The fog in the early morning was a bit heavy and hazy, and the visibility was not enough. A ray of red light rose from the eastern skyline, dispersing the deep night, and the wind was mixed with a strong smell of sea.
A long caravan slowly moved along the dirt road. The small villages it passed along the way looked dilapidated and unpopular. A few thin stray dogs turned around and ran away when they saw someone approaching.
In a carriage, Qin Huaidao looked at this scene with cold eyes, mixed with anger. After the catastrophe, no one cares about the life and death of the people, and he doesn't know how many years it will take before he can regain his vitality?
"Definitely!"
Ahead, a man came galloping on horseback, stopped next to Qin Huaidao and said, "Young Master, three miles ahead is where the salt field is. A brother will inform Lord Yuchi to greet him."
"Thank you for your hard work, please be careful." Qin Huaidao warned and lowered the car curtains.
Not long after, the convoy arrived at a leeward mountain col. The col was very large and many mud houses had been built. Smoke was rising from some. Finally, they saw the smell of fireworks. Qin Huaidao jumped out of the car and saw Yuchi Baolin hurriedly coming up. He had not seen him for several months.
, this kid is a lot darker, but stronger and calmer.
"Brothers of the Qin family!" Yuchi Baolin shouted in surprise and rushed forward.
The two hugged each other, expressing their joy. Qin Huaidao felt Yuchi Baolin's strong muscles and said with a smile: "Okay, it seems that he has eaten well during this period."
"The sea is full of food, but the taste is average and not as good as the delicacies of Chang'an."
Qin Huaidao laughed and scolded: "You are so blessed that you don't know how good the food in the sea is. Generally speaking, you don't know how to cook it. I'm here and I'll teach you how to cook it. I guarantee you won't be able to put it down. Sea fish, prawns,
Sea clams, sea cucumbers, let alone talking about them, my mouth is watering just thinking about them.”
"I caught a fish yesterday. It's long, like a snake, and it can discharge electricity. It looks very rare, but it's a pity that I don't know how to do it." Yuchi Baolin said with a smile.
"That's called a moray eel."
Qin Huaidao smiled, raised his eyes and looked around, with a solemn expression on his face, and asked, "How many people live there?"
"Less than a thousand households, all survived from all over Haizhou, and some came from Yizhou and Chuzhou. It was difficult to gather them together. I heard that there were jobs and food to eat, so everyone finally settled in peace.
It gradually formed its current scale, but two thousand soldiers have been trained." Yuchi Baolin explained in a low voice.
"Where?"
Yuchi Baolin pointed to the east and explained in a low voice: "There is an island to the east of the sea. There were about a hundred fishermen living on it, but they were slaughtered by pirates. Fortunately, the houses were not burned down, and it saved a lot of trouble for everyone living there.
, Your people are training, I went to see it, it’s very good, by the way, why did it suddenly come, where is the boat? "
Staying here for more than half a year, working exhaustingly, just for revenge. Yuchi Baolin looked at the long motorcade, but did not find the sea ship, and was a little confused.
"The boat hasn't been built yet, but the key parts have been done. The boat I want to build is unique and must be built on site." Qin Huaidao explained, looking at the surrounding terrain, his eyes gradually fell on the highest hillside, and walked forward.
When Yuchi Baolin heard that the boats were built on site and were different from other boats, he was a little confused. Aren't the boats all the same? But he believed that Qin Huaidao would not deceive him. It was definitely true to say that they were different. He had been waiting for so long, so he was not in a hurry and followed him.
When the two came to the hillside, a gust of sea breeze blew, and Qin Huaidao was refreshed. Looking ahead, there were flat salt fields as far as the eye could see, and further away was the sea, with rolling waves rushing towards the shore.
The red sun shines on the sea, and the reflection is colorful and sparkling, which is really beautiful. Yuchi Baolin pointed to the front and said: "The wooden boat takes about an hour to reach the island. No one usually goes there. Food is regularly delivered to the island, and everyone grows on it.
Vegetables, fishing in your spare time, and living a comfortable life. I heard that you taught me how to train soldiers?"
Qin Huaidao smiled and said nothing, pointing to a low terrain and said: "Build a shed over there and dig a river to bring in the sea water. I am personally responsible for how to build it, but it requires more than a hundred people to help, and a large number of blacksmiths and carpenters.
A carpenter who is familiar with shipbuilding is best, is there any way?"
"Workers are easy. We can allocate a hundred of the people who live here. There are only a few blacksmiths and carpenters. We need to find them. Give me three days and I will go to other state capitals to dig people. If you have money, you don't have to worry about it."
"I'm purchasing a large amount of iron materials by the way, as much as I need. Don't worry about the money. I brought 300,000 gu this time, and a lot of grain, which should be enough. The blacksmith and carpenter also brought a batch, but the quantity is not enough. We need people.
Take action." Qin Huaidao warned.
