The surface of the East China Sea in December is no longer a suitable season for sailing for the maritime shipping industry in East Asia. The wind is strong, the waves are strong, and the wind direction is wrong. Going to sea at this time will greatly increase the possibility of capsizing.

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——But this is only for those traditional small ships. The large sailing ships modified by Qiong Haijun are basically unaffected. As long as there is no terrible typhoon, stronger winds will be more conducive to the navigation of those large sailing ships. At this moment

, on the open sea near Ningbo, Zhejiang, the Qiong Navy's northward fleet, with four such large sailing ships as its core, was riding the wind and waves, heading northward.

The fleet heading north traveled very slowly. This does not mean that their speed is low, but that as long as they pass through larger ports and important state capitals along the way, they have to stop there. This stop requires dealing with the local government.

When it comes to contacting the government, there is no point in wasting time.

Guo Yi, Hu Wen and others from the delegation were somewhat dissatisfied with this arrangement. They felt that it took too long, and they always had to entertain local officials, which was very tiring. But Wen De, who was in charge of the fleet's itinerary,

Si had other ideas - his public reason was to make the sailors on the "Great General" familiar with the Ming Dynasty's own important ports as much as possible. As the future of the Ming Dynasty's maritime power, there is no doubt that the first-class battleship, the Great General

The maritime area that needs protection is extremely vast. If you are not even familiar with your own port, wouldn’t it be a joke?

These words made the accompanying Ming Dynasty officials nod repeatedly, but as for the Qiong Navy, even Hu Wen, who knew the least about military affairs, was secretly laughing - Wen Desi's move was to let the sailors on the General get familiar with the Ming Dynasty.

For coastal ports, it is really hard to say whether we should let our Qionghai fleet take the opportunity to learn more about the hydrological conditions of those ports.

Speaking of which, the officials of the Ming Dynasty were not without doubts about the scale of the Qiong Navy Fleet's northward march - it was only natural for the General to go northward; you sent an important delegation, and it was not unreasonable for a super-luxury yacht like the Princess to be sailed by at a glance.

No problem; but why are these two big guys, the "Governor" and the Earl, following them north? The public reason given by Qiong Haijun at first was to accompany him for protection. Those officials didn't understand the situation at first, so they agreed. However, when they actually saw

After arriving at these giant ships and seeing them in person, everyone jumped up...

——This is not a ship. It is simply a giant fortress floating on the water! It is actually equipped with super firepower. The heavy artillery carried on the Grand General alone is more powerful than anywhere else in the entire Ming Dynasty.

It adds up to a lot. Not to mention that this thing is used to deal with the navy, even those cities in the coastal areas, as long as they are within the range of its artillery, I am afraid that none of them can block its attack. Unless Zheng He's treasure ship reappears, probably

Only then could it be its opponent.

Qiongzhen Shorthair actually gave such a huge weapon to the imperial court so easily? After truly understanding what the imperial court had obtained this time, all the officials from the Ming Dynasty who came to inspect and accept it were all without exception at first.

They fell into ecstasy. But then, when they discovered that there were three more - at least two giant battleships as huge and as terrifying as the Grand Admiral - heading north, they immediately became nervous.

In the concept of those Ming Dynasty officials, such a sea giant is already invincible. Not to mention the Ming Dynasty coast, even as far away as North Korea and the Japanese country, there is no strength that can threaten it. This kind of monster still needs

Protection? And also to bring two similar big guys to "protect"? It is difficult for those officials to understand this. What they can understand more easily is another aspect-all Chinese literati do not read history, and in the Spring and Autumn Period "

The story of "False Dao and Conquer Guo" is also known to everyone - what on earth do these short-haired people want to do?

Faced with such doubts, Wen Desi had to come up with another reason - the sailors on the Great General were all newbies and were not familiar with the port conditions of the Ming Dynasty, nor were they familiar with operating such a large ship. And the Ming Dynasty

Many seaports along the coast, including the Tianjin port that is scheduled to be the home port of the Grand General in the future, may not have the experience to accept such large ships. If the ship is stranded due to improper operation by the sailors, inexperience of the pilot, or unfamiliarity with the hydrological and geological conditions, etc.

, such as running aground on rocks and other accidents, such a large ship must be rescued by large ships of the same type. One is not enough, at least two are needed!

After saying these words, if you can easily convince those officials, you must be underestimating the other party's IQ. But all matters involving this kind of large sailing ship are originally decided by the Qiong Navy. Now that they have come up with

For such a reason, even if the Ming Dynasty officials were doubtful, it would be difficult to refute it. What's more important is that by now, the Ming Dynasty court has completely confused Qiong Haijun's thoughts - it stands to reason that since they are willing to enter the court,

To present such an important thing, no matter how you look at it, it should be a gesture of loyalty and wholehearted loyalty to the Ming Dynasty. So according to the script that officials are accustomed to, Short Hair should try his best to please them. Try every means to get corresponding rewards from the court and more

Grace is.

