When they arrived at the villa, Chu Yu took off his raincoat and hung it on the porch, then hurriedly came over to unbutton his raincoat. Wu De saw that her green cloth dress was completely wet, with a lot of mud on it, and her legs and feet were bare.
His feet were black as a pair of mud, his hair was wet in strands, his lips were black and blue from the cold, his body was shivering, but he was carrying a package on his back.
"What are you doing here? I told you I was going on a business trip! It's my mother-in-law's fault!" Wu De couldn't help scolding her when he saw her miserable appearance. "Going out to look for illness on a rainy day?" There was already a feeling of affection in his words.
"I am a slave, how can I be so delicate?" Chu Yu didn't care. She didn't care that her clothes were still wet and took off the package from her back. "I saw that the master didn't bring this. Since he was on a business trip, he had to go there.
It's the government's territory, so we sent it over quickly."
When he opened it, he found a dark stab-proof vest inside. In the past, when Wu De went to the countryside or went to a quarantine camp, he would wear this as a preparation whenever the weather permitted. Recently, as the situation has improved and the weather is getting hotter, he has
I rarely wear this thing anymore.
"Master wears this bodysuit every time he goes on a business trip. I saw you forgot, so I came here." Chu Yu said excitedly, "I thought I wouldn't be able to catch up, but I didn't expect that master hasn't set off yet, so let's put it on now."
"This--" Wu De couldn't laugh or cry. It didn't matter if he wore this thing today. He would be heated to death when the sun came out. He was still very touched by Chu Yu's kindness towards him.
"Okay, I'll just bring the clothes."
"Remember to put it on——"
"I will remember it." Wu De decided to do good things to the end and agreed to everything. "You should go back quickly. I will leave in a moment."
"Sir," Chu Yu wiped her wet hair dry, gently shook it back, got into Wu De's arms, and said in a low voice: "Sir, you want your wife to come back peacefully-"
Wu De's heart felt warm. There is no woman who can rely on you wholeheartedly to make a man feel more happy. Even if she is not beautiful.
"I'm going to Guangzhou to do business, and it's not like a sea of swords and fire. What are you afraid of?" Wu De scolded in a low voice.
"My master is engaged in the business of rebellion." Chu Yu raised his head, his small eyes were clear and translucent, "Guangzhou is not as good as Lingao. It is under the rule of the government. I am careful about everything. Chu Yu will serve you for the rest of my life.
"
Wu De originally wanted to say a few words of comfort, saying that he was not a rebel, but then he thought about why he should deceive himself and others. He nodded solemnly.
…
"Dengyingzhou" left the port and sailed northwest towards Guangzhou Bay. An hour later, Bobu Port had disappeared on the horizon. Only the light of the lighthouse at Lingaojiao could still be seen vaguely.
As dusk approached, the wind became more violent and mixed with raindrops. Wu De looked at his watch and saw that it was 17:05, but it was already as dark as evening, the sea was rough, and the "Deng Yingzhou" with a displacement of only 70 tons was at this time.
Like a leaf, it disappears and appears in the waves.
Wu De sat in the captain's cabin, staring at the sea outside the glass window. Dengyingzhou was a converted fishing boat, and the living facilities were not very comfortable in all aspects. Naturally, there was no leather high-back chair in the so-called captain's cabin, but only a rattan chair.
It's just a chair, fixed on the deck. It's the captain's throne.
"Chief, the rain is too heavy. It's dark and I can't see anything. Should we anchor to the shore first?" The first mate walked into the cabin and reported to Wu Dede. The raincoat and bamboo hat he was wearing were all soaked through, and his lips were wet.
Black and blue from the cold.
This first mate was promoted from the captured pirates. His surname was Wang. Because of his thick beard, he was called Wang Bearded. Wang Bearded was originally a small ship owner. He had a brig and was engaged in coastal trade and transportation.
.Until one day he was robbed by Hongmao at sea, and he became destitute of everything, so he became a pirate. Unfortunately, the first time he went to sea with the leader to rob, he was killed by the time-travelers. Wang Da, who was full of water,
After Beard was fished out of the sea, he was already lifeless and was left on the beach to die. A time traveler from the Navy saw that he had a good physique and was a good material for hard work, so he turned him upside down and controlled the water out of kindness, and rescued him.
A life comes.
After working diligently in the labor camp for several months, smashing rocks and digging soil, he passed the preliminary political review. The appraisal concluded that Wang Dabeard was a type who had been a pirate for a short period of time, had not deep banditry habits, and had few connections with the pirate network.
