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The Sanjiangkou area of Ningbo is full of cargo ships and the dock is bustling with thousands of laborers, either carrying or lifting, shouting and loading cargo onto the ships.
I heard that these dozen cargo ships were all preparing to go to Japan with the diplomatic mission. There is a Shiyan Silver Mountain in Japan, which everyone knows. It is said that the silver there is not valuable, and one shipload of cargo can earn half a shipload of silver when it goes there.
Unfortunately, Japan had been closed to the outside world for a long time, so merchants could not go there to trade. Now, the King of Qin was going to send envoys to open up trade with Japan. This was great news. The people of Ningbo were all running around to tell each other and were excited.
A tall crane that has recently appeared at the dock is the most eye-catching. The crane is equipped with a pulley set. Only two or three people can easily lift thousands of kilograms of cargo onto the ship.
For example, porcelain items are now packed in wooden frames, pushed under the crane arm with a flatbed cart, and then easily lifted onto the ship. This is much easier than carefully lifting them onto the ship by manpower.
It is said that this crane was designed by King Qin, which is incredible!
After hearing about it, many Ningbo residents rushed to the dock to watch. Not only the children, but even the adults were enjoying the show.
Although this crane is easy to use, there is only one at present, and the speed of loading and unloading cargo is not much fast. It is said that the prefect is working hard to build more cranes, and by then, the dock will be even more spectacular.
Qin Mu rode through the streets of Ningbo in a carriage and could clearly feel the joy of the people. Ningbo was going to set up a Maritime Customs Office, which was the first foreign trade port in the Qin Dynasty. It would definitely make Ningbo more prosperous, and the people had no doubt about it.
Some businesses even set off firecrackers in advance to celebrate. The streets were filled with the sound of firecrackers, as if it was Chinese New Year.
When we arrived at the shipyard in Taohuadu, we found that the shipyard was full of joy. The first beneficiary of the establishment of the Maritime Customs Office was the shipyard, and several shareholders of the shipyard were grinning from ear to ear.
When they heard that the King of Qin was coming to inspect the shipyard in person, several shareholders were surprised and happy, and hurried out with incense tables to greet him.
After some greetings, Qin Mu asked with a pleasant face, "Mr. Fang, how is the shipyard doing?"
Fang Weizhi, the largest shareholder of the shipyard, bowed and replied, "Thanks to the great blessing of the King of Qin, since the news of Ningbo's establishment of the Maritime Customs Office spread, the shipbuilding orders received by the shipyard have increased several times in just a few days. According to the current shipbuilding capacity of the shipyard, these orders will be scheduled for two years later."
Qin Mu laughed and said, "That won't work. If Mr. Fang doesn't increase his shipbuilding capacity, I'm afraid the order will go elsewhere."
Fang Weisheng smiled and said, "What the King of Qin said is true. We are discussing giving the craftsmen a raise to increase their enthusiasm. We will also recruit another batch of craftsmen and dig five more ponds to double the shipbuilding capacity of the shipyard."
"Well, you can figure it out by yourselves. I can tell you clearly that the imperial court has set up the Ningbo Maritime Customs Office. From now on, the Qin Dynasty will never ban the sea. But I also want to tell you that the imperial court will not restrict private shipbuilding in the future. There will definitely be more and more shipyards. If anyone wants to stand out in the competition, they can only continuously improve their shipbuilding technology and build better ships than others. If they rely on bribing officials, collusion between officials and businessmen will be severely punished once it is verified."
"I dare not, I dare not. I will definitely remember the King of Qin's teachings. I will operate in accordance with the law and constantly improve my shipbuilding technology."
The group walked in while chatting. The shipyard covers an area of more than one mile in length and width, slightly smaller than the Longjiang Shipyard. It has five work ponds and more than 1,700 skilled craftsmen and laborers.
Large ships are being built in ponds, and small ships are being built directly on open space. The entire shipyard is operating at full capacity. The scene is very lively, with the sound of banging ships everywhere.
On the open space on one side, there were piles of oak, pine, cypress, nanmu and other trees like small mountains. Qin Mu came to such a private shipyard, firstly to show his attention to the shipbuilding industry, and secondly to see a newly built wave-breaking boat.
"King Qin, fifty ships have been built."
"Okay, let someone try it right away. I want to see how fast it is."
"Yes, King Qin."
The wave-breaking boat is twenty feet long and five feet wide. The entire boat looks very slender. It can seat ten people. It has no sails and is driven by ten people pedaling together on oars.
Fang Weizhi ordered his men to carry one of the boats to the riverside, put ten people on board, and then pedaled the oars together. The wave-breaking boat immediately rushed out like an arrow from a bow, with water splashing on both sides like screens. The speed was at least three or four times faster than that of an ordinary sailboat.
Qin Mu looked at it and asked, "Mr. Fang, you should have tried it before. How far can the crew of this wave-breaking boat sustain this speed?"
"Replying to King Qin, it can usually last about two miles. After two miles, the ten people on the boat can take turns to rest. The speed will slow down accordingly, but it is still much faster than an ordinary sailboat."
Qin Mu nodded with satisfaction. Being able to support a range of two miles was enough. In today's naval battles, artillery fire is usually only done within two or three hundred steps. The hit rate is almost zero if it is farther away.
