Meng Ming already knew the difficult situation of the canal boat owners, and knew that it would be more and more difficult to do business on the canal in the future, and it would be more and more difficult for the boat owners to get a job, and their livelihood would become more and more embarrassing and difficult.

First, the port construction in Shanghai requires a large number of manpower, especially craftsmen from various industries; Second, he is preparing to build an ocean-going fleet, which also requires a large number of skilled sailors.

So he wrote a job posting, focusing on the generous salary, which is twice the average salary in Yangzhou, as well as various allowances and subsidies, and the conditions are very favorable.

Meng Ming also focused on the resettlement of workers' families, and encouraged workers to drag their families and families to go there, and arrange accommodation, of course, the current conditions are a little difficult, but they will definitely get better in the future.

Meng Ming is also ready to enter the real estate industry, and has made detailed plans for the development of residential areas, commercial areas, ports, and docks.

At this time, he printed nearly 1,000 job postings, sent people to post them in the streets and alleys of Yangzhou City, and beat gongs and drums on the scene to publicize it.

Meng Ming's recruitment movement was not small, and it immediately attracted many people to watch in front of the notice, and they looked at the recruitment content, both curious and suspicious.

Fortunately, there are people at the scene to solve their doubts, not to mention the generous salary, the key workers who go from Yangzhou will be reimbursed for the travel expenses;

After they are settled, they will be given a month's living allowance to solve their worries.

Therefore, many people were moved and signed up one after another, but Meng Ming gave priority to recruiting shipwrights and sailors, and did not refuse to come to them; People in other industries are screened and screened.

At this time, Zha Yunpeng read the notice carefully, listened carefully to the explanation, and finally made up his mind to work in Huating County, but he had to discuss it with his family.

Guo Runsheng next to him was also watching and listening, he was already moved, he also looked at Zha Yunpeng on the side, and he squeezed through the crowd to talk to him.

I heard him say excitedly: "Uncle Cha, are you also reading the notice?" What do you think of the conditions? I want to go, please give me a detailed reference. ”

I saw Zha Yunpeng laugh, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Big nephew, needless to say, you are excited, even my old bones are also excited, I want to go, but I have to discuss it with your aunt first." ”

Guo Runsheng also hurriedly said: "Uncle Cha is very right, I will also hurry back to discuss with my mother, if both of us go, we will go together at that time, and we will have a companion." Uncle Cha, do you think it's okay? ”

Cha Yunpeng readily agreed, and then the two went home to discuss the matter.

When Guo Runsheng returned home, the so-called home was on the boat, got on the boat from the riverbank, and then entered the cabin.

I saw that his mother was feeding the child milk inside, revealing a white bulging mess, he was tempted for a while, so he took the opportunity to touch it, and then laughed with a smile

Her lady was startled, and hurriedly hid back; Then he looked out and saw that it was Xianggong, so he glared at him angrily.

I heard her say a little angrily: "Look at your dead appearance, it scared me, did you go to get a job?" If we don't have any more work to do, we can't make any more money, and our family will be about to run out of cooking, and there will be no rice to cook. ”

Guo Runsheng then said excitedly: "Don't be sad, don't be worried, your husband is to discuss with you about making money, now a merchant from Huating County, Xiuzhou has come to Yangzhou to recruit workers, giving priority to recruiting shipwrights and sailors, and the salary is twice the usual salary." ”

I saw his wife say sadly: "It's good, it's good, but we will run out of food in another five or six days, we can only earn and spend now, let's solve the problem in front of us first." ”

Guo Runsheng said anxiously: "Lady, after you listen to me, this merchant said that as long as you go to work, you will be paid a month's living expenses first, and you can also settle down; Uncle Cha doesn't want to go too, he went home to discuss with his family, I guess they will definitely go. ”

His wife's name is Zhao Xiu'er, and when she saw that she was a little suspicious, Guo Runsheng asked her to go to see the recruitment notice.

The husband and wife went ashore and looked at the recruitment notice, because Zhao Xiu'er and his father were a showman, and he taught her a lot of words when he was a child, so he could understand the content of the notice.

After reading it, she was relieved, and she agreed that her husband would work in Huating County to earn money.

So Guo Runsheng registered on the spot and got a wooden card as a certificate for registration.

At this time, Zha Yunpeng's family also came, and after his wife and son read the content of the notice, the three of them all signed up on the spot.

After a short time, the recruitment quota was full, and some people who were hesitant or did not report their names were remorseful, and begged the merchants to recruit a few more people, but they were all refused, so most of them went back dejected.

Guo Runsheng and his wife greeted Zha Yunpeng's family warmly, and the two agreed to go together and leave early the next morning.

At this time, Meng Ming looked at the recruitment list, and this time a total of 2,688 workers were recruited.

