open sea

Chapter 661
"Did Cheng Dawei go to Majiagang?"

In the Beiyang yamen, Chen Mu nodded slowly to the guests who came to see him in surprise, and said: "It seems that the winner of the Wanli Mathematics Prize will not make it through. He went to Majiagang to do business, and what kind of goods he sold. Brother Wu, do you know?"

The person sitting opposite Chen Mu was named Wu Shouli, who was also a Huizhou merchant like Cheng Dawei. Two sons and nephews in the family were exceptionally promoted by Emperor Wanli to be officials of Guanglu Temple in Nanjing.

Because of the severe drought in the north and the floods in the south a few years ago, when Zhao Shizhen took the disaster relief money provided by the Nanyang military government to the court for disaster relief, Wu Shouli, a wealthy businessman in Huizhou Prefecture, also donated 20 taels of disaster relief silver to the court to relieve the flood in the south.

what does this mean?
This means that Wu Shouli, a timber merchant in Huizhou, is richer than Chen Mu, and much richer.

During this visit to Chen Mu, Wu Shouli also paid a lot of courtesy. He posted a post a few days in advance, and attached a letter of introduction from his brother-in-law Yang Yinglong. There is a large forest farm in the Tangkou area, and the business in the Yangtze River Basin is very big. Every year, one-third of the timber shipped from Bozhou to Nanzhi is sold by the Wu family.

In addition to timber trading, of course, he also operates salt business, pawn shop, etc., but these are not the main business.

"Last year, he sold a boatload of rice to hundreds of households in four thousand miles, and brought back a boatload of furs and more than [-] pieces of walrus tusks on the return trip. Fortunately, he was rescued by Chen Fu when he died on the way home. The tools, horses and dogs needed by Chen Foyan Dadongyang."

The 'Chen Fo' Wu Shouli spoke of was none other than Chen Ju who had been to Majiagang.

He didn't actually do anything, but in this era, most eunuchs domineering and extorting bribes when they leave the Forbidden City, and the officials and post stations along the way have to wait on them.But when Chen Ju went out of the capital several times, instead of harassing the local area, he also used the rewards given to him by the imperial court to see where the roads were difficult to walk along the way, so he paid some money to repair the roads. Make Chen Fo.

Chen Mu sighed, there are still too few people in the world who understand, why is no one called Lao Tzu Buddha?

"It seems that brother Cheng will not lose money this time."

In fact, Chen Mu has always been amazed at how people who have mastered arithmetic to the extreme can lose money in business, and sincerely hope that Mr. Cheng can make more money.

However, at this time, he still felt displeased to hear that Cheng Dawei had purchased walrus ivory from hundreds of households in four thousand miles... Customs offices in various ports in the Atlantic Ocean will be established as soon as possible. Every unpaid tax will be deducted from him, Mr. Chen!

More than 70 walrus tusks, huh?
At least ten of them belonged to his Dongyang military mansion!

However, Chen Mu will not chase after it. Cheng Dawei's coincidental loss of rice this time relieved the urgent need of those distressed flag troops. However, when the supplies of the northern route flag army normalized, this could no longer be the case.

Speaking of walrus ivory, when Chen Ju came back, he brought back a lot from Ma Gui. He obeyed Ma Gui's request and sent these walrus ivory to the homes of the fallen banner soldiers as compensation, one piece per person. .

"Brother Wu spent a lot of energy in coming to see Chen this time. It took two months just to go to Bozhou with letters, so Chen must ask."

Chen Mu stretched his left hand under the big sleeve of his official robe, and said, "What is the purpose of this step?"

"Your Majesty knows that the Eastern Army of the imperial court is about to go to America and Europe. Although I am a merchant, I also intend to spend money to help the country in the war. I know that the Beiyang Army is not short of real money. Therefore, Mrs. Wu bought 170 square-masted ships from my hometown in Huizhou. Seven ships were donated to the Dongyang Military Government for service.”

The two-masted sea-going ship, that is at least three hundred sea-going ships, 170 seven?
One person, made up half of the supply ships that were missing in the first batch of Chen Mu's expedition to the East?
It is cheap to build a ship. The cost of Fuchuan with 200 materials is only [-] to [-] taels of silver. Even if there is loss and discount, buying a ship is more expensive than building a ship.

Chen Mu quickly calculated in his mind, and concluded that these sea-going ships were worth at least 5 taels of silver.

But Wu Shouli did not let go of his arched hands, and continued, "These ships are still drifting along the coast, and soon they will arrive at Dagu Port full of fir trees for shipbuilding. The fir trees on board are also my humble contribution to the court."

That's amazing!

Although fir and pine are relatively inferior woods used in shipbuilding, such wood is rarely used in a warship, because they are relatively soft, and they are only used to make masts. Because fir is straight and not long enough, splicing is used. Technique, and then make iron hoops to surround them inch by inch.

Phoebe, Chinese oak, camphor, elm, and locust wood are usually used to make warship hulls, beams, rudder stock, door-closing rods, and trusses. Moreover, camphor wood is cut in autumn and winter, and it takes a long time to cut it in spring and summer. Will be eaten by moths.

Up to now, due to the import of teak from Southwest, Malacca and Southeast Asia, teak is now used for wood that needs a hard texture.

But the supply ship can lower these requirements a little bit, especially when Chen Mu lacks the supply ship, this batch of "service" is worth a lot, no less than the silver donated by Wu Shouli for the southern flood.

And Wu Shouli solved Chen Mu's two big problems at once.

One is the problem of the first batch of baggage ships to cross the Great East Ocean. With the addition of these sea-going ships, Chen Mu will be able to set sail immediately; the second is the problem of the future baggage fleet. The rapid construction of the batch of supply fleets can also provide assistance for the construction of warships.

The pallets that line the bilge or pavement do not matter what kind of wood is used.

Of course, shipbuilding is also tailored to local conditions. There are better options to use better ones. Most of the time, they are used for whatever purpose. For example, the ships used by the joint caravan of the Nanyang generals are the Fuchuan Guangchuan obtained by chasing down pirates in the early years. Those ships The decks, structural parts, and masts are all made of Penghu cypress, which is durable, straight, and resistant to decay and moisture.

Chen Mu thought a lot, but he didn't agree lightly, he said in a deliberate way: "Mr. Wu's righteousness to serve the imperial court has already been heard by Mr. Chen, but he will not be rewarded for his ineffectiveness. Your Excellency has served a lot for the Dongyang military government, and Mr. Chen has done a lot. What can I get in return?"

"Wu is indeed asking for something, one official matter and one private matter. The private matter is to ask Chen Shuai to be a middleman, to lead our Anhui merchants to enter Hexing Prosperity, and to join hands with Fujian and Guangzhou merchants to do business overseas."

Wu Shouli didn't come here just for himself this time, he added: "As for the official business, just like what I said to Chen Shuai, the service of our Huizhou merchants is to help the imperial court's soldiers and horses win the Great Eastern Ocean. Every time Chen Shuai wins overseas battles, he summons merchants to come and go. The West is beneficial, and the East is also beneficial. We Huizhou merchants do not compete with Fujian and Guangzhou merchants for Western interests, but only want to enter the Great East. I will wait for nothing to worry about at sea.”

(End of this chapter)