Tang Gong died in Jimo on a hunger strike. He died a violent death. He died because "the king wants his ministers to die, but they have no choice but to die." Lin Fu returned to Chongzhou from Jiangning and remained silent for several days.
He didn't even look at the affairs of the yamen. The imperial court sent a special envoy to Chongzhou to reward him with the title. When Lin Fu came down the mountain, he said nothing except "Thank you for your great kindness". After receiving the order, he went up the mountain alone...
Lin Mengde, Sun Jingxuan, Sun Jingtang, Cao Ziang, Qin Chengzu, Wu Qi, Hu Zhiyong and others could not understand for a while what impact Tang Haoxin's death would have on Lin Fu. They even wanted to send people to Shengsi to ask Fu Qinghe to come back. After all, Chongzhou
Among everyone, the most influential person to Lin Fu was none other than Fu Qinghe.
"Has the turtle egg special envoy left? If he doesn't leave, give him two punches!" Zhou Pu walked in with a metal bag in his hand, his scale armor clanking, and he saw Lin Mengde, Cao Zi'ang, Qin Zizu and others sitting in the hall
With a frown on his face, Da Ma pulled up a chair and sat down, threw his bag on the table, and said, "What are you thinking about? The old fox died happily and left all the problems here. Sir, I'm holding it back."
The reason why he can't come down from the mountain is because he has something in his mind that he hasn't thought through. We should do whatever we need to do, just give him some time..."
"How far do you think your Excellency will think it through in the end?" Qin Chengzu asked. He knew that Zhou Pu seemed rude and Da Ma Guandao was a general, not an adviser, but he actually had a delicate mind. Besides, he was in Lin Fu
Being around him for the longest time, he can guess Lin Fu's thoughts better than them.
"How could I guess it?" Zhou Pu spread his hands and said, "If I could guess it, I would sit here with you every day, and I wouldn't have to go out to lead troops in the wind and rain..."
"You think it's easier for us than you," Cao Zi'ang said angrily, "Then come over and I'll help you lead the riding camp."
Wu Qi said worriedly: "The troops from Zhejiang Province have also been secretly transferred from Jinhai, and a hundred suitable people have been selected. Do you want to make arrangements immediately? Your Excellency must also give you a confirmation, and we cannot delay it.
The opportunity flies by..."
Except for Lin Mengde and Hu Zhiyong, who were still hesitant, Cao Ziang, Qin Chengzu, Wu Qi, Zhou Pu and others in the hall at this time, including Sun Jingxuan and Sun Jing's cousins, all had no loyalty to the court. Tang Haoxinzhi
Everyone was suffocating in their hearts. Even though the time was far from mature at this time, if Lin Fu wanted to rebel, they would not hesitate to stop discouraging him and follow him.
Cao Ziang, Qin Chengzu, Wu Qi, Zhou Pu and others have persisted in their ten-year career as pirates, and are they still afraid that they will not succeed in being pirates for another ten years? This sentence was held in Wu Qi's chest, and he almost shouted it out in public,
However, Lin Fu didn't make any move, so they could only hold back their breath.
At this time, there was the sound of footsteps and plates of armor moving in the corridor outside. Qin Chengzu raised his eyebrows, thinking that another general with troops like Zhou Pu came over without permission to inquire about the news. He thought that he didn't dare to come in, so he punished Dou Tou first.
After a pause, I didn't expect that Zhao Hu came down the mountain.
Qin Chengzu, Cao Ziang, Lin Mengde and others stood up together. Knowing that Zhao Hu must have news when he came down the mountain at this time, they stared at him and asked: "What is your order..."
"Your Excellency has said that he will observe mourning for Duke Tang for three months. He will not see any guests or attend to official duties within three months. All official letters delivered to Chongzhou will be accepted and sealed by the Prime Minister of Li County..." Zhao Hu said truthfully.
"..." Lin Mengde was thinking deeply about Lin Fu's intentions. Qin Cheng's ancestors clapped their hands and said a curse word: "Okay, no matter what the hell is going on outside, I will stick to it and see you again in three months."
"I'm still worried that you can't figure this out." I thought about Zhao Hu again, "Who went to see you before you came here?"
Zhao Hu felt embarrassed for Lin Fu, but everyone in the hall knew the secrets. Even though it was a private matter between men and women, he couldn't deliberately hide it from them. He touched his nose and said: "Your Excellency has been sitting in the Nanlu House for a long time. The Song family
We went to talk for about half an hour... now I want you to go up the mountain to talk things over."
