The winter rain in the south of the Yangtze River is always endless. The fine and dense verbs are knocking on the roof, making the air in the house solidify. Rich people have already lit the water stove, while wealthy people have to choose the original ones in Peking, which is decent. Frugal people can't help but create a fire for half a month to keep the moisture burning, and it's hard for small families who have no money. Women and children can only hold their hands in their sleeves all day long, hoping that the weather will soon clear; men can't stand the conditions, and no matter what the weather is, they will come.

Go up to the dock to make a living. When the rice is put into the pot, if you encounter moving things to the new army, you may be able to make more money. Once you are lucky, you will be favored by the officials and you can change your life. For example, the third-year-old on the dock is, but a coolie can carry three more large items than others. As a result, I don’t know which incense stick is burned right, but I happened to be attracted by Mu Ying, the commander of the Pingnan Army, and was promoted to two levels in less than half a year, and it started to shake. Now the foreman who is in charge of the worker has to hurry up and get close to him when he sees him. Are people alive? I just hope to make a comeback.

There are definitely few pedestrians on the street in this weather, and even fewer people can rush on the road without shrinking their necks. Therefore, the carriage and guards that are galloping on the dock on the main road are particularly eye-catching. The carriage must be original in Beijing. From the steady progress, you can see that the horse pulling the carriage is two chestnut horses, with no variegated colors on its body, and it is clearly a good species of one in a hundred. The person who drove the carriage was wearing a straw hat and a light and warm sheepskin lacquered raincoat, and his waist was straighter than the trees on the roadside. "Driving", gently shook the rope, and the carriage accelerated and disappeared into the vast rain and fog.

"Old Zhao, slow down, don't meet people." A strong male voice came from the carriage. Old Zhao, who was driving the carriage, said "ah" and slowly reduced his speed. He treated the couple in the carriage as gods. He lived for most of his life. Only in this family is someone who remembers his surname Zhao. Thinking of the incident more than a month ago, Old Zhao's body was even more straight. I am Old Zhao now, not someone else's slave!

Lao Zhao was once a servant in Wu'an country, but now he is a free man. More than a month ago, Wu'anguo came back to his senses from the joy of his newlyweds. His first family business was to give others to his family and the girl whom Liu Ling was dowed. The slaves gathered together and returned their contract to sell their body.

This action shocked the housekeeper and all the family members. Several old family members and maids, including Lao Zhao, and the eunuch knelt on the ground in fear on the spot. Returning the contract for sale is a disguised punishment for the incompetent family by the "kind" master, which is equivalent to expelling from the house. People who are expelled from the house usually will not be hired again. It is okay for young and strong families, but old and weak bodies and girls mean that they will lose their way of life from now on. "Marquis, please don't drive Wu Si away. If Wu Si does something wrong, you can beat him or scold him. Don't drive us away." Lao Zhao kowtowed and mourned, and the few little maids cried and cried. Originally, they were forced to sell him to others as slaves for life by cruel elders. Once they were expelled home, they would often be sold by cruel elders again, but next time they might be prostitutes.

Wu Anguo was stunned by everyone, helped this one up, and then knelt down. Several of them were even beaten to death and refused to get up. After finally asking, I realized that I was abrupt again and forgot the rules of this era.

"I'm not driving you away, everyone gets up and talks." Wu'anguo tried to slow down his tone of his speech. "I came from afar, and we don't have the habit of being slaves. I mean now that you will not be slaves of my family in the future, but, but,..."

The family members listened blankly. Mr. Wu seemed to be stupid, but after a long time, he didn't come out, so he came out. The hostess in the house reacted quickly and gently reminded him, "Maid" behind him!

"Yes, the helper is like a short-term worker in a farmer or a friend in a shop." Wu Anguo quickly reacted and continued: "After returning your contract to sell your body, you can restore your name from now on. No one except yourself has the right to change your surname. For me, you are the relationship between the hired friend and the boss. We sign such a contract." Wu Anguo picked up a piece of paper.

