When Shile rose in the north and competed with Wang Jun and Liu Kun for Jizhou, Wei Shuo lived in Zhuqi County to implement the Juntian Order and the Slave Release Order, and after the implementation of the two good policies, although he raised a large number of people and land resources, but also due to the lack of cattle and horses and other livestock, the land resources could not be well utilized.

In order to compensate for this, Wei Shuo ordered the opening of trade routes to Liaodong, and if you want to sell horses, cattle and sheep and other livestock to Liaodong, you must have large ships suitable for long-distance voyages. Today, the Laoshan trading company has only three small ships, one of which can carry only 80 horses, which is completely unable to meet the immediate needs.

"Looks like I'm going to have to go to Koto." Wei Shuo muttered to himself, the ancients had a saying that if you want to buy a big ship, you have to go to Jiangdong. The local shipbuilding industry in Xuzhou is far less prosperous than Jiangdong, and as for Laoshan's own shipbuilding workshop, it is even more nowhere to be seen. At the moment, there is a shortage of ships, and we have to buy them from outside.

"Erlang, Jifu, in two days, while Zhao Gu and Wang Sang are still unable to take care of my Zhuqi County for the time being, this official has decided to go to Jiangdong."

"Koto? What is Brother Wei doing in Jiangdong? Zhang Erlang was anxious when he heard this, and hurriedly asked.

It's just that Cao Hong said thoughtfully: "Do you want to go to Jiangdong to buy a boat?" ”

Wei Shuo was pleased: "Well, it is still Jifu who knows what I mean, and now with the implementation of the Juntian Order, there is an urgent shortage of cattle and horses and other livestock in Zhuqi County, but there are a large number of cattle and horses in the Xianbei tribe in Liaodong. Therefore, this official intends to open a local trade route to Liaodong, from Liaodong to Xuzhou, China. ”

"Trade routes are easy to open, but ships are hard to find. There are no large ships in Xuzhou, they are only small transport ships that can carry less than 100 horses. I've already inquired that if you want to get a big boat, you have to go to Jiangdong. ”

It is said that Sun Quan, the lord of Wu, once sent a large fleet to Liaodong to trade, but it was only in the middle of the way that he encountered the Wei state Runan Taishou Tian Yuzheng to supervise the Qingzhou army to attack Gongsun Yuan from the sea channel, which led to the failure of the first trip to Liaodong. However, trade between Liaodong and Jiangdong was not severed. ”

"There are many local docks in Jiangdong, both supervised by the government and private operators. Thousands of large and small ships can be produced every year, according to Wan Zhen's "Nanzhou Foreign Matter Chronicles" record: "The big one is more than 20 zhang long, two or three zhang high above the water, looking at it like a pavilion road, carrying six or seven hundred people, and the thing is out of ten thousand." ’”

Wei Shuo bowed slightly when he heard this, and was very satisfied with Cao Hong's performance, this is the difference between Cao Hong and Zhang Erlang, he is very familiar with this kind of court allusion, and he can almost open his mouth when he uses it.

"Brother Wei, you are going to Jiangdong, take me with you, anyway, I haven't been to Jiangdong yet, just go and see it."

"No, Erlang, you have to stay and help me guard here, although the local family has temporarily succumbed, but who knows if they are still secretly harboring ghosts? If we all leave, we may have something to do with our lives, and our plans will be ruined. So on this trip to Jiangdong, I only took Jifu with me. ”

"But if I don't go, who will protect Brother Wei's safety?"

"Hehe, I'll take a hundred guards with me here, which is enough to deal with ordinary thieves. Besides, the Jiangdong territory is quite peaceful, we are going to buy ships, not to fight, why are we bringing so many people? ”

Zhang Erlang was quite dissatisfied when he heard this, but he also knew that Zhuqi County was still a little unstable, and he needed to lead the army to sit here. Two days later, Wei Shuo, under the send-off of Liang Qiu and Zhang Erlang, took Cao Hong to board the ship to Jiangdong. In order not to cause other trouble, Wei Shuo and his entourage all pretended to be ordinary merchants, starting from the coast of Zhuqi and sailing south.

Without being there, it is impossible to experience the hardships of ancient sea sailing. Huge waves up to several feet hit the fleet again and again, and the sailors could only trap their bodies with ropes, and they struggled to move forward on the deck step by step, and together they controlled the ship not to deviate from its course, or at least not to be overturned by the waves.

The most terrifying thing is the dark night, but fortunately, the shipbuilding technology at this time is quite good, plus there is a compass to locate, Wei Shuo is not afraid of losing his course. However, he finally understood why ancient ships always sailed near the sea, so that it was easier to discern the direction.

