The boys who have lived outside for many years were only seven or eight years old when they left the Damin Dynasty, and now they are all young men. They were selected by the lady of the proprietor to follow those foreigners to live and study overseas together. Several children live in a place where they can't even speak and learn the knowledge of various subjects, and the suffering cannot be clearly expressed in one sentence or two. Although they have become accustomed to life abroad for so many years, they still miss their hometown very much and want to return to the place where they left their childhood memories as soon as possible.

As soon as they arrived at the Nanhai wharf, they couldn't wait to part with the caravan in the capital, and their royal caravan went back first. When they heard that Zhao Fujin, the steward who led the team, wanted to help the master's family buy two boats, they raised their hands in approval. They have lived outside for many years, and they occasionally go to sea with a few foreigners who took them at the beginning, and they are also knowledgeable. Naturally, everyone knew that Steward Zhao was going to help the owner buy a ship, but when he knew that Steward Zhao was hesitant to sell a few ships, he immediately wanted to blow up: "No!" Steward Zhao! You can't sell a single one! With these ships, we will be able to organize a fleet of our own, and we will not need to follow the caravan of the imperial court at all in the future. I believe that the proprietors will be willing to have a caravan of their own. ”

Zhao Fujin clenched his fist with one hand, put it under his nose, coughed lightly, and said to Chen Xin, who raised objections on behalf of everyone: "Your plan is good!" It's just that the owner didn't seem to think about forming a caravan at sea, and I mentioned this idea to the owner before I went to sea. But the proprietor means that although the overseas business is very profitable, it is too risky. Whoever lost their lives in it would be unacceptable to him. He felt that if he followed the caravan of the imperial court every few years, although he earned less, his safety could be guaranteed. As for private caravans, forget it! ”

"Huh? And what's going on? Chen Xin and a few other boys all looked at Zhao Fujin in puzzlement. I want to know if what he said is true or not.

Zhao Fujin told them that they couldn't stand it, so they had to speak: "Yes!" You don't have to worry about this, I won't sell this boat, let's go back and hand it over to the owner! ”

"That's right! Let's go back and persuade the owner not to sell it, but to keep it for our own use! ”

Zhao Fujin rubbed his nose, really speechless.

From the South China Sea Wharf to the inland of the Central Plains, there are actually rivers and waterways. But the caravan of the Wang family never left. Because the cost of the waterway is not a lot, and the danger is even worse in the eyes of the Wang family, passing through the waterway of Yunnan-Guichuan. In many places, the destructive power of the tsunami is even greater. Talents like theirs are only advantageous on land, but useless on water.

Just by land, these boys who haven't returned home for more than ten years are bitter, and they can't fly back immediately in their hearts. But the body had to move slowly with the caravan's carriage and horses.

Urgent! Urgent! Urgent! Yes!

The second girl and Xiaohu in the family have also received the message. All the people who had left for overseas had returned, and none of them were left behind or disabled. That's nice!

Full of anticipation and apprehension, I want to see what the children who have been studying abroad for so many years have learned. Don't bring back all the dross.

This time the ocean-going caravan came back to cause even more sensation than the last time the caravan returned, because they arrived home just in time for the end of the year. At the beginning, the children who had lived with Chen Xin's children for several years, except for two who were officials outside and couldn't come back, the rest rushed home from all directions because they got the news in advance. The apparent reason is to come back for the New Year to pay the account, but in fact, it is to see what has become of the young people who have lived outside for more than ten years.

Because there are more and more children in the school. The school had to be rebuilt a few years earlier, and all the original bungalows were converted into teaching buildings. There are 20 classrooms on each floor, with a total of four floors. The dormitories are also bungalows converted into buildings, with 40 rooms on each floor of the men's dormitory, with a total of four floors. The place where everyone gathered was on the first floor of the boys' dormitory, a large and spacious cafeteria.

Er Ya looked at the boys who had become big and small in front of him, and couldn't think of what they looked like when they were children, and said with a lot of guilt. Fortunately, they have been taken care of by those foreigners, and the Han people at this time are also known as the Tang people, and their reputation overseas is still very loud and respected, and they have not been discriminated against or attacked for no reason for so many years. Looking at their enthusiasm and hearty smiles, you can see that they should be doing well outside.

Erya asked one of the boys, Zhang Motan: "Is the gold that was given to you before enough for so many years?" ”

When the foreigners brought these children over, Er Ya gave more than 5,000 taels of gold to bring over, and the caravan people left more than 20,000 taels of silver for them before they returned. If they live a normal life, it is said that it is enough, but I am afraid that they will have a large consumption. After all, I have grown up in the past two years, and it is impossible to only have the cost of food, drink and clothing.

"The money you gave Uncle Leon is useless, this time when Brother Zhao and they arrived, Uncle Leon gave us the gold you gave and the silver that Brother Zhao left before, so that we can buy some rare goods and bring them back to make money."