Lao Zhao still doesn't understand the thing called the contract, but Lao Zhao knows that from that day on, he no longer follows the master's surname. His surname is Zhao, and Zhao is ranked first among the hundreds of surnames. The contract stipulates that the work he should do and the wages he should get every day. If he doesn't do well, Wu Anguo can only deduct no more than 10% of his monthly wages or fire him, but no one can beat him or scold him. He can still resign if he is not satisfied with the wages. Even if he is making a living at the gate of Wu'an country, no one can regard him as a fugitive slave.

That night, Lao Zhao, who usually snores after work, suffered from insomnia for the first time in his life. Early the next morning, he got up in high spirits to clean up Liu Ling's beloved horse-walking. When he saw someone, his waist was always straight.

From then on, there were a lot of laughter in the yard, which was a free laugh. Wu Anguo and Liu Ling's actions spread among the nobles like ripples on the lake. Some people were already accustomed to it. Anyway, the couple's behavior was originally an alternative; some people cheered loudly and followed suit; some people kept shaking their heads. Isn't this a mess of magnificent magnitude? The emperor didn't take good care of it! Zhu Yuanzhang was the first to get this news. The Jinyiwei was placed among the servants of the Wu family and the informant dutifully described everything he observed. Looking at the report of saying good things for Wu Anguo, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but shake his head, "How can I control it? He scattered his family, what does it have to do with others. Boy, you really have you, 'When Wang Mang was humble and respectful', it was not worth it."

The carriage gradually sailed to the dock, and Lao Zhao put the speed slower. Among the ships of all sizes, a new merchant ship was moored at the end of the trestle. The ship was a dual-purpose river and sea ship, slightly smaller than the star-rated warships you had seen a few days ago, with a slightly wider hull and a little shorter three main masts. In the eyes of experts, this means that the speed may be slightly slower, but it can withstand the wind and waves. The sailors on the ship were busy sorting out the sails and cargo under the command of a one-armed man, "Just quickly, put the cargo in the bottom warehouse. Put these wet sails on the stove and dry them, be careful not to catch fire. Alas, old shark, ask your subordinates to be careful to serve the sails, one sail is windy, and we can't walk any more than fifty sails that are broken."

Wu Anguo helped Liu Ling out of the carriage and smiled knowingly at Shao Yunfei's calm command. This little Shao was used to be a beggar and lazy to be an official. He said he had gone home, but he was still stumbling on the boat. That's right, this kind of person was originally the son of Hai, and he regarded the boat as his home.

"General Shao, so majestic," Wu Anguo shouted at the top of his voice.

When he heard someone calling him, Shao Yunfei turned his head and jumped down from the place where the bow of the boat was covered by rain cloth. He called someone to put down the wooden ladder and ran down quickly. While running, he rushed to the captain's room and shouted: "Xiao Feng, little madman, stop fiddling with your broken equipment, Wu Hou is here."

"What, who is here?" The cabin door was kicked in a slam, and a handsome boy rushed out with a pile of scrap copper and iron.

"Wuhou, your master whom you never forget, your preacher."

At this time, the boy also saw Wu Anguo and Liu Ling and his party. He turned around and ran back to the cabin to put down the treasure in his hand, and tidied up his clothes to welcome him off the boat. He walked closer and bowed deeply.

After a few greetings between the two sides, Wu Anguo, Liu Ling, the guards and accompanying people boarded the ship one after another. Only after getting on the ship did I realize the difference of this ship. Lao Zhao and others who had never seen a new ship seemed to have entered the illusion of the illusion. They touched and looked at it on the deck, and were amazed. When they arrived at the cabin, they were even more surprised. The cabin was simple and comfortable, and it was simply enjoyable to take this boat to sea.

The first thing that entered Wu'anguo's eyes was the artillery that was blocked by the bow and sides, one first gun, four side guns, and five guns constituted the basic firepower of the ship. This was specially approved by the prince to Feng Ziming. In this way, although it was not as powerful as the star-rated warship, ordinary pirates probably would not be close to this merchant ship.

"Xiao Shao, what should I do if someone bites my butt?" In the reception room, Wu Anguo picked up the tea brought by the sailor and asked softly.

Shao Yunfei blinked and said proudly: "It's not that easy to bite my Shao's butt. Even if I bite, I will still turn around." He pointed to the cabin on the side. He told Wu Anguo that there was a light cannon under the cabin. If he was anxious, he could push the deck along the track and bombard the deck wherever he wanted.

