"Doesn't Jihua say that the bases for displaced people are in Jeju and Taiwan?" Liu San interjected and asked, as a member of the Senate, he had already seen all of them roughly on the internal BB. Before boarding the ship, I read the mission briefing of the Haitian on this voyage.

Zhao Yingong explained: It is true that the base for displaced people is in Jeju and Taiwan, but an forward base is also needed in Shandong as a transfer point for collecting displaced people and a base for the work team.

Now that they have opened up the relationship with Sun Yuanhua through the Catholic Church in Hangzhou, as long as they have his support, it will not be a problem to set up a stockade as a base in the Deng-Lai area in the name of reclamation.

The scale of the base does not need to be very large, if the scale is too large, it will involve the problem of having to equip the left-behind troops, and the construction investment will further squeeze the resources of the planning institute for engines. Therefore, the scale of the base should not be large, and it should be based on the use of local resources in Shandong: including population and building materials.

After the end of the engine operation, the Shandong base can be retained or revoked according to the situation, and Zhao Yinggong's tendency is to try to retain it as a tentacle of the future Shandong Raiders.

"If possible, there is nothing wrong with arranging one or two veterans to be powerful landlords in Shandong." Zhao Yinggong said, "Shandong's coastal areas can make a difference in agriculture, fishery and commerce. ”

Just as Zhao Yingong was chatting with Li Ziping and others in the stern, the other members of the mission on the bow deck were worried. They were half reluctant to come to the "smoky ship" because they were completely out of desperation. A few merchants sat on the benches prepared for them temporarily, thinking that they didn't know how much silver they would have to pay for this "send-off". The tea and snacks on the folding table did not move a sip. The only one who was calm and composed, as Zhao Yinggong's bodyguard, of course knew that there was an unusual relationship between the master and the Australian.

Gao Xuan sat on the stool cautiously, looked at the tea and snacks on the table, and couldn't help swallowing a mouthful of spit. It was not that he admired Australian culture and hoped to get close to it, but that a scribe in the mission was unwilling to take the risk of facing any "Australians", so he spent four taels of silver to let him get on the ship.

Gao Xuanren was poor and short-minded, and the situation that his family was about to be unable to open the pot made him have to accept the four taels of silver. Fortunately, things are not troublesome, it is nothing more than advancing and retreating with the class.

"Everything is at the command of Master Zhao." The scribe who had spent the money told him, "When you get off the boat, you can go as you please, and you don't have to worry about the rest." ”

When I got on the boat, I saw that Master Zhao was taken into the cabin alone, and they were left here, and a few sailors took care of them. Looking at the mō is kind, and he can also speak Chinese. It's just that on this deck, there are soldiers everywhere with bird guns, all wearing blue and white short coats, and they are murderously holding bird guns, looking like they are facing a great enemy. Everyone went up and down one by one, where are they still interested in drinking tea and eating snacks.

But Gao Xuan hadn't eaten anything since the morning, and the so-called breakfast was boiled with a little water from the buckwheat rice pot at the bottom of the pot. His family had been without rice for several days, and he relied on the help of his father-in-law and brother-in-law to buy some miscellaneous grains. Now I see a lot of dim sum in front of me - in fact, there are just a few flower sè biscuits on board that are exclusively for the veterans: including the very rare cream cookies, waffles, pineapple mì biscuits and savory soda biscuits.

The beverage is kombucha kvas, not to mention that it is still fermenting, so it is not suitable for long-term storage and transportation on board.

Finally, he couldn't help but pick up a piece of white sè long strip of dim sum that looked like sū skin. He took a bite and a sweet and greasy texture immediately spread in his mouth, but when he tried to taste it, the biscuit disappeared without a trace in his mouth.

This peculiar feeling immediately pricked his stomach, and the empty stomach immediately made a huge protest to him, so all kinds of biscuits soon fell into his stomach one after another, at first, Gao Xuan was still concerned about the problem of face, and seeing that everyone's unappetizing mō-like physiological needs finally defeated spiritual needs, he ate honestly and unceremoniously, and after a while, he swallowed all kinds of biscuits on the table like a whirlwind. I drank two cups of kombucha in one go.

