My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 729 Jinyiwei Xie Feng
Zhu Zhanhe and the others took the steamship and ran for more than ten miles in one go. The steamship's journey also attracted the attention of many people. On the merchant ships going around, businessmen from all over the world also widened their eyes, full of incredible things. Looking at the strange ship that was spewing black smoke and was extremely fast even though it had no sails.

On one of the boats, an ordinary-looking middle-aged man took up a pen to record what he saw today.

"The Han Dynasty was marching north to the port, and suddenly a strange ship belching black smoke appeared. Its speed was extremely fast. I don't know why. If this ship is equipped with the army, the Han Navy will definitely be able to return to the Ming Dynasty in a short time. We must guard against it..."

The middle-aged man recorded what happened when he saw the steamship, and then hid the pamphlet close to his body. His name was Xie Feng, and he was a spy sent by Jin Yiwei to the Han Dynasty. This time he pretended to be a businessman and came to Beizheng Port to inquire about the news, but nothing happened. I thought that before I even entered the port, I made a major discovery.

After watching the strange ship disappear on the sea, Xie Feng ordered people to sail the ship into the port.

I saw clouds of sails throughout the port, almost covering the entire sea surface. These merchant ships were of different shapes and came from all over the world. Some were known to Da Ming, and some were unknown to Da Ming.

Xie Feng is mainly responsible for collecting overseas intelligence in Jinyiwei. He has been traveling between Southeast Asia and the West for many years, and he is well-informed. However, here in Beizheng Port, he still saw many foreign merchant ships that he could not even name. .

Because there were too many ships entering the port, there was already a long queue outside the port. Xie Feng's ship waited outside for nearly two hours before it entered the port and docked under the guidance of port officials, and officials immediately boarded the ship. Count the goods and make them pay the tax.

These were all routine operations. Xie Feng stepped in to deal with the port officials, and then sent people to pay the tax, so that their ship could legally enter the port and the people on the ship could freely enter the port.

Xie Feng has been to the West many times, but the furthest he has ever been was Lion Port. This is his first time to Beizheng Port, so he is not familiar with this place.

However, after going to sea for a long time, although there are differences in ports in various places, there are also many similarities. For example, Xie Feng followed his previous habit and went ashore to find a good restaurant and had a delicious meal of local food. It doesn’t include any seafood, and it’s so hard to eat at sea that I almost vomited.

In the evening, Xie Feng did not go back to the ship to rest. Instead, he found a nearby inn to stay.

In addition to Xie Feng himself, he also had a dozen spies, and they were all sent out at this time to collect as much useful information as possible.

When Xie Feng came to Beizhenggang this time, he actually had one main mission, which was to find out about the Han Dynasty's firearms.

The Han Dynasty planted many spies in the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty also planted many spies in the Han Dynasty. After all, the Jin Yiwei of the two countries came from the same source, and no one was inferior to the other. Even the Jin Yiwei of the Ming Dynasty were older and had more people. Therefore, the power that can be used is greater.

According to reports from spies previously stationed in Dahan, Dahan's firearms have made great progress, especially the muskets. It seems that Zhu Zhanhe personally improved them, which made Dahan's muskets develop rapidly, and now they have left the Ming Dynasty's firearms behind.

Regarding this information, Jin Yiwei also reported it to Zhu Zhanji. Although Zhu Zhanji did not attach as much importance to the military as Zhu Di, he was brought up by Zhu Di after all. He entered the military life at the age of 12, so he still paid more attention to the military aspect. of.

In particular, the Shenji Battalion was one of the three major battalions of the Ming Dynasty. Firearms were also the trump card of the Ming Dynasty against the cavalry. Therefore, Zhu Zhanji immediately ordered the Jin Yiwei to investigate the development of firearms in the Han Dynasty. This was the mission of Xie Feng and the others. .

There is no curfew at the port. Even at night, the pier is still brightly lit. There are sailors everywhere carrying wine bottles and smelling of alcohol. The shops are also very lively. After all, after long voyages, people often arrive at the port. Everyone will disembark and relax.

The same is true for the inn where Xie Feng lives. All the tables in the hall are full, and all the guests are having dinner here.Xie Feng also ordered a few of his favorite drinks and dishes, sat in the corner and drank by himself, while listening to the conversations of others in the hall.

Most of the guests staying here are businessmen from the Han Dynasty, because businessmen from overseas usually stay on the ship at night, which can save a lot of accommodation fees. Xie Feng is very inconspicuous among these businessmen from the Han Dynasty.

"Have you heard that the textile workshops in Xijing have begun to use steam engines? The output of cotton cloth produced now is amazing, the quality is good, and the price is even cheaper. I don't know if it is true?"

Just listen to the businessman at the next table say to his companion.

"Of course it's true. Haven't you read the Dahan Daily? The government-run textile workshops run by the imperial court have been published in the newspaper. They introduced the cotton cloth they made using textile machines, which is no worse than that made by hand. I plan to go there this time. I’ll go to Xijing and buy a batch of cotton cloth. As long as the price is right, I won’t have to worry about sales!”

Someone next to me said immediately.

"I also saw it in the newspaper, but the newspaper only said it was a government-run workshop, not a private workshop?"

The person who spoke first asked unconvinced.

"You don't understand this. The government-run workshops of the imperial court are either to make money or to research new textile technologies. As long as there are new technologies, private textile workshops will follow them, so there is actually no difference between government-run and private textile workshops. "

Another person next to him explained.

"So that's it. If that's the case, I have to go to Xijing. No wonder the cotton business is getting better and better recently!"

The businessman who asked the question suddenly realized.

Xie Feng listened to the conversations of several businessmen and very keenly extracted a key word from them, that is, steam engine. He had collected newspapers from the Han Dynasty and knew that a steam engine was a machine driven by steam and seemed to be used in textile workshops. , now listening to the conversations of several businessmen, this kind of cotton woven by steam engines seems to be very popular.

However, although the steam engine was magical, in Xie Feng's opinion, it had nothing to do with the firearms he was investigating this time, so he quickly ignored it and continued to listen to other people's conversations.

The reason why Xie Feng came to Beizheng Port this time was actually for the firearms workshop in Beizheng Port. He had already received definite information. Just behind the port, Dahan had established a large-scale firearms workshop, Dahan Shenji Camp. Almost all the firearms used come from there.

At this moment, Xie Feng suddenly heard another conversation: "By the way, have you been to the military camp north of the port? I heard that someone was arrested again?"

(End of this chapter)