Chapter 063
"This group of pirates, both men and women, are usually for the people. Once they go out, men, women and children will come. The women there are more ferocious than the men. They have more than 100 large and small fishing boats, including more than 30 bird boats, and two Western ships are quite powerful.”
Li Zhixiang smiled bitterly and said: "If our Ning Navy has the strength of the Dongjiang Army Navy, we can naturally fight. However, our Ning Navy Navy only has 21 ships, and 15 of them are just river ships, so there is no way beat!"
Only then did Cheng Shijie learn that this so-called bird boat was actually one of the four famous ships in ancient China. The length is 31 meters, the width is 6.8 meters, the draft is 2.2 meters, and the displacement is 230 tons.
In terms of appearance, this kind of ship is almost twice the size of the Ninghai Navy's 400-gun ship. It uses an ancient wooden rudder with a length of 11 meters and a width of 2.3 meters. It has three masts and five sails, of which the main mast is 24.5 meters high. , with three main sails, the wind speed can reach up to 9 knots per hour.
This speed was already very impressive in the era of sailboats.
As for the Western ship, it is a Portuguese Carrick sailing ship with a displacement of more than 800 tons. For the Ninghai navy, this is simply a behemoth.
Cheng Shijie understood that this South Island was right under Dengzhou's nose. If it was dark under the lamp, it was still possible for a while. For so many years, this Meng Xianhan under Xu Hongru's command had not been exposed, which meant that officially, he must have someone.
Pirates are different from bandits. Bandits and robbers are more secretive, especially in desolate places like Ninghai Prefecture. They can just find a forest, drill into a ravine, and disappear.
But you can see more than ten miles at a glance on the sea, and you can see more than ten kilometers with a telescope. More importantly, pirates have a unique smell. As pirates, they want to sell stolen goods, right?
You always have to buy supplies, right?
Meng Xianhan was not discovered that he was Xu Hongru's former subordinate. This could indeed be done easily. This group of pirates was not discovered, which only shows that their official backing is still very strong.
However, Cheng Shijie felt a little regretful. Meng Xianhan is indeed a piece of fat meat, but the problem is that this piece of fat meat grows on the body of a fat pig. If you want to eat the fat meat, you must be strong enough, otherwise you will be killed by the fat pig.
Naval battles are different from land battles. Even if there is a numerical advantage, the problem is that the numerical advantage cannot be used. Especially among the Ning Haijun Army, there are quite a few landlubbers. On land, they were pretty good, but at sea, their combat effectiveness couldn't be fully demonstrated.
Although there are some regrets, Cheng Shijie also knows that he cannot make rash progress now, let alone seek success in a hurry. If he takes too big a step, he will easily get hurt. If he rushes for success, he will not only fall short of success, but may even overturn.
"There is no need to make any noise about this matter for the time being. Let brothers take a good rest. Your bodies are too weak. If you don't have a good body, how can you fight?"
Cheng Shijie thought for a while and said: "Let's carry out restorative training with peace of mind. When our navy becomes stronger and our brothers are in good health, we can then kill pigs and eat meat. They can't run away anyway!"
"Yes, I resign from my humble position!"
Just when brothers Li Zhixiang and Li Fang walked to the door, Li Fang suddenly turned around and said: "Master Guard, I have something to say!"
"Say it!"
"We have many brothers in the Dongjiang Army. I wonder if the Lord Guards still wants to send troops?"
Li Fang was worried that Cheng Shijie wouldn't let him go, so he hurriedly said: "These soldiers are all good soldiers. They are veterans who have fought against the Jiannu for many years. They have strong fighting ability. Even though the brothers are poorly equipped and have no food to eat, what if the garrison master..."
Cheng Shijie couldn't figure out why the Dongjiang Army was guarding the sea and had such a miserable life.
They can learn from the Ning Navy to dry salt, go out to sea to fish, or plant kelp on the sea. Kelp is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. Under suitable conditions, each giant kelp can grow to 30 to 30 to 100 years old in a day. Sixty centimeters, a kelp can grow more than 50 meters in a year.
