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Text Chapter 500: Ship in Stormy Waves

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    Linga Bay, located in the north of Manila Bay, is a funnel-shaped bay with several natural harbors along the coast, which is very suitable for large ships to dock. It is also closer to Taiwan, so a few years ago, on the west side of Linga Bay  A stronghold called Linga City has been established on the peninsula. Although the size of this stronghold cannot be compared with Manila, it is also one of the famous ports of call on the entire Luzon Island.

    Lingga Bay is not calm today. A typhoon just passed by yesterday, and several coconut trees on the beach were swept away by the wind. Although the wind is much lighter now, the sea is still rough, and occasionally you can see several coconut trees.  Meter-high waves.

    Originally, it was not suitable to go to sea in this kind of weather. Even some large ships with thousands of tons did not like to be bumpy in such wind and waves.  But what is strange is that there is actually a ship out to sea in Lingjia City today, and the ship is not big, at most four to five hundred tons. However, this ship has excellent balance and can cut through the wind on the sea.  Breaking the waves, although he is pushed up by big waves from time to time, he can always fall safely to the sea.

    In the wheelhouse, a muscular man with a bare head was holding a stake and said worriedly to the people around him: "Captain, the wind and waves are so strong. Although our ship is specially made, I'm afraid if it continues to be bumpy like this, it will  The hull will also be damaged, and it will cost a lot of money to repair it!"

    "Bald, as long as we can find a gold mine, what does this little money mean?" A middle-aged man in his thirties said with a smile.  In addition to the bald man in the wheelhouse, several other people were also fixing their bodies with their hands to prevent them from falling due to the wind and waves.  At the same time, his eyes were looking at the wind and waves outside, with a bit of worry in his eyes.

    The middle-aged man just finished speaking.  Behind him, a short man with a fierce look on his face suddenly said loudly: "Brother Lin. Why don't you understand? The bald man is not worried about spending money. He is afraid that the wind and waves outside will capsize the boat."  When the time comes, he, a landlubber, will have to feed the Dragon King."

    Hearing the short man's teasing words, everyone around him burst out laughing, but the bald man became angry and rushed towards him to fight with the short man.  However, the short man knew that he was no match for the bald man, so he relied on his agile skills to get through the crowd.  After chasing the bald man for a while, he couldn't catch up. On the contrary, he was very tired. In addition, their boat was shaking violently, so in the end he just sat on the ground and couldn't get up, while the short man  He stood next to an accomplice, holding his arm and winking at the bald man.

    "Okay, everyone, please stop making trouble. Although the wind and waves outside are very bad, our ship was built by the shipyard moved from Dengzhou. It uses high-quality wood. This is the kind of ship I took there.  In Australia, we have encountered bigger winds and waves on the road than now. It didn't do anything to the boat, so don't worry, everyone!" At this moment, the young man who was the leader of the crowd said.

    This young man looks polite.  He looks more like a scholar, but his skin is a little darker.  The joints of the hands are also somewhat thick, which can be seen from this.  The other party is not a pampered person either.  If Li Min were here, he would definitely be able to recognize the young man leading the group as Feng Shuyu's brother Feng Shijie.

    After Feng Shijie joined the exploration fleet last time, he had accumulated a lot of money, and his wife, the good Japanese girl Yunjian Qiuji, also felt that the work of the slave-catching team was too dangerous and there was no freedom.  Time, so after careful consideration, Feng Shijie decided to quit his job in the slave-catching team, and then used all his savings, plus funding from his sister Feng Shuyu, to buy a boat, and then recruited a group of brothers to start a transportation business.  business comes.

    Originally, with the prosperity of sea trade, the business of running ships on sea routes was also very prosperous. Generally speaking, as long as there is a seagoing ship and there are no major accidents when running the ship, then it is a business that will make a profit without losing money.  More and more people are running ships, and competition on various routes is now very fierce. For example, the routes north of Taiwan are the earliest and most mature in development, so each route has formed a fixed chain of interests. Most people  There's no way I can get involved.

    It is precisely because of this that Feng Shijie, a small ship owner with only one ship, had to take the southern route. However, his ship was not big, and those who sailed across the ocean were large fleets, so he could only sail in Nanyang, which is relatively close to Taiwan.  Running, especially the Luzon area closest to Taiwan, is where he mainly goes.

    Originally, the slave-catching industry in Luzon was very prosperous, and through trade with the local natives, a large amount of food, fur, ore and other commodities could be obtained. However, since the last time Li Min sent troops to Luzon, he wiped out the local natives in one fell swoop.  The only surviving dwarf black people also became allies. Although countless slave traders made a fortune during this war, the negative consequences of the war appeared in the subsequent time.

