I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 281 South China Sea under the Moonlight
Wanli Shitang and Qianli Changsha summarize all the atolls and shoals in the South China Sea.

The Longtou Island where Chen Guichang and his party docked had a name hundreds of years later in another life: Yongxing Island.

Longtou Island consists of two islands.

The main island is a coral island formed by white corals and shell sand piled up on the reef platform.

It is surrounded by sand banks, with a lower center, which is a depression formed after the lagoon dried up. It is convenient to dig wells in the depression to get water, but due to the pollution of bird droppings, the well water cannot be drunk and can only be used for washing.

But when you have to, you still have to drink.

A mile or two away is the Stone Island, which is much smaller, with a radius of several dozen feet, and most of it is exposed rocks, hence the name Stone Island. There are large rocks on the island, six or seven feet high, which is a rare commanding height on the endless sea.

Jiang sent a boat to the rock island and sent people to the big rock to look carefully and be on guard. The island must be more stable than the mast and can be seen clearly.

The other three ships were moored to the north of Longtou Island, ready to set off at any time.

It’s not that Captain Chiang is too cautious, but this place is too close to Annan.

The Annan Mo family and the Zheng family have always had unfriendly relations with the Ming Dynasty. The rampant pirates in the Lingnan waters and the successive uprisings by the Zhuang and Yao people are all related to them.

Now they are colluding with Spain and the Netherlands, and their intentions are even more sinister.

Everyone goes out to sea to do business, taking numerous risks, just to make money, so it's better to be cautious.

Chen Guichang and Captain Jiang sat on the stern deck, holding a ceramic bowl in both hands and sipping the freshly prepared dehumidifying soup.

The moon was bright in the sky, casting a long white streak on the slightly rippling sea. The sea breeze blew, making the flag on the mast above our heads snap.

Under my feet, the waves gently hit the hull; in the distance, the waves rushed up the sandbank and then retreated.

"Manager Chen, how many years have we been partners?"

"Well, 25 years ago, when I first started in the industry, I took your boat for my first sale. You were the helmsman at that time."

"Yes, we were only 17 or 18 years old at that time, and we had just started our business. I still remember that we were transporting goods to Ningbo. Later, you went to Quanzhou and Ningbo to do business, and I followed the ship owner to the South China Sea quietly."

"Well, I've heard people say that running to the South China Sea was also very difficult and hard. It was not easy to run. If you were not careful, you could lose your life."

Captain Jiang laughed out loud, "Only those who are willing to sacrifice their lives would dare to go out to sea. In those years, I have been to Champa, Chenla, Siam, Malacca (Malacca), Johor, Old Port, Tamsui, and all the places in the South China Sea where business can be done. I have been there.

With the blessing of the Bodhisattva, I have been safe and sound for the past twenty years."

"Haha, so when SF Express opened a branch in Guangzhou, I was the first to recommend you, and we became partners again. It's been three years now."

"Yeah, three years, it really goes by fast."

The two of them took another sip of the steaming dehumidifying soup and put the bowls on the table next to them.

A first mate came up and reported to Captain Jiang: "Captain, I checked everywhere and everything is fine."

"Okay, tell each ship to arrange a mast lookout, two people in a shift, one hour per shift, and you can go and rest after the arrangement is completed."

"Yes."

"Brother Jiang, you are really cautious." Chen Guichang said with a smile.

"When sailing at sea, be careful. On land, there will always be friends and relatives who will recognize you. But on this vast ocean, who will recognize you? The bottomless water? The hurricane that breaks the sails and destroys the ship? The reefs and pirates? No one will recognize you."

"Captain Jiang is so cautious, so we feel relieved." Chen Guichang flattered, "This time when we go back, it's time to arrange the marriage between my second son and your third daughter."

"Haha, we have to hurry up. We are running around and don't have much time to go ashore. The children are grown up, we can't delay any longer."

"Okay, sister-in-law is good at managing the household and educating the children. It is my second son's luck to marry Brother Jiang's daughter, and it is also an honor for my Chen family."

"Haha, Brother Chen, you are being polite. You and I have sailed together many times. We are friends for life and death, not strangers."

"You are not a stranger! Come, let's drink soup instead of wine." "Take a sip."

The two of them happily took a big sip, put down their bowls, and continued chatting.

"The situation in the South China Sea is becoming more dangerous day by day. What is going on?" Captain Jiang said somewhat unwillingly.

"I think it's because our Ming Dynasty is too prosperous."

"Too prosperous?"