Qin Chengzu, Cao Ziang and others looked at each other and smiled. It was okay to know this kind of hidden matter, and they didn't discuss it. Speaking of it, Xun Niang and Liu Yue'er were extremely virtuous and virtuous people, but in this kind of thing, there was no such thing.
How to help Lin Fu.
Qin Chengzu discussed with Cao Ziang, Lin Mengde and others for a while, and then decided to let Li Shuyi officially announce Lin Fu's filial piety in the form of an official notice. Hailing Mansion, County Secretary and Governor's Mansion all sent official letters to see what their reactions were.
, the imperial court was extremely saddened by Tang Haoxin's death, and could not stop Lin Fu from observing filial piety for Tang Haoxin. This matter should be decided in advance, and other matters should be discussed in advance on the mountain.
Qin Chengzu, Cao Ziang, and Lin Mengde rushed up to the mountain to discuss matters, but did not catch Lin Fu himself. Sun Wenwan, who was on duty on the mountain, said that Lin Fu and his wife Gu Junxun went to Xisha Island and asked everyone to go to Xisha Island to discuss matters.
Lin Mengde asked doubtfully: "We were obviously asked to come up the mountain, but he went to the island first. What happened on the island today that he should rush over?"
Hu Zhiyong and Sun Jingxuan were mainly responsible for the affairs of Xisha Island. Hu Zhiyong also couldn't figure it out and looked at Sun Jingxuan.
Sun Jingxuan also said with confusion: "There is nothing special at the shipyard, maybe to see the kiln..."
Unless it is temporarily used once or twice, the most important thing in shipbuilding is the preparation of materials. Especially for sea-going ships, the preparation of materials is even more careless.
Generally speaking, wood used in shipbuilding needs to be soaked in ponds for several decades before being picked up and dried in the shade. Depending on the climate in different places, the drying time can range from half a year to two years. Only after being repeatedly painted with old oil can it be taken out for shipbuilding.
It will not deform or rot for a long time after being put into water.
If the wood is not processed through these steps, and the wooden ship is soaked in seawater for more than ten days, the ship's planks will deform and leak, causing the ship to leak. The structural strength will also be fatally damaged, and it will not survive a big collision.
Wood coated with old oil is flammable. The old oil on the wood of the warships built in Jinghaihui Camp was mixed with an additional type of vitriol to increase its flame retardancy.
Jin'an has also had a shipyard for a long time, but in the past, it mostly built small boats and fishing boats. There was no shortage of short materials and no large materials. With the existing materials, no matter how much the She family invested, they could only build a large number of small and medium-sized ships in a short time.
The quality of the ships is not as good as those built by Longjiang Shipyard, let alone the ability to build large seagoing ships immediately.
Ordinary aniseed materials, given Jin'an's rainy and humid climate, would take at least two years to process before they can be used. The She family lacked the patience to build large ships.
Lin Fu started preparing materials at the Chongzhou shipyard half a year ago, but he had to strictly follow the traditional craftsmanship. It would take at least a year and a half for the wood to be used. The various materials used for repairing the ship in front of him were much more than those of other ships.
They were bought at the Longjiang Shipyard, and some key aniseed materials were smuggled out of the Longjiang Shipyard by paying off officials at the Longjiang Shipyard.
After all, this cannot be done on a large scale. We rely on bribes and stolen materials to build Jinhai-class warships. We can build one or two ships, or ten or eight. Officials from the Jiangning Ministry of Industry are not aware of the forces that are at odds with Lin Fu.
, and will also alert officials from the Jiangning Ministry of Industry.
Chongzhou wanted to build large-scale ships in a short period of time, so Lin Fu could only try to build a drying kiln on Xisha Island to artificially speed up the wood drying process.
This is easier said than done. Many craftsmanships in the world are inherited based on hundreds of years of experience. Building a cellar that is easy to dry wood in the shade is something that many people dare not even think about.
What kind of hot air should be maintained in the kiln? It is not just about heat. Water must be added to maintain a certain humidity. Cracking the wood is also a bad thing. How should the wood be stacked in the cellar? How long should the kiln fire last?
There is no existing experience to follow when it comes to maintenance and how to ventilate the kiln room. It has to be explored slowly. Some old craftsmen even resist this practice that destroys tradition.
