He was very interested in mathematics. When he was a boy in Macao, he read many 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 accounting. Unavoidably, there were some ignorant people who made fun of him: they said that Mr. Li loved money as much as his life, was afraid of the accounting clerk's money, and was good at learning mathematics by himself.
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 level of arithmetic applications. Li Luoyou has read the works of many Chinese and foreign mathematicians, and has contacts with contemporary mathematicians, but this thing only exists as a "toy" in a very small circle. Many people think this is a useless "wonderful skill", and the most flattering person can only say that it 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 Luoyou's cultivation of algebra and geometry, he is considered a rare mathematical talent in this time and space. But 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 astronomical calendar, measurement, market transactions, tax calculations, etc. It is both theoretical and practical. Li Luoyou 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 he had left behind when he was a boy studying under the Jesuit priests.
He suffers from vertigo, and after counting for a long time, he can't help but feel dizzy. I got up and walked a few steps, then simply returned to the deck to get some air. As soon as I got out of the hatch, I saw Suye actually hanging on a box, holding on to the mast and 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," Saoye said respectfully, "The master taught me the lesson, and the little one is looking at the salt ship."
Li Luoyou looked over and saw a group of ships sailing on the left side of the ship. The ships in this fleet are all small and medium-sized ships, including two-masted Fu boats and Guang boats, as well as rice boats and wind-towing boats. There are different types of boats. 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 numbers were 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, which belonged to the Haibei Tiju Division.
"Where is all this salt going?"
"Of course it's Bopu," the ship 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 them. How brave these people are to transport illegal salt so blatantly.
The fleet maintained a regular formation, one ship following the other in a single column. The sailors were wearing short blue jackets like the sailors on the patrol boat we saw just now. Some of them were carrying long muskets and were standing guard on both sides of the ship. Li Luoyou secretly counted and found that there were at least four people carrying gunshots on each boat. There are also strange things on the sterns of several ships. There is a long black box on a round Western goblet-like base. Two sailors are standing behind it to support it. I don't know what it is used for. Li Luoyou guessed that it might be a kind of Australian cannon - they are known for their sharp firearms, so it is not surprising that there are several types of firearms that are not available in the Ming Dynasty or the West.
With such a posture, it is no wonder that the government can only pretend to be deaf and dumb. Li Luoyou thought. Catching smuggled salt is always a case of catching small things and magnifying them. Those who are caught and punished are only small traders with a few kilograms or tens of kilograms. Catching a large one with a few kilos is already considered a major case. No one dares to mess with the real big private salt dealers who traffic in dozens or hundreds of salt. Not only are private salt dealers brave enough to risk their lives, but also because Jin gentry is often involved behind this kind of business.
Australians act so boldly, who are the gentry behind them? Gao Ji can be regarded as one of their backers. The high-ranking officials connected with Eunuch Yang in the capital...
However, even Eunuch Yang may not dare to support them in such a mess. Australians are obviously not that simple. The fleet carrying salt gradually fell behind. Li Luoyou looked at Ma Niao Harbor. The salt fields on the coastline looked very dazzling in the sun. Windmills sit one after another among the salt fields, and their 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's for carrying water," Quark said, "otherwise I can't think of any use for it."
"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, he had to make brine first, and then boil or sun-dry the salt to make salt. After watching it for a long time, I still didn’t understand what it was doing.
Of course, Quark didn't understand either. There were many things he didn't understand. For example, in the inner area, 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 ship 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. Even the 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. Pick up and unload passengers and load and unload cargo.
Li Luoyou stood on the deck, looking at the port of Bobu that suddenly became prosperous - he had never even heard of this port in the past. There are many ships in the harbor, but they are arranged very neatly, one after another moored next to the pier. He noticed that although the water surface was not large, the parking areas for ships were obviously divided into areas. Colored floating objects were marked on the water surface. Ships entering and leaving the port had their own routes, 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.
As expected, Li Luoyou took a breath of air. The height of this ship is comparable to the city wall of Guangzhou, no, it is even higher than the city wall, and its size is even more huge. How much can it be loaded with? One hundred thousand stones of goods may not be able to fill the warehouse.
Fengcheng Lun completely surpassed his understanding. Li Luoyou's first feeling was that this 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. Thinking of the ship boss saying that Lingao is full of chimneys spewing black smoke. Could it be that this group of Australians are followers of the devil, and they are 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 even one-tenth of its size," Quark continued to comment. "It's incredible that humans can't 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, it'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 will sink if it is thrown into the water. At the end of the day, you can actually make such a big ship and float on the sea.”
Quark was still asking if he was really iron and if anyone had gone up to see it. Li Luoyou said nothing. It was no longer important to him whether such a big ship was made of wood. Even if it was made of wood, it was shocking enough. He shook his head, and even felt a trace of regret for his decision to come to Gao. The more he suspected that the Australians were followers of the devil, or at least used some depraved taboo techniques.
Quark, on the other hand, didn't care much about this and looked around with interest. There are two parallel black iron bars laying on the embankment. The flatbed cart was pushed by manpower above, and the iron wheels made a roaring rolling sound on the iron bars. The car seems to be able to carry very heavy cargo. Quark watched as two or three people could push a full flatbed truck 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 it was pulled by horses. 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. The towers may be tall or short, but the smallest one is no less than two feet tall. They are all built with iron bars and solid wood on a round stone platform. The top of the tower is so sloping that it stretches out long arms into the air. A black rope hangs from the top of the long arm.
Towers like this can be found all along Bobu Harbor. Across the harbor, the area said to be a shipbuilding yard is even denser.
"Attention," someone on the embankment was blowing a whistle and shouting, "Loading starts at berth 15."
With a rumbling sound. A long train of flatbed cars drove along the track, and both Luoyou Li and Quark were surprised - this train of trains of flatbed cars was not driven by human power.
Not only were there no manpower, there were no horses, mules, donkeys, oxen, or any other working animal they could think of. There are no sails on the flatbed either. This long line of flatbed trucks drove over on its own with a rumble.
If something pulled the vehicle, it should be the first vehicle, which contained a black iron thing the size of half a table and a round iron bucket-like thing. Hanging on this black iron tube is a large wooden board with four large 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. With a white towel that had turned gray hanging around his neck, this man was holding an iron pole in his hand and kept pushing it back and forth, 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 looked 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 Luoyu found that everyone here was wearing this short blue cloth coat, but some people had waistbands. They wear belts, but some don’t. The common feature is that they all wear a helmet that is probably made of rattan. Li Luoyu didn't understand what the use of this helmet was? Could it be that the Australians learned from the Southern Barbarians in the Three Kingdoms and also practiced vine armor soldiers?
These people got into a circular cage under the tower. They ran fast in the cage, making the cage rotate. The long arm on the tower then rose up, and then the others pushed the tower with all their strength to turn in the direction of the flatbed truck. There was a man who kept blowing a whistle 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 stretched above the first flatbed truck and hung a huge iron hook. The people on the flatbed truck hung the hook on a pile of net ropes on the truck. He quickly jumped out of the car. 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 was probably improved by the Australians.
The long arm began to move toward the ship, and there was also a man on the deck blowing a whistle and waving two small flags. The long arm moved above the ship's deck, the sling slowly relaxed, and the net bag landed safely on the deck.
The crane then lifted the cargo from another flatbed truck. What was hoisted this time was not a mesh bag, but a wooden tray with crates piled neatly on it. The boxes were tightly wrapped in mesh bags. v! ~!
