his mood and stood up and walked towards Huang Chen at the same time as Zhuang Mo.
"Erden, I have seen everything you have done in the past six months. You deserve to be the captain of the team." Huang Chen raised his glass and said: "But remember not to be complacent. Most of the captains below you are better than
You have more seniority, so discuss everything with them. Of course, you must be decisive when you need to be decisive, you know what I mean."
"Yes. Keep in mind the teachings of the great leader. Thousands of words are all melted into wine. I will do it first as a token of respect." After Lin Xishan said this, he raised his neck and drank the wine in the bowl.
Huang Chen smiled and nodded, drank wine together, then looked at Zhuang Mo, and said slowly: "Do you want me to say anything more?"
"No need. Chief, let's see how I behave in the future." Zhuang Mo grabbed a bowl and started eating, full of the heroic spirit of a northerner.
Huang Chen drank another bowl, waved his hand and said: "You are one of the protagonists today, I won't keep you, go on."
Lin Xishan and Zhuang Mo retreated respectfully.
Zhong Bin, who was sitting on the left side of Huang Chen, said with envy: "Zhuang Mo is a hero from the north, Lin Xi is a hero from the south, and there are also talented people like Zhao Hongyi and Ruan Jin. Brother Huang has so many talented people, it's really enviable.
.”
Li Meiyu said: "Brother Huang has the ability to know people. In the past, Zhao Hongyi wasted his time, Ruan Jin was a fisherman, Zhuang Mo was afraid of water, and he was a prisoner in the mountains. They were all indifferent. If Brother Huang didn't promote them, who could tell?
What are their abilities?" With Huang Chen's current status, these are not secrets at all, and you can find out with just a little inquiry.
Huang Chen waved his hands in embarrassment: "Brother, I am thin-skinned. Brother Li, don't praise me anymore." When he first arrived in Taiwan, a bloody conflict broke out with Li Meiyu's men over the banquet seats. As his power grew, this matter
Instead, it became a bridge between Li Meiyu and him.
Chen Shengyu, who is known as "Double Yu" together with Li Meiyu, said with emotion: "It really corresponds to the old saying: "The waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead, and a new generation replaces the old ones." Brother Huang sealed two team leaders at once. This is a big deal for us.
It can't be done." Pirates are called ten ships, of which there are at most three or four large ships, and the rest are small ships. Similarly, they are called fifty ships, of which there are at most twenty large ships. Li Meiyu and Chen Shengyu are all of this size. Huang Chen's
The leader of the team is in charge of a team of five large ships, and sealing two people in a row is worth half of their strength.
Huang Chen laughed and said: "Brothers are working hard for me, how can I be stingy? If you don't say this, drink, drink..."
The banquet lasted until late at night. Huang Chen was so drunk that he fell unconscious and was sent back to his dormitory by the Yan brothers. However, he woke up on time the next morning and practiced swordsmanship and Latin without any delay.
After class, Huang Chen asked William while packing up his notes: "William, I want to ask you something, does any of you know how to build a ship?"
"Shipbuilding?" William said: "The Netherlands has the most developed navigation and shipbuilding industry in the world. About 30% to 50% of Dutch sailors have worked in shipyards. After all, they see countless people gaining huge wealth from the sea every day. In the end,
It's easy to be tempted to risk going to sea. I only know that they can repair ships. As for whether they have shipbuilding capabilities, I'm sorry, I can't answer you at the moment. I need to go back and ask before I can give you a clear answer."
Huang Chen nodded and said: "Several of my ships and the Houston are all in need of repair. I am going to go to the ship repair yard in the morning. If no one knows how to build ships, bring someone who has worked in the shipyard."
William stopped staying and immediately returned to his residence to ask his colleagues. Just as he had guessed, no one knew how to build ships. In other words, since they were just one of tens of millions of workers in the shipyard at that time, it was difficult for them to build a sea-going ship.
It's a lot of hard work, but they have nothing to do with shipbuilding. However, a few people expressed confidence that if there were enough manpower, they could try it.
In the end, William brought 10 people and 10 sailors, and drove the "Houston" to follow Huang Chen northward to Yunxiao.
The Fuchuan manufactured in Fujian is one of the most outstanding ship types on the Ming Dynasty today. Fujian has two major shipbuilding bases, one is Jinjiang in Quanzhou, and the other is Yunxiao in Zhangzhou. Zhangzhou is the most affected by pirate attacks, and there is a lot of chaos everywhere.
Despite the mess, only Yunxiao is safe and sound. The reason is that there are countless shipyards and ship repair yards near Yunxiao's offshore area.
Unlike Europe, which operates shipyards in the form of companies, the Ming Dynasty relies on families as the backbone, recruiting some villagers at most and rarely recruiting outsiders, because their shipbuilding craftsmanship is a secret that is not passed down, for fear of teaching apprentices and starving the masters to death. (To be completed.