He was a "available and transformable" person, and he was familiar with coastal routes, so he was absorbed by the Navy. After serving in the Navy for several months, he passed the second secret political review of the General Administration of Political Security, and his trust level was upgraded to 2b.
level, was appointed as the first mate on board the Yingzhou.
"Let's have a drink of wine to warm ourselves up first." Wu De took off his kettle and handed it over, asking, "What's the speed of the boat?"
The first mate took the wine, raised his head and took a big sip, then said: "Section 7-8.5."
This speed is the speed at which the diesel engine is turned on. Under such sea conditions, the power provided by the diesel engine is very useful for effectively maneuvering the ship.
"How strong is the wind?"
"20 knots."
From this point of view, the rain was heavy, but the wind did not strengthen. This made Wu De feel a little relieved, but the barometer showed that the weather showed no signs of improving.
"We can't stop the ship. We have to travel day and night to catch up." Wu De said, "You divide the sailors and marines into two shifts to sleep and take turns to be on duty."
"Yes, I'll make arrangements right away!" Wang Bearded wiped his mouth and ran out quickly.
Wu De finished arranging the affairs, put on his pilot's hat and raincoat, and boarded the stern. The six young cadets who boarded the ship for the first time were huddled on the stern deck and vomiting. Some of them had already
His face turned pale.
Seeing the arrival of the chief, these trainees struggled to stand up. Wu De stopped them: "Hold the cable and stand up! First learn to stand on the deck!"
"Yes, sir!" The leader reluctantly saluted.
"You are divided into two classes. The first class will pay attention to the nearby sea surface, and the second class will go to the deck to assist in pumping water!" He gave the order to the trainees.
He walked to the front railing of the stern building to observe the situation in the distance. The wind seemed to have increased, and the rain was so heavy that he could hardly open his eyes. Raindrops fell densely on his face, and the water sloped down on his face.
Wu De wiped his face, stood firm on the deck, and observed the sea with a telescope - only some bright and dark lights and shadows could be seen on the dim sea.
The cold rain quickly made his skin numb. The cold accelerated fatigue and he became a little confused. Wu De quickly shook his head to wake himself up. He returned to the captain's cabin and studied under the swaying lantern.
nautical chart.
It should be said that in this time and space with almost no navigation facilities, it is quite dangerous to sail at night with such a ship without radar, GPS, and gyrocompass. Wu De chose the safest and safest route on the chart.
It is impossible to encounter rocks and sandy routes, but the danger of running aground on rocks still accompanies the ship.
"Chief! The wind is too strong, and the sail is almost overwhelmed. The rain is too heavy, and the water in the bottom cabin is accelerating! The weather may be worse later." Wang Bearded walked into the cabin and reported to Wu Dede. His
The raincoat has been torn in the wind and rain.
"Sea conditions?"
"The wind speed is 25 knots and the wave height is 3.3 meters!"
"Order! Lower the sail! Tighten the rope! Keep the course!" Wu De ordered.
"Lower the sail! Tighten the rope! The course remains unchanged! Yes, sir." The first mate saluted and turned to leave.
"Captain Marine! Call the team members into a team of five, and turn on all the pumps to help drain water! All irrelevant personnel should get off the cabin!" Wu De dropped the regulations in his hand and ordered.
"Yes, sir!"
Wu De walked out of the cabin. At this time, the deck was full of busy scenes. Sailors in shorts and barefoot were lowering sails, tightening cables, and covering cargo; marines in long trousers and blue sleeves on their left arms were busy.
drain.
At this time, a swell lifted the bow of the boat high. When Wu De saw this, he immediately shouted: "Hold on! Hurry on!!!!"
Before he finished speaking, the boat plunged into the bottom of the valley, and the sea water swept across the entire surface of the boat.
Wu De was also washed down on the deck by the waves. He quickly grabbed a rope, struggled to get up, and shouted: "Count the number of people! Report the losses!!!"
"No casualties among the sailors!!!" "No casualties among the Marines!!" "The front cabin is damaged!! Water is in!" "Water is in the middle cabin!!"
"Stop the leak in the front cabin and drain the middle cabin!!" Wu De ordered loudly. The sea breeze mixed with the rain made Wu De's voice a little hoarse.
"Someone fell into the water!!!" accompanied by a sharp whistle, the sailor at the stern called the police.
It was broken. When Wu De looked at the cadets draining water on the deck, there was only one left.
Wu De ran towards the stern of the ship and looked in the direction pointed by the warning sailor. About 100 meters from the stern of the ship, there were two people floating face down on the sea.
