It had only been a month and a half since Shen Lang's two thousand men landed on the Bichao Peninsula, and everything could be described as surprisingly smooth.
No resistance was encountered after landing on the island, because there was no one here at all.
Many years ago, it used to be a mine of the Russo family, specializing in iron smelting. Now there are many mines and abandoned smelting workshops.
But a few years ago, Duke Dibos gave up the mine.
Why? Because the sulfur content of the iron ore here is too high, the iron produced is too brittle.
Of course, even so, it is a mine after all, and even smelting iron for daily use can bring huge profits. However, the Russo family later discovered an iron mine with a higher quality, so they abandoned the mine.
So Shen Lang's two thousand men easily occupied this place and began to build the city.
That's right, a city!
Generally speaking, how long does it take to build a city, even a castle?
It took Qiu Tianwei more than ten years to build the large castle of Raging Tide City, the Russo family's Duke Castle took more than twenty years to build, and the palace in Queen City took twenty-seven years to complete.
How long will it take for Shen Lang's city to be built?
The goal Shen Lang set was to build a city with 100,000 people in more than half a year.
When he said this goal, the people below were stunned, thinking that he was talking in his sleep.
How big is a city of 100,000 people? No matter how crowded it is, it still needs about ten square kilometers. A city of six miles in length and width can be built with 2,000 people. If only wood is used, it will take about two or three years to build, and if stone is used, it will take about five years.
Half a year was really like a dream.
But just like a magician, one new thing after another broke out, which is simply dizzying.
First he abandoned the two building materials of wood and stone.
These two things are very good, but too waste of time.
The first thing he pulled out was cement.
Some people may say, isn’t cement slower? It needs to be calcined and crushed, which is a completely labor-intensive industry.
This is half right, but who let Shen Lang find a treasured land of geomantic omen.
Not far away is the Fire Island, with an active volcano on it that erupts every few years. So what are the most common things on volcanic islands?
volcanic ash.
When this is added to lime, it becomes pozzolanic cement. It sounds very primitive, but this cement is actually very strong.
You just need to send a ship to continuously transport the volcanic ash back. As for the lime? There are several lime mines in Bichao Peninsula where Shen Lang is located.
So the output of cement has been very high almost from the beginning, it all depends on the capacity of his fleet.
As for the second thing, it is even less rare, that is bricks.
He used thousands of people to burn bricks, and erected one brick kiln after another.
As soon as these bricks were fired, they were immediately built into houses.
All two-storey small buildings, because there is no steel bar yet, relying on bricks and cement to build up to two floors.
Even later, Shen Lang felt that building a house in this way was still too slow, so he simply made large cement bricks on a large scale to build a house faster.
Therefore, the development of Bichao Peninsula is changing with each passing day.
One after another, houses have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.
…
Now, just one and a half months have passed, and a medium-to-large town has taken shape.
Shen Lang has not only 2,000 people, but has soared to 5,000 people. The remaining 3,000 people are all slaves. He bought them with money. Of course, after buying them, they all gave them the status of free citizens.
But these slaves didn't seem to feel particularly happy, they were still numb, but when they moved into the new house, the ecstasy could no longer be suppressed.
Almost all the slaves live like a pigsty. Even the slaves of the nobles live in a room of dozens of people. When Shen Lang comes here, they all live in a room of two people. Twelve people live in a house. They are so happy that they are crying. Even if you want to solve some private matters personally, it is much more convenient.
And these brick flat-roofed houses are like palaces to these slaves.
However, the work efficiency of these slaves is really much slower than that of the army. It is not that they are not working hard enough, but that they are too stupid. Most of the slaves can only do the simplest and repetitive work, such as burning bricks, such as burning lime, and then For example, cement is made according to a fixed ratio.
But after buying these slaves, Shen Lang's 2,000 troops were finally freed from boring jobs, and they could go to more advanced jobs.
…
Shen Lang had already opened the box left by Jiang Li.
It was opened early because when moonlight fell on it, a series of Roman numerals and Latin letters appeared on the surface of the box.
This is still a password box, and Shen Lang was really amazed at that time. There is no doubt that this is another product of an ancient civilization, and there must be a nightmare stone inside as a source of energy.
So what is the password for this box? There are as many as nineteen in total.
It would be impossible for other people to open this box, but Shen Lang could see its password almost at a glance.
It's too obvious. There is a circle on the surface of the box, so there is no doubt that it is pi.
So Shen Lang pressed 3.141592653589793 in Roman letters, and the box opened immediately.
It was full, including five bottles of elixirs, five volumes of classical books, and all kinds of information recorded by Jiang Li, totaling more than hundreds of thousands of words.
