Tianjin is only a small earthen city, and the city walls are made of glutinous rice juice mixed with loess, which is no more than one zhang high and no more than half a foot thick.

Such a city wall, not to mention resisting the Tatar iron cavalry, is a big problem to resist the ordinary mountain bandits. Fortunately, Tianjin is very poor, so poor that the fishermen who can only rely on the water for drinking are reluctant to leave the water's edge.

What is a great port location is now home to a bunch of fishermen. Every morning, the fishermen go out in a small boat with fishing nets, and at night they will stop the boat in this area, and the life of the family is often on the boat.

Xue Danda is one of the thousands of fishermen, and his name is based on the size of the root of life. When he was a teenager, he stripped off his clothes and pants and went into the water to catch fish, and unfortunately he was shouted by the shameless and loud body of the neighbor, this kid's egg is really big, so there is today's Xue Egg.

Today's harvest is not bad, a lot of marine fish from the Bohai Sea have been picked up, and three or four rare bonifish have been caught in the Haihe River. If such a basket of fish is sold, it can be eaten in a bucket.

He was planning what to do with the few small fish that he couldn't sell if he was clearly on the move, when the oncoming footsteps made the old fisherman, whose face had been blown by the sea breeze very vicissitudes, raise his head.

In the cloudy eyes, I saw several young people in splendid robes, the leader of whom looked a little older, but no more than thirty-five years old.

There were things embroidered on their clothes, and with Xue Egg's shallow knowledge, he really couldn't tell whether the embroidered clothes were fish or dragons.

"This old man, the harvest is good today!" The voice of the leader is very gentle, and the accent is not at all like Tianjin Wei's.

"It's okay, you. Are you here to buy fish? After asking with some uncertainty, Xue Dan looked at the group curiously.

Looking at the style of those people, it is similar to the style of the official master that his grandfather once said, but unfortunately he has never seen the real official master.

The middle-aged man shook his head: "No, I'm just asking my brother about something." ”

When he heard that he was inquiring, Xue Dan shook his head like a rattle.

Although the old man in Tianjin City is not very good, he is the best one in more than ten years, and his appearance is not too ugly, at least he will want to leave a way for the people to live. If someone else comes, God knows if they will take a lot of money from these honest people.

The middle-aged man smiled, squatted down and said, "Brother, I haven't asked yet, you just pretend not to know!" ”

Xue Danda shook his head stubbornly: "This master, if you ask, I don't know anything." ”

I thought that I must not offend this group of big masters, I can't help but take a few big-eared scrapers, they are all people with status, and they should not be unable to get along with this little common man.

The middle-aged man did not get angry, but took it out in his arms, and then took out two silver ingots, one large and one small, the big one was about five taels, and the small one was only two taels.

He took the silver in his hand, and then handed over the big one: "Brother, just ask a few simple questions, if you answer to my satisfaction, the silver is yours." ”

When the silver appeared, Xue Danda felt that his eyes must be shining, growing so big, there was a lot of silver in his hand, but it was the first time that such a large sum of money was likely to become his own.

In previous years, the fishing tax was handed over through his hands, and the silver could not be moved, and he did not dare to touch it. But this silver, you can think about it.

"What are you asking?" Xue Danda was still vigilant, but his eyes were staring at the glittering silver and remained motionless.

The middle-aged man didn't care about the price of the brocade clothes, and sat on the side of the boat like Xue Danda: "I don't know if my brother knows if there are any people around here who can build big boats, and how many descendants are there who know water in this area?" ”

Xue Danda didn't answer immediately, staring at Yinzi and pouting.

After the middle-aged man handed him the silver with a helpless face, he stuffed it into his arms and pressed it his shriveled chest before saying, "What do you ask the builder of the big ship for?" ”

"It's nothing, the imperial court has something to build a big ship, let me ask." Middle-aged people don't shy away from being authentic at all.

"There are a lot of people who can build ships in this area, but there are not many people who can build big ships. I'll help you find someone to build as much as you want to build, as long as you give you enough money. Xue Danda couldn't figure out the intentions of these people, and said cautiously.

When it comes to shipbuilding, he can build it himself, and he can build big ships.

His grandfather was the one who was recruited by the imperial court to build a boat in Yongle Nian, and he was one of the few people who survived. Later, the imperial court made a sea ban, and few people in Tianjin Wei really knew how to build big ships.

The middle-aged man was surprised: "You really know how to build ships?" I'm going to build a ship of thousands of materials, capable of carrying hundreds of people. ”

Xue Dan jumped up in fright: "You want to rebel!" ”

This is a job with a head, even if he gives more silver, Xue Danda will not dare to do it. He is a fisherman who can earn some money to support his family, and he is happy. But if he was to pin his head to the waistband of his trousers, he would never dare. Don't look at everyone who calls him Xue Egg, but he is bold, but not as big as his egg.

