Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 30 The Sailing School

To be honest, there is no shortage of resources in South America, except coal.Especially in Uruguay, there are almost none, at least the time travelers don't know where to find them.

"The problem of coal has to be faced squarely now." Ma Ganzu sighed and said, "Everyone discusses and discusses how to solve this problem. Is it outsourcing or prospecting and mining by ourselves?"

Today's meeting room of the executive committee is no longer as smoky as it used to be. This is not because the group of old smokers quit smoking collectively, but because the cigarettes brought over from the old time and space have all been smoked.Now when the executive committee meeting is held, these committee members keep drinking water.

"Personally, I don't think the method of outsourcing is very reliable." The vest said after thinking, "First of all, it will increase the expenditure, and secondly, the source and quality will not be very stable. We can't make plans at all during production, so, I Outsourcing is not recommended."

"What if we don't buy out? Does everyone know where there is a coal mine nearby?" Shao Shude asked.

"As far as I know, there are basically no coal mines in Uruguay. Or even if there are, there are small coal mines with limited output. They were not well-known in their previous lives, and it is difficult for non-locals to know, so I don't know." Gao Mo said "At present, the nearest coal storage area to us should be the Rio Grande do Sul state in Brazil. The specific location may be located in the south of the Paraná Plateau and near Porto Alegre. However, the coal here is basically low-quality coal with high sulfur content. , high ash, low calorific value, the reserves are not bad.”

"How far is it from us? Which country is the place under the jurisdiction of?" Peng Zhicheng asked.

"It's about two to three hundred kilometers away from us. At this time, there is still no land there. There may be some indigenous people in the area. I don't know the specific situation." Gao Mo spread his hands.

Members of the executive committee immediately lost interest when they heard that it was two or three hundred kilometers away.With the current ability of traveling through people, organizing a large amount of manpower and material resources, and lacking sufficient logistical supplies, traveling through a large barren land full of unknown dangers to mine in another strange place, and then transporting it back is basically a fantasy.

"Porto Alegre? Is this a seaport?" Wang Qinian asked.

"It can't be said that, in fact, Porto Alegre is an inner lake port located at the northern end of the Patus Lagoon. It's just that the Patus Lagoon is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow waterway, which is directly navigable. The only thing to worry about is the Patus Lagoon. The water depth of Tus Lagoon is not enough, but it should not be a big problem to navigate some small-tonnage flat-bottomed boats. We can try to build some of these boats, and then land in Porto Alegre by boat to establish settlements and mining points." Gao Mo introduced.

"It's about ships again." Shao Shude said with a wry smile, "I remember we were discussing how to increase steel production at first, then we got involved in coal issues, and now we've developed shipbuilding. This crooked building is too crooked It’s amazing. But speaking of shipbuilding, we don’t have many such talents, and we don’t have skilled sailors, do we?”

"Well, Lao Gao's suggestion is actually not bad." Ma Ganzu said, "The conditions are immature at this stage, but we can start to make preparations from now on. Aren't there some shipbuilders at the shipyard, we can let them build it first." One by one, you can train a group of talents by the way. You can’t just build some small inland river wooden boats without technical content all day long, and the craftsmanship will be wasted if it takes a long time.”

"How to deal with the coal problem? Outsourcing?" Tangyuan asked.

"Purchase first, and next time you can negotiate with the captains who come to trade. As long as the price you give can satisfy them, I think someone will be willing to ship coal." Ma Ganzu sighed as he said: " It costs money everywhere, and it’s really not easy for this family to manage.”

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Captain John Stone staggered up from the ground, and several of his men were the same, all of them were beaten black and blue.A group of Dutchmen sat in front of them with disdainful faces, talking in low voices as they ate stolen potatoes.

Johnston felt a burst of blackness in front of his eyes, and he knew that it was because he hadn't eaten and was hungry for a long time.Ever since he and a group of Dutchmen were assigned to work in the No. 2 mining area, he and several of his older brothers fell into a nightmare.Perhaps this group of Dutch people have long been disgusted with the British. They used their numbers to torture John Stone and his group in different ways.Not only do the highly dangerous work have to be undertaken by themselves, but even the food and drinking water distributed are often robbed.

Captain John Stone sat back against the stone wall, panting violently.Yesterday when Johnson was quarrying, he fell from the mountainside due to lack of energy and died on the spot. Maybe he will end up like this sooner or later.

The Dutch were not much better. I heard that there was a large-scale brawl in the No. 1 mining area yesterday. A Dutchman was killed on the spot by the brutal Chaluya, and a scuffle broke out between the two sides.Stones, sticks, pickaxes, everything that can be used as a weapon has come in handy.The mine policemen of the Tatans blew their whistles loudly, fired their muskets and sabers, and finally calmed down the matter.According to gossip circulating in the mining area, the Tatans carried away no less than 1 corpses from the No. 10 mining area afterwards.

