He is very interested in mathematics. When he was a boy in Macau, he read a lot of works by Europeans and Arabs, and he did a lot of research on geometry and algebra. However, outsiders only thought that his enthusiasm for mathematics was needed for business and accounting - inevitably.
There are also some ignorant people who make fun of him: they say that Mr. Li loves money as much as his life, he is afraid of Mr. Accountant's dirty money, and he is good at arithmetic.
Li Luoyu occasionally heard such remarks. Although there was no need to argue, he secretly smiled bitterly: The vast majority of Chinese people's concept of mathematics still remains at the simplest arithmetic application level. Li Luoyu has read the works of many Chinese and foreign mathematicians.
He has written works and has contacts with contemporary mathematicians, but this thing only exists as a "toy" in a very small circle. Many people think that it is a useless "wonderful skill" and is not a compliment.
It can only be said that this is: "Dragon Slaying Technique" - in terms of application, it can only be used in astronomy and calendar. Who can use it in daily life?
Based on Li Luoyu's cultivation of algebra and geometry, he is considered a rare mathematical talent in this time and space. However, this talent is almost useless. On weekdays, he can only solve geometry and algebra problems for entertainment.
I can't help but feel that I've never found a talent.
The content of "Nine Chapters of the Book of Numbers" is roughly similar to the category of number theory, but it is not a pure mathematical theory. It contains many practical application examples, including weather calendar, measurement, market transactions, tax calculations, etc. It is both theoretical and practical. Li
Luo You was quite interested in this,
The more he read, the more interested he became, so he simply spread out the paper on the table, took out his quill and started calculating examples - this was a habit left over from when he was a boy studying under the Jesuit priests.
He suffered from vertigo, and after counting for a long time, he couldn't help but feel dizzy. He got up and walked a few steps, then went back to the deck to get some air. As soon as he got out of the cabin, he saw Sweeper clinging to a box, holding on to the mast.
Looking out, when I saw the master coming out, I quickly jumped down and waited on him.
"What's so good about it?" Li Luoyou wondered, "It doesn't look like anything."
"Yes," Sao Ye said respectfully, "The master taught me that the little one is looking at the salt boat."
Li Luoyou looked around and saw a group of ships sailing on the left side of the ship. The ships were all small and medium-sized ships, including two-masted Fu ships, Guangzhou ships, rice boats, towing boats, and the like. The ship types were different. But
The bow of each ship was painted with white words: "Lun Luck", followed by Arabic numerals! Li Luoyou was surprised. He recognized Arabic numerals, and he remembered that such numerals were also used in private accounts. However,
This is a very rare phenomenon, and this is the first time I have seen it painted directly on the side of a ship.
"Is this Lingao's ship?"
"That's right, it's Ma Niao's ship that carries salt." The boss of the ship said, "This is Ma Niao Port, and there is a salt farm."
After saying this, Li Luoyou had a slight impression: there was indeed an official salt farm here, belonging to the Haibei Tiju Division.
"Where will all this salt go?"
"Of course it's Bopu," the boat boss said.
The Australians are selling smuggled salt! Li Luoyou thought to himself. He looked at the fleet of salt ships. There were about ten ships sailing in a group. The draft of each ship was very deep, and there was probably a lot of sea salt on it. Such a blatant transportation of smuggled salt.
, this group of people is so brave!
The fleet maintained a regular formation, one ship following the other sailing in single file. The sailors were wearing the same short blue coats as the sailors on the patrol ship I saw just now. Some of them were carrying long muskets, standing on both sides of the ship.
Side alert. Li Luoyou secretly counted, there were at least four people carrying gunshots on each boat. There were also strange things on the sterns of several boats, a round Western goblet-style base.
It contained a long black box, with two sailors standing behind it to support it. It was unknown what it was used for. Li Luoyou guessed it might be an Australian cannon - they were known for their sharp firearms, and there were several types of Ming and Ming Dynasty cannons.
It is not surprising that there are no firearms in the West.
With such a posture, it's no wonder that the government can only pretend to be deaf and dumb. Li Luoyou thought. The arrest of smuggled salt has always been about catching the small ones and magnifying them. Those caught and punished are nothing more than small traders weighing a few kilograms.
