Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 541 Industrial Empire 1
"Three dear beauties, does any of you want to go to Wuhan to have fun?" Yang Menglong asked with a playful smile after seeing off the three guys who were eating.

Xiao Yudu held her chin and asked with a smile: "Why did you think of going to Wuhan to play?"

Yang Menglong said: "It's a famous city. I passed by there several times and didn't really enjoy it. It's rare to have time now, so of course I have to go and have fun."

Liu Ziyan snorted: "Are you sure you're not interested in Wuhan girls? I heard that Wuhan girls are very beautiful!"

Cheng Qi agrees: "That's right, there is nothing to show courteousness to ----- rape or steal!"

Yang Menglong said angrily: "It's fine if you don't want to go, I will go by myself! I kindly invite you to play and taste Wuhan's delicacies by the way. It's either rape or robbery, huh!"

Cheng Qi and Liu Ziyan said in unison: "Who said we don't want to go?"

Xiao Yufang smiled and said, "You three go, I'm not in good health, and I can't bear the hardships of traveling, so I won't go."

Yang Menglong said: "Then you have a good rest at home, I will be back soon!"

Xiao Yufang patted his hand and said: "It's rare for you to spare time to accompany sister Ziyan and Xiaoqi, so just play with them there for ten days and half a month, and you don't have to cling to me all day long. "

Yang Menglong said: "Okay... what do you want to eat? I'll bring you one from over there."

Xiao Yufang was about to speak, but Cheng Qi couldn't take it anymore, picked up a spoon and tapped it several times on the soup bowl: "Hey, hey, that's not how you show your affection, right? Have you considered our feelings? "

Liu Ziyan said sourly: "That's right! It's too much!"

Yang Menglong rolled his eyes, and said to Xiao Yufang: "Don't pay attention to them! Tell me, what do you like to eat? I'll bring you one back."

Cheng Qi sneered: "Ignore me? Okay, if you ignore me, I'll see where you can get money to buy things for Sister Xiao!"

Yang Menglong said, "Can't I use my own money?"

Cheng Qi made a strange face at him: "The answer is: no!"

Liu Ziyan said proudly: "Since Sister Xiao became pregnant, she has handed over all financial powers to Xiaoqi. From military expenses to servants' salaries, from the daily expenses needed to buy firewood, rice, oil and salt to the change we need to buy some snacks, everything comes from her Come on, if you don't want to be subject to economic sanctions, don't offend any of us." After spending time with Yang Menglong, she even understood what economic sanctions meant. She is really a smart girl.

Yang Menglong was dumbfounded, looking at Xiao Yufang with an expression of about to cry.

Xiao Yufang smiled and patted him on the face: "Don't show such an exaggerated expression, they are just scaring you. Could it be that you want to spend money, and they really don't give it?"

Yang Menglong looked at Cheng Qi, and asked cautiously, "You're scaring me, right?"

Cheng Qi smiled: "What do you think?"

Apparently not.Yang Menglong was extremely frustrated, it was over, his financial power was robbed by others, and he had no status or status at home!
The next day, Yang Menglong, who had no identity or status at home, took his two future wives who had taken over his financial power before they even entered the house, and the two best bodyguards, Zhaji Chongweng and Shi Tianbao, by car. The ship went south and went straight to Wuhan.

It has been several months since the rebels took Wuhan, and time has healed the wounds caused by the war. Thanks to the efforts of the rebels, farmers in the three towns of Wuhan have planted large swaths of fast-growing crops such as potatoes, radishes, and tomatoes in order to survive. Prepare food for the harsh winter.I have to say that the Jianghan Plain is indeed a treasure land, with fertile land and abundant water resources. Although these crops were planted hastily and many people didn't know how to take care of them, they still got a good harvest. When I arrived in Wuhan, it was just in time for a bumper potato harvest. The fields were full of people who worked hard to harvest potatoes, farmers carrying loads of potatoes, and chicken buses loaded with truckloads of potatoes, blocking the fields and roads tightly.In fact, according to Yang Menglong's point of view, the harvest of potatoes they planted is not good, at most a thousand catties per mu, but for these farmers who have not been exposed to such high-yield crops, it is already a very scary harvest.They can sell part of the rice and buy some yellow rice from Xiangyang, Jingzhou and other places where the rice harvest is abundant, and this winter will be over.

In Hankou, a gigantic shipyard is under construction day and night. Massive amounts of steel, cement, sand, and wood are transported from all directions, and they are filled one by one. Thousands of workers work day and night in two shifts. The hot scene is really exciting.This shipyard needs to build a total of eight docks, and each dock must have the ability to produce giant ships of 800 to [-] tons. This ability, this scale is truly terrifying.While building the dock, the Heluo New Army also went to Fujian, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Tianjin and other old shipyards to recruit people. Those old craftsmen who have been dealing with ships all their lives and are skilled are their favorites. It is easy to hear and see, and young people who learned how to build ships at a young age are also very popular. It doesn't matter if you have no experience, you can learn!The nature of these guys' digging is really cruel, and the shipyard has not even left a trace. They have dug more than [-] craftsmen, so that the shipyards blacklisted them.Even many European craftsmen who were dawdling in Asia came here to beg for food, and brought a lot of experience in European shipbuilding by the way. Well, a combination of Chinese and Western, not bad.

