I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 579 Battle of Penghu
Briquettes are the focus of Huang Dong's current work.

Since the imperial court banned mining and encouraged the opening of mining in Xishan Coal Field, he has clearly felt that coal will be popular in the world in the future.

People in the Ming Dynasty burned fire for cooking, and coal was an essential fuel for any industry that used fire, so he would never miss this wave of business opportunities.

Therefore, on the one hand, shopkeeper Li asked shopkeeper Li to speed up the production of briquettes and stockpile as much as possible to prepare for future sales; on the other hand, he went to the Xishan Coal Field to inspect the conditions of the coal mine.

At present, Daming Trading Company has a total of ten kilns in Xishan Coal Field. Huang Dong was immediately dissatisfied after reading them. The number of these coal mines could not meet the raw material demand for briquettes.So he immediately ordered Shopkeeper Li to buy as much as possible before Shuntian Mansion closed Si Zhao. Daming Trading Company must have at least thirty coal kilns, otherwise it will not be able to provide a stable supply of briquettes.

After the matter of briquettes and coal fields was settled, Huang Dong got on the carriage and headed for Tongzhou without stopping.

Tongzhou is now regarded as the Gyeonggi region, another emerging region after Tianjin.Originally, it was actually just a terminal for water transportation. It had a large population, but most of them lived in Caoding. The entire population of Tongzhou was only about 13.

But since last year, the whole of Tongzhou has become more and more lively.

First, the Ministry of Industry moved the firearms workshop and firearms storage in the capital here, and the number of craftsmen in the workshop also moved here.Recently, in order to expand production capacity, firearms workshops have opened some orders to private workshops, and Daming Trading Company has also set up factories in Tongzhou to manufacture cement, soap and other products.

Therefore, other chambers of commerce also set up shop here. Coupled with the convenience of the canal, people from all over the world came to seek employment and make a living. This led to a surge in the population of Tongzhou. In just two years, it has increased to 18, which can be regarded as a prosperous period. place.

As soon as Huang Dong arrived in Tongzhou, he went non-stop to the shops and workshops of Daming Trading Company in Tongzhou. Now, Daming Trading Company mainly has four workshops in Tongzhou, namely Westernware, ironware, soap, and cement workshops.

These are considered the flagship products of the Daming Workshop. Western wares are mainly imitations of Western clocks and telescopes. Such things are difficult to make, so they were made by craftsmen Zheng Zhilong invited from Guangdong and Macau. Although the output is small, they are very popular.

Especially the telescope, which can see thousands of miles away. If you play it well, you can see the stars in the sky.

Therefore, once sold, it sold out immediately and became very popular.The emperor also placed a massive order for it. As long as it was manufactured, it would be sent to either Liaodong or Beijing. It can be said that the supply exceeded demand.

Not to mention other cement, soap and other products, this kind of thing is much easier to use than the honey locust and triple soil on the market, so Daming Trading Company welcomed it when it was launched.

Fortunately, Huang Dong always kept in mind the emperor's teachings and never engaged in independent business. Therefore, he shared cement, soap and other technologies with some trading companies. As a result, many trading companies began to follow suit and started manufacturing. At the same time, lime fields and lard fields were developed to support these industries. , coal fields and other industries have also been established one after another, making Tongzhou more prosperous.

Unlike Huang Dong, the second shopkeeper of Daming Trading Company, Zheng Zhilong, was also too busy to keep his feet on the ground.

Huang Dong was responsible for the layout of the capital, while Zheng Zhilong was responsible for maritime trade.Maritime trade has been booming since last year. Through mergers, purchases and other means, Zheng Zhilong has now owned more than 50 ships in Daming Trading Company, and the trade network has spanned the coast of Daming.

But Zheng Zhilong is not satisfied with this. He has always set his sights overseas and wants to do business in Japan, Southeast Asia, and even the West.

But beyond the coast of the Ming Dynasty, the advantages of the Ming trading companies suddenly disappeared, and the trade risks suddenly became much greater. The competitors were no longer merchants from other trading companies in the Ming Dynasty, but the Francois, the Dutch and other Westerners.

But Zheng Zhilong understands that high risks also mean high returns. Once this trade network is opened, the profits of Daming Trading Company will be further improved.

So since the beginning of this year, he has sent people to Macau to purchase ready-made merchant ships and hire crews. However, in April, people in Macau received news that the Western Red Mao barbarians were attacking Macau and sent people to block Macau's seaport. The ships Zheng Zhilong was really annoyed that he couldn't go out to sea at all.

But in May, his uncle immediately brought good news from Japan, that is, Li Dan decided to submit to the imperial court, and at the same time, in accordance with the preferential treatment given by the emperor to Li Dan, Li Dan could also invest money in Daming Trading Company.

Zheng Zhilong had heard of Li Dan before. He traveled across Japan and Southeast Asia, and was considered the leader of maritime merchants today. Even Fo Langji people had to sell to him to save face, but he was also a merchant and a thief, so He was wanted by the court and his reputation was not particularly good.

Unexpectedly, he would submit to the imperial court this time and also become a shareholder of Daming Trading Company.

Thinking of this, Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but gear up and immediately started thinking.Daming Trading Company is not short of funds now, but what it lacks is skilled crews, ships and navigation charts.Li Dan had these things. If Daming Trading Company could cooperate with Li Dan, it would be easy to open routes to Japan and Southeast Asia, and it would even be possible to open routes to the West.

