What Qiwei prepared was a salt ship, which is a kind of cargo ship that travels on the Beijiang waterway. It is named because it is mostly used to transport salt. In fact, it is not limited to transporting salt. Because of its shallow draft, it is suitable for shallow water channels and is suitable for carrying cargo and passengers. Qiweizhan purchased some when it established its inland fleet.
For this mission, the ship has been modified at the Hong Kong shipyard and has sufficient space to accommodate the entire staff traveling team and accompanying escorts. Because there are many water bandits in the Xijiang and Beijiang basins, the cabins have been reinforced, and the vaulted ceilings of the reed mats are lined with iron sheets. The rear tower was also heightened, the side walls were installed with iron plates, and a gimbal was installed for mounting the machine gun.
At this time, two large lanterns were hung on the bow of the ship with Song characters written on them. One was "Jinyiwei Foshan Hundred Households" and the other was "Jinyiwei Hereditary Hundreds of Forests". A powerful escort flag was also hung at the stern. It is quite powerful on both the public and private sides. Generally, thieves don't dare to stir things up when they are too old.
Lin Ming originally planned to take a servant out, but when he went to the side of the ship, he saw that the Australians were all in simple carriages and did not bring any servants. It would be too garish to bring a servant, so he had to ask the servant to go back and carry it himself. Carrying luggage on board.
When he saw that the ship was a salt ship, he couldn't help but secretly complain: Although the ship was big, the passengers who took it had a very hard time. They just sat and lay on the salt bags, not to mention that they could eat like a flower boat on an official ship. Drink for fun, and when you are tired, you can lie down and sleep soundly. It's just not as good as an ordinary ship - at least there are seats on the ship.
Climbing down the steps from the small door at the bow, I saw that the inside was completely different. The spacious cabin had been divided into different cabins. The front cabin was the largest, with a large table in the center, the legs of which were fixed to the ship's deck.
"Lin Baihu, please come this way." The sailor who led the way led him to the back cabin. There were doors on both sides of a short corridor. Taxes open one of those doors.
"You and Mr. Xie will share a room."
This cabin is extremely small, and you can see everything from the doorway, but the beds are divided into two levels. There is also a small table, stool and cupboard next to the bed. Not only exquisite and beautiful, but also practical. He was even more impressed by the ingenious use of space and area. The so-called dojo inside a snail shell. Australians are really capable of this!
After settling his luggage, Lin Ming walked to the front cabin. The ceiling here is inlaid with glass tiles, and the light is very bright. A large piece of plate glass lay on the table, and there seemed to be a painting underneath. Lin Ming glanced at it and saw that it seemed to be a map. His heart was beating wildly and he didn't dare to look anymore - this was a military plan. He just sat down on the bench beside the cabin and pretended to browse the scenery outside the window.
Within a moment, three Australians came together. Lin Ming quickly stood up to greet him.
"No need to be too polite." Thorpe waved his hand, "The space on the boat is too small, so there is no need to be so polite. Let's sail as soon as possible."
The salt boat started slowly and headed along the river to Sanshui County.
It is only 30 kilometers from Foshan Town to Hekou Town, where Sanshui County is located. Boating against the current relies entirely on manpower rocking the oar and the occasional wind push. The boat travels very slowly and cannot cover four or five kilometers in an hour. Lin Ming was used to this kind of slow-paced travel, but Thorpe and the others felt that this slow sailing was a little unbearable: even on a sailing ship like the T800, they could travel at four or five knots in an hour.
"At this speed. When can we get to Sanshui County?" Cummins couldn't help but ask.
"It's time to make dinner." Lin Ming said.
The waterway of less than thirty kilometers started early in the morning and arrived in the evening. This was the normal travel speed in the 17th century. To take a boat in the past. During the day, Lin Ming was bored, mostly playing cards and drinking wine with his guests or his wife and concubines. Now he could only sit blankly and watch a few Australians busy at work.
The bearded man and the young man had been sitting on the bow of the boat, writing and drawing in a notebook, and giving pointers from time to time. Mr. Nasuo didn't write or draw, but he would carry a small box to the stern of the ship every once in a while. Lin Ming looked coldly and saw that sometimes he was looking around with a Western telescope, and sometimes it was an incomprehensible copper thing. Looking at the sun, I don't know what the fuss is about.
As for the accompanying escorts, they were also restless. In addition to being vigilant on all sides, every time we go to river bends, shoals, bridgeheads and other places. They all use bamboo poles or plumb bobs to measure the water depth. When you cross a bridge, you will use a bamboo pole to make gestures as usual: this is to measure the height of the bridge.
Sometimes these three people would not be gesticulating outside, but would be sitting around the big table, talking and writing and drawing on the glass plate with pens. What they said was all in the so-called "Newspeak" of Australians, and Lin Ming could barely understand it. , but they use words such as "contour line", "flow rate" and "hydrology". Although they roughly know what the words are, they don't know what they mean.
He didn't dare to show a boring expression of disinterest, and he was afraid that he would arouse the other party's suspicion by being too concerned, so he had to carefully keep his distance. I just started serving tea and water, and didn't say a word except when they asked questions.
