Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 213 Ding Maonian

In Keelung, the fortress project on Sheliao Island has been completed. The four-corner bastion and the surrounding triangular fort are all made of neatly cut stones. There are anti-gun ramps with trenches around the fort.

The fort used to block the waterway on the mountain is a round fort with a much smaller amount of earthwork than the bastion. Lin Hai believes that it is impossible for any surrounding forces to attack here.

Sheliao Island is also the headquarters of the Army Department, facing the Navy Department across Keelung Port. The Battle of Dongshan had just ended, and as the New Year was approaching, most of the people in both the navy and the army, except for a few soldiers who were on duty, were resting.

Compared with the hustle and bustle of the Admiralty Station, Sheliao Island is much deserted. The main Army Department is under closed management on weekdays, so there are few shops on Sheliao Island. The only entertainment activity is listening to Liu Mazi's stories.

The new recruits recruited from the immigrants went home to celebrate the New Year, and the veterans from the Zhoushan Battalion also went to Wanhua in batches to participate in the blind date meeting.

Since military personnel themselves are well-paid, and military family members enjoy certain land tax reduction and exemption policies, and their children can attend night school for free, the matchmaking sessions are always full of immigrant families. It is quite a scene of catching a son-in-law after the imperial examination results are released. .

Both the navy and the army organize such blind dates from time to time, but the soldiers of the army department are much more popular. After all, these good guys are good at eating, drinking, whoring and gambling.

In contrast, girls who marry the navy basically don't have to worry about the one-two-five-dollar monthly salary. There are very few sailors who are willing to let their wives take care of their money. The Moonlight clan is considered good. If you don't owe a lot of debt, you can burn high incense.

However, Sheliao Island has been busier than usual these two days, mainly due to the arrival of a barbarian boat, which is relatively rare in Keelung today. Since the Huiyou Company occupied this area, all passing merchant ships have been prohibited from entering the port. Many maritime merchants have spread rumors that the chicken coop was occupied by a group of pirates of unknown origin.

"Of course, the credibility of this general is absolutely unquestionable. For what I just mentioned, your association can charge a certain amount of remuneration, and you can pay in silver or raw silk."

"Maybe in the future, but there is no rush for the time being. After all, horses coming across the Pacific are definitely not much cheaper." Lin Haicai didn't want to be taken advantage of. He didn't have the urgent need to show off like the Filipino princes. Andalusian horses Since it is difficult to make a living in Luzon, how can it be better in Dongfan?

In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, the Dominicans and Franciscans violently attacked the Jesuits for worshiping their ancestors and Confucius, perhaps purely to bring down the Jesuits, which had deep roots in China. The so-called dispute between Chinese and Western etiquette, if you take off your underwear, you will see that it is mostly just a dispute of interests.

It was an Andalusian stallion sixteen hands high at the shoulders and weighed over half a ton, almost twice as heavy as those Fujian military horses. Everyone in the Army Ministry had never seen such a big horse before. Whenever the horse was led out, they would watch it as if it were a peep show.

Yi Chuan brought a majestic and heroic horse. The ghosts from Luzon had to take out the horse and wash it several times every day, attracting many soldiers from the Army Department to watch.

Lin Hai met with the Dominican delegation at Father Martinez's residence, which is located in a triangular fort outside Keelung Fort. Martinez has lived on Sheliao Island for half a year and has been under strict surveillance.

"Since there are so many rich people in the Philippines, there must be many people who like to use rifled flintlock guns for hunting, right?" Lin Hai said and added, "This general wants to introduce a group of craftsmen, including those who pull rifling and build flintlock guns. , and someone who handles flint, I wonder if the priest can help me?”

"Father, thank you very much for the New Year gift you prepared for me. I like that Andalusian horse very much."

"General, what you said was that as long as those shipyard masters are in place, I can go to the Ming Dynasty to preach at any time." Martinez quickly reiterated the agreement between the two parties, fearing that Lin Hai would keep him stuck here again.

When the Artillery Bureau's Changjiang Yu saw the horse, he ran to Wu Guoyi and asked him to encourage Lin Hai to buy more horses from Luzon to carry artillery for the Artillery Bureau.

"You can do it at any time. Lin always keeps his word." Lin Hai changed the topic and continued, "Before that, I also want to ask, what is the survival rate of Andalusian horses in Luzon?"

"It's not good. The climate in Luzon is not suitable for raising horses. Most of the horses shipped from Spain or the Americas will not live for more than two years." Martinez continued, "But as you know, Luzon has There are many wealthy princes who are willing to squander their money on useless things.”

Like its American colonies, Spain implemented a grant system in the Philippines. Before the death of the first governor, Legazpi, Spain had assigned 143 grant lands. Over the past half century, these princes have become extremely wealthy, and together with the church, they have controlled local administrative affairs except Manila.

