On the afternoon of November 14, a sand ship "Guangxing" from Shanghai sailed into Dinghai Port.

A few scholars staggered from the bilge to the deck, sat at the bow of the ship, and took a big breath of fresh air. These scholars took a boat to Dinghai to participate in the imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty, and the wind and waves on the sea were too great all the way, and they were all dizzy.

"Dinghai Port has arrived, and there are about two quarters of an hour before we can dock at the pier. You can take a break on the deck and take a look at the scenery of the harbor. The old king, the owner of the vast number of ships, greeted these scholars very politely.

A retinue-like man lowered the cushion on the foredeck and waited for a burly, good-looking scholar to sit down, and the rest of the scholars immediately surrounded him like a moon. Hu Renpei, who was sitting in the middle, was the only one in this group of scholars, most of the scholars gathered in front were from Xiucai, and the two people hiding in the back were children who had not entered school.

Hu Renpei is a son of Changzhou, because of the escape of the war, he traveled to Shanghai, and heard that a Ming court arose in eastern Zhejiang, recruiting talents from all over the world. Hu Renpei didn't have any ill feelings towards the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but he repeatedly went to Beijing to catch up with the exam, so he wanted to try his luck here in Dinghai.

The sea breeze blows slowly, the sails in the harbor are dotted, and the mountains on both sides of the strait are showing. On the channel, a Western plywood ship is approaching.

"Isn't this a Western ship? This Ming also has dealings with the Xiyi people? "Hu Renpei is a son of Changzhou, because he escaped the war, he traveled to Shanghai. He hated the arrogance and unreasonableness of the British and American foreigners, and said in his heart that if the so-called Ming Dynasty was also in collusion with the Xiyi people, then he would come to participate in the Ming imperial examination, and he would inevitably have some Meng Lang.

The old king smiled and said, "You gentlemen don't know anything. Since the Ming army announced the three-year tax exemption in Dinghai, the ships of the Quartet will not be pumped in and out of the port, and the Dinghai market is becoming more and more prosperous day by day, and the southern and northern goods and foreign goods are all pouring here. These Xiyi people have always been profitable, and they naturally will not let go of this opportunity to make money. ”

A weak scholar wearing a linen cloth and a yellow face asked curiously: "How does the Ming army deal with these Xiyi people, are they the same as the Qing Dynasty?" ”

This yellow-skinned scholar is Yang Yunlong, and his words are in the field. Yang Zaitian is a native of Yangzhou, he was originally teaching in the countryside of Yangzhou to make a living, and by the way, he studied to prepare for the exam, because after the Taiping army captured Yangzhou, he was at a loss and had no way to make a living. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom opposed Confucius and Mencius and banned the Four Books and Five Classics, but Yang Yunlong was unwilling to go to work, so he had to take a boat from Yangzhou to Shanghai. In Shanghai, he can't lift the blue in his hands, can't carry the burden on his shoulders, and is about to become a beggar, I heard that the Ming Dynasty in eastern Zhejiang recruits virtuous and virtuous people, and the famous Confucian in eastern Zhejiang presides over the imperial examination.

"This?" Lao Wang scratched his head, "From what I have seen several times, the officials of the Ming Dynasty have always acted according to a charter, and there is no difference between treating Yiren merchant ships and treating us merchants. ”

"Da Ming is neither humble nor arrogant, and treats everyone equally." The scholars whispered.

"One-two-one, one-two-one~"

The slogans on the shore were brought to the ears of the scholars by the sea breeze.

Hu Renpei followed the sound and looked towards the shore and saw the sea pond, the wharf, the sailboat, and the houses on the shore. He said in his heart, could this be Dinghai City, it's too simple, but looking at the direction of the sand boat he was taking, it didn't seem to be.

"May I ask the old man, is that Dinghai City over there?"

