The Yuandou set sail in the evening, and after departing from Dayuan, it headed all the way west to the Penghu Islands, which were located in the middle of the strait.

This is the last period of active northeast monsoon, and in a few days, as the temperature drops further, the northwest monsoon blowing from Siberia will gradually dominate the direction of the continental coast.

Taking advantage of the last northeast monsoon, the Yuandou will see the Penghu Islands after a night of unhurried sailing, when the fish belly appears white in the east.

Due to the application of various technological devices, the traversal forces have a huge environmental advantage in the New World, and whether on land or sea, the night is a friend of the traversers. The night voyage was timed, so that the laborers, who had rested in the cabin all night, could go to work in the early morning.

The purpose of Yuandou's trip was the basalt rocks on the Penghu Islands.

"I don't understand what you guys think, so I have to carry stones with here." Mu Longcheng, the captain of the Yuandou, was dressed in a navy blue Type 07 naval officer uniform, his leather shoes were shiny, and on his shoulders was a major epaulette bought on Taobao, and the brim of the middle-aged handsome man's big cap was pressed very low at the moment, with a dark image of the boss behind the scenes.

Professor Luo, who was also standing on the bow of the boat, making a breath between the morning glow and the sea and the sky, as if he was inhaling the first breath of purple gas in the early morning, slowly collected his work, and gave Mu Longcheng a roll of the eyes after he was done: "It is a stone of moderate size and qualified shape, which can be used to build a high-temperature kiln wall, Mu Da shopkeeper!" ”

"Oh..."Mu Longcheng thought for a moment: "I haven't been to the kiln area much, are there no stones there?" ”

"Or too small, like a pebble; It's not too big, it's weird, we don't have the hands to cut it now, and we don't have the machine to cut it, so we can only come to Penghu......"

"I understand this way, it seems that the people of Penghu have already helped us cut the stones......"

Professor Luo rolled his eyes again: "What about you returning to the navy, haven't you been to the northeast corner of the Merchant Mansion?" ”

"Oh, you said the observation deck, I went up to see it first, I have to lead the troops every day, where do I have the spare time to watch the scenery?" Mu Longcheng said puzzled.

"Well, you must not have noticed the stone wall under the fort?"

"Is there such a thing?"

"Alas......"

When the Dutch were building the Merchant House, they actually never imagined that one day they would be attacked and bombarded by tens of thousands of troops with the surname of the country from the west of the Merchant Mansion.

The northeast direction of the dock on the Taijiang Inland Sea is the focus of the Dutchman's defense. This can be seen from the architecture: before the arrival of the traversers, the Dutch had already begun to add stone to the rammed earth walls of the merchants' houses, and the fort in the northeast corner was the first to be used, using basalt from the Penghu Islands.

Basalt is a rock that cools down after a volcanic magma erupts, and the Penghu Islands are volcanic islands with a base of basalt. It was a good building material, and crushed stone was often used to lay foundations in later generations, but today the purpose of the Yuandou is basalt square bricks.

After the volcanic eruption was completed tens of millions of years ago, after the magma gradually cooled, due to the different cooling rates, the basalt Fangshan will produce polyangular fissures, and today, the basalt Fangshan has formed a unique hexagonal or quadrangular stone pillar mountain, these stone pillars are like a piece of square bread stacked together, with clear joints and consistent size.

After the Dutch occupied the unguarded Penghu in 1622, they quickly built a series of fortresses on the archipelago by capturing coastal fishermen, which were standard fortresses with a side length of about 56 meters, and the material used was basalt.

After being driven out by the Ming army, the Dutch, especially during the construction of the city of Geranza, returned to Penghu by boat many times, carrying basalt bricks from the previously abandoned fortress and bringing them back to the city to build the city - this is mentioned many times in the Dutchman's own diary.

After the Yuandou came to Penghu, it did not go to the main island, but made a small circle and chose a smooth beach to dock on Dajishan Island in the northeast corner of Penghu.

After coming here, the spectacular scenery is clear at a glance: like a square match standing on a shallow dish, the neat columnar sea cliffs stand so abruptly between the sea and the sky, and the scene of magma slowly cooling on the sea surface thousands of years ago is still faintly recognizable.

The beach is filled with black, weathered basalt blocks that naturally fall off along the crevasses.

The laborers, who had already been prepared, disembarked one after another, carrying bamboo baskets and flat poles, and followed Professor Luo, who was dressed in a jacket. After a few steps, Professor Luo selected a square, notebook-sized basalt sample from the stone pile, held it above his head, and then he had nothing to do, and walked back to the boat with his hands behind his back.

It didn't take long for the laborers to carry a basket of stones back to the ship. Professor Luo pointed to the bamboo basket and smiled at Mu Longcheng: "Look, there is no need for the people of Penghu at all, nature will help us do things." ”

Mu Longcheng was also surprised, and took the telescope to look at the bamboo-shaped black sea cliff: "This is really a magic work!" ”

"This is a scenic reserve in the afterlife, have you ever been here for free travel?"

"I've been to Thailand ......"

"I don't know, aren't you in the navy, you still drive a ship to smuggle or something after retiring, didn't you drive the ship over to take a look?" Professor Luo smirked and began to retaliate.

"Fart! That's called anti-smuggling, not smuggling! If I dare to drive the boat here, it is called a provocation and a hot search, what nonsense are you talking about! ”

"Hehe, then it's so good today, it's enough to see ......"

Mu Longcheng and Professor Luo set up a small table at the bow of the boat, chatting and farting while watching the laborers pick among the stone piles, and then baskets of ashlar stones were carried down the bilge. At this rate, it will definitely not be possible to do it today, Professor Luo probably calculated, at least until tomorrow afternoon or after dark, the Yuandou can return with full cabin.

Sure enough, the Yuandou stayed in Daji Shanyu until two o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, and then pulled anchor and returned home. The return path was a bit strange, the boat did not turn around and return, but circled around the Penghu Islands, until it reached the ocean surface of Xiyu Island, the westernmost part of Penghu, and the speed of the boat slowed down.

The three guests, who had been in the cabin since departure, were brought onto deck.

These three benevolent brothers are black and thin, with flat noses and thick lips, typical of my southern Fujian style, and the first one is called Xu Duanwu, and all three of them are relatives. On the third day after crossing the crowd and capturing Dayuan, these three brothers were interrogated and came out of the calendar-the maritime merchant/Daming who died heroically for bravely resisting the villain Zheng Zhilong in history, left the general/pirate Xu Xinsu in the Dayuan Merchant House, a family salesman in charge of communicating with the Dutch.

This is also the reason why Professor Luo was a commissioner on the Yuandou's voyage this time: digging stones belongs to mining, and dealing with the three Xu family salesmen is diplomacy, and the two tasks are not related, so Professor Luo, who understands the sky and the air, can only be sent out.