Two days later, Lin Hai finally arrived in Keelung, and he was so happy to see the New Year's gift prepared for him by Father Mao Lie. It seems that the Dominicans are quite good at doing as the Romans do. Not only have we been dealing with them for a few months, they have already learned to celebrate holidays.

"I don't know. There are always at least a few hundred horses, maybe thousands." Martinez's eyes flashed, "What? Your Excellency, General, wants to buy horses from the Philippines?"

"Your Excellency General..." Martinez became a little anxious when he heard this. When he negotiated with Lin Hai, he only mentioned that he would go to the Ming Dynasty to preach, but he forgot to mention the exclusive right to preach.

"So, how many Andalusian horses are there in the Philippines now?" Lin Hai then asked.

"A small gift is not a sign of respect. The shipwrights requested by Your Majesty the General have also come to Keelung. I wonder when can I go to Ming Dynasty to preach?"

The improvement of horse breeds needs to be done, but not now, at least until he has a suitable land to raise horses. In contrast, the other thing is a little more urgent.

Lin Hai said and smiled again: "But if your price is too high, I may send someone to Manila to contact other religious orders to see if they have cheaper channels. This doesn't seem to violate the agreement between us, right?"

Wu Guoyi was speechless immediately. These horses must be used first after the cavalry. How could they be used to carry cannons for you? There's no telling how long your artillery bureau can survive!
However, after seeing the horse, Wu Guoyi was also very excited. Although the cavalry was not under his control now, he still wanted to advise Lin Hai to go to Luzon to buy horses. In Comrade Xiao Wu's heart, personal gains and losses are nothing compared to the anti-gold plan.

"Father, don't worry, as long as your price is fair, none of this will happen. There is an old saying in the Tang Dynasty: one thing should not bother two masters. Unless it is absolutely necessary, this general will not contact other religious orders."

Lin Hai understands that preaching is the core interest of the Dominicans, and he will not touch this easily, unless the other party starts to bite their noses. After all, it is difficult for a big shop to bully customers for a long time. Only a transaction that is consensual between you and me is a good deal.

"General Lin, this is just a piece of cake for the Dominicans. It can be done within three months. Including the war horses, you can negotiate at any time as long as the general needs it. I guarantee you will be satisfied with the price. "Martinez is worthy of being a veteran, and he expressed his position simply and clearly. He knows very well who has the initiative. "Very good, then it's settled." Lin Hai was also very happy when he heard this, and the reaction of the Dominican Republic was indeed not beyond his expectation.

Flintlocks and war horses mainly only affect cavalry, which does not conflict with Spain's interests in Asia. As for rifled guns, they are currently mainly used by some rich people for hunting, so that is even less important.

Besides, the Dominicans probably wouldn’t consider Spain’s interests too much. After all, even the master craftsman who could make Galen was sent to him.

With this new batch of overseas craftsmen, it will definitely not be a problem to start mass production of flintlock guns within half a year. However, Lin Hai still plans to let the Firearms Bureau imitate it first. The flintlock machine is a good research topic, from which some talents may be discovered, or some inspiration for continued improvement may be inspired.

As for the rifled gun, Lin Hai planned to use this thing to replace the heavy matchlock gun equipped by the Jianbing Bureau. After all, the latter's range and accuracy were seriously mismatched, and the rate of fire was not necessarily any higher than that of the rifled gun.

With the technology of this era, if a rifled gun had to achieve a flat firing range of more than 300 steps, it would probably weigh seven or eight kilograms. A shorter barrel would offset the negative impact of rifling on the rate of fire.

Of course, there is no need to count on the production capacity of rifled guns. Rifling is very time-consuming and will rapidly wear out during use. In the future, the leading military bureaus will only be able to gradually change their equipment.

After chatting with the Dominican priests, Lin Hai, together with Lun No. 1 and the current deputy director of the Ship Bureau, went to meet some of the great Tang craftsmen from the Cavite shipyard.

There were a total of five master craftsmen who came to Keelung. They were all in their forties or fifties, and they all had families. Three of them even married a house of indigenous concubines.

Obviously, the treatment of these people in Cavite is not low, otherwise they would not have the money to marry a concubine. However, there was only one literate person among them. This person's surname was Pan and his ancestral home was Jinhua, Zhejiang Province. After meeting Lin Hai, he talked without being humble or arrogant, and he was not as reserved as the other people.

Lin Hai was a little curious about this man's experience. After asking, he found out that he was a maritime businessman and was one of the richest people in the Balian Chinese community more than 20 years ago. Like Li Dan, his family property was looted during the Manila Massacre, and he could only work as an apprentice in a shipyard. After twenty years, he became a master craftsman.

