Chapter 46 Reform Plan V

"Mr. Shen, please come inside. Bayi Chinese Network ? ? ．? 8?1 Guessing in his heart, James's movements did not stop, and he opened the general on the door with a burst of drumming, pushed the door and stretched out his hand to Shen Chongming and said.

Shen Chongming walked in with his feet raised, and James followed, but threw Xiao Ershao outside. Xiao Ershao was so angry that his mouth was crooked, if it weren't for Brother Shen's presence today, I am afraid that he would have ordered his entourage to drive away this rude guy.

This small courtyard is thirty steps square, and it is supposed that James should seem very empty when he lives alone. But when Shen Chongming walked in, it was like walking into the wine cellar he had seen in the movie. There were nearly a hundred large wooden barrels neatly placed in the yard, leaving only a narrow aisle, and I didn't even dare to swing my arms when I walked in it.

Seeing the awkwardness of Shen Chongming's walking posture, James hurriedly explained: "Mr. Shen, these wooden barrels are used to hold wine in a few days, and the yard is too small to put it. After a while, when there is money to spare, I will ask a craftsman to build a wine cellar, and it will be spacious at that time. ”

"Cut, I'm not afraid to drink you to death with so much wine." Xiao Ershao, who was following behind, cursed quietly.

"Hehe, I can help with this matter, and I will send someone to dig a wine cellar tomorrow." Shen Chongming cautiously turned around and said.

"What's so embarrassing about that." James smirked, but didn't explicitly refuse. Five acres of vineyards is not big, but it is not small when it is small, and James can only pay for hired farmers out of his pocket.

And if you want to make wine, you also need all kinds of tools, and you can design and make it by a carpenter, and you will have little left of the two hundred taels of silver on hand after a complete set. And digging a wine cellar with a large area, the silver cost is not a small amount of money for James, and now that Shen Chongming has taken the initiative to pay for it, he really can't refuse it.

Without mentioning this, James began to work in the main house, first took out a small barrel of wine and put it outside the courtyard for the accompanying guards to taste, and then took out a porcelain bottle and put it in the house, and the three teacups were filled with wine.

"Mr. Shen, Shopkeeper Xiao, how do you taste this wine? To tell you the truth, this wine is the best batch of wine made in the year when I first arrived in the capital. ”

Regardless of Xiao Ershao, who didn't pay attention to his head to the side, Shen Chongming took a sip of the teacup, and gave a thumbs up and praised without blushing and heartbeat: "Good wine!" ”

This is naturally a lie, thinking that Shen Chongming didn't drink wine at the beginning, and how could he spend more money to drink red wine if he didn't drink beer. Now that James's grown-up wine has entered his mouth, it is a waste.

James didn't know if it was fake, and said with a smile: "Mr. Shen will drink more if he likes it." Shopkeeper Xiao, you can also taste it, it is definitely better than the ones you drank the first few times. ”

It's good not to say this, but when he said this, it made Xiao Ershao even more unhappy. What does this birdman mean, could it be that the kindness of spending money to buy these five acres of vineyards for him is not as good as Brother Shen's words today? Or is his affinity not as strong as Brother Shen?

Thinking angrily, Xiao Ershao drank a glass of red wine without saying a word. But he was secretly scolding in his heart, damn it, this time the wine is indeed much better than the first two times for himself, this ugly monster doesn't fucking treat our Xiao Ershao as a green onion!

"Mr. Bond, I heard that you came to my Ming Dynasty after wandering at sea on a ship for several years?" Putting down the cup, Shen Chongming looked at James with a humble look on his face and asked. This is the main reason why he came here this time, but to see if this foreigner's experience is really as magical as rumored outside.

James smiled bitterly, "I haven't been wandering for a few years, and most of the time I have been inquiring about where our Ming Dynasty is, and it is all luck to be here." ”

Shen Chongming nodded and asked cautiously, "Then can this journey go smoothly?" ”

I saw James's expression darkened, and he said with some sadness: "There are many dangers on the sea, although the three ships led by the lower are the best ships in our Stockholm, but in the face of the wind and waves at sea, it is useless, the three ships and nearly a hundred sailors all lost their lives, and it is thanks to the rescue of the father-in-law that one life was saved." ”

"That's right." Shen Chongming frowned deeply, the damn casualty rate was too high, if it was like this, lifting the sea ban would not solve the current predicament of the imperial court except for taking some lives.

"Then dare to ask Mr. Bond, if you were to lead the fleet at sea for a few months now, how sure would you be that you would bring the fleet back safely." Shen Chongming asked with a heart, hoping that this guy could find out some laws of weather changes at sea with his own experience.

"This ......," James hesitated, a question he had never thought about. After all, that trip to the sea left a wound in his heart that will never heal, and according to his original plan, he will never go to sea again in this life!

However, James is also a smart person, Shen Chongming can ask this question, and he treats himself so politely, he is afraid that what he values is his own sailing experience.

Although he was a foreigner, James also knew about the Grace Story. Maybe the five acres of vineyards and this yard are nothing to Shen Chongming, but for James, this is his lifelong ideal, and it is the beginning of the Bond family's ice and snow wine to spread all over the world.

