The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 79 Captain Cook and Hawaii
June 1780th, the 7th year of the reign of Emperor Xianning of the Ming Dynasty, July 16th, in the Western calendar.

The fleet of British explorer and cartographer James Cook sailed south along the Japanese archipelago from the North Pacific and approached the Ryukyu Sea east of the Ming Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, Ryukyu was the fief of the Zheng family, the Duke of Min, and the Duke of Min had the strongest civilian fleet in the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty is still in a state of war. The Ming Dynasty's Rear Army Governor's Office has also arranged a guard fleet to patrol and guard the waters around the Ming Dynasty.

When Cook's two ships were still 200 kilometers away from the northernmost part of Ryukyu, they were discovered by the search ship of the Duke of Min.

Cook was still flying the British flag. When the lookout on Min Guogong's patrol boat saw it, he immediately sounded the alarm.

The patrol boats of the Duke of Min passed on the message in turn, notifying the nearby Rear Army Governor's Office and the strike fleet of the Duke of Min's Office to come over.

The Ming strike fleet eventually blocked Cook's fleet northeast of the Ryukyu Islands.

Ten Ming warships approached Cook's two ships, repeatedly signaling with flags to ask the Cook fleet to surrender immediately, otherwise they would attack directly.

After receiving the translated message, Cook was confused. Why did the Ming fleet surrender directly?

Could it be that during the years when I was out to sea, the Ming Dynasty and Great Britain had been at war?
There was no direct conflict between Ming and Britain before? Is it because of the southern continent? Not really?
The southern continent is now a wasteland. Although the Ming Dynasty may have arranged immigration, Britain has not.

Before I set sail this time, I had never heard that His Majesty King George III was going to organize immigration to Australia.

But no matter how surprised Cook was, he finally surrendered obediently.

Cook himself only had two exploration ships, while his opponents were ten normal warships, all of which were larger than his own exploration ships.

The gunpowder and equipment on their ship had been almost used up, and there was no way they could engage in a head-on battle.

The official meaning of the white flag is not surrender, but a request for negotiation.

But on the battlefield, when one party requests negotiation, it usually also means surrender, so it has the meaning of surrender.

However, at certain times, the party that has the upper hand on the battlefield will take the initiative to ask the other side to surrender, or may send people with a white flag to the opposite position.

Cook's white flag has two meanings: he really wants to know what happened.

The Ming attack fleet arranged two ships to go over, and after boarding, they sent soldiers on board to control the sailors of Cook's fleet. They had no intention of listening to the other side's explanation.

Everyone including Captain Cook should have been stuffed into the cabin and then taken to Ryukyu for imprisonment.

Cook assessed the situation and in order to avoid being treated as an ordinary prisoner and getting injured, he took the initiative to ask the translator to explain his identity to the Ming officer.

At the same time, he specifically claimed that he was recruited by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu of the Ming Dynasty and requested to meet with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu of the Ming Dynasty.

Cook's request did work.

In recent years, King Wu of the Ming Dynasty has become famous.

He has a lot of new inventions with great influence, and the Ming Emperor is also building a vassal state for him in Australia.

The title of King Wu and the excessive specifications of the Australian vassal state made it possible for Ming officials and citizens who were familiar with the relevant rules to imagine that King Wu must be particularly loved by the old emperor.

Therefore, matters involving the King of Wu must be taken extremely seriously. Even if the person claiming to be the King of Wu may be a liar, they must be thoroughly confirmed before being dealt with.

So Captain Cook and all the crew members continued to board their own two ships and were escorted by the Ming Navy to Yingtian Prefecture.

After layers of checks and consultations with higher authorities, it was confirmed that Cook had indeed been recruited by the King of Wu.

So on July 15, the 34th year of Xianning in the Ming Dynasty, Captain Cook and his translator were led into the Forbidden City in Nanjing, the Ming Dynasty.

Cook had no idea who the King of Wu of the Ming Dynasty was before, but now he was very curious about what kind of person he was.

Finally, in Zhu Jianxuan’s own office in the expanded King Wu Laboratory, Captain Cook met His Royal Highness King Wu of the Ming Dynasty.

After the servant's introduction, Cook was very surprised to find that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu was just a child in his early ten years old.

More than three years ago, when the other party asked someone to recruit me, I was probably only seven or eight years old.

Captain Cook couldn't understand why the other party knew him, reminded him of the risks he might encounter, and even claimed to give him the title of a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

Cook, with great doubts, followed the instructions of the etiquette staff and bowed to the young Prince and His Majesty the King.

Zhu Jianxuan sat at his desk and asked with a smile:
"Welcome Captain Cook to my laboratory. Have you encountered any danger in the Pacific Ocean?"

After listening to the translation, Cook suddenly knelt on one knee, took off his hat and saluted:
“Thank you for your reminder, Your Highness. You saved my life and the lives of many of my comrades.

“We met a group of natives with peculiar beliefs and practices on a string of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

“When we landed, we were warmly welcomed by them, but when we went there again, we encountered a sudden attack.

