Chapter 11 Buying a Boat

Yao Guangxiao hugged He Xi and said, "Young Master, let's go back and rest first." ”

He Xi thought about it, shook his head and said, "No, go and rest at this moment, your whereabouts will definitely be mastered." It's hard to see the real thing. ”

Tang He is in the city of Ningbo at the moment. It can be said that it is the highest identity person in the whole of Ningbo, no, the whole of Zhejiang. It can be said that the eyes of the entire Ningbo people are on Tang He, and He Xi only needs to see Tang He. He Xi's identity couldn't be hidden.

He Xi didn't hide it. But after his game with Guo Huan in Hangzhou, he was actually full of distrust of local officials. This point may be Zhu Yuanzhang's words and deeds.

Therefore, He Xi wanted to figure out the situation by himself first. It's never too late to identify yourself.

Yao Guangxiao couldn't, so he could only help He Xi to rest in a tea shop.

He Xi rested for a while before he could be considered to have adapted to the swaying land.

Yao Guangxiao said: "Young master, where are we going?" ”

He Xi pondered for a while and said, "Go to the shipyard." Anything at sea, you can't avoid a boat. Boats are the foundation of some ocean policies. This is absolutely important to be aware of. Especially the private shipyards, I have to take a look. ”

Today, the largest shipyard in Daming is Nanjing Longjiang Shipyard.

When He Xi was in Nanjing, he saw it.

Somewhat disappointed. The biggest problem of Longjiang Shipyard is not that the technology is not good, and it is not that the craftsmen are not skilled. It's the wrong positioning.

Why did Longjiang Shipyard come about? It's because of the battle with Chen Youliang.

Therefore, the ships produced the most by Longjiang Shipyard are river boats, and even most of the warships needed for the decisive battle between Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang are built by Longjiang Shipyard. He Xi had already investigated before he came. It is very easy for Longjiang Shipyard to transform sea vessels.

It could even be said to be a breeze.

Not to mention anything else, the Nanjing Bao Shipyard that built for Zheng He's Western shipbuilding was actually Longjiang Shipyard. To be precise, it is a workshop specially divided into Longjiang Shipyard. All the required personnel are transferred from Longjiang Shipyard.

Wait for Zheng He to go to the West. Nanjing Bao Shipyard is gone. But the Longjiang Shipyard is still there, in fact, the people from the Nanjing Bao Shipyard have returned to the Longjiang Shipyard.

However, He Xi had already passed Zhu Yuanzhang and ordered the Longjiang Shipyard to prepare sea ships.

In the future, warships, transport ships, and other official ships, He Xi is actually not too worried. With the technical support of Longjiang Shipbuilding, coupled with He Xi's own guidance, it is enough to build a suitable ship. But He Xi wants to know that it is the technology of private shipyards.

Because, Longjiang Shipyard is impossible to conquer the world. A large number of civilian ships are the needs of the great voyage.

But in all respects, the record of this is blank.

He Xi didn't know that it was the Ming court that was too lazy to do statistics in this regard. After all, these are all dossiers written by someone with a pen. Or, maybe it's that Da Ming doesn't care much about things here at all.

As for the matter of the Ningbo Shipyard, I only found out when He Xi crossed the sea and talked with the ship boss.

Ningbo, Wenzhou, Fuzhou, Quanzhou, these places are all important shipbuilding towns in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty. He Xi naturally wanted to touch the confidence of the shipbuilding industry.

Yao Guangxiao said: "That's still the same old thing. ”

He Xi said: "Go sell a boat." I also asked, that is, a few hundred taels of silver. ”

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He Xi said that he would do it, and after inquiring with Yao Guangxiao and others, he walked along the wharf for more than ten miles. Inside a small village. This small village looks very ordinary. But under He Xi's careful observation, he saw a lot of cats.

For example, a large pile of timber at the back of the house. It's all big wood. And it seems that it is well preserved, and it is all dried in the shade.

A lot of people have a lot of messy things piled up in front of their houses, gray and white. It looks like dirt, but it's not dirt. He Xi also did his homework to find out, what is this? This is a kind of ash, which is glued together with plant ash, shell ash, and many other things. The usefulness is to fill the seams. On the crevices under the boats, painted all over. It is used for waterproof and leak-proof.

