prosperous age

A large ferry with a galleon sailed westward along the coastline. After three days of sailing, they finally turned southwest and headed towards a huge harbor.

"Captain, it looks like this is the old port that the Ming people are talking about."

The second mate stood next to Drake and whispered to him.

Through the telescope, they had already clearly seen the scenery in the bay. It was a huge harbor with dozens of large and small ships docked at the dock.

Most of the sea vessels are similar to the Fujian ship mentioned above, which is also the most commonly used ship type by Ming Dynasty maritime merchants.

Putting down the telescope, Drake said in disbelief, "I really can't imagine that more than a hundred years ago, they formed a huge fleet and sailed thousands of miles from the north to here, and then continued west to the east coast of Africa."

“Well, if what Bao said is true, they went to sea half a century earlier than the Portuguese.

But no matter what, it was not the Ming Dynasty that truly achieved the circumnavigation of the world, but us Europeans."

However, the second mate did not feel discouraged because the Ming people entered the ocean earlier, and said it with great pride.

During these two days, when they stopped to rest at night, Master Bao from the Ming Dynasty was invited to board the Golden Deer, and they also visited Ming Dynasty ships.

Although both parties communicated in Portuguese, it was quite fluent.

The other party seemed to be more familiar with Portuguese, perhaps because most of their clients are Portuguese.

Through communication, Drake learned more information that was hidden by the Portuguese and Spanish.

Of course, the news that the Eastern fleet had arrived at the east coast of Africa a hundred years ago was actually circulated in Europe, but most people just thought it was a joke.

But through communication with Master Bao, Drake was convinced that the joke was true.

According to Master Bao, as early as a hundred years ago, the large warships built by the Ming Dynasty were already comparable to the largest warships in advanced Europe.

However, the construction of such a giant ship requires extremely high timber requirements, so the Ming Dynasty itself does not have many such large warships.

"According to Bao, the treasure ship of the Ming Dynasty is even bigger than the Eagle of Lübeck."

Drake shook his head slightly.

The Eagle of Lübeck that Drake mentioned was the world's largest sea ship built in Europe at the end of the 16th century. It had a displacement of 3,000 tons and was a well-deserved sea giant at the time.

As the world's largest seagoing ship, this record was maintained for a long time.

As a typical caravel, the Eagle of Lübeck was designed with two tall front and rear towers.

It is only because of the three-layer main structure of the hull that it does not seem to stand out in appearance.

But with a length of 78.3 meters, a width of 14.5 meters and a draft of 5.3 meters, it is enough to dwarf the ships of many competing countries.

After all, in that era when deep-water ports were not popular, the water depth in many important trading centers was only 5-7 meters.

Because of the need to deal with various disputes or attacks at sea, the Lübeck Eagle was also equipped with an extremely powerful firepower system.

根据德意志炮兵大师汉斯-弗雷泽的手稿记载，船上总计配有8门48磅级别的重炮、6门24磅的中型火炮，以及多达26门的10磅轻型火炮。

If we include the 3-5 pound close-range weapons, the total number of guns on the ship is a very impressive 130.

The cost of the shells and gunpowder needed to maintain these weapons alone is enough to show how highly the Hanseatic League merchants valued it.

Even when performing non-military missions, there are always 350 sailors on board to carry out daily operations.

Their wages, food rations and accidental pension expenses are another financial burden that many countries are unable to face.

If we take into account the rated number of 650 combat personnel, the cost of a single deployment will be staggering.

The Eagle of Lübeck was supposed to escort the League's merchant fleets against pirate threats from Denmark, Sweden, England or Flanders.

Since they do not have to bear the freight mission themselves, they naturally cannot offset a considerable part of the operating costs, so no ship owner or investor can afford the dispatch costs.

At the same time, the Hanseatic League had no direct maritime competitors, making its huge warships completely useless.

What’s worse is that even if the ship is left at the port and nothing is done, it still needs to undergo minimum maintenance.

So just two years later, the Eagle of Lübeck underwent another simple modification. This once largest battleship in the world was transformed into a dedicated cargo ship, specifically responsible for the longer Iberian route.

Despite this, it remains the undisputed giant ship at sea in Europe of this era.

However, there are still some language or habit barriers in the communication between Drake and Master Bao.

