("Iron Blood" has been put on the shelves, I hope everyone can read and support it, and leave the monthly pass to "Iron Blood", thank you!) Every one of your readings, recommendations, and collections is a great support for "Iron and Blood Ambition"! It's not easy to get a new book, so please support it, thank you! "Iron and Blood" Novel Group: 150536833, welcome book friends to join and discuss the plot together! ）

The sky was cloudy, gloomy, and the wind was blowing its sails, which were only half open in order to cope with the strong winds, but nevertheless, the "Tepp", which was known for its speed, still maintained a high speed of thirteen or fourteen knots on the Yangtze River, and if it was fully sailed, its speed could reach at least eighteen or nineteen knots. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

However, on the river, the high speed of 134 knots is too high, and if the helmsman is not careful, it may hit the river bank or shoal, but the helmsman on the ship can always be dexterous to avoid everything, making this nearly 1,000-ton foreign ship sail on the Yangtze River as nimble as a sampan.

"Good boy, this foreign ship ......"

Again, looking out from the cabin, looking at the riverbank that was passing quickly, even though he had the experience of going down the river to Tianjing, Sun Yimao was still surprised by the speed of the ship at this time.

As the bookkeeper of the Dongwang Mansion, the reason why he stepped on this foreign ship this time was all because the foreign ship was going to Wuchang, and he was ordered by the East King to go to Wuchang to meet Zhu Yifeng, who claimed to be the "Governor of the Han Dynasty", and persuaded him to return to the Kingdom of Heaven, and then cooperate with the Westward Expedition of the Kingdom of Heaven.

As for the reason why he took this "Tepp" foreign ship, in addition to the fact that the foreign merchants of this foreign ship sold more than a dozen foreign cannons and more than 1,000 foreign guns to the Heavenly Kingdom, more importantly, now that the Heavenly Army has not yet marched westward, as a Qin Mission, he wants to go to Wuchang, there are only two choices, one is a salt ship that traffics illegal salt, and the other is this foreign ship.

Compared with the salt ship that has long been extinct, this foreign ship with sixteen guns on the side is undoubtedly more appropriate, after all, the foreign merchants on this ship always need a passport issued by the Dongwang Mansion, if there is no passport, let alone Wuchang, I am afraid that even Jiangning and they will not be able to pass.

But he didn't expect that this boat would be so fast, but it was only a day's work, and he left Anhui to cross Jiujiang and rushed all the way to Wuchang.

"These foreigners are really good at boating......"

With such a muttering in his mouth, Sun Yimao obviously ignored the fact that most of the sailors on this ship were Chinese.

"I don't know, what kind of character is that Grand Governor?"

Thinking of the characters he wanted to see after arriving in Wuchang, Sun Yimao's heart was full of curiosity, and the contempt of everyone in the palace for him, thinking that the so-called "Han Righteous Army" was just an "opportunist".

Although the Kingdom of Heaven seems to be powerful now, and no one can stop it all the way along the river, but in fact, if it is about the territory under control, it may not be much more than Wuchang, and now the reason why it is necessary to march west and regain the land abandoned along the way is to expand the territory and solve the crisis of rice and grain in Tianjing City.

Compared with the two, Sun Yimao naturally judged a higher level, but there were some things that he couldn't say, let alone dare to say, but it was precisely because of this that he was full of expectations for the trip to Wuchang, and he would take the initiative to ask Ying to go to Wuchang to lobby the governor of the Han Dynasty to return to the kingdom of heaven.

On this ship of more than 1,000 tons, there is not only one thoughtful person, Sun Yimao, at the bow of the ship, there is also a person standing, wearing a slightly shabby suit, the whole body is slightly fat, his face is pale, the corners of his eyebrows and eyes are gloomy, revealing a decadence, coupled with the messy blonde hair, people can see at a glance that this is just a down-and-out middle-aged foreigner.

However, although this person looks down, his chest is straight, and even if he grasps the cable with one hand and the wine bottle with the other, he can't hide his temperament.

The temperament of a soldier!

When he was in Hong Kong, Xi Zhimo had heard several other captains use similar words to describe Lynus - this down-and-out Prussian, Prussia, even to Xi Zhimo, who had spent a year and a half in England, was unfamiliar, but this did not prevent him from hiring him to come to Wuchang with a high salary of 380 taels a month - a salary that was far more than the combined salaries of the four engineers he hired in Hong Kong.

And the reason is very simple, this is the only officer he can hire in Hong Kong, a real officer, he even participated in the war, which is undoubtedly extremely rare, after all, in the whole of Hong Kong, except for the British barracks, there are hardly any officers.

