Liu Zheng talked about some business matters again, and Bai Guoshi saw that it was almost over, and hurriedly withdrew with the others. Liu Zheng also wanted to leave, but was left behind - there was a new task to be assigned.

"Your next mission is to go to sea, and the exploration team will organize people to take this opportunity to experience life at sea." Ma Qianzhu said.

The task assigned to the exploration team by the Planning Commission was to explore the iron ore ore in Hainan, to be precise, to investigate the iron ore in Shilu and Tiandu. Both of these are rare high-grade iron ore mines in China. The task of the exploration team is to find out exactly where they are, to map the terrain with the survey team, and to assess the difficulty and value of mining.

"The difficulty of mining Shilu is probably relatively large, but we still have to see how big it is, so that we can estimate how far our mining should be when the industry has developed," said Wen Desi. ”

At this time, Mo Xiaoan suggested: "It is better for all ministries and commissions to carry out a joint expedition." ”

"Joint expedition?!" Navy representative Li Haiping immediately came to the spirit.

"Yes, just now Commissioner Wu raised the trade. Expedition, I think that since this investigation of iron ore will use ships, in order to ensure safety, the scale should not be too small, so it is better to simply carry out a large expedition. ”

"I'm for it." Trade Minister Lu Rong is in good spirits. Get up. Recently, the situation of intra-island trade has not been satisfactory, and the current situation of traversers using Dongmen City to purchase industrial raw materials is far less than expected. Everyone had forgotten that the plane's transportation was in terrible condition.

It turned out that it was just the exploration team out of the navy. The small jihua of coastal surveys out of ships and sailors eventually became a multi-ministry joint operation. In addition to the two old partners of the exploration team and the special investigation team, it also includes the maritime liliang department, the survey team, the foreign affairs department, and the foreign trade company. The Committee of Industry and Energy and the Committee of Agriculture sent professional personnel to provide support. A number of students will also be brought on board as apprentices.

In order to meet the demand for Li and Miao's work, Mu Min was also temporarily removed from the police general. The department was seconded and set off with the team.

In addition to exploring resources, the expedition was also tasked with surveying the terrain. appearance, drawing maps, surveying people's feelings; It is also necessary to obtain resources that are useful to the traverser through trade, hunting, gathering, or other means.

"We're just like those European adventurers, you know? Way. Exploring new shipping routes, trading ...... along the way"

"By the way, burn sand and rob all the way—" Li Haiping said.

"That's not going to work! Big Three. Eight points of discipline to pay attention to! Ma Qianzhu said, "Of course, the natives who dare to challenge the authority of the crossing country are the enemy. ”

Treat your enemies as harshly and ruthlessly as winter. Everyone understands this.

"The primary goal is to obtain coconuts and coconut products. Whether our oil supply can keep up with industrial development is critical. Zhan Wuya hurriedly put forward his request.

Wu Nanhai said: "I also want to stir-fry more vegetables. ”

"Wood." Wu Kuangming said, "I have almost cut half of the mangrove resources in Bopu, and there are only miscellaneous forests on both sides of the Wenlan River, which are of little use, and I can't cut too much in order to maintain water and soil." ”

"Can't you buy it?"

"We can't buy it, it's hard to do timber trade in Lingao, but the Li people are willing to sell it to us, but the problem is that we can't transport it out - there is a lack of water system here that can make timber out of the mountains."

"Wood takes up a lot of space, and heavi—"

"You don't have to take up space on the boat, just arrange it in a row and drag it along with the boat."

"Can it work? This is not an ordinary river, but the sea. ”

"We don't go out to sea, and there is little wind and waves along the coast, so we should be able to. According to the source, this is how the North African countries of the Middle Ages transported timber in the Mediterranean. ”

"I also want the same thing, it may be difficult to do, but it is very useful," Zhan Wuya also made his own request.

"What?"

"Buckskin." Zhan Wuya said, "It is used instead of rubber to make transmission belts." ”

This is indeed a more urgent need, with the prime mover and various self-made machinery put into production, the demand for mechanical transmission belts has increased greatly. The machinery sector is temporarily in reserve, but the limited reserve is obviously impossible to support until the rubber matures - according to Wu Nanhai's calculations, the scale of industrial use of the raw rubber can be formed by the traverser for at least 15 years.

Of course, there are all kinds of raw ore, and if you can collect it by the sea, you have to mine some and bring it back. Ji Wusheng specifically mentioned quartz sand - in Haiwei Town, Changjiang, there are rich reserves of high-quality quartz sand, and it is right on the seaside, which is very convenient for mining and transportation.

"You can also buy some cotton cloth and come back." Mo Xiao'an said that in order to meet the wave of immigration after the year, the demand for cotton cloth in the garment factories of the Ministry of Light Industry has surged, and the inventory is close to running out.

"What do we exchange these things for, buy them with money?"

"You don't need ore or anything, but coconut, timber, and cotton have to be exchanged, right?"

"Yes, yes." Lu Rong was confident, "Salt." ”

"Please, salt is not a rare thing in Hainan, salt farms are everywhere, and illegal salt is also rampant."