Zheng Zhilong became very excited when he thought of this, and was going to go to South Zhili in person to wait for Li Dan's return, and have a good talk with him then.
-
The war in Liaodong is raging, but the southeast is no exception.

On June 100nd, in Fujian, three miles west of Penghu, gunfire roared at sea, and more than [-] Ming troops blocked the sky and were engaged in fierce exchanges with Dutch warships.

The Ming army maintained its ship advantage and prepared to surround the Dutch warships first.

It used the fastest bird ship as the vanguard. It fired French cannons and rockets not far from the Dutch warship as a cover. When it got close to the Dutch warship, it threw fire cans to burn down the warship. Boat.and

The Fuchuan and Wuwei boats followed closely behind. While using the artillery on board to bombard the Dutch warships to provide cover for the bird boats, they rushed towards the sides of the Dutch ships like pockets, preparing to capture the Dutch warships. Dutch warships surrounded it.

Although the Dutch warships were strong and powerful, they were a little overwhelmed when faced with so many Ming warships and the bird ships that kept rushing towards them.In just one hour, two warships were burned down. Accompanied by the explosion of gunpowder and bursts of wailing, the remaining Dutch warships finally could no longer hold on and turned their bows to prepare to withdraw from the Ming army's siege.

At this time, behind the Ming army warship, Admiral Shen Yourong of the Fujian and Zhejiang Navy stood at the bow of the ship, observing the battle situation with a telescope.When he saw signs of the Dutch warships escaping, he immediately gave orders to the messenger behind him.

"Send a flag to Yu Zigao and ask them to block the red-haired barbarians' ships. Don't let these red-haired barbarians escape. Then Wang Mengxiong immediately commanded the troop transport ships and asked the fleet to advance together to seize the Dashanyu Pier and land. Prevent the red-haired barbarians from escaping."

After Shen Yourong finished speaking, he looked towards the direction of Dashan Island and saw that at the northernmost tip of Dashan Island, a red-haired barbarian city had been built. However, time was hasty and so far it was all wooden structures.

He had dealt with the Red-haired Yi many times. As early as the 25th year of Wanli, the Red-haired Yi general Wei Malang led three warships to attack Macau but failed. Like today, he was attacked by the traitors Li Jin and Pan Xiu. Under the guidance of Guo Zhen, while the Ming Dynasty Navy was changing defenses, they occupied Magong Island (Penghu Island).In the end, in the name of mutual trade, they logging and building houses on the island, trying to transform Penghu into "Macau Second" like the Portuguese occupation of Macau, which is no different from now.

So he sent people to Fujian and asked to rent Penghu to trade with the Ming Dynasty.The governor of Fujian at that time was very angry when he heard this, and asked himself, as a naval commander, to be responsible for expelling the red-haired barbarians.However, Shen Yourong went to Penghu in person, attended the meeting alone, presented his interests, and gave strict instructions. Wei Malang felt so pressured that he could only drive away from Penghu.

But he never expected that more than 20 years later, the red-haired Yi would come again. He had really been coveting my Ming Dynasty for a long time.

"Boom!" A burst of explosions sounded from the battlefield a mile away, followed by waves of cheers. Shen Yourong looked around and saw another warship being burned, and the gunpowder barrels on the ship exploded in series. The resulting fire quickly turned the warship into a big fireball, and people kept rushing out of the fireball and jumping into the sea.

"The strength of the Hongmaoyi navy is greatly damaged. Let's see how he can defend the island and advance quickly."

The war ebbs and flows. Seeing that the fighting navy was besieged by the Ming army and broke out from left to right, it suffered heavy losses. Three battleships were lost in succession. This really made Clark, the commander of the island's fleet, pale. He never expected the power of the Ming Dynasty. So powerful. Didn't the intelligence collected last year say that their warships were few and they were unable to compete with their fleet?

The adjutant Lawrence on the side saw that the Ming Dynasty ships had rushed to the Lantau Island pier, and immediately gave Dulac advice:
"Commander, should we occupy the dock to prevent the Ming army from landing on the island?"

Dulac glanced at Lawrence, and then said slowly:

"There are so many warships of the Ming army. Now that the fleet is surrounded, we can't stop them from landing at all. Instead of doing this, we should defend the stronghold and let Gao Wenlu lead the fleet to other islands for temporary refuge. The Ming army is large in number. As long as we defend it for a period of time, They will definitely not be able to keep up with supplies, and if we negotiate with them then, there may be a chance of improvement."

Although they frequently failed in both offensive and naval battles, Dulac was still lucky, because what their Dutch East India Company troops were best at was not offense, but defense.

He now has a force of 1000 soldiers and horses, with sufficient water resources. Although the walled city does not have time to build a bastion, it is still planned very reasonably. He does not believe that the Ming army can break through it in a short time.

Seeing this, Lawrence had no choice but to agree, so with Clark's concession, the Dutch fleet broke through the Ming army's obstruction to the right and headed for the island on the west side of Dashan Island.

The Ming army soon occupied the Dashanyu Pier and began to station at the wharf, counting the results of the battle, transporting troops, and preparing to break through the fortress built by Hong Maoyi in one fell swoop.

(End of this chapter)