Most of the recruited workers are sailors and boatmen of the Yangzhou Boat Gang, accounting for about eighty percent of the total number of recruits, reaching 2,000.

Meng Ming also Meng Ming beat the snake and hit seven inches, and cut and dismembered the Yangzhou boat gang hidden underground by drawing wages from the bottom of the kettle, shaking its foundation.

The Yangzhou ship helped Yangzhou rudder lose nearly ninety percent of its members, and due to the huge loss of vital forces, it will definitely collapse in the near future, and its defeat will be a matter of time.

Chang Yilin and other high-level executives of the Yangzhou Boat Gang were still in high spirits at this time, making the Spring and Autumn Dream of the Boat Gang to regain its past glory.

Meng Ming rode the steamship Yangfan on the Yangtze River, accompanied by the heads of several giant businessmen in Yangzhou and the former governor of Yangzhou.

At this time, the governor of Yangzhou had been deposed by the imperial court, and there was no hope of recovery, so he broke off the idea of becoming an official, and at the invitation of Meng Ming, he went to Huating County.

In addition, after the director of the meritorious house in Tokyo was informed, Cao Xi organized and led the team, and also set off from Tokyo to Huating County in advance.

The steamship smoked, roared with machinery, and from time to time made a long whistle.

I saw it cut through the wind and waves, and moved quickly, occasionally overtaking many fishing boats in front, and from time to time leaving them far behind.

This also attracted the close attention of many boatmen, many of whom pointed at the ship curiously, talked a lot, and were amazed at the speed of the ship.

At this time, Yuan Changqing, the head of the Yuan family, a big grain merchant, was standing on the bow of the boat, he saw the scenery by the river constantly and rapidly retreating, and he also felt the cool river breeze brought by the fast boat.

He asked Meng Ming with great interest: "Master Horse, this ship is fast enough, and it is also very stable, and there is no use of people to shake the pulp, and the two paddle wheels are basically not used, how did you do this?" The other businessmen were also skeptical.

Meng Ming led everyone down to the cabin below deck and took them to visit the steam engine room.

As soon as they entered, they felt a wave of heat rushing towards them, and they heard several people burning charcoal, all dressed in short clothes, shirtless, and sweating;

They all wrapped a towel around their necks and kept wiping their sweat.

There was the shrill roar of machines in their ears, and there were two large machines there, and Meng Ming told them that it was a steam engine.

Only one steam engine was running, and the machine was rotating with a long shaft with the thickness of a bowl reaching out of the hull.

They also couldn't understand it, but they already knew that the ship had replaced manpower with a steam engine, and they were keenly aware of the great role and significance of its appearance, and that it would replace manpower sailing ships as the mainstream of shipping in the near future.

Meng Ming saw that they were full of interest, and he suddenly had some ideas.

He said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I want to set up an ocean trading company, are you interested?" ”

Everyone looked at each other, after all, they were not experts in overseas trade, and the risk was extremely high, maybe in the event of a storm, the ship would be destroyed and people would be lost.

However, risks and huge profits coexist, for example, the shipping in Mingzhou and Guangzhou is quite developed, and the perennial sea trade has produced many maritime giants with a family output of tens of millions, which shows that the huge profits of maritime trade are amazing.

They had several routes at their disposal: to the north there were routes in the direction of the Ryukyus, Goryeo, Jurchen and Japan;

To the south, there are several routes such as Guangzhou, Quanzhou to Srivijaya, to Gepo, to Langli to Gulin, to Langli to Dashi, to Langli to Maliba, and to Langli to East Africa.

Of course, although they were a little hesitant, they still believed in Meng Ming's vision, and of course they also gave him face, so they also agreed to join the shares.

Meng Ming saw their expressions at this time, and knew that he had to inform him in detail about his planning plan.

Then he said to the people, "Ladies and gentlemen, see this ship, which has a capacity of only fifteen hundred quintals; In the future, my shipyard can only build a huge ship with a capacity of 30,000 loads, and there is no problem in running sea transportation; At that time, we will just need to find a few boatmen who understand the sea conditions and know how to navigate. ”

When everyone heard this, they were immediately reassured, and they were overjoyed, and they all said that they decided to increase investment, saying, "Who doesn't want to have more ways to make money." ”

Of course, Meng Ming also thought about the piracy problems that might be encountered in shipping, and he decided to install artillery on the ironclad ships and form an escort team, of course, this could only be done after the large locomotive ships were built and launched.

The speed of the steamship reached one hundred and twenty-four miles in one hour, which was three times the speed of ordinary sailing ships, and it took five hundred miles from Yangzhou to Huating County, and it took four hours (eight hours) to reach Huating County.

Meng Ming and his entourage set off at Mao Shi (seven o'clock in the morning), and arrived in Huating County at Shen Shi (about three or four o'clock in the afternoon), and they first lived in Huating County, and then went to the construction site early tomorrow morning.