28. Ying Gui Lei shipwright and Ma Yuan

  In the 30th year of Yongli, at the end of February, Zhu Jin and Shang Kexi father and son formally reached a peace agreement. The Shang family ordered Commander-in-Chief Yan Ziming to withdraw from Huizhou and hand over the territory west of Huizhou and Qiongya to the Ming Zheng regime. Both sides would guard their respective borders. Zhu Jin immediately appointed Dongguan commander Zhang Guoxun as General for Conquering Rebels, Miao Zhixiu as General for Destroying Rebels, and ordered two divisions and five naval garrisons under Zhang Yuanxun, Xiao Chen, etc. to send troops to reinforce Geng's naval division.

  Miao Zhixiu indeed disobeyed orders and refused to comply. Later, after being persuaded by an envoy, he finally agreed to join forces with Geng Huan's general Zeng Yangxing, but needed time to repair the old ships. Zhu Jin did not want to rush him too much and agreed. Afterwards, Zhu Jin also sent Liu Guoxian to garrison Huizhou and ordered Liu Jinzhong to lead troops south to Qiongzhou to recruit landless civilians to settle in Dongning Village. Although Liu Jinzhong claimed to have received orders, he repeatedly delayed with excuses such as having many family members and subordinates, being troubled by a small group of Qing soldiers, and lacking sufficient ships for naval warfare.

  The news was sent back to Taiwan, and Zheng Kezang couldn't help but sigh. The trajectory of history wasn't something that he, with his still-unformed wings, could easily stir up. However, even a small change was already quite difficult to achieve. But when the accumulation of quantitative changes reached a critical point, the future would no longer be unchangeable.

  "This is An Da Gong, this is Xie Da Gong, and this is Qi Da Gong." Zheng Kezang introduced the five red-haired craftsmen to Su Da Gong one by one, of course, including a translator from the Ministry of Rites. "This is Gao Tongshi, if you have anything to communicate with the barbarian craftsmen, you can let him translate for you." Su Da Gong glanced at several Englishmen wearing flower-patterned shirts and white stockings, hummed softly, and nodded proudly. "If you need something, you can also ask the shipyard owner." Zheng Kezang said the same thing to the British people. "If the shipyard cannot be in charge, you can also communicate with Yu through Gao Tongshi."

  "Your Honor." In fact, Gao Tong didn't understand classical English at all. He could only translate the stuttering Dutch spoken by a craftsman named Anderson into similarly inexpressive Chinese. "We hope that our accommodation, salary and daily food can be guaranteed?"

  Zheng Kezang, who roughly heard what the other party said, pointed to the stilt house hidden in the bamboo forest: "The houses for all of you have been arranged, but there is no fireplace. I hope you can get used to it. As for food, after eating the dishes from the Great Ming, I'm sure you won't be able to eat the local dishes from Yinggui and the curry rice from Tianzhu anymore. And as for salary? Of course, it depends on your performance. If you have the ability that matches your salary, then these small amounts of money are not a concern."

  Several Ingwai people bowed to Zheng Kezang and said, "Please rest assured, under the witness of God, we will do our best to build the best and fastest yacht for Your Highness."

  "That's the best." Zheng Kezang chuckled, of course he didn't want any cruise ships. "By the way, who among you can draw a ship diagram?" This sentence was even more difficult for Gao Tong to translate, so Zheng Kezang had to force himself to say it again in modern English that he had almost forgotten. "Blueprints?"

  Several British men conferred with each other before confirming what Zheng Kezang had said: "Your Highness is planning to make a model boat?"

  "Perhaps!" Zheng Kezang replied ambiguously. "I hope to hear some good news from you all."

  But Zheng Kezang was destined to be disappointed, and Anderson shook his head very awkwardly: "I'm very sorry, this is a high-level technology that only a few domestic shipyards in London have mastered, requiring very advanced drawing skills and mathematical knowledge, which we are not yet capable of."

  "What a pity." Zheng Kezang said regretfully. "Alright, Gao Tongshi, you take a few British craftsmen to rest first and come back to work in three days. After starting work, let them complete a single-masted sailing ship of about 300 tons (Note: The single-masted sailing ship is slightly higher than the single-masted sailing ship, with its main mast located in the middle of the ship's body, having two or more oblique sails at the bow). Gao Tongshi responded and took note of Zheng Kezang's request before leading a few British men to retreat. It was only then that Zheng Kezang turned to Su Dagong, whose face was not quite right, and said: "Su master craftsman, are there any capable ones in the children's camp?"

  "That bunch of young whippersnappers." As soon as the words left his mouth, Su Dagong realized he had misspoken. After all, every day's helpers were roughly the same age as Zheng Kecang. He hastily corrected himself: "I haven't seen anyone with this talent yet, but there are one or two clever ones. It's just that they only come three times a month, which is too infrequent."

  "If Master Wang agrees, I can arrange for them to come every day. However, most of the time when parents send their children to join the camp, they have the idea of surpassing the Dragon Gate in mind. Whether or not they are willing to switch and learn shipbuilding needs to be asked of their own accord."

  "Yes, compared to fighting on the battlefield and reading books, being a shipwright is a lowly occupation. The so-called great craftsmen are just all talk." Su Da Gong sighed and shook his head, looking somewhat disheartened. "Young Master, I was just saying that, please don't let an old man's nonsense delay your child's progress."

  "I don't think so, what's wrong with the shipbuilders? Why should our province rely on Dongning? The key is that there are many ships at sea. If it weren't for you shipbuilders, where would these magnificent warships come from?" Zheng Kezang was clearly speaking from the heart. China fell behind the West because after the Ming and Qing dynasties, they fell behind in technological innovation. "Besides, during the Song dynasty, there were still officials who appreciated craftsmanship... if I..." Zheng Kezang swallowed his words, yes, he wasn't yet the Prince of Yanping, it was a bit presumptuous to say this now. "Can't help but ask Father King to reward Su Daizhang with a green robe."

