Wu Tianxiao thought that Chen Qianhe wanted to take care of the appearance, so he took out the silver ticket of one hundred taels of Tonghua's shop and handed it to Chen Qianhe: "This matter is not good for Brother Chen to break the bank, this hundred taels should be regarded as wine money." ”

Chen Qianhe accepted the silver ticket with a smile, but said in his mouth: "Who is with you and my brother?" Ha ha...... You go back and wait first, and I'll send someone to inform you. Then Wu Tianxiao got up and said goodbye.

It's just not two days. Chen Qianhe sent someone to inform him that he had made an appointment with Gong Jing for the time and place of the banquet, and Wu Tianxiao was going to the appointment as scheduled. During the banquet, Chen Qianhe made introductions to Wu Tianxiao and Gong Jing, and then the three of them knew that they only talked about Fengyue and nothing else. During the banquet, Wu Tianxiao secretly stuffed Gong Jing with one hundred taels of silver tickets as a meeting gift. Gong Jing was overjoyed and called Wu Tianxiao a brother. When saying goodbye after drinking, Wu Tianxiao said that he would visit him another day. Gong Jingdang even gave Wu Tianxiao a waist card of Hangzhou Shui Shiwei, and asked Wu Tianxiao to come to Shui Shiwei to find him if he had something to do in the future.

And so it was this day. Wu Tianxiao prepared a gift and took Wu Dayou to Hangzhou Daming Water Shiwei to find Gong Jing on the expedition. Gong Jing accepted the gift, and smiled and took Wu Tianxiao and Wu Dayou to watch the Hangzhou Shui Shiwei. It's just that Wu Tianxiao was shocked.

Although Wu Tianxiao knew that the coastal guard of the Ming Dynasty was rotten at this time, he didn't want the Ming Navy Division to be corrupted to such an extent. The various ships of the Hangzhou Navy were damaged, and there were no large ships at all, only a few small boats were abandoned in the military port. The Hangzhou Weishui Division Camp is like a fishing ground in a fishing village, and the small boats docked at the wharf are much inferior to the Japanese sea boats that they have captured. Where would Wu Tianxiao buy this kind of rag, after seeing the sailor ship under Gong Jing's command, even if he was not interested, he never mentioned buying a boat.

As a matter of fact. In the early and middle years of Jiajing, there were few Ming warships left, more than half of the sailors were short, and the remaining soldiers were all old, weak, sick and disabled, and they were unbearable to fight. The actual number of soldiers was only one-third of the original amount, and there was not one in ten warships. It could not defend the Japanese from the sea, so that they could not land. And we can't intercept, encircle, and suppress them on land, and destroy them. Coastal defense is a virtual reality, and the pirates, pirates, and red-haired people are like entering a no-man's land, and they can burn, kill, and loot at will. However, at this time, the invasion of the Japanese was only scattered and scattered like pirates, and in the thirty-first year of Jiajing, after 1551, the Japanese invaders were rampant on a large scale.

Gong Jing actually knew about this Wu Tianxiao from Chen Qianhe a long time ago, and he came to befriend him for the sake of the sea ship. At this time, seeing Wu Tianxiao's face, he never mentioned the matter of buying a boat. When he saw that the silver in his hand flew again, he was a little anxious: "What? What do Brother Wu think of these boats of my sailor guard? ”

Wu Tianxiao smiled bitterly and said: "These boats are smaller, I'm afraid they can't withstand the wind and waves." ”

Gong Jing was careful that the other party didn't buy the boat, and the silver in his hand would fly. To know. In the past dynasties, Hangzhou sailors and thousands of households sold the sea ships one by one for silver, and no one repaired them if they were damaged. So by the time Gong Jing, a thousand households, took over, there would be no good ships in Hangzhou. He has only sold one or two ships, and he can't even make up for the money to buy this thousand households. Therefore, Gong Jing ate empty salaries, deducted military rations and military salaries, and asked his shipwrights and military households to work for him to make money. At this time, how could the silver in hand fly away easily.

