Lu Ming

Page 214

After King Qin's army set off last year, the high-level people in the empire realized that horse breeding also needed to be treated with caution, and immediately increased their investment in this area.As a result, the Heihu Horse Farm privately run by the Army became a full-time official, and at the same time, the breeding model of embryo transfer + a small number of stallions followed.

Now allocated to Mei Fuxi is one of the few imported stallions.This Lexus has a bare shoulder height of 1.6 meters, and it runs like lightning. Even if it comes from the north where horses are abundant, Mei Fuxi has never seen such a steed.

BMW, famous wine and beauties, these three things are naturally liked by heroes.Young Master Mei is naturally high-spirited when he won the BMW this time, and he needs to be happy and grieve.

Then he cools off.

On the Chikan Avenue, all eyes were on the young knight-errant riding a white horse, galloping through the busy city with a laughing beauty in his arms.In the end, Prince Charming, who had finished pretending to be aggressive, was forcibly stopped by the police and locked in a confinement room in the barracks.

Fortunately, Young Master Mei was not chaotic at that time. When he was pinned to the ground, he yelled at Zhu'er: "Go to the Western Paradise and invite the Tathagata Buddha." Second Lord!"

With Chen Erye coming forward, Young Master Mei's horses were confiscated in the end, he was locked up for a few days, and he was released after completing a series of in-depth inspections, but there was no sequelae.

But now he is famous.Not only is he famous in the training camp, but because of the newspapers, many people now know about Young Master Mei's feats, and they all gave him thumbs up and praised him from the air: You are kind, King Zhou You is full of vigor!

After Young Master Mei was released, he suddenly found that no matter where he went, he would encounter all kinds of meaningful smirks, which made him very distressed.

But the turning point came soon - one day in mid-June, the training camp received a notice to send people to the port to participate in the first voyage of the navy's latest flagship "Fuyuan" together with representatives of various departments of the army.

……

Fuyuan is the sister ship of Zhenman, which was completed not long ago.It is also an iron-ribbed wood-hulled sail warship. Because the Fuyuan was built a few months later, its tonnage is 200 tons larger than that of the Zhenman, reaching 1400 tons.

Although the volume is a circle larger than that of the Zhenman, the number of artillery on the Fuyuan has not increased, and the extra tonnage is all used for self-sustaining power.

This is the preparation for the next step to conquer Nanyang.

Since the successful launch of the Zhenman, the shipyards that have mastered the technology of building large ships have begun the process of making ships gigantic.The reason is simple: the larger the tonnage of the ship, the more efficient it is.The oil tankers that run all over the ocean in later generations are nothing but ordinary ships with [-] tons.

In this plane, the largest tonnage produced by the shipyard so far is only 1400 tons, which makes the travelers feel anxious.

You must know that the population transportation channel to Ming Dynasty has been opened. In addition, Taiwan's food has also achieved initial self-sufficiency.Not only that, every six months in the future, the production of food represented by potatoes will increase significantly, which will lay the foundation for absorbing a large number of people.

Therefore, the empire now urgently needs to build large-tonnage transport ships and cruise ships in order to go to the coastal ports of the mainland for trade and rush to transport people.

This process must be accelerated.Because according to the current development trend, within a few years, the Travelers will plan to send a fleet across the Pacific Ocean to America.At that time, the transport ships in the fleet should preferably reach the 5000-ton class in order to ensure the turbulence and smooth weathering of the storm.

Therefore, recently, in the major shipyards along the Taijiang River, 1000-ton and 1500-ton transport ships have been built.The previous 500 and 800-ton ships have been eliminated in this ever-changing society.

As for the battleship, the No. 1600 ship of the Zhenman class has already laid down its keel.The tonnage of this battleship will be increased to [-] tons again, catching up with the historic ship King of the Sea built by the British a few years later.

Of course, in terms of combat effectiveness, the warships that travel through the crowd can completely defeat any opponent in this era.

……

Mei Fuxi boarded the majestic battleship with a happy face.The golden blue painting, the huge white sails, and those cannons shining with metallic luster made the young people very excited.

