The route from Guangzhou to Xiamen is a familiar one. The traditional route is to sail along the coastline. As long as you are careful not to run aground on the rocks, there will be no danger.
Therefore, once the whole ship is on the waterway, except for the helmsman who is responsible for watching the compass and looking back on the needle path, who is always vigilant and observes the sea surface and coastline, everyone else looks lazy. The sailors who work are also the same.
With a relaxed look on his face, the Dongshanju uses soft sails, which is indeed a bit uncomfortable for Chinese sailors who are accustomed to using hard sails that are easy to operate. Fortunately, using soft sails is not a great secret skill.
Many European ships sailing in East and Southeast Asia employ Malays and Chinese as sailors. It is not difficult to find skilled people. Use the old to lead the new. After a few voyages, you will become familiar with it. There are inevitably a few times when climbing the mast and rigging the yard.
This accident resulted in the death and injury of some sailors, but human life is not rare in this time and space, so this is not a big deal.
For merchant ships sailing along the coast, the weather is good and the wind direction is favorable. Except for the sailors on duty, everyone else is happy and relaxed, and everyone has their own way of killing time. The sailors or the crew members gather in the bottom cabin to study
Depending on the number of points and the arrangement of the dominoes, they would either catch fleas and chat on the deck after a few sips, or simply fall asleep. As for the big boss and the second boss, one of them was grabbing the poor manager Liu.
He was playing chess, and the other was holding a book and reading happily.
"Huamin, what kind of book is that? Did you read it so seriously?" Liu Deshan got under the car and looked at Manager Liu who was frowning in thought with a smile, then turned around and asked,
"Oh, I bought the book at a perfect bookstore run by an Australian when I passed through Hangzhou last time."
"I have seen books printed by Australians, and they are indeed beautifully printed. But Hua Min, haven't you given up on the idea of taking the imperial examination? Why are you picking up such stereotyped articles now?"
Chen Huamin scratched his head in embarrassment and said with a smile: "This is not a collection of classics and history, it's just a casual book. It's a story-telling novel."
"The storybook? Is it the Three Kingdoms? Water Margin? Or The Plum in the Golden Lotus?"
"No, it's a storybook written by a Kun man. It's a very popular book among the scholars in Jiangnan recently."
"Oh?! What is it about?" Chen Huamin heard that the book was written by an Australian. He became interested and ignored Manager Liu who was staring at the chessboard in a daze.
"I don't know who wrote this book, but everyone says it was written by an Australian. It's called "The Old Stories of Huang Gongbao's Fight against the Gold". It's about a scholar named Huang Mingshi who worked for Tianjin Wei in our country. I don't know how he returned home.
In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, Huang Shi became a disciple of Marshal Yue and was given the title "Qu Bing" by Yue Wu Mu. Then Huang Shi helped Marshal Yue organize his army and practiced martial arts, and defeated the invading Jin soldiers several times. And after Marshal Yue was wrongfully killed, Huang Shi
, while dealing with the traitors in the court, while supporting the Southern Song Dynasty alone, and finally rebuilding the mountains and rivers of China."
"It sounds very exciting! But how can people of today go to the old era? It just doesn't make sense."
"It's just a story like Huai Yi's dream. It's just that although this story is simple in words, it can move people's hearts. I am now reading the section 'Shi Shuai went into Yanyun alone to kill the slave chieftain', which is really heart-wrenching.
, it's so vivid on the page! It seems that there really is such a great hero, trying to protect our Han family. No wonder the scholars in the south of the Yangtze River commented on this book: "He can fight for three thousand miles, and he can stop a million soldiers with one sword."
"Chen Huamin got excited as he spoke. He stood up and pointed his sword directly, as if he was the general in the book who brought elite soldiers and powerful generals to sweep the Tatar slaves out of the Central Plains.
But then, Chen Huamin sat down sadly and murmured: "If there really was a person like Huang Shuai in our Ming Dynasty, how could we be beaten by the slaves to the gates of Beijing, and it would be like a deserted place!"
"Hua Min!"
A soft drink brought Chen Huamin back from his thoughts.
"Sorry, sorry! I got too caught up in the drama and lost my mind unconsciously."
"No problem, just listening to the introduction of this book makes people excited, as if they are personally visiting the scene - it also alludes to the battle situation in Liaodong. It is not surprising that the Chinese people would get lost here."
"Exactly, although Liaodong is thousands of miles away, the fate of a country depends on the people of the world. Now I hear that the situation in the north is getting worse day by day. I am really afraid that one day the Ming Dynasty will repeat the mistakes of the Song Dynasty!"
As an ordinary businessman, Liu Deshan was not particularly concerned about the situation in Liaodong. He was a little dissatisfied when Chen Huamin said it was so serious: "Of course the Donglu can attack the capital city, but there are still hundreds of thousands of troops in Liaodong and the capital, and the slave emirate is
We have so few soldiers. Even if our captives are covered in iron, how many nails can they drive? It won’t affect the overall situation.”
Chen Huamin shook his head and said: "Cousin, you and I are both people who have studied for several years, but when it comes to the general trend of the world, our knowledge is really very limited." As he said that, he took out a book from the bookcase he carried with him.
.