"The illicit salt we sell is cheaper, and it is equivalent to home delivery, and the other party is willing to accept it."

"What if you don't want it?"

"There are sewing needles, shochu, coarse paper, coarse porcelain, silk...... There are a lot of small things prepared, and some mirrors are also prepared. ”

"Who are you going to sell the mirror to? So expensive. ”

"Honor the local officials and gentry or something. We are not Spaniards, we say it is trade, but in fact we rob all the way. ”

Zhan Wuya said worriedly: "However, how many people and ships do you have to move in such a large-scale sortie?" I am worried that it will damage the transport of goods between Guangdong and Macau. "The CWI relies more on sea transport than any other department, and Jihua is a little worried about them - this is not to dispatch at least two 70-ton ships?

"If we concentrate our resources, the shipyard's schooners should be completed in 10 days," he lamented. ”

"Isn't it dangerous to just build a new ship and immediately use it for such a long-distance voyage?"

"It's not a big problem." "Since this voyage is a voyage around the island, even if something goes wrong, it can land in time, which is a good opportunity for sea trials." ”

"Sailing around the island has the problem of tides, shoals and reefs, what is the safety factor? Our investment in building this ship is not small. ”

"It doesn't matter, we have a full set of charts and navigational information, and the safety factor should be the highest."

"If you really have enough fuel, you can get the landing craft out."

"Isn't this nonsense," Ma Qianzhuo said, "in fact, the reserves on the Fengcheng ship are quite considerable, but now there are many places where diesel is used: fishing boats, construction machinery, vehicles...... There is nowhere to add. ”

In fact, he had another reason known only to the top of the Executive Committee: the Fengcheng Steamer had to ensure that it had one-way fuel to Taiwan, in case the revolution suffered a serious setback.

"I think it's nice to have sailboats in North America as expedition ships. It's fast and well-equipped, perfect for sailing adventures. "Yoo has been thinking about this sailing yacht for a long time.

"You can save it, the executive committee at that time made it clear that the ship belonged to them."

"It's always okay to copy a few, right? The boat is small and durable. If you don't need engines and modern navigation equipment, the structure is not complicated, and the living facilities on board can be simplified. ”

"It's hard." Wen Desi said, "This modern sailing yacht is the crystallization of modern industrial technology, with our industrial standards, it will not be imitated in another ten years." ”

"By the way," Li Haiping remembered something, "Isn't Li Huamei's 'Hangzhou' in Bopu?" That ship is 100 tons! ”

"The Hangzhou is a dhow, and it's a good ship, but I always think there's something wrong with this woman's origins—"

"Thinking too much, huh?" Li Haiping said, "At that time, Xiao Mengli invited her to serve us, but she still refused—she would rather run trade to make money." If you really want to be fine or something, you should agree at that time. ”

"Don't underestimate the wisdom of the ancients." "It's really not quite right—it seems that such a person was specially arranged, and if it were a TV series, I would have understood." ”

"What do you say? Clicked her, and the boat was confiscated. "Li Haiping is really a person with a strong sense of realism. The change in attitude is quick enough to be stunned.

"She's also the first maritime merchant to come to Bopu, so she won't be popular if she does this." The Ma Jia of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "If it's safe, make some deals with her and taste some sweetness." Don't let her go too deep inside us. ”

"It's a pity that her ship has a lot of capacity—"

Several members of the Executive Committee were indeed a little hesitant, and they could not be sure of this person, but it was obviously not enough to have only one brig for this joint expedition, not to mention that the ship had not yet been tested in practice.

"Let's talk about it." Wen Deji had a headache.

……

The meeting lasted until seven or eight o'clock in the evening, and Liu Zheng's stomach was grunting with hunger, and finally the request put forward by Bai Guoshi Yue was approved by the Executive Committee, and of course it was discounted according to his hunch: the staffing was cut, and only 6 people were given to the traversers - basically all of them were waste wood that the departments did not want. The committee's reasoning is high-sounding: there is no wastewood, only people who have not been discovered. As for how to discover talents, it is his Liu Zheng's business.

"Why do you want me to train the waste wood-" Liu Zheng muttered, "If it is a female waste wood, I would welcome it, and it will not be my turn to train it." ”

However, he struggled to get another person. There are a number of reasons for this: mainly because several forestry majors in the team also work part-time in the biological laboratory of the Committee of Agriculture. So Zhao Xue from the IT team was left behind as a collection of intelligence - anyway, the IT team was already suspicious. Zhao Xue was transferred and he was quite satisfied - although this chick is not considered a combat power, but there is such a so-so-looking young girl in the department who can play a healing role, and it has a bonus effect on Bai Guoshi.

In terms of equipment, there was not much cut: six crossbows were added - all of them were self-made shiyan products of the Ministry of Machinery, of different sizes and styles, and two domestic sights and a Russian-made infrared night vision sight were also distributed with the steel crossbow. Two walkie-talkies were added, and in addition, the exploration team's computer power consumption rights were changed from relative to absolute -- 24-hour uninterrupted power supply.