For a week in a row, Zhu Daolin and Chu Mei got along day and night, and Zhu's father and mother were so happy that they couldn't wait to hug their grandson as soon as possible.

Zhu Daolin and Chu Mei stayed with Liang Cheng and his wife and the person in charge of the company for the first two days, summed up the company's business performance over the past year, formulated goals for next year, and then arranged the purchase and reprinting plan of various books and albums according to the list listed by Zhu Daolin.

In the next five days, Zhu Daolin and Chu Mei went shopping to their heart's content, went shopping, and used three noons to feast several old customers who have been cooperating for a long time, deepening their feelings with each other, and finalizing the cooperation plan for the coming year.

During this period, Zhu Daolin also sent two thousand-year-old rosewood pieces brought back from Dengzhou to Manager Li of the metal company as an advance payment for the purchase of 3,000 tons of brass plates of six specifications, copper-nickel alloy copper strip and copper-zinc alloy copper strip within six months.

No matter how busy they are every day, Zhu Daolin and Chu Mei will carry all kinds of gifts and New Year's goods in the evening and return home on time.

After dinner, Zhu Daolin and his high-spirited father set up a chessboard to fight, Chu Mei and her mother sat aside, knitting sweaters while watching TV, and chatting non-stop, the family lived a sweet and sweet life.

On the morning of the eighteenth day of the lunar month, Zhu Daolin flew to Guizhou Province before the printing company's holiday, and just after the next day, Zhu Daolin, wearing an old military uniform, appeared at the mouth of the Yingzhou Tamsui River.

Carefully bypassing the dense mangrove forest that stretches for two kilometres, he took advantage of the darkness to avoid patrols passing in front of him, and brought out the 1,450 tons of steel and 3,500 tons of high-grade cement he was carrying from the gold steel rings and stacked them on the riverbank on the south side of the soon-to-be-completed Tamsui wharf, before swaggering along the newly paved road to the stone-walled camp.

The two sentries on duty saw that Zhu Daolin was excited, and immediately stepped forward to salute and report loudly. Tell Zhu Daolin that Commander Yang is still in a meeting at the headquarters on the south bank at this time.

After listening to Zhu Daolin's request, one of the sentries led Zhu Daolin to the new pier 1.5 kilometers upstream, and together with the officers and men of the water patrol, Zhu Daolin was sent to the south bank.

More than a dozen civil and military officials stationed in Yingzhou were still engaged in heated discussions over the location of the shipyard and the gun factory, when they suddenly saw Zhu Daolin, who had been absent for a long time, appear in front of them, and everyone surrounded them in surprise. Salute and ask for warmth.

Zhu Daolin returned the salute with a smile.

He glanced at the large plan map illuminated by candlelight on the wall, motioned for everyone to sit down, briefly reported the course of the Battle of Dengzhou and the current situation in the Ming Dynasty and the opposition, and finally solemnly told everyone:

"More than 6,400 craftsmen brought in from Dengzhou soon arrived, of which about 2,500 were hereditary craftsmen of the Dengzhou shipbuilding workshop, and most of the remaining craftsmen were skilled craftsmen who had been transferred to Dengzhou from various weapons workshops under the Ministry of Industry and the Royal War Bureau for eight years, and had been making swords, guns, and casting artillery for the armies of the Liaodong front for many years. Among them, there are at least 800 highly skilled senior craftsmen who have reached our Level 6 Craftsman standard, and all of them are genuine treasures! ”

The crowd burst into laughter.

The general manager, Jiang Zhaohuan, and several senior aides were greatly excited, realizing that Yingzhou's position would become more and more important, and Zhu Daolin was likely to start the second phase of the industrial construction plan ahead of schedule.

Zhu Daolin took a sip of tea and continued: "Here I can tell you clearly that this time I did not send these more than 6,000 craftsmen to the Longtan New District Gun Factory and Baguazhou Shipyard, but directly to Yingzhou, the purpose is to start the Yingzhou industrial construction plan in advance. ”

"The next step will be by building a large shipyard and a gun factory. Drive the rapid development of mining, smelting, textile, wood processing and machinery manufacturing in Yingzhou! ”

"Only by establishing this series of basic industries can Yingzhou truly become the base for our survival and development. Become the support of our cause! We don't lack silver, we don't have enough machines and materials to send, these are not the most important, the most important thing is people! ”

"So, you have to do your best to house the upcoming 6,400 or so craftsmen. Record each craftsman's name, age, place of origin, specialties and family situation to form a file! ”

"Most of these artisans are artisans who have been forcibly recruited to Dengzhou, and they have no family with them, so if they ask for it, we can ask them to nominate some people. Handed over to the navy to send them back to find their families, and bring their families from all over the Ming Dynasty to Yingzhou to settle down, this point must be made clear to the craftsmen. ”

All the civil and military officers said that there was no problem.

In the past six months, more than 63,000 migrants have been resettled in five batches, and the civil and military officials in Yingzhou have already summed up a set of experience, and the existing food supplies and turnover houses are enough to house more than 6,400 craftsmen.

Jiang Zhaohuan coughed lightly and raised the question of the location of the two major factories, which had been debated for two days and could not be decided: "Where does the general think it is appropriate to build the gun factory and the shipyard?" ”

Zhu Daolin thought for a moment: "I gave you the decision before, because you are more familiar with the local situation than me, and I also heard your argument at the door just now, since everyone can't make a decision, then it's up to me to take this responsibility!" ”

"The shipyard is best built at the northern foot of Nanshan, 1.5 kilometres upstream, where the banks are mostly rocky, with a depth of more than 3 metres, reaching 5 metres at high tide, enough to build a 3,000-ton dock and dock, protected by forts and batteries to the west, and a 3-kilometre stretch of mangrove forest on the north bank, which is very safe."

"As for the gun factory, it's best to build it in the valley east of the shipyard, so that you can share the dock with the shipyard......"

"If the area in the valley is not wide enough, it is completely possible to use gunpowder to blow up a circle of platforms that are large enough to build workshops and warehouses, and the craftsmen will live in the existing turnover houses around them, and after the two major factories are built, they will build a better artisan residential area, which can be done according to the standards of Longtan New District."

Zhong Wenwu had nothing to say now.

The places Zhu Daolin chose were different from the ones they had chosen before, and the places they could not determine before were the 7-kilometer north shore of the Moon Mountain, and the 3-kilometer gentle slope from the eastern foothills of Nanshan to the south bank of the Tamsui River.

These places are more than 10 kilometers away from both the freshwater and the estuary, and are relatively safe in depth, but the disadvantage is that they are too close to the resettlement sites and the planned hot spring town.

In contrast, the place selected by Zhu Daolin is the most convenient, and it is safer to build a gun factory in the valley, but the investment is huge, and only Zhu Daolin, who is not short of silver, has such courage.

After solving the problem of site selection of the two major factories, the chief officials of the various departments present began to report their work to Zhu Daolin.

Zhu Daolin took out his pocket watch, and when he saw that the time was already two o'clock in the morning, he waved his hand to signal everyone to rest for the time being, and in the next three days he will inspect all the migrant settlements, the 400,000 mu of cultivated fields, five forest farms, two salt farms, and three sulfur mines, summing up lessons and lessons on the spot, discussing countermeasures, and trying to solve the difficulties encountered by various departments. (To be continued.) )