Standing under the huge steel column of the gantry crane, Lao Zhu looked up for a moment, lowered his head and couldn't help but sigh: "This is really, unimaginable."

In Lao Zhu's opinion, this gantry crane was really too tall, measuring three feet in length. It was like a pavilion. Moreover, such a large steel machine could really shock people.

The output of steel has been very low since ancient times. It would be great if it could be used to make some swords, guns and armor. Where is there any excess to make such a large machine? Not only have I never seen it, I have never even thought about it.

"Your Majesty, this is specially used for loading and unloading cargo on ships. Of course it must be made taller." Han Du explained in agreement with a smile on his face.

A large sea-going ship itself has a height of about three feet. If the gantry crane does not even have this height, how can it load cargo onto the ship? Even a height of three feet is not enough. Handu also had two specially built two towers high above the sea.

A two-foot cement platform on which the gantry is hung.

Lao Zhu nodded, not paying attention to Han Du's words. All his thoughts were now occupied by this huge machine. He stretched out his hand and touched the steel pillar. A thick and cold touch spread to his heart, and at the same time, a strong feeling came over him.

delivered together.

"How much cargo can this thing lift at one time?" Lao Zhu turned back to Han Du curiously and asked.

Han Du quickly lowered his head slightly and said: "Back to the emperor, it is not as exaggerated as the people said. It can easily weigh tens of thousands of kilograms. This thing can only lift about three thousand kilograms at most."

I haven’t tried the specific Handu. Anyway, there is no problem in lifting three thousand kilograms. Although you will obviously see that the top beam is slightly pressed down, it can still withstand it.

"Three thousand kilograms is pretty impressive." Lao Zhu moved his lips, as if talking to Han Du, or talking to himself. Weight is only one aspect, the most important thing is speed. This thing is moving

When transporting goods, it was too easy and too fast.

In the short time that Lao Zhu was watching just now, all the cargo in the cargo ship had been hoisted onto the ship and loaded. The ship slowly retreated, and then continued to load another ship.

Lao Zhu looked at the endless stream of ships waiting to be loaded in, turned around and smiled at Han Du and asked: "I heard that you have made a fortune again? How many ships like this can you load here every day?"

Lao Zhu is not aloof from the world. Although he did not carefully inquire how much Handu charges for each shipment of goods, it can be seen from the quantity alone that this thing is also a treasure that makes money every day.

Han Du naturally understood the subtext in Lao Zhu's words as soon as he heard it, and quickly explained: "Your Majesty, this thing has nothing to do with me. It is the matter of the academy."

"Really? Then why did I hear Xue Xiang say that the academy only occupies 30%, and who owns the remaining 70%?" The smile on Lao Zhu's face was still as bright as before.

But Han Du's current mood suddenly fell to the bottom. Xue Xiang, an old ruffian, was not satisfied even after sharing a piece of his pie, and sold himself to Lao Zhu without hesitation.

"Your Majesty, I spent a lot of money to buy this thing, didn't I? In order to buy it out, I even used Anqing's personal money." Faced with Lao Zhu's ill intentions, Han Du hurriedly raised his eyebrows.

protest against an injustice.

Anyway, I have already said that this was bought with Anqing's money. If you, Old Zhu, have the ability, you will snatch it away. The emperor blatantly robbed his daughter's things. This word has spread, but it is good to say but not good to hear.

Besides, if Lao Zhu can lower his face and toughen his temper, then Han Du will dare to let your daughter take your grandson back to the palace to eat and live in your house.

When Lao Zhu heard this, his face darkened as expected. He glared at Han Du and said dissatisfied: "I didn't say what I wanted from you. Why are you so nervous?"

Haha, Han Du nodded with a smile. But in his heart, he didn’t even believe a single punctuation mark in Lao Zhu’s words. Lao Zhu was used to being poor. Even though the gold and silver in the inner treasury were piled up like mountains, he saw Han Du fishing.