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Don't worry, brother, we don't have the courage to rebel." The imperial court wanted to open a sea ban, but there were no big ships, so I came to find a shipwright. Also, the imperial court wants to set up a sailor, and those young people with good water skills in this vicinity can join the sailor if they want to make a career at sea. ”

Xue Danda looked incredulous: "This official, do you entertain me?" The imperial court has banned the sea for hundreds of years, and this sea ban will be opened? This ship is not something that can be built in a day or two, let alone one or two people. ”

Shipbuilding needs silver, and it takes a lot of silver, but Xue Danda doesn't know how much. But at least he thinks that the person in front of him in splendid clothes must not have so much silver.

"Don't worry about this old brother, someone in the court will take care of it." The middle-aged man is very confident and does not worry about the problem of silver at all.

Xue Dan hesitated, everyone wants to earn silver, but they have to have a life flower.

No matter what the middle-aged man said, he stopped talking, this matter had to be summed up with others, and he had to go to the county and report to the grandfather.

These people are of unknown origin and speak with foreign enemy accents, so they can't be fooled.

made up his mind not to open his mouth, and in the end, the middle-aged man had no choice but to go.

It wasn't until these people had left for a long time that Xue Danda took out the silver from his arms and twisted his thighs fiercely, and then he hurriedly called a few descendants to rush towards the county.

Xue Danda's starting point was good, but he never thought that when he arrived in the county, the county master would agree to meet him so simply. When he entered the back hall of the county government with anxiety, he found that the person sitting at a table drinking wine with the grandfather was the middle-aged man he had seen during the day.

At this time, Xue Dan was so frightened that he knelt on the ground with a grunt, and his head hit the ground violently: "The master spares his life, the master spares his life, the grass people don't know that the master is from the government." ”

While begging for mercy, he quickly reached out and took out the silver he had received during the day from his arms, and raised his hands.

Instead of being annoyed, the middle-aged man walked over and forcibly dragged him up from the ground: "Brother Mo panics, since I gave you this silver, you can take it steadily, no one dares to snatch it from you." Since the elder brother is here, the shipwright's business has to trouble the elder brother. ”

"Oops." Xue Dan nodded busily.

The grandfather's face was a little unsightly and said: "Hey, hey, this is the master of the Qianhu of Jinyi Weibei Town, you really take yourself seriously." ”

Tianjin Wei is stationed in Tianjin Wei and Tianjin Left Guard, Tianjin Right Guard, the life of the county master is not very good, there are not many people in the city, but he has to look at the faces of those who are soldiers. This person with the waist card of Beizhen Fusi Thousand Households is considered a noble person in his life, but poor Xue Danda is not knowledgeable at all, and he really thinks that he can be called a brother and sister with such a big man.

Xue Dan was about to kneel down again when he heard this, but the middle-aged man grabbed his arm tightly.

couldn't kneel, and the master stared at himself as if he was going to eat people, and Xue Danda even wanted to die at this moment. He regretted it in his heart, regretting that he should not have offended a noble person for five taels of silver.

"Lord Sun, this matter was ordered by Lord Hou, as long as Lord Sun handles things well and takes a step forward, it is not a problem at all. This old brother should be the most talkative among the fishermen, and the matter will be left to the two of you. The middle-aged man arched his hand towards the master.

What Xue Danda didn't expect was that the grandfather, who usually doesn't lie to anyone, actually squeezed out a big smile on his face: "Don't worry, Lord Xie, this matter is on the lower officials." However, if the people above blame, please ask Hou Ye to turn around one or two on his behalf. ”

Sun Jiang is not a person who does not know the current affairs, but he is not an adventurous person, he is not willing to let go of the opportunity, but he is also not willing to take risks.

He is very different from Xue Egg, who is just a fisherman who doesn't know anything, but he is an official who has been in officialdom for more than ten years.

At the age of forty-one, he was promoted to the rank of official, and he finally got his current status, and Sun Jiang definitely didn't want to give up.

The person standing opposite him was a thousand households named Xie Lun from Jinyiwei, but there was no shadow of Jinyiwei on that person.

Xie Lun said lightly: "Don't worry, as long as you determine your position, Master Hou will not let others suffer." If you have money, everyone will earn it together, and in the future, maybe you can get a governor. ”

After getting a definite answer, Sun Jiang's heart blossomed, and he was busy: "Hey, okay, the lower officials understand." ”

"The first batch of timber will come from Liaodong in March next year, and before that, my men will cooperate with you to gather shipwrights and recruit new soldiers." After Xie Lun finished speaking, he pulled Xue Danda and left the county office.