After Shen Lang read it, he was really amazed. This is simply a huge treasure.
In particular, many of the materials recorded by Jiang Li are key secrets of the entire Western world.
But the embarrassing thing was that this box was not reserved for Shen Lang, but for Princess Helen.
Shen Lang loved his daughters, and Jiang Li was no exception. However, shortly after Princess Helen was born, he left the New World and returned to the Great Yan Dynasty, so he left the most precious things to his daughter.
During this month and a half, Shen Lang spent most of his time studying these treasures left by His Majesty Jiang Li.
It is simply too important, it is completely the guiding light for Shen Lang to open up the situation.
Give a few examples.
Jiang Li told Helen in the file where there is a huge fire oil mine. The so-called kerosene, of course, is oil.
Where there are large gold mines, there are iron mines of the highest grade.
Not counting these, the key point is that he also marked two ancient ruins, as well as the history, taboos, lifeblood of the Amazon female warriors, and many of their secrets.
In short, the box left by His Majesty Jiang Li was a huge treasure for Shen Lang, and he spent all day and night studying it every day.
…
In this month and a half, Zhang Chunhua was so tired that he vomited blood.
As the lord, Shen Lang really didn't do anything, he just gave orders to do this and that. All arrangements were handed over to Zhang Chunhua and the Tianya Haige students she brought.
The internal affairs of 5,000 people have already made her exhausted, and she does not sleep for more than three hours a day.
Because everything starts from scratch, God knows how difficult it is.
Fortunately, the shelves had been set up at this time, and she finally didn't have to do everything herself.
"Shen Lang, we have no money."
Zhang Chunhua walked in, sat down directly in front of him, and drank a cup of tea.
"No money?" Shen Lang said in astonishment: "Didn't we bring more than three hundred thousand gold coins with us when we left Queen's City?"
"The flowers are over." Zhang Chunhua said.
Shen Lang was amazed, how quickly did he spend?
"We have purchased food for more than 100,000 people, purchased a large amount of cotton cloth, purchased a large amount of pig iron, purchased a large number of blacksmiths, purchased a large amount of seeds, have purchased three thousand slaves, and there are still 20,000 slaves at sea. On the way."
"Half a month ago, you swiped a pen and wanted to buy 13 sea-going ships. Even if you asked me to sell them, I wouldn't be able to make so much money."
"In addition, Your Excellency Shen Lang, may I ask, why did you buy these things?"
Shen Lang said: "What is it?"
"You bought one hundred and fifty pieces of silk worth thirty gold coins each, in various colors. Why?"
"And this gold and white jade belt, you bought ten of them at once? Why is that?"
"The most expensive sturgeon caviar, one hundred and fifty live deer, three hundred cows, two hundred and seventy cattle, fifteen years of red wine, white wine, sweet, semi-sweet, Five hundred and thirty barrels of dry red and dry white.”
"All kinds of flower essences, a total of three hundred and fifty-six bottles."
"There are also combs, horn combs, ivory combs, and jade combs, more than a hundred in total."
"There are also various gems. You bought more than three hundred kilograms. This is the first time I have seen anyone buying gems based on their kilograms."
"My Majesty the Human Emperor, may I ask why you bought these things?"
Shen Lang said: "Use it, eat it, drink it."
Zhang Chunhua was about to cry. He wished he could just pick up the stool under his butt and smash the future human emperor in front of him to death.
This, when was this? As a monarch, you can relax and read every day without talking, and you have to live like a prince.
We are starting a business with difficulty, and the things you use to buy luxury items exceed tens of thousands of gold coins.
Are you really planning to fight back to the Great Yan Empire? Why do I feel that following you as a monarch is unreliable?
Suddenly, Zhang Chunhua said solemnly: "Shen Lang, you are my master, so I must advise you that starting a business is difficult, why are you so extravagant and wasteful? We are an overseas regime in exile, and our road is difficult. What qualifications do we have to waste? You are so extravagant, How to be worthy of your ancestors and the people who are loyal to you..."
Zhang Chunhua stopped talking before he finished speaking.
Because Shen Lang brought a glass of semi-sweet wine to her mouth and directly fed her to drink it.
Then, he cut a piece of medium-ripe steak and fed it to her mouth.
Finally, he put a gemstone necklace on her and brought over a gorgeous skirt.
"It smells so good..." Zhang Chunhua said: "This skirt is so beautiful, but it still needs a brooch. The jewelry in Mengluo City is the most exquisite. Next time we can buy those brooches and head flowers."
Just like that, Zhang Chunhua went back in a daze, holding a lot of gifts.
