Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

"This old fox!" As the saying goes, you have Zhang Liang's plan and I have a wall ladder. Zheng Kezang did not expect that the shipyard he extorted from the Ministry of Industry would turn out to be in such a dilapidated state. I really can't underestimate these old and cunning ancients. If you are not careful, you will be sold by them. "That's fine for the shipyard, but what about the craftsmen?"

Zheng Kezang got angry at the officials of the Ministry of Industry who were smiling apologetically. Seeing Zheng Kezang furious, the head of the sixth-grade horse sent by the Ministry of Industry hurriedly urged the slaves around him: "Hurry up, send Su Dagong and the others to work together." Everyone called to see the eldest son."

After a while of flying around, several craftsmen who seemed to be almost fifty appeared out of nowhere, and then under the guidance of Mr. Ma, they knelt down in front of Zheng Kezang and saw the half-Huafa craftsmen. A little old man wanted to kowtow to himself, and Zheng Kezang, who was upset, waved his hands quickly: "No need, you are old, and you can't bear it for the rest of your life. Get up and talk."

Su Dagong and others slowly got up from the ground. Seeing that they seemed to be a little bit handicapped, Zheng Kezang was even more disturbed, so he asked the horse owner sharply: "If the shipyard is so big, just a few of them are old, weak and sick. If it is disabled, then how can we build a ship?"

Mr. Ma murmured and dared not speak up, but Dagong Su was furious when he heard Zheng Kezang say that he was inactive: "Young Master, please don't underestimate Yu et al. As long as you have enough materials, what kind of ship does your eldest son want to build? They can all be created for the eldest son."

Zheng Kezang smiled angrily, pointed at Su Dagong and nodded: "Excellent, I really dare to say anything, the so-called full moon is full of losses, and full of words, since you are so conceited, then it is easy to handle. "

Zheng Kezang gritted his teeth: "I want a [-] material red barge plywood ship. I'll wait for you for half a year, no, I'll wait for you for a year. If you can't hand it in by then, don't blame me for disregarding the elders." gone."

"My lord, don't say one year, it means that the ship won't be built in three or five years." Dai Yi and Zheng Kezang were out of breath, but Su Dagong explained in a leisurely manner. "The keel used for the five-thousand-material Hongyi plywood ship is very long. There is no suitable wood in Taiwan, not only in Taiwan, but also in Fujian, so this ship cannot be built."

Zheng Kezang was stunned for a moment, and the other party spoke clearly and logically, obviously not just for the sake of numbers, so he turned his attention to the owner of the Ministry of Industry, and the owner explained knowingly: "Su Dagong and the others used to build it for the surname of the country in Siming back then. The water friend boat with more than three thousand materials, that is, the old age in the past few years, so I rested."

Friends of the boat?Zheng Kezang looked at the other party suspiciously, and Mr. Ma explained again: "The water friend boat is an imitation plywood boat."

Zheng Kezang was surprised, this is a talent, if he had known that the Zheng family had such craftsmen, why would he ask the British for help, and even got killed by someone, thinking of this, his attitude immediately softened: "It turns out It's grandfather's old man, Yu is young and ignorant, he offended the old man, please forgive me!"

"Don't dare, dare not!" The craftsman surnamed Su hurriedly bowed his hands and gave in. After saying a few polite words to let Zheng Kezang step down, Master Su told Zheng Kezang directly. "In fact, if you want to build a ship, the Hongyi plywood ship is not the first choice. The Guangzhou Ship and the Fuchuan are actually better than the Hongyi Ship."

Zheng Kezang did not understand this. If Guangzhou Ship and Fuchuan were better than military Galen, the result of the Opium War should be that the Qing court won. However, since the opponent is a veteran in this industry, Zheng Kezang Zang naturally didn't dare to refute it easily, so he just listened patiently at the moment.

"The key lies in the sails. The barbarians are as fast as horses when the wind is downwind, but the soft sails they use cost too much material, and they can't sail against the wind. This is one of them." Master Su said eloquently. "Secondly, soft sails are inconvenient to operate and require too much manpower, which is actually not as convenient as Fuchuan and Guangzhou Shipyards."