"This prime minister has a good appetite." Sitting across from him was the head of the Huizhou Merchants' Local Tea Guild. Tea is a big business in Hangzhou, since the Tea Guild has money, it is inevitable that a lot of expenses will fall on their heads, and the cost of the ship to get out of the house will naturally fall on the head of the Tea Guild. Seeing that the impostor sour man on the other side was eating and drinking so energetically, he was not worried at all, and the president was very unhappy, and he couldn't help but secretly scolded: "Wine bag rice bag!" ”

Gao Xuan's face turned red, and he still stiffened his mouth: "I'm not at the mercy of them when I get on this boat?" Instead of sitting and worrying, it is better to eat and drink freely, and the head will sneer and stop talking. Of course, he is not the opponent of scholars, but he looks down on these "sour sons" who are not officials. He looked at the deck, which was peculiar: full of ropes, sails, and all sorts of equipment he did not recognize, and at first glance it was a disarray, but on closer inspection it seemed to be in order. The sailors did their duty and did not move around randomly, and no one chatted and talked at will, which seemed very strict.

"What a thief." Thinking of this, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, wondering if they knew that they were the owner of the tea house, would they detain themselves and ask for ransom?

Gao Xuan had a full stomach, but his mood relaxed, he was a poor scholar, penniless, and he didn't have a lot of concerns, but he was curious to observe that the Haitian was coming. Of particular interest to him was the black, thick, tall chimney on the pedestal in the middle of the deck, which was smoking black sè almost all the time, and from time to time, some white sè water vapor was emitted.

There has been a lot of discussion in the city about this black chimney these days, some people say that it is the evil art of the Australians, the chimney is used by them to worship the gods, and the black smoke is some kind of overseas fragrance; It is also said that under the chimney is a huge furnace, constantly burning on fire, and the latter theory of propelling the ship with fire has been ridiculed by many people: how can this big wooden ship be equipped with a large furnace and burn every day without burning the hull? As for the burning of ships, it is even more unheard of. It has also been speculated that there are livestock pushing the water wheel below deck......

Gao Xuan was also curious, but now even if he was only a dozen feet away from the huge chimney, he couldn't see the reason for it. But one thing he was sure of was that the smoke coming out of the chimney was not "foreign smell", but out-and-out soot, and there was indeed a big stove under the chimney.

He wanted to get closer and take a closer look, but he didn't dare. If there is some kind of "militaristic land" there, I am afraid that I will lose my head if I get close. So his gaze was cast on the cannon that was close at hand.

The 48-pounder cannon on the bow deck was not covered with a gun jacket, and the cast-iron cannon body was aimed straight in the direction of Hangzhou City, and the gun body was scrubbed and shiny. Gao Xuan noticed that the cannon was mounted on a peculiar gun carriage, and there were no wheels under the gun carriage, but there were two black iron tracks, which had been rubbed and shiny. On the side of the ship next to the gun hull, a row of round black sè shells was stuck in a long trough. Everything seems to be in order, Gao Xuan, like all Confucian scholars of the late Ming Dynasty, had a strong interest in '袼物), 'firearms' and 'military science', which is related to the social and historical background of the time. The constant military defeats made the court have great expectations for the development and introduction of several new weapons to turn the tide of the war. At that time, not only did a paper firearm development arise, but also many so-called new tactics appeared, such as "javelin to control the enemy" and "suffocate to break the enemy", and so on.

He is also like all similar Ming "military enthusiasts", with low eyes, no jishu and no experience, pure empty talk. In Wanbi Bookstore, he once wanted to find some Australian books on the art of war to win by surprise. But there are no such books in the bookstore.

Now look at this "sophisticated" Australian cannon right under your nose, of course, you have to take a few more looks.

Suddenly, someone shouted: "In the direction of 105, there is an enemy!" With this roar, several sailors standing next to the cannon rushed up and ran in the direction of the warning reported by the outpost.

Compared with the volume of this artillery, its rapid direction of rotation surprised Gao Xuan even more, and the four or five gunners moved the cannon with such light weight, and it could be seen that it was almost effortless, and it did not make an unpleasant creak, which surprised everyone present.

Gao Xuan knew that it was not difficult to make an object turn, and the wooden door, wheel, and stone mill were nothing more than installing a round shaft. But the stuff on it is too heavy, and it won't be so easy to turn, or even not at all.

What is the mystery under the cannons of the Australians? Gao Xuan stared at the pedestal under the cannon, hoping to see a few clues to be written in the book when the time comes, maybe he will be valued by a certain big guy and recruit him into the curtain. With the help of the big guy, it is not a problem for the middle man to lift people, and he can also mix up an official and a half-position for several years, which impresses the father-in-law, and even makes the brother-in-law kneel in front of him in a proper manner and say hello This guy who runs the hall has no respectful attitude towards him at all now, and his words are very rude!

The sailors didn't know that Gao Xiucai was calculating, but they were nervously watching the riverbank where the threat was. After a while, the warning was lifted. The three ox carts that Wangshao saw were not hauling cannons, but were loaded with the "reward" that the Hangzhou government was ready to send to the ship.