Shanghai, Pukou.

After temporarily placing Wang Tiehammer and the others, Cheng Nuo changed into civilian clothes alone and quietly came to the dock, wanting to feel the pulse of the times in person.

I found a tea stall on the side of the road, a pot of broken Guanyin, a stack of pumpkin seeds, and a newspaper, which was all he did.

"Master, your craftsmanship is really good, especially this tea, don't look amazing, but when you drink it in your mouth, it has a different taste." Holding the teacup, Cheng Nuo looked left and right, and gave a heartfelt thumbs up to the master: "If I guess correctly, this should be your exclusive secret recipe, right?" ”

"Hey, you don't dislike it when you drink." The old master raised his arm, wiped the sweat on his forehead with the sleeve on his arm, and said with a smile: "The secret recipe is that you lifted me, it was all me and my old wife who were tinkering with at home. ”

One bite is not enjoyable, Cheng Nuo took another sip, smashed it and said: "Three hundred and sixty lines, the line is the champion, set up a stall to sell tea, you must at least be a person-level, you have to wrap some tea for me when you go back, buy it back and bring it to my friends to taste." ”

"Oh, sir, you don't bother me with this, usually the workers of the nearby docks are tired and thirsty and drink casually, but I have never seen a man in a robe like you, let alone praise me."

The successive compliments made the master a little frightened, and his back couldn't help but bend up.

took off his hat and held it in his hand, and the old master took the initiative to add a boiled peanut to Cheng Nuo: "If you can afford me, then don't say buy it, take it directly from me as much as you want to drink, it is all worthless scraps, how can you use it to break the bank again, and no one can poke my backbone if you say it?" Give money, never succeed! ”

Looking at the master's posture, it is obviously not a joke.

Cheng Nuo naturally didn't touch the mold directly, took the peanut and nodded with a smile: "Thank you, but it's been quite a long time since you did this business, I see that the people who come to drink tea here are all regular customers." ”

Talking about the business he has done all his life, the lines on the master's face immediately softened a lot: "When I was young, I worked as a running boy in a teahouse, and later married a daughter-in-law and had a baby, and the little salary was not enough to eat, so I came out to do a small business, and then I happened to go to Pukou, and it was a flash...... Let me do the math......"

Before the master could count, there were tea customers at the other tables shouting: "Old Li Tou, refill the pot ......"

The old master put on his hat and immediately beckoned to the other party: "Okay, let's go." ”

"Sir, I'll go over first, and I'll talk to you later." Carrying the kettle, the master did not forget to say hello to Cheng Nuo.

"Master, you are busy first, don't worry about me." It was originally a small talk, how could it delay people doing business, and the apologies in the conversation were not taken to heart at all.

The master is also real, after refilling the water for the guests, the teapot didn't have time to put down, and walked to Cheng Nuo again.

"Sir, where did we just come from?"

"Oh, how long you've been in this business."

"Let me think about it, from just two years of marriage, to now my grandson is in elementary school...... I guess it's been thirty or forty years. ”

"Then it seems that master, you are also a successful child now, why do you still do this when you are old, carrying a kettle and running down, I guess I can't stand this waist, right?"

"I've been working all my life, isn't I used to it, although I don't earn much, I can buy some bits and pieces for my grandson, and I can save some coffin books, plus the old neighbors have drunk my tea for so long, if I don't do it, where will they drink it......"

With a pair or a match, two pots of tea, Cheng Nuo learned how ordinary people in Shanghai live now through the master's family situation.

Although life is very difficult, most of them are still silently fighting for their small family.

As for this "big family", I have long been disappointed and used to it, so I don't want to mention it.

"Woo~"

With a whistle, a passenger ship stopped at the pier.

Before the tourists could come down, the rickshaw masters, small traders, and newsboys hurriedly surrounded them, and the slogans became louder and louder, lest the voices be suppressed by the opponents and their business would be lost.

At this moment, Cheng Nuo's gaze suddenly passed through the crowd and stopped at a young man of seventeen or eighteen years old.

He carried a coarse cloth bag on his shoulder, his hands clenched tightly, and his eyes were blank.

You don't need to polish it, you know that the young man came to Shanghai for the first time.

It was not only Cheng Nuo who also noticed this scene, but also the men hovering at the edge of the crowd.

Seeing that meat appeared, he quickly surrounded him.