This time he is really happy, he can run away from the limelight, and he can travel on a big ship, what more bicycle do he need?

The next moment, with the blaring of horns, the fleet set sail.

The Fuyuan sailed this time, surrounded by four frigates.The destination of the fleet this time is Huangpu New Port opposite Guangzhou, where it will be used to defend the Zhenman, which has been in Guangzhou for a while.

After the mighty fleet set off, it is natural to cross the strait first and go to Xiamen for a tour.A new big killer has been added, and all parties must always know that it is not.

So the fleet crossed the strait overnight.After arriving at the other side, the fleet purposely circled around Xiamen Port. After showing off its power enough, it began to go south along the coastline, passing by many merchant ships on the route.

In this way, it won't be long before all the forces along the coast will know that Cao has built another huge ship.

In this way, the fleet sailed south, Mei Fuxi compared the map in his mind along the way, and saw the southern world from Xiamen to Hong Kong one by one.

On the day of June 6th, after the fleet sailed across the ocean of Hong Kong, the drama came: the 20-ton Zhenman was taking a leisurely walk in circles off the coast of Macau, accompanied by two frigates.

The next moment, the two giant ships joined forces victoriously.The combined powerful fleet conducted a round of live-fire drills off the coast of Macau with impunity. After that, the two giant ships parted ways, and the Fuyuan swaggered towards the upper reaches of the Pearl River.

Chapter 488

In the 90th century, the broad surface of the Pearl River was more than ten times that of later generations, stretching as far as the eye can see.In later generations, Haizhu District, located in the south of Guangzhou City, with a total area of ​​[-] square kilometers, was just a few small islands on the river in this era.

Therefore, it is reasonable for the Pearl River to be called "Zhuhai, Zhuyang" by the ancient Guangzhou people, because after leaving the city gate, there are hundreds of square kilometers of river surface, and it is not an exaggeration to call it the sea.

After the sound of water splashing, Yu Sibao poked his head out of the river.

Yu Sibao's current location is on the Shiziyang River in the middle of the Pearl River, in the middle of the waterway.This place has already passed Humen, and there are scattered small sandbars on both sides of the strait. Those sandbar villages of later generations have not yet formed.

After poking his head out of the river, Yu Sibao didn't stop, but turned around and swam behind him.After a few strokes, he grabbed a pair of ladders and climbed onto the boat out of breath.

It was a flat-deck barge that anchored on the river.

The "Breakout" barge has its own power system and various equipment installed on it. It is a special vessel specially used for clearing obstacles in inland waterways.At this moment, the Breaking Barrier was anchored in the front, rear, left, and right sides, and stopped firmly in the middle of the river.

Yu Sibao, a young man, came to Taiwan with his father Yu Chengde.Relying on Yu Sibao's ability to dive, the Yu family got money from the sunken ship, and then killed the local gangster who kidnapped the younger sister of the Yu family, and finally led the whole village to defect to Dashuai Cao.

Today, Yu Chengde is already a successful owner of a fishing company, while Yu Sibao, who is born with extraordinary talents and superb diving skills, was recruited by the Port Authority early on and became a professional diver.

It has been half a year since Yu Sibao came to Guangdong this time.After Cao Zongbing opened the Huangpu Military Port and Special Zone in Guangdong before, he came to the Pearl River Estuary with the boat and began to do the work of clearing obstacles.

Divers are required to clear obstacles, which are naturally reefs on the river.In this way, it took half a year, and Yu Sibao and the others cleaned up from the Pearl River Estuary to Shiziyang in the middle of the Pearl River.

In the recent period, the target of the Breaking Barrier is Mantou Reef in the Lion Ocean.

The mangy head reef is as its name suggests, just like the scar on the manger's head, it is not one piece, but a group of hidden reefs.

The location of this piece of reef is in the middle of the Lion Ocean. The location is dangerous, and it appears and disappears from time to time. It is easy for non-local boatmen to get in. In previous years, it often caused ship accidents.This time Yu Sibao's mission is to get rid of this hidden reef.

"How about it, have you figured it out?"

As soon as Yu Sibao climbed onto the side of the boat, the captain Lao Tian took his equipment off his body, then wiped off the water on the diving suit, and then wrapped it in a large scarf to keep warm.

