Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 502 The New Use of the Five-masted Ship

Haiji went to see the ship but was embarrassed. The five-masted ship had been parked at the pier for some time. When it was besieged by pirates and ran aground, many sails and masts were damaged, and the hull was also damaged. After Lingao, only simple repairs were made to make it afloat.Originally, the Navy planned to overhaul and transform it and use it as an ocean-going ship. After the vest had a dispute with the maritime court, the ownership of the ship was not yet determined, so it was left there and no one took care of it.In addition, there was another typhoon during the period, and the ship that appeared in front of Haiji was a bit horrible-only three masts were left, most of the sails were damaged, and the cabins on the deck were also damaged.

Such a boat, even if it is driven back, must be overhauled before it can be sold, otherwise it will be the price of firewood.Besides, it is not easy to drive back from the dangerous Qiongzhou Strait.Haiji couldn't make up his mind for a while. Hearing that the Australian official surnamed Ma said that the Australians intended to buy the ship, he thought it would be a good idea, but he didn't know what the owner thought.

However, Hai Shuzu insisted on bringing the boat back. Haiji pointed out in vain that to bring the boat back, he would have to pay a lot of repair expenses, hire a crew of sailors, and finally risk crossing the strait. Encountered a pirate attack.Even if they returned to Shenying Port safely, it would take time to sell such a large ship.In this case, it would be more cost-effective to sell them to Australians on the spot.

But Hai Shuzu insisted on bringing the boat back.Haiji had no choice but to bring money back to Lingao to repair the ship.Although Haiji knew neither boats nor sailing, he could tell from the appearance of the boat that it would take a lot of money to repair it.I don't know how many days it will take to finish.Finally, Hai Shuzu allowed him to "fix it and probably drive it back".

Haiji's ship repair trip was warmly received by Li Di, the port director of Bopu, who expressed his willingness to contact the shipyard on his behalf, and he could repair the ship for free.The condition is that the five-masted ship will help transport a shipment of goods when it returns to Qiongshan.Haiji, who was overwhelmed by Li Di's enthusiasm, was flattered and agreed immediately.

The shipyard immediately went to work.The five-masted ship was towed into the dry dock, and then the hull was carefully repaired, and the damaged mast sails were also repaired. The shipyard took the lack of masts as an appetite, and only repaired the three masts that were still intact, and the other two The roots are completely removed.Some strange changes have been made to the interior cabin and deck of the ship. One is to open two large cargo hatches on the deck, and the other is to install iron boat hangers on both sides of the ship.Finally, booms for human-powered winches were installed on both the fore and aft decks.

In fact, some basic modifications have been made inside to leave room for future modifications.

It is very easy for shipyards to repair, repair and modify wooden ships. There are dry docks, steam-driven cranes, and a well-equipped ship material workshop for wood processing-the required ship materials are processed and manufactured in a short period of time.Standardized shipbuilding hardware.Coupled with modern process flow management, the shipyard started working 24 hours a day, and it took seven days to repair and refit the ship.

Then, under Li Di's command, batches of goods were transported onto the big ship. The cargo was so large that the waterline of the ship was pressed to the level of full load. Finally, the four flat-bottomed boats were "chug" under white steam. The steam crane was hoisted up, and a group of workers carefully hung them on the davit.

Haji couldn't help but feel strange seeing his family's boat look like this.But I think that the ship will be sold anyway when it reaches Qiongshan, as long as it can be sailed back to Qiongshan, it will be fine, no matter what it looks like.Anyway, the Australian surnamed Li said that as long as he helps to transport the goods, there is no money to repair the ship, and he doesn't even need to spend money to hire sailors. He, Haiji, just needs to go back to Qiongshan with the ship.

The big ship set sail under the escort of the patrol boat.Three days later, Hai Shuzu's big ship finally returned to Shenying Port.When the five-masted ship flying the Haijia flag entered the port, the entire city of Qiongzhou was in a commotion—no one expected that the ship, which had been lost to pirates for more than two months, would come back.Many people were surprised that Hai Shuzu was able to pay back the money all of a sudden, but now that his boat was able to come back, he must have made a lot of money later on.

Not only did they come back, but the ship was even full of goods—no one knew what was in those exquisitely crafted identical large wooden boxes reinforced with iron sheets.Only Lin Baiguang knew that it contained equipment and materials for mining.Including the four flat-bottomed boats are also specially prepared for mining.

Because of the brand of Haishuzu and the proper management, the inspection of the goods by Qinglan Inspection Department is just a false story.After the ship berthed, the cargo was not unloaded, and Haiji went directly to report to Hai Shuzu.

"What a miracle!" Hai Shuzu looked at the box of silver in front of him, and he was in an unimaginably happy mood, "I never thought that the Australians would really keep their word, and exchanged all the goods for the silver to Brother Yu!"

"Let's deduct one-fifth." Lin Baiguang smiled secretly.

"Hey! According to the people who came back, if they hadn't rescued him, Brother Yu would have lost all his boat and cargo. How could he have more than 1000 taels of silver and a boat!" Hai Shuzu didn't seem to have suffered a loss. Instead, it seems that he has made a windfall, and his face is full of happiness.