"Where's home, young man, how old is this year? Haven't been to Shanghai before, have you? ”

"I ...... I came from Chen Caipu, this year is a pig, I don't know how old I am this year, and I go out for the first time. ”

A young man who has never seen a battle in a big city is called a void in his heart.

When people ask, he answers.

Although it looks simple, isn't this what those guys want?

"Young man, do you want to eat meat, go with my brother, make sure you have meat to eat." The leader took the initiative to put his arm around the young man's shoulder, looking familiar.

"I have a lot of food, and it's too expensive to eat meat, so I just need to have enough buns." Although the young man is naïve, his brain is still there: "Big brother, what are you doing, don't we know each other?" ”

"I didn't know each other before, but now I don't?" At this time, the young man was walking on the ocean in the eyes of his son, and he said enthusiastically: "As for what my brother does, of course he makes a lot of money." ”

"I don't want to make a lot of money, I just want to eat my stomach......" The young man resisted a little, shook off his hand and retreated.

But where are they willing to give up the meat to their mouths, the leading man made a look, and then several people took the initiative to surround him, obviously with bad intentions.

But what they didn't expect was that the young man was weak, but in fact, he was full of strength.

Without the slightest skill, he let these people go over.

There were too many onlookers, and even if the leader was beaten and grinned, he still had cruel words on his lips: "Little cub, you wait, we are not done with this matter, there is a kind of ...... you don't run"

The young man was a little aggrieved at this time: "It's because you don't talk well, you did it first, I'm still hungry and don't have much strength." ”

was already angry, but when he heard this, he was even more angry, his face was gone, and he fainted directly in the arms of his younger brother.

I don't know if it's true or not, but it doesn't matter.

"Toot ~"

"Get out of the way, get out of the way, what's in the way of public affairs? If you want to go to the squatting room, get out of the way! ”

With a quick whistle, the black-skinned patrolmen were about to arrive.

At this time, the young man was still there stunned, and he didn't seem to react yet.

Cheng Nuo on the side secretly said that it was a pity, squeezed through the crowd and came to the young man, pressed down on his felt hat to block his face, and whispered: "Hey, young man, your relatives can't come over if they have something, let me pick you up for a meal first, what are you doing standing there stupidly, hurry up and follow me." ”

The young man's eyes lit up suddenly: "Did Brother Hei Dan'er ask you to pick me up?" ”

Cheng Nuo raised his eyebrows: "Who else can there be but him, hurry up." ”

The young man immediately grinned: "I knew that the black egg had a future, and I wouldn't forget it, I knew it." ”

It's really easy to trust people, and Cheng Nuo peeked behind him from time to time while leading the way, and this young man kept following him closely.

After finding out that Cheng Nuo was looking at him in the middle, he took the initiative to come forward and grin, which made Cheng Nuo embarrassed.

"By the way, I don't know what your name is, what is your name?"

"Oh oh, I don't have a big name, my father and mother are called Huzi, and my eldest brother is called Huzi." Huzi rubbed his head and said with a smile.

"Okay, Huzi, what are you doing in Shanghai?" There was already some distance from the accident point, Cheng Nuo's pace slowed down a lot, and he took the initiative to say side by side with Huzi: "Are you here to seek refuge?" ”

"No, I just eat too much at home, my father will eat if he dislikes me, and the few acres of land at home are not enough for me to eat, so he kicked me out." Speaking of this, Huzi showed a trace of grievance on his face: "I told my father to eat less later, but my father just didn't believe it." ”

Cheng Nuo glanced at Huzi, who was five big and three thick, with a height of nearly two meters, and estimated that a meal was really a lot.

With the output of the current era, it is really difficult to feed such a foodie.

"And how did you get to Shanghai?" Cheng Nuo said curiously.

"I was walking around the dock, and I saw a boat leaning there, and I wanted to go up and see if I could find a job that could eat well, and the people above saw that I had a lot of strength, so they let me stay in the boiler room to shovel coal, and then followed it to Shanghai."

Huzi snapped his fingers, thought about it and said.

Afraid that Cheng Nuo would not believe it, he stretched out his hand, and the black nails proved that what he said was true.

But halfway through the words, I was a little aggrieved: "The people in the back thought I had eaten too much, so they drove me down......"

