The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 326 Take the initiative
May 1733, 5, light rain.

The drizzle was as fine as silk, falling densely on the bank of the Yangtze River, and a thin layer of mist was floating on the surface of the river.

The Yangtze River is mighty, with a gentle flow but slight ripples on the surface.

On the river bank, willow trees hang down their long branches, swaying gently in the wind, as if welcoming guests from afar. Raindrops hit the river surface, making a crisp sound, making people feel peaceful and distant.

On the river bank, there are several ancient buildings standing, which are looming in the rain. The quaint courtyard walls, bluestone roads, and blue-tiled houses make people pay tribute to the past history.

In the drizzle, the scenery of the Yangtze River is so beautiful that it makes people feel as if they are in a wonderful Jiangnan ink painting, which makes people feel endless reverie.

In the vast rain, two ferries were docked steadily at the berth. Some of the sailors on the boats were wearing raincoats made in China, while others were holding oil-paper umbrellas. They were waiting respectfully at the bow, as if they were waiting for some important person to come on board.

"Who is coming?" Qisheng's mechanic Xu Changshun wiped the rain off his face, stood on tiptoe, and looked towards the shore.

"Hey, Master Xu, don't be so unrestrained!... The one coming up from the shore is my Great Qin Prince Jin, please don't be so negligent." The captain of the Qisheng, Jiao Deming, looked at Xu Changshun's reckless look, and hurriedly stepped forward and pulled him to the back of the deck, while carefully warning him.

These people of Qi have no concept of hierarchy at all, and always act superior. I don't know what it's like to see an official in their Qi country.

Look at their nonchalant attitude. If they meet His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin and accidentally offend him with their words or actions, everyone on the ferry will be implicated.

If we were only scolded or whipped, that would be fine, we are all cheap, so we can just accept the beating. But the worst thing is that we might lose our job on the ferry, which would be very bad.

Although the work on the Yangtze River ferry is hard and requires working day and night, the pay is generous, and even an ordinary sailor can get four or five dollars a month. If you meet some nobles or wealthy businessmen and serve them well, they may even give you some tips, which is a considerable income.

In addition, when facing the travelers and merchants traveling back and forth, the sailors could always find some reasons to extort some benefits from them. All these things added up, they could make a lot of money.

Therefore, whenever a ferry is about to pick up or drop off any important person, it is always done with great caution, for fear of offending the person and thus bringing disaster to everyone.

However, in the Yangtze River Shipping Company, there is a group of special personnel who rely on their special status and professional skills (techniques), receive super high salaries, enjoy superior treatment, and do not try to curry favor with the dignitaries who take the ferry. Their attitude seems rather detached.

That’s right, they are the mechanics from Qi State, responsible for the daily maintenance and repair of the ferry to ensure that the ferry can operate normally.

More than 20 years ago, merchants from the Qin State introduced some second-hand steam sailing ships from the Qi State for use in coastal and inland shipping to improve transportation efficiency.

At that time, Daqin also hired a number of mechanics from Qi to perform simple maintenance and operations on the steamships it purchased.

Later, as Qi gradually relaxed its restrictive policies on steam engine technology, a large number of more advanced steamships began to flood into Qin's shipping market on a large scale, dealing a severe blow to Qin's steam turbine technology, which had just begun to be explored.

When we can import more advanced and reliable steamships from Qi, why should we spend more money to equip ourselves with extremely immature products and technologies?

As the most important golden waterway of the Qin Dynasty, the Yangtze River naturally attracted the attention of many investors. Merchants from provinces and counties along the river purchased boats for the transportation of goods and people.

Those with deep pockets purchased steam cargo ships from the State of Qi. They were not afraid of currents or wind directions, nor did they need to pull boats upstream. They could move as fast as the wind and travel hundreds of miles day and night.

Those who were short of money would buy ordinary sand boats or Guang boats, hoist the sails and row the oars. Although the speed was a little slower, it was much cheaper to sail on the river. For passengers and goods who were not in a hurry, they would rely on them. '

The city of Nanjing was the capital of the Qin Empire. There were countless people and goods traveling back and forth between the north and the south, so that the river surface in Nanjing was crowded with boats every day, with heavy sails that almost blocked the entire river.

In order to improve the efficiency of passenger and cargo transportation between the two sides of the strait, the Yangtze River Shipping Company, which was led by the Ministry of Revenue, borrowed 800,000 Qi gold yuan coupons from several financial institutions such as Qi Hanzhou Bank, Oriental Bank, and Nanyang Bank ten years ago. In addition, it raised one million Daqin silver dollars from the private sector and purchased 15 pure steam ships from Qi at one time for Yangtze River shipping.

