In September of the sixth year of Tianshun, Shandong off the coast.

At this time, the sea off Shandong was high and cloudy, and a fleet of more than 20 ships of various types was sailing from south to north.

In this fleet, except for eight seagoing ships that were warships, the remaining dozen seagoing ships were all armed merchant ships of various kinds.

Even those eight battleships were all fifth- and sixth-class battleships, and according to the battleship standards set by Liu Juntao, there was not a single battleship belonging to the first to third class.

This fleet was the Dutch fleet that had defeated the Dongping Island Navy before, and it was sailing towards the waters of Dengzhou Prefecture at this time.

The commander of this fleet is named Robin? Van Persie, who was originally a Dutch merchant, later lost his money, so he gathered a group of Dutch sea villains and came to the East, relying on an armed merchant ship borrowed on credit for several years, transporting goods between Japan, Luzon and Korea on weekdays, and secretly doing some murderous things.

This is also the common practice of Westerners at this time, combining maritime trade and piracy, in order to maximize profits, even many maritime merchants in the Ming Dynasty are like this, which is why the maritime merchants who run the sea in this era is a very risky industry, and it is also an industry with huge benefits.

Robin? Van Persie has been wandering in the waters near Daming for several years, and he has always been smooth, and he also knows that Daming is a behemoth at this time, so even when he is killing people and stealing goods, he tries to avoid conflicts with Daming's sea ships.

However, in the past few years, a Ming fleet began to operate in the waters off Shandong, this fleet not only successively cleared the large and small pirates off the coast of Shandong, but also began to control the trade routes from Shandong to Japan and Korea, and the foreign fleets that also took these two trade routes, from the initial expulsion, to the later collection of "license fees", requiring foreign fleets to take these two trade routes must pay forty percent of the profits!

Is this Robin? Van Persie tolerated it, so after weighing the pros and cons, he immediately sent a letter asking for help to the Dutch Far East Company (the predecessor of the Dutch East India Company), which had just been established, and explained in detail what had happened here.

At this time, the Dutch Far East Company had just occupied a foothold in Luzon and other places, and was preparing to expand in the East. Van Persie's letter for help hit it off.

The Dutch Far East Company was naturally not arrogant enough to completely defeat the Ming Dynasty, although the Dutch at this time had already called themselves "civilized", but they also knew that the strength of the Ming Dynasty was not something that they could defeat by an expedition of thousands of miles.

However, the Dutch Far East Company wants to let Daming weigh the pros and cons through "limited contact", and finally guarantee the reasonable rights of the Dutch in the Far East!

The reason why the Dutch plan to do so is not because they are arrogant, but because they have sufficient confidence.

In Europe, the Netherlands borders the Atlantic Ocean, and the domestic handicraft industry is developed, but natural resources are scarce and the local market is small.

This led to the tradition of the Dutch going out to engage in commerce, and the Dutch were the first maritime merchants to travel from all over the world, and it was these maritime merchants who made a lot of money for the Netherlands, making the Netherlands one of the richest regions in Europe at this time.

In order to ensure that their ships can sail safely on the sea, they can deal with pirates and the interception of ships from other countries, so their ships use harder wood and are designed to be ships with higher speeds, so the freight of Dutch ships is very cheap, and it is also cheap to transport goods with Dutch ships, so the Netherlands became the sea coachman of Europe.

Previously, typical European merchant ships were built with platforms that could be used to mount artillery, which was effective against pirates and attacks by other foreign ships, as did the Dutch.

The combination of high-speed sailing and artillery escort allowed the Dutch to accumulate a huge fortune.

But even so, the Dutch were not satisfied, and in order to make as much profit as possible, they added a special design to the ship.

This design is very unique, the Dutch built their sea boat belly very large, so the hull is large and round, and the deck is small. This is done because, in Scandinavia, the tax paid by the ship depends on the width of the deck, and the narrower the deck, the less money is paid, so the Dutch man-made ship has a small deck and a large belly, and the more profitable it is. To a large extent, it was on this boat that the Dutch earned the world-famous title of "coachmen of the sea".

After decades of development, up to now, the shipbuilding industry in the Netherlands ranks first in the world, even much higher than that of Daming.

There are hundreds of shipyards in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands alone, and hundreds of ships can be built at the same time across the country. At this time, the Dutch shipbuilding technology was one of the most advanced in the world, and the cost of sea ships was one-third to one-half lower than that of Britain at this time. Many countries in Europe have ordered ships from the Netherlands.

At this time, the Dutch accounted for three-quarters of the total tonnage of Europe at that time, owned 15,000 merchant ships, and almost monopolized the maritime trade of the West.