When there are benefits, I still can’t help but want to interfere.

Han Du dared to guarantee that Lao Zhu definitely wanted to make a move just now, but he moved him out of Anqing and blocked him back.

Of course, Lao Zhu is not the only one who can see the huge value of this thing.

The next day, Han Du was still at home and a servant came early in the morning.

Report.

"Master Hou, there is a man named Fu Yong who said that he knows Mr. Hou and wants to see him."

"Fu Yong?" When Han Du heard this, a figure slowly emerged in his mind.

After thinking for a while, I decided that it would be okay to meet him, so he said: "You lead the person to the front hall, and I will come soon."

"Yes, Lord Marquis."

After Han Du packed up, he went to the front hall.

Fu Yong was restless inside, not even bothering to taste the fragrant tea at hand. He looked very anxious and never moved his eyes away from the door.

As soon as Han Du emerged, he was seen by Fu Yong. He quickly stepped forward with a smile and bowed, "I pay my respects to the Marquis. How is the Marquis lately?"

"Okay." Han Du smiled and nodded, raising his hand to ask Fu Yong to get up, "Hurry up and take a seat. Let's sit down and talk."

Fu Yong and Han Du are also old acquaintances, and they have been quite happy with each other several times in the past.

After the two sat down, Han Du took a sip of tea, turned to him with a faint smile and said, "I heard that your business is getting bigger and bigger now, and you are respected among the maritime merchants."

"It makes the Marquis laugh. It's just people who go to sea to help each other. It can't be taken seriously." Fu Yong was very humble in front of Han Du, without the slightest attitude of putting his eyes above his own.

His reputation among maritime merchants is naturally great. He was one of the first people to get involved in maritime trade. Moreover, his courage was also extraordinary. After his first experience, he immediately separated from a few other people and went it alone.

Because of Han Du's relationship, he had a close relationship with Shi Jinqing in Old Port. With the support of Ming Dynasty and Old Port, his business was booming, both in terms of wealth and fleet size, and he soon became a maritime businessman.

One of the best among them.

Having said this, Fu Yong also said apologetically: "These days, I have been blinded by wealth. I don't come to see the Marquis often. I ask the Marquis for your forgiveness."

In the past two years, he has been completely addicted to the pleasure of making money. Every time he goes to sea, almost a shipload of goods goes out and a shipload of money comes back. He can't believe the money he makes, it's like a dream. Where else can there be anything else?

Time, can you remember to visit Handu?

But Fu Yong knew that the reason why his business was going so smoothly was inseparable from Han Du's relationship. Otherwise, he was not the only one who went to sea with him for the first time, why would those people's business be so bad?

Not having sex with him?

If he hadn't known Han Du, would Shi Jinqing have taken him seriously? Would he have tried his best to protect him in Old Port? No one would have dared to take a chance on him?

Han Du waved his hand and said with an indifferent smile: "It doesn't matter, as long as you do business properly and pay the taxes you should pay. It doesn't matter whether you see me or not, it's the same."

If you want the people of the Ming Dynasty to turn their attention to the sea, you can only let maritime merchants like Fu Yong make money, and make a lot of money. Only when they get rich, other people will see it in their eyes and remember it in their hearts.

Only then will the impression of overseas countries gradually change. Moreover, a big ship owner like Fu Yong will definitely recruit a large number of people to go to sea. What these people see and hear overseas is a good thing that attracts the attention of the people.

If some things are done by the imperial court, the results will be bad. Even if the imperial court talks about it, no matter how good it is overseas, no people will believe it.

People will only believe what they see with their own eyes.

"How can that be done? I will never forget the way the Marquis took care of me." Fu Yong said seriously, then he took out a red gift list from his arms and placed it on the coffee table between the two of them.

"A little thought is not enough to show respect. Please don't dislike it, Lord Marquis."

