Chen Shouxu walked down the stern deck of the Nanhai, and if he counted from the highest deck, he would need to go down three flights of stairs to return to the command cabin. Nanhai was chosen as the flagship because the Manila Grand Galen had enough space for his command officers.

The first stern was built on the open deck behind the mainmast of the Nanhai, and near the stern was the second stern, a stepped two-storey stern. The aft compartment of the first aft tower houses the captain and his officers. If, according to the Spanish custom, the ship's navigator and tax collector lived in the captain's upper floor, the smaller second stern. In addition to the officers and men of the fleet, Chen Shouxu also brought several scholars and doctors who exceeded the establishment with him on this expedition, and now they live in the second floor of the stern.

Chen Shouxu's command cabin is located in the aft compartment of the gun deck below the open deck, and there is also a verandah protruding from the hull at the stern of the gun deck, which is also the exclusive space of the fleet commander.

When the weather is good, Chen Shouxu can open the tail door to breathe in the aft verandah.

Below the gun deck is a multi-purpose deck, where some of the soldiers' quarters, galleys, canvas storage rooms, hospitals, etc. are located. One level further down are ammunition depots and holds.

What is more special is the foot of Chen Shouxu's command cabin, because at this time there is an obvious gangway in Manila's big Galen, and the stern floor height is higher than the bow of the ship, so there is an extra layer at the foot of Chen Shouxu, which accounts for about one-fifth of the captain's length. The rudder is connected to the ship by a tiller on this level. This level is also armed with 2 9-pounder stern guns and 4 9-pounder broadside guns. In high sea conditions, the gun doors in this layer will most likely not be opened.

After the Nanhai was refitted and completely turned into a warship. There were 10 cannons on the gundeck monoport, of which 4 were 18-pounder guns and 6 were 12-pounder. Open deck singleside 7 9-pounder guns. There were also two 9-pounder guns sticking out of the outboard on either side of the bow.

In addition to the heavy guns, the Nanhai also has a total of 14 swing guns in the stern and bow.

The entire battleship had a total of 40 cannons and 14 swing guns. Space on board was precious, and in addition to the commander, the hammocks of the other officers, including the captain, were located above the cannon, with which they usually had to sleep.

Chen Shouxu lifted the curtain separating the soldiers' and officers' cabins, bypassed the conference table, hammock and 12-pounder gun, and returned to his office. The advantage of being a full-time admiral is that he doesn't have to lead the shift as before, and he has more leisure time in his daily voyages. In order not to waste this time, he would take time to give lessons to the officers of the flagship and the general staff, mainly some basics in mathematics and natural sciences. Tomorrow will focus on trigonometric functions, and he still has to prepare for class.

There are two butter candles lit on the desk, and the light can only be described as average. Butter candles were bought in South America with a little stock left.

Jincheng's whale oil reserves have been depleted, and now the ships have to use wood tar-based black material to replace the bottom of the ship. He also took the Melville on this expedition for the purpose of whaling. Only one whaling ship was certainly not enough, and two two-masted schooner whaling ships were already in the process of being designed before Chen Shouxu left Jincheng. Like the Melville, oil refining furnaces are housed on board

Chen Shouxu was so immersed in middle school math formulas that he lost track of time.

Until there was a jumble of footsteps outside the door and someone knocked on the door. Interrupted by his train of thought, Chen Shouxu was a little irritable, he filled his pipe with some tobacco and leaned over to the candle to light it. Tobacco is one of the most important war materials, and before the self-grown tobacco is harvested, Jincheng will have to rely on tobacco imported from Siam, but this problem is almost solved. Not many people understand the importance of the plant nursery that Chen Shouxu set up in the research institute, and the soldiers were most concerned about tobacco plantations and wine-making workshops.

Chen Shouxu calmed his emotions with tobacco, "Come in." ”

The first to push the door in was Cai Yuanding, who also participated in the rescue operation just now, the rain mixed with the seawater, and his whole body was soaked. He was followed by a Chinese man with his hair in a bun. Chen Shouxu looked the visitor up and down, and of course the appearance after the shipwreck was not much better. The crown must have been lost, and now the bun was tied up with a white strap. The body is light yellow with wide sleeves and straight sleeves, and the feet are worn with pointed cloth shoes. It can be seen that the person who came to the door had tidied up his clothes a little, and he had recovered well in a short period of time, but now he is only a little embarrassed. This is a rich gentleman with a slender figure and a slightly thin figure. The slightly messy clothes can't hide the dignified look.

