Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1024 One servant and two masters
In the seventeenth century, although the Western world was on the rise, the center of the world was still in Asia, not the West.

At this time, three of the five most populous countries in the world are in Asia, namely the Ming Empire, the Mughal Empire, and Japan, and the remaining two are the Ottoman Empire. Most of its territory is in Asia, and only France belongs to the West. Kingdom, and Spain in the second half of the seventeenth century, fell to the sixth level.

At this time, due to the war in the East, the population of the Ming Empire decreased, and Mughal occupied the No.1 position of the largest country, which was a huge market. However, Mughal was far away from Ming Dynasty, and Malacca was controlled by the Dutch. The Ming Empire temporarily Unable to find market in Mughal.

Japan's population was close to 2000 million in the seventeenth century, and it has long occupied the fourth and fifth positions, which is similar to that of the Kingdom of France and a street away from Britain.

Although Japan is a poor place with scarce resources, its population of 2000 million is enough to become a huge market. Even if each of them only uses Ming Dynasty cotton cloth to make one piece of clothing in their lifetime, that is 2000 million pieces, which can bring a lot of Ming Dynasty to life. towards the workshop.

The Ming court attached great importance to this trade negotiation with the Tokugawa shogunate.

The crew of the Lifan Academy boarded the ship directly from the Nanjing Wharf. An officer of a thousand households in the navy waved his hand and shouted: "Heighten the anchor and set sail!"

Many officers and soldiers on the deck put away the ship ladder extending to the pier. Several sailors went to the winch at the bow, and each pushed a cart closing rod. As they pushed, the iron chain slowly rose, and the chain also The wood on the boat rubbed against each other and made a rattling sound.

Sailor is a good job that has emerged in the past few years. Because of the good salary, it is many times better than being a tenant farmer. Therefore, many young and strong people who have lost their land are willing to engage in this job. However, sailors are well paid and the requirements are high. Boat owners and chambers of commerce are generally They will choose people who are physically fit. If the conditions are too poor, they may not be able to be the ones they want to be.

Going out to sea is a dangerous thing. Not only will you encounter strong winds and waves, but you will also encounter pirates. If you don’t have a strong body, you will most likely die at sea.

Therefore, not everyone can be a sailor. The most wanted person of every sea merchant and ship owner is a pawn who has retired from the army.

Several well-built sailors pushed the winch with steady steps, and after a while, a huge three-claw anchor leaked out of the water.

When the ship was anchored together, the lucky boat lost control and began to slide along the river. Several soldiers held bamboo poles to support it ashore.

After the Ming army regained Jiangbei, the importance of river defense was reduced, and the size of the Huguang Navy was reduced. Elites were mobilized to form the Donghai Navy to defend the Yangtze River Estuary, eliminate pirates, combat smuggling, and protect the smooth flow of trade.

The mission has two lucky boats, led by general Xu Junsheng, and the boats and people are seconded from the Donghai Navy in Chongming.

In order to be suitable for sea navigation, Fuchuan have sharp bottoms, deep draft, no oars, and rely entirely on wind power to navigate.

At this time, the boat was propped away from the pier, and slowly slid to the center of the river with the current. Xu Junsheng stood on the boat tower, and immediately waved his hand, "Raise the sails!"

The soldiers on the deck worked together and began to raise the mainsail. Everyone chanted in unison and pulled it with great effort. The broad sail covered the sun like a dark cloud, and when the light on the deck dimmed, it immediately became shady.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty imitated Xiyi’s warships already had relatively lightweight cloth sails, but because Xiyi’s sailing method was somewhat different from that of the Ming Dynasty, it has not been popularized yet, and it is not suitable for Fuchuan. Ming Dynasty Traditional sails are mainly bamboo sails, and the canvas is supported by bamboo ribs, and if there are more bamboo ribs, it is naturally heavy.

However, although this kind of sail with bamboo ribs is heavy, it also has various advantages, that is, it is not easy to damage, and it is not easy for the shell to tear the canvas, and the hole caused will be smaller.

Not long after, the sails of the ship were all raised, and the soldiers fixed the sail ropes to the wooden stakes on the deck. The fleet followed the river, and with the help of the wind, the speed immediately increased, making it difficult for the knights on the shore to catch up.