Shi's case is already considered a big case. No one dares to mess with the dozens or hundreds of large private salt dealers. Not only are the private salt dealers brave and brave enough to risk their lives, but also because the gentry are often involved behind this kind of business.
The Australians are so bold and reckless, who are the Jin gentry behind them? Gao Ji can be regarded as one of their backers. The high-ranking officials are also connected to Eunuch Yang in the capital...
However, even Eunuch Yang did not necessarily dare to support them for such a mess. The Australians were obviously not that simple. The fleet transporting salt gradually fell behind. Li Luoyou looked at Ma Niao Port, and the coastline was covered with patches of
The salt fields look very dazzling in the sun. There are windmills sitting between the salt fields, and the huge wind wings rotate slowly in the wind. These huge water-lifting windmills have become a scenic spot along the Ma Niao coast.
"It looks like the scenery of the Netherlands." Quark commented.
"What are these windmills used for?" Li Luoyou asked.
"I think it should be used to carry water." Quark said, "otherwise I can't think of any use."
"If it's to lift water, why do we have to lift the seawater up?" Li Luoyou commented, "Isn't it just a matter of opening a canal to lead the seawater to the salt fields?"
At this time, the wind direction pushed the ship a little closer to the coastline. Next to the windmill, I saw a wooden structure high platform. On the top of the high platform were ditches filled with bamboo slats. The bamboo slats were densely packed but very regular.
Li Luoyou looked very carefully, but the distance was still far away. He could barely see that the windmill was indeed lifting water, and the lifted water was continuously poured onto the high platform and then dripped down.
Li Luoyou's concept of salt making came from books. He probably knew that to make salt, you must first make brine, and then boil or sun-dry it to make salt. After reading for a long time, he still didn't understand what this was doing.
Of course, Quark didn't understand either. There were many things he didn't understand. For example, in the inland areas, billowing black smoke came out and shot straight into the sky under the clear sky. Is there a fire somewhere?
"It happens every day." The boss of the boat seemed to have noticed the passengers' doubts. "This kind of black smoke can be seen everywhere in Lingao. It is emitted by the brick chimneys that are taller than the trees. Little ones don't know that they burn the stove every day.
What’s the use?”
The ship soon arrived at Bobu Port and docked at Lingaojiao Pier - the natural large stone embankment has been repaired and stretched out more than ten wooden trestles into the harbor. As the passenger and cargo terminal of Bobu, small and medium-sized ships can directly dock on the piers.
Picking up and unloading passengers and loading and unloading cargo.
Li Luoyou stood on the deck, looking at the Bobu Port that suddenly became prosperous - he had never even heard of this port in the past. There were many ships in the harbor, but they were arranged very neatly, one after another.
One ship was moored next to the pier. He noticed that although the water surface was not large, the moorings of the ships were obviously divided into areas. Colorful floating objects were marked on the water surface. The ships had their own routes for entering and leaving the port, which looked very orderly.
"This is a big iron ship." The ship owner pointed to the opposite side of the harbor, like an enthusiastic tour guide.
It's really big! Li Luoyou took a breath of air. The height of this ship is comparable to the city wall of Guangzhou, no, I'm afraid it's even higher than the city wall. As for the size, it's even huge. How much can it hold? One hundred thousand stones.
The goods may not be able to fill the warehouse.
The Fengcheng Wheel completely surpassed his understanding. Li Luoyou's first feeling was that it was not something that humans could make.
"God!" Quark spoke his mind on his behalf, "Only the devil can build this thing!"
Li Luoyou nodded. He thought of the ship boss saying that Lingao was full of chimneys spewing black smoke. Could it be that these Australians were followers of the devil and were practicing secret black magic here to enhance their power?
He couldn't help but feel vigilant. He touched his cross and recited the Rosary silently.
"The largest ship England can build is not one-tenth of its size!" Quark continued to comment, "It's incredible! It's impossible for humans to build such a giant ship." After saying this, he quickly crossed himself.
"God bless you." Li Luo couldn't help but worry about his soul.
"Haha, that's scary." The boss of the ship must have been familiar with this kind of reaction for a long time, and he seemed very proud of it. "This ship is still very strong. Do you think it's strange? Tsk tsk, even a small iron nail would sink if dropped into the water.
After all, you can actually make such a big ship and float on the sea!"
