It was the height of summer, the blazing sun like fire scorched the land of northern Jiangsu, a few days ago just fell the heavy rain that lasted for several days, so that the river of the Grand Canal rose a few inches, flooded again, for the land of northern Jiangsu for more than a month of drought, this rainstorm is not Ganlin, at this time many low-lying places in northern Jiangsu waterlogging has become, when it is flooded, the rain has rained for three days in a row, and this day finally stopped.

Although the transportation is now cut off, the Grand Canal is still deserted, and all kinds of ships are still sailing on the canal. However, despite this, the official ships on this canal are not often seen. So whenever the official boat passes, it will always arouse the interest of the children, when the children see the official boat chasing the official boat and shouting "big official boat", under the big willow tree on the embankment of the Grand Canal, the old farmer sitting just glanced at it, and then silently smoked the dry smoke, it seems that the official boat has nothing new, and indeed, for the old farmer who has lived by the canal for most of his life, in previous years, the most lively time, there were only a few magnificent official ships on the canal that day, as for this official boat, According to the old farmer's muttering, "It's just a seven-pin boat", in other words, that is, the county order of the seven-pin will take this boat.

When the old man in the shade of the shore glanced at him with contempt, on the boat, there was a blonde foreigner wearing a Confucian robe but looking very different from the Chinese, but he was curious to look at the beautiful scenery on the riverbank.

On the Grand Canal Dam are rows of ancient willow trees, and under the huge shade of the trees, you can faintly see people enjoying the coolness, and there are old farmers with their hands on their backs, holding a rope in their hands, walking slowly on the dam, the rope dragging an old cow, and a small doll sitting on the spine of the cow. And not far away, over the riverside town, there were already clouds of midday cooking smoke.

This scene unfolded in front of Barr's eyes like an oil painting, and he couldn't help but be fascinated by the canal scenery full of oriental colors.

"The end of the Sui River is this river, and it has been thousands of miles away so far."

At the time of the words, a young man in his twenties. He had a rather handsome face, and his smile seemed to be equally sincere, but there was a little mischievous between his eyebrows, and although his eyes were pleasant and frank, they were a little too dignified and aggressive. He was dressed in a Confucian robe, and he looked very well-fitted.

"Mr. Shi Si, now, the canal we are crossing is the Grand Canal mentioned in this poem!"

Walking to the blue-eyed young man, the young man's behavior seemed very gentle, but at this time, the words in his mouth were changed to English, and even at the request of the other Shisi, the "nostalgia" of Pi Rixiu was translated into English, and the two of them stood in the bow of the boat and said, all of them were full of interest, only to hear the young man say in English to the blue-eyed man beside him:

"The Grand Canal starts from Yuhang in the south of the Yangtze River in the south, which is now Hangzhou, and reaches Zhuo County in the north, which is now the Beijing Division, and the canal was built in the first year of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, well...... About 600 years or so of the Yahli calendar in your mouth, the canal was dug with a total length of more than 5,400 miles, that is, about 1,700 miles, if you look at the geographical latitude and longitude, it is almost across more than 10 latitudes of the earth, running through China's richest southeast coast and the North China Plain......"

The young man's words only made the blue-eyed man say in surprise:

"Oh my God! In 600 A.D., when Europe was almost in the age of obscurantism, you built 1,700 miles of canals, my God! If it is true, then this canal should be the oldest and largest canal in the world. ”

After coming to this country, he has seen too many things that surprise him, and there are always things in this country that people are surprised and amazed by. Sometimes, compared to them, Europe is as backward as primitive people.

The blue-eyed man's surprise made a trace of pride flash on the young man's face, and there was a bit of pride in his expression, which was obviously a very proud thing for this Englishman to admire China.

"I can't deceive you, if not, how can I have the song "Nostalgia" in Pi Riti's "Nostalgia" that "the end of the Sui is the river"! The Sui Dynasty was more than 1,000 years ago. ”

After that, the two of them stood in the bow of the boat and enjoyed the view of the canal, and at this time the river view came into the eyes of the two of them; Looking at the riverbank dam, the hundred-year-old giant willows are endless and green. The ancient canal flows horizontally and quietly, without waves, without hustle and bustle, as if in a paradise, can not help but make people's hearts soak in this quiet beauty, standing on the bow of the boat to look down, looking at the flowing water under the boat, only to make people produce the feeling that the river flows to the distance, I don't know where is the end, and the reflection in the water is like a picture.

The sight in front of him only made Shi Si raise his arms in excitement and shout. The cheers of the Westerners made the young man's face even more proud, and he then asked:

"It's better for us to be Ming!"

