On the wharf on the south bank, at this time, there were already many soldiers and civilians, and the crowd was crowded.

Everyone's eyes were focused on the neatly arranged large iron cabinets on the north bank, and the sounds of questions, exclamations, and discussions were endless, while those civil and military officials and some soldiers who had seen this kind of large iron cabinet were full of joy.

The patrol speedboat crossed the wide river and landed on the dock on the south bank, and the officers and men saluted Zhu Daolin one after another.

The civil affairs officials hurriedly stepped forward and greeted with fists, and the chief administrator Jiang Zhaohuan grabbed Zhu Daolin's hand first, and asked a sentence that everyone wanted to know: "General, how much grain is in those dozens of big iron cabinets on the north bank?" ”

"Don't worry, it's definitely enough!"

Zhu Daolin smiled and replied, finding that Jiang Zhaohuan was still not satisfied, so he had to elaborate: "There are 2,000 tons of flour in the 76 iron cabinets, and there are 3,270 tons of rice in the west and north of the iron cabinets, which is estimated to be enough for the 100,000 soldiers and civilians who will arrive one after another to eat until the end of the year, but it is just ......."

Seeing Zhu Daolin's words, Jiang Zhaohuan thought that something was wrong, and his heart tightened, but after hearing Zhu Daolin's pause, he continued: "It's just a small part of the rice packed in sacks, only a small part is covered with waterproof canvas, and most of it is uncovered, if it suddenly rains heavily, it will be over." ”

"I have ordered the Tamsui battalion to immediately bring the tools to the north bank, and a few of you will transfer another thousand young men to the past, cut down trees, cut bamboo, cut thatch, and build a grass shed on top of the grain stacked in the open air, and protect the grain first before thinking about the next step." Zhu Daolin took the opportunity to make adjustments.

The civil affairs officials who were worried about food walked away in a blink of an eye, and Yang Dading also blew the copper whistle, gathered more than 1,000 officers and soldiers under his command, and used the only two small boats and dozens of bamboo rafts made of bamboo in the past few days to cross the river first, leaving only Simeno and Jiang Zhaohuan to stay by Zhu Daolin's side.

The three of them walked together to a newly built row of improvised wooden houses behind the flagpole. Jiang Zhaohuan knew that Zhu Daolin liked to drink tea, and before he boarded the wooden house three feet above the ground, he ordered two young entourages to make a pot of tea, and then personally went to the back to pack a few pieces of boiled wild potatoes in a bamboo basket.

Zhu Daolin picked up a piece of fragrant purple wild yasca and took a bite, and quickly praised it: "It tastes so good!" ”

"It's all over the mountain, and I want to cook it for you every day. Please eat fish at noon, the sea bass here is very delicious, and the whole river is full of various schools of fish swimming around for dozens of miles......"

"Thousands of people are tired of eating fish these days, but unfortunately there are no fishing nets, if there are more than a dozen big nets for the young men in the freshwater camp to go down to the river to dry for a few days, at least ten thousand big fish of more than two feet can be obtained, just take out the gills and internal organs, marinate them with salt and dry them, and store them for a few months without any problem."

Jiang Zhaohuan, who had no food pressure, was in a very happy mood.

Only then did Zhu Daolin realize that he had neglected the fishing nets. Neglect of the important fishing industry.

Eating wild potatoes silently and thinking about it for a long time, Zhu Daolin clapped his hands and turned to Simeno, who was sitting opposite and looking at him with a smile: "Have you had a good time these days?" ”

Simeno shrugged: "The construction drawings of the fortress have been revised, but everyone is cutting wood and mowing the grass and building rows of thatched-roof wooden houses, so my instructor team and I are very leisurely, and the day before yesterday afternoon we completed the field survey of the three fortresses on both sides of the river, and began to focus on discussing the construction plan, which has been summarized for the past two days." Not badly done. ”

Zhu Daolin was very satisfied: "Captain, do you still have something to say to me?" ”

"Of course. Before I entered this house, I knew that I couldn't hide anything from the general's eyes, and the general had been enjoying the delicious wild potatoes just now, so I couldn't bear to disturb them. ”

Simenol replied happily that this guy gradually integrated into Zhu Daolin's core team, and also learned subtlety and cunning from other staff.

Zhu Daolin smiled: "Let's talk about something." ”

Simeno nodded. Put away his smile and sit upright: "General, 12 of the 17 Spanish soldiers who stayed here entrusted me to convey their request to the general, sincerely hoping to join the general's army as a hired instructor. They are willing to unconditionally obey the general's military law and military orders, and are willing to fight anywhere for the general. ”

Zhu Daolin was surprised: "Aren't they going to Keelung Harbor in the north to join the Spanish garrison there?" How could such a request be made? Aren't they worried about the punishment of the Governor of Manila? ”

"Ten months ago, they had completed three years of garrisoning Tamsui Port, and 12 of them were veterans who had not been promoted for five years beyond their time limit, and nine of them had more than five years of education and were able to read books and perform less complex mathematical calculations, including Ensign Henrik, whom the general once praised," Simeno explained. ”

"In five days, the military transport ship returning to Manila from the port of Keelung will arrive, and they are unwilling to return to Manila to live a poor civilian life, so they entrusted me with a request to the general......"

"I still recognize the military capabilities of 12 Spanish servicemen, including Ensign Henrik, of course, everything depends on the general's decision."

Zhu Daolin pondered for a long time: "Simeno, do you trust them?" ”

"I know the Spanish troops stationed in Manila, and through the past few days of getting along, I have gradually learned about the experience and abilities of each of them, and I feel that they can still be trusted, but this is not the key, the key is whether the general will trust them...... However, no matter what decision the general makes, I will strictly implement it. ”

Simeno respects Zhu Daolin very much, and he knows very well that his current status and generous treatment are not easy to come by.

Zhu Daolin looked into the eyes of Simeno: "I trust you Captain Simeno, since you can trust your 12 Spanish compatriots, then keep them in your instructor team, and return to Nanjing at the end of the year to sign an employment contract." ”

Simeno stood up happily: "I thank the general for his generosity on behalf of 12 compatriots!" ”

Zhu Daolin stopped Simeno: "Don't worry, Simeno, I have an idea, you can help me analyze whether it is feasible...... I want you to send 15 to 20 members of the instructor corps, receive 20,000 taels of silver from Mr. Jiang, the chief of civil affairs, take these 12 people with you, take them to Manila on the transport ship of the Spanish army, and buy two fishing boats with a displacement of about 80 tons and a full set of fishing nets. ”

"There is no problem, there are at least a thousand such small boats in Manila, and if you are lucky, 20,000 taels of silver can buy two 80-ton naval patrol clippers that have been in the water for less than two years, or three 100-ton offshore fishing boats that have been in the water for less than two years," said Simeno. ”

"Very well, you are solely responsible for this matter."

Zhu Daolin sent Simeno out, whispered a few words in his ear, Simeno nodded happily, and strode towards the barracks of the Spanish garrison a hundred meters to the west. (To be continued......)