Quark was still asking if it was really iron and if anyone had gone up to see it. Li Luoyu remained silent. Whether it was iron or not was no longer important to him. Even such a big ship was
The quality of the wood was shocking enough. He shook his head and even felt a little regretful about his decision to come to Gao. He increasingly suspected that the Australians were followers of the devil. At least they used some depraved taboos.
The art of.
Quark, on the other hand, didn't care much about this and looked around with interest. There were two parallel black iron bars laid on the embankment. A flatbed cart was pushed by manpower above, and the iron wheels made a roaring rolling sound on the iron bars. The cart seemed to be capable of transporting goods.
It was very heavy cargo. Quark watched as two or three people could push the full flatbed trucks to move quickly. Some of the trucks were box-type and filled with black coal.
"What a good idea." Quark thought that this method could move heavy goods with very little effort. It would be more efficient if horses were used to pull them. However, China seems to have a serious shortage of horses, so it is reasonable to use manpower.
However, Li Luoyou's eyes were attracted by the tall towers on the embankment. There are tall and short towers, but the shortest one is not less than 2 feet. They are all built with iron bars and solid wood on a stone round platform.
On the top of the tower, a long arm stretches out into the air at an angle. A black rope hangs from the top of the long arm.
Towers like this can be found all along the Bobu Harbor. On the opposite side of the harbor, there are even more densely populated areas that are said to be shipbuilding yards.
"Attention! Attention!" Someone on the embankment shouted while blowing a whistle, "Start loading at berth 15!"
With a rumbling sound, a long train of flatbed cars came along the track. Both Li Luoyou and Quark were surprised - this train of railcars was not propelled by human power.
Not only were there no manpower, there were no horses, mules, donkeys, oxen, or any other animals they could think of to work with. There were no sails on the flatbeds either. This long line of flatbeds just rumbled by on its own.
If something pulled the vehicle, it should be the first vehicle. On it was a black iron thing the size of half a table, and a round iron bucket-like thing. There was a black iron bucket hanging on it.
There was a large wooden board with four big characters "No Fireworks Strictly Prohibited" written in red and a flame painted on it.
Next to this pile of strange things sat the driver. His face was stained black, and his clothes were stained and mottled, and his true color could not be seen. A white towel that had turned gray hung around his neck. This man was holding an iron rod in his hand.
He kept pushing forward and pulling back, shouting something loudly to the people on the embankment from time to time.
"I heard that Australian boats can run without sails or oars, and this car is probably the same." Li Luoyou said in a low voice.
Quark stared at it for a while, with a look of horror on his face: "Devil!"
The flatbed truck stopped, and with the sound of a whistle, several people wearing blue cloth coats jumped out of the flatbed truck behind. Li Luoyou found that everyone here was wearing such short blue cloth coats, but some people had waistbands.
They were wearing belts, but some were not. The common feature was that they all wore helmets that were probably made of rattan. Li Luoyou couldn't understand the use of this kind of helmet? Could it be that the Australians learned from the Nanman in the Three Kingdoms and also practiced
Vine armor soldiers?
These people got into a circular cage under the tower. They ran quickly in the cage, making the cage rotate. The long arm on the tower rose up, and then the others pushed the cage with all their strength.
The tower turned in the direction of the flatbed truck. There was a person blowing a whistle constantly and waving two small flags, one red and one green. After looking at it for a while, Li Luoyou understood that this was directing the direction of rotation of the person pushing the tower's winch.
Under his command, the long arm slowly extended to the top of the first flatbed truck and hung down a huge iron hook. The people on the flatbed truck hung the hook on a pile of net ropes on the truck and quickly jumped out of the truck.
At the sound of the whistle, the people in the cage started running again, and the head of the iron frame began to rise.
A large pile of rope nets turned out to be a net bag with many sacks and straw bales inside.
"Squirrel cage crane!" Quark recognized this thing. This thing is also used in Europe, but it is quite heavy and requires a lot of manpower. This squirrel cage crane looks much simpler and lighter. It is about Australian
Improved.
The long arm began to move toward the ship, and there was a person on the deck blowing a whistle and waving two small flags. The long arm moved over the ship's deck, the sling slowly relaxed, and the net bag landed safely on the deck.
Then the crane lifted the goods from another flatbed truck. This time, what was lifted was not a mesh bag, but a wooden tray, which was neatly piled with crates, and the boxes were tightly wrapped in mesh bags.