"Over there, there is the Ming barracks, and Dinghai City still has a five-mile waterway." Old Wang Tou looked up for a moment, "Look, there are a lot of red single boats and red haired boats parked on the Ming Army Wharf, all of which were sent by Fujian sailors and red-haired pirates. ”

Yang Yunlong was very puzzled, "Isn't the Fujian Sailor from the Qing Dynasty?" How could they send ships to the Ming army? ”

There was a burst of laughter at the bow of the boat, and Hu Renpei scolded with a smile, "Yang Zaitian, you are stupid to read!" This so-called send-off is the anti-righteousness, indicating the meaning of the army's easy seizure. ”

"I'm ashamed to be late, let the old gentleman laugh!" Yang Zaitian also felt embarrassed, and laughed dryly, "Read thousands of books, travel thousands of miles, the ancients did not deceive me." He knew that he was physically and mentally exhausted because of hunger, and secretly warned himself to be cautious in what he said.

In the laughter, the owner of the ship told the scholar that the Ming army barracks was originally a wasteland by the sea, and the construction began after the Ming army captured Dinghai. He sighed, "In just half a month, the barracks rose from the ground." ”

"Such a speed?!" A few scholars were incredible.

Hu Renpei remembered a saying in his hometown, "If the foundation is not firm, the earth will shake the mountains", and he couldn't help but sigh, "Lao Tzu has clouds, 'The wood of the hug is born at the end of the millennium; The nine-story platform starts from the soil. This barracks is sloppy and rare for a hundred years. ”

"What Master Hu said is very true." Lao Wang Tou also went to school for a few days, and he understood Hu Renpei's words, "However, the Ming Dynasty is full of talents, and there is an old saying~~?" That's right, it's ingenious. This Ming army is very good at fighting, and it is not ambiguous to make a living! Their new salt farm produces a lot of salt and is of good quality. The salt is snow-white and fine-grained, and now the people of Shanghai also like the Dinghai salt we sent. ”

In the chat, "Guangxing" has passed the Zhushan Gate, and Dinghai is in front. There were a lot of ships parked at the anchorage under Wukui Mountain, and when they saw a sand boat coming, a jing boat in the harbor came straight to this side.

"All in place! Prepare to anchor," the captain commanded loudly while standing at the bow. The sailors all ran around, untying the cables, folding the sails, and pulling the rudder.

Seeing that the boat was about to sail closer, the owner of the boat greeted him affectionately: "Lord Bao, don't come unharmed!" ”

"It turned out to be Master Wang, welcome to Dinghai Port again. I am Bao Zucai, the chief inspector of the port, not an adult, you can call me the chief inspector Bao. ”

Bao Zucai stood on the bow of the Jing Ring Boat in a blue sè training uniform, he learned the style of those Ming cadres, and his expression was very serious.

Guo Fan, a crossing cadre, is the director of the Dinghai Port Office and the director of the Dinghai Port Authority, and Bao Zu is his assistant. Bao Zucai was originally a post soldier, after joining the Cheng Ming Army, after a short training of the crossing team, he was appointed as the inspector of the Dinghai Port Authority, and was recently promoted to the chief inspector of the port department.

"Master Bao has been promoted, congratulations."

Dinghai Port ships come and go every day, these compliments Bao Zu only heard more, he just smiled, his hand arched, "I would like to welcome the arrival of the "Guangxing" on behalf of the Daming Dinghai Port Authority, but due to the limited Dinghai wharf, in addition to boarding and disembarking passengers, loading and unloading, all passenger and cargo ships are anchored in the port. ”

After a few days of not coming, this port has become more busy, the old king thought to himself, and before he could speak, several scholars wanted to go ashore as soon as possible, and chattered.

During this time, there were many scholars ashore, and Bao Zu saw this speech, demeanor and dress, and knew that these were probably also here to take the imperial examination. He arched his hand, "You are all Confucian students." There are transport boats in the harbor that are responsible for picking up and dropping off passengers, and when the survey is completed, they will naturally come up and take you ashore; Alternatively, you can take ashore on our jing-ring boat. ”

Hu Renpei couldn't help but stand up, "This is strange, just at sea, the sea jing ship has already experienced, how can it be inspected again?!" ”

"You gentlemen don't know, the Haijing ship is responsible for the sea jingjing, to prevent the Manchu Qing and pirates from attacking, the inspection in the port is just a surveyor, the inspection of the goods, and the inspection of the Haijing ship are two different things." Bao Zucai accompanied the smiling face, he muttered in his heart, these are Wenqu stars, maybe one day he will become his top boss.