“Thanks to your reminder, we were all extra careful and took proper precautions, and were able to escape safely in the end.

"After we safely leave that island, I have decided to come to Ming and pledge my loyalty to you.

"But now Ming and Great Britain are at war, and if I swear allegiance to you at this time, it will be regarded as a betrayal.

"So please forgive me and allow me to return to the Kingdom of Great Britain temporarily to complete my last mission in Great Britain." "After the Ming Dynasty and Great Britain sign a peace agreement, I will come to the Ming Dynasty again to serve you."

Kneeling on one knee is the highest etiquette in European secular society. Including subjects swearing allegiance to the monarch and being conferred a title, they all use the one-knee-to-chest gesture.

This also shows that Cook is really willing to become Zhu Jianxuan's subject.

Zhu Jianxuan thought for a moment and said:
“Yes, Ming is now at war with Britain, so you and your fleet are prisoners of Ming.

"All the prisoners now are bargaining chips at the armistice negotiation table, so I can't just let you go now.

“But you don’t have to worry, because with me, you won’t be treated badly.

"So you just stay here and wait until the armistice agreement is signed. It shouldn't be too long."

Cook sighed softly in his heart. It was indeed not that easy to leave.

But what His Royal Highness the King of Wu said does make sense. He is indeed a prisoner now, and a relatively valuable prisoner:

"Your will..."

Zhu Jianxuan smiled and said:
"You must have surveyed the longitude and latitude coordinates of the archipelago where you were in distress, as well as the coastline, and drawn a nautical chart, right?"

Cook was now a prisoner, and everything on his ship became spoils of war, with the nautical charts being extremely valuable spoils.

Naturally, all the new and old nautical charts on Cook's ship were collected by the Ming Dynasty officers.

Zhu Jianxuan recruited Cook for these nautical charts.

So when Zhu Jianxuan wanted to meet Cook, he also asked the guards to bring these nautical charts.

When Zhu Jianxuan asked about it, the guards escorting Cook immediately opened the boxes they were carrying and asked Cook to find the nautical chart that Zhu Jianxuan wanted.

Cook has already decided to hand these things over to Zhu Jianxuan, so there is nothing to hold back.

Cook found the nautical chart of the Hawaiian area according to the number he had made. He handed it to Zhu Jianxuan and asked curiously:
"This is the situation of that island... But since Your Highness was able to remind us of the risks, you should have known about these islands long ago, right?"

Zhu Jianxuan looked at the map of Hawaii drawn by Cook and made up an answer that could not be verified:
“Captain Cook should know that our Ming Dynasty’s overseas exploration activities were actually interrupted for more than two hundred years.

"With the navigation technology of the 1420s, it was impossible to draw particularly accurate maps, and a lot of data was lost during our suspension of exploration.

“So I can only know the general situation of these islands based on the sporadic records in the notes of my predecessors.

"As for things like the exact longitude and latitude, the exact coastline, and the general topography, these are completely unknown.

"So I still have to thank you for providing the latest detailed information."

Cook accepted Zhu Jianxuan's explanation, and then subconsciously asked:
"Your Highness is very interested in this island?"

Zhu Jianxuan nodded gently:
“This island is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, making it a suitable transit point for Ming mainland and Australia to North America.

"According to your estimation, Captain, how many people are there in this archipelago? How many soldiers and immigrants are needed to completely conquer it?"

Zhu Jianxuan was of course interested in Hawaii, which was the key to future control of the Pacific.

Hawaii itself is also a good place. The original number of indigenous people in these few islands may be very close to that of the entire Australia.

This shows how good the conditions in Hawaii are, and also how bad the conditions in Australia are.

Captain Cook made a rough analysis:
“The population of this archipelago is quite large. I estimate that there are at least 300,000 people, or even more than 500,000.

“However, the local weapons technology is very primitive. I estimate that only more than 300 flintlock soldiers are needed to conquer the place.

“If we want to maintain continuous control and complete rule, we probably only need to maintain a thousand musketeers.

"But this island is not in the main ocean current, otherwise it would not have been discovered until now. Is it not suitable for transit?"

When Zhu Jianxuan heard this, he laughed again:
“In the future, you won’t need to pay too much attention to ocean currents and wind direction when sailing in the ocean.

"Didn't you encounter any steam-powered paddle steamers emitting black smoke on the sea near Daming?
“We installed steam engines on sailing ships, which can quickly pass through the doldrums and headwinds, shortening most sea routes.

"After the new generation of steamships come out, we no longer need to rely on ocean currents and monsoons, and can sail directly to where we want to go.

"When you serve my kingdom in the future, you won't have to work as hard as before."

Captain Cook immediately understood:

“Your Majesty’s wisdom and scientific and technological achievements are truly admirable, and I very much look forward to the future prosperity of the Kingdom.”

Zhu Jianxuan smiled and said:
"During the next period of time in Daming, you should learn Daming elegant language well. It will obviously be useful in the future."

Captain Cook immediately agreed:

"Your will."

(End of this chapter)