Lu Ming

Chapter 675 Changes ([-])

At night, the moon sets and crows crow, Jiang Feng catches fire, and passenger ships sail with their tails in the middle of the night.

It is different from the scattered fishing boats in the past.In the past few years, a dragon-like night fleet has quietly appeared in the ancient Jiangnan water town.

The leading pilot ship has two flags hoisted on the mast.

The left vertical flag said: "Jiangnan Passenger Terminal".

The vertical flag on the right reads: "Hangzhou Public Transport Corporation".

The flat-bottomed passenger boat with a square head and a square brain is undoubtedly the work of a traveler.This is a general-purpose passenger ship built by Shanghai Neihe Shipyard. There is a combination of pinyin and Chinese on the side of the ship: "HK-038".

Hangzhou passenger ship No. 38.

On the Yuhangtang River where the moon is dark and the stars are thin, No. 038 is leading a long string of various civilian ships sailing eastward quietly.At the bow of 038, a night navigation lamppost composed of large kerosene lamps and glass reflective hemispheres tore through the night sky and illuminated the river ahead.

This bright lamp post is not the only source of nighttime light on the Tang River.

Over the years, the Jiangnan Passenger Terminal has not only absorbed refugees, dredged waterways, and cleared up bandits.Nowadays, on the main river from Hangzhou to Shanghai, there will be a small river lighting point on the bank every certain distance.

The relay-style "land lighthouse" provides precise positioning services for the night fleet, greatly increasing the safety and speed of night sailing.The project indirectly promotes the flow of personnel and materials in the delta area.

Similar to this kind of public service projects with the thinking of later generations, these years have been appearing in the land of Jiangnan.

The natives were naturally puzzled at the beginning. "How many days can I do this kind of job of burning money for nothing?"

However, with the passage of time, the original doubts have long since dissipated.Although the aborigines can't understand how social welfare projects participate in the economic cycle, this does not prevent everyone from "seamless prostitution".

Thus, there is a Hangzhou-Shanghai passenger and cargo fleet at 12 noon every day.In fact, the bus company only dispatches one shuttle boat, but the indigenous boats are now used to following behind and "rubbing the road".

The benefits of such large-scale public welfare projects are not impressive on the surface.But subtly, it will affect the public's views on a certain event, a certain person, or even a certain force.Over time, water drips through stones, and when the penetration is in place, the work will be done easily.

Of course, how could the indigenous elites who established a unified empire thousands of years ago fail to see the support of the people behind these big projects?
However, this was useless due to the huge gap in strength, causing the elites to see it but be powerless to stop it.The anxiety of boiling frogs in warm water has long been a topic in some groups.

Of course, this also includes Comrade Wu Fazheng, a reserve member of the gentry.

Under the bright kerosene lamp, Wu Fazheng wrote the last stroke on the white paper with his vigorous pen, and heaved a sigh of relief.

Next, he picked up the cap of the copper pen on the table and put away the tip of the pen, then tapped the table with his fingers habitually, and began to check the words he had just written.

The content of the article is quite complicated, most of which are what Wu Fazheng has seen and heard along the way, and some of his personal opinions and thoughts are interspersed during the period.

To put it bluntly, it is Wu Fazheng's diary.

And he has accumulated a lot of manuscripts in the past few years, with an article every day.Wu Fazheng planned to return to his hometown one day in the future. After sorting out the manuscript, he had already written the title of the book on the hard cover when he found an opportunity to publish it: "Journey to the Southern Regions".

After carefully checking the article, Wu Fazheng solemnly put away the manuscript.Next, he unscrewed a delicate silver lid and took a sip of Longjing tea in a glass travel mug.

Screwing on the lid, Wu Fazheng looked at the "travel mug" in his hand again.He likes this transparent water cup very much, especially the "thread" of the inner ring of the cup lid. After screwing it on, it fits perfectly, and the water does not leak, which is extremely ingenious.

He liked everything about the cup, except for the odd Thermostat stamp on the lid.

Putting down his cup, Wu Fazheng glanced out the porthole.

The moonlight is not clear tonight, and the river is dark.But Wu Fazheng knew that in about half an hour, there would be a brightly lit courtyard outside the window.

At that time, there will be lampposts and flickering lights in the high places of the courtyard.

Wu Fazheng from Shanxi knew that it was the "light language" used to communicate with the fleet. He had seen the Ming army on the border pier using lights.

About half an hour later, around 11:[-] p.m., within the time Wu Fazheng expected, the lights outside the window really lit up.

Wu Fazheng's mind is like a bright mirror now: this set of message posts relayed by lights is arranged according to the half-hour journey by boat.

However, judging from the meaning, the "pier platform" probably extends from Hangzhou to Shanghai.

"Handwriting is not small!"

After finally muttering something, Wu Fazheng turned off the lights and fell asleep in the slightly shaking cabin.

In the early morning of the second day, with the noisy sound breaking into the cabin, Wu Fazheng knew that Jiaxing had arrived.

When they arrived in Jiaxing, the boat hired by Du's family stopped at the pier and separated from the fleet.After Wu Fazheng washed and dressed, he disembarked with Du Shaowei and began to visit Du's relatives and friends in Jiaxing.

This series of doors is two days.After Young Master Du's seniors in Jiaxing had finished visiting, the passenger ship set sail again at noon, still following the liner from Hangzhou.

After another day of stopping and stopping like this, the boat stopped after arriving at Songjiang Mansion.