Kelp has high nutritional value, and Cheng Shijie himself likes to eat it. Moreover, this kind of kelp is a unique product of the North Pacific and is suitable for growing in cold seawater. The Dongjiang Army controls more than 400 islands of various sizes in the Liaodong Peninsula, and in There are garrison troops set up on more than thirty islands.
Jiannu does not have the ability to attack the sea, let alone attack the sea. Even the Yalu River can only pass through when it is frozen in winter. With the strength of the Dongjiang Army Navy, they can torture Jiannu to death.
"Do they have craftsmen who can build ships?"
"have!"
"Let them come!"
Cheng Shijie thought for a while and said: "Let them come to Hot Spring Town. The dock is too small and needs to be expanded. The warships also need to be repaired. We need to build a repair dock."
"Thank you, Lord Guard!"
Li Fang was overjoyed, but Li Zhixiang frowned secretly: "This clan brother wants to cause trouble!"
Although Ninghai City is a residence with thousands of households, in fact, it is more like a commercial city. In particular, the military households in Ninghai City were very capable. Gu Shizhang spent 6,800 taels of silver to hire Ning Haijun to protect his caravan.
Neither Song Xiance nor Zhou Yandong had the authority to mobilize Ning Haijun. In order to complete this task, they temporarily organized some military households to escort him under the banner of Ning Haijun.
With the bandits in Ninghai Prefecture, including Qin Wu who was not in Ninghai Prefecture, regardless of whether they numbered in the thousands or hundreds, more than a dozen groups of bandits were eliminated by Ning Haijun. These bandits were also very well-informed, and they all speculated that this might be Ning Haijun fishing for law enforcement.
They protect caravans traveling and can strike across the border if they are attacked.
It is more than 900 miles from Dengzhou to Jinan. Along the way, there are hundreds of bandits, large and small, but no one dares to move. The role of role models is huge. This situation was soon known to other merchants, and they came to Ninghai City to discuss business.
When these merchants arrived in Ninghai City, they discovered that this was not a military city, but a city made up of factories. Carriage factories, furniture factories, textile factories, farm tools factories, especially factories that produced farm tools. The hoes they produced were actually... What is used is not iron, but steel.
After this situation was discovered by the merchants, they discovered a new world.
The farm tools produced by Ninghaicheng's farm tool factories are almost all made of steel. Hoes, guillotines, hoe, hammer, axe, hatchet, plow, columbine cart, columbine, harrow, and columbine (lào) are all made of steel. of.
Of course, these businessmen didn't know that these were actually not made, but cast. Since the demand for farm tools was not high, Cheng Shijie especially handed over the cold-casting process of shafts to the craftsmen. The iron parts of farm tools such as guillotines and plows are directly made into molds. After the molten steel is cooled by the cooling tank, it flows out of the mold and is directly shaped after simple polishing.
Since then, production efficiency has been greatly improved. As long as there are enough molds, it is not a problem to produce tens of thousands of simple agricultural tools like hoes in a day.
"Do you sell the hoes here?"
"Nonsense, the things you produce will naturally be sold. As long as you have enough money, everything will be easy!"
"How much does this hundred-refined hoe cost?"
"Three denarii, not even a penny less!"
Ninghai Farm Tools Factory made one cent and five cents in tears.
In fact, it was not just the Ming Dynasty that was short of iron. Even in the 1980s and 1990s, some remote areas still used wooden agricultural tools. The main reason was iron deficiency. Of course, it was not that China was short of iron, but that due to backward transportation or technology, there were Railway transportation is not coming in. This is not the same as the situation in Ming Dynasty.
Many farmers in the Ming Dynasty could not afford iron farm tools at all. When pig iron sold for more than 100 yuan a pound, the value of farm tools can be imagined. A waist knife weighing about two kilograms can be sold for eight or nine taels of silver.
The imperial-style knife was actually just a piece of iron. The effect of cutting people was very poor. It was only covered with iron armor. The armor piece was only three to four millimeters thick at most, so it couldn't cut through. If you use a knife from later generations, let alone a three or four millimeter piece of iron, you can cut even an eight millimeter steel bar. This is the difference.