Han Du had never thought about what kind of gift Fu Yong would give him, thinking it was just gold, silver and jewelry. But when he opened it, Han Du was surprised.

"Huh?"

What surprised Han Du was that in addition to gold and silver jewelry, Fu Yong's gift list also contained a large number of Western books.

"Why do you have these things?" Han

Du pointed at the names of various books in the gift list and asked a little strangely.

How could Fu Yong, a businessman, be interested in books?

Fu Yong only glanced at it, and a smile suddenly appeared on his face, and he explained: "The Marquis should know that there are many merchant ships from the West in the Old Port. When the villain was doing business with them, he saw the books they brought,

I thought it might be useful, so I brought it back. The Marquis is a scholar of heaven and man, so I thought these books might be useful to the Marquis."

Han Du closed the gift list and laughed twice, nodded and said: "Yes, these books are indeed useful to me. It seems that I have to accept your great gift." ??

Compared with gold, silver and jewelry, Han Du valued these books more. These books could just be placed in the academy and have them translated.

"Tell me, why did you come to me today?" Han Du knew that Fu Yong would not come because he had nothing to do, so he asked directly. Although Han Du would not help him even if he didn't give him a gift, but now he accepts it after all.

If you didn't accept his courtesy, you might as well ask directly.

"The villain does have something to ask for." Fu Yong smiled awkwardly, a little embarrassed. It is true that he came today because he had not visited Han Du for a long time, but he did have other purposes.

"But it doesn't matter." Han Du said casually, lowered his head and took a sip of tea.

Fu Yong thought for a moment and said softly: "That's it. I wonder if Lord Marquis can sell some of the gantry cranes to the villain."

Han Du originally thought that he wanted to use the gantry crane to help him load the ship, but he did not expect that he would actually offer to buy it.

"Buy? Why did you buy that thing?" Han Du looked stunned and felt very confused.

For a maritime businessman like Fu Yong, there is absolutely no need to buy it. Wouldn't it be better to load it at the dock?

"Of course I also want to build a dock." Fu Yong said directly without hiding anything.

Han Du's face suddenly darkened after hearing this. Build a dock? Doesn't this mean he is competing for business with himself? Although there are many ports in the Ming Dynasty, there are both Taicang and Guangzhou. However, these two places have been banned from the sea for more than ten years.

But it has declined and is now just a wasteland. What can really be regarded as having a huge cargo throughput now is this wharf in the capital. Although the forbidden sea has been opened, the people have been afraid of it for many years. Ordinary people simply do not have enough.

The courage to directly go overseas to do business means that the businessmen in the capital have the advantage of confidence and will not hesitate to go overseas.

And the capital city is a place where goods from all over the world gather, and the goods are complete and abundant.

Therefore, Han Du does not think that Fu Yong will build a dock in Taicang or Guangzhou. If he wants to build it, he will definitely build it in the capital.

This is a naked attempt to steal business from him! Although the two of them have friendship, friendship is friendship, and stealing business is absolutely unacceptable.

Fu Yong saw that Han Du's expression changed, and he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly explained: "Master Hou misunderstood, I have never thought of building a dock in Daming."

"Oh? Then where do you want to be?" These words made Han Du a little curious, and his vigilance relaxed a little.

Fu Yong quickly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said directly: "I want to build a wharf in the old port. To be honest with the Marquis, I came up with this idea after seeing the wealth of the Marquis' wharf."

"Old Port?" Han Du's voice sounded a little strange, and his brows wrinkled slightly.

"Yes, Lord Marquis." Fu Yong quickly explained to Han Du, "Master Hou, you don't know. Not only are we merchants from the Ming Dynasty often going to the old port, but also the merchants from the West have traveled thousands of miles to Nanyang.

After that, the first place I went to was the Old Port. Now the Old Port has become a prosperous place, and the number of ships arriving at the Old Port every day is overwhelming, even more than the ships in the capital."
To be continued...