For Xi Zhimo, who was in a hurry to go to the doctor, Linus became his only choice. But now, looking at the appearance of him holding the wine bottle, Xi Zhimo regretted it a little.

I guess I paid a lot of money to hire an alcoholic.

Holding a cable in one hand and a bottle in the other, Linus, who drank from time to time, could feel the gaze behind him, but that didn't stop him from drinking, for him, wine was his hobby and his best friend.

Since the death of his wife more than a decade ago, he has never let go of the bottle, even when he was serving in the East India Company's army.

Thinking of his deceased wife, Linus picked up the bottle again and took a sip of wine, at this time, his blue eyes were bloodshot, and there was always a trace of concern in his decadent eyes.

Memories are always very painful, and just as he tried to numb himself with alcohol, a girl in a blue dress walked up to him.

"Dad, you should probably consider quitting drinking!"

Anne looked at her father and whispered.

"It's a good job after all, and in two years, if we can, we can go back to Prussia! Of course, if you don't want to go back to Prussia, we can go to England, but in this case, we will need to hire you for an extra year. ”

Although she was only fourteen years old, Anne had already planned everything in advance, of course, for her, it was simply no choice, who made her father an alcoholic?

As she had planned now, she would save a thousand pounds a year from her father's salary, two thousand pounds for two years, half of which would be her dowry, and the other half, well, could buy a farm in Prussia for her father's retirement. Of course, the UK can also be considered, but this again requires more money.

"And if you do that, there's a good chance they'll fire you, just like in Kolkata!"

Once, in Calcutta, Linus was a major in the East India Company's army, but eventually, the company had to fire him because of alcohol.

"No, Annie, you're completely wrong......"

Despite his addiction to alcohol, Linus loved his daughter dearly, because it was a treasure left to him by his wife, but he did not want to see her, because her appearance was too wife-like, and it always reminded him of his dead wife.

"In India, the British have a lot of options, and I'm just an alcoholic, then an officer, but ......."

Narrowed eyes, Linus looked at Xi Zhimo at the stern.

"Here, I may be their only option, I'm an officer first, then an alcoholic, you know? This means that they will accept this hobby of mine! ”

"Ahh

Anne's words made Anne stunned for a moment, and then suddenly annoyed.

"God, why didn't you say it sooner? Do you know what that means? ”

"Huh?"

Looking at his daughter in surprise, Linus was a little confused, what's wrong with her daughter?

"That means your offer is too low, God, I should have known that drinking is always wrong, it was, and it still is!"

Obviously, for Anne, she saw that it was her father's drunkenness that seriously affected his judgment, didn't he know that he should raise his worth again?

"Mr. Xi, look, Mr. Linus ......"

Wink looked contemptuously at the drunken Linus who had been twenty-four hours a day, nineteen hours a day, and said in a tone full of jealousy.

"Just a drunkard!"

An alcoholic worth more than a hundred pounds!

Wink complained to himself that as an engineer, perhaps, he was not a very good engineer, but he was proud enough to understand that he had become an engineer through his own efforts, and that it was this adventurous spirit that drove him to accept the hire and come to the heart of China.

But the only thing that made him dissatisfied was that in his opinion, his income of thirty pounds a month was equivalent to double that of his counterparts in Hong Kong, which was enough to make him proud, but the drunkard in front of him had more than a hundred pounds a month! That's almost the amount of his and three other colleagues' salaries combined.

How can this not make him red-eyed?

"Yes, he's an alcoholic!"

Shrugging his shoulders quite helplessly, Xi Zhimo glanced at Wen Ke beside him, and said in the same helpless tone.

"But he's an officer after all!"

That's the most important thing, in Hong Kong, there are dozens of engineers like Wink, who can be hired for only ten pounds, and if you want to, you can go to India, where there are hundreds of people like Wink, but officers like Linus, who once served as a major of the East India Company, are extremely rare, or more precisely, not at all!

"And a high-ranking officer, my friend!"

"But, sir, you have to take into account that most of the time, he is in a state of unconsciousness!"

"I don't think you and I need to think about this problem, our employers will think about it! Mr. Wink! ”

Xi Zhihei's tone was a little impatient, of course he knew Wenk's reminder, but for him, he didn't have any other better choice.

Perhaps, this is a strange commodity.

But in his heart, he prefers that after his arrival in Wuchang, his employer will be able to solve the problem.

"Of course, sir, I don't know, when will we get there?" (To be continued.) )