Zheng Kezang thought for a while, then nodded. The other party is worthy of being an old mage, but what he said is the key point. It must be known that Taiwan has always been short of fabrics. For this reason, Chen Yonghua even had to bribe Qing army officials to break through the seal and smuggle successfully. , Therefore, if you really want to build a completely Western-style clipper, you have to place an order with the British Guilian Chamber of Commerce to import bulk jute and canvas from India.

"Master Su, let's not talk about the canvas, I will find a way." Zheng Kezang, already convinced, asked in a tone of asking for advice. "If Yu wants to build a fast boat of about [-] materials right away, what kind of boat is best?"

The craftsman surnamed Su didn't even have to think about it, and immediately replied: "Guangzhou ships with less than [-] materials are suitable, and Fuchuan ships with [-] materials and above are better. As for more than [-] materials, it is quite troublesome to use materials. Secondly, you must be extremely cautious when using labor, but if you can spare no expense, you can use the Hongyi plywood boat as a model!"

"What about sand boats?" Zheng Kezang continued to ask. He seemed to only have some theoretical knowledge from hearsay, and he was all a novice in other aspects. "People say that sand ships are always stable, use less labor and materials, and carry a lot of cargo. They are suitable for maritime merchants to use for long-distance voyages."

"Sandboats can still sail long distances in the calm seas of the north, but in places such as the Fujian Sea and the Western Ocean, where the wind and waves are rough, the draft of sandboats is shallow, and they are always in danger of being flooded and capsized." Master Su patiently explained to Zheng Kezang. "That's why it's not that the boats we built were exclusively for Japan and North Korea, but I disapprove of the eldest son building sand boats."

Seemingly dissatisfied with Master Su's explanation, Zheng Kezang immediately asked: "The inland sea of ​​Taijiang River is not too stormy, so is it suitable for building sand boats?"

"It's possible." Master Su frowned. "However, the speed of sand boats is extremely slow, and there is no need for a ferry on the Taijiang River."

"I'm just asking." Even so, Zheng Kezang gave orders. "Master Su, I want to start building two ships from now on, one is a Guangzhou ship of [-] materials, and the other is a sand ship of [-] materials. I wonder when the master will be able to finish the work for Yu?"

"My lord, it's not that the old man pushes back and forth when things are about to come to an end, but shipbuilding requires wood and iron materials, and these warehouses don't have any of them. In addition, it's not enough to have enough big workers. Small workers and manual workers need to be solicited by the big lord. It’s good to be in line.”

"That's it!" Zheng Kezang looked at Ma who was at the side. "Yu here accepted an empty shell. It was originally the hand of the Ministry of Industry. Naturally, the Ministry of Industry must buy raw materials for Yu." Mr. Ma said with a mournful face. What Zheng Kezang said was simple but where did the money come from? It is certain that good fortune is hard to give up, and it is not always possible for him, a petty official, to figure it out to fill in the shortfall. "Don't worry, the emperor still has hungry soldiers." Zheng Kezang seemed to see something and smiled, so he wouldn't embarrass his subordinates. "I'll give you 500 taels. You have to provide the manpower and the materials for the two ships."

A Guangzhou ship with 300 materials costs about 400 taels, and a sand ship with 500 materials costs [-] taels at most. Zheng Kezang can build another one for [-] taels, but Mr. Ma also understands The extra money was not for him to spend, but to pay for the recruitment of craftsmen and to prepare more materials.Of course, even if there is still room for profit, in the face of Zheng Kezang, the successor of the feudal lord, Mr. Ma will not take advantage of it. Make a good impression on your face.