All the wood that Guanyintan Shipyard had prepared in the early days was used to test the kiln. Only a small part was qualified. A large amount of wood was scrapped. The kiln room was changed again and again in the past six months. Sun Jingxuan, who was in charge of this matter, felt distressed.
At least there was some progress, otherwise he would have had to jump out and object to Lin Fu's behavior.
After hearing Sun Jingxuan say that Lin Fu might visit the kiln, Qin Chengzu nodded slightly and said: "It is possible. The imperial court and the Liang family thought that by occupying Shandong, they occupied the most critical link of the Jinhai grain road, connecting Jinhai and Chongzhou.
They were separated on two wings; I thought that with Dengzhou Shuiying in charge, Denglai merchants would not dare to defect with us and threaten the court... There is really only one person in the temple and palace who can recognize the black water foreigners."
The more Cao Ziang and Lin Mengde thought about it, the more likely it became.
At present, the most important part of the Tianjin-Hai grain route is that grain from the southeast leaves the Huaihe estuary, then passes through the Jiaolai River in Qingzhou and crosses the Shandong Peninsula, and then is sent to Tianjin and other places by Denglai merchants.
Although the Denglai Maritime Group is close to the Dongyang clan, almost all of its activities are in the Bohai Bay. The Dengzhou Water Camp is located at the northeastern end of the Shandong Peninsula, blocking the Denglai maritime business forces in the Bohai Bay. As long as the Liang family can control
On the surface, the situation in the Shandong Peninsula seems to be about to be resolved by the Dongyang group's sole control of the entire Tianjin-Hai grain route.
In fact, this is not the case. Leaving Huaikou and taking the Jiaolai River in Shandong Peninsula was Lin Fu's early expedient plan for planning the Tianjin-Haihai grain route.
Affected by the complex terrain in Qingzhou, the transport capacity of the Jiao Lai River was very limited. Tang Haoxin took command in Shandong and organized 20,000 transport troops, advancing both by water and land, to barely guarantee a monthly transport capacity of 250,000 shi.
If you don't know how difficult and costly it is to maintain such transportation capacity in Shandong, you won't be able to appreciate how hard Tang Haoxin worked for the imperial court, nor how fiercely Tang Haoxin wanted to die.
Lin Fu's real plan for the Tianjin-Hai Grain Road was to go out from the Jiangkou and take the Heishui Ocean Channel to transport grain directly to Jinhai. Shandong County was just a supplement to the Tianjin-Hai Grain Road.
When the Liang family takes control of Shandong, even if they spare no effort to maintain the transportation capacity of the Jiaolai River, it will be too easy for Chongzhou to manipulate Huaikou. Sinking a ship every now and then can destroy the heavily silted Huaikou.
was lost, forcing all the grain to be sent to the sea from the mouth of the river. At that time, whether the grain should go to Shandong, or go directly to Heishuiyang, how could it be the turn of the Liang family to decide?
In the early days of Lin Fu's stay in Chongzhou, he kept encouraging Chongzhou's large households to raise funds to build sea-going ships. This was the most fundamental intention.
The Denglai maritime merchants, threatened by the Dengzhou water camp, may not choose to side with Lin Fu at the critical moment, but if the Chongzhou maritime merchant group develops, they will have no choice.
But the key point is that the control of the Jinhai grain road must be fundamentally controlled by Chongzhou. Chongzhou must ensure a transport capacity of three million shi a year.
Based on an average of six round trips per year for a ship, one hundred Jinhai-class large grain-carrying sea-going ships would be enough, not counting spare ships.
Lin Fu kept his mourning for three months without seeing guests, ignoring official duties, and not reading official letters. This did not mean that he did nothing. On the contrary, he should use these three months of precious time to lay a stronger foundation for Chongzhou.
In three months, the new Chongcheng City, which is a mountain city, a water city, and a land-based integrated city will be basically completed, the new Hecheng City will also be built, the Shengsi Defense Line will be built, and the dredging of the Yan River will be basically completed. The increased grain production in Chongzhou will be enough.
If we can raise another 100,000 refugees, we will have the conditions to reclaim Hecheng. At that time, even if we can defend Chongzhou, we can also sit back and watch the chaos in the world change.
We also know whether Lin Fu suddenly went to the island to see the baking kiln at this time. Qin Chengzu, Cao Ziang, Lin Mengde and others had no choice but to walk on the stone path to Nanya Pier and take a boat to Guanyin Beach to meet him.