After reading the newspaper, the breakfast was already cold. Xuan Hao chewed the buns in a few bites, drank the soy milk on the table in a few gulps, and then stared at the newspaper at a loss, not knowing what to do. He just subconsciously felt that his boss should understand the severity of this matter. If the boss investigated and tidied it up next, he might have to roll the bed and go back to the countryside to farm, right? How could he be as leisurely as he is now? Alas, it is really worrying!

While thinking, a guy wearing cloth clothes and a sailor with a red turban tied on his head walked in, then sat opposite Xuan Hao, lit a pipe, and sniffed: "Dear Xuan, the quality of the salt sold in the store last week was so bad. Not only were there a lot of impurities, but the portion was insufficient. Many workers expressed their dissatisfaction, especially their wives, who told me that this time was really too much, and they hated such unscrupulous transactions very much."

"Let them hate them, they can't make any waves anyway!" Xuan Hao sneered when he heard this, swept away the decadence just now, and restored his previous cold shopkeeper's character. He only heard him say: "If you have the ability, let them resort to the law and see if the law will protect them! Of course, if they dare to make trouble in the camp, Max, you and your subordinates will be cheered up, and all of them will be suppressed and deducted wages! If anyone makes too much trouble, then send them back to the labor broker and ask them to compensate for the losses, and see if they dare to do so!"

In fact, he was a little nervous when he said this, because the content he read in the "Businessman" just now made him feel a little uneasy. However, in the past, there have been many inappropriate practices or systems reported in newspapers, but the government may not always take care of them. Therefore, this time, the "Businessman" criticized the physical wage or bookkeeping wage system that is widely present in the non-national labor system. The officials may not pay attention to it, let alone suppress it and demand rectification. After all, these people are non-nationals, and they are not from our East Coast people, why advocate for them? In Xuan Hao's opinion, the "Businessman" is simply sick this time. Although he had been enslaved by the Tartars before, he did not mind enslaving these Italians and Irish people at all.

"It is naturally not possible to resort to the law, because there is no clear provision to stipulate this matter so far. They may complain to their agents, which may cause some trouble." Max, who was wrapped in a headscarf, frowned and said: "If their agents fight for their rights, the efficiency of logging is likely to be reduced, and there will be insufficient start-ups in the wood processing plant, which means that profits will be lost and the boss will be angry."

"Don't worry too much about this. Haha, complain to the agent? Speak lightly! To whom? Battino or Mendes? No one cares about their living conditions!" Xuan Hao continued to sneer: "Except for Goshkin, a Russian who has a conscience, when will Battino Mendes become a good person who will protect the interests of his labor workers? Except for those labor workers who have relatives with them, they are eager to help us suppress the thorns of trouble.

In order to continue to undertake business in the future, that guy Goshkin will fight for his Ross fellow countrymen and prevent them from being exploited or bullied. So now the vast number of plantation investors, logging camp contractors, and sand owners are increasingly disliked to recruit labor workers from him unless they have to. Haha, this forces that guy Goshkin to register a construction company himself and undertake projects everywhere, and his influence has decreased a lot..."

Max was speechless when he heard this. Yes, if the labor broker would consider his workers in the early days, then when he started to use kidnapping, deception and other means to get labor workers, people like Battino and Mendes have long transformed into ruthless gangsters. The laborers who were recruited by them to work hard in the early days have also become maids and thugs. Therefore, it is simply a delusion to want them to stand up for the labor workers they have never met! In this regard, only the carpenter of a poor background, Goshkin is more kind to his subordinates, and it is just a matter of exploitation and oppression, but if it is too much, he will also stand up. This seems to be the reason why his subordinates have strong cohesion. This can be seen from the achievements of the three major labor brokers fighting for projects.

"Let's do this, I'll take down the inferior goods in the store recently. You'll also take your people to keep an eye on the labor workers and don't let them cause trouble. In this wilderness, there's no village or shop in front of the village or behind, there's no food. There's also mosquitoes everywhere. These guys dare not run away. Just let them not cause trouble, let alone many of them brought them together with their families." Xuan Hao thought for a while and said again.

Max thought about it after hearing this. Xuan Hao and his boss were both Ming people, and they usually believed him. In addition, what he said was reasonable, so he followed him this time. Thinking of this, Max decided to go back and stare at the non-national labor workers. Xuan Hao remembered his advice before his boss left, so he went to the forest farm and dock with Max.

There is nothing to say about the forest farm. A group of ragged old mainland workers were logging wood, and then pulled the wood to the downstream dock through a small stream for processing. Xuanhao's boss built a wood drying kiln next to the dock. It is worth mentioning that private capital rarely entered this industry before, mainly because of the high technical requirements. Now Xuanhao's boss has built this kiln, which seems to confirm from a certain perspective that the reserves of technical forces on the east coast have reached a very high level in the past 30 years. In addition, a small dock has been established to transport the processed wood and even giant logs to other places.

Xuan Hao and Max quickly finished their patrol in the logging camp, and then stepped on the muddy land to the dock. The dock was built with thick and cheap wood, which was very simple, not strong, and had no long life. However, the cost was low and could be used for local materials. At this time, two small boats were unexpectedly moored by the dock, and then looking into the distance, a large merchant ship was anchored a little far away. Xuan Hao looked carefully and vaguely recognized that the other party's sail had the logo of the Dutch West India Company on the other party's sail. Could it be that it was the other party's merchant ship?

