The two warships with a displacement of 300 tons sailed 10 kilometers from the coast and turned north, and the warm wind blowing from the south was stronger.

The wind, the sea, and the waves also increased accordingly.

The wave height of less than 1 meter is normal for the officers and soldiers of the sailor, and it is necessary to kill several noble sons and three little eunuchs who sailed on the sea for the first time, and they began to vomit from the U-turn and accelerated to the north, until dusk, and there was no longer a trace of strength to stop, and they were carried into the cabin by the recruits of the sailor division and lay down and still retched.

Only Xu Wenjue is the most energetic, has been accompanied by Zhu Daolin to stand on the deck, thanks to his father since he was a child to take him on the sailor warship to play, he is faster than the officers and soldiers on the ship to adapt to the bumpy navigation on the sea, although he has never been to sea before, but the performance is not inferior to anyone else, all afternoon with Zhu Daolin presented by the telescope, together with the young hundred households who lead the voyage, according to the coastal terrain and place names, accurately calculate the speed and direction of the warship.

To Zhu Daolin's surprise, the middle-aged eunuch Zhao Huaizhong did not show the slightest sign of seasickness, except for two times to urinate in the toilet under the bow, the rest of the time he sat at the small square table on the deck, using a brush to record the process of setting sail and the voyage on the yellowed blank stationery.

Zhao Huaizhong was able to write more than a dozen pages neatly in a beautiful pavilion on the rickety ship, which made Zhu Daolin and Xu Wentao greatly admired, and he did not stop until the sky was gray, and happily said that he had learned a lot of navigation knowledge.

Due to the good sea conditions, the clear blue sky is full of stars, the visibility is very good, and the southeast wind of level 3 to 4 is quite stable, Zhu Daolin, captain Chen Xuan, and first mate Li Jingyao discussed and decided not to moor and continue sailing.

The officers and men on board began to take turns eating. Zhang Deyi, Chang Yanjun, Zhao Liben, their six entourages, and three little eunuchs, who were weak and haggard, were helped onto the deck one after another, and under Zhu Daolin's repeated persuasion, they drank the gruel specially boiled for them with difficulty.

Half a bowl of porridge was not drunk, except for Chang Yanjun and a 16-year-old little eunuch, the others vomited incessantly, making a mess on the deck. Zhu Daolin had no choice but to order the soldiers to send them back to lie down, walk to the bow of the ship with Xu Wenjue and chat, and let the soldiers wash the deck.

At nine o'clock in the morning of the next day, the two warships arrived in the sea area 8 kilometers east of Yancheng three hours earlier than expected.

Zhu Daolin observed the two shipbuilding workshops along the coast, the continuous salt pans and the rising green smoke through the telescope, pondered for a long time and still couldn't figure it out, turned around and asked Xu Wenjue and the first mate Li Jingyao beside him, but the two didn't know, and finally could only ask Zhao Huaizhong, who was lying on the side basking in the sun, for advice.

Zhao Huaizhong got up, took the telescope given by Zhu Daolin and observed for a while, and then had an answer: "Those salt pans on the shore should have been built in the past few years." In the past, only Fujian and Guangdong built salt pans, and by introducing seawater to expose to the sun, and then extracting salt brine and finally drying sea salt, the method is probably like this, and I don't know how to do it......"

"In the past few years since the introduction of the salt drying method in the salt fields along the coast of Huaibei, I don't know if it is due to the climate, or because the craft has not been learned, and the salt production has not increased much. So I haven't stopped boiling salt. ”

Zhu Daolin suddenly realized: "I understand! It's not the weather, it's the fact that their salt pans aren't built well. In addition, there may not have mastered a full set of technology, do not understand the salt brine concentration, precipitation, filtration, extraction and secondary evaporation process, not to mention the low yield, the taste of the dried sea salt is bitter and full of impurities, so we have to retain the traditional salt boiling method with great inefficiency. ”

"How. Do you know the salt drying method? Xu Wenjue was very surprised, he knew that Zhu Daolin was knowledgeable, but he didn't expect that when it came to the salt drying method, he was also the Tao.

Zhu Daolin nodded: "The salt drying method is actually very simple, the key is the salt field construction and the precipitation, filtration, and extraction process of salt brine, long before immigrating to Taiwan." I have learned about various salt production methods, and finally chose a new salt field method that is easy to understand and has high yield, but the disadvantage is that the capital investment in the early construction of salt pans and sedimentation wells is relatively high. ”

"Between spring and summer next year, we will build 10,000 acres of salt pans on the coast about 12 kilometers south of Tamsui Port and west of Keelung Port, and it is expected that salt will be produced next winter, and the annual output of 500,000 tons of sea salt will be reached in a year."

"When the time comes, the fleet of Tiangong Trading Co., Ltd. will transport goods from the ports of Jinling, Longtan and Baoshan to the Tamsui port, and then from the Tamsui port or a small port in northern Taiwan to bring back sea salt, sulfur and shipbuilding timber, the profit will be much higher, and maybe the shareholders will be able to share the dividend equivalent to the principal in December next year."

Xu Wenjue heard the dividends that the shareholders of Tiangong Commerce and Trade might receive, and suddenly lost his spirit: "Most of the shares of Tiangong Trade were bought by those dock coolies and small traders, why did they get such a high dividend?" ”

Zhu Daolin glanced at him: "The coolies and hawkers didn't offend you, people should get benefits if they invest money, who told your dad to look ahead?" ”

"At the beginning, I left 15% of the shares for your family, and 10% for Xin Chengbo, but if you two don't buy it, forget it, and say cool words, but Long Pinghou is kind, in order to support me quietly buy 5% of the shares, now it seems that he will be able to recover the capital by the end of next year, and he will sit and count the money in the future...... You're red now, and you're a fart! ”

Xu Wenjue was full of regret, and could only complain that his father did not dare to take risks and blindly sought stability.

Zhao Huaizhong immediately made a small calculation in his heart, he knew that his boss Wu Jingxian bought 5% of the shares of Tiangong Commerce, and he wanted to ask Zhu Daolin to sell him some stocks, but he didn't dare to think about it, about 3% is 30,000 taels of silver, he can still get it, but seeing Xu Wenjue stomping his feet and pulling his hair from time to time on the side, he didn't dare to propose it immediately, and planned to talk to Zhu Daolin alone after entering Beijing.

Zhu Daolin arranged the night voyage that night very well, and in the first half of the night he went into the narrow captain's room to sleep, and just after the hour he returned to the deck to replace the captain Chen Xuan.

Before the two of them finished their shifts, the "Tsubaki" behind them sent a light signal, and the sail rope broke and the sail overturned, and it was crooked and unable to sail in the waves more than one meter high.

Chen Xuan had no choice but to order the sail to stop the ship, Zhu Daolin asked him to continue to command, took six old soldiers to put down the boat, rowed to the "Tsubaki" that had finally stabilized, and climbed the rope ladder to check on the boat.

Under the light of torches, dozens of officers and men tossed for more than two hours, repaired the sails that had been torn in two places, replaced a full set of sail ropes, and carefully inspected the three-sided longitudinal sails and the steering wheel system on the main mast under Zhu Daolin's strict requirements.

Zhu Daolin was still not at ease, so he ordered the six old soldiers to return to the "Cypress" in front, stay on the "Chunshu" by themselves, and analyze the reasons with the captain and first mate.

It was not until the next morning, when he found out the reason and made proper arrangements, that Zhu Daolin returned to the "Cypress" in front.

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