The goods had been loaded, and Chen Huamin was about to order Jihai to set sail. Suddenly, a group of porters hurriedly came to the pier, pushing the gale-style two-wheeled windmill sold here by Lingao, which was full of goods.
Many straw bags.* are coming up to the berth of Dongshanju.
"What is this?" Chen Huamin was wondering - all the cargo to be carried by the Dongshanju had been loaded with no leaks, and supplies such as drinking water had also been loaded - but he saw Liu Deshan at the end of the team, panting and following
Came over.
When the porter arrived at the ship, Liu Deshan was the first to get on the ship. He didn't even bother to say hello and asked the sailors to open the cargo hold cover in preparation for loading.
"Cousin! What is this?" Chen Huamin couldn't figure it out. "Aren't we already equipped with all the goods?"
"Pile it all, pile it up." Liu Deshan said while gesticulating and directing the porters to load the goods, "This is salt, I just got it."
"Salt? Who are you selling it to? We are going to the Nanzhi area. Without salt, how can the government allow the entrance..."
"Haha, who said it was sold to the government." Liu Deshan took out a towel from his pocket and wiped his sweat, "This is shipped to Xiamen! That's the Zheng family's territory, what kind of salt do you want? I got the news, Fujian
The price of salt over there is very high. I dare not say how much we transport the salt, but the cost of this round trip is all earned."
"Cousin, isn't there something wrong with this?" Chen Huamin knew that Fujian has always been a salt importer, but he bought the Australian flying flag, so he went to sell salt in the territory of the Australian's enemies.
What do Australians think? Can the Zheng family tolerate it?
"Don't worry, I've already made inquiries. Everyone in Weitou Bay has said that no matter whose ship it is, as long as it can transport the cargo, it will ensure the safety of the cargo and fair trade - no need to buy a flag. I heard that
Not only are salt and grain prices high there, but there is also a backlog of foreign goods for export, and the prices are also very low. We will transport them to Guangzhou and sell them to Mr. Qin, just in time to make a profit!"
"This..." Although Chen Huamin felt that his cousin's business was good, he still felt something was wrong. But he couldn't think of any reason to refute it at the moment - the cargo on the ship was not full. One trip was the cost of one trip.
Naturally, the more cargo you can load, the better.
"In that case, let's get ready to sail."
Just as he was talking, a big man with strong and dark muscles, a Chinese sword hanging on his waist and a wooden sign with the word "Deputy Program" written on it, and a thick beard came forward, clasped his fists at Chen Huamin and said: "
Gangshou, the auspicious time has arrived!"
Chen Huamin muttered in a low voice: "Little Wang! How many times have I told you to call me captain now!" Then he straightened his hat and gown seriously, picked up three sticks of incense from the incense table, lit them and bowed respectfully.
Bow three times and recite silently: "Please Mazu, please bless me and other people who cultivate the sea to go to sea smoothly, without disaster and pain, and return home safely! Chen Huamin, Liu Deshan and all the crew members pay their respects!" After offering incense, Chen Huamin put the incense case on the table.
The fruits were arranged, and a piece of suckling pig was cut with a knife and placed in front of the incense table. Finally, three small porcelain cups were filled with wine.
Chen took the first glass of wine, raised his hand and sprinkled it to the sky. He said loudly: "Respect the sky! Weigh the anchor!"
Wang Fugang, who was next to him, repeated loudly: "Yes, lift the anchor!" Captain Ikari, who was standing next to the anchor hole, shouted towards the winch: "Weight - anchor -!"
The sailors immediately turned the winch hard and brought the anchor to the surface. At the same time, they shouted loudly: "Weigh the anchor! The cargo is like a wheel! Wan-liang of gold!"
"
Chen Huamin took the second glass of wine, waved it to the sea, and said loudly: "Honor the sea, unmoor!"
"Yes, untie the cable!" the cable leader shouted, "untie the cable---!"
As the cablemen untied the cables tied to the shore, they responded to the call: "Untying the cables - smooth and smooth! Have a safe journey!"
He took the third glass of wine and sprinkled it on the bow deck, "Holy God, set sail!"
"Yes, raise the sail!" the sailmaster shouted towards the mast, "raise the sail!"
The sailors quickly pulled the rigging ropes, raised the canvas sails on the three masts, and responded: "The sails are sailing, the wind is smooth! The sea is not rising!"
Chen Huamin saw that the sail had reached its top and the sea breeze was blowing all three sails. He took a deep breath and waved his hand to the ocean outside the harbor, "——!"
The Tung Shan Ju departs from the Pearl River Estuary, crosses Humen, crosses Lingding Ocean, turns due east at Tonggu Beach, enters Tuen Mun, circumnavigates Ma Wan and enters the Hong Kong Waterway.
Just a few years ago, Hong Kong was a little-known and desolate place with only a few scattered small fishing villages. Apart from the river boats that came to buy fragrant wood in fixed seasons, there were only some occasional sea-going ships passing by.