"Oops! How's that going to work? Have you pushed it off? ”

"We didn't ask for it, but they heard that you were interested in all kinds of machinery, so they bought some new ones for you. Say thank you for your rescue! They said that it was only later when they were able to communicate verbally with several officials that they learned that you had risked your life to save them. ”

"Poof!" Er Ya laughed! It's like you're at war. "How can it be so exaggerated! And risked your life? Let's keep those things first! Next time you go, bring them some silk, porcelain, embroidery. How are you living over there? I'm afraid you won't adapt to the soil! Have you learned everything you have learned over the years? After the New Year, I will start asking you to contribute to what you have learned over the years. ”

Several people replied in unison: "No problem!" ”

"Roar! I'm pretty confident! Curator Shi came to the side with a rare joke. When the children, who have only returned after more than ten years away, arrive home, the first thing they ask is where they have gone. Looking for him everywhere is as eager as a wanderer returning to find his parents. It puts him in a very good mood.

The crowd that filled the cafeteria laughed when they heard the curator's joke nearby, followed by laughter from the people on the periphery.

Waiting for the owner, the lady of the owner, and the curator Shi to talk to a few returnees for a lot of time. I left the space to the young people who couldn't wait to ask what it was like overseas.

The boys who returned from afar were also very excited, and finally had a sense of stability and steadfastness when they returned home. There are so many partners who welcome them back, and they have not forgotten these young people who are far away. They still remember that when they were young, they ate too much and called the doctor for a stomachache at night; They still remember when they were young, they fought with the children of the town and were scolded by the curator very badly; They still remember when they were children, they 'planted cowpox) and the lady of the proprietor took care of them personally; they still remember when they were children, they secretly went to the river not far away to play in the water, and were punished by the curator to stand for an afternoon; they still remember when they were children, they played in the dormitory to pick up their pants, and they were always picked up by their brothers. It is they who suffer, but it is the brothers who are criticized

When I was a child, I talked about the beautiful things and bad things, and the more I talked about them. The boys' tears also gathered more and more, laughing and crying, and talking with tears. Choked voices and laughter rang out throughout the cafeteria. Erya stood outside and watched and listened with mixed feelings, but she didn't regret letting these children go outside.

The cafeteria was still chatting lively. Erya, Xiaohu and Shi Jingxuan followed Zhao Fujin to hand over the goods.

Caravans in general. There are many goods brought overseas for sale, and few goods brought back from overseas. But the Wang family is different, Erya once told Zhao Fujin that whatever is available abroad but not in the Great Min Dynasty, no matter what it is, she must bring a little back and let her see it, so as to determine whether these things are useful for business and people's livelihood. Therefore, Zhao Fujin returned with a lot more goods than others.

Zhao Fujin opened the back door of the first car. said: "The owner, the lady of the owner, the big housekeeper, the first six cars are all a kind of flannel cloth newly produced by Westerners. Because it is one by one, it is very similar to the lamp grass in our house, so I will call it the lamp grass velvet for the time being. ”

Erya opened the waterproof and moisture-proof oilcloth wrapped on the outside, and opened it to see the flannel inside, it was indeed lamp grass velvet, Zhao Fujin did not name it wrongly. This kind of lamp grass velvet can be made of clothes with some limitations, except for trousers and down fabric, it is not very suitable for anything else. However, it is always good for their garment factory to have a new fabric.

"Not bad! This fabric can be used! At least at present, we have not yet come out with such cloth in the Damin Dynasty, and in the future, we can let those overseas merchants bring some over every time. ”

Zhao Fujin patted his head and said eagerly: "That's right! Lady of the Owner! Speaking of maritime business, I remembered that there was another important event that I didn't have time to report to you. "Because the lady of the owner and the owner have been talking to Chen Xin and them, he has not had a chance to talk about buying a boat.

Xiaohu, Erya, and Shi Jingxuan all looked at Zhao Fujin, and Erya spoke: "What's the big deal?" A good thing or a bad thing? ”

Zhao Fujin looked at the owner, the lady of the owner, and the big housekeeper all looked at him nervously, and couldn't help but reply funny: "Of course it's a good thing!" If something bad happens, how dare I delay? When we were about to get home, our caravan encountered pirates. Lord Qi was so powerful that he handed over the other party cleanly. There were also a dozen warships. I thought at the time that our family didn't even have a boat of our own, and we had to hire someone else's ship every time, and it cost a lot of money, not to mention, and there was no guarantee. begged Lord Qi to buy two boats, but Lord Qi sold them and gave them away. Now I just want to ask you if you want to keep only two or all of them? Chen Xin: They have to keep them all. Otherwise, I would have resold it over there, and I would have made a net profit of 60,000 or 70,000 taels of silver for a single ship. If you keep all of them, the cost of repairing them is not low, and a ship will cost two or three or ten thousand taels of silver. Five ships are more than 100,000 taels of silver! We don't need so many boats, and it's not a waste to put them away? ”

Erya thought about something else, she asked Zhao Fujin: "Did that Lord Qi tell you that can the people and businessmen use warships to run the merchants?!" ”

"I've asked about this, and I said it doesn't matter. The warship was a captured warship from the open sea, and it had nothing to do with our Korean warships, and it was also much behind our Korean warships. This is not forbidden by the imperial court! ”

Hearing that the warship could be used commercially, Er Ya was happy: "That's fine!" Keep it! Although it costs a lot of money to repair a ship, we can also learn from others to rent it out. In a few years, I got back all the money I spent, and I didn't have to feel sorry. (To be continued.) )