The old man and Gu Xiukai were discussing buying a loom and carefully planning a plan to make money. Lin Chunhong was no exception. He stared at his acre of three-point land all day long, thinking about his plan to make money. So, his eyes were fixed on the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, trying to dig a fiber path.

Between the rich Sichuan Basin and the Jianghan Plain, the Badong Mountains are towering. For millions of years, the rolling eastward Yangtze River has eroded a river channel among the mountains and ridges. Therefore, to the west of Yiling, the Yangtze River passes through the vast cliffs.

Since ancient times, it is easy to get out of Sichuan and difficult to get into Sichuan, so Li Bai has a poem that says, "The road to Sichuan is difficult to get up to the blue sky." There are four roads that can be reached in Sichuan. One is to pass through the Qinling Mountains from Shaanxi; the other is to enter Sichuan from Xiangyang through Hanzhong; the other is to enter Sichuan from Yunnan and Guizhou; of course, there is another one that goes up against the Yangtze River and into the east of Sichuan. There is no easy way to walk on these roads, and it is crossing mountains and ridges along the way, especially the plank roads built between the steep mountains, which are even more dangerous. In comparison, going up from the Yangtze River is a better choice. However, the Yangtze River flows rapidly in the Three Gorges, and the river channel is narrow, so it is impossible to use wind or paddles to go up against the current. All boats against the current must rely on boaters.

Therefore, among the mountains and ridges in eastern Sichuan, you can always hear a low and powerful slogan: "Hey...hey...hey..." After shouting, the boatman took a step forward and let out a low roar. If it was just physical work, it would be nothing. Poor families could make a living and didn't mind spending more physical energy, but fisting was also dangerous. If they didn't step on a stone, they would slide down a cliff. In the mild case, they would be disabled, and in the severe case, they would be injured. Since ancient times, I don't know how many boatman's bodies and blood and tears have taken away from the rolling Yangtze River.

But now, the sound of jingling stones sounded in Xiling Gorge. The group of people hung on the high cliff with ropes, constantly chiseling stones with hammers and iron chisels, hoping to open up a fibrous passage from the cliff near the water. Not far away, there was a loud rumbling sound, which was the workers burying gunpowder into the hole dug through hardships and exploded the huge rocks. These people were Lin Chunhong's craftsmen. Now, Lin Chunhong got a batch of gunpowder from Datian Fort, which was so luxurious to open the mountain.

A month ago, Lin Chunhong received a report from Zhang Zhao. The report stated that when his boatman entered Rongmei toast, he had lost nearly 60 boatmen due to disembarking from the boat to pull the fiber. This data shocked Lin Chunhong. In order to facilitate contact with Rongmei toast and to open up the waterway to eastern Sichuan, Lin Chunhong resolutely decided to invest huge sums of money to dig the fiber route, and even upgraded the specifications of the fiber route to two cows that can walk side by side. Lin Chunhong hopes that the future fiber route will be completed by cows, horses and donkeys, and free people from their heavy physical strength.

Wang Liangquan was responsible for the excavation of the fiber duct, and Lin Chunhong tried his best to support the project. It was worth money, no problem, what? It took 40,000 taels? Yes, no problem. It was necessary. It was necessary. All the stonemasons were assigned to the engineering team, and another 300 people were recruited. Gunpowder? OK, all the gunpowder in their hands was assigned to the engineering team! It was just one thing, all the fiber ducts must be paved with stone slabs to ensure quality!

In addition, Zhang Zhao also did some calculations for Lin Chunhong. After the fiber route is completed, a special boatman team will be established. Each boatman team will be responsible for a section of waterways, so that the boatman will no longer have to get off the boat and pull the fibers. This not only saves the boatman, but also can pull the fibers for other fleets and make a lot of profits. The huge prospect makes Lin Chunhong very happy. Such a Yangtze River is the golden waterway. If there is no gold to make, what is the golden waterway?

The temporary plan is to build the fiber path to Sandouping, and then there is no business yet. Let’s talk about it later. According to Lin Chunhong’s plan, the profit earned by the boatman team is to build the fiber path until the fiber path extends to Chongqing.

However, Zhang Zhao's report also reported a strike incident, which gave Lin Chunhong a headache.

The incident happened in April of the fourth year of Chongzhen.

Nowadays, Geheyan has basically become a commodity distribution center for several major lawsuits, and there are many merchants coming and going. Once the Xilan Cap brocade and Rongmei Green Tea in the toast were launched, they were warmly welcomed. Many merchants traveled thousands of miles to attract the reputation, which made the transaction volume of Geheyan's cargo warehouse increase day by day. Guo Mingyan even suggested that Geheyan's charging method be compared with Yiling cargo warehouse, but considering that the scattered transactions of natives also require a market, Lin Chunhong rejected this proposal.

