"Didn't the plan say that the refugee bases are in Jeju and Taiwan?" Liu San interrupted and asked. As a member of the Senate, he had already roughly read the entire plan on the internal bb. Before boarding the ship, he also looked at the Haitian number.
Mission briefing for the voyage.
Zhao Yingong explained: It is true that the refugee bases are in Jeju and Taiwan, but an advance base is also needed in Shandong as a transfer point for collecting refugees and a base for the work team.
Now they have established a relationship with Sun Yuanhua through the Hangzhou Catholic Church. As long as they have his support, it will not be a problem to set up a stockade as a base in the Denglai area in the name of reclaiming wasteland.
The scale of the base does not need to be large. If the scale is too large, it will involve the problem of having to equip left-behind troops, and the investment in construction will further squeeze the resources of the Planning Institute for the engine plan. Therefore, the scale of this base cannot be large.
And it must be based on the use of Shandong's local resources: including population and building materials.
After the end of Operation Engine, the Shandong base can be retained or revoked depending on the situation. Zhao Yingong's preference is to try to retain it as a tentacle for the future Shandong strategy.
"If possible, there is nothing wrong with arranging one or two elders to serve as powerful landlords in Shandong." Zhao Yingong said, "The coast of Shandong can make a difference in agriculture, fishery or commerce."
While Zhao Yingong was chatting freely with Li Ziping and others on the poop, other members of the mission on the bow deck were frightened. Most of them were reluctant to get on the "smoky ship" out of necessity. Several merchants were mooching
They sat hunched over on the bench temporarily prepared for them, thinking about how much money they would have to pay for this "send to the gods". The tea and snacks on the folding table were not touched. They were calm.
The only one who was at ease was Zhao Tongliao. As Zhao Yingong's bodyguard, of course he knew that there was an unusual relationship between the master and the Australians.
Gao Xuan carefully sat on the stool, looked at the tea and snacks on the table, and couldn't help but swallow. The poor scholar Gao Xuan came to the ship purely for business. He came here as an imposter, not because he admired Australian culture.
, hoping to get close contact with him, but a clerk in the mission did not want to take the risk of facing any "Australians", so he paid four taels of silver to let him board the ship.
Gao Xuan was a poor man with short ambitions, and the situation at home was about to end, so he had to accept the four taels of silver. Fortunately, the matter was not troublesome, and it was just a matter of advancing and retreating as he went.
"Everything will be according to Mr. Zhao's instructions." The clerk who paid the money told him, "You can just go on your own after getting off the boat. There is no need to worry about the rest."
After getting on the boat, I saw Mr. Zhao being taken into the cabin alone. They were left here, with a few sailors taking care of them. They looked kind and could speak Chinese. But on this deck, there were people everywhere.
There were soldiers holding blunderbuss, all wearing blue and white short coats, holding the blunderbuss with murderous intent, as if they were facing a powerful enemy. Everyone was in a state of excitement, how could they be interested in drinking?
Tea and snacks.
But Gao Xuan hasn't eaten anything since the morning. The so-called breakfast is buckwheat rice cooked with a little water on the bottom of the pot. His family has been without rice for several days, so he relies on the donations from his father-in-law and brother-in-law to buy some cereals.
I barely managed to get through. Now I see a lot of snacks in front of me - in fact, they are just a few colorful biscuits brought on board specially for the veterans: including very rare butter cookies, waffles, pineapple rice biscuits and salty soda
biscuit.
The accompanying drink is kombucha kvass, which is not only gassy but is still fermenting, so it is not suitable for long-term storage and transportation on board ships.
Finally, he couldn't help but pick up a long white snack that looked slimy. He took a bite and a sweet and cloying texture immediately spread in his mouth, but when he was about to taste it carefully, the biscuit
But it disappeared without a trace in the mouth.
This strange feeling immediately irritated his stomach, and his empty stomach immediately made a loud protest to him. So all kinds of biscuits quickly fell into his stomach one after another. At first, Gao Xuan was worried about saving face.
, seeing everyone’s lack of appetite and their physical needs finally defeating their spiritual needs, they began to eat without ceremony. In a short while, they swallowed all the biscuits on the table like a whirlwind. Then they drank it in one breath.
Had two cups of kombucha.
"This husband has a good appetite." Sitting opposite him was a Huizhou businessman and the head of the local tea guild. Tea is a big business in Hangzhou. Since the tea guild has money, a lot of expenses will inevitably fall on them.
The cost of getting the ship out of the way will naturally fall on the Tea Guild this time. Seeing the impostor opposite eating and drinking so enthusiastically, he was not worried at all. The president was very unhappy and couldn't help but secretly cursed: "Wine bags and rice bags."
!”
