1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 166 Capacity Expansion
"It seems that we have to buy a few more ships." Cao Xiong looked at the crowds of immigrants in the Batavia Hanzhou warehouse, and couldn't help shaking his head and sighing: "The few ships in Hanzhou, there is no way to make them in time. Pull the immigrants away from here."

"That's right, Master Cao!" Hu Wenjin said with a frown, "Except for the two Breaking Waves, and the two Persian ships you captured in Aceh, each time you took away more than 400 people at most. There are so many people stranded here! The sheriff in the city has brought people over several times, for fear that something will happen to us here."

It takes about [-] days to travel from Xinsheng Island (Phu Quoc Island) to Batavia, and about [-] days to travel from Batavia to Xinxiangbao. Although there is a five-day time difference, the Hanzhou side transfers The population ships are all small boats, and there is no time to transfer the immigrants stranded in Batavia.

However, many sections of the voyage from Xinsheng Island to Batavia were not under the control of the Dutch at all. Merchant ships from Spain, Portugal, England, and even Persia would meet at the entrance of the Strait of Malacca.Therefore, Cao Xiong concentrated all the large ships with a little force on this part of the voyage, just because he was afraid that the people and ships would be robbed by some armed merchant ships with malicious intentions.

"I'm going to visit Mr. Ludwild tonight to see if he can still sell me a boat or two." Cao Xiong sighed again.Although the Hanzhou Shipyard can build ships, it is limited to the technical level and can only build some small boats under [-] tons, and they are still slender boats.It runs fast, but it is not suitable for long-distance carrying people.When people are stuffed into the cabin, they can't even stretch their arms and legs.It is also suitable for transshipment from Xinxiangbao to Jianye City. After two or three days, the immigrants on board can barely bear it.

It is not known how many years it will take until the Hanzhou Shipyard designs and manufactures a ship that can carry people and run fast.

"Master Cao, Ludwig is leaving Batavia and returning to Europa." Hu Wenjin said carefully.At present, Han Zhou's biggest reliance in Batavia is Ludwig's support and help.Once he leaves, it will definitely affect Han Zhou's transit trade in Batavia.Even, it is also a variable for the smooth immigration in the future.

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Originally, Ludwig was going to leave in January this year, but the senior commercial counselor who came to take over from the mainland did not arrive, which made him postpone his return plan repeatedly.

It is now mid-February of 1637, and the senior commercial counselor, who was late for more than two months, finally came to Batavia and conducted a series of work handovers with Ludwig.For a week in a row, various merchants and dignitaries in the city held banquets every day.

Ludwig was a little emotional. It has been six years since he came to the Far East. Under his leadership, several business stations have been established one after another, from Japan to Formosa, from Borneo to Sumatra, creating countless business opportunities for the company. income.Of course, he himself also obtained a high private income.If he hadn't considered the hot and humid environment in the East Indies, the lack of recreational facilities, and his lonely heart, he would still be willing to stay here.

One year's income in Batavia far exceeds ten years' income in the Netherlands.Much of his wealth had been entrusted to the great ships of the East India Company returning to Europe, and brought back to the Netherlands proper.After reaping huge wealth, he should pursue more political status in the future.I believe that with its outstanding performance in the East India Company in the past few years, Amsterdam must have its own place.

"Sir, Cao, here we come." The butler Anri Credo said softly.

"Oh, let him in." Ludwig drank a few more glasses during the farewell dinner held by the navy commander just now, and his mind was still a little confused.But Cao Xiong came, and he invited him into his study without any surprise.

"Master Lu, I heard that you will be leaving in a few days?" Cao Xiong entered the study with a box in his hand.

"Yes, my friend. I'm going back to Europe, and I really miss you!" Ludwild looked at the box with confused eyes, "Is it a treasure? Hehe..."

Normally, the gifts that Cao Xiong brings are given to his housekeeper, and only occasionally the more precious items will be tasted by him face to face.

"I don't have anything with me, it's something our emperor uses." Then, he opened the box, revealing a Song Ru kiln azure-glazed bottle with string patterns.The glaze is moist and soft, as pure as jade, which is beyond the comparison of ordinary porcelain.

"It's so beautiful!" Under the illumination of the candlelight, Ludwild sincerely admired.

Ru porcelain, with its exquisite craftsmanship, beautiful shape, moist glaze, elegant and pure charm, is unique in style. It is an epoch-making important symbol in the development history of Chinese celadon.It was prosperous in the Northern Song Dynasty and declined in the Southern Song Dynasty. Due to the long-term military disasters and wars, the Ru kiln was destroyed and the skills were lost.Although Chinese folk kilns continued to fire in Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, they were unsuccessful due to various reasons.