After taking a sip of the warm tea offered by someone else, Yu Sibao nodded excitedly and said, "Uncle Tian, ​​I've figured out the location, I'll load the medicine next time!"

"Be careful, and pull the safety rope if you have any problems." Lao Tian is a middle-aged man in his 40s, with wrinkles on his face, always speaking with a sad face, and seems to be worried about everything.

"No problem, just watch!"

In this way, Yu Sibao rested for half an hour, then he put on his diving goggles again, picked up the compressed air bottle on his back, and went down the river along the ladder.

This time he was even more dangerous after he went into the water, because in addition to the safety rope around his waist, he also had to carry a thick fuse and an explosive package installed on the top of the fuse.

The bag containing the diatomaceous earth explosive and the fuse are sealed and waterproof.The inner core of the fuse is black powder, the second layer is a waterproof layer, the third layer is a cotton thread reinforcement layer, and the outermost layer is a waterproof paint.

Since black powder has its own oxygen promoter, under normal circumstances, as long as it can be ignited on water, it can continue to burn in water.Of course, the premise of all this is that Yu Sibao can install the explosives stably at the root of the reef.

The current position of the barge is more than ten meters upstream of the reef.After Yu Sibao went into the water, the safety rope was also controlled at this distance, so that he could just sink underwater and touch the root of the reef.

Trying hard to control his body in the current, Yu Sibao slowly walked to the root of the reef like an astronaut, and pressed the explosive bag in his right hand into the pit he had hoped for before.

Then he breathed steadily, then took out the short rope from his waist, and patiently fixed the explosive package.After checking it, the young man smiled through the goggles - he never thought that there are bottles in this world that allow people to breathe in water, oh yes, they can actually compress something like "air" stand up.

Taking two steps back, Yu Sibao pulled the safety rope twice.At this time, the ship that received the signal began to slowly retract the rope with a winch, and then Yu Sibao pulled the rope and returned to the bow without any effort.

The next moment, after Yu Sibao took off his goggles and nodded with his thumb, the captain ordered the explosion.Soon, a flame entered the water along the fuse.After waiting for tens of anxious seconds, with a huge "bang", a white water column two or three meters high exploded on the river surface, accompanied by some small black stones.

The port authority workers who have long been familiar with this situation have already retreated to the stern.After the water column and gravel fell into the river, the captain, Lao Tian, ​​patted Yu Sibao on the shoulder a few times, and then he gave the order: Continue to investigate in the water.

Since the traversing crowd can't make a complete set of explosive equipment and consumables that can be electrically detonated in water, so now they can only use this dangerous method to clean up the reef.The fuse can only be used one pack at a time, and cannot be detonated at the same time, so after the explosion just now, the people on board cannot guarantee that the reef is completely blown up, so they have to continue to investigate in the water.

It is equally dangerous to enter the water at this time, because the reef may be in a precarious state and may collapse and hurt people.So Yu Sibao brought a strong light when he went into the water this time, and started to investigate after a long distance from the reef.

The final result was not bad. The columnar reef had split into several pieces and collapsed at the bottom of the river.This was tantamount to completing the task, and Yu Sibao continued to advance on the bottom of the river, and came to the bottom of the next hidden reef to start surveying.

After being busy for another quarter of an hour, Yu Sibao returned to the boat again.Due to the exhaustion of stabilizing the body in the river water, after boarding the boat this time, Yu Sibao will not be able to enter the water for the next few hours. He can only rest and switch to another diver to work.

Just as the young man was sitting leisurely at the stern of the boat watching the scenery with a pot of hot soup in his hand, the Fuyuan fleet came from downstream.

"Hey, didn't the big ship go down in the morning, why did it come back so soon?"

Seeing the big blue-gold ship in the distance, the staff on board were a little puzzled: "Is the training time short today?"

"No, no, it's not the Zhenman!"

The next moment, the sharp-eyed Yu Sibao jumped up from the deck in an instant, and while waving vigorously towards the distance, he shouted: "It's our new ship, new ship!"