"Good, very good. Send these fifty wave-breaking ships to Shuangyu Port and hand them over to Gu Rong immediately."
"Yes, King Qin."
This was one of Qin Mu's powerful weapons against the Zheng family's fleet. If used well, it could even determine the victory of a naval battle. That was why he was so concerned and made a special trip to see the trial run of the Breaking Waves Ship.
On the way back to the city, when Qin Mu lifted the car curtain to look at the street view, he unexpectedly saw a blonde foreign girl shopping for silk in a silk shop. She was at least 1.75 meters tall, very beautiful, with fair skin, a hot body, and was very attractive.
Of course, the so-called seductiveness is only for Qin Mu. In this era, women who are too tall are not popular. The public's aesthetic standard is to have a petite and delicate figure like Li Xiangjun.
But as a time traveler, the blonde, blue-eyed, long-legged beauty was still very attractive to Qin Mu. He could hardly resist ordering the car to stop and admire her.
I remember Cao Weijun said that there are nearly 20,000 foreigners living in Ningbo. This city has been an important trading port since the Tang Dynasty, so it is normal for foreigners to live there.
Before the Qing Dynasty, foreigners had a very high opinion of China and were extremely yearning for it. Qin Mu remembered reading some accounts that described the Ming Dynasty as seen by some Westerners. These accounts compared China to heaven:
"In this great country, ... the people have plenty of food, are careful about their clothes, have beautiful furnishings in their homes, and above all, they work hard, are great merchants and traders, all of which, together with the fertility of the country, make it justly called the richest country in the world."
"They produce a great quantity of silk, of excellent quality, and of perfect colour, far exceeding that of Granada. It is the greatest trade of the country."
“In the country there are many rivers, and the people grow rice, which is the common food and staple of the whole nation. … They get so much that when rice is most expensive you can buy a farage with one riyal.
"All the countryside is beautiful and fragrant, because there are many kinds of fragrant flowers. It also adorns the green villages planted by the rivers and streams, where there are many rivers. There are orchards and gardens. There are cheerful banquet halls, where they often go to rest and escape from the troubles of the heart. The masters, that is, the gentlemen, often plant large tracts of woods and dense forests. There are wild boars, sheep, hares and other kinds of wild beasts, and their skins are made into fine furs."
"In the mountains, which are not suitable for cultivation, there are a great number of pine trees, with nuts which are larger and more delicious than those you usually find in Spain. Between these trees they grow corn, which is the common food of the Indians of Mexico and Peru. In short, they leave not a foot of land uncultivated, ... You can hardly see any wasteland or unproductive land in the whole country, so industrious are the people of this country."
"Their houses are generally very handsome, with trees planted neatly outside the gates, which give them a beautiful appearance and a radiance to the streets. The interiors of the houses are white as milk, and look like smooth paper, with floors paved with large and flat square stones, and ceilings made of a kind of childish wood, well-structured and painted, which looks like damask, and is golden in color, and looks very beautiful; each house has three courtyards and yards planted with ornamental flowers. All of them have fish ponds, although they are small. One side of the courtyard is decorated very beautifully."
"They are first extremely clean, not only in their houses, but also in their streets. They usually have three or four necessary or public resting-places in the streets, well arranged, so that people busy with their business do not make them dirty, and they get their supplies from thence, and similarly for all the roads in the country. Some of the streets are navigable, as Venice in Italy."
"Their women are very strangely dressed, much like the Spaniards, and they wear many gold jewels and precious stones, and their garments have wide sleeves, and they wear gold and silver and all kinds of silk, which, as I have said, they have plenty of, and which is of the best quality, and very cheap; but the poor wear velvet, uncut velvet, and serge. They have fine hair, which they comb carefully and diligently, like the Genoese women, and they tie it on their heads with wide ribbons, and they are adorned with pearls and precious stones."
From these records, we can see how much Westerners at that time yearned for China. This country where "all the fields exude a strange fragrance" was like heaven and hell compared to the Chinese people with long braids and filth in the eyes of Westerners in the late Qing Dynasty.
It is not difficult to understand why nearly 20,000 foreigners have settled in a city like Ningbo. Who wouldn’t yearn for paradise
Li Shi, who was standing by the car, keenly noticed that Qin Mu's eyes were lingering on the blond and blue-eyed Western woman. He immediately came up to her and said sternly, "King Qin, do you want me to check the details of that foreign woman?"
"Yi girl?" This name made Qin Mu unable to react for a moment.
In later generations, people got used to worshipping foreigners and all those with high noses, blue eyes and white skin were considered superior to others.
At that time, on the contrary, the Chinese were superior to others. Not only the Chinese thought so. It is not difficult to see from the above records that even Westerners had the same humility towards China and believed that China was the richest and most civilized country. It is said that Columbus discovered America in order to find the paradise-like China, thus opening the prelude to the great voyages.
Qin Mu seemed to be thinking about something. Li Shi thought that Qin Mu was playing dumb. He looked back at the blonde beauty in the silk shop and chuckled.
"Go, go, go, now it's important to deal with the Zheng family. I don't have the heart to hunt for beauties. Go back home."
Li Shi showed an expression of understanding: Now we have to deal with the Zheng family and have no time to hunt for beauties, so what should we do after dealing with the Zheng family
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.(To be continued..)
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