The expansion of the trading market directly led to a sharp expansion of the fleet size. In addition to some of the Jiang bandits who were retained by Zhou Wang, almost all of them were sent to the shipwork team. Zhao Hehai and Li Mengshen were also in charge and still worked under Zhang Zhao's command. Zhao Hehai was responsible for the fleet along the Qingjiang River.

The dock on Biheyan was filled with all kinds of goods, and some workers were dividing the goods there. A worker shouted: "Twenty cans of honey, Jingzhou, five days!"

A man who looked like a master looked at the account book in his hand and shouted: "Class II cargo, Class B Chou cargo ship!"

So, a few workers came over and transported the goods to the designated Class B ship. It turned out that after Zhang Zhao felt the problem of cargo transportation and export, Lin Chunhong sent Li Chongde to assist him in sorting the goods. After a long period of observation, Li Chongde figured out a way, which was to classify the goods according to the departure, destination, and urgency, and divided them into one and two categories... and then as the destination and departure point increase, it would increase. In addition, the cargo ship was classified according to the speed, the departure and destination, and expressed it by the heavenly stems and earthly branches. In this way, the goods corresponded to the cargo ship, loading and unloading quickly, saving a lot of manpower. This method is simple and easy to use, and is very suitable for Lin Chunhong's current cargo warehouse and shipwork team.

But Zhao Hehai doesn't need to be managed by this method. His task is to manage the fleet well, ensure the safety and arrival of the fleet on time. When the fleet is loading and unloading goods, they have nothing to do. They drink when they should drink, and they should be stimulated and no one cares about them. Now someone has opened a sensation courtyard from Heyan, and the business is quite good. It is said that it is Qin Bangding's industry, and someone specifically reported this to Lin Chunhong. After Lin Chunhong heard this, he laughed it off. His subordinates had a business acumen. He was too happy, let alone stop him.

But Zhao Hehai has not only not interested in drinking these days, but also lost interest in the top cards of Biheyan. He and a former bandit sat on the high ground of the dock, looking at the busy workers on the dock. Zhao Hehai didn't know what he was chewing in his mouth, and didn't say a word, just staring at a certain place to be trance.

"Niu Da, do you think we'll just live like this in our life?"

Niu Da smiled and said, "Of course I can't forget it. I haven't gotten married yet. After this year, I have more than thirty taels of silver in my hand. I plan to find a wife in Bailizhou."

Zhao Hehai turned aside the white bull and cursed: "Virtue! Like a pig!"

It turned out that Zhao Hehai had been thinking about the sea in the past. Since joining the Dengzhou Navy, he fell in love with the vast sea and even more in the shaky life. He felt that he was living a very frustrated life now, busy with the same things every day, and lived in a turbulent manner every day. This kind of life was not the life he wanted. He was used to excitement and adventure. But Niu Da had never seen the sea before, so how could he understand Zhao Hehai's thoughts? Without saying a word, Zhao Hehai stared at the boat in the Qingjiang River silently.

After a long time, Zhao Hehai said again: "I heard that three brothers from my second brother had lost another one. When I was pulling the fiber, I fell from the mountain road and fell into the Yangtze River. I didn't even catch the bones. Alas, if this continues, my brothers from the past will be almost dead!"

This resonated with Niu Da. Niu Da said sadly and angrily: "Did Lin Dianshi want all the Jiang bandits who have been cast to die? Did the emperors in the past deal with the heroes of Liangshan like this?"

Zhao Hehai was a little confused about Niu Da’s thinking. Where did this go? Is Lin Chunhong still afraid that their men would rebel? But Zhao Hehai had no intention of explaining to Lin Chunhong, but just sighed heavily and said, "It's so pitiful that brothers have changed from tigers to buffaloes!"

Just as Zhao Hehai and Niu sighed, the master came over and shouted: "Deputy General Manager Zhao, the Yichou class ship to Jingzhou has been loaded and can set off!"

Zhao Hehai was angry and replied, "I'm not in the mood to set off today!"

When the master heard this, he felt that Zhao Hehai was in a bad mood and couldn't help but persuade: "Deputy General Manager Zhao, if this kind of ship does not set off today, he cannot arrive in Jingzhou at the prescribed time. This is a major accident and the punishment is very severe."

When Zhao Hehai heard the punishment, he immediately jumped up from the ground and cursed: "Punishment, punish you, you want Lin Chunhong to punish me! All the brothers are dead, and it's nothing to die. I don't want to do it anymore. Damn, it's like a dog from Lin Chunhong!" After that, he and Niu Dayang left.

The master was so angry that he was trembling, but because he was a newcomer, he did not argue with Zhao Hehai, so he reported the situation to Guo Mingyan. Guo Mingyan did not dare to be careless and immediately wrote to Zhang Zhao to deal with this matter.