"Tell me, do you need me to help you with something at the end?" Ludwild withdrew his reluctant eyes from the Ru kiln string pattern bottle.

"I still want to buy a boat!" Cao Xiong said bluntly.

"Yes!" Ludwild also happily replied: "The company has a few Galen ships that are about to be decommissioned and can be sold to you."

"How many ships are there?"

"Two."

"I want it all!"

Ludwig smiled, "Dear Cao, your career is getting bigger and bigger!"

"It's not because you, Mr. Lu, can cover us, so that we can grow bigger and bigger. We, Hanzhou, will remember your goodness for the rest of our lives."

"I really don't know, whether we will meet again in the future... Cao, what else do you want?" Ludwild understood what Cao Xiong meant by "good", so he simply helped him with something.

"We want a shipbuilder, and we want to build our own boat." Cao Xiong tentatively said, "Besides, with a shipbuilder, we can also do some daily maintenance for our large ship."

Ludwig was startled, took a deep look at Cao Xiong, then shook his head, "The craftsmen at the Batavia Shipyard can't give it to you, because they need to do routine repairs and maintenance for the entire company's ships, and , the number of people is very small... Presumably, you should also try to poach people."

Cao Xiong couldn't hide the disappointment on his face. Sure enough, the Dutch still controlled the most critical weapon of shipbuilding.The ships they sold to themselves were all discarded by them after retirement, and within a few years, various problems might occur, and they might even be unable to go to sea.If there is a shortage of ships, they can only continue to buy second-hand ships that they don't want. Let alone building a strong maritime force, it is difficult to maintain a small-scale transport fleet.

It's still Xiaotian who has a vision. There are some things that others may not sell to you. Even if they are sold to you, they are technologically backward, or even junk.Next time I will find a way to send someone to Nanjing to recruit some shipwrights from our Ming Dynasty, or I will try to build my own ship.

"Well, we still have a few ships of the Ming Dynasty standard, and we will sell them to you as well." It may be out of compensation, Ludwild said.Those so-called Ming Dynasty-style ships were also Dutch armed merchant ships that robbed a few single Zheng Zhilong merchant ships near Japan, and they happened to be disposed of together to Cao Xiong at this time.

"After I'm gone, if there is anything difficult to solve, you can go to Colonel Aryan Van Dijk, the commander of the Batavia fleet. You are also old friends, and you will have more contacts in the future." Ludwig finally expressed his concern said to Cao Xiong.

"You shitty old friend!" Cao Xiong scolded in a low voice when he came out of Ludwig's mansion, "I've eaten so much, I don't even give us a shipbuilder!"

"Uncle, that fleet commander, shall we still give gifts?" Qi Dalu asked in a daze.

"You idiot!" Cao Xiong was amused, "Are you thinking about that girl from the Su family all day long!"

"I... no."

"Since there isn't one, then I won't talk about you with Mr. Su tomorrow afternoon."

"What's the matter with me?"

"...You're going to be twenty this year."

"Well, I'll be twenty in May."

"Do you want to marry a wife?"

"..." Qi Dalu's mind once again flashed that agile figure and big flickering eyes.

Cao Xiong shook his head and stopped talking.That Su Minggang is a smart man. Hanzhou is thousands of miles south of Batavia, and occupies a continent of its own. With the increasing number of immigrants and the gradual strengthening of its power, it will be a matter of time before it becomes a country.Overseas Ming people, you don’t always rely on those Yi people, do you?

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"Cao, Lieutenant Colonel Bacona said that you obtained a treasure from Aceh in Jishui Bay?" Colonel Ayan Van Dijk, commander of the Batavia fleet, said with a smile as soon as we met.

"Treasure? Oh, we got an Aceh treasury outside the city, and there are a lot of coins. When I was in Rapid Water Bay, I gave some to Lieutenant Colonel Bacona. Your share, I will return When you were in Batavia, you weren't there. Afterwards, I asked someone to move you home." Cao Xiong hid the matter of gold.

Colonel Aryan Van Dijk nodded in satisfaction, no matter how much property Cao Xiong obtained, it is necessary to distribute it to himself.If it was taken out at that time and registered by the company's business personnel, it would be the company's property.Who wouldn't want to come to such a distant place and make a fortune?

"Cao, I want to tell you some bad news for you, very bad news!" Colonel Aryan Van Dijk restrained his smile and said seriously.

"Oh, what's the news?" Cao Xiong thought, maybe you all know that Portugal has conflict with us?
"Two months ago we spotted a Spanish warship off Batavia. It came back from the east side of Java, and we thought it was targeting our East India Company. Later, we sent people to Manila did an investigation and found some information against you."

"The Spaniards seem to be preparing a military operation against you! Well, just recently!"

(End of this chapter)