Among them, eight steamships served as scheduled ferries between Nanjing Xiaguan and Jiangbei Pukou, traveling back and forth between the two sides of the Yangtze River to transport a large number of people and goods.

A few years ago, with the completion and opening of the Xuzhou-Pukou railway, the freight volume on both sides of the Yangtze River was further boosted. The Yangtze River Shipping Company took the opportunity to expand its scale and purchased several steamships from Qi State to start shipping between the two sides.

Although, over the years, the Qin State has trained many steam engine maintenance craftsmen through various methods and means, who can handle some basic faults and problems, the in-depth maintenance and adjustment of the machines often have to rely on mechanics hired from the Qi State at high prices.

These senior mechanics from Qi could receive a monthly salary of more than fifty silver dollars, which was higher than the salaries of the officials in the shipping department. Of course, the income of these officials was definitely more than the money they saw on the surface. The annual festival gifts from managers at all levels, the bribes from merchants, and the kickbacks from the purchase of equipment and machinery could all make them very wealthy.

However, these Qi mechanics who make a living by their skills (technology) can get such high salaries. Apart from being envious, they are not particularly jealous. After all, they left Hanzhou and came to Daqin thousands of miles away, sacrificing the opportunity to reunite with their families, just to ensure that every steamship can run safely and smoothly. The pile of complex machines, one wheel inside another, one connecting rod connected to another, ordinary people would definitely be dizzy when looking at it. If there is a problem, no one can fix it!

But these Qi State mechanics seemed to be manipulating large children's toys. They held tools such as wrenches, pliers, and sockets, knocked here, twisted there, and in just a few clicks they could get a broken machine back up and running.

Even when a machine has a serious problem, several Qi mechanics will dismantle the entire precision machine into pieces, dismantling it into a pile of scattered parts, which makes people stunned. Then, they will replace the damaged parts, magically put them back in place one by one, restart them, and the silent machine will immediately roar violently again.

From the officials in the shipping department to the ordinary sailors, all of them respected and loved these capable mechanics of Qi State. After all, they had "real skills" in their hands, and every steamship absolutely depended on their maintenance and servicing.

The "Qisheng" and another ferry in the best condition received instructions from the head of the Shipping Department yesterday, requiring that in addition to a comprehensive cleaning of the ships, the two ships must also be subject to detailed inspection and maintenance to ensure their safety in preparation for picking up important figures from the court the next day.

After the "Qisheng" completed its last operation last night, Xu Changshun carried out a detailed and comprehensive inspection of the engine in the bottom cabin, the propeller at the stern, and the entire transmission device overnight. He finished the work at around 2 a.m. and then slept on the boat.

At daybreak today, the sailors who arrived at their posts one after another, under the instruction of Captain Jiao Deming, cleaned the entire ship again, waking up Xu Changshun who had not slept for several hours.

Xu Changshun was very impatient about this and kept muttering and complaining.

He also satirized a certain noble who was going to take a ferry across the river, saying that he was so poor and stingy, and if he wanted to enjoy a comfortable and clean riding environment, why not spend money to buy a cruise ship of his own, like those wealthy businessmen in our Qi State. Not only can he take a trip whenever he wants, but he can also continue to experience the luxury and grandeur on the ship, just like a palace on the sea.

Although he was also a member of the lower class of the people in Qi State, he had an inexplicable self-confidence deep in his heart that allowed him to laugh at and despise the nobles in Qin State, thinking that they were just a group of rich "bumpkins" who were not as good as a machine repairman like him in terms of the things they had seen, the goods or services they had enjoyed.

Captain Jiao Deming was very troubled by this outspoken mechanic from Qi State, and he persuaded him to continue sleeping in the cabin and not to come to the deck to be conspicuous, in order to avoid angering the distinguished person who was about to board the ship with his words.

Because, in the early morning, the official at the dock came to tell him that the important man who would board the ship to cross the river later was the Emperor's appointed Northern Tour Envoy, His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin, the sixth son of the Qin Emperor. The officials accompanying him included the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, the Ministers and Vice Ministers of the Ministry, the generals of the Grand Marshal's Office and many other high-ranking officials of the court.