"Mr. Conelis?" Max called out in surprise. Because as he saw, he was chatting and laughing with an East Coast official in Zhongshan at the dock, he was obviously one of the directors of the Dutch West India Company, Conelis from the Bicker family. Naturally, there is no need to say more about this tyranny. For people like Max who came from the old continent, he was well-known. Therefore, even though he was a citizen of the East Coast Republic of China at this moment, he still couldn't help but want to bow down to him when he saw this person.

"This is the best shipbuilding wood, right?" Conelis carefully avoided some puddles and mud on the ground with the support of two followers, and then pointed to the piles of cut wood plates placed under the awning (also able to shade the sun) and asked: "When I was in Amsterdam, I heard that tropical hardwoods produced from the New World are the most suitable for shipbuilding, especially when paired with hard cutting tools produced in your country. Hardness, flexibility, and corrosion resistance are all the best choices. The Spaniards and Portuguese are very convenient in this regard."

"It's a pity that the stupid Portuguese have brought back a large amount of Brazilian suma to be dyed. Since the last century, they have successfully reduced the entire Brazilian suma to more than 50 million in more than a hundred years. You should know that these precious trees can be used to make boat boards, keels, masts, musical instruments and even high-end furniture, but they turned into inferior dyes for no reason. It's a waste of resources." Director Bai Yutang, who accompanied Conelis Bicker to the forest farm in Shenmu Township, shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"Fortunately, it's all over. After the signing of the peace agreement in 1664, we took over the large pristine forests of the former General District of Rio de Janeiro, General Saint-Espiritu and General Seguru, and I am sure that our government and businessmen will treat this precious forest properly and develop it in a sustainable manner to benefit the people. Of course, as friends of our East Coast people, the Dutch West India Company will also be able to share our wealth, especially when you need help."

"We will always remember this with great gratitude to our friends on the East Coast for their kindness and generosity." Conelis Bicker responded politely. As a country with severe timber lacks, in fact, the United Province has been insisting on importing large quantities of shipbuilding equipment from the Baltic Sea and Russia over the years, such as hemp, linen, wood tar, pine masts and the largest number of sheets, to support the huge shipbuilding industry of United Province.

But it is obvious that in the above-mentioned areas where wood is rich, whether it is Norway, Sweden, Finland, or the Russian Empire far away in the White Sea, due to the cold climate, the forests in its territory are mostly Tagalin. In terms of its material, it is actually not so suitable, especially for building warships. △≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧△≧

But the Dutch had no choice (of course, there were also costs to consider). They could only import large quantities of pine masts and shipboards from here, transport them to Amsterdam, and then use these softer wood to build merchant ships and armed merchant ships. Sometimes even a lot of the wood on the warships was pine boards. This kind of ship was naturally low in life, but the cost was pitifully low, so it was very popular in United Provinces. This may also be one of the reasons why they were somewhat disadvantageous in maritime combat. The ship was too slack.

The East Coast people undoubtedly looked down on sea boats made by pine wood. They were also surprised by the Dutch's pine boats running around the world. What a brave sailor! Does the Dutch need maintenance costs? It is really hard to understand! The ships currently built by the East Coast people, even merchant ships, are made of good tropical hardwood. At best, they use relatively cheap wood in superstructures (cabins and even furniture inside, etc.) to save costs, not to mention professional warships. The selection of materials is to strive for excellence, rather than to be inadequate. You should know that the Navy has always been a relatively "paracious" in this regard. The only ships built in large quantities of Parana pine wood are probably small inland steamers, barges and other small ships.

This time, when competing with the English at sea, the Dutch finally knew how troublesome it was to be filled with loose and soft pine wood on the warships. Although their opponent, the English, in terms of financial strength, were far inferior to their Dutch, their warship hulls and important parts were really made of oak. If they were to be killed, they were made of masts, forecastles, and sterns, and other woods. In terms of strength, the hulls were much stronger than the Dutch. Therefore, this is the reason why Conelis Bicker hurried to the East Coast, that is, the Dutch wanted to purchase a large number of cut high-quality wood from the East Coast and transport it back to Amsterdam. This could be used for shipbuilding and repairing damaged ships. It is very critical for the war ongoing today.

Speaking of this, I have to say something off topic. In the second half of last year, Conrad Van Boyningen, the United Province Ambassador to the East Coast, signed a series of ship purchase and construction agreements with the East Coast on behalf of the third-level parliament. Now more than half a year has passed, and more than 20 new and old ships have arrived at the ports of the United Province. Once the weather in the North Sea is clear in May and June, which is conducive to sea fighting, these ships from the East Coast will not be fully guaranteed to go into battle and fight the English Navy face to face.

If there is a battle, there will naturally be losses. Therefore, the third-level parliament in The Hague commissioned the Dutch West India Company to send effective officials and ships to the east coast to inspect and purchase high-quality ship materials. You must know that under the influence of the East Coast people, the Dutch are increasingly paying attention to the use of high-quality ship materials instead of making up a bunch of cheap pine wood.

As the plenipotentiary of the West India Company, Conelis Bicker has been wandering around Beining and Hue for a long time this time. Even some Portuguese-era logging sites (mostly located near the Port of Seguru Port, which have not yet started construction and are in abandoned) have carefully visited. Now Shenmu Township is his last trip.
Chapter completed!