Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 48 2.25 The elder brother really saw the wrong person
Volume Two

2.25 Big brother really saw the right person
May [-]th was the Dragon-Splitting Festival in the ancient rituals. It happened to rain lightly in the early morning. The soft rain was as soft as a girl from the south of the Yangtze River. It spread into the earth, nourishing the fertile farmland and bringing happiness to the faces of the people far and near. It brought a smile to the face, because according to custom, if it rains on this day, it basically indicates that the weather will be smooth in the year, and naturally everything will be fine.

Standing at the stern of the largest seagoing vessel in the Xue family fleet, even though it had already sailed nearly a hundred steps away, Zhou Yang still kept waving in the direction of the dock. He could no longer see clearly the faces of the people on the dock, but he could clearly confirm that , a familiar carriage was still parked there steadily and had not left for a long time. It was beside this carriage that he held hands with his precious sister for the first time.

"Humph, after all, I am also his brother. She didn't even say anything to me when she came to see her off. She really doesn't want to stay in college." While he was feeling sad, a familiar voice behind him diluted a lot of thoughts of parting, "She still keeps going. Tell me, please let me listen to your opinions more, and the only things I bring are prepared for you."

"Brother Wenlong, didn't you talk to Mr. Xue about this?" Zhou Yang asked, holding back a smile.

"Hiss—you still said that!" Xue Pan touched his left cheek and took a breath. A clear slap mark still stayed there, "I just said, 'I don't have to go if my second uncle is there. ', I got a slap in the face. I have never been to the sea, so they just threw me out like this. He only has my son. If something goes wrong, the Xue family will be extinct. It's really .”

"Brother Wenlong, be careful what you say!" Zhou Yang interrupted him angrily. Didn't you see that all the boatmen around him had angry expressions on their faces? "Going to sea is a very serious matter, and there are many things to pay attention to. This includes speaking. Some taboo words must not appear. Even when eating fish, you cannot say 'turn over', but have to say 'zheng'." Yizheng', you are so outspoken, and you didn't get beaten because this is the Xue family's fleet."

"You haven't been to the sea, how do you know this? Maybe it's just a rumor?" Xue Pan muttered, but did not dare to continue talking about this. He was not blind, so of course he could see the attitude of the boatmen around him. "I'm telling you, it's rare for my sister to ask me for help, and I tried my best to get her explanation this time.

Just for your troublesome Qiu Wei, she asked me to find the best BMW, and I found it. Speaking of which, I have to thank Brother Zhen Lang for helping me, and giving me the best royal horse offspring from their stable. I heard that he has the pedigree of a sweat-blooded horse, a true 'traveler of a thousand miles a day', so you should prepare a table to thank me. "

"Oh?" Zhou Yang looked happy. He was very aware of the bonus effect of a BMW on riding skills and even riding shooting. These two aspects were exactly his shortcomings. He did notice that Xue Pan came on board. At that time, someone brought a very splendid white horse, "Brother Lao Wenlong is really here. If you come to the capital one day, I will treat you well."

"That's pretty much it." Xue Pan nodded, turned around and walked towards the bow of the ship, "Let's go, this BMW has quite a personality. It was originally intended to be placed in the cabin below the deck, but it couldn't be pulled over, and even kicked people when it got anxious. , so I had to build a shed on the front deck and let it stay there.”

Soon, the two of them walked to the bow of the ship, and a magnificent white horse came into view. It didn't have a single hair on its body. It was more than six and a half feet tall and more than eight feet long. It was much more majestic than ordinary war horses. , at this time it was facing the slightly cool deck wind, snoring from time to time.

"Thank you, Brother Wenlong!" Zhou Yang bowed to Xue Pan very seriously after "inspecting the goods", "With the help of this BMW, I have more confidence in Qiu Wei."

"How about it, are you satisfied?" Seeing Zhou Yang's attitude, Xue Pan knew that his work was not in vain, and a smug smile appeared on his face, "My hard work was not in vain, but you don't have to thank me. Just be grateful to my sister. If you dare to treat her badly in the future, I will

"Brother Wenlong!" Zhou Yang was helpless. As soon as this guy was reliable, he continued to start firing. Although he had actually made a lifelong agreement with Xue Baochai, he had not gone through the procedure after all, let alone this. This is a feudal society, and there is no reason for "quasi-couples" who are already engaged to talk casually. "If you feel that you have been beaten too little, just feel free to speak freely here. Guild Xue will surely teach you how to speak properly when you go back."

"Uh-" Xue Pan was so blocked that he almost shut down, so he could only wave his hands impatiently, "Okay, I understand. Let's go back to the room and sleep now, so as not to be an eyesore, okay?"

