Chapter 2451: The Baiyunshan

Chen Ding rested at the Wu family's home for a few days, and the injury on his head healed mostly. Seeing the day to go to Lingao approaching, he was filled with high spirits.

He was very curious about the legendary Lingao. Originally, he had also thought of going there for sightseeing and to see if there were any opportunities to make money.

It was just that later he was blocked by the military front, and changes occurred at home. He could only temporarily set aside this idea.

Unexpectedly, after coming to Guangzhou and taking a blow with a club and losing a huge sum of money, he had exchanged it for such an adventure! Chen Ding was originally a man of open mind. Now that he had a bright prospect, he not only put aside the Nansha matters for the time being, but even the loss of two hundred taels of silver became less concerning. His mind was full of thoughts about how to set up the factory.

He had heard many people talk about various things in Lingao in the past, but that could only be considered hearsay, which likely contained many exaggerations. As the old saying goes, seeing is believing; he wanted to see with his own eyes what this Australian lair really looked like and what novel objects there were.

On this day, cadres from the Planning Committee's Guangzhou Office sent the invitation letter and boat tickets. The ticket was for the Baiyunshan, the latest addition to the Hainan-Guangdong route operated by Dabo Shipping.

As the Senate's rule in Guangdong and Guangxi became increasingly stable, the number of passengers traveling between Hainan and Guangdong had surged. Part of these were naturalized citizens traveling between the two places for official business or visiting relatives, but business travelers also increased significantly. The number of spontaneous immigrants, which was originally small, saw explosive growth. These immigrants included poor people looking for a living and a way out, as well as rich people worried about the situation in the Central Plains hoping to find this "Peach Blossom Spring" to avoid the chaos.

Starting from 1636, the passenger volume on the Hainan to Guangdong route increased more than tenfold. Dabo Shipping's original model of mixing passengers and cargo gradually could not meet the demand, so two large transport ships were specially converted into dedicated mail ships. They were named Wuzhishan and Baiyunshan respectively, and currently operated one trip each way weekly.

On January 20, 1637, Chen Ding and Wu Yijun boarded the Baiyunshan at the Number One Wharf outside the South Gate. The prototype of this vessel was the teak-hulled T1200 standard ship hull. After modification, the internal cabin settings focused more on carrying passengers. While maintaining the sail rigging, a steam engine was also installed, and the average speed could reach eight knots. It was the largest and most luxurious shipping liner on the Hainan-Guangdong route.

From the perspective of the Senators, a teak-hulled sailing ship with a standard displacement of 1,200 tons was not particularly spectacular—after all, the tonnage of the two Spanish galleons they'd captured was similar. But for local commoners, the T1200 still had a strong visual impact. Especially after the passenger ship modification, an extra layer of structure had been added to the deck, a bridge installed, and most conspicuously, two chimneys billowing black smoke.

"I have long heard that the Great Song's ships are sturdy and cannons sharp; it strikes me as true," Wu Yijun sighed.

A large number of passengers had already gathered at the waiting wharf beside the gangway. Passengers were divided into several different areas according to their cabin class. Chen and Wu's tickets were for second-class cabins, where there were few people—almost all wealthy families who had bought special permissions at teahouses, along with their servants and accompanying personnel. There were many more people in the third-class cabin area, who looked mostly like naturalized cadres and employees, as well as some merchant-looking travelers. As for the fourth-class cabin waiting area, it was bustling with noise: a dark mass of people, not only dragging the old and carrying the young but also laden with huge and small bags of luggage, speaking in widely varying accents.

The waiting area for the most expensive first-class cabins had the fewest passengers. Unlike the other waiting areas, they did not need to wait in the open air but waited under a specially built awning with dedicated staff serving tea.

"These Australians are truly stingy, inviting us but only giving second-class berths!" Chen Ding whispered with a smile.

"If not so, how could they be called Australians?" Wu Yijun also found it amusing. In fact, although Australians were known for being extravagant, shrewd merchants had long seen that they were of the same kind when it came to being profit-driven.

As the two were laughing, Chen Ding suddenly felt a chill on the back of his head, as if someone was staring at him. He turned his head abruptly but saw nothing unusual.

"What's wrong, Brother?"

"Nothing..."

At that moment, the steam whistle sounded—the signal to board. The passengers gathered in the waiting area immediately stirred. Crew members and wharf staff came over to maintain order, guiding passengers to board from the gangways on the left and right sides of the ship.

Chen and Wu came to their cabin under the guidance of crew members. Because the T1200 was essentially still a sailing ship, the cabins were all below the deck. Although there were portholes, the light was not very good.

"So dim, I fear we cannot read," Chen Ding said.

"If you want to read, you have to buy a first-class ticket at the stern," Wu Yijun said. "The sterncastle has many windows and plenty of space. But second class is already not bad. I heard the fourth-class cabins are on the lowest deck; not only are they communal bunks, but they don't even have portholes. Going down there is pitch black, relying entirely on oil lamps for lighting day and night."