When Cheng Shijie returned to Ninghai City, dozens of new shops had opened on the streets. Since Ninghai City was very limited, the whole city seemed a bit crowded.
Zhou Yandong heard that Cheng Shijie was back and immediately came to discuss things with Cheng Shijie.
"Greetings to the Lord Guard!"
"Brother Zhou, you've seen someone outside again, haven't you?"
Zhou Yandong's face was red and he looked more energetic. He reported to Cheng Shijie: "Master Guards, there are currently fifteen merchants who have come to Ning Haijun to escort the caravan, with thirty batches of goods, and a total of thirty-nine thousand has been collected. Escort fee!"
"The protection fee is not low!"
Cheng Shijie thought for a while and said: "Brother Zhou, please let someone talk to them. We are a single transaction, and the protection fee is a bit high. However, we also have monthly and annual services."
Cheng Shijie pointed at a batch of linen from Guoji Company and said: "Look, Guoji's protection fee for this shipment is 5,300 taels of silver. If it is a monthly subscription, we will charge 1,000 taels of silver. As long as we leave two taels a month." The rest is what they earn."
"This is not good!"
Zhou Yandong thought for a moment and said, "Isn't it a little low?"
"It's not low. It's more than 900 miles from Jinan to Dengzhou. It takes almost a month to go back and forth."
Cheng Shijie smiled and said, "How many times can they ship goods in a month?"
"That...it is indeed!"
Cheng Shijie pointed to the bill and said: "Take Guo Ji as an example. If they pay for the year, it will be cheaper, eight thousand taels of silver a year. On average, it is only equivalent to more than 600 taels of silver every month. They Make a lot of money.”
Zhou Yandong reported on the recent production situation. Their carriage factory has ordered 200 four-wheel carriages. If these orders are completed, it will not be until next year.
The most popular thing is actually the steel farm tools of the farm tool factory. This month’s profit is more than 8,000 taels of silver. In addition to the factories of the Gun Bureau, Ordnance Bureau, and Armored Crossbow Bureau, even the quilt factory can also maintain profits. state.
"Lord Guard, those merchants want to build shops in Ninghai City, but we have no place to sell them to them in the city!"
Cheng Shijie took a pen and drew a circle in the direction of the south gate of Ninghai City: "Tell them that from now on, the original Qianhu Residence will be regarded as the inner city of Ninghai City. If the city wall is moved another five miles south, this area can be sold to them!"
"What's the price?"
"Auction, the highest bidder wins!"
"If they collude..."
"Don't you know how to find some helpers?"
After handling the pressing business, Cheng Shijie returned to the Yamen of the garrison.
Taking off your clothes, lying in the big bath, and having your skin burned by the hot water is definitely the most wonderful enjoyment in winter. Cheng Shijie found that as he lived in the late Ming Dynasty and later generations, the fat on his body disappeared quickly. During this period, he did not pay attention to diet, nor did he deliberately lose weight. He ate big fish and meat.
Cheng Shijie was thinking about a problem. According to the law of conservation of energy, energy will neither be created nor disappear out of thin air. It will only be converted from one form to another, or transferred from one object to other objects. The total amount remains the same.
Every time he traveled through time, he would feel a strong sense of hunger. The more things he carried, the stronger the feeling of hunger and fatigue. Could it be said that his time-traveling consumed the body's energy? Is it his fat?
The fat on his body disappeared. At first he thought this was a good thing, but the problem was that now his body shape had returned to the level when he was a technician at Hansteel Group. At that time, he was still 1.85 meters tall and weighed more than 80 At ninety kilograms, not fat at all, just strong.
What should you do if you run out of fat?
Cheng Shijie decided to return to the next life, so he must go to the hospital for a physical examination.
Perhaps he was too tired, but before he knew it, Cheng Shijie fell asleep lying in the bathtub, snoring slightly.
PS: We will continue to vote for tens of thousands of people today. During the public period, we will ask for votes as usual. Next chapter, twelve o'clock.