There are reasons for the gradual decline of the land Silk Road and the rise of the Maritime Silk Road. With the development of navigation technology, sea transportation is much better than road transportation.

Ships on the Yangtze River come and go like a shuttle, large and small ships pass by the fleet non-stop, some are full of cargo, go out to sea along the river, and some are pulled upstream by the trackers.

The sound of chant on both sides of the Yangtze River came one after another, and the large ship with a search of two thousand materials, pulled by four or five hundred trackers, moved forward slowly, heading for Nanjing.

Not a day later, the fleet left the mouth of the Yangtze River and entered the East China Sea. The sea and the sky meet as far as the eye can see.

On the blue sea, seabirds fly by in the sky, and white sails sail in the distance.

The characteristic of Fuchuan is that it is high at both ends, low in the middle, and has a three-story ship building at the stern, like a sea tower.Qian Bingdeng was standing on the ship tower, the wind blowing by the river made his robe flutter.

It was not the first time for him to go to sea, and he had accumulated experience in going to sea through his previous visits to various countries in Southeast Asia, but the people accompanying him were secretly amazed, and many people were very excited when they saw the sea for the first time.

Seeing their excitement, Qian Bingdeng smiled and got into the ship building. The journey is still far away, so it is better to save energy for now, otherwise it will be difficult to survive the long voyage.

He was so excited when he went to sea for the first time, but after experiencing the same scene for more than a month, and he was confined in the limited space of a sea boat, what was left was boring and lonely.

The mission left the mouth of the Yangtze River, and the patrol warships of the East China Sea Navy found them in the distance. After seeing the flags, the navy escorted them for more than ten nautical miles, and then fired a few cannonballs into the sea to see them off, and then turned back Go back and continue patrolling.

The navy shoulders a heavy responsibility. In addition to checking Ming's smuggling ships, they also have to prevent foreign ships from entering the Yangtze River and approaching coastal cities.

According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, foreign ships could not enter the inland rivers of the Ming Dynasty at will, nor could they enter the coast at will. They could only berth and trade at the designated treaty ports of Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and Ningbo. Foreign merchants could not enter and leave the Ming Dynasty at will.

After leaving the mouth of the Yangtze River, the fleet sailed northeastward, and arrived in Ryukyu a few days later.

Ryukyu is located between Japan and the Ming Dynasty, and has a close relationship with the Ming Dynasty. When the surnames Huang and Lin were all Taizu in the country, they moved to Ryukyu. The entire country and the Ming Dynasty are almost the same language and the same species.

Because of its geographical location, Ryukyu became a transit point for Sino-Japanese trade, and ships traveling to and from trade had to berth for supplies, so Ryukyu was very rich.

On this day, Qian Bingdeng was reading a book in the ship building. He is a high official of the imperial court. Although the space on the ship is small, he can occupy a room to himself.

He was reading some records about Japan, as well as documents about Ming Dynasty's contacts with Japan, so that he could have a better discussion with the shogun after arriving in Japan.

Looking at it, he has a lot of interest in Japan. The nominal monarch of Japan is called "Tian·Huang", but the actual ruler is the shogun, and there are a bunch of separatist daimyos under the general. The situation in the Ming Dynasty is very similar to that of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty has also become a symbol. The power of the court is controlled by the King of Chu. There are also semi-separatist forces such as Jin Shenghuan and Zheng Chenggong in the local area.

"Lord Qian, we will be arriving in Ryukyu soon!" Qian Bingdeng was reading a copy of "Nihon Shoki" when Xu Junsheng suddenly came outside the room and knocked on the door.

When Qian Bingdeng heard about Ryukyu, he closed the book, walked out of the room, and walked up to the ship building with Xu Junsheng. There was a big island in the distance, which was visible to the eyes, but seeing it was one thing, and seeing it was another thing. The team sailed for more than half an hour before arriving at Lishou Harbor.

Everyone looked from the ship tower, and there were still many ships moored in the harbor. Apart from the Eastern ships, there was also a merchant ship flying the Dutch flag moored here.

His gaze shifted to the pier, and King Shang Zhi who had received the news had already led a large team of people waiting at the pier.

(End of this chapter)