Hu Renpei sneered, "Surveyor? Do you doubt that we can't wait to be spies for the Qing army? ”

A port inspector in charge of health and epidemic prevention next to Bao Zucai immediately replied, "This gentleman doesn't know anything, and the inspectors are the ones who check the health of the personnel and prevent the epidemic from spreading." "This port inspector was also trained in the first phase of the guard training team, specializing in port epidemic prevention and conducting rapid inspections of epidemic diseases for personnel entering Dinghai.

Preventing epidemics? The scholars chattered and discussed.

Bao Zucai no longer paid attention to those scholars, he asked Lao Wang Tou directly, "There are no dangerous people on the ship, prohibited goods, right?" ”

The old king accompanied the smiling face, "That's okay!" The ship is full of foreign goods, except for their own buddies, that is, a few scholars who came to Dinghai to study, you can inspect the goods. ”

Bao Zucai boarded the sand ship with two port inspectors, first surveyed the personnel, and then inspected the goods, and Lao Wangtou followed left and right.

After the registration was completed, he asked the port inspector to put away the registration book, turned to the old Wang Tou and said: "Your ship seems to have no problem, first anchor in the port, and it should be able to enter the port to unload the cargo before dinner, and then listen to the notice." ”

It had only been a few days since he arrived, and the harbor was getting busier and busier, and the owner looked up at the many ships waiting to enter the port, and was unwilling to wait until the evening. He smiled and wanted to hold Bao Zucai's hand, "Lord Bao, we are old friends, can you be accommodating, it is very unsafe to unload this night." "Daming prohibits bribery, there are several scholars on the front deck looking at this, and Lao Wang wants to quietly send the personnel over with his hands in his sleeve.

"Master Wang, you are so rested!" Bao Zucai hurriedly took a few steps back and refused. Just kidding, this Daming brocade guards are all sharp-eyed, the previous chief inspector was picked up for taking bribes, so he was promoted, not to mention that Daming's salary is very high, there is no need to lose his own errand for these small profits.

Seeing that there was a dispute here, the scholars immediately gathered around. Seeing that Old Wang's face was a little embarrassed, Bao Zu comforted him, "Master Wang, in fact, you don't need to worry at all. The head of Dinghai has now been equipped with arc lights, and the night is like daytime. It's just that the night loading and unloading fee is slightly higher, in addition to the port fee, berthing fee, unmooring fee, loading and unloading fee, and weighing fee, you also have to pay a night overtime pay. ”

"It's nothing, I'm just afraid that the unloading speed will be too slow at night."

"Don't worry, you see, there are a few new steam masts installed on the docks, and the unloading of this machine is much easier and faster than manpower."

Following Bao Zucai's fingers, the tall boom devices on the head of the boat attracted the eyes of the people on board. The boom device is two feet high, with a long mast sticking diagonally into the air, and a black sè rope hangs from the top of the boom. With a rumbling sound, the long boom stretched out to the ships moored at the head of the ship, constantly lifting the cargo up and down.

Bao Zucai, an arc lamp and a steam-powered boom, had already seen it in Shanghai Port, but he didn't expect that the Dinghai Boom under the Ming Dynasty also had such a device, and he sincerely sighed, "This Ming Dynasty is really good, and it has not been a few days since Dinghai was governed, and the head is no different from the Shanghai Yiren Wharf, no wonder the Qing soldiers are not opponents." ”

"That's natural, now the Yiren ships in Ningbo and Shanghai are all running to our side, and our wharf is not enough at all, but it doesn't matter, the new wharf will start this month."

After chatting a few words, Lao Wang asked Bao Zucai about the market of Dinghai salt.

"There should be this, there are several trading houses along the port road, you can go there to investigate." Bao Zucai said with concern, "Master Wang, you'd better go ashore early and purchase all the required goods, so that you can unload and load the goods continuously, so as not to need to leave the dock twice." ”

Looking at the scholars who gathered around, Bao Zucai arched his hand, "On behalf of the Damingding Port Authority, I would like to welcome the arrival of all gentlemen, and now that the inspection is complete, welcome all gentlemen to board the boat and go ashore." ”

A transport boat has already approached the "Guangxing".