This book has a different format than "The Old Stories of Huang Gongbao's Fight against the Gold". It is twice as big, but much thinner. It also has an Australian binding with pages opening to the left, but there is a picture on the cover, but it is a man in armor.
A warrior, riding a black horse, stands in the ice and snow. Although it is only in black and white, the engraver and sealer has some unique secret skills to depict the warrior, the horse and the background landscape so vividly that it makes people feel like they are there.
The feeling of its environment.
The title is "Research on the History of War" in five Song fonts, and there is a line of small characters below: Album of the Battle of Liaodong. The cover also lists subtitles: "Heavy Snow Full of Bows and Swords - The Ming Dynasty's Strategy of Liaodong from beginning to end", "Deng Lai Zhi"
"The Impact of Rebellion on the Situation in Liaodong", "A Brief Analysis of the Eight Banners System", "The Story of Huang Taiji's Ascension to the Throne"...
Liu Deshan did not hang around in Guangzhou as often as Chen Huamin, and was not very familiar with Australian affairs. However, the binding, title and sentence style of this book clearly indicate that it was printed by an Australian. He originally did not care much about military affairs, but
The cover and title were so attractive that he picked it up and flipped through a few pages.
Once you flip through it, you can't put it down. Even though Australians write in vernacular, it doesn't seem to be difficult for someone like Liu Deshan who doesn't read much. The article is easy to understand, and the analysis goes from simple to deep, and every point is explained very clearly.
It's clear and interesting, and even a businessman like Liu Deshan found it interesting to read. He didn't like to read about war strategies, so he directly turned to "The Story of Huang Taiji's Ascension to the Throne", which is a book about "Secrets of the Palace", and read it with gusto.
He didn't care that Manager Liu was still waiting for him to make a move. He didn't raise his head until he finished reading and said: "It's really fun! I think even the imperial court may not know such details about the prisoners' affairs!"
Chen Huamin nodded and said: "Exactly! The so-called knowing yourself and the enemy means you can fight a hundred battles without danger. I think that the current situation in the imperial court and the Eastern Han Dynasty is just a blind man trying to figure out the elephant. How can any Australian know so clearly? Not to mention the comments and comments in this article,
I think that although there are many officials in the court, there are not many people who can have such knowledge." He sighed, "Australians are not from the Ming Dynasty, but they are very concerned about the situation in Liaodong. It is really rare.
"
Liu Deshan sighed: "If the Australians were willing to serve the imperial court, even a hundred Donglu would be wiped out. The Zheng family is so powerful that they will disappear in a day!"
Chen Huamin sneered: "How can Australians be willing to serve the imperial court if they are so capable? I think they will sooner or later-"
Manager Liu was shocked. Although this was his own ship, it was still very inappropriate to say such things. Not to mention the government, even the Australians might not like it if they knew about it. He quickly said: "Master, be careful what you say! Be careful what you say!"
Only then did Chen Huamin stop talking: Manager Liu was a confidant of his family, so naturally he was doing it for his own good. But thinking that the Australians were really going to change dynasties, there was nothing wrong with it - at least under their rule, everyone was living a good life.
good.
Liu Deshan said: "I'm living below the deck, and I'm feeling stuffy. Let's go to the deck to get some fresh air."
When the three of them got on the deck, Chen Huamin asked loudly: "Xiao Wang, where is the ship now?"
"Looking back, we have just entered the boundary of Xiamen. We will reach Xiamen not far away."
At this time, the lookout's voice came from the top of the mast: "Ship found ahead, approaching at high speed!"
Together with Wang Chengqi, the two of them immediately ran to the bow of the ship and each took out a monocular telescope to look at it.
After watching for a while, Wang Chengtai said: "It's a spinnaker clipper, and it's flying a blue star flag, Australian!"
Chen Huamin put down the telescope: "Well, judging from the shape of the ship, it should be a patrolling clipper. It seems that the Australians have officially designated this sea area as their own territory."
A voice came from the mast again: "The other party has raised a flag and wants us to stop the ship for inspection."
"Just do what you normally do."
"Yes." Wang Chengqi turned around and shouted: "Lower all sails and raise the Lingao sailing flag."
"Stop lying down, get up quickly, Shao Zai! That one over there, work harder, don't you have enough to eat?"
After the Dongshanju stopped, the inspection dhow came up. The officer on the ship took several sailors to board the ship. They first checked the ship's registration certificate, then checked the cargo manifest, and finally asked someone to open the warehouse.
He opened the cover, checked it carefully, and finally asked: "Is your ship carrying this much salt for sale in Xiamen?"
Liu Deshan was very clever and immediately replied: "This is to be shipped to Shanghai and sold..."
"Is there any salt?"
This hit him hard. Liu Deshan hesitated for a while and had to explain that it was "private salt".
"Private salt from the south of the Yangtze River has always been shipped from the north. When was it smuggled from Guangdong? Aren't you afraid of losing your capital?" The officer sneered, "Stop lying: you are planning to sell this salt in Xiamen.
"
Liu Deshan swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Denial and bribery would not work with the Australians. He had no choice but to laugh and said: "You wise old man: this salt is indeed going to be transported to Xiamen Island to buy it. I don't like the copper coins, and I will do some somersaults."
I was obsessed for a while and wanted to make a few small bucks..." (To be continued)