And ordinary people, even if they use wood fire, they don't need to have neat big wood.

Because ordinary miscellaneous firewood is worthless, the money given is manual firewood. At most, a few big sons, and only in a big city like Nanjing, can a load of firewood be sold at a price. Ordinary people simply can't have the luxury of burning a fire with intact wood.

Even if it's to build a house. It is also impossible to use so much wood.

So, what are these woods used for. It's obvious.

Shipbuilding.

This village should make a living from shipbuilding.

He Xi led people to look around. Naturally, it caught the attention of others. Immediately, an old man came over and said, "This young master, I don't know what you have to do when you come to our village?" ”

He Xi also got straight to the point and said; "Buy a boat."

The old man said, "Young Master, you've come to the right place. I built ships in the Xu family era. All kinds of ships have been built. In the middle of ten miles and eight towns, when it comes to my Xu family's boat, it is not a thumbs up. Come to my house, I think you're satisfied. ”

He Xi inquired about this is not like this.

According to He Xi's inquiry, there are about a dozen villages in Ningbo that rely on shipbuilding for their livelihood. But things aren't going to be good. Because of the ban on the sea, the demand for civilian vessels has decreased considerably. As for the ships of the government.

The government has Longjiang Shipyard in Nanjing, which can be said to be the first shipyard in the entire Ming Dynasty, no, even the first shipyard in the world. Locally, there are also shipbuilding records in various health offices. After all, if you really want to talk about it, this shipbuilding is not high-tech.

Of course. It may be true to build that kind of treasure ship of a few tens of feet. But the people generally don't make such a big show.

He Xi said: "Old man, I'm here, and I haven't seen your shipbuilding yet?" Can you wait for me to open my eyes first? ”

This old man Xu said; "That's natural, young master come with me."

Immediately, the old man took He Xi and his party to walk along the coastline a few times, and suddenly saw that the green mountains were sunken into a large area, and the mountains on both sides were environmentally friendly. There is a quiet bay in the middle. The bay is covered with fine sand. It looks unusually beautiful.

A great place for a holiday.

Just on the beach, more than a dozen boats, large and small, either upside down or propped on shelves, many people are rushing to work. On the side, there are several empty sinks. He Xi thought about it, it was nothing else, it was the dock.

It's just that the boats built by the Xu family are not big. No, it's small, so to speak.

Most are fishing boats.

He Xi asked, "Old man, isn't your Xu family's business very good?" ”

Mr. Xu sighed and said, "That's how the days are. There are fewer people running merchants. There are fewer boats. To tell the truth, it's time for adults to come, and we, the old immortals, are gone. It is estimated that the young people in the village will only be able to build fishing boats. ”

He Xi listened and frowned slightly.

In He Xi's view, this is a problem.

Although, in He Xi's opinion, this kind of family-like shipyard is nothing at all. However, within the scope of handicrafts, the family village is the core organization method, which is the norm in this era. This is the case in many industries.

It's hard to say whether this model is lagging behind or not. After all, even in later generations, the organizational model of many Wenzhou businessmen is not much different from this model.

A village is in the same industry, and the division of labor within it opens up an industrial chain. Or it's normal to be scattered all over the place and do the same thing.

He Xi also knew that Zhu Yuanzhang was very harmful to the shipbuilding industry and the navigation industry.

If Zhu Yuanzhang intended to hurt, it was not right. But Zhu Yuanzhang is a farmer at heart. As a farmer. He naturally hates risk. So he likes that everyone in the world farms on land, and in addition, Zhu Yuanzhang's enemies, Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen, all have strong sea power.

He wants to limit it.

Therefore, the shipbuilding industry of the Ming government is one thing. However, the Ming civil shipbuilding industry in the Hongwu period, compared with the Yuan Dynasty, even has a tendency to retreat. This is also quite normal.

He Xi secretly said in his heart: "No." Today's private shipbuilding industry cannot continue to decline. I need to find a way to redeem one or two. ”