Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 844 Batavia Fleet
Compared with Guangdong and Zhejiang, Fujian actually has an advantage, that is, Fujian has far more talents, sailors, and sailors who are good at sailing than the two places.

This kind of advantage will take at least several generations, or even hundreds of years, to form, and Guangdong, Guangxi and Zhejiang are incomparable.

Even if the Guangdong and Guangxi business groups have money now, they will not be able to train so many sailors in a short time.

The reason for this difference is actually related to geography. Chinese people pay more attention to resettlement and living on the land, and they will never wander around. Guangdong has the Pearl River Delta, which is good for farming. Zhejiang also has large tracts of fertile land. Only Fujian is mountainous. Known as "eight mountains, one water and one field", the land can't support so many people, so Fujian has planted the gene of going south and expanding, so Fujian people can go to Ryukyu, Japan, Lusong, and Nanyang, while Quanzhou It can become the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road.

After the Qing army occupied Fujian, the implementation of the sea ban policy meant that the livelihood of the Fujianese was cut off. Now that Fujian has returned to the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court has also set up a shipping department, which makes the people of Fujian very excited.

Although they are not as popular as the Guangdong and Guangxi Chamber of Commerce, they believe that with Fujian's advantages, so many talents who are proficient in navigation, as long as they have goods and ships, they will surpass Guangdong and Guangxi sooner or later.

The Nanyang market is occupied by two Cantonese merchants, so they will go to Tianzhu and the West, and no one can compare with them than sailing.

The shopkeeper of the Longsheng, whose surname is Zheng Mingzan, has dark skin and looks like someone who has been wandering at sea all year round.

This voyage is just a trial voyage of the Rising Sheng, and its goal is the Malacca Sultanate in the South Seas.In addition to trade, they will also collect information on the West, buy sea charts, and recruit pilots who are familiar with the routes leading to Tianzhu and Dashi, so as to jump out of Nanyang, avoid direct competition with Guangdong and Guangxi companies, and open up new markets.

The reason for choosing Malacca is firstly because this place happens to meet the two oceans, and there are naturally talents who are proficient in the sea routes of the two oceans to recruit; There must always be a tacit understanding.

For Fujian people with limited land output, going to sea means wealth and being able to live, so the sailors are very excited.

At this time, the sailors cheered, and began to put away the planks on the pier, and stopped loading goods. A big man with a strong body and a scar on his face stepped onto the bow, shouted at several sailors, and turned the crankset together.

As the chain wheel rotated, an arm-thick iron chain was slowly pulled up from the bow with a rattling sound. After a while, a huge iron anchor was pulled out of the water.

Seeing this, the shopkeeper Zheng Zan immediately shouted, "Sail! Let's go!"

Immediately, the fleet cheered again. Although it is dangerous to go to sea, as long as it is completed once, it can be worth several years of digging in the soil.

All of a sudden, the chants on the deck sounded one after another. The sailors hoisted the sails, steered the rudder, or pushed the boat away from the pier with long poles. Driven by the wind, it sailed out of Quanzhou Port.

When the fleet left the port, the sailor immediately pulled the rope and readjusted the sail so that the direction of the fleet turned to the southwest.

At this time, the huge sail was hung on the main mast, covering the sky and the sun, blocking the rising sun from the east, and the bow of the ship was shaded. After the sailor adjusted the sail surface, he locked more than a dozen sails on the deck. On the wooden stake, the ropes on the boat immediately intertwined.

At this time, China's navigation technology was actually very developed. In the Song Dynasty, "the wind comes from all sides, but the head does not advance." It is not a smooth wind now, but as long as there is no headwind, the sailors can take advantage of it. The wind moves forward.

After the Qing army invaded Fujian, Fujian's maritime trade was greatly affected. The shopkeeper Zheng has not been to sea for four years.

Now, standing at the bow of the boat, he couldn't help but feel a little high-spirited. He watched the huge blessing boat break through the sea, bringing up waves of spray, and the sea wind made the sails swell and make a whirring sound. Because it was a crosswind, the whole body of the boat Still swaying slightly, twenty large ships left long trails and sailed to the southwest, which fascinated him.

Not long after the ship left the port, several small blessing boats from a distance came to welcome it. They were the official ships of the Shi Ship Department.

The Zheng family was originally a big family of pirates and smugglers. Now that the imperial court has set up the Quanzhou Shipbuilding Department, it is hoped that the Zheng family can normalize trade. A naval force of thousands of people strictly investigates smuggling at sea.

"The treasurer is the official ship of the Shi Ship Division!"

Shopkeeper Zheng looked in the direction his subordinates were pointing at, and saw a few small lucky boats coming through the waves, and he said immediately, "Hang up the Ming flag and the Zheng family's triangular flag."

Hearing the words, a sailor immediately climbed onto the main mast's watchtower with both hands and feet, and then hoisted the sun and moon flag and the pennant on the blue background.