Later, after the imperial navy cut off the island and turned several nearby islands into water villages for water "heroes", there were even fewer merchant ships passing by. Everyone preferred to take a longer detour and pass through the outer waterway of Hong Kong.
Now, the entire St. Mary's Bay Channel is very lively. The Australians have renovated the inland and offshore waterways from Hong Kong Island to Guangzhou, eliminated water bandits, set up navigation lights, built lighthouses, and marked the reefs and sand one by one, making navigation easier.
The security is greatly improved.
Most of the ships here are Australian-owned ships. Whether they are small boats or large ships, these ships are much faster than the Dongshanju and are very agile. From time to time, there are ships that quickly overtake the Dongshanju and head eastward.
They sailed away from each other, or rushed towards the "Dongshanju" head-on, only passing by at the last moment, leaving a good-natured chuckle.
Cumbersome local ships: Guangzhou Shipyard and Fuzhou Shipyard were also seen among them. The Australians' own fleet was seriously insufficient in transport capacity, and many freight operations were outsourced to ship owners. These ships sailed slowly, so that the Dongshanju was also
You have to stay out of their path.
Such a complicated navigation situation forced the deputy chief officer Wang Chengqi to stay at the bow of the ship, monitoring the situation at any time and issuing orders to the helmsman and foreman at the stern to avoid ships passing by at any time.
On both sides of the harbour, various warships and merchant ships were anchored, and many new docks, warehouses, boat sheds and cranes were built. Occasionally there were one or two large Australian-style stone houses and buildings, which were particularly conspicuous. The most conspicuous one was in Central.
The large fort near the pier stands tall and majestic, with the Australian flag flying on the turret. Chen Huamin once went there to go through navigation procedures and was deeply impressed by this fort.
"Look, that's where the Dong Shan Ju was built!" Looking along Chen Huamin's hand, Liu Deshan saw that the eastern beach of Hong Kong Island had turned into a large shipbuilding workshop. One ship after another
Wooden boats with varying degrees of completion are lined up one after another, with densely packed workers lying on the hull, working hard to complete their works.
"When I first saw this ship here, I immediately fell in love with her; I felt that both its smooth shape and strong body were very suitable for me, as if it was built specifically for me; so
She must be my boat. Although she only had a hull at that time, even the mast was not yet found!" Chen Huamin slowly recalled while gently stroking the wooden handrails along the side of the boat.
"The funny thing is that at that time, because this type of ship was so different from the traditional Guangzhou Shipbuilding and Fuzhou Shipbuilding, no merchants dared to buy the ship, so she was stopped on the slipway for half a year. When I saw
When I immediately decided to buy the boat, I didn’t bring enough silver with me, eh!”
"I remember that time when you came back, you asked me to give you four-fifths of the silver in the treasury. It scared me so much that I thought something big had happened. That was our profit for almost a year!"
"'If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools'! And now that I have used a new ship, I can make back the money by taking two more trips." Chen Huamin smiled, then said seriously: "And many large-scale merchants have several
The profit from operating a sea-going ship was less than that of a barbarian ship. Foreign ships carried a large cargo capacity, had cannons to protect the ships, were fast and could enter and exit the ocean, so the barbarian ships became more and more popular.
Big, but we are lagging behind. We need to learn how to make boats from the barbarians. I heard that the Australians are better at building ships than the barbarians. They can actually use iron to make ship bones. Brother, I can't figure it out. This iron can be used to make ship bones.
, the boat has a lot of extra weight for no reason, how can it travel quickly?"
"Fortunately, it seems that the business of this shipyard is pretty good now. More and more merchants understand the importance of good ships." Liu Deshan said, "Speaking of iron frames, it is said that only their warships use iron frames. But I went up
I passed by the shipyard on my second voyage and saw that the cruise ships they built were all made of iron, yet they were so agile and fast in motion. It was really incredible!"
"It is said that the Australian merchant ships also use iron frames." Chen Huamin pointed to the hull of a huge T800 on the beach. "Unfortunately, this ship is too big and it will be inconvenient to transfer at the port. Otherwise, brothers would also like to try something new."
"Haha, cousin, you really like the new and hate the old. It has only been a few days since I got the Dongshanju, and I have already fallen in love with a new ship."
"For our maritime merchants, ships are the means of making money, so we naturally have to prepare a few good ships. I have heard Westerners say before that if well-maintained and well-maintained large ships can last for a hundred years, it will not be a problem. Here, on the contrary, it is
I like to build disposable firewood boats.”
"Cousin, don't you sound like a scholar? Your family is also a maritime businessman. You don't know that maintaining this ship requires daily expenses. Calculating it, it's really not as good as building a new one every time you sail."
"This is an old business practice," Chen Huamin said with great interest. "I think that the maritime business in the future will not be the same as our fathers and grandfathers did. Ships have changed, and the rules of the sea have begun to change, so the business practice will naturally change."
While the two were chatting, "Tung Shan Ju" had passed the Hong Kong waterway briskly, turned to the northeast and continued sailing.
Exit Lei Yue Mun, cross Guozhou, pass Dapeng Bay, turn northeast-east, and sail straight to Xiamen. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!