At three quarters of the hour,
A black four-wheeled carriage slowly stopped at Hongluan Ferry, Huaxu Town, Lantian County.
The black carriage was followed by a vermilion carriage that looked similar but was slightly smaller.
Because the carriage was rather strange in style, it quickly attracted the attention of the people on the ferry.
When they got off the carriage, they saw several men and women dressed in luxurious clothes.
The sights of the common people became even more intense. They gathered together in twos and threes and whispered about the origins of this group of people.
The people looked at the leader with eyes full of awe and envy.
The reason for awe is that behind this group of men and women, there are more than a dozen muscular and horse-drawn servants wearing long swords.
The envy was due to the fact that behind the leading young man, who was wearing a green shirt and a white hairpin, were followed by four young and beautiful women.
These women were wearing gorgeous dresses of various colors, and each had their hair styled in peculiar buns.
And every woman has more or less golden jewelry on her bun!
Just by looking at the clothes of the group of people, the people knew that the identity of the visitor was not simple.
This was Qin Ming's first time coming to Hongluan Ferry. Although he didn't have high expectations for the Tang Dynasty's ferry, he was still shocked by the sight before him!
Just because the Hongluan Crossing in front of us is too simple compared to the wide river surface of Bashui.
Qin Ming looked at the dock in front of him, which was only five or six feet long and could only accommodate two small ferries.
Qin Ming sighed.
Xiao Changxi, who was wearing a plain white dress and veil, couldn't help but turn around when she heard Qin Ming's sigh and said doubtfully:
"Sir, why are you sighing?"
Qin Ming turned around and explained:
"It's nothing, I just feel that this dock is too small and it will be difficult to meet Zhuangzi's future needs for joining the fleet."
Xiao Changxi knew that Qin Ming planned to build a fleet, and now the wood and boatmen were already available.
The next step is ship construction.
Xiao Changxi thought for a while and said:
"Sir, the river here is wide and suitable for a ferry, and it's not far from Zhuangzi."
"Why don't we buy the ferry here and expand it?"
Qin Ming nodded slightly.
"That's what I have in mind. When Uncle Zhang and the others arrive, let's first listen to the views of the shipwrights and boatmen. If they think this place is suitable, they can talk to the owner of the ferry."
Xiao Changxi nodded.
"Young Master is still thoughtful."
Yang Zijun, who was wearing a skirt with the word "Golden Deer Blessings" and a golden bow in front of her head, turned her head to Qin Ming and asked after hearing the conversation between the two:
"Is the chief of the mountain planning to build a fleet to sell Zhuangzi's goods to various counties in the Tang Dynasty?"
Qin Ming nodded and shook his head.
"On the contrary, when we first planned to build a fleet, it was not to sell things, but to buy things."
"But now that I think about it, we can also take a trip to Yangzhou and Taiyuan to transport some goods."
In fact, Qin Ming planned to build a fleet for another reason, and that was to leave a way out for himself.
What if one day I face death due to the inertia of history or if I commit something?
Then in the future, this well-equipped fleet in my hands will be the final guarantee for myself and everyone in my house!
Yang Zijun frowned when she heard this. Thinking of her mother's words before, she suddenly had an idea and blurted out:
"Could it be that Young Master built the fleet to send it to Champa to buy rice?"
When Qin Ming heard this, he gave Yang Zijun a thumbs up and said in appreciation:
"correct!"
Yang Zijun was praised by Qin Ming, and her beautiful red phoenix eyes narrowed into crescent moons with a smile!
Standing on the other side of Qin Ming, Xiao Qingwan, who was wearing a pink myrobalan skirt, heard this, tugged on Qin Ming's sleeves, and said curiously:
"Wan'er remembers that the young master once said that Champa is far away from the Tang Dynasty, and traveling by land is very time-consuming. But if we travel by water, we have to cross the sea."
"If Wan'er remembers correctly, Young Master once said that it is very dangerous for ships to sail across the sea now."
Qin Ming smiled and nodded, stretched out his hand to scratch the tip of Wan'er's nose and said:
"You little girl, you remember it clearly."
Xiao Qingwan couldn't help but blush when Qin Ming treated her like this in front of everyone.
She lowered her head and timidly called Mr.
Qin Ming raised his head and saw that everyone was looking at him with curious eyes, as if they were waiting for his answer.
Qin Ming smiled at everyone, coughed slightly and said:
"Sailing at sea does involve certain risks. The sturdiness of the ship, the accuracy of the charts, the weather, the reserves of food and fresh water, and a series of other issues will all affect the safety of navigation."
"However, there will always be solutions to these problems. What we need to do now is to build ships suitable for sailing in the sea."
"Other problems can be solved one by one after the ship is built."
When Xiao Changxi heard this, she immediately thought of a series of novel objects such as tables, chairs, fireplaces, greenhouses, cement, four-wheeled carriages, etc. created by Qin Ming in Zhuangzi.
It's as if there is nothing in this world that Qin Lang doesn't understand or can't make.
Thinking of this, Xiao Changxi fell in love with her lover even more.
"Young Master, do you already have some idea about the construction of sea-going ships?"
Qin Ming smiled and nodded when he heard this.
At this moment, Maotu, who was wearing a colorful undershirt with narrow shoulders and wide sleeves, suddenly jumped up and pointed at a two-story building boat on the river and shouted:
"Sir, miss, look quickly. There is a big ship there. Do you think Uncle Zhang and the others are on that ship?"
After hearing this, everyone covered the sun with their hands and looked at the building ship dozens of feet away.
Qin Ming took advantage of the fact that the others were not paying attention to him, reached out and squeezed Xiao Changxi's hand gently, and then lowered his voice and said:
"The one who knows me is Xi'er!"
Xiao Changxi blushed when she heard this and hurriedly waved her hands. Then she glanced around in a panic and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that no one was paying attention to her.
Then Xiao Changxi showed a rare expression of embarrassment and glared at Qin Ming fiercely.
The corners of Qin Ming's mouth raised slightly, and he stared intently at the building ship not far away.
Maotu was right. This two-story ship was indeed much larger than the cargo ship docked at the dock.
But this ship is big, but it has no sails, and it relies entirely on human power to move the huge oars on the ship.
In Qin Ming's opinion, this is too backward!
What left Qin Ming even more speechless was that this building ship actually had a flat bottom.
Using this ship to sail is no different than seeking death!
A few moments
As the building boat got closer and closer to Hongluan Ferry, Qin Ming and his party finally saw clearly the people waving to them on the building boat.
On the bow deck stood two middle-aged men in Confucian shirts. When they saw the group of people on the ferry, they were immediately excited.
The two of them grabbed the wooden railing of the bow with one hand and waved vigorously at the people on the shore with the other!
"Master! Master! The old slave is back!"
"Madam, Miss! The old slave is back!"
.......
