1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 97 Bicycles

When Luo Shengdong came back to his senses, he realized that all his 150 taels of silver had been exchanged by Schneider for a small piece of paper called a "negotiable coupon". He hurriedly took him to the warehouse at the port in a hurry.It wasn't until he successfully exchanged for three thousand catties of salt with the negotiable coupons that he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He thought that the Haihan people were quite trustworthy, but he didn't plan to use this colorful piece of paper to cheat Lao Tzu of his money.

Luo Shengdong planned to sell this batch of salt directly to Wenchang on the east coast of Hainan Island, where Qianhu in the guard house was an old acquaintance with his father, and Luo Shengdong had to call him "Third Uncle" in terms of seniority.As long as the three thousand catties of salt are wholesaled to the thousand household adults at 120 taels per catty, Luo Shengdong himself will have a gross profit of more than 200 taels, and as long as the other party sells this batch of salt, he can also get a hundred taels of silver. The good thing is that there is no need to worry about the failure of cooperation in this business.If possible, help the Haihan people to recruit a group of immigrants on the return journey, and you can also subsidize the expenses on the way.

The only inconvenience is that Wenchang is far away from Victory Port. With the speed of Luo Shengdong's fleet, it will take at least two or three days to reach the destination.Luo Shengdong is very envious of the wide-bodied sailboats of the Haihan people. They sail very fast at sea. Even if they go to Wenchang, they must be able to reach it on the same day.It's just that for some reason these Haihan people haven't built a few more of these sailboats. Luo Shengdong had previously seen in the port a shipbuilding workshop on the west side of the sea, and a boat had already had its keel laid. Build a lucky boat.

"There are so many big iron ships out there, but this kind of small wooden ship..." Luo Shengdong looked at the giant steel ship moored in the port and couldn't help sighing.

"Boss Luo, if you're not in a hurry, I'll take you to the upper reaches of the river to see something good." Schneider appeared from his side at some point.

Luo Shengdong actually wanted to refuse Schneider's invitation, because this place really left him with too many unpleasant memories.If it wasn't for the money, Luo Shengdong felt that he probably wouldn't come here again until he died.But in the end, Luo Shengdong agreed, because he was really curious about what new things the Haihan people had come up with. The fire guns and artillery he saw last time he came to Victory Harbor left a very deep impression on him. .

So Luo Shengdong left his subordinates at the port to load the goods, and he followed Schneider alone.Schneider originally headed in the direction of the estuary, and stopped after a few steps: "How about we go by car, it will be faster than by boat."

Luo Shengdong didn't know why, so he nodded and said, "Just follow Mr. Shi's arrangement... I don't know if it's an ox cart or a carriage?"

"Our kind of car is called a bicycle. I think you've seen it before." Schneider said with a smile.

Luo Shengdong had indeed seen a bicycle, and more than once or twice.He clearly remembered that every time Ren Liang appeared on the construction site of the hydropower station, he was riding a strange two-wheeled car, which was much faster than walking, but Luo Shengdong didn't quite understand that the car had two wheels. Lined up in front and back, it seems that it is obviously unstable, but why does it not fall down to both sides.

"Can you try it next?" Luo Shengdong asked in surprise.In his opinion, the two-wheeled car was like a wide-body sailboat, a treasure that the Haihan people would not easily let outsiders touch.

"Of course." Schneider replied: "I heard that you are someone who has practiced kung fu. You should have a good sense of balance, and you must learn quickly."

Luo Shengdong didn't quite understand what a "sense of balance" was, but Schneider's praise for himself was obvious, and he proudly said: "I started working out with my father when I was five years old, and it hasn't stopped for more than 20 years. Although I haven't practiced any advanced kung fu, but my skills are among the best in the Yazhou water village."

However, in the next half hour, Luo Bao, who claimed to be good at it, fell several times before realizing that this thing called a "bicycle" by the Haihan people was not as easy to tame as it looked.If he just rides in a straight line, it's fine. After Luo Shengdong masters the essentials, he can basically ride away crookedly, but when he is about to turn, he feels that the straight handle is really unruly.

"This thing is very difficult to control, but it travels fast, it is a good means of transportation." Luo Shengdong, who stopped to drink water, expressed his views out of breath.

"It's not too difficult. In my country of Haihan, almost everyone can ride a bicycle from seventy to eighty years old, down to seven or eight years old." Schneider hit Luo Shengdong mercilessly.

Luo Shengdong said angrily: "Why did Mr. Shi lie to me? How can this bicycle be driven by an old man..." Luo Shengdong's voice lowered as he spoke, because he saw two teenagers riding from a distance Came with the exact same bike.What made him speechless was that these two teenagers seemed to know that they were not Haihans. One had a bun on the top of his head, the other had long hair and a shawl, with a red flower headband on his forehead. Ming and Li people.