Chapter 489 Situation in the Special Economic Zone ([-])

The Fuyuan, which is a full circle larger than the Zhenman, is even more majestic. It is undoubtedly the largest ship in the East Asian Ocean today.

The fleet going retrograde from the lower reaches of the Pearl River rampaged all the way, and the ships along the way gave way one after another.As for Yu Sibao and his group, they all jumped and shouted on the barge, and even blew the whistle, trying to attract the attention of the big ship.

It's a pity that people didn't pay attention to the civilian ships at all, and went straight all the way. The huge blue-gold hull and the barge passed by, and swaggered towards the Huangpu Military Port upstream.

Even so, as official officials of the empire, the people on the barge were still very excited.Now that everyone is eating Marshal Cao's food, they naturally hope that Marshal Cao's military strength will flourish.

After blasting the landlord's house in Shanghai, the Zhenman returned to Taiwan for repairs, and was then transferred to Guangzhou.The fleet with Zhenman as its core began to slaughter the Pearl River Estuary and the Hong Kong and Macao oceans, killing many scattered pirates and private businessmen who sneaked through the customs, and announced the establishment of a new order in the sea off Guangzhou.

This series of actions is mainly aimed at the Portuguese in Macau.Because it is enough to use a frigate to fight scattered pirates, a monster like the Zhenman is ready to fight the Portuguese at any time.

Unfortunately, the Portuguese were not fooled either.

European countries have such professional warships of more than [-] tons in their homeland.But East Asia is a place for trade, and no one would be foolish to bring this kind of ship. Everyone used armed merchant ships with a high cargo capacity, and it was impossible for the Portuguese to send armed merchant ships with a much smaller tonnage to fight their opponents.

Besides, the Portuguese also know a lot from the Spaniards about the number of various warships hoarded in Taijiang and the true military potential of the passing crowd.They knew that even if they won this wave, it would be equivalent to stabbing a hornet's nest, and they might be attacked by land, so the red hair chose to shrink its head.

Although there is no confrontation, the red hairs are still scared enough these days-dozens of powerful 24-pound heavy guns smash a small boat to pieces from time to time at the door of the house. This is a naked show of muscle and provocation. See People naturally understand.

But the red hair has no choice but to endure it now.After all, they are outsiders. Faced with the sudden emergence of the powerful "Ming Kingdom" navy, is it possible that they still went to Guangzhou City to sue?

In the official circles of the Ming Dynasty in Guangzhou, there have always been voices calling for the expulsion of Franji people.If things get serious now, no matter what the outcome is, no one will say good things for Hongmao.

So in the past few months, the new order in Guangzhou's outer seas, under the command of the Zhenman, has been established in this way.

Nowadays, all ships departing from the Guangzhou ocean have to declare water at the customs stationed by Marshal Cao, and accept the "official army" patrol ship inspection.Those who do not follow will all be thrown into the sea to feed the fish.

In this process, the open water pumping pattern jointly controlled by pirates and Portuguese was eliminated overnight, and all trading ships had to carry designated commodities on designated routes.

It was very common in the past for Ming people to take a boat to Manila to ask for a living, but now it is not allowed.All migrants on board ships traveling from the coast of Guangdong to Nanyang will be forcibly transferred to Taiwan.In addition, metal raw materials, including gold, silver, copper, iron, and mercury needed by Nanyang colonists, are now all under control.

The twisted rope has slowly tightened.

The reason why Macau has not been attacked yet is because the capital formalities have not been completed and the emperor has not nodded; the second is because the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Wang Zunde, is still in office, and the cross-travelers cannot let themselves go here for the time being, so this confrontation is maintained now situation.

However, with the passage of time, the situation is developing in the direction planned at the beginning - Wang Zunde became seriously ill in early June this year, and by the middle of this year, he was already unable to get out of bed, and it seemed that he was about to die.

The cross-travelers who got the news urgently notified Fuzhou Xiong Wencan, and at the same time notified the intelligence agencies of Beijing and Tianjin, including Xiong Wencan and Cao Dashuai's zhezifang in the capital, and asked all departments to coordinate and make arrangements in advance. After the news of Wang Zunde's illness arrived in the capital, The emperor decreed that Xiong Wencan be the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.

