North Ming Chau, Jinshan Bay.

After more than ten days of searching and sailing, four expedition ships, including the Mingzhou, the Explorer, the Pacific and the Intrepid, finally arrived at the location of the city of San Francisco, California.

On the nautical chart provided to Zhou Xiaoqi by Chen Dexing, there are two cities along the coast of Beimingzhou! One is called Cloud City, which is the location of the later city of Vancouver; One is called the Golden Mountain, and you will know by listening to the name that it is the location of San Francisco in the future.

Whether it is Vancouver or San Francisco, they are both great ports in the future, and the natural conditions are also good. Although Vancouver has a high latitude, it has a humid and warm climate due to the influence of the North Pacific Ocean Current. San Francisco, on the other hand, is located in the south, but it is affected by the cold California Snap in the Pacific Ocean, and the summer temperature is very cool.

In addition, when the North Pacific Current approaches North America, it will split into two branches, one of which will turn north towards Alaska near Vancouver Island; One will turn south to the sea west of Vancouver Island into the California Snap. In this way, the expedition fleet had only two options, either to dock in Vancouver and establish a base. Or Baja California South.

And Zhou Xiaoqi chose to go south, so he was driven by the ocean current to the location of San Francisco in the later world.

"It's here! This is it! ”

Zhou Xiaoqi, who was standing at the bow of the boat, carefully observed the strait and bay in front of him. It's a godsend! The width of the strait is very narrow, only about 3 li at its narrowest point, and if you build forts on the two peninsulas jutting out into the sea, you can easily block the strait. However, the terrain of the peninsula is easy to defend and attack in the south, and it is only necessary to concentrate forces to defend one side, and it will be difficult for the enemy to penetrate it.

"Wen Zhuangyuan. Let's go ashore in Jinshan! Zhou Xiaoqi said to Wen Tianxiang beside him while carefully searching the strait and bay.

"Jinshan?" Wen Tianxiang also held a telescope in his hand. Also looking around - after more than 2 months of floating at sea, Wen Tianxiang has lost more than one lap. The robes of yesteryear are a little empty on the body. However, the ability to adapt to the turbulence of the sea vessel is much stronger. In the calm waters near San Francisco, it wasn't too dizzy. As soon as Zhou Xiaoqifang spoke, he heard that something was wrong.

"Why is it called Jinshan?"

"This is the name given by His Royal Highness King Ming...... His Highness said that there is gold here, so it is called Jinshan! ”

That's amazing, isn't it? Do you even know that gold is abundant?

Wen Tianxiang paused, seemed taken aback, and suddenly said loudly: "Someone!" Someone! ”

Almost at the same moment, the ship's observation post also shouted: "Target found!" Discover the target! It's a canoe, it's a canoe! 15 degrees ......"

Zhou Xiaoqi turned the telescope in a different direction and looked at his right front. Through the binoculars, I immediately saw two small canoes paddling near the inner shore of Jinshan Bay.

There really are people!

Although Chen Dexing had already told Zhou Xiaoqi that there were barbarians named Indians on the Mingzhou continent - why were they still called Indians? It's a tragedy anyway, is it necessary to have another name? As for the Indians, they are descendants of the Yin people or something. Chen Dexing did not believe it, because he knew that if the Yin people wanted to cross the Pacific Ocean eastward, they would inevitably use the warm current of Japan and the warm current of the North Pacific. In other words, it must first pass through Japan and then North America. So why don't the Yin people make their home in Japan nearby? At that time, the savages on the Japanese archipelago could stop more than 200,000 Yin people?

However, after exploring the Xihai'an along the Mingzhou Continent for more than ten days, Zhou Xiaoqi did not find any signs of human activity. So he once thought that there was no one on the Mingzhou Continent.

And there are people, which means that this continent has a master. That Ming may not be able to occupy it!

"Canoe...... The man on it seemed to be dressed in animal skin, and there were feathers on his head......"

Wen Tianxiang observed carefully, and muttered in his mouth: "It's really some uncivilized barbarian people, it seems that our generation of Confucian scholars has a long way to go!" ”

There was a sound of footsteps. The expedition leader Meng Qi had already walked quickly onto the deck and said to Zhou Xiaoqi's side, "Seventh brother." Got to the place? Do you want to log in now? ”

"Login! Landing of course! Aren't they just a few wild men! Zhou Xiaoqi put away the binoculars, "Little Meng Ge'er." Get your men ready for battle! ”

Then he gave the order to the ship's signalman in a loud voice, "Order." The ships followed the flagship, preparing to drop anchor and land. The order of sorties was as follows: the navigators of each ship were the first to set out in small boats to find suitable sites for landing and building ports; The second group of expeditions landed with weapons and armor; The second batch of the Heavenly Daoist Sect went out to land, carrying the Heavenly Sphere; The third group of craftsmen went ashore to carry equipment and tents. The rest of the people waited on the ship waiting for orders! ”

One after another, the four expedition ships were suddenly disturbed, and the soldiers, craftsmen, and Taoists who were preparing to go out on the mission all packed their bags. A few small sampans were lowered and rowed towards the peninsula on the southern side of the Kinmen Strait. Prepare to find a suitable beachhead as a www.biquge.info for the Biqu Pavilion for Beiming to land in the New World.