It happened that Zhang Zhao was at Yazikou. After hearing this, he rushed to Biheyan overnight. When he saw Zhao Hehai without saying a word, he ordered someone to tie Zhao Hehai up and hand it over to Li Chongde for handling.

Li Chongde's position also includes ruling and punishment matters, equivalent to the Grand Justice of the Lin Group. Li Chongde also had no sympathy. According to the charge of dereliction of duty and insulting his teammates, Zhao Hehai was sentenced to whip ten times and serve hard labor for five days.

Zhao Hehai regretted it after leaving. He knew that he would definitely implicate Zhang Zhao. Besides, Lin Chunhong treated the original Jiang bandits equally and did not feel sorry for these Jiang bandits. When Zhang Zhao asked someone to tie him up, he did not make any excuses. He also admitted his sins calmly in front of Li Chongde.

The execution of the whipping was bloody and painful, Zhao Hehai insisted on not snorting. After finishing the ten whip, Zhang Zhao could no longer hold it back and hugged Zhao Hehai and cried bitterly. While crying, he choked and said, "Brother, I'm sorry for you. I know you want to go out to sea, but now we don't have the conditions!"

Zhao Hehai also had tears in his eyes and said, "Brother, it's not right for me. He always dreams, but I do think about the kind of life I used to be!"

"What are the good things about the navy in the court? We have not suffered much grievances?"

"As long as I can go out to sea, I can do anything!"

Zhang Zhao felt even more uncomfortable. He now married his wife and had a son. His wife and children lived a comfortable life in Bailizhou. Zhang Zhao was also very satisfied with the status quo and did not want to live the life that was once a bloody life. Moreover, since he figured out how to classify goods and ships with Li Chongde, the efficiency of transportation has been greatly improved, which also made him feel very accomplished and obsessed with management innovation and unable to extricate himself. He understood Li Mengshen and Zhao Hehai's ideas very well. The sea is really an attractive black hole!

"Brother promises you that Lin Dianshi will think of a way to see if he can buy a sea boat and let you go out to sea!"

...

After Lin Chunhong knew that Zhao Hehai and Li Mengshen wanted to go out to sea, he couldn't help but pat the table and cursed: "Nainai, I was cheated so hard. Which expert said that the Han people are a nation that fears the sea?" Lin Chunhong was very angry. He was stupid in his studies before and believed in books. Thinking about the era of the Ming Dynasty when the entire Ming Dynasty smuggling, hundreds of thousands of Han people risked their heads to go out to sea to do business, and countless heroes emerged. How could it be a nation that fears the sea?

"Tiancheng, hurry up and write a document to Zhang Zhao and ask him to bring Li Mengshen and Zhao Hehai to see me!"

Lin Chunhong's madness surprised Zheng Tiancheng. He hesitated for a moment and reminded: "Buying a sea boat may not be a matter of overnight."

Zheng Tiancheng's words calmed down Lin Chunhong. After thinking about it carefully, he felt that he was really too reckless just now. "I'll talk about it after the three of them come."

After saying that, he walked to a world map and stared at the map in a daze. This map was copied by Lin Chunhong from a missionary through Qu Shizi. It was not accurate, but the rough shape and islands along China's coastal areas were basically there. As for the correct proportion, Lin Chunhong didn't know.

When Zhang Zhao and the other two arrived at Zhijiang nervously, it was already three days later. Lin Chunhong brought Zhang Zhao and the other two to the map. As soon as Zhang Zhao and the other two saw the map, their eyes were straight, and Zhao Hehai couldn't help it. Before Lin Chunhong could speak, he pointed and pointed on the map.

The three of them exclaimed: "I didn't expect that this world is so big, our Ming Dynasty is very small."

Lin Chunhong pointed to the map and asked, "Now this sea is controlled by Zheng Zhilong, and it controls the trade routes connecting Japan and North Korea. This sea is controlled by Liu Xiang, and then this large area is controlled by Westerners. What are your plans? Are you going to rob the robbery or be a maritime merchant?"

The three of them looked at each other, but they didn't expect Lin Chunhong to be so straightforward and asked their plans directly. In fact, Zhao Hehai and Li Mengshen had no plans, they just wanted to go out to sea. They did not expect that the sea has been divided up now and there is no room for retail investors to survive.

This idea made Zhao Hehai and Li Mengshen feel frustrated. Zhao Hehai said: "We have no plans now, and I don't know what Lord Dian Shi wants us to do?"

Lin Chunhong admired Zhao Hehai's frankness very much, patted his shoulder and said, "I have always respected people who want to take risks. If you have any ideas in the future, tell me not to be stuck in your stomach. I want you to take a trip to Guangzhou and learn about the shipping business. Then you can make a plan for me. As long as I think the plan is reasonable and it is beneficial to us, I will invest any more money!"

Zhao Hehai and Li Mengshen were very excited and kept thanking each other, but Zhang Zhao's lips moved and said nothing.