Many giant trees were also nailed into wooden rafts, dragged along the river by large ships, and piled up like mountains on the shore.The craftsmen dug from various shipyards are busy processing the wood, and after confirming that there are no insect holes, they are smoked to dehydrate and dry.This is a technical job. It takes several years for shipbuilding wood to dry before it can be used. It is too dry, it will swell when soaked in sea water, and it will sink when it absorbs water. It is also not good if it is too wet. It will dehydrate, and the entire hull structure will be destroyed. Too dry and too wet will kill people.Only the most experienced craftsmen know what to do to keep the wood in top condition, ensuring the structural stability and strength of the hull, which is why those old craftsmen are so precious.

Regrettably, the Ming Dynasty did not give these precious craftsmen the treatment they deserved, and neither did the Qing Dynasty.

Not far from the shipyard is a plate processing plant and a steel processing plant, where the plates and steel required for shipbuilding are processed.A little further away is the rivet factory, rigging factory, canvas factory, bearing factory, water pump factory, fireproof paint factory, asphalt factory... a lot of supporting factories are lined up, and you can count to eight if you count them one by one. Baidu myopia.Of course, these factories are under intense construction, providing valuable employment opportunities for farmers without land.

Looking at the construction site in full swing, Liu Ziyan exclaimed: "My God, it's so spectacular! How many ships will it take to use such a large shipyard!"

Yang Menglong said proudly: "It doesn't take too much. It's enough to plant the flag of the Ming Dynasty in every corner of the world. Our flag will be everywhere where the sun shines!"

Cheng Qi scolded: "At least thousands of warships and tens of thousands of cargo ships are enough, you prodigal son!"

Yang Menglong became more and more proud: "Are thousands of warships a lot? Catherine said that her small city of the City-State Republic of Venice has thousands of merchant ships. Our population is a hundred times that of the City-State Republic of Venice, and there are not more than a dozen ships as many as theirs. Are you twenty times more embarrassed to go out and say hello to others?"

Catherine, who was traveling with her, smiled wryly: "Why did it involve us? But I must admit that your Chinese manpower, financial resources, and resources are a hundred times that of the Venetian city-state. If you are determined to rule the ocean, absolutely no one is your opponent. Looking at the crowded construction site, he murmured: "If Venice had such a huge shipyard and such sufficient manpower, we would have ruled the whole of Europe long ago!"

Yang Menglong said: "Unless you can unify the entire Sicily Peninsula and the Apennine Peninsula and integrate all the city-states, otherwise it is a fantasy. But I still welcome you Venetians to invest in China, really, very welcome."

Catherine said angrily: "However, the way you asked us to come and invest is that we pay the money, and then go away, waiting for the dividends, and we can't get anything else except the dividends!"

Yang Menglong looked surprised: "Don't you just want dividends when investing? You already have dividends, what else do you want?"

Catherine really wanted to kick him into the Yangtze River and let him drink to his full!
The boat drove forward a few kilometers, and a row of huge water wheels appeared in front of everyone.The diameter of these water wheels has reached an astonishing 15 meters, and they are driven by the turbulent flow of the Yangtze River. Fortunately, most of the structures are replaced by steel, and large-scale steel wheels are used. If the bearing is still made of wood as before, at this speed, it would have fallen apart a long time ago.The river water drives these huge water wheels, and these huge water wheels drive the machine tools in turn. The roar of the machine can be heard from a long distance, and the devil knows what kind of steel components are being processed inside, making it so loud!The habit of the Chinese people is to either not play, or to play like crazy. There was no industry before, and the use of hydraulic machinery was only used to grind some rice, noodles, or carry water. After it can be used to replace manpower to make industrial products, everyone feels bad immediately. All kinds of insane hydraulic machinery are rushing out.A guy got an idea from a hanging basket, and had an idea: Can hydraulic machinery be used to quickly lift the hanging basket and send people to tall buildings, saving the pain of going up and down the stairs?It seems feasible!Yang Menglong broke out in a cold sweat when he saw this weird design, isn't this a fucking ancient elevator, you guys are so good at playing!
Of course, this drainage wheel is not used to hang people, it is used to make cannons.

Yang Menglong let the boat dock and said to the three beauties: "I'll go in and take a look. You stay on the boat and don't run around."

Liu Ziyan and Cheng Qi couldn't wish for it, they were already flustered by the roar of the machinery when they were still outside, so please don't go in this kind of place.Catherine was full of curiosity, but Yang Menglong didn't intend to invite her in for a visit at all, so she could only grit her teeth secretly, and made a note in her little black book.

(End of this chapter)