December 10, 1642, Zhenhai Harbor Wharf, southwest wind level three, light rain.

Mo Ming, dressed in a dark blue shirt, stood on the cement-poured Yonggu wharf, waiting for the dock workers to be busy at the end, while walking with Shao Shude, a member of the material committee who came to see him off. Neither of them had umbrellas, allowing the tiny raindrops to fall on their thin coats.

"Recently, there has been an undercurrent surging in the capital, and all kinds of cows, ghosts, snakes, and gods have come out. No way, the day of the general election is two days away, and at the end of the year, our current government will be dissolved, and we will give way to a new group of people. So, lately, the water over there has been a bit muddy, and some shuffles have been quite drastic, and many people have been transferred out of their posts, hehe, including you. Shao Shude patted Mo Ming's back and said with a smile.

"I don't worry about those people, I'm afraid that when they come to power, they will ruin the country." Mo Ming frowned and said, "I'm not worried about Liu Weimin, who will be the chairman of the executive committee, he is relatively low-key and pragmatic, but I don't worry about others." Those people don't have much experience in the overall situation, and once they suddenly take power, I am afraid that they will cause some kind of chaos and undermine the stability of the country. ”

"Hehe, you're all kicked to the Far East, why are you worried about this. We're old guys back, but we're not dead. If anyone wants to come nonsense, it depends on whether everyone agrees or not, right? Shao Shude smiled and said cryptically.

Mo Ming didn't speak again, just looked at the slightly rippling lake in confusion.

"Regarding your transfer from the South African Pioneer Team this time, don't blame Lao Peng for not pressing it down for you. It was not easy for him either, and this time so many executive committee members stepped down. Lao Peng's face is also a little bad now. Some of the newcomers didn't buy it. Alas. I want to install my own people. You kid too, so swaggering! Torricelli invented the pendulum clock, and you opened a factory with him, not to mention the daily money, and it was so high-profile, you don't know how jealous those people are of you! We usually don't know how many dark arrows Lu Dao has helped you block, you kid will be more restrained in the future! Shao Shude paused for a moment and then said.

"Huh. I can imagine who is usually saying bad things about me, isn't it those white shirts! Watch my watch factory make money. Everyone wants to get a piece of the pie and wants to take shares! Grass, when Lao Tzu is a bodhisattva in mud, if I were in South Africa, I would have thrown them into the crocodile's mouth, what a thing! Mo Ming sneered and said disdainfully.

"It's time for you to change your personality!" Shao Shude accentuated his voice slightly, and said: "If you are so hippie and smiling, how can Lao Peng and I rest assured that they will hand over power to you in the future?" Someone should take care of your nature. By the way, why aren't you getting married? Didn't you just turn 31 last month? Hurry up and find someone to marry! Didn't Frank introduce one of his youngest sisters to you a while ago? Why didn't you say yes? She is also the daughter of a French baron, with a huge amount of money, why are you so picky. Look at your fox friend Frank, who is not a few years older than you, and has a bunch of children, and the eldest daughter is fifteen years old. You're not waiting for Frank's daughter to get married, are you? ”

"What kind of are you talking about." Mo Ming's face was full of black lines, and he said with some dissatisfaction: "I'm not someone I don't like." What's the hurry, I'm only 31 years old, and I won't be too old in a few years. When the country is strong and its status has improved, what kind of woman can't ask for it on my terms? I'm afraid that those young ladies from big European aristocratic families will have to cry and shout to marry me, so I'm not in a hurry at all. Look at those of us who got married early, and those who married ordinary people were ordinary people; Those who married a little later were the daughters of white families born in the nearby New World, or the daughters of merchants and small aristocratic families with whom we had business in France and Italy; When I get married in a few years, I'm afraid that even the princesses of European countries will be able to marry. ”

"Those princesses who don't take a bath all year round?" Shao Shude made a rare teaser.

"Then I want too, those princesses have very rich dowries, maybe there is a piece of land attached, I am such a shrewd person, of course I have to invest in this kind of person. On the contrary, you old men don't have that chance. Mo Ming sneered.

Several pedestrians with umbrellas slowly walked in front of the two. Mo Ming swept casually, and soon saw a somewhat familiar figure, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it.

It was a tall, delicate girl, who looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a gray loose shirt and trousers that were standard for shipyard technicians, and her bumpy figure was wrapped in it. She walked in a hurry, looking panicked, and from time to time glanced at Mo Ming standing on the roadside trestle from the corner of her eye.