Lin Chunhong asked, "Zhang Zhao, do you want to go out to sea too? Hey, you are going, who will take care of my fleet? I really lack people now."

Zhang Zhao immediately clasped his fists and said, "Of course I know the difficulties of Lord Dian Shi. I won't go this time, but it will be hard to say in the future."

Lin Chunhong laughed and said, "Don't be busy with your decision first. I'll take you to Bailizhou to see something!"

Lin Chunhong brought Zhang Zhao and the other two to Bailizhou. After strict identity verification, they entered the shipyard. Zhang Zhao and the other two had known that a ship was building in the shipyard, and in order to keep it confidential, a high wall was erected around the shipyard. Outsiders had no idea what they were doing inside. Now they entered the shipyard and saw a huge ship appearing in front of them. The four of them walked to the dock and found that the ship was in the final paint stage, not far from being launched.

When the two Westerners saw Lin Chunhong coming, they hurriedly bowed to the ceremony: "I have met Lord Dianshi."

Lin Chunhong hurriedly said, "You guys are busy, don't bother me, I'll just come and have a look." The two Westerners walked away and continued to work. The two Westerners recruited from Fuzhou through Aruluo, one named Zedia and the other named Fendos, respectively, were the Portuguese and the Swedes. They were a little unwilling to do it, after all, building sea ships can show their value, but with the attraction of high rewards, they came to Bailizhou and were about to work for a while and leave after making enough money.

When the two saw the mountain of ships, they were very excited and had long left their plans to leave and designed ships for Lin Chunhong. After all, there were not many places where Lin Chunhong had reserved so much wood, and these high-quality ships just provided them with room to play. After the Westerners came, Lin Chunhong put forward his request: fast speed, flexibility, high protection, strong firepower, suitable for walking in the Yangtze River. Zedia and Fendos designed this kind of ship after thinking about it, according to Lin Chunhong's requirements.

The ship was erected with two masts up to fifteen meters, about seventy feet long and about twelve feet wide. There were about twenty holes on one side, and wooden oars more than twenty feet long extended out of the holes. In addition to the holes that extended the wooden oars, there were three larger holes on the other side, which were gun holes, which were covered with fishing nets to enhance protection. There was no bulging window on the ship to avoid trapping on fire. There was also a hidden main gun on the bow of the ship, which was probably a gun with a longer range.

"This ship looks like a centipede, with so many legs!" Zhao Hehai said.

"Haha, Brother Zhao's statement is really vivid. Okay, this ship is called the centipede ship. Originally, those two Western guys wanted to install three-layer wooden oars, but I considered that there were too many sailors needed, so I only built one layer. Otherwise, there would be more legs!"

"How fast can this ship be? There are so many oars and two masts. There is no faster ship on the Yangtze River than it!" Li Mengshen always considers the problem from a technical perspective.

"I don't know how fast it is. You'll know after getting into the water in a few days. Guess what I want to do with this boat?"

Zhang Zhao thought for a while and said, "Exterminate the Poyang Lake bandits?"

"Haha, I'm half right. The lower reaches of the Yangtze River are rich and rich. If you don't get a piece of the pie, you're not at ease."

"But this ship cannot shoot arrows, so it can only be used with cannons. Where did Lord Dian Shi get the cannon?" Zhang Zhao asked.

Lin Chunhong spread his hands and said with a bitter face: "I originally got a few small squat cannons from Datian. I tried it, but it didn't meet the requirements at all, so I had to buy some cannons from Westerners. The guy Tiancheng went to Macau specifically. It is said that he bought it and it will take a month to transport it. Fortunately, gunpowder is difficult. I got hundreds of kilograms of gunpowder in Datian last time, and I don't know how long it will last."

"This ship is not easy to operate, paddler, sailor, helmsman, gunner, fire... Wow, so many people are indispensable, it's too difficult!" Li Mengshen sighed.

Lin Chunhong smiled and said, "Let's get to know each other slowly, I'm not in a hurry to go to war, how about it? Are you interested in it?"

Zhao Hehai shook his head and said, "I still want to go to Guangzhou and see the sea."

Zhang Zhaoze didn't say a word, only Li Mengshen tried it out loud and said, "I want to give it a try!"

Lin Chunhong was overjoyed and said, "Okay, the captain is you, you don't have to go to the shipwork team anymore. You will live here from now on, learn from Zedia and Fendos, and ask more places you don't understand. In the future, it will be a life-threatening thing when fighting. A question that you don't understand may be a life-threatening one!"

Li Mengshen said: "But I have a requirement that I must ensure sufficient supply of gunpowder, otherwise I will not do it. This ship has no gunpowder, except to escape, and it is useless!"

Lin Chunhong patted his head and said, "Take this problem to me, don't worry, I guarantee the supply of gunpowder."
Chapter completed!