Zhu Houwei and the little girl, accompanied by Zhu Yuan and Wu Yiheng, continued to inspect the land around the Tianjin seaside for the next three days.

Now the cement factory in Huangzhuang is around the capital, but there will definitely be pollution in the manufacture of cement, even after some relatively simple pollution treatment, it will inevitably affect the environment around the capital. Moreover, the output of cement is now getting bigger and bigger, and the cement factory in the capital alone has no time to make it. So Zhu Houwei is ready to build a cement plant by the sea, and after some simple treatment, it will be discharged into the sea. Unlike rivers and lakes, the sea is very self-purifying, and the pollutants used to make cement do not contain radiation, and they do not float on the surface of the sea like oil, so this plan is feasible.

Cement has attracted more and more attention in recent years, because it can not only build roads, but also build houses, and as a building material, it has great commercial value. With the water and land battalion guarding here, Zhu Houwei can also rest assured that the cement manufacturing will be moved here, and the transportation of Tianjian is developed, which is also conducive to transportation.

After a few days of investigation, I finally bought about 20 hectares of saline-alkali land, or wasteland, 40 miles south of the camp, and spent less than 2,000 taels in total, which was quite cheap. The next step is to call craftsmen from the capital to build a large number of buildings, as for the workers, there are still a lot of them in the local area, as long as the money arrives, labor is not a problem.

The shipyard has also become very interesting in the past two days, the people of Longjiang Shipyard are familiar with the shipbuilding technology handed down from their ancestors, and after two days of exploration, they have begun to get on the right track. When the local craftsmen saw the superb skills of the people in Longjiang Shipyard, they immediately put down their bodies, and all the craftsmen came here to learn and learn. This competition did not smell of gunpowder, and it felt like it had become a process of communication and learning. Zhu Houwei talked with some local craftsmen to know that although the Longjiang Shipyard has declined, but in the hearts of many shipbuilders, the Longjiang Shipyard still has a very high status, after all, the shipyard that can enter the history books throughout Chinese history is rare, and at this time the pride of all the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty.

Seeing the two groups of shipwrights getting along so harmoniously, Zhu Houwei was also relieved, originally what he was most afraid of was local protectionism and senseless intrigue, jealousy and jealousy. However, Zhu Houwei also has something to worry about, that is, the fortune boat that was originally planned to come back in 6 days has not yet arrived at the dock, in the sea, the weather is unpredictable, and the forces of nature are not human beings in most cases.

In the anxious waiting, before 9 o'clock in the morning on the eighth day of the Fuchuan going to sea, Zhu Houwei found a ship approaching the dock quickly when he was holding a telescope to observe. When I got closer, I found that it was the flag of the water and land battalion, and the ship that traveled this time finally returned.

At noon, the officer leading the team reported on the trip. As a captain, he also took a log when he came to report, which was requested by Zhu Houwei, and every captain should insist on writing a logbook every day when he goes to sea.

After the report, I learned that this time I went to Dengzhou, because the sailors were operating such a "big ship" for the first time, it was a little rusty, and the sailing was basically a headwind, which was a little later than planned. It was a tailwind on the way back, so it only took a little over three days to get back. This voyage was significant, the main thing was to use a sextant to measure and locate one's position. For the sextant, which is an extremely useful prop for navigation, Zhu Houwei naturally knows a lot. In addition, this time the chart was drawn using the method of later generations, which was easier to understand than the current chart, and of course more accurate.

During this voyage, the speed of the ship was also measured relatively well, with a headwind of about 3 knots, that is, about 5 kilometers per hour, and a downwind of 6 knots, about 11 kilometers per hour. (One section is almost 1.8 km)

Because the sails of Chinese boats are different from those in the West, the speed will be greatly reduced when the wind is upwind, but when the wind is downwind, the sail will be more efficient against the wind than in the West, so the speed will be significantly improved. There is no problem with such sails when sailing offshore, but when it comes to long-distance sailing, problems will arise.

Western sailing ships have a certain utilization rate for both downwind and upwind, so such ships can carry out deep-sea voyages, as long as they are not windless, and basically have no eye impact. However, if you use Western sails, there will also be a problem, that is, the number of sailors required for Western sails is much more than that of Chinese sails, and the difficulty of operation is also greatly increased, and the technical requirements for sailmen are very high. The current Ming Dynasty does not have a heavy Western-style sail operation, so it will take a long time to cultivate.

It is not unreasonable that the army is easier to train than the navy; according to the current amphibious battalions, in addition to artillery, scouts, and basic riflemen, they only need half a year of training to go to the battlefield, but the sailors who have been trained for half a year cannot even complete a long voyage, and naval warfare is even more worrying.

The question of sails has to be determined according to the situation of warships in the future, and it is not urgent to come now. The fortune boat came back smoothly, and Zhu Houwei was about to leave for Beijing. Three or two large carriages carried the trophies of the little girl and others, and Zhu Houwei had several large vats on the two carriages, and the vats were ready to set off with sea goods.

