"How did this ship get to our Jinling!"

When the three-masted sailing ship appeared at the Jinling wharf, the coolies on the wharf were amazed and discussed.

The reason is very simple, the style of this three-masted sailing ship is different from any kind of sailing ship in the Ming Dynasty today. It was not a hard sailboat, it had soft sails hanging on it, and it was so narrow that it looked like a willow leaf. On the highest mast hung a flag embroidered with an unknown fish, and the fish was so cute.

If you are familiar with the South China Sea, you will know when you see this flag that it is the flag of the Xinxiang Fishery Political Bureau.

Fang Yizhi was passing by the dock, and when he saw the ship, he also came over to watch the excitement.

With the coming of the year, he was somewhat depressed. At the beginning of the year, Yu Guozhen was single-handed in the Anlu War, and even Sun Lin, who took him to fight the thieves, got credit and made up a military position. Seeing the friends around him, either making contributions or establishing a career, Fang Yizhi himself wasted his time, which made him quite unhappy.

The result of unhappiness is that he is drunk and golden. Thanks to Yu Guozhen's fortune of running a journal and a newspaper, Fang Yizhi is not short of money now, and he can even subsidize his younger brothers with manuscript fees, but he is not good at making money, so the rest is thrown into the gold cave of the Qinhuai River. As he said today, he took a group of powder-headed drinking friends to Qixia Mountain outside the city to "shoot" and came back.

When the excitement dissipated, he was the loneliest, so he rode along the river alone.

The hull of the ship was painted a beautiful white, and the bow was inverted and sharpened like a knife. The length of the bow and tail of the hull is about 15 zhang, and the width is less than 3 zhang, and the narrow hull proves that it is known for its speed, not for its capacity.

After the sailboat docked, one by one strangely dressed sailors went ashore, Fang Yizhi saw it, but his eyes lit up, he was very familiar with Yu Guozhen, of course, it could be seen that these sailors in white were wearing the uniforms of Yu Guozhen's guards!

"It's Jimin back!" He immediately guessed, and immediately drove his horse forward.

Yu Guozhen patted the gangway with satisfaction, and smiled at the people around him: "It's really good, it only took a total of fourteen days, this is still a headwind, you can return in seven or eight days!" ”

Luo Jiuhe also sighed: "Little official, this boat is really amazing!" ”

Yu Dahai shook his head: "Fast is fast, but Childe said that in the future naval battles, there will be fewer and fewer gang battles, and more artillery battles." Those with more cannons are better than those with few cannons, and those who shoot fast and far are better than those who shoot slowly. This kind of sailing ship does not have many guns, it is difficult to win artillery battles, and the cargo is too insufficient, so it can only be used as a transport ship. ”

Yu Guozhen laughed, the speed of the clipper is its biggest feature and advantage, and the problem of insufficient transportation can be made up for by speed. Moreover, this first clipper boat was modeled by him and the original Liu Xianglao shipwright and the Lei family brothers, and then with the cooperation of Spanish shipwrights from Jakarta, this masterpiece of Chinese and Western fusion was completed.

From the beginning of his development of Xinxiang, he has been paying attention to collecting timber suitable for shipbuilding, and the mountains near Qin'zhou originally produced giant wood, and after defeating Liu Xianglao, a lot of timber came from Liu Xianglao's lair, so in the dock of Longmen Island, the wood used for shipbuilding can be said to be piled up, and many of them have been air-dried and can be used. When he returned to Xinxiang this time, the first thing he did was to build this clipping boat, and it took half a year before and after to finally build it.

After a round trip between Xinxiang and Hoi An, the ship was used to take Yu Guozhen back to Jinling. He had in his hand the survey sent by the Nanjing Town Guard, coupled with the speed of the ship, there was almost no delay along the way, even if it was a headwind most of the time, it only took him fourteen days to get from Guangzhou's to Jinling, which was almost twice as fast as the lucky ship!

In addition to sixty sailors, the ship carried one hundred and twenty domestic guards, as well as a number of new cargo. Yu Guozhen estimated that the full load of this ship should be about 300 to 400 tons. It's not a big ship at this point, but it's enough for him.

"Don't worry, this ship was originally for the convenience of traveling between Jinling and Qinzhou, and it will be convenient for us to go back and forth in the future, so we don't need to waste time on the way. As for the battleships, they will always be made for you! ”

Speaking of this, he stepped onto the gangway and went up to the bank of the Jinling River.

Then he heard someone shouting, "Help the people, help the people!" ”

Yu Guozhen turned his head in surprise and saw Fang Yizhi driving his horse running, then dismounted, laughed and waved at him: "Okay, you Yu Jimin, this is your boat, it's so beautiful!" ”

"Brother Mi, why are you here?" Yu Guozhen was also full of surprise.

"I just came back from Qixialing, and I went around the river, but I didn't expect to see your boat, tsk, it's really a good ship, it must be soon?"

"That's natural, take this boat from the capital of Guangzhou to Jinling, it only takes more than ten days." Yu Guozhen also wished that someone would share it with him, so he laughed and said, "Do you want to go to the Guangzhou Prefecture with my ship?" ”

Fang Yizhi's heart was moved when he heard this, and he blinked his eyes, but immediately lowered his head: "Jimin, you are playing tricks on me, the New Year will be closed soon, how can I go to the Guangzhou Prefecture Capital!" ”

Yu Guozhen smiled: "It's going to be after the year." ”

Fang Yizhi frowned, shook his head, looked at him and said, "Didn't Jimin come back from the news?" ”

Yu Guozhen was stunned: "What news?" ”

"The Rogue has returned."