For Thorpe and others, the area they are passing through does not require much effort. The Qiwei Escort Bureau has a lot of activities here and has accumulated a lot of hydrological data. They just need to investigate certain intelligence in a targeted manner.
They set off early in the morning and sailed all the way until noon, but they didn't smell the aroma coming from the kitchen at the back: Lin Ming saw that the Australians probably didn't treat them with fine wine and fine food, but mostly just a simple meal. Fortunately, I brought a lot of street food with me, which can be used for meals.
Thorpe saw that the sun had reached the middle, took out his pocket watch and saw that it was already past twelve o'clock, then waved his hand: "Eat!"
Xie Peng immediately took the rag from under the table and wiped the glass countertop clean. Cummins took out a few packages from the locker under the bench, placed them on the table, and invited everyone to sit down and eat.
Lin Baihu hurried over. He had seen "Australian food" ranging from high to low in Lingao, but what he saw in front of him was different from any "Australian food" in his memory.
Just say that this kind of tableware is unheard of: each person has an iron cylinder made of iron, shaped like a kidney. It has a lid and a handle. When the lid is turned over, it seems to be a bowl. Each person also has a small tin cup with a handle.
There is a pile of large and small paper packages and boxes in the middle of the table. There was no food or rice in sight, and he couldn't help but secretly wonder: What are we eating?
While he was hesitating, the accompanying escort brought a thermos. This thing is now quite popular around Guangzhou, and almost every household above the middle class has one.
Lin Ming saw the three Australians taking out several rectangular paper packets and peeling them apart, so he followed suit and took a piece.
However, he saw small black characters printed on the paper: Grassland Series Compressed Ration (Plain Type A, Sesame Nut Flavor, Ready-to-Eat). Printed below was 200kj/100g. Lin Ming only knew that this was the word "Big Food Number" and "Fran Machine". Looking down, it read: "With hot water", "Mixed with 2 to 3 times of water", "High-energy porridge", "Better taste". Lin Ming pondered for a long time and it seemed that it was porridge that had solidified after drying. You can also eat it directly. It will taste better after heating the water, right?
Looking at the Australians, Thorpe and Xie Peng added water and ate it with a spoon, but Cummins ate it directly with his hands.
He decided to take a bite first. The food was very dry and hard, with a vague taste, a little sweet and a little salty. There was only a little aroma of rice flour and oil. The taste was very different, and it felt like chewing sand. Only after chewing for a long time can you feel the slight aroma of sesame and dried fruits in your mouth. But this stuff is dry and hard, and I can't even swallow it without drinking water. It's really difficult to chew off both pieces in this bag.
So the hard dough was poured with hot water. I thought it would soften immediately, but the lump refused to give in and had to be smashed with a spoon. It took a while before it became completely soft.
So there was a dusty, mushy stuff inside the iron cylinder, which smelled of sweet and sour taste at the same time. If you looked closely, you could see that this stuff was absorbing water and bubbling at the same time.
I mustered up the courage to take a bite, and couldn't help but frown secretly: What kind of strange smell is this... Although it is not too unpleasant, it is very, very weird. Lin Ming had never experienced this kind of taste in his more than thirty years of eating experience.
Watching three Australians eating this stuff with cold expressions, it was obvious that their feelings were similar to mine...
"Let's drink some pickled mustard." Seeing his strange expression, Xie Peng knew that he couldn't bear the teething stick, so he pushed a small oil paper bag on the table to him.
Lin Ming took a look and saw that this small oil paper bag was wrapped very neatly. There was also a note on it with black characters printed on it: "Refreshing Pickled Vegetables".
What is this mustard? He was secretly suspicious and wanted not to eat it, but it would be too disrespectful to the Australians. He immediately thought about it and opened the paper package. Inside was a small piece of crumpled pickles of some kind, blue-grey. It didn't look very appetizing, so I took a hesitant bite and found that it tasted pretty good: neither greasy nor strange, salty but light in taste, with a crunchy texture when biting into it.
With this thing to accompany the meal, this strange paste is finally not so unpleasant to eat. He couldn't help but secretly regret that he would have taken out the food first if he had known better.
The hot tea that was brought out next was normal. Although it was dark in color and tasted inferior, it was almost brick tea, but it was still tea. Unexpectedly, another piece of oil paper bag was given to each person. Lin Ming picked it up and looked at it: the black words on it were "Energy Bar". He didn't know what to explain. When I opened it, I smelled a familiar aroma: isn't this the smell of mooncakes? Could it be that Australians are already preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival?
When I opened it, it turned out to be a pastry similar to a moon cake, but in a long strip. Lin Ming was slightly reassured. If it was a mooncake, he could still eat it. After taking a bite, he found that it was indeed a mooncake, stuffed with red bean paste, and plenty of oil and sugar. Except for the fact that the bean skin was not removed and there was no suet, which was a bit disappointing, everything else was okay. It's quite satisfactory. (To be continued)