Just when Captain John Stone was sighing for his bleak and hopeless life, he didn't know that the turning point of his life was coming.Navy Commissioner Wang Qinian and Internal Affairs Commissioner Jiao Tang led a group of police officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the miners' lounge in the No. 2 mining area.

"This is the British pirate captain?" Wang Qinian looked at the unkempt, bruised and swollen John Stone, a little speechless.

Jiao Tang gestured with his eyes.Standing behind him, Liu Yun, Director of the Prison Affairs Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, stepped forward and grabbed John Ston by the collar of his prison uniform, and said: "Mr. John Ston from Dover, now I have a chance to let you You and your loyal men get out of this squalor, and I think you'd better take this chance, you know what I mean!"

"Yes, sir!" Johnston nodded feebly, then glanced at the Dutchmen who cowered aside, and said, "No matter what you ask me to do, now I just want to get out of this damn place."

"Very good." Liu Yun nodded and said, "Now take your men and go to the bathroom in the mine police lounge to take a shower and clean off the damn smell. Then change into the clothes we prepared for you Wait there, someone will look for you later. Do your business well in the future, I don't want to see you come back here again. "

John Ston and five of his men took a comfortable hot bath in the bathroom. After washing, they found that there were suddenly a few more people in the mine police lounge.One of them was a Tartan officer, and the rest were all old acquaintances.

"Mr. Johnston, Mr. Ruben Demel, Mr. Julien d'Eblol, and gentlemen..." Lu Ming stood up from his chair and said, "I am Lieutenant Lu of the East Coast Company. Ming, do you understand English? It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand, you can find someone to relay my words.”

Julien d'Eblol and John Stone nodded.

"I hate rambling nonsense, so I'll just tell you the main points." Lu Ming continued, "We are going to set up a new sailing school to teach all kinds of sailing knowledge. I don't deny that, our East It is true that shore companies have no accumulation in this area, and you have either received systematic naval theoretical education, or have rich sailing experience and sea knowledge, which are exactly the talents we need. Now you have two choices: the first is to go to the newly established You can serve as a teacher in the sailing school at the Nautical School, with a monthly allowance of two yuan; your subordinates can also serve as sailing practice instructors, with a monthly allowance of one yuan; after five years of teaching, you will be free. Second, you can choose After dinner, continue to return to the dark and desperate mine to report to Director Liu Yunliu. Then, gentlemen, tell me your options, and don’t make me wait too long.”

Anyone who is not a fool knows how to choose.So, after some low-pitched conversations, everyone chose the first option.

"Very good." Lu Ming smiled.Then he yelled out the door, and a few navy soldiers came in holding some clothes.These are clothes made of wool cloth imported from Europe, which are many times stronger than the tattered linen prison uniforms they wear.A group of people quickly changed their clothes, and then Lu Ming led them to the newly established sailing school.

The sailing school is located on the south bank of the Dayu River, opposite the No. [-] Fort, with a beautiful environment.This time, Wang Qinian took advantage of the fact that the Executive Committee wanted to develop the shipbuilding industry, and moved around, complaining about how bad it was, and let him try to set up a sailing school.This made Peng Zhicheng extremely jealous, and recently he was clamoring to get the executive committee to approve the establishment of an army officer academy in Dingyuan Fort aimed at training junior officers.

The nautical school enrolls 60 students in the first phase, all of them are half-children between the ages of ten and 15, and they are all sitting on two long dining tables in an orderly manner at the moment.There was fragrant food on the dining table in front of everyone. Although these children couldn't help swallowing their saliva, everyone put their hands on their knees, looked ahead, and sat upright on the chairs.

"Stand at attention!" Lu Ming shouted loudly after entering the cafeteria.All the children stood up at the same time, and Lu Ming motioned for Julien and the others to sit at the officer's table next to them.Then he walked up to these children, patted them on the shoulder affectionately, let him sit down after each one, until the last person's shoulder was patted.

"Dinner!" Lu Ming ordered.As his words fell, a group of students and children immediately picked up wooden bowls and wooden chopsticks and began to eat.

Dinner was great.There were wheat cakes, salted fish, prawns, clam tofu soup, vegetables, and even eggs, which are rarely enjoyed by the cross-travelers. The students ate quietly, and no one whispered to each other during the meal.After eating, most of the students returned to rest in the brick dormitory opposite the cafeteria.A small number of students stayed to clear the dining table and clean up.

"These students have been training for almost a week." After bringing the incoming teachers to the dormitory where they were resting, Lu Ming talked about these students: "I will be in charge of everything in this school from now on. The students will be in charge in the morning You study theoretical knowledge in class, go to the shipyard for practice in the afternoon, and learn political and cultural knowledge in the evening. In the next few days, I will lead these students to conduct discipline and physical training. You hurry up and sort out a teaching material, and the class will start in a week. I hope you don't disappoint me."

(End of this chapter)