"Yes, the Nanhai vassal states, together with the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain in the West, are desperately buying our Ming tea, porcelain, silk, cotton cloth, and sugar. Now there are also ironware, bronzeware, glass, perfume, paint, liquor, and wine, which are too numerous to count.

If there is a buyer, there must be a seller. What do the Nanhai vassal states and Western merchants sell to our Ming Dynasty? The largest items are food and timber, followed by spices, and now there are also coal mines from Annan and iron ingots from India, as well as miscellaneous sundries.

Not only is the quantity incomparable, the value is even more incomparable.

The biggest export of the Nanhai vassal states and Western merchants was silver. Especially the Western merchants, who were thousands of miles away and whose homeland was extremely poor, could only exchange their shiploads of silver for the goods of the Ming Dynasty.

After a while, even if you have a lot of money at home, it won’t be enough.”

Captain Jiang understood, "These losers have no money, so they are thinking of evil ideas?"

"Yes. But the imperial court has always valued the north over the south. The South China Sea Navy is only half as strong as the East China Sea Navy or the North China Sea Navy, not to mention the Xuanwu Navy. In the past few years since it was established, it has never been to Chaozhou. At most, it went around Dongfan Island and then went to Ryukyu and East Japan."

Captain Jiang nodded, "Yes, our Ming navy is not well-equipped, and those bastards in the South China Sea think that the Ming is just so-so, and they are all greedy."

Chen Guichang sighed and asked again: "What's going on in Luzon? I heard that the Spaniards are coming from the east. Aren't they in the West?"

Captain Jiang replied, "I have an old friend who has been to Luzon several times and dealt with the Spanish. Moreover, Westerners have always claimed that our world is a sphere. Since it is a sphere, it has gone from the west to the east."

"real or fake?"

"It should be true. I heard that there was a Spanish man named Mai who set out from Spain fifty years ago and headed west, passing through what they called the New World and reaching Luzon. He then went through Malacca, Ceylon, India, and the Arab Empire and returned to Spain. He used his life to prove that the world is indeed a sphere."

"Damn, this bunch of desperadoes. Fifty years ago, someone confirmed that they had come to Luzon. No wonder they can come here now, following the old route. By the way, I heard two Portuguese in Malacca say that they and the Spanish each occupied a piece of land in the New World, which was dozens of times larger than their homeland.

The Portuguese said that they were unlucky and that the land occupied by the Spanish was not as good as theirs. They said that the land occupied by the Spanish was fertile, rich in products, and also rich in gold and silver.

Well, now that our Ming navy is flourishing, one day we will set sail eastward and join the New World to grab a piece of it. We might as well just rob all the land of the Spanish and Portuguese."

Captain Jiang laughed loudly, "Yes, if the invaders can go, I can go too! We can't go to these barbarians from the West!"

The two looked at each other and laughed, and couldn't help but take another sip of the soup that was gradually getting colder.

"I really hope that the Xuanwu navy will go south soon." Captain Jiang leaned back in his chair comfortably, looking at the moon and the sea, feeling extremely emotional.

"It should be soon. With the Xuanwu Navy, there will definitely be the Suzaku Navy. But the prince's large sailing ship is complicated to build and operate."

"Brother Chen, you are right. The prince's sailboat is similar to a Western ship, and we are not familiar with it at all. I heard that the prince's sailboat was built with a secret map given by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I don't think it is that simple."

"Yes, I heard about it in Shanghai. In addition to the secret map of Xiyuan, Yang Caishen also hired many experienced shipbuilders from Portugal and the Netherlands, bought two carrick sailing ships, and then summoned thousands of veteran shipbuilders with decades of experience from Lianghuai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong. They built ships while dismantling them, and worked together to build the prince's sailing ship by comparing the secret map.

I heard that the Wusong Shipyard scrapped nearly ten ships before finalizing the Prince's Galleon."

"That's right. Nothing in this world can be accomplished overnight. This is true for shipbuilding and the navy. As long as we have more time and our navy officers and soldiers can operate the prince's large sailing ship skillfully, the oceans of the world will surely be filled with the flags of the Ming Dynasty."

"Haha, Brother Jiang is right!"

The first mate came running over, breathlessly reporting: "Bow, something bad has happened. There's a signal coming from Shidao. There's something wrong!"

Before he could finish his words, he suddenly saw flashes of fire on the dark sea in the distance. After a few dozen breaths, the sound of tearing cannons whistled in the distance.

Enemy attack!

(End of this chapter)