"This boy has such a temper. Mr. Zhou is not as knowledgeable as him." He was looking at the back of Xue Pan who was depressed and returning to his room speechlessly. Don’t mind, sir.”

"Second Master Xue, please tell me." He smiled and turned around and cupped his hands. Zhou Yang did not refuse. This man was the second in command of the Xue family and the person in charge of the Xue family's sea trade. There was no harm in being friends with him. "I just don't know what Second Master Xue has to do." I have doubts, and I don’t even know if the juniors can help.”

"I just received news from the island last night. If the current situation is followed, the output of sun salt seriously exceeds our estimate." Xue Tu was not polite and directly stated the problem, "If we follow the original According to the plan, if the production is completely liberalized, it will reach about half of the entire Jiangnan salt cargo flow within one year, and it can continue to expand, with no upper limit at all. We cannot eat such a huge amount anyway, if we dare to ask Selling goods in any place is equivalent to fighting to the death with all the local salt merchants. Not to mention that the Xue family cannot bear it, even if the king of heaven does this, he will only die without a burial place. I wonder if Xianggong Zhou has any arrangements? "

"Why does Mr. Xue have to distribute the goods himself?" Zhou Yang asked with a smile, "Let's put this aside, what is the cost of these salt goods?"

"It's less than [-]% of the boiling salt."

"If you are willing to supply all the major salt merchants at [-]% of the current price when you get the goods from the government salt field, will they accept it?" Zhou Yang asked with a smile.

"You still need to ask? They will definitely... huh?" Xue Tu understood now, "What Mr. Zhou means is that we will only trade with salt merchants in the future. No matter how they distribute the goods, we will only accept the most direct money? It's just that In this way, it will be okay at first, but if time goes on, those things that eat people without spitting out bones will never be tempted to look at such fat meat, so how should we arrange it then?"

"Haven't we already prepared it?" Zhou Yang smiled, "I don't believe that Mr. Xue, who has always been involved in maritime business, doesn't know how to handle this situation."

"Hahaha, the elder brother really saw the right person!" Xue Xun laughed and patted his shoulder, "Your fire gun is good, very good. I have brought many people to the island, and I have completely mastered the production. According to your suggestion, all the master craftsmen are only responsible for the production of gun tubes, and they all follow the same dimensions. Others are only responsible for parts other than gun tubes, and the dimensions must also be matched.

Now, I have had more than thirty rods made, but the weight is slightly larger. When the salt field is completed and the goods are started, there will be no problem with a hundred rods. When the transaction comes, I will always guarantee at least fifty. With the cover of fire and guns, and the other men, I believe that even doing business with the eight major salt merchants in Yangzhou will be enough to make them give money honestly. "

"As for the firecrackers, it's fine on the shore, but I'm afraid it's hard to say on the water, right?" Zhou Yang added with a smile, "I remember mentioning the artillery, I guess Mr. Xue has already arranged it? The craftsmanship of the Tiger Crouching Cannon is not something Secret, it shouldn’t be difficult to get information and even master craftsmen from the government, right? How is it now?"

"I really don't know what you've been through. I've been to Nanyang too, and the people there are not as sophisticated as you." The craftsmanship of the squatting gun, coupled with your suggestion, will cause the chamber to explode if the charge is too much, making it impossible to use."

"Then thicken the breech position, and then gradually reduce the thickness from the breech to the muzzle. Don't leave reinforcing hoops on the surface, let alone the lugs. After the integral casting is made, the breech and barrel walls can be polished. As for the gun mount, I guess the juniors don’t need to say more about the design, right?” Zhou Yang said with a smile.

"Okay, okay, okay, hahahaha!" Xue Xun's eyes became brighter and brighter after saying a few words, and finally he couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Try it with ordinary iron ingots first, and then switch to the best ones after you have completely mastered it. The fine iron we are waiting for can be produced in at most two months, and nothing will be delayed, hahaha!"

"Then will this junior wish Mr. Xue a bright future and great wealth?" Zhou Yang smiled and cupped his hands.

"Is it possible to miss out on the benefits of Mr. Zhou? Hahaha!" Xue Xun said a few words at the end, then waved his hand and returned to the cabin, and directly began to summon his men. It seemed that he was planning to make arrangements in advance and start taking action on the island.

Zhou Yang didn't ask any more questions. After bowing and saying goodbye, he returned to the cabin and prepared to sort out the gifts. At the speed of sailing ships in this era, it would be impossible to go from Jinling Pier to any big island in the Ryukyu Islands in less than five days and five nights. This is A rather long voyage.

But after he left, Xue Xun first looked at Zhou Yang's back, then turned around and looked in the direction of Xue Pan's room, with an extremely complicated expression, but he didn't say much.

(End of this chapter)