It's already midsummer on the East Coast in January, but the temperature in the early twenties doesn't make anyone feel hot at all. On the contrary, a moist wind blows on the surface of the sea, which makes people feel exceptionally refreshing.

Henry wears a white crewneck shirt on the top, a pair of blue cotton jeans on the bottom, and a pair of ordinary uncolored leather shoes on his feet.

The cabin of this small 10-horsepower river paddle steamer was filled with farm tools, tin stoves, honeycomb coal and other supplies, and there were about 20 passengers standing scattered on the deck. In today's East Coast, whether it is inland waterway shipping or offshore shipping, in the case of limited capacity, everything is still prioritized by freight. Travelers who want to travel have to choose to take these vessels.

Also, the ticket price is quite expensive. For example, the short three-and-a-half-hour voyage from Oriental Port to Cotton Farmer Fort will charge two dimes for the ferry fare, and you will also need to show a letter of introduction from enterprises, government departments, military and other institutions when purchasing tickets. The letter of introduction says that someone will go to a certain place and do something on a certain day, and then stamp the official seal of the unit to take effect, if there are no these procedures or the procedures are not complete, then you will not be able to move an inch. Because whether you are taking a carriage, a boat, or going out to stay, you need to show a letter of introduction issued by the unit, otherwise various agencies will ignore you. This effectively reduces the penetration of the enemy, and at the same time increases the government's control over the country.

The letter of introduction in Henry's pocket was issued by the Dayuhe Arsenal Office, and the reason he used at the time was to visit a friend in the harvest brigade of Dingyuan Township, where a friend of his had been assigned to reclaim wasteland. To be honest, Henry was reluctant to go to the factory to issue this letter of introduction, because the harvest brigade was only seven or eight kilometers away from the county seat of Dongfanggang. It doesn't take too long to walk through. And it's too cumbersome to issue a letter of introduction. It will also leave traces. The latter point is particularly uncomfortable.

However, considering the instructions from above, he also needed to carefully observe the kind of steamer that can "emit black smoke" from the people on the east coast, so he simply opened a letter of introduction and took this small steamer to the Dingyuan Township area. This small steamer has a load of no more than 35 tons and is converted from the original kind of shallow water sailboat. After installing a 10-horsepower steam unit, the speed can reach about 5-6 knots, and the coal burning per hour is more than 20 kilograms, which is much stronger than that of a sailboat.

Some soot was blown up by the river breeze and landed on Henry's white shirt, and Henry watched closely. It was roughly determined that the ship should need to burn coal. This can be seen in the coal ash floating in the air, as well as the black smoke wafting from the small chimney in the amidship. It's just that the quality of the coal burned by the people on the east coast is too poor, not only the soot is extremely heavy, but even the smell is very pungent. There was some water vapor along with the soot, which made Henry wonder if coal was being used as fuel in the ship's cabin. What is that for? Can it drive the paddle wheel of the ship to rotate?

While Henry's mind was pondering how the little steamer worked, not far behind him, two passengers disguised as scouts from the General Intelligence Directorate were scattered on both sides of the deck, their eyes alternating on him, dutifully conducting covert surveillance.

Nothing happened all the way. The small steamer docked at the pier of the Harvest Brigade 40 minutes later. A dozen or so passengers, who had been waiting on the dock for a long time, carried their burdens and drove pigs and sheep to the local farmers who went to the cotton farmer's fort and the town to sell their agricultural products. Today is the monthly market day over there. Many farmers in the neighborhood choose this time to bring their agricultural and sideline products there to sell. Henry and a few other travelers made their way to the dock with difficulty, and in the process his snow-white shirt was rubbed against a large white pig driven by a tall blonde farmer, and an indescribable smell suddenly stuck to it, which made him frown.

The little steamer soon began to smoke again. Standing on the dock, Henry glanced around slightly, and immediately walked in the direction of Team 6 after identifying the direction. The two scouts were inconvenient to follow at the moment, so they scattered and walked elsewhere, anyway, at this time, several production teams were already full of scouts, and they were not afraid of losing their target.

After walking for ten minutes, Henry walked into the entrance of the village of the 6th production team, and several children who were playing at the entrance of the village stared at him as a strange outsider with wide eyes. These children do not resemble the children of Europe, nor do they resemble the natives or the Ming people, but they seem to be mixed races between the two.