He was also followed by a Chinese, with messy hair, a black short, broad shoulders and a round waist, and a fierce gesture. Let Chen Shouxu feel a hint of familiarity.

The last person to come in made Chen Shouxu a little stunned. Wearing a Sujuan round-necked placket, lined with a cross-collar oil-green crepe shirt, and a moon-white lake skirt. His face was covered with a silk scarf, and he couldn't see his face clearly.

Chen Shouxu's gaze was biased towards Cai Yuanding: "There are still female dependents?" ”

"Yes, sir. This is one of two women rescued on board. ”

Chen Shouxu stood up, walked into his bedroom, and took out a clean blanket.

The gentleman who had come first took two steps forward and covered the woman behind him. Cai Yuanding immediately pressed the short sword on his waist and stopped between him and Chen Shouxu.

Chen Shouxu waved his hand to ask Cai Yuanding to get out of the way, and handed the square carpet over from afar. "Freshly washed."

Above the light-colored silk scarf, there were a pair of big smart eyes, and she took the blanket to wrap herself. Gently said a blessing to Chen Shouxu.

Chen Shouxu bowed his head back, "I haven't asked for advice yet, what do you call Mr." ”

The gentleman waved to Chen Shouxu, and opened his mouth in a very standard official language, "The servant is the ancestor of Qiongzhou Haishu, and I thank the lord of the country for saving his life." ”

Chen Shouxu asked in surprise, "Mr. Hai knows me?" ”

"When I first got on the ship, I didn't know that this was the lord's ship, and I didn't know it until I entered the cabin. The lord of the country opened up a country in Nanyang last year, and he was shocked, and he also heard about it in Qiongzhou. As a Chinese, he owns dozens of plywood warships in the South Seas, and only the lord of the country himself thinks of it. ”

Chen Shouxu pouted, well, in the past year, it is normal for China to know that Jincheng was established.

"Mr. Hai, I don't know who the other two are?"

The person who fought in the short shot hugged his fist at Chen Shouxu: "Wanzhou Cao Junfu." ”

Chen Shouxu praised, "What a strong man." ”

"Brother Cao is my friend," Hai Shuzu looked at the woman behind him, "This is a little girl." ”

At this time, Cai Yuanding seemed to remember something, and walked to Chen Shouxu's side and whispered to him.

"My lord, I remember that I had heard of this Mr. Hai when I was in Guangzhou before, and he seemed to be the descendant of Hai Rui Hai Qingtian."

Chen Shouxu was slightly moved when he heard this, "May I ask what is the relationship between Mr. Hai Zhongjie and Mr. Hai?" ”

Hai Shuzu: "It's the ancestor." ”

Sure enough, the big family surnamed Hai in Qiongzhou is the Hairui family.

Chen Shouxu asked Cai Yuanding in a low voice, "Ji Tong, how did I hear that Hai Zhongjie has no bloodline left?" ”

Cai Yuanding said: "My lord." Kai Zhongsuke's children did die. I heard that after the death of Umi Tadasuke, the clan passed on his cousin Umi Nakashi to Tadasuke. ”

Chen Shouxu stood up and instructed Cai Yuanding: "Bring some clean clothes for Mr. Hai and them to change, and then go to the kitchen to make a hot soup." Speaking of this, he suddenly remembered something, and he turned his head and asked Hai Shuzu: "There is no beef on my battleship now, only salted pork and salted fish. What is there to avoid Mr. Hymers? ”

In Asia, cattle are a valuable means of production and cannot be killed as in the Americas. Beef has been withdrawn from the Navy menu, and only salted pork remains on the battleship. This made many European officers and soldiers very dissatisfied, but there was no way to do it, Jincheng could not slaughter ploughing cattle on a large scale in order to satisfy the desire of the navy. The officers and men of the Navy wanted to eat beef, so they had to go home and figure out their own way.