At the same time, the battleship Fuyuan, which had just completed sea trials, was also ordered to go to Guangzhou to replace the Zhenman and come back for repairs.

The above is the background of Fuyuan coming to Huangpu Port today.Among them, not only the matter of the Portuguese in Macau was involved, but also the official circles in Guangdong and the capital were involved, and the internal reasons were more complicated.

……

Although the 1400-ton Fuyuan is huge, it was just a small ship to the Pearl River in the 3000th century. Directly to Zhaoqing.

Therefore, the Fuyuan ship is unimpeded. You only need to pay attention to the reefs and sandbars that have not been cleaned up in time, and you can directly reach the Huangpu Military Port.

Huangpu Port is at the turning point on the east bank of the Pearl River, 40 miles away from Guangzhou City.Since Cao Zongbing took down the surrounding pirates in November last year, Huangpu Port has entered the construction stage. Today, seven months later, it has become an important military base controlling the periphery of Guangzhou.

Huangpu Port is not open to private ships. In addition to warships, there is a battalion of soldiers stationed in the port area.

The identity of the soldiers in this battalion is changing at any time.Sometimes they are poor local men recruited publicly, sometimes they are battalion soldiers who have undergone basic training. Of course, when needed, a battalion of elite imperial troops will emerge from the closed Whampoa military port... maybe two battalions The third battalion may not be sure.

When the Fuyuan ship slowly berthed at Wharf [-] of Huangpu Port, Mu Longcheng, wearing a white rear admiral uniform, got off the ship with several officers and came to the trestle.

He was greeted by Ding Liqiu, the mayor of the Guangzhou Special Economic Zone, who was cheering and embracing.

After seeing Ding Liqiu, Mu Longcheng was a little surprised, and hurried forward to shake hands: "Oh, this is amazing, old Ding, why did you come in person, old Mu, I am flattered!"

"Stop coming." Ding Liqiu scolded with a smile: "I'm also the director of Huangpu Port, why don't I come and see it often?"

"That's a good relationship. Let's drink a few cups today."

"It's hot, let's just have beer, I'm fine if I don't drink two glasses."

After that, the two set up tables and chairs on the roof of the small red brick building of the Port Authority and drank their own brewed beer.

After drinking for two rounds, Ding Liqiu slowly talked about the current military threat facing the Guangzhou Special Zone—he, the head of the special zone, who is busy with every day, will naturally come to pick up the ship.

The special zone plot located in the future Guangdong South Railway Station on the map is currently in the process of infrastructure construction.

To engage in construction, you first need things like cement, bricks and steel bars.In addition, the special zone plots only plan administrative areas and commercial and residential areas, and do not plan industrial areas, because the planned industrial areas will not be crowded with administrative areas, but should be scattered in places with resources.

For example, steel factories will be close to areas with iron mines in northern Guangdong, and cement brick factories will also be located in areas rich in limestone resources.

All in all, since Guangdong will be regarded as the headquarters of the cross-travel community for a period of time to come, both industrial and commercial layouts must be planned in accordance with scientific planning, focusing on the whole province, and we can no longer squeeze everything together like Tainan. up.

In this way, Ding Liqiu faced a problem: banditry.

The water system in the Pearl River Delta is well developed, and there are rivers everywhere. In the late Ming Dynasty, it is no exaggeration to say that there are bandits everywhere.

The so-called bandits are just a general term, which includes many types: water bandits everywhere, bandits in mountainous areas, Xu people who live in no fixed place, boat gangs who are half merchants and half bandits, local bully private soldiers who set up traps to pump water... Etc., etc.

In short, if the people across Guangdong want to set up factories and enterprises in various places in Guangdong, and want to distribute their products in various places, the urgent problem they face right now is to suppress bandits.

Compared with this incident, the Portuguese in Macau are actually not that serious, because if they really want to do something, the Portuguese probably won't last three days in the hands of the crossing crowd.As for the densely woven waterways in various parts of Guangdong, as well as the numerous bandits hiding in them, it is not something that can be done in three days.