Drake mistakenly believed that the treasure ship of 5,000 tons mentioned by Master Bao had a displacement of 5,000 tons. In fact, according to the data that could be confirmed by later generations, the largest treasure ship in Zheng He's fleet was only 5,000 tons. After conversion, the displacement was more than 2,000 tons, which was very close to the maximum limit of 3,000 tons for wooden sailing ships.

Well, such a huge displacement was completely beyond Drake's imagination. It was also said that according to Master Bao, Zheng He's fleet had quite a number of treasure ships, at least sixty such super-giant ships.

Drake could no longer imagine the grand spectacle of such a fleet setting sail.

You know, in the whole of Europe, there are probably less than 60 ships with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons.

In fact, although Europe had already entered the Age of Exploration at this time, the displacement of most ships was over 100 tons. Ships over 500 tons were considered large ships, and ships over 1,000 tons were extremely rare.

But the big ship under his feet, the Golden Deer, is only over 100 tons, less than 200 tons.

But it was with just such a ship that they were able to circumnavigate the globe, crossing the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to arrive here.

Whether it was Columbus, Da Gama, or Magellan, when they made their great maritime discoveries, the ships they used were all ships of over 100 tons. This was mainly because Europeans at that time were very familiar with ships of this tonnage and could maximize their efficiency.

"Captain, look there."

Just as Drake was thinking, the second mate suddenly pointed forward and shouted.

Drake looked in the direction the second mate pointed and saw a Ming warship heading towards them.

It was a double-decker battleship. As usual, Drake first observed the number of the enemy's gun ports to make a preliminary assessment of its combat power.

It is that simple and direct. First, analyze the number of artillery on the enemy warship to determine the strength of the warship's firepower.

"It has more firepower than ours."

Soon, Drake came to his own conclusion.

The gunboat approached the Dafu ship of Master Bao in front. After the two ships had a brief exchange at a certain distance, they left the channel without questioning them.

There was no radio in those days, and each port had a special patrol boat patrolling outside the port, questioning all approaching ships.

In the words of Master Bao, their Bao family is an old maritime family in Jiugang and is very familiar with the entire Jiugang.

After witnessing the powerful maritime force of the Ming Dynasty, the original major families of Jiugang consciously put aside their own small thoughts and fully cooperated with the court's management of Jiugang.

As for using their familiarity with the Old Port and the surrounding terrain to play tax evasion tricks, forget it. Their necks are made of flesh, not iron.

As for the old port that had just returned to the Ming Dynasty, Yu Dayou and Chen Lin treated the indigenous people relatively tolerantly and did not pursue most of the previous incidents.

Soon, the two ships entered the port, allowing them to observe this eastern port more clearly. Well, it had been so long since the Golden Hind had properly docked at a port that Drake could no longer remember.

Looking at the merchant ships moored at the dock, the Ming Dynasty warships in the distance, and the workers moving goods back and forth at the dock, the active trade atmosphere of this oriental port is felt right before your eyes.

Following the guidance of a small boat, they arrived at a berth and docked.

After the deck was set up, Drake handed over the ship's affairs to the second mate. He went off the ship with two strong sailors and soon met up with Master Bao.

"I will take you to the garrison. This place is under the management of the Ming Dynasty's South China Sea Navy. The person in charge of the city is the Navy's Deputy Admiral Chen Lin, Lord Chen.

If you have goods that need to be traded or you want to purchase goods on your ship, that room over there is our trading room and you can go there to conduct the trade.

The goods are all in a nearby warehouse, and after the transaction is completed, you can hire someone to deliver them to the ship.

If you only need food and water for the ship, you can buy them there, and you can hire someone to transport them to your ship yourself."

Master Bao was still very enthusiastic. He took Drake into the city and introduced him to the situation at the dock.

In addition to the exchange and warehouse, there is also a hotel nearby where crew members can disembark to rest, eat, drink and have fun.

However, Drake and his crew have no need to trade goods, but they will purchase some water and food from here to replenish the consumption on the ship.

On the way into the city, Drake quickly noticed what the Ming people were wearing. He actually saw someone wearing expensive silk riding a horse passing by them.

"Bao, do you have fresh spices on board?"

Drake's heart moved, so he asked.