"This is also thanks to my virtuous brother!" Hai Shuzu said and bowed to him, "Without my virtuous brother, this matter would never have been done so smoothly."

"It's ridiculous. This was originally done according to the rules of the Australians. The younger brother just sent someone to lead the way. It's nothing."

"Honor credit, benevolence and righteousness! Even though he is from overseas, he is not inferior to Chinese people!" Hai Shuzu almost wanted to blow Australians into the sky.As he spoke he opened the judgment papers that Hage had brought him.The peculiar binding and clean white paper first caught his attention. After opening it and reading a few pages, his complexion gradually became serious.

Lin Baiguang thought that there would not be more than twenty people in the group who could understand this legal document.Can this Hai Shuzu understand the terminology and simplified characters in this article?

After a while, Hai Shuzu put down the document, but did not speak.Lin Baiguang wondered how much he understood?Can't help but want to ask.Hai Shuzu spoke by himself:

"The Australians are really smart."

"Oh?"

"Brother Yu doesn't understand the content of this document, but he understands about seven or eight percent of its meaning." Hai Shuzu said, "Brother Yu has never heard of such meticulous thought and rigorous actions."

Hai Shuzu was still lamenting, but Haiji was in a hurry—he was focused on taking care of himself, because when he came, the surname Li said that if he wanted to sell the boat, he was willing to buy it.Now that the ship has arrived at Haikou, the appearance is already clear, so we should sell the ship as soon as possible.He said:

"Master, the Australians in Lingao are willing to buy big ships, do you think—"

"Okay, let's sell it to them." Hai Shuzu's impression of the Australians is extremely good now, and the temper of the family's children exploded, so he answered very simply, "Just sell it for 500 taels of silver—"

"Master, this, this, this..." Haiji was in a hurry. The ship cost about 2000 taels of silver when it was built. Although it is damaged now and two masts are missing, it has been repaired now. Sell ​​it for 1000 taels.

Lin Baiguang said with a smile: "500 taels is too cheap. Manager Hai has brought it back from such a long distance, so it shouldn't be sold at such a low price."

Finally decided to sell at 1000 taels.Those who came with the boat paid the money immediately.This boat is the property of the time-traveling group.The Ministry of Maritime Forces plans to use this ship to undertake the coal transportation task between Qiongshan and Lingao.Here is an unexpected benefit: Although the ship has changed hands, everyone still thinks it belongs to the Hai family.

Hai Shuzu was very satisfied with the deal, but Haiji felt that the deal was really worthless—since the boat was going to be sold, he might as well sell it in Lingao and bring the boat back.A lot of time and money were wasted, and I even ran back and forth twice.I thought to myself, master, this is probably the so-called sacrifice of saving face and suffering.

However, Haiji is still satisfied with his trip to Lingao - it was an eye-opener in Lingao.Not only saw the legendary big iron ship, but also saw many new gadgets.After coming back, there will be endless conversation materials to pass the time while chatting with the family members.

Preparations for the coal mine were in full swing.Lin Baiguang found himself the director of the Coal Mine Preparatory Committee again.The newly renovated house is full of survey and design personnel from Lingao.This is really inappropriate - the house Gaodi bought is located in the commercial area of ​​Qiongshan, and there are people coming and going everywhere, such a group of strange-looking people in Daming clothes gather here, and they have to go in and out every day , Even if there is a sedan chair to pick up and drop off, sooner or later the truth will be revealed.

It is still necessary to arrange them to the mine as soon as possible.A number of coal mining points have been identified by remote exploration teams.Haikou's coal resources are mainly small-scale mines, and the economic value of mining is not large by modern standards.Among the mining sites discovered by the long-distance exploration team, the Planning Commission finally chose the Jiazi Mine on the banks of the Nandu River.

This mine is not the best among the candidate mines in terms of conditions, and its reserves are small, but its biggest advantage is the convenient water transportation conditions.Ten kilometers east from the mining point is Nandu River.From here, small flat-bottomed boats can go directly to the mouth of the Nandu River.It is convenient to transport the materials and equipment needed for mining and the ore extracted.The difficult work of building roads in mountainous areas is eliminated.

The mountain where the Jiazi Mine is located was bought by Hai Shuzu.Lin Baiguang suggested whether to buy other mines, but Ma Qianju didn't think it was necessary--in the future, this will be regarded as state-owned assets, and it will be over if it is directly expropriated.Don't bother.

Lin Baiguang has already bought a piece of land in a desolate area in the harbor through Hai Shuzu, and built a warehouse and trestle.Has a dedicated pier.In the future, flat-bottomed ships for transporting coal will go directly to the Nandu River Wharf and loaded into warehouses, waiting for barges to be transported by large ships.

Note: There is no such place as Jiazi Coal Mine in Haikou, let alone by the Nandu River.It's completely fabricated, don't go into it.The name is taken from the administrative district where Haikou Changchang Coal Mine is located: Jiazi Town.

There are only two places in Hainan that produce lignite, the Changchang Coal Mine in Haikou and the Changpo Coal Mine in Danzhou.Neither place is by the river.

(End of this chapter)