Henry smiled kindly at the children, and then walked to the village on his own. The kids seemed to have noticed something interesting and began to follow Henry's ass in droves, like little tails. Henry couldn't get rid of the children after several chases, so he had no choice but to let them go. However, the presence of these children greatly facilitated the scouts' tracking, and they hung unhurriedly behind them, their eyes fixed on Henry.

Henry walked to a red brick house, and on the top of the door of the brick house was a wooden sign with the words "No. 23 of the 6th Production Team", which was the number of the family. A farmer in his twenties in the yard in front of the house was feeding his sheep, and when he heard the movement, he looked up, and then his eyes shrank sharply, apparently he recognized Henry.

The little kids saw that there was no excitement to see at this time, so they dispersed in a hurry. Henry walked unhurriedly to the courtyard, looked at the small farm yard that had been cleaned up, and said with a smile: "Adil, long time no see, do you miss me?" ”

"You'd better never come to see me." Adil straightened up, wiped his hands on his apron, and then walked up to Henry, and when he got closer, he whispered, "Hell, why did you come to see me with such a swagger?" You are crazy? ”

"My time is very limited." Henry grabbed Adil by the shoulders and walked towards the house, whispering as he went, "Damn the East Coasters, their system is really tight. Especially for those of us who are sensitive to identity, we must declare in advance and issue a letter of introduction from the unit, otherwise it is really difficult to move an inch. On the streets, in neighborhoods, and even in the countryside, there are patrols and secret police, who come up to interrogate people they think are suspicious, and check ID cards and other documents. Damn, there are more cops in the arsenal, I'm going crazy to be there. ”

"Then you should be more cautious!" Adil said mercilessly, "Especially since you've only been here for less than two months, can't you wait for these few months?" Henry, I'll make a note of it, I've violated the rules by coming to see me today. The next time you come to me before the date of our meeting, without any valid reason, I'll ...... Kill you! Henry, I'm not kidding! ”

Henry's face turned pale, and then he whispered, "I...... I have fully grasped the mystery of the East Coast people's cannons. Moreover, I also learned how to refine special steel of different specifications, and I wrote down all the data in code. I'll give it to you now, and please find a way to send it out as soon as possible. The production tasks of the arsenal will be more onerous in the next period of time, and I may not have much time to rush over to meet you. ”

Adil looked at Henry coldly for a long time, then reached out and took a piece of white paper that Henry pulled out from under the insole, looked at it twice, and then carefully put it into his pocket, and then looked at Henry and said: "I will find a way to send it out, and you had better give me some points in the next period of time." Next month, at the fair, I'll find a way to go to the Cotton Farmer's Fort, where there are two of our own people, and then let them find a way to cross the grasslands to Asunción or Buenos Aires to get back home. ”

"After working in the cannon shop for a while, I will try to touch a few other workshops, and I heard that there are many high-precision boring machines in the gunsmiths of the East Coast; In the comprehensive workshop, textile machines are still being manufactured and repaired for textile mills, which are valuable technical secrets to our Kingdom of France. Henry said with a slight agitation, and his face began to turn rosy.

Adil nodded lightly in approval, then raised his head again and said to Henry solemnly, "The idea is good, Henry. But don't make it too obvious, you've stolen so many technical secrets, and if you succeed in sending them back home, I'm afraid the Prime Minister will know our names, so you don't have any pressure on tasks in the near future. Relax, take your time, all you need to do is gain the trust of the East Coast people step by step, and then gradually get into those more core secrets. Do you understand, Henry, I don't want to be killed by you yet! ”

"I see!" Henry whispered, "I'll be careful next." ”

"That's good." Adil nodded.

The two of them didn't talk much after that, and walked out of the door again after the information was handed over. Adil and Henry deliberately raised their voices and laughed and chatted about trivial matters for a while, and then Henry offered to leave, and Adil pretended to keep it once and then sent Henry out of the village.

Five or six minutes later, Adil, who had sent Henry away, walked slowly into the courtyard. I saw that he looked left and right very covertly, then quietly closed the courtyard door, and then walked to the front of the hall and pushed the door and walked in.

As soon as he entered the room, Adil instantly felt that something was wrong, and saw four or five people suddenly enter the room at some point. These people are uniformly dressed in black shirts, wide-brimmed top hats, with the national emblem pinned to their chests, and gun holsters pinned to their waists, and this kind of attire is very clear - this is the secret police of the East Coast!

Adil who reacted only felt a roar in his brain, and he knew that he was finished! Killed by that idiot Henry! (To be continued......)