The young man's pride fell in the eyes of Shi Si without falling at all, but he listened to him.

"The canal is beautiful, but the land is in the midst of a disaster. The enslavement of the Tatars here is making your advanced civilization more and more ignorant, you see......"

The blonde man was holding on to the railing with one hand, but the other hand was pointing at the people on the embankment.

"You see, my friend, their expressions are numb, and they are submissive to everything. Although I don't know what the Ming Dynasty looked like 15 years ago, but in your body, you can feel that the Ming and the Qing are completely different, your mind is free, and the latter is just a slave! ”

Shi Si's answer first made Zhang Di stunned, and when some pain flashed in his expression, he said with a smile on his face.

"This is only temporary, now the general is slightly envoy through the north of the river, the general pacifies the south of the Yangtze River, the young Sima Xi to seek Jiangxi, plus the king of Jin in the southwest, the situation in the world can be said to be in favor of my Ming, if everything is not unexpected, in the next few years my Ming will definitely be prosperous! ……”

Daming Zhongxing!

For more than ten years, I don't know how many people with lofty ideals have been running for it, working hard for it, and sacrificing for it. And for Zhang Di, this is also his dream.

In order to realize this dream, he not only put pen to paper, but even learned from this foreigner around him, learning some Western art of war, weapons, although he didn't know whether those things were useful or not, but in his opinion, there would always be some benefits to learning these things.

Just like now, if it weren't for the fact that he had been studying by Shi Si's side, how could he have been selected by the Jiangbei Economic Strategy and went to Qinghe with Shi Si.

"I really didn't expect that he would be the envoy of Jiangbei."

Shi Si's tone was still a little incredulous, you have always thought that he was depressed, how could he not have imagined that the young man who had met on the river embankment would actually have a earth-shaking change in such a short period of time.

"Mr. Shi, in this way, you and Zhu Jingluo have known each other before?"

Looking at this Westerner with some curiosity, Zhang Di could hardly imagine that such a Westerner would actually get to know Zhu Jingluo, you must know that in the past in the camp, most people thought that he was just an embroidered pillow, but it was very clear that this person did have some talent in shipbuilding, cannon casting, etc., and he also benefited a lot from Shi Si here.

"That is, there was once a one-sided relationship."

Shi Si replied truthfully, and if it were someone else, he would have thought that there might be some concealment in his words. But I have known him for many years, and I know these Westerners, and when they speak, they are always used to going straight.

"Mr. Shi, what do you think Zhu Jingluo invited you to Jiangbei?"

Thinking of the conversation with him on the river embankment, Shi Si immediately said affirmatively.

"It should be shipbuilding!"

"Shipbuilding?"

In the past, at Shi Si, Zhang Di had seen the model of a Western ship he had made out of wood chips.

"Those soft-sailed Western ships?"

"Yes, Zhu Jingluo has always been interested in Western ships......"

Thinking of the "Slupp Ship" mentioned by Zhu Mingzhong in the conversation with him that day, Shi Si's whole person became a little excited, after all, after coming to China, he has always been eager to be reused, so as to gain wealth and status here, which is the reason why he came from afar.

"Qinghe has the largest shipyard in the Ming Dynasty, I want to invite you to come over, it should be for shipbuilding!"

In addition to expressing his approval, Zhang Di thought of the artillery on those Western ships.

"Mr. Shi, even the "Slupp ship" you mentioned has 12-16 guns, and you said that there are warships equipped with dozens or even hundreds of guns in Europe. ”

In the past period of time, he learned some cannon casting knowledge from Shi Si, which far exceeded Zheng Jun's existing level, and at the same time that Shi Si was responsible for shipbuilding, he naturally hoped to be recommended by him to preside over the cannon casting, at least participate in it.

For Zhang Di, who is only 28 years old, what he needs is an opportunity, a chance to be reused by others. And this is also the reason why he left Nanjing, Nanjing is not a meritocracy, those Fujian people always reuse Fujian fellow villagers, and outsiders have no future there. But Zhu Mingzhong is different, he has talents from all over his country around him, and as long as he has talent, he will definitely be reused.

"That's nature, shipbuilding and cannon casting are essential things, and when I get to Qinghe, I will personally ask him to set up a cannon foundry in Qinghe, and when the time comes, maybe you can help me work together, how about it, my friend!"

Shi Si did not refuse his friend's request, he even agreed immediately, after all, he also needed an assistant, someone who at least would not confuse "pound" with "catty", "inch" and "inch" as an assistant!

"Cheng Kun, when can we get to Qinghe?"