    First, as the war progressed, a large number of natives were demoted toSlaves, this method of fishing from the lake can certainly bring a temporary prosperity to the slave-catching industry, but then it will be a sharp depression.

    Second, with the decrease in population, especially the rapid decrease in prime-age labor, the local economy has been greatly damaged. As a result, other merchants have been unable to collect goods at all, which has also led to the decline of Luzon's shipping industry.  Affected, some large fleet owners have great businesses and can withstand this temporary impact, but some small ship owners are in misery and have to find their own way out.

    In addition to transportation, Feng Shijie's ship also occasionally made extra money. For example, when encountering a foreign merchant ship that was alone, they would also act as pirates. When encountering a war with natives on land, they would also redeem some slaves.  Wait, in fact, not only them, but now almost all merchant ships will do these things. It can even be said that as long as they can make money and do not violate the laws established by His Highness King Qi, then everything is reasonable.

    The temporary decline of Luzon's maritime trade industry has also affected Feng Shijie's ship. Fortunately, he had made a lot of money before and was planning to buy a second ship. However, judging from the current situation, it can support him through it.  This is already good for this special period.

    Thinking of the impact he had suffered during this period, Feng Shijie in the wheelhouse couldn't help but sigh. At this time, the wind and waves outside had become smaller. At least some of the old crew members could walk normally, but novices like the bald man,  But he still had to stay in the cabin, otherwise he would be thrown into the sea accidentally, and there would be no way to save him.

    "Feng Shijie's ship has experienced such a big storm, and the deck is already in a mess. All the crew members who can get on the deck have begun to work hard to clean up the ship in the shortest possible time.  Feng Shijie sat quietly in the wheelhouse, looked back at the bald man and the other novices, and showed a bit of a smile on his face.

    Just a month ago, he finally accepted a business order and transported a batch of inferior ironware from Taiwan to Manila. These ironware were wanted by the Manila governor's office and were mainly used to trade with dwarf black people. After all, Luzon is now  It is entering the development stage and the help of these short black people is needed in all aspects.

    Originally, after Feng Shijie delivered the ironware, he wanted to find another business in Manila. Unfortunately, his ship was parked at the dock for three or four days, and he kept looking for introductions from acquaintances, but unfortunately he found nothing in the end.  For people like them who run ships, time is money. Feng Shijie feels that instead of waiting here, it is better to go back to Taiwan. After all, the impact there is not big, and there are a lot of goods going to Nanyang, so there is no need to worry about running out of goods.  But just when he was about to return in an empty boat, he suddenly received a very tempting news.

    This news was issued by the governor's office in Manila. It was an announcement encouraging all personnel to explore mineral resources in Luzon. According to this announcement, in order to develop the local economy of Luzon, His Royal Highness the King of Qi issued a special edict,  Promise all the people under the rule that as long as the minerals are discovered privately, they will be owned by them, and it is also specifically stated that if a mining of gold, silver, copper and other precious metals is discovered, not only will the mines be yours, but the government will also  Provide convenience when mining.

    After learning the news, Feng Shijie keenly discovered that this was an excellent opportunity to make a fortune. Among other things, if he could really discover a relatively large mineral deposit, then he would have a generous fortune.  With a strong family background, no matter what business you do in the future, you will have the confidence to do so.

    With this idea in mind, Feng Shijie immediately gave up the idea of ??returning to Taiwan and began to recruit people in Manila and prepare for prospecting.  Although he knew little about prospecting, he had his own way, which was to inquire about the situation from the local natives. After all, before this, the natives of Luzon had many gold ornaments and some copper ones.  Weapons, this means that the natives of Luzon Island can already mine gold, copper and other minerals.

    Although most of these minerals were taken over by the Manila government, many natives were directly exterminated during the war, so there must be many mineral origins that have not been discovered by the government, and Feng Shijie's target is these previously exterminated by natives.  Occupy minerals that have not yet been discovered by the government.

    Feng Shijie mobilized everyone on his ship to inquire about the situation from the local natives. After half a month of investigation, he listed a table of all the native tribes that might have mining interests, excluding those that had been discovered by the government, and returned  There are only a dozen or so tribes left, but these dozen tribes are all tribes that have been exterminated. None of the original tribesmen can be found. Feng Shijie only got some not-too-distant information from some natives who knew these tribes.  Accurate news.  (To be continued)
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