"Thank you, my family has no taboos."

Chen Shouxu said in his heart, sure enough. Hai Rui celebrated his mother's birthday and specially cut two catties of pork. How can he be a believer of a certain ethnic group and a certain religion as some ethnic historians in later generations said nonsense.

Cai Yuanding looked at Cao Junfu, still hesitating.

Chen Shouxu's temper has not been very good in the past two days, and his eyes widened, "Don't go quickly." Cai Yuanding heard Chen Shouxu's tone was not good, and hurriedly left.

In the corner of the office, there was a wooden barrel for wine, and Chen Shouxu picked up two wine glasses and filled them and handed them to Hai Shuzu and Cao Junfu.

"Wait for the two of you, I don't have any good wine here, only this." Chen Shouxu glanced at Hai Shuzu's daughter, "What do you want to drink?" ”

The woman blinked, "I want wine too." ”

Chen Shouxu was a little surprised, and the expression on Hai Shuzu's face seemed to be a little helpless, but he didn't refuse. Cao Junfu even snickered on the side.

"Okay." Chen Shouxu went back and took two more glasses of wine, one for himself and one for the woman. When he came back, he saw that Cao Junfu had almost finished drinking the wine, Chen Shouxu pointed to the wine barrel, "Mr. Cao is not polite, you can do it yourself." ”

"Please be seated." Chen Shouxu returned to his desk. "I have a few questions for Mr. Xiahai."

"Don't dare, what does the lord want to ask?"

"Mr. Hai, did I just see that ship that was struck by lightning is yours? That ship is really not small, about the same size as a battleship. ”

Hai Shuzu sighed, "It took me three years to build this twelve-foot ship. I am indeed the majority shareholder of the ship, but I do not own the ship. In addition to me, there are 38 minority shareholders. ”

Not many people were rescued at sea, and it seems that most of the other shareholders did not survive.

Looking at Hai Shuzu with a lonely look, Chen Shouxu said with relief: "Mr. mourns, shipwrecks are common. ”

Hai Shuzu: "If it weren't for Brother Cao's sacrifice of his life to save him, we may not have escaped from the ship." ”

Chen Shouxu: "Where did Mr. originally want to go?" ”

Hai Shuzu: "I spent a thousand gold to fill a shipload of goods, and I originally wanted to go to Batavia to sell. ”

Can fill a 13-zhang junk ship, this is a sea merchant.

"You can make it again when the money is gone, as long as there are people." Chen Shouxu's words of comfort are also comforting words, for small maritime merchants, it is often necessary to borrow debts to gather goods, and in the event of a shipwreck, it is very common for the ship to be left without storage and bankrupt.

In Hai Shuzu's opinion, Chen Shouxu's words are a little strange, but the meaning is very simple, and it is not difficult to understand.

"What's next for you, sir? Do you have any friends you know in Batavia? ”

Hai Shuzu shook his head, "I don't know anyone in Bacheng. ”

Chen Shouxu thought for a moment, walked to the hatch, and called his chief of staff, "Harris." ”

"Sir."

"Let your men free up two bunks for the gentleman inside." Chen Shouxu remembered that the top stern was not full, and the officers of the staff could go up and squeeze with the doctors. "Clean up the starboard room again."

Then he turned to Hai Shuzu and said, "It's not early today, I can only live in the officer's cabin with Mr. Grievance." ”

When the Nankai was first refitted, the command cabin, which spanned the entire deck, was divided into three sections. At the stern are the bedrooms, and in the middle is Chen Shouxu's office. Outside the bedrooms on either side, there are separate toilets that protrude from the deck. The Admiral's bedroom is on the port side of the stern, and the bedroom on the starboard side of the stern has two hammocks.

Chen Shouxu's original intention of making the office smaller and adding a bedroom was to accommodate a few more officers from the headquarters. However, the staff of the fleet was not well staffed, and all the staff officers were crowded into the conference room and officer's cabin in front of the command cabin, so that the bedroom was empty and became a utility room for storing fruits and grain. After emptying, it can just accommodate the two daughters of Hai Shuzu.