Liu Ling rarely had the opportunity to board the ship. This time she had the opportunity, she could no longer sit still. She greeted Wu Anguo for a few words, didn't care about the image of a lady, said, "You guys chat slowly, and turned around and went out to study the warship in detail." She was not very restricted by the rules, and married a husband who would cheer on her side whenever she did something extraordinary, and she was even more rude.

"Mrs. Sister-in-law is so amazing, she deserves to be a hero among girls." Shao Yunfei looked at Liu Ling's back and admired.

"I like her unrestrained appearance. She is too regular and goes against human nature." Wu Anguo does not hide his feelings.

"Yes, when I got to the sea, I realized the vastness of the world." Feng Ziming said thoughtfully as he listened to Wu Anguo's words.

Feng Ziming stopped in the capital this time, and was entrusted by Cao Zhen and others to bring a batch of books for the Academy of Sciences, which was "considered" by Wu'anguo. Most of these books were circulated from the coast of the Mughal Kingdom, mostly from the stories, calendars, and miscellaneous studies of Western countries. Cao Zhen suggested that Wu'anguo find people who are familiar with the Great Food (Arabic) language to translate. Wu'anguo's Academy has been open for some days, but there is almost nothing except silver. Some scholars from the Academy of Sciences in Peking University do not want to embezzle them, and there is not much talent in other places. The Academy of Sciences is not as good as Imperial College, and there are a large number of scholars who serve as doctors, assistants, and sacrifices.

The current Academy of Sciences is a castle in the air, and even the staff cannot be collected. The salary of eighth-rank officials is not too low, but there are almost no people who are qualified to enjoy it. There is no way Wu'anguo can only find young, talented and not very successful low-level staff from the Imperial Heavenly Prison, Taishi Prison, Taishi Prison, Taishi Hospital, Shanglin Academy to find young, talented and not very successful low-level staff to make up for the numbers. Fortunately, the officials' offices are not involved in his crime of disturbing daily affairs, considering that he is a marquis, he does not participate in his crime of disturbing daily affairs. In addition to the several newly graduated students who were temporarily pieced together from Peking, the Academy of Sciences finally opened astronomy (the staff from the Imperial Heavenly Prison), history (the staff from the Imperial History Prison), medicine (the staff from the Imperial History Prison).

The institute), agriculture and animal husbandry (research on good varieties of grains and horses, the personnel from Shanglin Academy), smelting (from Peiping), equipment (from Peiping), military weapons (from Peiping), geography (from Peiping), mathematics (research on mathematics and metrology, personnel from Peiping), knowledge (the most basic ancient physics and chemistry, the sorcerer recommended by Peking students and ministers), and the same text (translation) has eleven functional departments. Although it is far lower than the original expectations of Wu'an Kingdom, it was finally founded. The most satisfied thing about Wu'an Kingdom here is agriculture and animal husbandry. Shanglin Academy has a deep foundation. At the beginning of its founding of the Ming Dynasty, it is about restoration of agriculture.

Industrial production is very important, and the people in Shanglin Academy are considered to be real and knowledgeable. Although they cannot summarize modern breeding theory, they have done a very effective practice. The most dissatisfied is to know things. Scholars who are addicted to distorted summarizing visible things still have their understanding of the objective world in terms of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. Chemistry is even worse, it is a mess of liar gathering. Although the students in Peking have worn out their mouths, some colleagues still think that mercury can be transformed into silver. Thinking about the West at this time, it was just starting from theology and medicine to lay the foundation for modern science, and Wu Anguo felt a little relieved.

The horizons of these scholars are still in the East. Let them broaden their horizons, and they may be able to see deeper things. Therefore, Wu Anguo commissioned Cao Zhen and others to find Western books. Although Western science may not be ahead of the East at this time, it is always good to complement each other. If the East of the Age of Discovery can absorb the beneficial components of each other's culture with an open mind like the Western world, Wu Anguo believes that his original world might be more perfect.