But a moment later, she came back again. This time she did not scold Shen Lang for his waste, but said bitterly: "Shen Lang, we really have no money. Last time we landed thirteen ships for the pirates." For the order, the ship has been brought and it will be docked soon. We will pay the money and deliver the ship. Without the ship, we will not be able to transport enough volcanic ash, and the production of cement will be greatly restricted."
Shen Lang said: "How much money do you need this time?"
"One hundred and fifty thousand gold coins." Zhang Chunhua said.
Shen Lang said in shock: "Why don't they go and rob it? A sea ship costs more than 10,000 gold coins?"
Zhang Chunhua said: "It is true that they snatched this ship from thousands of miles away and paid for it with human lives. Profits at sea cannot be compared with business on land, and a life of licking blood should be the way to go." Make more money. And every ship comes with its own sailors, so the price is not expensive at all.”
Some people say that the people who own the Black Pearl are pirates, so why don’t they grab it themselves?
Absolutely not!
Rabbits don't eat grass beside their nests. If Shen Lang wants to vigorously develop his city, he must rely on normal trade.
As long as others can make money from you, pirates and merchants will continue to transport things to you to sell.
This is the most effective way to obtain resources. Once your reputation is destroyed, no one will do business with you.
"How many gold coins do we have?" Shen Lang asked.
Zhang Chunhua said: "Twenty thousand."
Shen Lang was a little embarrassed. He was really ruthless in spending money, and once he had money, he couldn't help but keep spending it.
These thirteen ships are really important. Not only are these ships needed to transport volcanic ash, but also a large number of ships are needed to transport saltpeter.
It can be said that sea boats are the lifeblood of Shen Lang, more than 10,000 gold coins may seem expensive, but how much time can it save Shen Lang.
"How long will it take for these ships to dock?" Shen Lang asked.
"It's about less than ten days." Zhang Chunhua said.
Shen Lang said: "Okay, I'll go out."
Zhang Chunhua said: "Where are you going?"
"Go to Bijin City." Shen Lang said: "Go to make money."
Zhang Chunhua said: "You, don't you really want to sell your body?"
Shen Lang snorted and said: "Look what you said, how is it possible? No matter what, I am the future emperor, how could I sell my body? This idea of yours is very dangerous. You will do that when you are short of money. Thinking about it, it actually agrees with that saying, if a woman becomes bad, she will make money."
"I would like to reiterate that I am the future Human Emperor. I am the most noble person in the world. My character must be flawless. To say that I sold my body? It is simply an insult to the Human Emperor."
Zhang Chunhua bowed and said, "I was wrong, His Majesty the Human Emperor."
…
Two and a half days later!
Shen Lang appeared in Bijin City in disguise.
This is an ordinary house, but after entering, it is magnificent.
It can be seen that the owner of this house is very rich, but because the blood is not high, the appearance of the house should not be too high-profile.
This is the tragedy of the Vida people. No matter how rich you are, you can only be in the middle and lower classes of the Silon Dynasty and can only live at the foot of the mountain of Bijin City. But those poor white people can live on the mountainside, even if they have no money. Step on top of your head.
"Honey, you... You really came to see me? I miss you so much. "
A beautiful woman rushed forward and kissed Shen Lang immediately.
After a while, the two rolled together, and all the clothes on their bodies disappeared.
Meng Luolan, who was protecting Shen Lang outside, felt his scalp tingle after hearing this.
This... is this the monarch we want to be loyal to?
She heard it clearly. Before, Shen Lang kept saying that he was a noble human emperor and must be flawless.
In the end, he actually slept with a beautiful female sea merchant in order to get money.
Isn't this selling his body?
There is simply no bottom line and he is not like a human being. Queen Medusa, whom she had served before, was so noble and aloof.
Why is the gap between people so big?
…
After more than half an hour.
"My love, weren't you in Queen City a few months ago? Aren't you the husband of Queen Medusa? Why did you come back to see poor and humble Hill?" Black Widow Hill said softly.
Has she missed Shen Lang these past few months? I think about it so much that every time I think about it, I feel like I'm drunk.
But lovesickness? Can't do without him?
no!
Hill is a very independent woman, and when she is with the man she loves, she will unreservedly release her enthusiasm.
But after separation, she will return to her own life, and she can live well without a man.
Shen Lang said: "Honey, I want to do a business with you."
Hill's beautiful eyes trembled, she didn't want to hear this word, she said before that she would marry Shen Lang and share all the wealth with him, it was completely true, once married and had children, it would be a family, everything would be family property.
But right now it is obviously impossible for Shen Lang to marry her. She can give Shen Lang many gifts, even the most precious ones, to express her love.
