The route from Guangzhou to Xiamen is a familiar one. [No pop-up novel website] 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 channel, except for the helmsman who is responsible for looking at the compass and back needle path, who is always vigilant and observing the conditions of the sea surface and coastline, everyone else looks lazy. The sailors who worked also looked relaxed. Dongshanju used soft sails, which was indeed a bit uncomfortable for Chinese sailors who were accustomed to using hard sails that were 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. The old can lead the new, and it can be done after just a few voyages. As you are familiar with it, there will inevitably be a few accidents when climbing the mast and tying the sail yard, and some sailors will be killed or injured, but in this time and space, human life is not rare, 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 each has its own way of killing time. The sailors would either gather in the bottom cabin to study the numbers of the dice and the arrangement of the dominoes, or they would catch fleas and chat on the deck after a few sips, or some would simply fall asleep. As for the big boss and the second boss, one was playing chess with poor manager Liu, and the other was holding a book and reading happily.
"Hua Min, what kind of book is that? Are you reading it so seriously?" Liu Deshan got under the car, looked at Manager Liu with a smile, who was frowning and thinking hard, and turned to ask,
"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 does it say?" 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 me in Tianjin Wei. I don't know how he returned. In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, he became a disciple of Commander-in-Chief Yue, and was given the title "Qu Bing" by Yue Wu Mu. Huangshi then helped Commander-in-Chief Yue organize his army, and defeated the invading Jin soldiers several times. And after Commander-in-Chief Yue was wrongfully killed, , while dealing with the traitors of the court. At the same time, he supported the Southern Song Dynasty on his own, and finally rebuilt the story of China's mountains and rivers. "
"It sounds very exciting! But how can people of today go to the old era? It 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 is so vivid on the paper! 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 with one body, and can stop a million soldiers with one sword." "Chen Huamin said excitedly. He stood up and pointed his sword directly, as if he was the general in the book who led the elite soldiers and swept the Tatar slaves out of the Central Plains.
But then. Chen Huamin sat down sadly again and murmured: "If there really was a figure like Huang Shuai in our Ming Dynasty, how could we be beaten by the slaves to the gates of Beijing, and it was like a deserted land!"
"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."
"It doesn't matter, just listening to the introduction of this book makes people excited, as if they have been to the scene in person - it also alludes to the situation in Liaodong. It is not surprising that 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 somewhat 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 There are only a few soldiers. Even if the 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 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 book box he carried with him. .
This book has a different format than "The Old Stories of Huang Gongbao's Fight against the Jin". It is twice as big, but much thinner. It also has an Australian binding that opens to the left, but there is a picture on the cover. It shows a warrior in full armor, riding a black horse, standing in the ice and snow. Although it is only available in black and white, the engraver and printer have some unique secret skills to depict the warriors, horses and background landscapes so lifelike that it makes people feel like they are actually there.
The title is "War History Research" in five Song fonts, and underneath there is a line of small characters: Liaodong War Situation Album. The cover also lists subtitles: "Heavy Snow Full of Bows and Swords - The History of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong", "The Impact of the Denglai Rebellion on the Situation in Liaodong", "A Brief Analysis of the Eight Banners System", "The Beginning and Ending of Huang Taiji's Ascension to the Throne"...
Liu Deshan does not hang around Guangzhou as often as Chen Huamin, and is 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 didn't care much about military affairs, but the cover and title were so attractive that he picked it up and read a few pages.
Once you turn it over, you can't put it down. Even though Australians write all their articles 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 proceeds from the shallower to the deeper. Each point is explained very clearly, and it is quite interesting. Even a businessman like Liu Deshan finds it interesting to read. He didn't like to read war summaries, so he turned directly to "The Story of Huang Taiji's Ascension to the Throne", which was a book about "Secrets of the Imperial 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 in this article, I think that although there are many officials in the court, there are not many people who have such knowledge." He sighed, "Australians are not my fellow citizens of 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 close confidant of his family, so naturally he was doing it for his own good. But it's not bad to think that the Australians really want to change their government - at least under their rule, everyone's life is pretty good.
Liu Deshan said: "I'm living below the deck. 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 raised a flag and asked 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 came to a stop, the inspection dhow came up. The officer on the ship and several sailors boarded the ship. They first checked the ship's Lingao registration document, then checked the cargo manifest, and finally asked someone to open the cargo 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..."
"Do you have any salt?"
This hit his critical point. Liu Deshan hesitated for a while and had to explain that this 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 had no effect on the Australians. He had no choice but to laugh and said: "You wise old man: this salt is indeed going to be shipped to Xiamen Island to buy it. The villain is not willing to do some somersaults with copper coins. I was obsessed for a while and wanted to make a few small bucks..." (To be continued)