After being silent for a while, James raised his head and said: "Don't hide it from Mr. Shen, although the weather above the sea seems to be fickle, there are still traces to follow. If you go to sea on my Ming fortune boat, I am confident that I can bring back eighty percent of the ships when I go to sea. ”

Although James's tone was flat, his eyes unabashedly revealed a confident color.

"Okay, hehe, it's very rare to be able to bring back eighty percent of the ships." Shen Chongming's expression was a little excited, it seems that he is still very accurate in seeing people this time, this James is really a baby bump.

"Don't hide it from Mr. Bond, I came here this time to invite you out of the mountains and take my largest fleet of ships in the Ming Dynasty to cruise around the world."

Although Shen Chongming's words sounded good, it was a pity that he could deceive James but not Xiao Ershao. As long as the fleet of the Ming Dynasty was full of goods and went to sea, the silver would pour into the land of the Ming Dynasty like snowflakes. In this way, they are more bandits than bandits.

"The largest fleet? How many lucky ships are there? James was also interested, and he was very jealous of the monster-like Fortune Boat.

Shen Chongming smiled, "You can have as many ships as you want, and there will be another kind of ship in the fleet." This kind of ship is covered with iron armor, nearly 20 zhang long, the height of the ship is like a city wall, and it can carry more than 300 sailors in addition to the bottom cargo. That's not all, the ship has three giant masts, and if it's downwind, it's like a shuttle. Not only that, but there were 30 guns on the ship, equipped with 100 guns. When this ship went to sea, even if there were countless pirates, they had to retreat to avoid its edge. If not, hum. ”

After listening to Shen Chongming's description, James was stunned by his imagination alone, and he was speechless for a while.

Xiao Ershao on the side didn't get much better, and asked with a surprised face: "Brother Shen, there really is such a big ship in this world, why hasn't the younger brother heard of it?" ”

Shen Chongming smiled slightly, and said proudly: "Of course you haven't heard of it, this ship is newly built, and even the emperor still doesn't know about it." ”

Xiao Ershao's heart moved, and he said hurriedly: "Brother Shen, could it be that you built this boat?!" ”

Shen Chongming waved his hand and asked with a smile: "Do you remember those red-haired ghosts you saw in Hangzhou Mansion when you returned to Beijing in late spring?" This ship was built by them and our sailor's craftsmen half a month ago, and it was originally intended to be used to deal with coastal bandits, but if the sea ban is opened this time, they will be the main warship of the caravan. ”

Xiao Ershao suddenly realized, patted his head and said: "So that's the case, no wonder we were in such a hurry when we returned to Beijing that day, you had to stay in Hangzhou for two days, it turned out to be for shipbuilding." Brother Shen, your little brother is so bitter. ”

"Mr. Shen, could this ship you are talking about be the naval warship of the imperial court?" James asked cautiously.

"Hehe, Mr. Bond is right. This ship is called the Shenxing Battleship, which is a ship that I have just built by the Fujian Navy Division of the Ming Dynasty, and when we go to sea that day, we can take Mr. south to take a look. ”

James licked his lips involuntarily, "So, this caravan was sent by the imperial court?" ”

"That is, this caravan belongs to the upcoming Royal Trading House, and the person in charge of the house is the current saint." Without waiting for Shen Chongming to open his mouth, Xiao Ershao said with a smug face.

"And Brother Shen is the person who the emperor has ordered to handle this matter, as long as he nods, you will be appointed as the chief manager of this fleet once it goes to sea!"

Listening to Xiao Ershao's nonsense, Shen Chongming didn't interrupt. Not to mention, he was still worried about what kind of title he was arranging for James just now, but the manager he said was unusually appropriate.

"This ......" James had a complicated look on his face, and his heart was both excited and emotional. In Stockholm, he is just a down-and-out aristocrat that everyone laughs at. I didn't expect to come to the Ming Dynasty after a lot of hardships, but I saw the rainbow in my life for the first time.

If this succeeds, then he will get an official position as a foreigner. Compared with such a small and poor city-state as Stockholm, the official position of the Ming Dynasty is full of gold. Once he appeared in the port of Stockholm with a huge fleet, wouldn't the city lord have to come to meet him with his waist? Glory to the ancestors, nothing more than that.

Imagining the scene of returning home, James stood up and bowed to Shen Chongming and said, "Mr. Shen, James Bond is willing to serve the dogs and horses. ”

"Hehe, Mr. Bond is gracious. The caravan going to sea, this day has to be well prepared, you and at home at ease wine, waiting for the day when the great success is done, you and I will celebrate with that ice and snow wine! Shen Chongming then got up and said.

The matter was over, and the sun was already setting in the west. Thinking of the two delicate wives who are gradually giving birth, Shen Chong's name is like an arrow. No matter how busy you are with official business, you can't delay yourself going home to enjoy the blessings of all people.

"James, you need to make more of that Rausch ice wine, I'd like to see what it means." Before leaving the door, Xiao Ershao turned back to James and instructed.

"Definitely, I will ask Shopkeeper Xiao to deign you to come and teach you." James was in a very good mood, and he was also polite to Xiao Ershao.