Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 242 Cousin ([-])

In January, the east coast has entered midsummer, but the temperature in the early twenties does not make people feel hot at all.On the contrary, there is a humid wind blowing from the sea, which makes people feel extra refreshing.

Henry was wearing a white crew-neck shirt, a pair of blue cotton jeans, and a pair of unpainted ordinary leather shoes on his feet, making it obvious that he was a factory worker off duty.

This is a small 10-horsepower inland river paddle steamer. The cabin is full of agricultural tools, tin stoves, briquettes and other materials, and there are more than [-] passengers scattered on the deck of the ship.On today's east coast, whether it is inland waterway shipping or offshore shipping, under the condition of limited shipping capacity, freight is still the priority.If passengers want to travel, they can only choose to take these cargo ships.

Moreover, the fare is quite expensive.For example, the short three-and-a-half-hour voyage from Dongfang Port to Fort Cotton Farm requires [-] cents for the boat fare, and you need to show a letter of introduction from a company, government department, military, etc. when buying a ticket.The letter of introduction states that someone will go to a certain place on a certain day and do something, and then the official seal of the unit will be stamped to take effect. If there are no such procedures or the procedures are not complete, then you will be unable to move forward.Because whether you are taking a carriage, a ship, or going out to stay, you need to show the letter of introduction issued by the unit, otherwise the various institutions will ignore you.This method effectively reduces the penetration of the enemy, and at the same time makes the government's control over the country to a higher level.

The letter of introduction in Henry's pocket was issued by the Dayuhe Armory Factory Office. The reason he used at that time was to visit friends in the Harvest Brigade of Dingyuan Township - a friend of his was assigned to reclaim wasteland there.To be honest, Henry was unwilling to go to the factory to issue this letter of introduction, because the Harvest Brigade was only seven or eight kilometers away from Dongfanggang County, and it would not take too long to walk there.Moreover, it is too troublesome to issue a letter of introduction, and it will leave traces, which is especially uncomfortable.

However, considering the instructions from above, he still needs to carefully observe the "black smoke steamer" of the people on the east coast, so he simply wrote a letter of introduction and took this small steamer to the Dingyuan Township area.The load of this small steamer is only 35 tons, and it is refitted from the original shallow-water sailing boat on inland rivers.After installing a 10-horsepower steam unit, the speed can reach about 5-6 knots, and the coal consumption is more than 20 kilograms per hour, which is much stronger than that of a sailing ship.

Some coal ash was blown up by the river wind and landed on Henry's white shirt. Henry observed carefully and roughly judged that the ship should need to burn coal.This can be seen from the soot floating in the air and the black smoke from the small chimney amidships.It's just that the quality of the coal burned by the people on the east coast is too poor. Not only is the soot extremely heavy, but the smell is also very pungent.Along with the soot, there was also some water vapor, which made Henry feel a little puzzled. Is coal being used as fuel to boil water in the cabin?What is that for?Is it possible to drive the paddle wheel of the ship to rotate?

While Henry was thinking hard about the working principle of this small steamer, not far behind him, two passengers disguised as investigators from the General Intelligence Bureau were scattered on both sides of the deck, one left and one right, and their eyes fell on him alternately. Body, dutifully carrying out secret surveillance.

Nothing happened.After 40 minutes, the small steamer docked at the pier of Harvest Brigade. A dozen or so passengers who had been waiting on the pier for a long time swarmed up with loads and pigs and sheep. These were local farmers who went to sell agricultural products in Miannongbao and Zhenyuanbao. .Today is the monthly market day there, and many nearby farmers will choose this time to bring their agricultural and sideline products there for sale.Henry and a few passengers went against the flow of people and walked to the pier with difficulty. During the process, his snow-white shirt was rubbed by a big white pig driven by a tall blond farmer, and an indescribable smell immediately stuck to it. , which made him frown suddenly.

The little steamer soon began to move again, emitting black smoke.Standing on the pier, Henry glanced around a little, and immediately walked in the direction of the 6th production team after identifying the direction.It was inconvenient for the two scouts to follow at this moment, so they dispersed and walked elsewhere. Anyway, at this time, the production teams here were already full of scouts, so they didn't expect to lose their target.

After walking for 10 minutes, Henry walked into the entrance of the village of the No. 6 production team. A few children playing at the entrance of the village stared at him, a strange outsider, with wide eyes.These children don't look like those in Europe, nor do they look like the local aborigines or those Ming people. They seem to be a mixed race between the two.