Therefore, the first paid commission that Feng Ziming accepted to go out to sea was to collect books from other countries, except for Buddhism and the Quran. Cao Zhen donated all his collections and the collections he had in Tianjin Wei in recent years and handed them over to him to the capital. After receiving the book, Wu Anguo was very grateful, so he took the time to come to the boat to thank Feng Ziming.

"What did Ziming gain from this trip?" After drinking tea for a while, Wu Anguo asked with concern.

"It's not a big gain, but I'll verify the things I learned from the previous books first. We didn't dare to go too far just after we got the ship." Feng Ziming said modestly.

"He is still waiting for the other two ships. Peking and Customs commissioned us to collect overseas customs and explore a route to the west of Persia. I bought the bounty given by the emperor and the silver that Shen Bin and others had collected, and prepared to do some business along the way. Shen Bin said that according to the current development of Peking, there might be no buyers in the goods one day. Go farther away, so that the goods will not be kept in your hands at that time." Shao Yunfei took over the topic.

"Brother Shen is right. Lord Guo was also worried about this and asked Mohammed what he could do. The method Mohammed said was similar to Brother Shen, which is to sell the farther the better. He also mentioned the story you told, saying that the French in France would be sold in gold foil." Feng Ziming was unwilling to owe too much favor to merchants, so he was very enthusiastic about finding new routes. If he could really reach the Western continent from sea, the property of the merchants in Peking could at least be several times more. Doing some business along the way to find routes can also subsidize the daily expenses of the fleet. Only when the fleet does not rely on other people's sponsorship but runs independently can it go further.

Wu Anguo nodded. It seemed that not all the people of this era had no economic vision. At least Mr. Shen had already considered the market saturation issue. Putting down the teacup, he said seriously: "Mr. Shen made a point. There was a Silk Road on the land during the Han and Tang Dynasties, but unfortunately it was blocked by the Mongols. So things in the East are more expensive in the West, but there are many things we don't have in the West. Business is about interoperability."

"There is no need to think about land, it is not easy to walk without Mongolians. If you transport some goods, you have to bring food that is ten times the weight of the goods. It is difficult for those deserted deserts to go out alive. It is different from the sea. After all, the ship is loaded and walks faster than camels. This is also one of the reasons why the elders of Peking asked us to find sea routes." Feng Ziming replied as he looked at Wu Anguo's face. Now he has his own opinions on some issues and is very careful to hope to verify it in Wu Anguo.

Wu Anguo smiled at him with encouragement and said, "If you continue speaking, you really have to look at you with admiration, Ziming. Don't care too much about whether others agree with your own opinions. The most important thing is to think independently."

Feng Ziming smiled shyly, his eyes gradually became pleasant. He could hear some compliments about Wu'anguo's words, but these words still inspired him. "I went to Luzon this time and went south to some island countries. I didn't see the strange people that Yuyou Jiuzhou said in the legend. However, the shorter and darker the people there went south. The spices there were very cheap, and they were simply free. They didn't like to wear clothes, so the silk I brought was not sold. I also saw giant whales on the sea, but they did not turn into Kunpeng, so some records in ancient books were not necessarily correct..." Feng Ziming said excitedly, while unfolding a Nanyang sea map in front of Wu'anguo. This picture is more detailed than the world map of Wu'anguo, and some places also marked the depth of the water. From the picture, Feng Ziming had crossed Indonesia and reached some islands further south.

"I wrote a book of the National Map of the Sea, and asked Wu Hou to give advice." After putting away the chart, Feng Ziming took out a booklet, "This is the first volume, which only records some places in the South China Sea. The more places I will arrive in the future, the more I will gradually become richer. Next time I am going to walk from Quanzhou to the southwest, Brother Shao said that the local people on the island in the southwest have treasures in their hands, and they can sell them for a good price. I am not greedy for money, I just want this fleet to be independent in the future and cannot rely on everyone's support to maintain it." Speaking of money, Feng Ziming felt a little embarrassed, after all, "Brother Kong Fang" should not be said lightly in the education he received since childhood.

Drunkie Note: 1. I stayed in a very expensive hotel, and I had nothing to do. The waiter's face seemed to owed her a lot of money, and was depressed.

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Chapter completed!