"As for the small workers and laborers," Zheng Kezang turned his head back to Master Su after explaining to Mr. Ma. "I can send some helpers from the boy camp every day. As for the shortage, Master Su can hire a few people himself." Master Su knew that Zheng Kezang must have wanted to send people from the boy camp to learn how to build boats, but his school Craftsmanship is not passed on from son to disciple, so he readily agreed, but he never thought that Zheng Kezang's words were not finished. "Yu invited a few shipwrights from the Yingguili Merchant Hall before, and they will arrive in about a month or two at the most. At that time, I will also ask Master Su to help him." The so-called colleagues are enemies. Seeing the displeasure on Master Su's face, Zheng Kezang laughed. "It's not that I don't believe in the master's skills, but I didn't know there was such a master in my domain at the beginning. Since I invited him, I naturally couldn't use it. Besides, Hongyi has unique features in masts and sails. I will wait and see. Should learn from each other's strengths"

Back in Anping City, Zheng Kezang didn't go back directly to the mansion, but went to Funingbo Zheng Cong's house first: "Second Uncle, what's going on?"

Zheng Cong was fidgeting, when he saw Zheng Kezang, he greeted him as if seeing a savior: "Qinshe, I finally expected you to come, let's go, let's go, don't wait, go and see the wine shop, two Uncle listened to your advice to brew the sweet wine, but no one wanted it when I sent it to Siming, it's a big loss."

"Don't worry," Zheng Kezang waved his hand. "Second Uncle, let Yu sit for a while. I just came back from Zhurai Harbor and my bones are all broken." Seeing that Zheng Kezang looked tired, Zheng Cong didn't want to urge him anymore, but sitting there Zheng Kezang was very uncomfortable to see the deputy hundred scratching his heart, so he had no choice but to ask. "By the way, Second Uncle, how did you make this cane wine?"

"How else can I make wine? Yu Ke is the best pot head I brought from Shaoxing."

Zheng Cong didn't say that, but when he said that Zheng Kezang was drinking tea, he couldn't hold back and sprayed on the ground: "Second uncle uses sugarcane wine as rice wine or rice wine? Has it been cellared for a year?" Many? No wonder, no wonder!"

Hearing Zheng Kezang's two voices in a row, it's no wonder that Zheng Cong didn't care about Zheng Kezang's rudeness just now, and asked eagerly: "Qinshe knows what's going on? That's great, tell the second uncle quickly. "

"Second Uncle, bring a jug of your brewed wine first." Zheng Kezang did not answer immediately, but signaled Zheng Cong to serve the wine. Zheng Cong didn't know why, but he still could afford a jug of wine, and when it was poured, Zheng Cong Ke Zang Yipin. "It tastes good. It's very sweet. I think the female relatives in the inner room should be very happy."

"You're still joking." Zheng Cong got angry. "You can't see that the second uncle is already anxious to get angry!"

"Second Uncle, don't worry. Back then, Yu told you that the men in Hongyi loved to drink sugar cane wine. Why? Of course it was because of strong alcohol? But Second Uncle made the wine into a drink that women's families like to drink. Who can blame it? ?” Zheng Kezang put down his wine glass. "According to me, there is no need to visit the wine shop. Now Yu can give Second Uncle a solution."

"any solution?"

"First, don't store the newly brewed wine in the cellar any more. Immediately steam it for two more times to get rid of the softness. The stronger the better." Zheng Cong immediately remembered it in his heart. "Secondly, I don't know whether the wine in the original cellar can be used or not, but the barbarians don't like to drink it, but Taiwan prohibits alcohol, so some people are willing to drink it. Second uncle sells it cheaper, which is better than losing it all."

"How much will this cost?" Zheng Cong's heart was pierced. "Qinshe, you can be one of your members here, you have to think of a way."

Zheng Kezang has to worry about everything for only half of the profit. Zheng Cong really said it, but it is always necessary to save face, so Zheng Kezang came up with a bad idea: "If you don't want to lose money, you can try to sell to Go to Japan and North Korea, but I can’t guarantee whether it can be sold at a good price.”

"This?" Zheng Cong sat down on the chair discouraged. "Siming can't even sell it, and he still wants to sell it to Japan and North Korea. The hole is getting bigger and bigger. Forget it, let's sell it locally at a low price in Dongning."