Chapter 17: Blog Shop Experience

He was very interested in mathematics. When he was a teenager, he read many works by Europeans and Arabs in Macau, and he had a lot of research on geometry and algebra. However, outsiders only thought that his math was a requirement for business accounting. There were also some ignorant people who made fun of him: saying that Mr. Li loved money as life, and was afraid that the accountant would deny money, so he learned math himself to be good at learning.

Li Luoyu may have heard such words occasionally. Although there is no need to argue, he smiled bitterly: the vast majority of Chinese people still stay at the simplest level of arithmetic application. Li Luoyu has read many works by Chinese and foreign mathematicians and has had contact with mathematicians of the times, but this thing exists as a "thing" in a very small circle. Many people think this is useless "strange tricks and tricks". If you want to give it a little compliment, it is only used in the "dragon slaying technique" - if you want to use it, it is only used in the astronomical calendar. Who can use it in daily life?

With Li Luoyu's cultivation of algebra and geometry, he is one of the few mathematical talents in the Ming Dynasty in this space and time. However, this talent is almost useless. On weekdays, he can only use solving geometry and algebra problems as a pastime. He inevitably feels like he is not satisfied with his talent.

The content of "Nine Chapters of the Number Book" is roughly similar to the category of number theory, but it is not a pure mathematical theory. There are many practical applications in it, including time calendar, measurement, market transactions, tax calculations, etc. It is both theoretical and practical. Li Luoyou is quite interested in this.

The more I looked, the more I became more and more interested. I simply spread the paper on the table, took out a quill and calculated the examples. This was a habit he left when he was studying under the Jesuit priests when he was young.

He was dizzy and could not help feeling dizzy after a long time. He got up and walked a few steps, and simply returned to the deck to get some air. As soon as he left the cabin door, he saw Saowye climbing on a box, holding the mast and looking out. Seeing the master coming out, he jumped down and served.

"What's so good about it?" Li Luoyou was surprised, "I don't look like that."

"Yes," Sao Ye said respectfully, "The master taught me a lesson, the young man was watching the salt boat."

Li Luoyou looked at it and saw a fleet of ships sailing on the left side of the ship. The fleet of ships were small and medium-sized boats, including blessed ships, wide boats, rice boats, tow winds, etc. The ships were of different shapes. However, the bow of each ship was painted with white words: "In-Lucky" and there were Arabic numerals behind it! Li Luoyou was surprised. He recognized Arabic numerals and remembered that he had used such numbers in his private account. However, he was a very special phenomenon, and it was the first time he saw it directly painted on the boat gang.

"Is this a ship from Linggao?"

"That's right, it's the ship that carries salt from Magnoo." said the boss of the ship, "This is Magnoo Port, and there is a salt field."

After saying this, Li Luoyou had a little impression: There is indeed an official salt field here, which belongs to the Haibei Tiju.

“Where are these many salts going to be shipped?”

"Of course it's the B&B shop." said the boss of the ship.

Australians are selling private salt! Li Luoyou thought to himself that he was watching the team of salt ships, about ten, sailing in groups, each with a deep draft, and about a large amount of sea salt on it. This group of people was so brave to transport private salt so blatantly!

The fleet maintained a regular formation, one followed the other in a single column. The sailors were wearing short blue jackets like the sailors on the patrol boat I just saw, and some people had long bird guns on their backs, alerting them on both sides of the ship. Li Luoyou counted secretly that there were at least four people carrying bird guns on each ship. There were also several ships with strange things on the stairs. A round Western goblet-like base was equipped with a long black box, and two sailors stood behind them. I don’t know what their purpose was. Li Luoyou guessed that it might be an Australian cannon - they were famous for their sharp firearms, and it was not surprising that there were several types of firearms that did not have firearms in the Ming and Western countries.

With such a situation, no wonder the government can only act deaf and dumb. Li Luoyou thought that the matter of arresting private salt was always a big deal. The one who was arrested was just a pound of pounds and dozens of pounds. Catching a big dealer with a few stones was considered a big deal. No one dared to provoke the real dozens or hundreds of trafficking. Not only were the private salt dealers who were brave enough to fight for their lives, but also because this kind of transaction often involved gentry.