These two teenagers are the local leading party Yu Xiaobao and Fu Li. They hang out with Chuanzhong every day. They have long learned the skill of cycling, and soon fell in love with the sport. Now they usually ride bicycles. Between the two bases.The two stopped when they got close, and greeted Schneider, "Hello, Mr. Shi!"

Schneider greeted them with a smile, and then shrugged at Luo Shengdong.Although Luo Shengdong didn't understand the meaning of Schneider's funny shrug, the sarcastic expression on his face could even be seen by a fool.

Luo Shengdong felt a little embarrassed, and quickly changed the topic: "Why do I hear other people call Mr. Shi 'Mr. Shi', and it seems that some people have called Mr. Tao 'Mr. Tao' before, what does this mean?"

"It's an honorific title for senior leaders," Schneider explained patiently.
"So it is." Luo Shengdong nodded, wondering if he should call his subordinates later, "Mr. Luo" sounds more imposing than "Master Luo".

"Let's go too, it will be dark if we don't go." Schneider looked at the sky, and he really didn't have time to let Luo Shengdong continue to practice slowly, so he could just practice while walking.

From Victory Port to Base No. [-], it took the two of them to ride slowly and leisurely for a full hour for more than a dozen miles.When they arrived at the gate of Base No. [-], the sky had already started to darken, and it was just in time for dinner. Many people passing by saw Schneider appearing on a bicycle with Luo Shengdong, and they all stopped to watch this wonder. De Luo Shengdong was nervous for a moment and forgot to brake, and almost rushed directly into the defensive trench outside the No. [-] base.

Schneider took Luo Shengdong into the cafeteria, ready to solve the dinner problem first.Luo Shengdong found that not all Haihan people were here, and many Ming people were also queuing up for dinner, and his appearance here was not as abrupt as expected.

Luo Shengdong asked Schneider in a low voice, "Do you remember that Ming people used to eat at the construction site, but now they can enter the cafeteria?"

Schneider nodded and said: "These Ming people are all people who work in the factories we set up, and they are also part of us. It is a matter of course to eat together."

During the meal, Luo Shengdong also met a lot of acquaintances, but no one seemed to be particularly concerned about his appearance, even Tao Donglai and Yan Chujie just said hello and went about their own business.

"Do you feel that there is no sense of existence?" Schneider seemed to have guessed what was on his mind.

Luo Shengdong did not deny Schneider's speculation: "I used to be here, and people would stare at it anytime and anywhere. If I was not careful, points would be deducted. Now it seems that no one treats me as an outsider, which is really weird."

"That's because everyone treats you as their own." Schneider patiently enlightened him: "First of all, you have been here for a long time, and you know very well what our style of doing things is, and you can understand how we do things. Secondly, you have business cooperation with us now, and it is a partnership of interests. Both prosper and lose. In our opinion, there is no need to guard against you. "

If he hadn't seen Schneider's eloquent skills several times, Luo Shengdong would have been really moved by these words, but now his thoughts are more practical - the only reason why Haihan people will not continue to defend themselves , in fact, it should be seen through their ability to not threaten them.

Of course, such slander, Luo Shengdong will only take it to heart.As he interacted with the Haihan people more and more, he gradually discovered some characteristics of the Haihan people.For example, all Haihan people have a sharp mouth, wishing to be able to talk about the living and the dead, and when they deal with themselves, although there is no deception between their words, they are not exactly what they say. The content is often very purposeful.If you don't pay attention to distinguishing, you will easily be deceived by these Haihan people.

After dinner, Luo Shengdong went to the east factory area under the leadership of Schneider.It was already dark at this time, but from a distance, the factory building was still brightly lit, and the sound of ping ping pong pong could be heard from time to time.

Luo Shengdong followed Schneider into the factory building. The first thing he saw was a huge cylindrical iron can with a diameter of more than three feet and the height of one person.The most peculiar thing is that Luo Shengdong found that the large iron can seemed to be sealed at both ends, and only two iron pipes with the thickness of eggs were connected from the middle of the can.

Luo Shengdong saw that this thing was actually a sample of the hot water boiler that the office in the cliff sent a telegram back to ask for it to be built.The office in the cliff is just a word, but the metallurgical workshop here has been busy because of this.Zhang Guang is right in what he said. The manufacturing of this hot water boiler is not difficult, but that is also for future generations. At present, the biggest problem in building a boiler is welding.

(End of this chapter)