Not long after, the fleet and the official ship of the Municipal Shipping Department crossed each other. The officers and soldiers on the ship saw two flags flying on the ship. Among them, the words "Quanzhou Shipping Department" were printed on the sun and moon flags, stamped with big seals, and said that This is a merchant ship coming out of Quanzhou Port through regular channels. The soldiers immediately stood on the deck and waved their hands, wishing the fleet a safe sailing, and then steered the warship to leave.

The fleet sailed on the calm sea, the road was lonely, and they met many passing ships along the way, and they would all wave and say hello to each other, but when the fleet left the waters near Quanzhou and left the coast, the atmosphere on the ship changed immediately.

From here, they left the original world and entered the sea. The rules on the land do not apply on the sea. This is an independent world.

The tarpaulin on the bow was lifted by several sailors, revealing two shiny black cannons. The sailors on board fell silent.

Zheng's pirates made their fortunes originally as merchants and thieves. They not only trade, but also plunder at sea. As long as they encounter a single ship, whether it is a Frenchman, a Spaniard, or a Dutchman, or even a company from Guangdong and Guangxi, as long as they The pennants without Zheng's hair are all the targets of their looting.

Shopkeeper Zheng stood at the bow of the boat and said, "We are about to enter Guangdong Sea, everyone cheer up!"

The goods on the ship belonged to the merchant, and the trade made money, so did the merchant. If the sailors wanted to make money, they still had to rob other cargo ships. As long as they made a bill, it would be enough for the family's expenses for more than ten years.

However, this kind of money comes and goes quickly. Even if these sailors work for a ticket, they will not really keep the money at home. Even if you lose to the casino, you can't win in the end, and you still have to go to sea.

The sailors on the deck understood what the shopkeeper meant by cheering up, and this was not a problem for the firm with the background of the Zheng family. They were originally pirates, and robbing others was as easy as drinking water.

The experienced old sailor, after listening to the shopkeeper's words, let out a sneer from his nostrils, leaned on the wooden box calmly and continued to doze, while the younger ones were a little excited, walking around on the deck, and drew their weapons from time to time.

Shopkeeper Zheng shook his head slightly. The sea voyage is very long, and sometimes there is not a ship in sight for several days. It is still an old sailor who can hold his breath.

At this time, he looked at it for a while, and was about to go back to the cabin, with the mainmast on his head, when he suddenly heard a shout, "There is a fleet to the south!"

There was a sudden confusion on the deck, and the old sailors, who were resting their eyes with their eyes closed, stood up one by one and leaned towards the port side.

Hearing the sound, Shopkeeper Zheng hurriedly walked back to the bow of the boat, set up an awning with his hands, and looked to the south. Sure enough, he saw seven or eight black spots appearing on the sea in the distance, but it was too far away to see them clearly.

At this time, on the sea far away, eight huge three-masted warships were sailing through the waves. It was the fleet of the Dutch in the Grand Officer, and the commander was Jakob Cauw, who was sent by Batavia to the Grand Officer. , they were preparing to rob Chinese merchant ships near Guangzhou.

When the Ascendant's fleet found them, the sailors on Kau's boat suddenly shouted, "Noord-boot!"

Dressed very strangely, wearing a sun hat with a feather on it, Kauwu was talking to several Dutchmen dressed in the same clothes. He heard the sailor's call, and several Dutchmen immediately came to the bow, Several people looked at it with binoculars, and one of them said, "Oh! It seems to be the boat of Lord Guo, what a pity!"

Kaow came from Batavia, and he only heard about Zheng Chenggong, but he didn't take it seriously, he listened to the words of the people next to him, and said with a haughty smile: "Your Excellency Kuiyi, do you want us to let these merchant ships go? "

"Guo Xing Ye has very strong strength in Fujian, we'd better not provoke him at the moment!" Kui Yi said in a deep voice.

There is only a strait between Dayuan and Fujian. Although Zheng Chenggong followed the order and stopped trading with the Dutch, the affairs in Fujian have not been straightened out. In order to prevent the Dutch from harassing Fujian, he did not fight the Dutch in Fujian. In other words, the Dutchman's ship does not pass the middle line of the strait, and his Zheng's ship is not close to the officials, and the two sides still maintain a certain tacit understanding.

Kau Wu was very disdainful of Kui Yi's timidity, "The barbaric Ming Empire killed the Dutch businessman we sent to Nanjing. Since Guo Xingye does not trade with us and affects the company's interests, the company must teach him a lesson. There are eight giant ships in the fleet, as long as they surround them, those Chinese will surrender obediently, and these ships will be regarded as the surname of the country, and they will compensate the company for losses!"

Kui was shocked when he heard this, "Oh! No, no, no, no, commander, you will bring disaster to the company. Guoxing has a thousand ships in Fujian, and the company is no match at all."

"Oh, God!" Kauwu was very puzzled by Kui Yi's obstruction. The Dutch even defeated Spain, and they were afraid of Guo Xing Ye, "Kui Yi, you really make me feel ashamed, but if you are really worried, I will You can consider throwing all the Chinese on the boat into the sea, unless they can swim back, how will Guoxing know that we did it! Well, pass my order, and the fleet will go up!"

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(End of this chapter)