But give money directly? That won't work! It violated her code as a maritime merchant.
Hill pulled away from Shen Lang's arms, put on the silk pajamas, and said seriously: "Honey, I love you so much, I am so fascinated by you. But love is love, and business is business. If you want to do business with me If so, then I can only follow the rules of maritime merchants."
Shen Lang said: "Of course."
Hill said: "Then what business do you want to do with me? My beloved man, do you want to sell your body to me? That's fine too, ten gold coins once, this is already the highest price."
Black Widow Hill felt that what she just said was too serious, so she added it provocatively and affectionately.
Shen Lang said softly: "But Hill is priceless to me. Every time I'm with you, I feel like I'm sinking in heaven. I'm willing to give everything in exchange for a night of happiness with you."
As he spoke, he opened the box carefully, and took out a bowl and a wine glass from it.
Hill's eyes suddenly lit up and he trembled: "Porcelain?"
Doing business in the West is completely different from that in the East. Some things are not valuable at all in the Eastern world, but are very valuable in the Western world.
Before the East and West were completely cut off from each other, silk, tea, and porcelain from the Eastern world had entered the Western world, causing great popularity just like the ancient times on earth.
Later, after the communication between the Eastern and Western worlds was completely cut off, some people from the eastern world entered the Xilun Dynasty, found wild silkworms in the wild, and began to raise large-scale captivity, barely cultivating the silk industry of the Xilun Dynasty.
But even so, the price of silk in the Xilun Dynasty was still more than five times that of the Dayan Empire, because their output was much lower.
Tea is simple. Once tea plants are discovered, they are transplanted on a large scale. Now the Xilun Dynasty has acres and acres of tea gardens, and the price of tea is only 1.5 times that of the Dayan Dynasty.
But porcelain is difficult. People who fled to the Silon Dynasty from the Eastern world were either soldiers or nobles. Who can make porcelain?
The history on earth is the same. Although the Western world purchased Chinese porcelain very early, it was not until modern times that it began to produce its own porcelain. For thousands of years, silverware and pottery were widely used in Europe and Central Asia. For a long time, Chinese porcelain was extremely precious in the West.
The same is true in the Xilun Dynasty today. The wealthy nobles used gold, the rich used silver, and ordinary people used pottery.
porcelain? With the interruption of trade, it has become a rare product and has become extremely rare. Only a few aristocratic homes had porcelain. Every time a noble had a banquet, if your home did not have porcelain, you would be ridiculed.
Throughout the Silun Dynasty, porcelain was the highest-end vessel and a symbol of purity and luxury. Below it were gold and silverware. It is always true that things are rare and valuable.
Hill shined the china set in the light.
It's simply amazing, smooth as jade, as thin as paper, and there are gorgeous patterns on it, not painted on, but fired.
These three pieces of porcelain are simply more precious than the porcelain of Duke Debos's family.
This is of course, Shen Lang has lived in Duke Debos's Mansion for a long time, and he knows that there are dozens of sets of porcelain in her home, which makes her belong to a top wealthy family, and these porcelains are considered treasures even in the Great Yan Empire.
However, it is not as good as the three samples Shen Lang took out.
These three pieces of porcelain by Shen Lang are simply the culmination of thousands of years of earth's porcelain craftsmanship.
For fifty days, thousands of pieces were fired, but there were only a few dozen finished products, and the rest failed.
How can such a treasure not be amazing?
How not to be shocked?
Shen Lang pointed at the small bowl and said, "How much is this bowl worth?"
Hill looked at the light carefully, then her delicate body trembled and tears welled up.
Because this bowl of white jade is flawless, so thin and transparent, it looks like there is no pattern, but under the strong light, you can see an extremely delicate pattern, even a bit like a watermark on a banknote.
And this pattern is the portrait of Hill. So stunning, so ingenious.
"It is priceless to me." Hill said: "I want to pass it on from generation to generation."
Shen Lang said: "How much can such a bowl be sold for in the market outside?"
Hill said: "Are they sold on a large scale, or are they sold on a small scale like luxury goods?"
Shen Lang said: "Large scale."
Hill thought for a while and said, "Because the east-west trade has been cut off for a long time, there is only one piece of broken porcelain from the Xilun Dynasty, and the price is already abnormally high. A good porcelain bowl probably costs more than a few dozen gold coins. .And this porcelain bowl far exceeds the level of the existing porcelain bowls of the Xilun Dynasty, so it should be able to sell for a high price. But considering that once it is supplied on a large scale, the scarcity will decrease. But it will definitely become popular The entire Xilun Dynasty, even if there is no such porcelain at that time, it will be a shame to the nobility."