  "Green robe? That's a seventh-rank official! Su Dajiang was both shocked and delighted, thinking to himself that he still had a chance to become an official after all these years. However, as someone who had seen and experienced much, he knew that Zheng Keshang must have made this promise with some request in mind. He immediately kowtowed to Zheng Keshang. 'Whatever the young master wants me to do, I will not hesitate.'"

  "Get up, get up quickly! I've said it before, you white-haired old men will come to kneel and worship me, this young master. I really can't bear it." Zheng Kezang said as he helped the other person up. "As for what I want you to do, it's actually simple. You look at the good seedlings, I'll try my best to persuade them to follow the apprentices, but you can't hold them back. Let them also go with the Red Barbarians to learn. I need a batch of shipbuilders who are well-versed in both Chinese and Western techniques, they will have great use in the future."

  ??”

  "Ma Yuan, Zhang Ci, Tang Tong, Wu Hu, Li Ping." Zheng Kezang had seen eight young boys in the two periods of Jia Shen and Yi Mao, but three of them were sons of military families, so even if they agreed themselves, their families would not agree. Therefore, Zheng Kezang directly gave up on them, but he still wanted to try to communicate with the remaining five. "Call you five over, do you know what's going on?" The five boys shook their heads in unison. "Don't be afraid, it's not that you've done anything wrong." The five boys let out a sigh of relief, which made Zheng Kezang feel very displeased - could he really be that intimidating? "In the past few days, Su Dajiang has mentioned wanting to take you five as apprentices," Zheng Kezang said directly. "I have already agreed, I just don't know if you are willing."

  "What! Be an apprentice?" Several young people exclaimed softly. If they had heard that they could be apprentices to a shipwright before, they would have jumped up and eagerly agreed, but now they were used to the life of the Tongzi Camp and the companionship of their fellow camp members. To let them become apprentices again was definitely not something they were willing to do. However, since Zheng Kezang had already brought it up, they didn't dare to immediately refuse. So, a young man named Tang Tong plucked up the courage to ask, "Camp officer, if we become Su Dazhang's apprentices, will we no longer be considered members of the Tongzi Camp? Will you no longer be in charge of us?"

  "Unless you're dead or a deserter, once you enter the Tongziying, you'll be a Tongziying person for life, and I won't neglect you." Zheng Kecang's response dispelled some people's doubts. "However, since you want to go to Su Daizhang's place as an apprentice, you can no longer live in the camp, but must move to the shipyard, and daily drills are not required either."

  Upon hearing that they no longer had to stand in line every day, Ma Yuan and Li Ping, both born in the year of the wooden horse, couldn't help but reveal joyful expressions on their faces. However, Wu Hu, also born in the year of the wooden horse, changed his expression: "Captain, does this mean that we won't be soldiers anymore and won't have to fight?"

  "That's natural, I've never heard of a shipbuilder going to the battlefield." Zheng Kezang smiled lightly, but after he finished speaking, he saw Wu Hu's eyebrows furrowed, and Zheng Kezang thought for a moment, seeming to have guessed something. "However, your responsibilities are also very heavy, you need to learn how to build ships, build big ships, build good ships. You think about it, if all the warships of this province come from your hands, vast and mighty, covering the sky and blocking out the sun, wouldn't such a magnificent scene move your hearts?"

  After listening to Zheng Kezang's inflammatory words, the young man named Zhang Ci did not get excited, but instead looked sad and said: "Camp officer, does that mean we can't be officials in the future?"

  Can't be an official anymore? The other four young men focused their eyes on Zheng Kezang's face, no mistake, a considerable part of the children entering the camp was to rush to the future and follow Zheng Kezang to get an official position, suddenly hearing that there is no chance to become an official today, they naturally have some doubts.

  "This is it?" Zheng Kezang didn't dare to deceive them, hesitated for a moment, and nodded in agreement. "Yes, within a few years, you won't be able to become officials, but you must understand that even if you join the Tongziying army in the future, only a few can become vanguard officers and squad leaders. To achieve the goal of becoming an official may also require many years." Zheng Kezang added a guarantee at this point. "If you trust the camp officer, five years later, the camp officer will give you a career path that won't be lower than joining the Tongziying army." The words had already reached this point, and the five young men couldn't help but think deeply about it. "Alright, I don't want you to answer immediately today. I especially allow you to go home and discuss with your elders, sort things out, and then return home for a trip. Return to the camp in five days."

  "Captain," several young men were about to respond, when Li Ping, who had been silent until now, suddenly thought of a very important question and hastily asked, "If our family members do not agree with us going to the shipyard as apprentices, will the captain get angry and remove us from the children's camp?"

  "Haha," Zheng Kezang smiled. "I still have some patience, although I get angry, I won't remove you from the list." Seeing the relieved young men, Zheng Kezang's playful heart arose, and he immediately intimidated them. "What happens when the camp officer gets angry? Is it that you will be punished to make up for the missed training in one day?"

  "Ah!" Several young men were startled, isn't this taking their lives? Just as they were getting anxious, they saw the sly smile on Zheng Kezang's face and let out a sigh of relief. "The camp officer is good or bad, the camp officer is deceiving people."

  "What's good or bad about being an official! Is this also something you should be saying?" Zheng Kezang scolded with a stern face. "Hurry up and pack your things, pay your respects and go home, the ox cart has been waiting for a long time!"