Chapter 11 Buying a Boat
Yao Guangxiao supported He Xi and said, "Master, let's go back and have a rest first."
He Xi thought for a while, shook his head and said, "No, if I go and rest now, someone will definitely know my whereabouts. It will be difficult to see anything real."
Tang He is in Ningbo city at the moment. It can be said that he is the person with the highest status in Ningbo, no, Zhejiang. It can be said that the eyes of all Ningbo people are on Tang He, and He Xi only needs to see Tang He. He Xi couldn't hide his identity anymore.
It's not that He Xi had anything to hide. But after the game between him and Guo Huan in Hangzhou, he was actually full of distrust of local officials. This may be Zhu Yuanzhang's words and deeds.
Therefore, He Xi wanted to figure out the situation by herself first. It's not too late to reveal your identity.
Yao Guangxiao had no choice but to help He Xi to rest in a tea shop.
He Xi rested for a while and finally got used to the swaying land.
Yao Guangxiao said: "Master, where are we going?"
He Xi pondered for a while and said: "Go to the shipyard. Everything at sea cannot avoid ships. Ships are the foundation of some maritime policies. This must be understood clearly. Especially private shipyards, I must take a look .”
Today, the largest shipyard in Ming Dynasty is Nanjing Longjiang Shipyard.
He Xi saw it when he was in Nanjing.
Somewhat disappointed. The biggest problem of Longjiang Shipyard is not that the technology is poor or that the craftsmen are not skilled. But the positioning is wrong.
Why did Longjiang Shipyard flourish? It was because of the battle with Chen Youliang.
Therefore, the ships that Longjiang Shipyard produced the most were river ships, and even most of the warships needed for the decisive battle between Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang were built by Longjiang Shipyard. He Xi had already investigated it before he came. It is very easy for Longjiang Shipyard to renovate seagoing ships.
It can even be said to be a piece of cake.
Among other things, the Nanjing Bao Shipyard that built ships for Zheng He's voyages to the West was actually the Longjiang Shipyard. To be precise, it is a specially separated workshop in Longjiang Shipyard. All required personnel are mobilized from Longjiang Shipyard.
Just wait for Zheng He's voyage to the West. Nanjing Bao Shipyard is gone. But Longjiang Shipyard is still there. In fact, it is just the people from Nanjing Bao Shipyard who have returned to Longjiang Shipyard.
However, He Xi had already ordered Longjiang Shipyard to prepare seagoing ships through Zhu Yuanzhang.
In fact, He Xi is not too worried about future warships, transport ships, and other official ships. With the technical support of Longjiang Shipbuilding and He Xi's own guidance, it is enough to build a suitable ship. But He Xi wanted to know about the technology of private shipyards.
Because Longjiang Shipyard cannot dominate the world. A large number of civilian ships are the need for large-scale navigation.
But in all aspects, the records in this area are blank.
He Xi didn't know that the Ming court was too lazy to make statistics in this area. After all, these are files written by someone. Or maybe Daming doesn't care much about things here.
As for the Ningbo Shipyard, I only found out about it when He Xi was crossing the sea and talking to the ship boss.
Ningbo, Wenzhou, Fuzhou, and Quanzhou were all important shipbuilding towns in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty. He Xi naturally wanted to feel the confidence of the shipbuilding industry.
Yao Guangxiao said: "That's still the same old thing."
He Xi said: "Go sell the boat. I've also asked about it, it's only a matter of a few hundred taels of silver."
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He Xi did as she was told, and after asking Yao Guangxiao and others, they walked along the pier for more than ten miles. Came to a small village. This small village looks very ordinary. But upon closer inspection, He Xi could see a lot of tricks.
Such as the large amount of lumber piled behind the house. They are all big trees. And it looked like it was well preserved and had been dried in the shade.
There are a lot of messy gray and white things piled up in front of many people's houses. It looks like dirt, but it's not dirt. He Xi also did her homework before she knew what this was? This is a kind of ash, made from plant ash, shell ash, and many other things that are glued together. The use is to fill gaps. Apply to the gaps under the boat. Used to prevent water and leakage.