As he spent more and more time at sea, Wei Shuo became more and more irritable in his heart, he had never suffered like this in his two lives. And I encountered another storm, and for several days in a row, I ate and vomited, vomited, and sometimes I couldn't eat at all. Not only him, but in addition to those sailors who often go to sea, even Cao Hong also suffered from seasickness.

Wei Shuo, who was majestic and heroic before, and Cao Hong, who was very angry, finally had a gray face, and sat in the cabin weakly. You can only sit, you can't lie down, and you have to tie ropes to fix your body, otherwise if the boat shakes, it will have to roll around like a ball. The two of them had already suffered a loss before, and they didn't know how many bags they had been hit on their heads.

"Big ...... My lord, I didn't ...... Didn't think about it...... Come to think of it, it's so hard to take a boat...... Uncomfortable. Cao Hong looked bitter.

"Hehe, I didn't expect a storm, it seems that we are still lacking in training, you see how those sailors have nothing to do. Now I know that the construction of the navy is not easy, and the century-old navy is really not just talking! Wei Shuo curled up in a ball, feebly pointing at the sailor on the nail plate.

"My lord, June is approaching, and the weather is getting hotter, and hurricanes like this often occur at sea. On the sea, such a small hurricane is said to exist, and it is impossible to calculate at all. Fortunately, it is not a big hurricane, otherwise our group would be more than lucky! ”

Cao Hong still has palpitations when he remembers the situation when he encountered the storm a few days ago, the scene was really terrifying, and the waves of more than ten meters pressed like a mountain.

Fortunately, the next voyage was very smooth, and after a few days, Wei Shuo and his entourage finally arrived safely in Houguan County, Jin'an County, during the Three Kingdoms, Sun Quan, the lord of Wu, had set up a captain in this place to force the prisoners to build ships. The world-famous Wenma Chuantun is located in the territory of Wenma Town, which is subordinate to Houguan County.

Later, after the Jin Dynasty unified the world, during the Taikang period, Jin analyzed Jian'an County and placed Jin'an County, Houguan County belonged to Jin'an County, but in order to further manage the shipbuilding industry in the place, Emperor Wu of Jin issued an order to analyze Wenma Town as Wenma County belongs to Jin'an County.

Nowadays, Houguan and Wenma have become the largest shipbuilding bases in Jiangdong, with only nearly 1,000 ships built every year, but the sea ships account for less than one-tenth, and most of them are building ships suitable for inland navigation. Moreover, with the increasing tension in the north, Sima Rui urgently needed a large number of sailors to guard the Yangtze River defense line, so he once again reduced the production of sea vessels.

As soon as he entered the county seat of Houguan, Wei Shuo took Cao Hong and hired a local as a guide.

"Wei Dongjia, where do you want to go today?" The guide bowed and followed behind Wei Shuo and Cao Hong and asked.

"Well, do you know where the local shipyard is? We want to go to the shipyard to see, isn't your shipyard known as the best in the world? If you don't see it with your own eyes, you won't believe it below. After standing on land again, Wei Shuo suddenly became lively again, and he was even in the mood to joke with the guide.

"Then Wei Dongjia has to take a good look, although our place is not as prosperous as the previous dynasty, but it is more than enough compared to other places. There are nearly 50 shipyards in Houguan County, of which there are more than 10 large shipyards operated by the government alone, and there are also a large number of small and medium-sized private docks. ”

The guide was obviously very familiar with the local area and enthusiastically introduced Wei Shuo, but he obviously didn't want to accompany Wei Shuo to too many places. There are so many shipyards, if you want to visit them one by one, you can't see them all in ten days or eight days each.

Wei Shuo seemed to see the guide's thoughts, so he smiled: "Don't worry, as long as you work hard for us, your benefits will be indispensable after the deed." Let's go, let's go to that house first. ”

As he spoke, Wei Shuo walked towards a small boat shop not far away.

"Hou Guan's He Family Shipyard." Wei Shuo came to the door, looked at the signboard in front of the door, read softly, and then walked in.

"Quick, go and inform your proprietor that a big customer is coming." The guide hurriedly greeted a boatman from the He family's shipyard and said.

The boatmen of the He family's shipyard saw that Wei Shuo and his party were dressed extraordinarily, and they didn't dare to slack off, so they hurriedly sent one person to run to the back. Others looked at Wei Shuo and his party with a flattering look, hoping that the big patron would buy more boats from their shipyard. A small boat shop like them is not easy to maintain on weekdays, and it is rare to meet a big customer like Wei Shuo.