The eastern coastal area in January has entered midsummer, but the temperature in the early 20 degrees does not make people feel hot at all. On the contrary, the moist wind blows on the sea, making people feel particularly refreshing.

Henry wore a white round-neck shirt on his upper body, blue cotton jeans on his lower body, and a pair of uncolored ordinary leather shoes on his feet, which made people know at a glance that he was a factory worker.

This 10-horsepower small inland paddle steamer is filled with cabins of farm tools, iron stoves, honeycomb coal and other supplies. There are about twenty passengers standing scattered on the deck of the ship. On today's east coast, whether it is inland shipping or offshore shipping, freight is preferred when the capacity is limited. If passengers want to travel, they can only choose to take these cargo ships.

Moreover, the ticket price is quite expensive. For example, the short three and a half hours from Dongfang Port to Miannong Fort will charge a 20-cent ship fee. When purchasing tickets, you need to present a letter of introduction presented by enterprises, government departments, military and other institutions. The letter of introduction says that someone goes to a certain place a day, does something, and then stamps the official seal of the unit before it takes effect. If these procedures are not available or the procedures are not complete, then you will be unable to move forward. Because whether you are riding a carriage, a ship, or going out for accommodation, you need to present a letter of introduction issued by the unit, otherwise each institution will not pay attention to you. This method effectively reduces the enemy's penetration and also makes the government's control over the country to a higher level.

The letter of introduction in Henry's pocket was issued by the Dayuhe Arsenal Factory. The reason he used it at that time was to visit friends at the Fengcheng Brigade in Dingyuan Township - a friend of his was assigned to reclaim wasteland there. To be honest, Henry was unwilling to issue this letter of introduction in the factory because the Fengcheng Brigade was only seven or eight kilometers away from Dongfanggang County. It would not take too long to walk there. Moreover, it would be too troublesome to issue a letter of introduction. It would leave traces. The latter point was particularly uncomfortable.

However, considering the instructions from the superiors, he also needed to carefully observe the "black smoke-producing steamships" of the people in the lower east coast, so he simply drove a letter of introduction and took this small steamer to Dingyuan Township. The small steamer load was only 35 tons and was modified with the original inland shallow water sailing ship. After installing a 10-hp steam unit, the speed could reach about 5-6 knots, and burning more than 20 kilograms of coal per hour, which was much stronger than sailing ships.

Some coal ash was blown up and down on Henry's white shirt by the river wind. Henry observed carefully. He roughly determined that the ship should need to burn coal. This can be seen from the coal ash floating in the air and the black smoke floating out of the small chimney on the small chimney on the ship. However, the coal burned by the people on the east coast was too poor. Not only was the ash extremely heavy, but the smell was also pungent. There was also some water vapor coming to his face, which made Henry feel a little confused. Is coal used as fuel to boil water in the cabin? What is it? Can it drive the paddle wheel of the ship to rotate?

While Henry was thinking about the working principle of this small steamer, not far behind him, two passengers disguised assembled by investigators from the General Administration of Intelligence were scattered on both sides of the deck, with their eyes falling alternately on him, and they were performing secret surveillance dutifully.

There was nothing wrong with the way. The small steamer stopped at the dock of the Fengcheng Brigade after 40 minutes. A dozen passengers who had been waiting on the dock for a long time were carrying loads and driving pigs and sheep to rush up. This was the local farmers who went to the Cotton Fort and Zhenyuan Fort to sell agricultural products. Today is the market day there once a month. Many nearby farmers would choose to take their own agricultural and sideline products there for sale at this time. Henry and several passengers walked to the dock with difficulty against the flow of people. During this process, his snow-white shirt was rubbed by a big white pig driven by a tall blond farmer, and an indescribable smell immediately stuck to him.

The little steamer soon started to move in black smoke again. Henry stood on the dock, glanced around slightly, and immediately walked towards the 6th production team after identifying the direction. The two investigators were inconvenient to follow him at this moment, so they scattered around. Anyway, the several production teams here were already full of investigators, so they didn't expect to lose their target.

After walking for ten minutes, Henry walked into the entrance of the 6th production team. Several children playing at the entrance of the village stared at him, a strange outsider. These children were not like those European children, nor were they much like those local natives or those Ming people. They seemed to be mixed races between the two.