As for ordinary people, even if they use wood for fire, they don't need to have neat large trees.
Because ordinary miscellaneous firewood is not valuable, the money is paid by the labor of collecting firewood. At most, a few big men can sell a load of firewood at a high price only in a big city like Nanjing. It is impossible for ordinary people to have the luxury of using intact wood to make fires.
Even building a house. It's impossible to use so much wood.
So, what is this wood used for? It's obvious.
shipbuilding.
This village probably makes a living from shipbuilding.
He Xi took the people and looked around. Naturally, it attracted the attention of others. Immediately an old man came over and said, "This young master, what's the point of coming to our village?"
He Xi also got straight to the point and said, "Buy a boat."
The old man said: "Young master, you have come to the right place. My Xu family built ships during our time. We have built all kinds of ships. Across the country, when anyone mentions my Xu family's ships, the one who gives them a thumbs up does not give a thumbs up. Come to my house This will make you feel satisfied.”
That's not what He Xi asked about.
According to He Xi's inquiry, there are about a dozen villages in Ningbo that rely on shipbuilding for a living. But today's days are not very good. Because of the sea ban, the demand for private ships has decreased a lot. As for the government ships.
The government has the Longjiang Shipyard in Nanjing, which can be said to be the first shipyard in the entire Ming Dynasty, no, even in the world. At the local level, each guard station also has records of shipbuilding. After all, if you really want to talk about it, this shipbuilding is not high-tech.
Of course. Maybe it's possible to build a treasure ship that's several dozen feet long. But people generally don't hold such a big show.
He Xi said: "Old man, I'm here, but I haven't seen your shipbuilding place yet? Can you wait for me to open my eyes first?"
Mr. Xu said, "That's natural. Master, come with me."
Then the old man took He Xi and his party along the coastline for a few laps, and suddenly saw a large area of green mountains sunk in, and the mountains on both sides were green. There is a quiet bay in the middle. The bay is covered with fine sand. Looks incredibly beautiful.
It's a great place for vacation.
Just on the beach, there are more than a dozen boats of various sizes, either upside down or propped up on racks, and many people are working hard. On the side, there are several empty sinks. When He Xi wanted to come, it was none other than the dock.
However, the boats built by the Xu family are not big. No, it can be said to be very small.
Most are fishing boats.
He Xi asked: "Old man, isn't your Xu family's business doing well?"
Mr. Xu sighed and said: "The days are like this. There are fewer people running business. There are also fewer people asking for boats. To be honest, it's just the right time for the adults to come, waiting for us old immortals to be gone. The people in the village Young people probably only know how to build fishing boats.”
He Xi frowned slightly after hearing this.
In He Xi's view, this is a problem.
Although, in He Xi's view, this kind of family-run shipyard is nothing at all. But within the scope of handicrafts, family villages as the core organization method are the norm in this era. Many industries are like this.
It’s hard to say whether this model is backward or not. After all, even in later generations, the organizational model of many Wenzhou businessmen was not much different from this model.
Each village is in the same industry, and labor is divided internally to open up an industrial chain. In other words, it is normal for them to be scattered all over the place and do the same thing.
He Xi also knew that Zhu Yuanzhang had done great harm to the shipbuilding industry and the navigation industry.
It would be wrong to say that Zhu Yuanzhang intended to hurt. But Zhu Yuanzhang was a farmer at heart. As a farmer. He is inherently risk-averse. Therefore, he likes that everyone in the world is farming on land. In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang's enemies, Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen, all have strong maritime forces.
He also wants to impose restrictions.
Therefore, the shipbuilding industry of the Ming Dynasty government is one thing. However, compared with the Yuan Dynasty, the private shipbuilding industry in the Ming Dynasty even showed a tendency to retreat rather than advance during the Hongwu period. This is also normal.
He Xi secretly thought: "No. Today's private shipbuilding industry cannot continue to decline. I need to find a way to save it."