"Oh, it's her! It's that man's daughter! Mo Ming suddenly remembered who this girl who fled in panic like a fawn, "It's just that she is also going to Blackwater Port." Hehe, that's a lot of courage. ”

"Okay, let's talk about anything else, I'll have to check the supplies." Mo Ming and Shao Shude shook hands at the very least, then made a V gesture with his right hand, then turned around and walked towards the cargo ship with a smile. His mood suddenly became very happy, and he didn't know what it was for.

One of the two flute-type transport ships of the Nanhai Transport Company was loaded with weapons and ammunition, and the other was loaded with warm clothing, cloth, liquor, tobacco, leather goods, dyes, iron pots, knives, farm tools, fishing nets, tin stoves, honeycomb coal, and other miscellaneous goods. In addition, a 400-ton armed transport ship, the "Merchant," was loaded with a truckload of grain, mostly wheat and rice, but also a small amount of soybeans and potatoes.

In addition to these three ships, four multi-purpose expedition ships are also lined up along the No. 2 stone trestle in Zhenhai Harbor. In addition to carrying a large number of spare canvases, planks, weapons, naval guns, steam engine parts, coal, and construction materials (to be transported to Port Baleen Whale), a total of more than 650 personnel of all kinds (240 officers and men of the 102nd Company of the Army, a large number of technical personnel, artillerymen, and 200 French immigrants transported to Port Baleen Whale) were also housed in the cabins of these ships. Of course, they are not the only passengers, and when the fleet arrives at Baleen Whale Harbor, a group of military horses will be loaded on board and transported to South Africa. After all, the sea capacity of the East Coast Republic is extremely tight right now, and the cargo hold of each ship must be fully utilized.

This time, the Navy arranged only one fast cruiser, the "Yangwu", to participate in the escort. This can also be understood, among the so many ships that set off, the two transport ships of the South China Sea Transport Company that really had no combat effectiveness were actually the two transport ships of the South China Sea Transport Company, and in addition, whether it was the four multi-purpose expedition ships or the armed transport ships that had been captured by the British, they were all equipped with a certain number of guns, and they would not be completely powerless to fight back when they encountered the enemy.

After everything was confirmed, Mo Ming and the dock officials completed the handover, and then boarded the "Fubo" multi-purpose expedition ship. After communicating with the flagship, the flagship expedition ship "Chopper" commanded by Captain Li Yi, the huge fleet of eight ships left the Zhenhai Harbor dock one after another under the watchful eyes of a large number of dock workers, turned south, and headed for Baleen Whale Harbor.

On December 20, the East Coast flotilla, sailing along the coast of La Plata, arrived off the coast of Port Baleen Whale. The fierce westerly wind blew the flags on the mast to whirl, and in the face of the narrow and turbulent waterway, everyone carefully steered the boats, and it took half a day to enter the harbor one by one, and the small barbel whale harbor dock was full.

After unloading 200 French immigrants, a batch of weapons and ammunition, and all construction supplies, Mo Ming ordered everyone to go ashore to rest. As a port of passage between mainland China and the colonies on the east coast, Baleen Whale Harbour was home to several rows of large hotels for passing sailors and passengers.

On 22 December, after a two-day rest, the entire fleet set sail again. The four expedition ships welcomed new guests to their cabins, including forty horses and a large number of vicuñas bred on the Falklands, and their destination was the South African River Harbour. With several heavily slowing transport vessels in the fleet, it took them 20 days to reach the South African River Harbour.

Hearing that the old chief who had gone to work had returned again, a number of major military and political officials in South Africa rushed to greet him. Especially Mo Ming's righteous son, Mo Dazhong, after receiving the urgent report of the fast horse from the Fort in the River, he rode a horse and galloped all night in the Gouda Fort, and met in a hurry before Mo Ming left.

After handing over the military horses and some of the vicuñas to the Fort of River, they rested in the area for two more days, as usual, and the sailors took the opportunity to maintain the boats. On January 13, 1643, after boarding the ship of the 1st Battalion of the New Army of the Eight Banners, they loaded some South African cattle, sheep and other livestock, and then chopped the waves and arrived at New China Bay in the early morning of January 28.

The original wooden trestle bridge in New China Bay has now been replaced by a permanent trestle made of stone and cement, and there are as many as five, enough to berth more than 20 large ships at the same time, which can be described as the largest port in East Africa. It's a pity that Xinhua Port is now empty, and there are no other boats except for a few small fishing boats. According to Stitchinger, only two Portuguese ships have arrived so far this year, bringing only about 700 immigrants, and no new ships have arrived. It looks like they're in trouble, and perhaps after the loss of Malacca City, the Portuguese are becoming more and more powerless in the face of the Dutch's interception at sea, which is not good news for the East Coasters! (To be continued......)