"Yes, Portuguese merchants like to purchase these goods very much, so our main business is to purchase spices from the locals on the eastern islands and transport them back to the Old Port, and then sell them to them when they arrive."

Master Bao replied with a smile.

"Do you have Ming silk and porcelain here? I want the best."

Derek continued to ask.

"There should be. The exchange has porcelain and silk shipped from the Ming Dynasty, which are also very popular with the Portuguese."

Master Bao replied.

“Oh, I’ll go check it out later.

Bao, are you taking me to General Chen now?"

"Yes, you said you brought your queen's letter to my Great Ming Emperor. It would be better to send the letter to Lord Chen as soon as possible."

Master Bao smiled and said, "If you had arrived here two months earlier, you might have met the imperial envoy, Lord Yin Zhengmao, who was ordered to go to the Western countries to announce the imperial decree."

"What do you mean?"

Drake was curious about what kind of ceremony the Ming Emperor held when he announced his decree to Western countries.

"I, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, will be getting married in two years. I invite all vassal states to send envoys to attend the ceremony."

After Master Bao’s explanation, Drake understood what was going on.

In European countries, invitations will also be sent to surrounding countries when a king or prince attends their wedding.

It’s just that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty didn’t seem to be inviting them, but notifying them.

Well, in the eyes of Master Bao, the Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire and the suzerain state of all Western countries.

Allowing you to attend the wedding of the emperor of the suzerain country is a gift to you. It would be very tactless if you don't try to curry favor with him.

He dared to board the Golden Deer directly on the sea because although there was no order on the sea, the powerful strength of the Ming Dynasty gave him confidence on this sea. Even the Spaniards or Portuguese did not dare to openly rob Ming ships on the sea.

If this really happened, I believe that no matter whether it was Jiugang or Daimao City, the Ming army would definitely take action to retaliate against them.

The two men talked as they walked, and soon they came to a huge brick and stone building. There were soldiers guarding the door. Master Bao stepped forward to communicate with the people inside, and was soon allowed to enter.

At the dock, the Golden Hind did not hire workers to help carry the cargo immediately like the Portuguese merchant ships that arrived. Instead, a few sailors got off the ship and rested and chatted near the gangway, while the other crew members gathered on the deck, looking around and commenting on the oriental city before them.

Not far from the dock, a captain of the Ming army was also observing the ship. He could easily guess the number of artillery carried by the merchant ship through the gun ports.

"Sir, it should be an ordinary armed merchant ship, although I have never seen this flag before."

The general flag whispered behind the captain.

"They are also different from the Portuguese. Haven't you seen their hair? Many of them are yellow, which is a rare hair color among the Portuguese."

The centurion said casually.

Foreign ships docking at the port naturally had to be registered, and he was also notified by his subordinates in the barracks that an English merchant ship had arrived.

Well, if it was a Portuguese merchant ship or a Spanish merchant ship, it would be easy to deal with, but this was the first time an English merchant ship appeared, so he came over to take a look.

I have asked someone just now, and it was the Bao family who encountered them at sea. They said they got lost and came here. Now the young master of the Bao family is taking their captain to the garrison.

The rest is easy then. Just wait for the news from the garrison.

So he summoned a general flag to come nearby to monitor the English merchant ship.

If the other side does anything wrong, the fifty-man flag team is enough to suppress them.

After all, this is at the dock, not on the sea.

This type of sea vessel has only more than sixty people on board, so it is actually not difficult to deal with.

"The shift will start in two hours. There must always be a flag team guarding here."

The centurion observed for a while and didn't notice anything.

There are many Portuguese merchants coming to the Old Port, and they have become more relaxed about it after their initial vigilance.

"Yes, my lord."

The general flag quickly clasped his fists and said.

After saying that, the centurion left the dock area with his two men and went back to the barracks to rest.

As for the British sailors on the ship, they all stayed on board because they did not wait for Drake's notification, and there was always someone on duty near the gangway.

At this time, in the Old Port Garrison, Chen Lin was entertaining Drake and Master Bao.

Queen Elizabeth's letter had already reached Chen Lin, but the English on it was incomprehensible to Chen Lin.

He has a Portuguese interpreter, but he is not familiar with English, so he has to ask Drake to translate it into Portuguese first. (End of this chapter)