Henry smiled friendly at the children, and then walked towards the village. The children seemed to have discovered something fun and began to follow Henry in groups, like a small tail. Henry rushed away several times but failed to drive the children away, so he could only let them go. However, the existence of these children greatly facilitated the stalkers' tracking. They hung behind slowly and stared at Henry with their eyes.

Henry walked to a red brick house. A wooden sign hung on the top of the brick house, with the words "No. 23 of the 6th Production Team" written on it. This is the number of this family. A farmer in his twenties was cutting grass and feeding sheep in the yard in front of the house. He looked up and looked out after hearing the movement, and then his eyes shrank suddenly. It was obvious that he recognized Henry.

The little kids saw that there was nothing lively at this moment and they scattered. Henry walked to the yard slowly, looking at the clean farmyard, and said with a smile: "Adil, long time no see, have you miss me?"

"You'd better never come to see me." Adil straightened up, wiped his hands on the apron, then walked towards Henry, and whispered, "Hell, why are you here to see me with such a big swagger? Are you crazy?"

"My time is very limited." Henry hugged Adil's shoulder, then walked into the house, whispering: "Damn East Coast people, their system is really strict. Especially for us, technical craftsmen with sensitive identities, we must declare in advance wherever we go and issue letters of introduction by our unit, otherwise it will be really hard to move forward. On the streets, in the community, and even in the countryside, there are patrols and secret police everywhere. When they see people they think are suspicious, they will go up to interrogate and check their ID cards and other documents. Damn, there are more policemen in the arsenal, and I am just going crazy when I stay there."

"Then you should be more cautious!" Adil said mercilessly, "Especially when you have just been here for less than two months, can't wait for these months? Henry, I will write it down. It's already a violation of the rules for you to meet today. Next time you come to me before the date of meeting and have no legitimate reason, I will... kill you! Henry, I'm not kidding!"

Henry's face turned pale, and then he whispered in a low voice: "I...I have fully mastered the secret of the East Coast casting cannons. Moreover, I have learned how to refine special steel of different specifications, and I have recorded the data in code. Now I will give it to you, please find a way to send it out as soon as possible. The production tasks of the arsenal will be even heavier in the next period of time, and I may not have much time to come and see you."

Adil looked at Henry coldly for a long time before reaching out to take a piece of white paper that Henry pulled out from the bottom of the insole. He glanced a little and carefully put it in his pocket. Then he looked at Henry and said, "I will find a way to send it out. You'd better give me some peace in the next period of time. At the market next month, I'll find a way to go to the Cottonberg Fort, where there are two of our own people. Then let them find a way to cross the grassland to Asuncion or Buenos Aires to return home."

"After working in the artillery casting workshop for a while, I will try to contact several other workshops. I heard that there are many high-precision boring machines in the gun manufacturing workshop of the East Coast people; the comprehensive workshop is still manufacturing and repairing textile machines for textile factories. These are technical secrets worth a thousand gold for our Kingdom of France." Henry said that he was a little excited and his face began to turn rosy.

Adil nodded slightly to express his approval, then raised his head and said to Henry seriously: "The idea is good, Henry. But don't do things too obvious. You have stole so many technical secrets. If you successfully send them back to China, I'm afraid the Prime Minister will know our names, so you don't have any pressure on tasks in the near future. Take your time and take your time. All you need to do is to gain the trust of the East Coast people step by step, and then gradually get in touch with those more core secrets. Do you understand, Henry, I don't want to be killed by you yet!"

"I understand!" Henry said softly, "I will be very careful next."

"That's good." Adil nodded.

The two of them didn't talk much later. After the information handover was completed, they walked out of the door again. Adil and Henry deliberately raised their voices and chatted about trivial matters for a while. Then Henry offered to say goodbye. Adil pretended to keep him once and then took Henry out of the village.

Five or six minutes later, Adil, who had sent Henry away, walked into the yard slowly. He looked around in secludedly, then quietly closed the yard door, then walked to the front of the main hall and pushed the door open and walked in.

As soon as he entered the house, Adil felt something was wrong. He saw four or five people suddenly crawling in the room. These people were wearing black tops, wide-brimmed top hats, national emblem on their chests, and gun holsters on their waists. Adil knew this outfit very well - this was the secret policeman of the East Coast people!
Chapter completed!