When leaving, most of the officers came to see him off, and these people came from the Zhu Mansion. Zhu Houwei basically chatted with every officer during the few days here.

Zhu Houwei said to Wu Yiheng, "It's up to you to do things here, the biggest task now is to train soldiers, and then protect various industries." The training of sailors must be stepped up, and as much as possible, personnel must be arranged to sail to sea, so as to accumulate experience. However, the sea is about to freeze, and when the ice melts at the beginning of spring next year, we are arranging to go to sea. As for the caravan, I will arrange it when I return to the capital, and the fishing boats will also start to be manufactured. In case of emergencies, make your own decisions, and then write a letter to the capital to report. Big brother and I believe in a few of you. ”

Wu Yiheng replied solemnly: "Weichen will definitely complete the task." Zhu Yuan smiled flatteringly beside him, "Second young master, when will you come again, we are all thinking about you and the eldest young master?" ”

Zhu Houwei also said with a smile, "I'm sure I'll come here in the spring next year, and the eldest brother may not be, after all, he still has to go to the court." ”

Zhu Houwei turned his head to Li Ruqing and the three old men and said, "Elder Li, the shipyard will be handed over to you, and in the past few days, the achievements of your Longjiang Shipyard are also obvious to all." When the Dafu ship was built, he went to the Chinese Military Office to ask Wu Yiheng for drawings and study the new sea boat. As for the matter of the treasure ship, we can't let it go, and I hope that the treasure ship can be restored as soon as possible, so that the treasure ship can sail in the Daming Sea again as soon as possible. The three old men didn't say anything, just nodded solemnly.

In the eyes of everyone, Zhu Houwei and others returned to the capital by car. Only two days later, Zhu Houwei arrived in the capital, moved a few large water tanks from the car to Fuwang's Mansion halfway, and rushed directly to the palace.

When they arrived at the palace, Hongzhi and Empress Zhang must have been living leisurely, so they rushed directly with the little girl. When I arrived at Youranju, I found that only Empress Zhang was here, Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao had not come back from dealing with state affairs with the cabinet, and it was almost five o'clock in the afternoon.

When Empress Zhang saw her youngest son and daughter coming back, she smiled and stepped forward to ask for warmth. Zhu Houwei was also warm in his heart, answering all kinds of questions that Queen Zhang was chattering, the little girl was gagging on the side, and she also took out the gifts she brought from Tianjin, and the three of them were also happy.

It was almost 6 o'clock, and Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao both arrived at the leisurely residence. After entering the door, I took off my thick down jacket and prepared for dinner. Hongzhi's face was expressionless, Zhu Houzhao was a little angry, and Zhu Houwei knew at a glance that there must be something wrong with the civil and military officials.

The two took off their down jackets, and when they saw Zhu Houwei and the little girl who came up to greet them, they immediately showed smiling faces. After waiting for the little girl, Zhu Houwei and Hongzhi saluted, Zhu Houzhao pulled Zhu Houwei and asked about what he had seen in Tianjin. Regardless of political affairs, naturally everyone is in a good mood.

After a while, Empress Zhang ordered the meal to be served, and found that there were a few dishes missing, and after a while, the palace maid came in with a tray, and she didn't know what was inside when she covered it with a big lid made of silver.

Each of the four people had a plate in front of them, and when the lid was lifted, a burst of fragrance filled the nose, and when I looked closely, it turned out to be braised abalone and charcoal-grilled scallops. Hongji smiled and said, "At this time, you brought it back from Tianjin?" The little girl said urgently, "Daddy, the second brother brought it back in two big carriages, but he brought a total of 10 cylinders, and the tanks were filled with seawater, and these abalone and oysters were brought back alive, but he took 2 cylinders back to Fuwang's Mansion." Daddy quickly asked the second brother to bring the two cylinders over. Zhu Houwei shook his head helplessly, and Hongzhi smiled and said, "Okay, Daddy asked him to bring it." Then he turned his head to look at Zhu Houwei and said with a smile: "You will send two more cylinders into the palace in the next two days." As soon as Zhu Houwei heard it, he knew what Hongzhi meant, and then nodded with a smile.

At this time, the little girl said, "No need Daddy, I'm playing with my second brother, how can you take it seriously." Zhu Houzhao had already eaten a scallop at this time, and then said with some schadenfreude, "That's not good, Daddy Chrysostom Yuyan, why don't you count?" After saying that, he immediately ate another scallop and enjoyed it. The little girl made a grimace at Zhu Houzhao, and then said coquettishly, "Hmph, I won't give you food when I send it to the palace, we have it, but you don't have it." ”

Zhu Houzhao's face froze, and then he said very aggrievedly, "Little sister, he is your brother, and I am also your brother, how can you favor one over the other?" The little girl said arrogantly, "I'm like this." The other three laughed.

The dinner was very enjoyable, especially the oysters, which were loved by Hongzhi, Empress Zhang and Zhu Houzhao. Abalone is also available in the Imperial Palace, but it's not unusual.