After a period of rest, Amerigo finally decided to set off again, looking for a way back. Conté, along with the 100 masons and 50 soldiers he had brought with him, and their families, were to stay behind and run the new stronghold of Majiapu.

When seeing off America and his party on the newly built Long Bridge Wharf, Liu Laogen, the village leader of Jilong Village, suddenly pulled Lacontai's arm and said in a low voice:

"My lord, can you leave that Lord (Amerigo) a few sailors who are good at manipulating the sails?"

"Why is that?" Kong Tai was a little puzzled.

Liu Laogen said in a low voice:

"Your Excellency, you're not going to be stuck on this island, are you?"

"So what else can you do?"

"We can send a ship to Daming to buy things, we need sailors to operate the boat!" After speaking, Liu Laogen also pointed to the dozens of tons of Japanese ships that were seized from the Japanese in Keelung Bay.

"Didn't the Ming Dynasty engage in a sea ban? Oh, I see, you mean want to smuggle? ”

"Exactly! We don't lack food or salt, but my lord, we lack everything else! We don't have ploughing oxen, and you still brought iron farming tools. There was no cloth, no iron pot, no needlework, no vinegar...... Nothing, need to go to the land to buy ......"

Kong Tai nodded and asked rhetorically:

"You can just drive that ship and buy it yourself, why do you need our sailors?"

Speaking of this, Liu Laogen's face fell:

"My lord, our villagers, command and control small fishing boats, this kind of big boats, not good at driving! And the small fishing boats, the loading volume is ...... Did you know...... Moreover, small fishing boats walk through the Dongfan Island Strait, where the wind is high and the waves are fierce, which is particularly dangerous......"

Conte nodded, and went to consult with Amerigo. Amerigo is going back anyway, and it's not a big deal. So, he let Conté choose himself, leaving 20 sailors down. These 20 sailors are not only good at handling ships, but also very good at repairing ships, and some of them can even build ships......

"What, you still build ships?" Amerigo was also speechless about the all-round attributes of several middle-aged sailors, so omnipotent, why didn't he go to heaven?

"yes, it's just not very proficient. When we didn't have a white tin sheet on the bottom of the boat, the boat had to be overhauled every time it was sailed. Then, we often help the craftsmen to repair the boat together. Cultivating and repairing, our craftsmanship will go up......"

"Alright, don't say anything. From now on, you are senior craftsmen in Majiapu, and you are paid double wages. Your task is to build a ship using timber from land! By the way, will you build that kind of speedboat to deliver messages? ”

The speedboat that Comté was talking about was actually a variant of the Kirk sailboat. Marin had shipbuilders make the Kirk sailboat thinner, with a sharper bow and a streamlined structure below the waterline to reduce the resistance of the sea. Then, the sail was changed to a Chinese-style lifting type of hard sail, and a double-sail speedboat was made. Of course, the Chinese hard sail that Marin asked the shipbuilders to modify was not really a Chinese hard sail, but only a cross beam that was originally fixed to the mast and sewn it together with the sail. In this way, there is a Chinese hard sail similar to a sail with only three or four horizontal sail bones (the Chinese hard sail has a lot of sail bones, and it is also very heavy, so it is not high). Then, Marin borrowed from the way of raising the national flag in later generations, and changed the way the sail used to be hung down to rise from the bottom. Then, he made a movable sail similar to a Chinese hard sail and made a speedboat.

This kind of speedboat, generally only has a displacement of thirty or forty tons, with two movable sails that can be turned, can make the speed reach a high level, mainly used for the rapid transmission of messages between the mainland of the North Sea and England (the Atlantic does not dare to go, because the hull is too small to withstand the Atlantic wind and waves).

At this time, a middle-aged sailor named Karui stood up and said:

"I've been involved in the maintenance of this kind of speedboat and know its structure!"