"Sir, do you want help?" said the first mate who rushed over after hearing the sound.
"How to save? It's such a big storm now, and besides, those two children are already dead! It's their first time going to sea..." Wu De said angrily, "Go and put the remaining boys in the middle cabin.
!Why……"
At midnight, when the wind was strong and the rain was strong, Wu De went down to the middle cabin. The sailors and marines who were not on duty were gathering together to eat, while the four young children who had survived the disaster were huddled aside and sobbing softly.
Wu De walked to sit beside them and asked, "Do you all know?"
The four of them said nothing, still burying their heads in tears.
"The sea is like this. What you usually see is its calm side. Today's storms are not the biggest."
"Not even the most powerful, God..." A student soldier stopped crying and looked at Wu De.
"Yeah, look at them, they don't care at all," Wu De pointed to the sailors who were having fun and eating. "The sea can only be conquered by those of us who are not afraid of hardship and death. Only those of us who have experienced this can conquer the sea."
Real husband, if you want to be a naval officer sailing on the sea, you must be able to endure such a sin."
"I don't want to be a naval officer anymore, ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo,o you, oh, uh, uh." This child who was crying with runny nose was about 14 or 15 years old. He was obviously too frightened.
Wu De sighed and said: "You guys take a break first and continue the update in two hours! If you don't want to be a naval cadet, I will drop you out when you get back!"
After saying this, Wu De ignored these young people and turned back to the captain's cabin.
Wu De returned to the captain's cabin and began to have dinner.
The dinner was very simple, with only 4 pieces of rice cakes, 1 piece of dried fish, 1 grapefruit, and 1 cup of water. Wu De took the rice cakes with dried fish in between, soaked them with water, and chewed hard. This damn grass dry food!
After a night of wind and rain, at dawn the next day, the sky gradually turned brighter and the wind and rain subsided a lot. Dengyingzhou finally resumed normal navigation and arrived at Guangzhou Bay early on the third day.
The delivery location was on the Guangzhou Pier. People from the Qiwei Escort Bureau escorted the whole process, using almost half of the entire Escort Bureau. Now Qiwei has almost become a subsidiary company of the Guangzhou Station, accounting for two-thirds of the business.
All serve Guangzhou Station.
Zhang Xin rushed to the dock and directed the iron boxes containing fifty thousand taels of silver to be loaded onto the ship.
"This is 50,000 taels. I am contacting the Gao family to raise more cash, but it is difficult to adjust the position now..." Zhang Xinhui reported.
"So nervous? Don't the Gao family owe us a payment of more than 100,000 yuan?"
"Not only the Gao family, our accounts receivable are close to 180,000 yuan." Zhang Xin said, "But according to the rules, the first settlement cannot be made until the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Most of the goods released by merchants do not receive payment for them.
It's the same - we can't get much cash out, and the interest rate on the market in Guangzhou is very high now. Even if the Gao family can raise tens of thousands of silver, we still have to pay interest, just less."
"How high?" Wu De knew that the executive committee was still worried about where the money would be in the future.
"The market price outside is two cents a month. The Gao family will probably agree to one cent five cents."
"Monthly interest is 20%?!" Wu De almost shouted. This loan shark is too high. The annual interest rate is 240%!
"Even at this interest rate, as long as we can complete the transfer of goods within a month, we can still make money. Both the British and the Portuguese are willing to pay cash for sugar. If we really get this step, we can consider such a short-term loan!"
Zhang Xin took out a copy of a letter from his pocket, "This is another suggestion from the Guangzhou Station to the Executive Committee, but the matter is big and it may be difficult to save the thirsty, but if it can be implemented, future funding will be
It’s much more relaxed. The telegram has been sent and the Executive Committee should discuss it soon.”
"Okay, let me take a look. If possible, I will directly recommend it to the Executive Committee."
Time was tight, so "Deng Yingzhou" didn't stop much in Guangzhou. After loading the money, he repaired the boat briefly, replenished the water, and immediately set off towards Leizhou.
Wu De opened the copy on the ship. It was a document drafted by the Guangzhou Station. This document, jointly drafted by the three main business leaders of the Guangzhou Station, proposed that the Guangzhou Station use its subordinate enterprises to absorb Guangzhou and even the entire Guangdong and Guangxi.
Suggestions on deposits for wealthy officials and families in Fujian.
"Deposit?!" Wu De was shocked and stood up from his chair, with only four words in his mind: "What a whim!"