For this purpose, the entire dock was cleared out and all the passengers who wanted to take the boat were driven aside. The ferry service would be resumed after His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin and his party crossed the river.

In the morning, with the arrival of a large number of royal guards, the carriage of Prince Jin, surrounded by many officials, arrived at the Xiaguan Wharf.

The Prince of Jin was in his forties, wearing a luxurious dragon robe, tall and handsome, and looked 80% like Emperor Qianyuan. He had a thick beard, rosy lips, clear eyebrows, a noble temperament, and exuded extraordinary talent and confidence.

Luo Renjing, the Second Assistant of the Cabinet, the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, and the Grand Secretary of Wenhua Palace, and Yu Wenke, the Councillor of the Cabinet and the Student of Wenhua Palace, lagged behind by half a body length, following closely beside Prince Jin, talking and laughing all the way, and accompanied Prince Jin on board the "Qisheng" ferry.

"Grand Secretary, when I went to Hanzhou to visit Qi State last year, I heard that they traveled back and forth on giant steel ships. I wonder, are there any differences between those big ships and this kind of ferry?" After getting on the boat, King Jin Sun Youyu stood by the side of the boat, overlooking the river in the distance, and asked Luo Renjing curiously.

"Your Highness, Prince of Jin." Luo Renjing bowed to Sun Youyu and replied with a smile, "Although both are sailing on water, there is a big difference between sailing on the sea and sailing on the river. The time of sailing on the river is no more than a few breaths, and no more than a month, but the time of sailing on the sea is often measured in months, which is really unbearable for ordinary people. To be honest with you, Your Highness, after I boarded the ship in Shanghai County in June last year, I immediately felt dizzy and weak in my limbs, and I was almost dying. After more than ten days, I was relieved a little. It was precisely because the ship I took was one of the few giant ships in Qi State. On the turbulent sea, the ups and downs were not very big, so I didn't take my life. It is said that more than 20 years ago, the ships that Qi State traveled to and from Daqin were no more than a thousand tons, and the smallest ones were even small boats of dozens of tons. If you take such a ship, it will be a real devil's journey on the sea!"

"Oh, you've worked hard, Grand Secretary." Sun Youyu said gently, "If it weren't for the fact that Great Qin had more money, we wouldn't have to go through such a storm and let the Grand Secretary suffer."

"I have devoted my life to Your Majesty and the Qin Empire until my death. How can I be so remiss as to guard my own life?" Luo Renjing smiled bitterly and said, "However, I have failed to convince the Qi government, so most of the debts still need to be repaid on time, which has caused financial difficulties for the entire court."

"Alas, in recent years, Qi has been increasingly harsh on our Great Qin, and has taken many actions to suppress us. This time, we extended the debt repayment period, but they did not agree. Instead, they added insult to injury and made more unreasonable demands. Where is the friendship of the same bloodline of China?" Sun Youyu sighed, "A few months ago, Qi even recklessly launched a war, disregarding the face of our Great Qin, and gathered a large army to destroy our vassal state of Annan. It really makes people feel cold and chilling."

"Your Highness, although Qi is extremely rude and arrogant, for the sake of the millions of people of our Great Qin, you still need to be patient." Luo Renjing consoled him, "Once our Great Qin has worked hard to govern the country, improve its internal governance, refine its armor and weapons, and accumulate sufficient strength, we will be able to take up arms and avenge our previous humiliation."

"That being said, I am still upset!" Sun Youyu slapped the gunwale with his right hand and said in a hateful voice, "The false Ming Dynasty keeps making trouble in Liaodong and Korea, Dongdan and Bohai often harass the border and abduct the people. The sea is full of Qi warships, spying on our thousands of miles of sea. Annan has been captured, and Yunnan and Guangxi have raised alarms. With all these things, I think that given time, our Great Qin and Qi will eventually have a war."

After hearing this, Luo Renjing just shook his head and sighed slightly, and did not respond to Prince Jin's words.

A ruler should not raise an army in anger, and a general should not start a war in resentment. A war with Qi can be discussed, but it must not be carried out rashly.

"Your Highness, in fact, my Great Qin's counterattack against Qi is not without leverage." Yu Wen Ke beside him said softly.

"Oh? Please enlighten me, Grand Secretary." Sun Youyu looked at Yu Wenke with great interest.

"We should take the initiative to attack, ally with Russia in the north, Japan and Korea in the east, and Myanmar and Siam in the south, to establish a substantial anti-Qi alliance to control Qi's hegemony."

(End of this chapter)