"Well, from now on you will be the chief shipbuilder, and your salary will be three times that of the average person! Your mission is to use the timber from the island to oversee the construction of this speedboat! ”

The reason why Conté used this kind of speedboat was for smuggling. The so-called smuggling will certainly not see the light of day. The Ming Dynasty built a coastal area in Hu, but there were coastal defense posts such as Pinghaiwei, Yongningwei and Zhenhaiwei. Although the southeast coastal guard post has been corrupted in the middle and late stages, it has little combat effectiveness. However, it is no problem to deal with one or two smuggling boats.

Therefore, if you want to smuggle, you must avoid these naval warships of the coastal defense post. Even if they are discovered, they must be able to escape.

Therefore, Kong Taicai intended to build speedboats. The speedboat was fast, because there was no need for water warfare, and the hull was designed to be narrow. In order to be stable and not capsize, warships are often wider. In this case, using the Beihai State brig speedboat, you can run away under the nose of the Ming Dynasty naval warship to avoid being caught. In these years, being caught by bandit-like officers and soldiers will not end well. And the sailors under Comté are all Europeans, and they can't be caught. Otherwise, there will be a big diplomatic accident. Even, it will affect Marin's plans. Therefore, Conté did not dare to take risks and could only use a fast but average cargo capacity brig.

Kalu, who had just been appointed chief shipbuilder, thought about it and put forward the requirements for shipbuilding:

"Master Kongtai, we have no shortage of shipbuilding tools, and we have just taken them off the ship. However, we are very short of materials for shipbuilding! ”

"What's missing?"

"Mainly nails for nailing wooden boards, but also flax oil (similar to tung oil) and glue and other ......"

Kong Tai thought for a moment and said:

"In this way, let's let the people from Jicoo Village go to Daming to buy nails, glue and ...... By the way, there is no linseed oil, but according to the Grand Duke, the tung oil abundant in Daming has a better effect than flax oil, and it is cheaper! ”

"That's good......" Karui nodded, but quickly looked up again:

"By the way, and the canvas for the sails!"

"Don't worry, there is no shortage of these things in the Ming Empire, and the materials are cheap!"

"By the way, Lord Containe, how often do you want a ship?"

"The sooner the better!"

"However, the wood used for shipbuilding needs to be air-dried for a year or two......"

"No, we can't wait that long! By the way, what is the effect of using dried wood? Contex asked.

"Drying wood...... This can greatly affect the quality of the boat, for example, the boat only has a life span of a few years......"

"Enough! We're just making a time difference and using it in a year or two! I'll send someone ashore to cut the timber, and you will pick and choose what kind of timber is suitable for shipbuilding. In short, build a speedboat as fast as possible. The lifespan is not high, even if it can only be used for one year. Anyway, the cost of wood is low...... "Kong Taihao dry cloud road."

He personally made large purchases in Guangzhou, so he naturally knew how low the prices in Daming were. In addition, there is no cost to cut timber on Dongfan Island, so the cost of shipbuilding will be very low, at least several times cheaper than shipbuilding in Europe. Even if the life expectancy is low, it is acceptable.

At this moment, Karui suddenly set his eyes on the Japanese boat parked on the shore......

"Master Conté, perhaps...... We can tear down this ship and use the wood on it. That's good enough for the vintage! ”

Kong Tai frowned and said:

"I was going to go out fishing with that boat, you know, I brought a couple of trawls. We don't have enough food and need to fish to get enough food! ”

This is also a characteristic of Marin's colonization - if you colonize somewhere, you must bring fishing nets and sailors who can fish. In this way, even if there is a shortage of food, there will never be a shortage of food. Because, the fish caught in the trawl are enough to provide food......

"This ...... Either you send this boat out to catch enough fish and then salt it to make salted fish. And then, we will dismantle the ship again? ”

"Good idea, it's decided, send someone out to sea to fish first. I went to inform the village chief Liu Laogen and asked him to send someone to buy enough nails, tung oil and canvas in Daming! After saying that, Kong Tai went to get the money first. Marin is not short of money, and he also let Kong Tai bring a lot of money. That's where it comes in......

……