"So, I think such a bowl is priced at fifteen gold coins, which is a very reasonable price."
This Shen Lang's estimate was about the same, because what was sold was not a living utensil at all, but a status symbol, which was completely a luxury.
Fifteen gold coins are already an absolute huge profit.
Shen Lang said: "From now on, I will provide you with four thousand sets of porcelain every month, how about you selling them exclusively?"
Hill's eyes widened, and she tremblingly said, "Then I can abandon all my business and multiply my assets several times in a few years. I can't even imagine how my family can undertake such a huge business."
Shen Lang said: "I don't care how much you sell it for. Each set of porcelain has five pieces and a set of five gold coins. How about selling it to you?"
Hill said: "Then I will become one of the richest women in the entire South."
Shen Lang said: "But I need to pay 250,000 gold coins in advance, do you have any?"
Hill said: "I have a lot of money because my family has accumulated wealth for hundreds of years, but the 250,000 gold coins you want is already more than half of the gold I have."
Shen Lang said: "This requires you to give me a huge trust. If I am a liar, then you will lose half of the family's gold. Of course I hope you can believe in my personal charm, but as a business partner of the city, I can invite you Visit my base.”
"No, I promise you first and give you the money before I visit your base." Hill said: "My gold is hidden in a very secret place. You give me the address and I will transport the gold there. "
Shen Lang said: "It's a deal, happy cooperation."
…
Seven days later!
Hill's ship appeared at the dock of Bichao Peninsula, bringing in 250,000 gold coins.
She did not board Shen Lang's base, as if this was how she trusted him.
But Shen Lang boarded her ship and it took more than an hour to get off.
When he came down, his legs were a little soft.
Also disembarking with him were 250,000 gold coins and more than a hundred boxes.
Zhang Chunhua was stunned.
Is the future emperor so valuable?
Can you earn so many gold coins by selling your body once?
No wonder you, Shen Lang, spend money like water. It's so easy for you to get money.
But who spent money to buy Shen Lang's love for a while? Could it be an old and ugly woman?
After a while, she saw this woman who spent a lot of money.
She is a member of the Vida tribe, but she is very beautiful and has an amazing figure, which makes most oriental women jealous.
The key point is that the eyes she looked at Shen Lang were affectionate and as passionate as fire.
A handsome man can do whatever he wants once he is shameless.
Hill's fleet left, leaving behind two hundred and fifty thousand gold coins.
Shen Lang and Zhang Chunhua looked at the mountains of gold coins.
"Shen Lang, you, the Human Emperor, are so shameless that you actually sold your body."
Shen Lang couldn't help but gritted his teeth and said, "I didn't sell my body."
Zhang Chunhua said: "I don't blame you. If you can sell it for 250,000 gold coins at one time, then everything is worth it. Why don't you sell it again?"
Me, my day!
Goblin, if I hadn't run out of strength, I would have let you experience what two hundred and fifty thousand gold coins is.
I'll let you bleed hard once.
…
at the same time!
A powerful fleet appeared in the Devil's Triangle.
This is the combined fleet of Tianya Haige, Zhutian Pavilion, and Futu Mountain, after half a year of preparation. This adventurous fleet was finally successfully assembled, and it was completely modeled after the big ship of the Jin family.
Especially the lightning protection measures were copied exactly the same.
Because the ship designed by Shen Lang was difficult to keep secret. Although he designed it, it was built by the Tiandao Society.
Now Tianya Haige has obtained the complete drawings and even learned the principle of lightning protection.
The most terrifying thing about entering the Devil's Triangle is lightning strikes, because there are countless lightning strikes with no pattern at all, and there is no way to avoid them.
Any ship that enters will soon be shattered by lightning.
After obtaining the blueprints of Shen Lang's mine-protected ships, they modified five large ships and conducted many experiments, which completely proved that this new type of ship could protect against mines.
Originally, the six transcendent forces had interrupted their plans to explore the Devil's Triangle.
But it's different now. The Jin family may have entered the Devil's Triangle, and Shen Lang also flew into the Devil's Triangle on that huge ball.
That's right, until now everyone in the Great Yan Empire thought that Shen Lang had also entered the Devil's Triangle.
In the end, the scene where the tornado swept him away was too far away, and because of the darkness and the tornado's cover, he didn't see the process of Shen Lang's hot air balloon being swept away at all.
"His Majesty the Emperor has decreed that Jiang Li's son Shen Lang and his family must be seen alive and dead."
"Enter the Devil's Triangle!"
Following Princess Ning Han's order, the combined fleet of the three major forces suddenly sailed into the forbidden area of humanity, the Devil's Triangle!