However, this trend cannot be seen at all from the daily speech and behavior of the group of people and their attitude towards the court officials. The behavior of these short-haired people seems to be completely opposite to their attitudes - just like the man named Jie

In one fell swoop, he quelled the Dengzhou Rebellion and established unprecedented distinctions since the Three Great Conquests of Wanli. If the Ming Dynasty had replaced its own generals, it would not have been impossible to become a marquis. However, in the end, this man not only failed to receive the reward from the court, but also

Isn't it because he has a bad mouth that he was criticized for being "outrageous and rude"?

So now, even the officials who often deal with them do not dare to make easy judgments about the words and deeds of these short-haired people. For example, this time, if you really send a secret report saying that the short-haired people have evil intentions, then the court will

Do we need to take some precautions? To take precautions is to ask the Grand General to go north alone - there is no way that the court will not want this big ship. But in this way, if the sailors on the Grand General are really incompetent, they will hit a rock somewhere or

If it is stranded, then the short-haired people will have their hands spread out anyway - you are all asking for it. If the emperor blames it, who will bear the responsibility?

——Whoever writes the secret report is responsible! The question is how many Ming officials are willing to take such responsibility? So naturally, no one will write such a report.

And Wen Desi was also very measured in this regard - if you move slowly, stop along the way, make the noise louder, and allow local officials and gentry to come on board to visit wherever you go, then others will not

What a bad association. But if you keep quiet, don't interact with people, and just rush to Tianjin at full speed, then people who are not suspicious in the first place may become suspicious.

For this reason, Hu Wen, Guo Yi and others had no choice but to cooperate and visit them one by one along the way. And as they went north, the size of the fleet became larger and larger - many merchant ships joined along the way. It stands to reason that

This season is not the traditional time to go to sea. Maritime merchants and sailors often go home to prepare for the New Year during this period, but in the face of interests, this is not a problem - even if the northbound fleet only stays in a certain place for two or three days,

The local merchants and shipowners were actually able to prepare one or two ships of goods and manpower in such a short period of time, and then set sail with the large fleet.

As for why Qiong Haijun wanted to take them with him - any businessman who can go to sea these days must have the support of bureaucrats and powerful people. When Wen Desi and the others were socializing with local officials, the most common thing they heard was, "I have a few ships here."

I plan to take the local products to the north to give to my relatives and friends. I would like to go to sea with you by the way. Can it be convenient..." and other such requests.

As long as the other party is willing to abide by the rules of the fleet, obey his instructions, and not cause trouble, Wen Desi will not refuse anyone - the more Ming Dynasty's own ships in this team, the less likely those officials will be

Random thoughts. The main reason why Qiong Haijun wanted to take the two big ships "Governor" and "Count" to the north together was to shock the Ming court, lest they get carried away thinking they had got a big ship and give birth to some undesirable things.

Here's an idea. The more Ming Dynasty merchant ships that join this fleet, and the more Ming Dynasty merchants who have seen these giant ships up close and personal, the more rumors about the power of these battleships will naturally spread in Ming Dynasty society.

——And this is exactly what he expected.

The number of private ships for officials was limited, and the most were only two, three, or three or four. What really caused the rapid expansion of the fleet going north was when the fleet passed through Fujian, a large number of Zheng family merchant ships joined - Zheng Zhilong heard about Qiong

Haizhen was preparing to negotiate with the court and was very angry after giving up the profits from the salt industry. He had the broadest vision among people in this era, but it was still difficult to understand Qionghai Town's strategy of using salt industry in exchange for the right to mint coins with the court. In his view

It seems that no matter how good the prospect of coinage is, it is an illusory thing after all, not to mention that the court may change its mind at any time. But those white salts can be seen and touched. If they are dried on the beach and shipped out, they can be exchanged for large quantities of the same white salt.

Huahua's money is really in your own hands. It's still making money anyway, so why bother?

The more critical point is that the Zheng family has just built a large number of salt drying fields on the coasts of Taiwan and Fujian, and now it is the time to harvest. Qiong Haijun's withdrawal has left them drying on the beach. Of course, Qiong Haijun did not ask the Zheng family

Stop drying salt, just like he can't influence the decision-making of Qionghai Town. But Zheng Zhilong is not stupid - without the big man Qiong Haijun to protect him from the wind and rain, if he continues to do it, he will challenge the court alone. If so
Chapter completed!