Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 255 - 187 "Onboard Police Captain"_2

Chapter 255: Chapter 187 "Onboard Police Captain"_2

"A lot."

Han Yu lowered his head to glance at the waterway map, grimacing as he said: "Director Xu, your arrival will definitely mean queuing up. I estimate that at the earliest, you’ll only be able to come over tomorrow afternoon."

Xu Sanye asked subconsciously: "So you’re saying we can’t catch up with you."

"Unless we dock and wait for you."

"We can’t stop, can’t wait. We’re here to help the shipping company recover its losses. We can’t increase their economic losses."

Xu Sanye knocked off some ash from his cigarette, and continued, "Besides, you being faster than us has its advantages. Arriving at the sand unloading dock one or two days earlier means we can stagger the dock unloading times. Otherwise, we would need to wait then too."

Indeed, even if the lead fleet arrived one or two days earlier at the sand unloading dock, not all the barges could unload at the same time.

After all, this is an inland river. The docks are small and berths are few. They have to unload one by one.

Over 1,300 tons of sand, if the dock’s mechanization level is not high, it could very well take two to three days to unload.

However, what Han Yu was currently concerned about was not unloading. He couldn’t help saying: "Director Xu, I’m worried about you. You only have two officers and two Cooperative Defense Team members over there!"

"On my side, although there are only two officers including myself, we have guns. With guns, what’s there to be afraid of?"

Xu Sanye extinguished his cigarette butt and laughed again: "Besides, I can mobilize the crew members. In the past, they didn’t dare to resist mainly because they lacked support. Now, I am their courage. As long as I am here, even if three or five dozen water bandits come, we can take them down!"

"Director Xu..."

"What’s with you acting all motherly? You don’t need to worry about my side. Just take care of your own. Like I said before, we need to engage the crew, rely on the crew. If we really encounter water bandits, we shouldn’t directly engage. We need to focus on collecting evidence."

"Yes!"

"I want you to use the small recorders that Director Yu provided for you, record every single word they say."

"Understood."

"Also, if there are any that slip through the net, you can chase them, but you must ensure safety. After all, we’re not very familiar with the canal conditions, especially at night. Don’t chase too far."

"I understand."

"That’s about it. Contact me promptly if anything happens."

"Got it."

"Wait a moment." Xu Sanye thought for a bit and then added: "Reporter Wang is with you. No matter what happens, you need to ensure his safety."

Han Yu hastily replied: "Don’t worry, Director Xu. As long as I’m here, nothing will happen to Reporter Wang."

After ending the call, Liang Xiaoyu ran over to call him for dinner.

Han Yu put down the communicator, looked up, and asked: "Xiao Yu, which boat is Reporter Wang on?"

"He’s on boat number two. He interviewed the crew for the whole day and is sitting in the cabin of boat number two writing right now."

"Did you call him for dinner?"

"I did; he said he’ll come later."

"Then we’ll also wait a bit."

As they were speaking, Ma Jintao came from the stern, looked back at the long "dragon" behind him, leaned on the cabin door, and asked with puzzlement: "Salted Fish, we have radios on the 001 too. Why does Director Xu want to stay on 103?"

"The radio on Tugboat 103 has a higher power than ours. Our Linghai Shipping Company’s building is also tall, with six floors, and a very high large antenna is installed on the roof. Director Xu on the 103 can contact home and make phone calls to Director Yu through home."

Han Yu closed his navigation log, thought about it, and laughed: "Before, there was no building in the county taller than the shipping company’s. Every time the shipping company people went to the county for meetings, people from other organizations joked that we from the shipping company were the highest-level leaders."

Ma Jintao asked further: "Doesn’t Director Xu have a satellite phone? To contact Director Yu, couldn’t he just directly use the satellite phone? Why all this fuss?"

"Director Xu does have a satellite phone, but the calls are expensive—a few dozen yuan per minute. Who can afford that!"

Ma Jintao had just reacted when Liang Xiaoyu curiously asked: "Salted Fish, how many locks are there on the canal?"

"From south to north, there are Shiqiao, Shaobo, Huai’an, Huaiyin, Si Yang, Liu Laojian, Suqian, Zaohe, Liu Mountain, Jie Tai, and Lin Family Dam—a total of eleven locks. That’s just on the north-south canal route.

There are even more locks connecting other inland rivers and lakes to the canal. The reason we and Director Xu were ’separated’ is because there are a lot of boats from various cities along the river that want to enter the Grand Canal."

Waiting a day and a half just to pass through a single lock, how many days would it take to pass through so many locks...

Before coming here, Liang Xiaoyu thought that all the locks in the country were like the Bailong Port lock, at most half a day’s wait, and couldn’t believe the locks on the Grand Canal were so busy.

He scratched his neck, then asked with confusion: "What’s the point of building so many locks on a perfectly good river?"

Ma Jintao immediately said: "To collect money. Each lock built can charge a fee. Just think about how much money can be collected from so many ships passing through the locks in a day!"

"Brother Ma, it’s not as simple as you think."

"Then why build so many locks?"

"The water level difference along this 404-kilometer waterway is more than 30 meters. Without the locks, how do you adjust the water level, and how do you ensure the canal is deep enough for navigation? If locks weren’t built, how would you adjust water levels for flood control and drought resistance?"

Seeing their somewhat understanding looks, Han Yu used his hands to gesture while patiently explaining: "Those locks I just mentioned, they’ve divided the 400-plus kilometers of the Grand Canal into ten navigational tiers.

Without these locks, the canal simply wouldn’t be navigable, and countless people living along the banks would face being displaced due to floods."

Ma Jintao paused for a moment, then asked again: "Are all these locks recently built, didn’t the canal use to be navigable even without locks?"

Han Yu is all too familiar with the Grand Canal, having accompanied his parents there countless times since he was young.