1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 195
August 1627, 8, the ninth day of the seventh month of the seventh year of the Ming Dynasty.

After the fleet of "Fu Ruifeng" stayed in Shengli Port for more than ten days, it finally set sail and embarked on the return journey.And Schneider and He Xi also boarded the ship as passengers logically.They really went on the road alone this time, and they didn't even bring any of their servants with them.What Schneider thought was to just hire someone again when he arrived in Guangzhou, but Li Nai thought that they were acting freely and freely. I am a little envious of their freedom - at least it seems like this on the surface.

The fleet stopped and stopped all the way, not to mention the speed compared to fast sailing ships like the "Flying Speed", not even the training ships of the Ministry of Shipping.The reason is that there is such a noble person as Li Nai on board, and the first task is to ensure the safety and stability of the voyage.The fleet only sails close to the coastline at dawn every day, and stops at the shore to rest when the sky is getting dark. When the sea is slightly rougher, the speed of travel will be slowed down.The [-]-nautical-mile journey from Shengli Port to Qiongzhou Fucheng alone took three full days, which made it very uncomfortable for the two travelers who were used to the tight schedule.

As usual, the fleet stayed in Qiongzhou Fucheng for one day, mainly to replenish supplies, and by the way filled the vacant space with some local specialties, and also left some of the newly purchased commodities for the local "Furuifeng" subcolon.Schneider also had the honor to go ashore and visit the capital city of Qiongzhou in the seventeenth century.He Xi had already been here once before, and acted as a guide for Schneider.

As the political and economic center of Hainan Island at this time, the area and population of Qiongzhou Fucheng greatly exceeded that of Yazhou.Among the island's more than [-] population, nearly one-third of the population lives in Qiongzhou Fucheng and its surrounding areas.The commercial prosperity brought by the huge population base is also incomparable to a place of exile like Yazhou. Schneider initially estimated that the consumption power of Qiongzhou's capital city is at least five to seven times that of Yazhou. The volume of trade between them obviously has not yet reached the passing line.

However, this situation will definitely change rapidly with the gradual import of Haihan products.The output products of Victory Harbor are constantly being enriched. In addition to glass products and table salt, industrial products such as soap and matches will soon appear in the market here.Shrewd merchants will take the initiative to purchase the materials needed by the Transit Group and send them to Victory Port for trade-a free port without tariffs, for merchants engaged in maritime trade, it is an absolutely irresistible temptation.

After inspecting the local branch, Li Nai also gave instructions, asking the shopkeeper here to try to recruit some local manpower to make preliminary preparations for the investment and sale of "Fu Ruifeng" in Shengli Port.Except for some important management positions that need to be dispatched from Guangzhou, Li Nai believes that grassroots positions can be recruited from the local area, which can also save a lot of transportation and resettlement costs for "Fu Ruifeng".Li Nai even thought about recruiting people directly in Shengli Port, but he gave up this plan when he learned about the salaries the Haihan people gave to the people. Calculated, the operating cost is very high, and there is no such precedent for "Fu Ruifeng", which pays attention to careful calculation.

Then the fleet headed north directly from the mouth of the Nandu River, slowly moved along the Leizhou Peninsula, turned eastward after reaching the sea off Zhanjiang, passed through Maoming, Yangjiang and other places, and finally arrived at Haojingao at the mouth of the Pearl River a few days later. It is the Macau of later generations.

The Portuguese fleet arrived here in 1553 and began to settle here. In 1557, the Portuguese obtained the right of residence in Macau from the Ming Dynasty, but this place is still nominally a territory of the Ming Dynasty, and has a local government, which is placed under the direct jurisdiction of Guangdong Province.However, it was not until 1590 that it was named Hao Jingao because of the production of oysters.The description of foreign businessmen in the dramatist Tang Xianzu's "The Peony Pavilion" originated from his travels in Macao at the end of the [-]th century.

However, at this time, Macau was just a small trading port, and it was completely different from the prosperous selling gold caves of later generations, and it could not be called a city at all.Apart from a row of stone warehouses beside the pier, there are low wooden taverns, where the crew and sailors basically spend their time in this kind of place.The sharp-eyed Schneider also saw a cross on the roof in the distance, which should be a small church.

The wharf on the shore is not even as complete as the current port facilities of Victory Port. It seems that there is no one in charge to coordinate the cargo loading and unloading areas of these ships. Messy cargo is piled up everywhere, and the crew members who are blocked from the way are yelling from time to time. the sound of.However, there are many more ships docked than Victory Port, and there is even a three-masted Spanish galleon with a towering bow and stern and long masts, making it stand out among the ships in the port.