When they got here, the ship hired by the Du family was sent away even though it had fulfilled its historical mission.Du Shaowei and his group settled down at the home of a nobleman in Songjiang on the spot.

The gentry family, surnamed Zhao, is a close friend and relative by marriage of the Du family.Du Shaowei is in the Zhao family, and he came here according to the treatment of his nephew and master.So after Du Shaowei entered the door, the master of the Zhao family not only entertained him kindly, but also specially allocated a yard for the tour group to live in.

In the next few days, it goes without saying that Young Master Du will visit relatives and friends again.

As the head of the "public" tour group, Du Shaowei's burden on this trip is not light. Not only is he representing his family in the circle for the first time, but he also has to convey the political position he represents implicitly.So this trip, Du Shao's first priority is to communicate with the inside of the circle.

As a good friend, Wu Fazheng and Du Shaowei's intentions are well known.He was fine, so he accompanied Du Shaowei to run around in the next few days, spent a lot of time, and finally completed the task satisfactorily.

After everything was over, finally, one day in mid-August, the tour group set foot on the road to Shanghai Port in the light boat of Zhao Jinshen's family, guided by the second steward of Zhao Jinshen's family.

The current Shanghai coastline is far from being extended to the extent of future generations.With less than 300 years of river sand accumulation, seaside land such as the later Pudong International Airport was still a place for fish and turtles to swim in the Ming Dynasty.

In the same way, the "Shanghai Port" that people talk about is only a new port city developed in coastal fishing villages in recent years.

On this side, after the boat sailed for half a day, the second steward standing at the bow pointed out to Du Shaowei with a smile: "Master nephew, Shanghai Port is five miles away."

Before the ship arrived at Shanghai Port, the scenery on both sides was already different: the increasing number of vehicles of all kinds, as well as the small red brick buildings appearing on the river bank from time to time, as well as the glass windows and the flat cinder road, all heralded the Shanghai The port is not far away.

"Well, it's really good to enter the country."

Du Shaowei, who was shaking his fan, compared his memories of coming here a few years ago in his mind, and couldn't help but conclude the development speed around Shanghai Port.

Not long after, the light boat finally reached the outskirts of the port.At this moment, Wu Fazheng, who was originally silent, finally became surprised and began to look around.

Aboriginal people who have never seen large-scale industrial scenes will never forget this shocking scene that will never be forgotten.

The huge square red brick building, the thick red brick chimney that goes straight to the sky, billowing thick smoke into the sky.

Along the coast, there are many towering tower cranes, and countless large ships are moored under them.The iron arm that shone with metallic luster grabbed the cage like a ghost and hoisted it into the black box like a long dragon.

In the next moment, the long train, emitting black smoke, drove quickly along the rails on the mirror-smooth concrete floor.

At the same time, thousands of people are constantly working in various parts of the port.

The largest group is thousands of construction workers.Braving the sweltering heat, they endlessly expanded the piers and roads along both ends of the coastline.

Second, there are shipwrights stationed in the port.

These people are like ants, climbing up and down the hulls everywhere.From their hands, new ships were built one after another and sailed out of the dock.

Finally, in the commercial area of ​​the port, there are countless natives who come here to do business.The bustling and bustling scene, the huge flow of people, and the resulting oppressive feeling make the newcomers who are used to the vast land and sparsely populated feel extremely uncomfortable.

Wu Fazheng was naturally uncomfortable.After disembarking from the pier, it took him a while to recover from the shock.

"Brother Yu lost his temper. Unexpectedly, there are such places in the world!"

Du Shaowei laughed when he heard the words: "To tell the truth, Brother Wu, when I came here for the first time last year, I also lost my composure!"

During the conversation, the manager of the Zhao family, who often came to the port to do business, took a group of people to tour the port.

It's different from the servants who are dazzled and desperately want to go to the business district to have fun.For Du Shao, Wu Fazheng and Wu Fazheng, who wanted to go together, the first thing to look at was the port area with black soot floating in the air.

However, it is a pity that the newly built steam power plant area in the port area is forbidden to visit.This has greatly disappointed some people who came to study the secrets of the chimney with great interest.

In desperation, Young Master Du could only take everyone along the dock area to visit the small train transportation system and the shipyard.

He didn't want to see this, but it made Young Master Du dumbfounded again. Even though he already had a certain degree of immunity to this place, at the northern end of the port, outside a huge dock, dozens of giant cannons were neatly lined up on the concrete floor.

In the dock, a gigantic ship with the hull number 003 and the size of a hill floated steadily on the water.The booms on both sides are hoisting the giant cannon into the cabin of the giant ship.

"Such a military weapon, just let others spy on it like this?"

Wu Fazheng couldn't bear it anymore, his mind was extremely confused now: no one was allowed to approach the black-smoky workshop, but these unheard-of giant cannons and giant ships were just placed there for passers-by to take a closer look.

"I want to teach Young Master Wu to know that this is the third large ship produced by my Shanghai shipyard."

The second steward at the side heard Young Master Wu's words, and finally couldn't help showing a smile on his face when he saw a bumpkin: "You are always late. Marshal Cao's gunboat is actually repaired every New Year's day, and many people board the boat to watch .”

The next moment, the chunky second steward stood on tiptoe and looked at the dock, muttering to himself, "This is the time to launch the boat, I'm afraid we will go to sea in the second half of the year! Oh, I don't know where to go to bed and I'm afraid!"

(End of this chapter)