"Master craftsmen, this will be your home from now on. The house Lin has built for you in advance." Lin Hai said and introduced to everyone, "This is Director Lun of the Construction Department, and this is the director of the shipbuilding department." Deputy Director Qian of the bureau, the shipbuilding bureau of the company is responsible for shipbuilding and ship repair, and the construction department is the superior of the shipbuilding bureau.”

"Hello everyone! Please give me your advice in the future. If you have any difficulties in life, you can come to Lun at any time." Lun Yi bowed to several master craftsmen. The construction department has a complete professional title system, and the master craftsman is the highest level, regardless of whether they have administrative positions or not, they can report directly to the director.

The director-general has expressed his stance, so naturally deputy director-general Qian followed suit. Everyone greeted the two Shangguan officials one after another. Two master craftsmen knelt down on the spot. Lun Yiyi and Deputy Director Qian quickly stepped forward to help them. The Construction Department did not like this.

Several master craftsmen were attracted by the high salary. When they saw the Shangguan being so polite, they were all happy. Although their treatment in the Cavite Shipyard is not low, they are still treated as lowly servants. The status of the Chinese in the Philippines is very low. Both the Spaniards and the local indigenous people are full of hostility to the Chinese.

"May I ask Director Lun, when can I go to work in the shipyard?" The master surnamed Pan was the first to ask about work. This man is indeed a wealthy businessman and knows his own value.

"No rush, no hurry." Lun Yiyi had a friendly smile on his face, "You are all guests from afar, it's not too late to settle down first, the Chinese New Year is coming soon, and it's not too late to wait until after the new year."

"Thank you, Director Lun, for your care. I, old Pan, am a restless person by nature, and I only hope to serve the company as soon as possible." Master Pan is indeed extraordinary. Seeing his statement, everyone else also expressed their desire to go to work early.

"In that case, please go to the shipyard first. To be honest with you, the company's ship bureau can only repair ships at present. The main reason why you come here is to build Western plywood ships. Master Pan, since you are literate, please help me. Come and write a document, mainly on how to establish a shipyard, and hand it over to the director of the Lun Department after the Lantern Festival."

Lin Hai is not too satisfied with Deputy Director Qian. His professional ability is not bad, but he is a bit petty and is suspected of suppressing talents at work. Among the four original deputy directors of the Construction Department, he is the only one who has not been promoted to a regular position.

Now that these master craftsmen who can build Western ships are here, it's rare that one of them has managerial potential. Lin Hai is considering replacing Deputy Director Qian. Of course, personnel appointments cannot be careless. He still needs to investigate and inspect this great master surnamed Pan. Letting him meet this condition is the first step.

Fortunately, Lin Hai plans to be deeply involved in the company's shipbuilding affairs. There are many opportunities for personal inspection, so there is no rush at this moment.

It's already a young year after returning to Tamsui. Except for a few people on duty in various departments of the Civil Affairs Bureau, most of them have begun to take a rest. Lin Hai called Jiu Zhi, a bachelor, to live at home and teach him how to ride a horse every day.

As a result, the Andalusian horse with a shoulder height of 1.6 meters was very difficult to handle. Nine Fingers could ride it, but Lin Hai was basically wrestling when he got up.

Thanks to his good luck, he was not seriously injured after struggling for a few days, but Lin Hai also realized that it was too overestimating his ability to challenge such a big horse. He simply transferred the horse to Wu Guoyi, and Jiuzhi was sent back by him.

Xiao Zhou, who just happened to be engaged, came from Keelung to pay New Year greetings to his father-in-law. When he saw Jiu Zhi, he smiled and asked, "Brother Jiu Zhi, I heard that you have become Bute Mawen and are responsible for raising horses for Mr. Lin?"

"What about raising a horse? I'm teaching him how to ride a horse!" Jiuzhi proudly puffed out his chest and said, "Now when Mr. Lin sees me, everyone has to call him master."

"But you can do it after you blow it." At this time, Shouhou interjected, "Brother Dao said that he will take us old brothers to pay New Year's greetings to Mr. Lin on the first day of the new year. Do you dare to let him call Master?"

At this time, Lin Hai was enjoying a rare leisure time at home. While feeding him some peeled fruit, Zhu Niang said, "Ms. Ding Mao, the year of Ding Mao is coming soon. These days go by so fast."

"Yeah, another year has passed before I know it." Lin Hai squinted his eyes contentedly and replied vaguely.

In the blink of an eye, it is the seventh year of the Apocalypse, and the carpenter emperor in the Forbidden City will not survive the next winter. And in the palace built in Shenyang, modeled after the Forbidden City, the man who had just ascended the throne of the Great Khan should be preparing for an expedition to North Korea at this time, right?
Ding Mao's chaos is coming, and the Ming Dynasty and North Korea still know nothing about the difficult father and son.

(End of this chapter)