Who are the gentry behind the Australians who are so bold and arrogant? Gao Gong can be regarded as one of their backers. The tall officials are connected to Eunuch Yang in the capital...

However, even Eunuch Yang did not dare to support them in such a mess. The Australians were obviously not that simple. The fleet of salt transporters gradually landed behind. Li Luoyou looked at the Port of Magnoo, and the salt fields on the coastline looked very dazzling in the sun. There were windmills located between the salt fields, and huge wind wings slowly rotated in the wind. This huge water-lifting windmill has become a scenic spot along Magnoo.

"It's very similar to the scenery of the Netherlands." Quark commented.

"What are the uses of these windmills?" Li Luoyou asked.

"I think it should be used to lift water," Quark said. "Otherwise I can't think of any use."

"If it's to lift water, why do you need to raise the sea water?" Li Luoyou commented. "Isn't it just to open a canal to lure the sea water into the salt field?"

At this time, the wind direction pushed the ship closer to the coastline. I saw a wooden platform next to the windmill. There were ditches on the top of the platform, filled with bamboo strips, which were densely packed, but very regular.

Li Luoyou looked very carefully, but the distance was still a little farther. He could barely see that the windmill was indeed lifting water, and the lifted water was constantly poured onto the platform and then flowing down.

Li Luoyu's concept of salt making comes from books. He probably knew that salt must be made first, and then made salt by torture or sunburn. After reading it for a long time, he still couldn't understand what he was doing.

Of course, Quark didn't understand. There were many places that didn't understand. For example, in the inland area, rolling black smoke emerged and soared into the sky under the clear sky. Is there a place that was fired?

"It's like this every day." The boss of the ship seemed to see the passenger's doubts. "This kind of black smoke can be seen everywhere in the heights. They are all released from brick chimneys taller than trees. The younger ones don't know what they do for burning stoves every day."

The ship soon arrived at Bopu Port and leaned against the Lingaojiao Wharf - the natural stone embankment stretched out more than ten wooden trests into the harbor. As Bopu's passenger and cargo wharf, small and medium-sized ships can directly lean on the side of the trest to get up and down passengers and load and unload cargo.

Li Luoyou stood on the deck and looked at the Bopu Port that suddenly became prosperous - he had never heard of this port in the past. There were many ships in the harbor, but they were arranged neatly, one by one, and one by one was parked next to the trestle. He noticed that although the water surface was not large, the mooring of the ships was obviously divided. The water surface was marked with colorful floating objects, and the ships had their own routes to enter and exit the port, and they looked orderly.

"This is a big iron ship." The boss pointed at the opposite side of the harbor, like an enthusiastic tour guide.

It was indeed very big! Li Luoyou took a breath of air conditioning. The height of this ship is comparable to that of the city wall in Guangzhou. No, I am afraid it is even higher than the city wall. As for the size, it is extremely large. How much can it be loaded? The goods worth 100,000 stones may not be able to fill the warehouse.

Fengchenglun completely surpassed his understanding. Li Luoyou's first feeling was that this was not something that humans could make.

"God!" Quark spoke for him, "This thing can only be built by the devil!"

Li Luoyou nodded and thought of the boss of the ship saying that there were chimneys with black smoke everywhere in Lingao. Could it be that this group of Australians are believers of the devil, and they are performing secret black witchcraft here to enhance their strength?

He couldn't help but feel alert in his heart. He touched his cross and recited the Rosary silently.

"The largest ship in England is not as strong as one tenth of it!" Quark continued to comment, "It's incredible! It's impossible for humans to build such a giant ship." After saying that, he quickly drew a cross.

"God bless." Li Luo couldn't help but worry about his soul problems.

"Haha, it's very scary." The ship boss probably had a long time ago familiar with this reaction, and seemed to be very proud. "This ship is still iron. Are you surprised? Tsk tsk, a small iron nail will sink to the bottom even if it is thrown into the water. Such a big ship can actually float on the sea!"