This news surprised Yu Guozhen, at the beginning of the year, he fought with Liukou in the Anlu area, Zhang Xianzhong and Lao Huihui suffered a heavy setback and hid in Yinghuo Mountain, why did it only reach the end of the year, and Liukou returned?

Seeing Yu Guozhen's appearance, Fang Yizhi laughed out loud and patted Yu Guozhen's shoulder hard: "I only said that Yu Jimin is bold, he doesn't care about Liukou at all, I didn't expect it to change color when I smell Liukou!" ”

It turned out that he was just scaring Yu Guozhen, seeing him like this, Yu Guozhen frowned slightly, although Fang Yizhi was not stable enough before, he was not so frivolous. Therefore, he said: "I am not afraid of thieves, I am only afraid that the people will suffer from thieves and be displaced." ”

Fang Yizhi was dumbfounded when he heard this, and then solemnly arched his hand: "The brave will be benevolent, and the people will teach me again." ”

"You think I'm serious?" Yu Guozhen suddenly laughed and patted Fang Yizhi on the shoulder: "You scared me, I naturally want to learn from the old man to scare you, now we are clear." ”

He just looked like that, but he really had some square hole style, and he was so frightened that Fang Yizhi had to bow upright. After patting Fang Yizhi on the shoulder, Yu Guozhen walked forward with a smile, Fang Yizhi stayed in his original position, looking at his back, and couldn't help laughing.

This Yu Jimin really refuses to suffer, just like Zhang Tianru's comment, whoever wants to take advantage of him will be doubled by him!

However, what he just said was really just a joke, not what he really thought in his heart?

After the Battle of Anlu, Fang Yizhi was grateful to Shi Kefa for guarding Tong's City and guarding the ancestral tomb of the Fang family, so he also wrote a poem for it and wrote a letter to the past. Shi Kefa also replied to the letter, which included the content of discussing Yu Guozhen.

Fang Yizhi felt that Shi Kefa's comments were a little too much, and later learned from Zhang Pu how Yu Guozhen played Shi Kefa around, and he felt some sympathy for Shi Kefa in his heart.

Of course, sympathy is sympathy, Fang Yizhi believes to a certain extent that it is also Shi Kefa's own fault.

"Jimin came back for the New Year this time?"

"Yes, go and pay homage to the eldest lord first, can the eldest lord be promoted?"

"You, it's been half a year to run south, haven't you received a letter from home?"

Yu Guozhen smiled, it was not that he didn't receive it, in fact, every half month, Gao Erzhu would have a long letter sent to Xinxiang, but the way was too far, and the letter arrived at least forty days later. The last time Yu Guozhen received a letter was more than 50 days ago.

"There is no real shortage in the court, but the boss wants to go to the local government, and there is no suitable position." Fang Yizhi was a little gloomy, his father's career was not very smooth, and now he is still stumbling in the position of Nanjing Shang Baoqing, which has no real power at all.

"There will always be, the eldest master has a unique vision, and there are hills and ravines in his chest, and sooner or later there will be a time when the edge will be revealed."

Fang Yizhi walked a few steps, thinking that he still had a horse, he went to lead the horse, and at this time he saw that the boat began to load goods on the shore. One after another boxes were carried out, and there were already guards on the shore to negotiate with Lifu, and after a while, more than 100 Lifu surrounded them, and each person picked up the boxes. Fang Yizhi was about to ask what was in the box, and suddenly saw a row of words painted on the bow of the ship with royal blue paint.

"Huh!" Fang Yizhi saw these three words and couldn't help but be stunned.

"Brother Mi, hurry up, I'm going to see the eldest master, you have to lead the team for me!" Yu Guozhen glanced back at him and said.

Fang Yizhi chased after him with a smile: "What are you wearing in these boxes, could it be those soaps and the like?" ”

The soap that Yu Guozhen brought with him when he came back last year was very popular in Jinling and surrounding cities, because of the low price and good taste. He specially sent some heart-shaped ones to Fang Ziyi and flower-shaped ones to Fang Ziling, which made the sisters very happy.

"Some local products in Xinxiang, and some fruits from the south, and now I have a piece of land overseas, and I have planted a lot of fruits and the like." Yu Guozhen replied with a smile.

As soon as Fang Yizhi heard that he had gone overseas, he immediately lifted his spirits and pestered him to ask him to talk about overseas. The two chatted while walking, and Yu Guozhen picked up something that could be said and told him, such as the confrontation between Ruan Zheng and the split of the Ruan clan. As for his role in these things, he didn't say anything.

Fang Yizhi listened leisurely, and then pestered Yu Guozhen to ask about Hoi An's customs, and when he learned that the land over there was very fertile and the trade was very convenient, he couldn't help but say: "One day, I will also go to Hoi An to have a look." But speaking of this, I heard that Xia Lao said that he went to sea by boat some time ago, saying that he was going to Xinxiang, and if he was going to your side, he would go to Yungui for a trip. ”

Yu Guozhen didn't know about it, and was stunned for a moment when he heard this: "I guess I missed it on the road, it's a bit troublesome, I'm not over there, and I don't know if Brother Guowei can stop him." He is over half a hundred years old, and the situation in the southwest is not very stable. ”

At the mention that the situation was not very stable, Fang Yizhi was a little depressed.

(To be continued)