Looking around, the cabin was not large, but the environment was clean and tidy, and the layout was ornate and exquisite. Utensils needed for the journey were all available. The tea cabinet was equipped with a thermos placed in a fixed base and a full set of enamel tea sets. There were also various teas—green tea, oolong, and black tea—all packed in small bags. They had even prepared sweets and kvass.

"Truly exquisite." Chen Ding saw a small desk against the porthole. Although there were no Four Treasures of the Study, there was a fixed inkwell and stationery box equipped with Australian pens and ink. Opening the drawer, he found a neat pad of notepaper watermarked with "Dabo Shipping" and "Baiyunshan." The paper quality was thick and white, making him unable to put it down.

It was just that the bunks in the cabin were very small, just enough to accommodate one person sleeping. Two bunks were just enough for a master and a servant. No wonder the inspection notice specifically stated that each person could only bring one servant for free.

Wu Yijun took his servant back to his own cabin. Chen Ding instructed Chen An, who had come to serve him, to unpack the luggage. He took out two books from the luggage and placed them at the head of the bed for pastime.

At that moment, crew members knocked on the doors one by one to give instructions: "The ship is about to depart! Everyone please stay in your cabins and do not walk around randomly. Do not go on deck. Do not touch the portholes. No smoking in the cabin!"

"What is this? A chamber pot?" Chen Ding pointed to a white enamel bucket with a lid fixed in an iron frame beside each bunk.

"That is a vomit bucket," the crew member said. "Catch it when you vomit."

Then the whistle blew three times outside, and the whole ship vibrated. Even in the small passenger cabin, they could hear a strange woo-woo sound. The feeling of riding an Australian ship for the first time was truly wonderful!

As the vibration and roaring sound gradually steadied, the ship suddenly moved. Chen Ding hurriedly held onto the porthole and looked out, seeing the ship gradually heading toward the river surface.

"I only regret I cannot go on deck to view this rare beautiful scenery!"

When the ship reached the middle of the river, because the weather was good, passengers were allowed to walk and rest on the deck—but only for the first three classes. Fourth-class cabins had fixed "deck time," half an hour each.

At first, Chen Ding and the others were in high spirits, strolling and gazing on the deck. However, once the ship exited the Pearl River Estuary, the wind and waves grew larger, and they gradually became seasick. Seeing this, Wu Yijun hurriedly told him to go back to the cabin and lie down to rest.

Once he lay down, he didn't get up again. First, the world spun, then came violent vomiting. For the subsequent two days and two nights of the voyage, Chen Ding didn't eat a single meal, just sleeping half-awake on the bunk in darkness. In his daze, someone came to feed him some water that was both salty and sweet.

Suddenly he felt a shaking and found it was Wu Yijun shaking his shoulder, telling him to get up.

"Almost there! Hurry up and clean yourself up; look at the state of you!"

"I... I am..."

"You've slept for almost two days. The ship will arrive in Lingao soon," Wu Yijun urged. "Wash your face first, then eat something—you aren't dizzy now, are you?"

"Indeed, I'm not dizzy anymore." Chen Ding touched his head. His originally groggy mind was clear, and his stomach issued a rumbling sound. He pleasantly discovered: his appetite was back.

"Thanks to Chen An this time," Wu Yijun smiled bitterly. "Xiao Fu and I were also dizzy and confused. We relied entirely on him alone to take care of us for these two days."

Chen An hurriedly said, "This is this lowly one's duty. Master, do not kill me with such words. I see Master Ding is also hungry; should I go get some dry food for a snack?"

Chen Ding was starving at this moment and hurriedly said, "Yes! Yes! Bring the cookies in my bag!" As he spoke, he discovered that a blanket had been covered over him at some point. This gray blanket was smooth, soft, and extremely warm, and the weaving skill was quite superb. But he couldn't tell what material it was made of; he wondered if it was Wu Yijun's blanket.

After eating a few cookies and drinking a cup of tea, Wu Yijun suggested going on deck to walk around and get some air.

The two walked onto the deck. What came into view was the Qiongzhou Strait. Fields stretched along both banks, and in the distance was Lingao. Indistinctly, black smoke was rising. Recently, such black smoke had also appeared in Guangzhou. It was said that this was produced by the Australian power of water and fire—only there was more black smoke in Lingao than in Guangzhou.

Suddenly he heard a burst of women's laughter and chatter from the side. Turning his head, he saw several women on the other side of the gunwale wearing identically styled Australian attire. They all wore small brown round hats at a tilt, a brown Australian blouse on the upper body with a white collar peeking out, and a black cloth strip tied in a knot at the chest. On the lower body, they wore brown pleated knee-length skirts, with only black socks on their calves, revealing their knees. Outside, they wore long coats; some had them buttoned, while others left them open.

Although it was Lingnan, it was still January weather after all. Did these Australian women not fear getting "old cold legs"? Chen Ding had long heard of the Australians' strange customs—women's attire was one of the most widely spread and hotly discussed topics. After all, this attire, which existed in neither the East nor the West in the seventeenth century, was truly shocking to the world and full of temptation.

(End of Chapter)