So Gong Jing hurriedly waved back left and right, pulled Wu Tianxiao aside and said, "Brother." Wise people don't speak secret words. I'm afraid you've come to me today for the sake of the ship. ”

Wu Tianxiao saw that Gong Jing was in no hurry to speak first, so he also went directly: "Indeed." I would have liked to buy a sea boat so that I could easily transport matches to and fro. It's just that...... I've seen these boats today. Brother Gong Jing should know that my matches are most afraid of moisture, and this boat that can't withstand the wind and waves, my younger brother really doesn't dare to buy it. ”

Gong Jing was depressed: "Brother." I know that Brother Chizuru befriended you one step ahead of me, and I have the command to take care of the adult, and I can't interfere with Brother Chizuru in the sale of this match. But as soon as I and you see each other, brothers should take care of each other when there is something. I know that Brother Wu has the means and has a lot of money, so when he gets rich, he asks his brother to take care of me. In the future, I will be useful to the matter of my water master, I will go in the fire, and I will go in the water, and there will be no ambiguity. ”

Saying that, Gong Jing patted his chest again and said: "If you want a big ship, it is not difficult, I will order the shipwright to build it for you." Just ......"

Speaking of Gong Jing, he hesitated again: "It's just this silver hemp." Dissatisfied brother, I spent a lot of money to honor the officials for this thousand households, but I haven't made much money so far, and the money to buy the officials hasn't been earned back, so the money is really tight. This buys ship wood, the shipwright's wages or something, but it needs to be paid in advance by the brothers. ”

Where would Wu Tianxiao easily believe him, if he didn't have a current ship, he was really afraid that he would take the silver and not do anything. Besides, I don't know how long it will take to build a ship. So he excused: "Why don't you go and see how the shipwright is doing?" ”

Gong Jing patted his chest when he heard this: "I don't have to say." Rest assured, the shipwright's craftsman, I haven't let them idle. When they are idle, they have no military pay or military rations. If I hadn't found a way out of this misery, they would have starved to death. As he spoke, he took Wu Tianxiao to see the shipwright.

Wu Tianxiao was taken aback again. The shipwright was making furniture, and the boatwrights were all yellow-skinned and ragged. If it weren't for their skillful tapping of the tools in their hands, they would have thought they were a group of homeless people.

And it's no wonder. At this time, the Daming Sea had been banned for a long time, and the people were not allowed to build sea ships privately, and the shipbuilding industry was in ruins. The water division guard is unbearable, and the Ming court has long ignored the water division and focused on defending the northern Tartars. The little silver that can be allocated has long been privately divided by Gong Jing, the officers of the grassroots naval division, where is there any money to build warships.

Therefore, these sailors have almost nothing to do, private ships cannot be built, and public ships cannot be built. The boatwrights themselves had to find their own way out, in addition to building some fishing boats to sell to the fishermen. It was only occasionally a few private people who bribed Shangguan with money, and Shangguan let them build ships and sell them. Nowadays, there are fewer maritime merchants, and there are fewer private merchants who buy ships. Gong Jing is a sailor like a thousand households, as long as there is a way to get silver, so it is also a matter of time to build furniture for others. Therefore, these shipwrights and even military households have become the private workers of the officials, and they are the private workers who have been exploited. For a little bit of subsistence food, you have to do this and that for Shangguan.

Wu Tianxiao saw that there were only twenty or thirty shipwrights. However, although the houses in the water division guard were dilapidated, there were many of them, which was obviously unreasonable. Then he asked, "Brother Gong Jing." Is that all there are to the shipwrights of the Mariners? ”

Gong Jing listened to it and said, "Hehe." Hehe. Other shipwrights, that ...... Expatriates, expatriates. Now the imperial court only attaches importance to the northern border army, but it ignores our Daming water division, so that the military salary, money and food are not evenly allocated. But we also have to eat and drink Lazar, so if we can't get work, there will be craftsmen hired outside. ”

Wu Tianxiao asked curiously: "What kind of foreign employment law?" ”

Gong Jing explained: "Expatriates. It is to be taken care of by the merchant to do things. After the foreign hire, the food, drink and Lazar of the shipwright's family were all handled by the merchants, but the household registration was still with me. Speaking of this, Gong Jing smiled and said, "Brother." You should know this. The implication is that the shipwright hired abroad was actually sold by Shangguan to a merchant as a private servant, but the household registration was still in Gong Jing's hands.