Poof, Cheng Nuo couldn't help laughing, and said in his heart how edible this is, people can dislike it like this, but when it comes to this, he is confused: "Didn't you just say that you came to find a black egg?" How did you get kicked down now? ”

Huzi's eyes widened, and he was a little puzzled: "Yes, I'm here in Shanghai, and Brother Black Egg is in Shanghai." ”

Cheng Nuo still didn't understand: "Is there any connection between these two things?" ”

Huzi said confidently: "That's why I came to Shanghai to take refuge in Heidan'er." ”

"It's not...... Oops, I've got you covered. Cheng Nuo stopped, took a deep breath and looked at Huzi and said seriously: "But you didn't inform Hei Dan before you came to Shanghai, how did he know that you were coming?" ”

After a while, Huzi finally reacted, nodded and said, "Big brother, you're right, Brother Black Egg doesn't seem to know that I'm coming to Shanghai......"

Good guys, really good guys.

Cheng Nuo exhaled in his heart, he didn't expect to wait for him here.

But before he could react, Huzi suddenly looked at Cheng Nuo and said vigilantly: "Big brother, didn't you say that Brother Black Egg asked you to pick me up?" Were you lying to me just now? I hate people to cheat me the most! ”

Cheng Nuo was immediately stunned, and he didn't know what to say when he opened his mouth.

The magical place came, and after Huzi finished asking, he suddenly grinned again: "It must be that when I was about to go ashore, I shouted a few voices at the dock, so that Brother Hei Dan heard it, let you pick me up, big brother, is what I said right?" ”

Cheng Nuo swallowed his saliva, not knowing what to say, but he didn't want to continue to lie to him, so he changed the topic and said, "Do you know where Brother Hei Dan works now?" ”

Huzi frowned and thought about it, and said uncertainly: "It seems to be called Jiangnan...... Jiangnan Shipyard, I just want to come and take refuge in him. ”

Hearing this name, Cheng Nuo was instantly inspired.

Jiangnan Shipyard is a famous shipyard, and it is the earliest and largest government-run shipbuilding enterprise in our country in modern times.

If China's modern industry starts from the military industry, the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau is the originator of China's military industry.

Since its birth, it has been known as "China's No. 1 Factory".

Here, the Chinese built China's first steam-propelled warship "Huiji" and the first ironclad warship "Jin", developed China's first rifle, the first steel cannon, the first pound of smokeless gunpowder, and refined China's first furnace of steel.

By the 90s of the 19th century, Jiangnan had developed into the most technologically advanced and well-equipped machine factory in China and even in Asia.

During this period, it has gone through various historical periods such as the late Qing Dynasty, the Beiyang government, the Japanese occupation, the rule of the Nationalist Government, and the founding of New China.

Later, the Qing government divided the shipbuilding part from the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and established the Jiangnan Dock. The manufacturing bureau focuses on the production of weapons, while the Jiangnan Shipyard focuses on ship construction, which is historically known as the "bureau dock separation".

Since then, the plant has changed from a closed production for the navy to an operation for the domestic and foreign markets, and the reform has been quite successful.

If we have to use data to speak, in the 40 years from 1865 to 1905, Jiangnan only built 15 ships, and in the six years from 1905 to 1911, Jiangnan built 136 ships, with a total displacement of 21,000 tons.

At present, the United States is participating in World War I, and it is urgent to order a number of transport ships.

At a time when domestic shipyards were at full capacity, they turned to the Far East for the feasibility of commissioning Japanese and Chinese shipbuilders to build transport ships for the United States.

After investigation, the US embassy and consulates in China found that the Jiangnan Manufacturing Institute already had good shipbuilding facilities and capabilities, and the US Government agreed to entrust China with the construction of four 10,000-ton ocean-going carriers, and signed a shipbuilding contract with China in 1918, that is, this year.

And Cheng Nuo's idea after returning to China was Jiangnan Manufacturing Institute.

Starting from scratch, step by step is too slow, not only can not meet Cheng Nuo's expectations, but also may miss this important development window, and it will be troublesome to catch up at that time.

Therefore, Jiangnan Manufacturing Institute, which has both strength and financial strength, emerged in front of Cheng Nuo's eyes.

It just so happens that the United States is still using relatively backward Harvey steel, which is exactly in line with the needs of the other party.

After thinking about it, Cheng Nuo said: "At present, Jiangnan Manufacturing Institute has adopted three systems for our workers: point work, contract work, and apprenticeship.

The 10,000-ton ship is really worth looking forward to! ”

(End of chapter)