Quark was still asking him if it was really iron and if anyone had seen it. Li Luoyou said nothing, whether it was iron or not was no longer important to him. Such a large ship was shocking even if it was made of wood. He shook his head, and even felt a little regretful about his decision to come high - he became increasingly suspicious of the Australians as believers of the devil - at least he used some depraved taboo techniques.

Quark didn't care much about this and looked around with great enthusiasm. There were two parallel black iron bars on the embankment. The flatbed cart was pushed by manpower, and the iron wheels made a rumbling rolling sound on the iron bars. The truck seemed to be able to transport heavy goods. Quark watched two or three people push the full flatbed carts and move quickly. Some cars were box-type, full of black coal.

"What a good idea." Quark thought this method could move heavy goods with very little effort. If he used a horse to pull it, it would be more efficient. However, China seems to be seriously lacking in horses, and it is reasonable to use manpower.

Li Luoyou's eyes were attracted by the tall towers on the embankment. The towers were tall and short, but the shortest one was not less than two meters away. They were all built on the stone round platform with iron bars and solid wood. The top of the tower was so slanted out of the long arms that extended into the air. A black rope drooped from the top of the long arms.

Such towers are located everywhere along Bopu Harbor. Oppo Harbor, it is said that the places where the shipyard is even more dense.

"Attention! Pay attention!" someone on the embankment was blew a whistle, "Berth No. 15 starts loading!"

With a rumbling sound, a long row of flatbed cars drove along the tracks, Li Luoyou and Quark were both surprised - this train was not driven by human power.

Not only did there be no manpower, there were no horses, mules, donkeys, cattle or any animal they wanted to use. There were no sails on the flatbed. This long flatbed drove over with a roar.

If something pulls the vehicle, it should be the first one, with a black iron guy the size of a half table, and a round iron bucket. There is a large wooden board hanging on this black iron barrel, with four large words written in red, "Fishings are strictly prohibited" and a flame is painted.

Next to this pile of strange things was the driver. His face was black and his clothes were stained with mottledness. He couldn't tell his true nature. A white towel that had turned gray was hanging around his neck. The man held the iron rod in his hand and kept pushing and pulling backwards, and from time to time he shouted something loudly to the people on the embankment.

"I heard that Australians can do it without sails or oars, and this car is probably the same." Li Luoyou whispered.

Quark? After watching for a while, a terrifying expression appeared on his face: "Devil!"

The flatbed car stopped, and with the whistle, several people wearing blue cloth gowns jumped off the flatbed car behind - Li Luoyou found that everyone here was wearing this short blue cloth gown, but some people tied their belts around their waists, while others didn't. The common feature was that they all wore a helmet, probably made of rattan. Li Luoyou couldn't understand what the use of this helmet was? Did the Australians learn from the Southern Barbarians in the Three Kingdoms and practice rattan armor soldiers?

These people drilled into a circular cage below the tower. They ran quickly in the cage to make the cage rotate. The long arms on the tower rose up, and then the others pushed the tower hard to turn the direction of the flatbed cart. A man kept whistling and waving two small flags, one red and one green. Li Luoyou looked for a while and understood that this was the direction of the people who were directing the turning of the tower winch. Under his command, the long arms slowly reached above the first flatbed cart and drooped a huge iron hook. The person on the flatbed cart hooked the hook to a pile of net ropes on the cart. He quickly jumped out of the cart. Amid the whistle, the people in the cage ran up again, and the head of the iron frame began to rise.

A lot of rope nets turned out to be a mesh bag with many hemp bags and candies inside.

"Squirrel Cage Crane!" Quark recognized this thing. It is also used by people in Europe, but it is quite bulky and requires a lot of manpower. This squirrel Crane looks much simpler and lighter, probably because Australians have improved it.

The long arm began to move towards the ship, and there was a man on the deck whistle and waving two small flags. The long arm moved to the sky above the deck, the sling slowly relaxed, and the net bag fell safely on the deck.

Then the crane lifted the goods from another flatbed truck. This time it was not a mesh bag, but a wooden tray, which was neatly filled with crates, and the box was wrapped firmly with mesh bags.
Chapter completed!