Yuchi Baolin didn't know what kind of ship Qin Huaidao built, so he didn't bother to ask more and agreed.
The two chatted for a while and then went down the hillside together. Under the leadership of Yuchi Baolin, the convoy came to a stop at the entrance of a courtyard. The courtyard was not small. There were five mud thatched houses inside. They looked very simple. Yuchi Baolin apologized and said:
"The conditions are limited, so I can only make ends meet. I will live in one of the rooms."
"It's enough to have a shelter from the wind and rain. It doesn't matter. It's convenient to live together." Qin Huaidao didn't care and said to a member of the village protection team beside him: "Except for the food, all other vehicles are brought in."
The other party nodded and hurried to pass on the order.
Soon, large, heavily covered vehicles pulled in.
Qin Huaidao checked the rooms, and directed the village guards to lift the large boxes from the carriage, carefully carried them into one of the rooms, and stacked them together, moving very steadily and carefully, for fear of being damaged.
Yuchi Baolin asked curiously: "Brother Qin, what is in this?"
"It's a good thing. It's used on ships. You'll know about it later." Qin Huaidao couldn't explain to the other party what a steam engine was, so he motioned for everyone to bring in the box containing the silver, as well as the hot air balloon, the explosive bag and the secretly built machine in Chashan.
The new weapons were all packed in boxes and sealed tightly so that they could not be seen from the outside. Two teams of guards were ordered to guard the village, and no one was allowed to come near except themselves.
This time, Qin Huaidao brought five teams to protect the village. They were all carefully selected experts and could be trusted.
In order to deal with the Japanese pirates ruthlessly, Qin Huaidao spent a lot of money.
After the boxes were unloaded and put away, Qin Huaidao felt relieved and followed Yuchi Baolin to the main room. Yuchi Baolin introduced his confidants to Qin Huaidao. They were all descendants of the family who were related to each other. At the worst, they were family generals who had been with him for many years. The characteristics of people in this era.
, Qin Huaidao has long been accustomed to this.
After some pleasantries, Qin Huaidao asked about some daily affairs, which were not complicated at all. They just organized everyone to gather around the fields to make salt. The accumulation must be enough to bring back Chang'an. The people suffered from great disasters and it was rare to find a place to survive. The wages were sufficient.
, I am very grateful and work actively.
After a long conversation, Qin Huaidao said with a smile: "Thank you for your hard work, I will cook a few dishes to reward you all."
"No, I'm supposed to be waiting for the wind. How can I make you suffer?" Yuchi Baolin said quickly.
"Okay, I guess you don't know how to cook the whole seafood, so let the chef do it and learn from it. Where is the kitchen?" Qin Huaidao refused.
Yuchi Baolin did not insist and led the people to the kitchen not far away.
After a series of operations, braised conger eel, steamed sea crab, sea shrimp, braised sea fish, etc. were placed on the table one after another, and white wine was brought in. The group of people enjoyed the meal and were very grateful to Qin Huaidao.
The dignified Lord Protector cooks for everyone. This honor is as high as the sky.
After the meal, Qin Huaidao led people to the low-lying area he had selected before and observed it carefully.
Yuchi Baolin also sent a hundred strong men over and asked curiously: "Brother Qin, we have all the men, what are we going to do? Give me the order."
Qin Huaidao pointed to the lowest part of the terrain and said: "It is five feet wide and five feet deep. It leads to the sea. Dig here first and dig last at the seaside to avoid the inconvenience of seawater pouring in."
"This is a big project. It takes time. How about working overnight? Just give me more money." Yuchi Baolin suggested. He didn't understand why such a big ditch was dug and seawater was brought in. Is this a man-made river?
"You can arrange it. Build sheds on both sides to protect from the sun and rain. They don't need to be too high. They can be constructed together. If you need anything, ask me. By the way, you also need a lot of clay. Fine sand is simple and can be found everywhere on the beach. I'll have people collect this.
." Qin Huaidao added nonchalantly.
"Okay, I'll make the arrangements. We had a lot of clay when we built the house. If you know where it is, let someone dig it up." Yuchi Baolin agreed, turned around and left.
After giving the order, everyone went up to dig, but they didn't know what it was for, and no one dared to ask.
A wooden ship can be rolled into the sea with logs placed underneath. Qin Huaidao planned to build an iron-clad ship, but it was too heavy to lift and needed to test the water. There must be a seaport for testing. In the future, it can also be driven directly into the sea, but it is too troublesome to explain.
Qin Huaidao was too happy to explain. He stepped forward to direct and draw boundary lines for everyone to avoid deformation and deviation.
The team members protecting the village quickly dispersed around Qin Huaidao and were on guard.
When the common people saw the impressive team protecting the village, they guessed that Qin Huaidao's identity was not simple and he would do whatever he was told. No one asked a question, let alone refuted or questioned.
After a while, the site turned into a large construction site, and everyone was digging in full swing.