……

At this moment, the autumn harvest in China, Liaodong and Shandong, thousands of miles away, has been completed! For Beiming, it is a harvest season. The land in Liaodong has not been cultivated for more than thirty years. The black soil of Liaodong has accumulated amazing fertility. As long as you turn the ground a little and sow the seeds, you can reap the harvest without much preparation. By the middle of August of the second year of Xianchun, the warehouses of the three prefectures and three prefectures in Liaodong were already full of yellow wheat.

And having enough food and grass means that the war will be ignited again!

At the mouth of Lushun, Mingdu Prefecture, on both sides of a river called the Dragon River, are full of waterwheels that seem to be lined up in neat queues, and next to the waterwheels are blacksmith workshops of similar size. From the beginning of the summer, the waterwheels here run day and night, and countless small chimneys are constantly spewing smoke.

The tinkling sound of the hydraulic hammer and the repeated twitching of the bellows are like a never-ending concerto - unlike the blacksmith workshops in Lin'an and Quanzhou that like to use more labor, the labor shortage of Beiming, the hydraulic hammer and hydraulic bellows have become the necessary tools of each ironshop from the very beginning. Thousands of skilled blacksmiths place pieces of wrought iron or steel on the stove to soften them, and then use hydraulic hammers to strike them repeatedly, fusing the hard steel and the soft iron hammering into a single whole.

The officers and soldiers of the Military Affairs Department of the Northern Ming Dynasty pulled the carriage and came to the Longhe Armory Workshop. Several staff officers who had an eye for weapons were sweating profusely inspecting and registering the weapons and armor they had just received. After disbanding most of the weapons workshops, the Military Affairs Department of the Northern Ming Dynasty no longer produced other weapons and armor except for cannons, thunderbolts, three-bow crossbows, cannonballs, and arrow clusters. Instead, they turned to private procurement. The war is imminent, and the Military Affairs Department of the Northern Ming Dynasty naturally wants to buy some large road goods of armor as reserves. Although there are many generals who choose to buy their own armor, there are still many newly recruited soldiers who need equipment, and the army also needs to carry some spare supplies to supplement the battle damage.

Chen Dexing also came to the Longhe Weapons Workshop, and Meng Demeng, a preparatory student of Tiandao Academy and a professor of the Department of Metallurgy (what a strange combination), walked around casually, and walked into a weapons workshop from time to time, and asked the guy to take a large horizontal knife that had not been bladed and hit it twice with his fingers. Listening to the crisp metal knocking sound, he nodded and smiled at Ren Yijiang with satisfaction: "Not bad!" Just listen to the sound. The blade of the steel clamp is very thin, the outside and soft on the inside, and the soldiers are of the highest quality. Although the appearance is not as good-looking as the steel, and there is no moire on the knife body, it is practical to go to the battlefield! ”

Meng De is an expert in iron smelting, so he doesn't need to beat at all, just a glance to know that the big horizontal knife in Chen Dexing's hand is actually a big road goods. He smiled and said: "Teacher, in fact, with a hydraulic hammer, this kind of steel clamping large horizontal knife is easy to forge. If the sword of the Ordnance Bureau of the Military Affairs Department is not dismissed, the same horizontal knife can be struck. ”

Chen Dexing nodded slightly: "You are right, the Weapons Bureau can indeed come up with similar things." It's nothing more than two pieces of steel sandwiched between one piece of iron. But have you ever heard of the word 'competition'? That is, a business can not be done only by one, and it is not easy to do business if there are more people, and only businesses that can really make good things at a low price can save zài and become bigger. If there is only one business, it won't be long before our Weapons Bureau will be the same as the Ordnance Supervisor and Imperial Weapons Institute of the Song Kingdom. He paused, and then said, "Even iron smelting can't be just one of Nanfen Iron Mills. Meng De, would you be interested in opening your own iron mill? ”

Self-opening iron mill? Meng De thought about it and shook his head, the business of the iron mill is not as good as the iron workshop, it is a big deal! Moreover, the good mines of Nanfen have been controlled by Nanfen Iron Fang. Although the good ore with low sulfur and phosphorus is not only found in Nanfen, most of the iron ore elsewhere is a mixture of good and bad, and the good and the bad are many and must be carefully beneficiated...... In this way, the cost has gone up, how can I get bigger and bigger Nanfenfang?

"What? No capital or no guts? Chen Dexing asked with a smile.

"I don't have the capital and I don't have the certainty." Meng De smiled bitterly, "Nanfenfang has good mines and good coal, and the capital is sufficient, and the Deng family will soon have a share...... Students estimate that the output of steel alone will be tens of millions of catties in the next year. Students have neither capital nor mines, how can they dare to open iron mills and Nanfen workshops to grab business? ”

Chen Dexing smiled and pointed to his head and said, "You have this...... Your brain is good, and it is the capital! Why did Nanfenfang stand up? Aren't you guarding a good mine? Iron ore is everywhere in the world, but it is difficult to remove more sulfur and phosphorus impurities. Mengde, can't you find a way to remove thion? In the future, if there is an invention or creation, it will be able to obtain a patent for a period of 12 years after registering a demonstration with a special patent office and confirming that it is the first creation. Others are not allowed to use it without the authorization of the patent holder, and the offender shall be fined a huge amount of money to compensate the patent holder. Meng De, if you can find a way to remove thion, are you afraid that no one will be willing to pay the capital to join forces with you? (To be continued......)