Gao Xuan's face turned red, and he said arrogantly: "I'm going to get on the boat right away. Why don't we just let them control us? Instead of sitting around and worrying, we should eat and drink freely. We would sneer and stop talking. Of course he is not a scholar who is talking nonsense.
opponents, but he sincerely looked down on these "sour men" who were not officials. He looked at the deck - this deck was really strange: there were ropes, sails and various equipment that he didn't recognize everywhere.
It looks unbelievably chaotic, but upon closer inspection, it appears to be very orderly. The sailors performed their duties and did not move around haphazardly, and no one chatted or talked casually, which seemed very rigorous.
"What a gangster." Hui first thought of this and couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He wondered if they knew he was the owner of the tea house, would they hold him for ransom?
Gao Xuan had a full stomach, but his mood relaxed. He was a poor scholar, penniless, and didn't have many worries. Instead, he curiously observed the Haitian. What he was particularly interested in was the one on the pedestal in the middle of the deck.
The big chimney is black, thick and tall. It is emitting black smoke almost all the time, and from time to time, some white water vapor will also emit.
Regarding this black chimney, there has been a lot of discussion in the city these days. Some people say that it is a witchcraft of the Australians, that the chimney is used by them to worship gods, and that the black smoke is some kind of foreign fragrance. Some people say that there is a huge giant under the chimney.
The stove is constantly burning fire, and the idea of using firepower to push the ship has been ridiculed by many people: How can a large stove be installed on this big wooden ship to keep the fire going every day without burning down the hull? As for burning a fire to propel the ship, it is even unheard of.
Some people also speculate that there are livestock pushing the water wheel below the deck...
Gao Xuan was also very curious, but now even if he was only ten feet away from the huge chimney, he couldn't see why. But one thing he was sure of was that what came out of the chimney was definitely not some "overseas" thing.
The smoke is not "smell-smelling", but is out-and-out coal smoke. There really is a big stove under the chimney.
He wanted to get closer and take a closer look, but he didn't dare. If it was some kind of "military powerhouse", he might lose his head if he got close. So he cast his eyes on the cannon that was so close.
The 48-pound cannon on the bow deck did not have a gun jacket. The precision cast iron gun body was pointed directly in the direction of Hangzhou City. The gun body was polished and shiny. Gao Xuan noticed that the cannon was mounted on a peculiar gun mount.
There are no wheels under the gun carriage, but there are two black iron rails, which have been rubbed and shiny. On the side of the ship next to the gun body, there is a row of round black cannonballs stuck in a long groove. Everything looks very orderly.
Like all Confucian scholars in the late Ming Dynasty, Xuan had a strong interest in "guns", "firearms" and "military science". This was related to the social and historical background at that time. The continuous military defeats caused the imperial court to develop and introduce several new technologies.
There were great expectations for weapons to turn the tide of the war. At that time, there was not only a climax of paper firearms development, but also the emergence of many so-called new tactics, such as "javelin to control the enemy" and "sap to defeat the enemy"·
·····There are many kinds of them.
Like all similar "military enthusiasts" of the Ming Dynasty, he had high ambitions but low abilities, without any skills or experience, and was purely talking about what he took for granted. In Wanbi Bookstore, he once wanted to find some Australian military art books to achieve a surprise victory. But the bookstore failed
There are no such books here.
Now that you can see this "sophisticated" Australian cannon right under your nose, of course you have to take a few more looks.
Suddenly someone yelled: "There is enemy situation in direction 105!" Following this roar, several sailors standing next to the cannon ran up to their positions, turned the cannon, and headed in the warning direction reported by the lookout post.
Compared with the size of the artillery, its rapid rotation direction surprised Gao Xuan - the four or five gunners moved the artillery with ease, with almost no effort and no unpleasant creaking sound, which surprised everyone present.
Everyone was surprised.
Gao Xuan knew that it was not difficult to make an object rotate. A wooden door, a wheel, a stone mill...it was nothing more than installing a round shaft. But the things on it were too heavy, so it would not be so easy to rotate, and it would even not rotate at all.
Do not move.
What is the mystery under the Australian cannon? Gao Xuan stared at the base under the cannon, hoping to see some clues and write them down in a book when he comes. Maybe he will be valued by a big boss.
Recruit him. With the help of the big boss, it will not be a problem to be elected. After several years, he will be able to hold an official position, which will impress his father-in-law and make his brother-in-law kneel down in front of him to say hello to the waiter.
The waiter has no respectful attitude towards him now, and his words are very rude!
The sailors didn't know Gao Xiucai's calculations, but they just paid nervous attention to the river bank where the threat was. After a while, the warning was lifted. The three ox carts seen by the watch post were not transporting cannons, but were loading Hangzhou.
The "reward" the government is preparing to send on board...!