Henry smiled at the children friendly, and then walked towards the village on his own.Those children seemed to have discovered something interesting, and began to follow Henry's ass in groups, like a little tail.Henry failed to drive these children away several times, so he had no choice but to let them go.However, the existence of these children greatly facilitated the investigators' tracking. They hung behind leisurely, their eyes fixed on Henry.

Henry walked in front of a red brick house. There was a wooden sign on the top of the door of the brick house with the words "No. 6, No. 23 Production Team" written on it. This was the school number of this house.In the yard in front of the house, a farmer in his twenties was chopping hay to feed the sheep. He looked up when he heard the noise, and then his eyes narrowed suddenly. Obviously, he recognized Henry.

At this time, the little kids saw that there was nothing exciting to watch, so they rushed away.Henry walked into the yard unhurriedly, looked at the small farmyard that had been tidied up, and said with a smile, "Adil, long time no see, do you miss me?"

"You'd better never come to see me." Adil straightened up, wiped his hands on the apron, then walked towards Henry head-on, approached and whispered: "Damn, why did you come to see me so swaggeringly?" Are you crazy?"

"My time is extremely limited." Henry grabbed Adil's shoulders, then walked towards the house, whispering as he walked: "Damn people on the east coast, their system is really strict. Especially Those of us who are technical craftsmen with sensitive identities must declare in advance and have a letter of introduction issued by the unit, otherwise it is really difficult to move. On the streets, in the community, and even in the countryside, there are patrols and secret police everywhere. People would go up and ask questions and look for ID cards and other documents. Damn, there are more police in the arsenal, and I was going crazy staying there."

"Then you should be more cautious!" Adil said mercilessly, "especially since you have just been here for less than two months, can you not wait for these few months? Henry, I I'll make a note of it, you've violated the rules by coming to see me today. Next time you come to me without any valid reason, I'll... kill you! Henry, I'm not joking! "

Henry's face turned pale, and then he said in a low voice: "I... I have completely mastered the mysteries of the East Coast people's cannon casting. Moreover, I have also learned how to refine special steels of different specifications, and I have all the data Write it down in code words. Now I will give it to you, please find a way to send it out as soon as possible. The production tasks of the arsenal will be more heavy in the next period of time, and I may not have much time to rush over to see you. "

Adil looked at Henry coldly for a long time, then reached out to take a piece of white paper that Henry pulled out from under the insole, looked at it for a while, then carefully put it in his pocket, then looked at Henry and said: " I will find a way to send it out, and you'd better give me some peace in the next period of time. I will find a way to go to Cotton Farmer's Castle at the market next month. There are two of us there. Let them find a way to run across the grasslands to Asuncion or Buenos Aires to return home."

"After working in the foundry workshop for a while, I will try to get in touch with several other workshops. I heard that there are many high-precision boring machines in the firearms manufacturing workshop of the Dong'an people; the comprehensive workshop is still manufacturing and repairing for textile factories. Weaving machines, these are valuable technical secrets to our Kingdom of France." Henry said that he was a little excited here, and his face began to turn rosy.

Adil nodded slightly to express approval, then raised his head and said to Henry seriously: "The idea is good, Henry. But don't make things too obvious, you have stolen so many technical secrets, if you succeed I am afraid that the Prime Minister will know our names when we are sent back to China, so you don’t have any pressure on missions in the near future. Relax, take your time, all you need to do is to gain the trust of people on the east coast step by step, and then gradually contact those who are more The core secret. Do you understand, Henry, I don't want to be killed by you!"

"I understand!" Henry said softly, "I will be very careful next time."

"That's good." Adil nodded.

The two of them didn't talk any more after that, and walked out of the gate again after handing over the information.Adil and Henry deliberately raised their voices and laughed and chatted about trivial matters for a while, then Henry offered to leave, and Adil pretended to keep him once before sending Henry out of the village.

Five or six minutes later, Adil, who saw Henry off, walked slowly into the yard.I saw him secretly looking left and right, then quietly closed the courtyard door, then went to the main room and opened the door and walked in.

As soon as he entered the room, Adil immediately felt that something was wrong, and saw four or five people suddenly entered the room at some point.These people were uniformly dressed in black jackets, wide-brimmed top hats, national emblems on their chests, and gun holsters on their waists. Adil couldn't be more clear about this kind of attire—this is the secret police of the East Coast people!

After reacting, Adil only felt a roar in his brain, and he knew that he was finished!Killed by that idiot Henry!

(End of this chapter)