Chapter 89 The last month of the first year of Longqing
It is the last month of the year, and the three-month captain training course has concluded. Following Abbot Zhao's goal of "our journey is to the stars and the sea", this group of monks boarded the ship and began their large-scale training at sea.
At the same time, the second phase of the captain's monk training course continued, and the number of people recruited this time was the same as the first phase, also one hundred and fifty.
But according to Li Dayin and Lu Xixing, the enrollment period for the second training class has been extended by half a month, and it is almost impossible to meet the size of 150 people. The reason for this situation is that Abbot Zhao has held five training sessions in a row.
The class is making trouble.
Four phases of advanced training courses for architectural monks have trained more than 650 architectural monks; two phases of training courses for captain monks have trained 300 monks for captains, a total of more than 950 people.
The vast majority of these monks come from surrounding areas. This number accounts for 5% of the total number of monks in southern Zhili and northern Zhejiang, and 10% of the monks under the age of 50!
In other words, in southern Zhili and northern Zhejiang, one out of every ten monks under the age of fifty responded to Abbot Zhao's call and became either an architectural monk or a captain monk.
Basically, everyone who can come has come, but whether the third captain's monk training class can still be started is a huge question mark.
Li Dayin and Lu Xixing suggested that working groups be dispatched to Shandong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangxi, and Guangdong, and the recruitment scope be expanded to the coastal areas of the above provinces to meet the enrollment needs of the third phase.
Zhao Ran agreed with this.
While discussions were taking place on the shore, the first group of captains and monks also boarded the first batch of container ships built by Xinjiangkou Shipyard. There were eight to nine captains and monks on each of the sixteen ships, and they would take a month to rotate.
Be familiar with various positions such as helmsman, rigging hand, gunner, jump helper, etc.
Sixteen well-organized cargo ships left the pier one by one, gathered in a queue on the river, and headed downstream. The scene was quite spectacular.
When the last ship was raising its sails, Li Dayin smiled and clasped his fists at Zhao Ran and Lu Xixing: "There are two laborers on the shore. I will train them to be mature in the next month. When I come back before the New Year, I will let you two
Take a good look at their majesty!”
Zhao Ran and Lu Xixing clasped their fists at the same time: "Bon voyage!"
Li Dayin took the wine glass handed by Lu Xixing, drank it in one gulp, and jumped on the boat.
It was Lu Xixing who originally planned to take the students to sea, but Li Dayin became more and more interested in building a fleet. He followed the class every day for the past three months, and actually became a "naval warfare expert" - on paper of course.
He took the initiative to ask Zhao Ran and Lu Xixing to take over the errand and became the commander-in-chief of the trial fleet.
Watching a string of sails sail out of sight, Zhao Ran and Lu Xixing turned around to look at the completed warships and patrol ships, and asked about the sea trials that had just ended a few days ago.
During the sea trials, there were a few minor problems with the two ships, which were all problems with the watertight compartments at the bottom. They needed to be slightly modified, but the problems were not major.
The ironwood from Yunnan has been put in place, and the drying process has been completed. It is all piled in the warehouse. Taoist Amber promised that mass production can be officially started after the Lantern Festival next year. It will take about three to four months to complete the first batch of four warships.
and the construction of six patrol ships. Within half a year, the second batch of orders will be completed. By July next year, ten warships and ten patrol ships will be delivered to the Jimingguan Inspection Fleet.
Zhao Ran was very satisfied with the report, and with a stroke of his pen, he paid the second payment for the ship, totaling one hundred thousand taels.
After inspecting the shipyard, Zhao Ran went to the Jinchuan River first. The cable-stayed bridge has become the main passage on the north and south sides of the Jinchuan River. Pedestrians cross the bridge for one penny each time, and vehicles and horses cross the bridge for three pence each time. Compared with the previous boat ferry, the cost is saved.
In half, time is greatly saved.
Some of the boatmen who originally took the ferry were recruited as bridge toll collectors, and some were recruited as sailors at Jiming Temple. The remaining boatmen who were unwilling to take the risk were combined into sightseeing boats by Shangyuan County.
Team, punting boats for tourists taking a boat trip on the Jinchuan River.
At the construction site of the Yangtze River Bridge, construction on both sides of the strait started at the same time, and the approach bridge piers on the shore were being built at a rate of four bridge piers a month. Twelve bridge piers have now been built, and hundreds of construction monks and more than 4,000 civilian workers are working nervously.
It was so busy that mountains of gravel, clay and sand were piled up at the site, as well as a large number of steel cables and steel plates transported from Taixuan Pavilion.
Such a spectacular construction scene made Zhao Ran very happy. As for the money that was constantly being spent like water, he no longer felt bad about it.
When the charity fund had 400,000 silver, he felt extremely distressed every time he spent one tael of silver. When there were only tens of thousands left, he would panic for no reason. When he borrowed the first sum of money from Four Seasons Bank, he would toss and turn at night and sigh, but
When he owed 400,000 taels, he was indifferent.
Not enough money? Borrow!
He has already spent 800,000 taels for this bridge. It doesn't matter if he spends another 800,000 taels. As long as the bridge can be built, money or not is no longer a consideration.
He was busy building great projects and forming an expeditionary fleet, and Rong Niang was not idle either. She completely took over the implementation of small-amount banknotes.
Since Four Seasons Bank began to issue the first small amount of banknotes in April, large banks such as Tongda Bank and Huitong Bank have also followed suit, followed by more than ten medium-sized banks. Baochao has already accumulated a large amount of money in its bank vault.
Three hundred thousand taels of silver were mortgaged.
But this was not enough. After Rong Niang took over, she discussed a way with Shi Weiming and published an announcement simultaneously inside and outside the imperial city and in "Junshan Notes". Starting from the first month of the second year of Longqing, those who wanted to issue small-amount silver notes
Banks must accept the qualification review from the Bank of China.
There are three conditions for review: amount of silver deposits, number of stores, and annual exchange business volume.
Those who fail to meet the standards will be disqualified from issuing small-denomination banknotes by the Bank of China.
Zhao Ran had been busy all day. When Rong Niang told him about this policy, his mind was still full of messy things on the construction site. He didn't react for a while, so he fell down on the bed and closed his eyes to rest.
While letting Rong Niang massage him, he asked: "What do you and Shi Weiming want to do with such a policy?"
Rong Niang rode on his back and beat his shoulders, saying: "After the Baochao Department introduced this policy, what does it mean? It means that the banks that can issue small banknotes are all big banks with strong strength. Are the people right?
Do you feel more confident with small banknotes?”
Zhao Ran nodded: "It makes sense, it's a good idea." After feeling comfortable for a while, his mind became clearer, and he finally realized what was wrong: "Then what if the review conditions are not met? What should these small and medium-sized banks do?"
Rong Niang said nonchalantly: "If a bank cannot obtain the right to issue small-amount banknotes, of course it means that it is not strong enough. Who would dare to deposit and exchange money with them again?"
Zhao Ran got up quickly and said seriously: "If it causes a run on a group of banks and goes bankrupt, the consequences will be very serious. You can't do this!"
Rong Niang smiled and said, "Don't worry, it won't happen."
"What can't you do? You really can..."
"No, Four Seasons Bank will give them a way out. Whether it's a joint venture, a shareholding, or an acquisition, there are many ways."
Zhao Ran was stunned and murmured: "It's dark, it's so dark!"
Rong Niang smiled: "Okay, okay, I promise you, it will be a win-win situation for all three parties. The Four Seasons Bank will pay more, and the bank and the people will not be harmed, and your merits will not be harmed. Are you satisfied?"