"This Galen ship must have a displacement of more than [-] tons?" He Xi murmured, being very interested in this exotic ship.

"I'm afraid it's more than that. I estimate it's between [-] and [-] tons." Schneider guessed, "This ship probably came from Manila."

"This ship has a tall hull and powerful guns. It is very powerful at sea. I heard that this kind of ship can easily escape even if it is attacked by pirates." Li Nai also joined in when he heard them talking about this ship.

Schneider shook his head and said: "This ship is an old-fashioned 'Karak' sailing ship. The forecastle and poop are too high to catch the wind. This will definitely affect the center of gravity of the ship, and it is not conducive to the operation of the ship when the wind is headwind. The British have already This kind of ship has been improved, the height of both ends has been reduced, and the seaworthiness is better. Europe has now generally adopted the new ship type. This old ship type is probably only available in Manila and Macau in the Far East.”

"Oh? Mr. Shi also has research on the sailboats of the Frangroids?" Li Nai asked in surprise.

"I understand a little, I understand a little." Schneider responded very reservedly.Before setting off, he went to the Ministry of Shipping to find a lot of information and supplemented his knowledge of navigation.But he didn't want to defeat the western powers on the sea one day. That was the responsibility of the military and police department, and he was not interested in participating.The reason why Schneider did this was mainly because he was worried that in case of some accident in Guangzhou, the Guangzhou Office needed to evacuate urgently, and he could at least know how to escape all the way back to Victory Port by hiring a boat by himself.

Schneider originally thought about whether he could go ashore here for a tour, but this time Li Nai disappointed him.The fleet only stayed at the pier for more than an hour. After loading and unloading a small amount of cargo, they set sail and left this small harbor.He Xi breathed a sigh of relief, because this place really stinks.Although the air in the harbor inevitably has a fishy smell, the harbor here has the smell after the fish stinks. If he stays longer, He Xi will really worry that his respiratory system will have problems.

What He Xi didn't know was that most of the ports under the control of Europeans in this era smelled like this, because Europeans had no interest in establishing a public health system in places like ports.Local officials saw no need to spend money to clean up the environment for those stinky sailors - anyway, no matter how well cleaned, these guys will make it smelly as soon as they arrive.As a result, almost all ports became garbage dumps, and this management habit was also brought to Macau by the Portuguese.

To the north of Macao is the later Zhuhai City, but at this time Zhuhai was still barren, and there was no sign of prosperity in this land from the boat, and even small fishing villages near the sea were rare.

Schneider also felt very puzzled by this: "Guangzhou is a large trading port in southern China. Logically speaking, these places at the mouth of the Pearl River should be very prosperous. Why do they look like wilderness instead?"

Li Nai explained this. It turns out that the islands outside the Pearl River Estuary have always been occupied by pirates. These pirates would occasionally go ashore to plunder, and the Zhuhai area was the hardest hit area. Most of the coastal residents spontaneously moved to the inland .

"This place is so close to Guangzhou, why didn't the Guangzhou government send troops to destroy the pirates?" Schneider continued to ask.

Li Nai shook his head and said: "When the government sends out troops, the pirates will hide. When the government withdraws, the pirates will come back again. Once the officers and soldiers move, it will really mobilize the army. The money will be spent outside, and it will be futile after a few more troubles. Who will take this responsibility ?”

"So the pirates should have arranged a lot of informants near Guangzhou. Once the officers and soldiers move, they will get the news." Schneider immediately figured out the reason.

"Then the existence of these pirates won't affect ordinary merchant ships?" He Xi asked.

"Of course there are influences, but merchant ships usually travel in groups, and there are more or less connections between local big merchants and pirates." After saying this, Li Nai pointed to himself, meaning "Fu Rui Feng" is also included, but there is no specific explanation of what this so-called "connection" actually contains.

But even if Li Nai refuses to say it clearly, Schneider and He Xi can probably deduce one or two based on the experience of later generations.The relationship between maritime merchants and pirates is nothing more than a few routines, either paying protection fees to pirates to ensure safe entry and exit, just like what Zheng Zhilong did on the coast of Fujian; Purchase materials and provide them to pirates; what's more, they go to land as merchants and go to sea as pirates, and they have two identities at the same time.

"Fu Ruifeng" had already indicated that they had sales channels when they ordered armaments in Shengli Port. In fact, the executive committee was almost certain that there might be trade between "Fu Ruifeng" and the pirate gang.

(End of this chapter)