Norwegian timber, Danish fish, Polish grain, Russian furs, Southeast Asian spices, Indian cotton textiles, Chinese silk and porcelain, etc., were mostly transshipped by Dutch merchant ships and sold by Dutch merchants, and more than 2,000 merchant ships often berthed in the port of Amsterdam at this time.

The Dutch navy was even stronger, with more battleships alone than all the European countries combined.

Such economic strength and maritime strength are precisely the confidence of the Dutch Far East Company to wrestle with the Ming Navy.

What's more, these Dutch knew in their hearts that as long as they defeated the Ming Dynasty's navy, or even as long as they hurt the Ming Dynasty a little, and then sat down and talked, they could reap rich rewards, which has been confirmed by the Dutch who have been doing business with the Ming Dynasty all year round.

So, when the Dutch Far East company received Robin? After Van Persie's letter of help, he sent eight warships to support him, as well as three hundred soldiers from the Dutch Far East Company.

When Robin? When Van Persie saw the eight warships and three hundred heavily armed soldiers, he was full of confidence, if the Dutch Far East Company let him directly attack Beijing City at this time, it is estimated that Robin? Van Persie will not hesitate to go to Bohai Bay.

These eight battleships with Robin? After Van Persie's armed merchant fleet converged, it also brought the demand of the Dutch Far East Company, that is, to hold the trade route from Daming Shandong to Japan and North Korea in the shortest possible time, and to earn huge profits for the Dutch Far East Company!

At this time, these Dutch people have been blinded by huge interests, and they still think that the Ming at this time are those ancient and backward barbarians in other colonies, which can be eaten away little by little.

On the sea, Robin? Van Persie stood on the flagship "Flyer" battleship and was full of ambition, looking at the vast sea in the distance, eager to immediately lead the fleet to the sea off Dengzhou Mansion, where it is said that there is also a Ming sailor, this time just to defeat this Ming sailor!

Suddenly, a clipper came from a distance, and the flag was none other than the flag of the Dutch Far East Company.

Robin? Van Persie asked his subordinates to ask about it, and the other party quickly replied to the message. Van Persie immediately led his troops back to the Dutch colonial stronghold in Luzon!

"What the hell are those bastards in the Far East Corporation doing! I've been sailing at sea for so long before I came to the sea off Dengzhou Mansion, and now I want to go back without a single shot? What's going on in their heads! ”

At this time, the flag can only convey some simple messages, and no matter how specific the news is, there is nothing to be done, so why did the Dutch Far East Company return to the ship by itself, Robin? Van Persie can only ask after he goes back.

The clipper in the distance also received the return instructions from the clipper who carried the news in the previous search, and the specific reason is also unclear.

That's all, Robin? Van Persie, along with a few hundred sailors and three hundred soldiers, reluctantly began to sail back and sail in the direction of Luzon.

At the same time, Feng Xiang, who was squatting in the shipyard of Andongwei Fortress, was laughing out loud, looking at the huge battleship in the dock in front of him, Feng Xiang was ecstatic, this battleship is a second-class battleship, which can carry more than 70 guns, has a total of three decks, and has a displacement of more than 5,000 tons, which can be said to be a veritable sea fortress.

Moreover, at this time, the two shipyards of Anton Wei and the three shipyards of Rizhao County were working day and night, and almost all the craftsmen of Qingzhou Prefecture and Zuojinfu County gathered here to build warships for the Dongping Island Navy, and there was a hot scene everywhere.

There are even many old people who are excited to tell their children and grandchildren, as if they have seen the feat of going to the West again!

When Zheng He went to the West, he built sea ships in various parts of Shandong and built various auxiliary ships for Zheng He's fleet, which made many old people remember it vividly.

However, such a move must not be hidden from the government and civilian officials in Shandong, but Liu Juntao also expected this, and discussed it with Hu Dexing, the chief military officer of Shandong Town, and Zhang Xiaojun, the deputy chief soldier.

In response to the doubts raised by civil officials in various parts of Shandong, Shandong Town came forward, claiming that unknown gangsters were running rampant on the sea, killing the people and harassing the coastal areas, so Shandong Town was preparing to build a water guard division in order to protect the territory and the people.

At the same time, Shandong Town also stretched out its hand to the chief officials of various prefectures and counties to ask for money and grain, after all, the beginning of shipbuilding was huge, and it was not only possible for Shandong Town to contribute money and efforts.

As soon as they heard that they would have to pay money and food, those civil officials who were closely watching this matter flashed to the side, and they didn't dare to mention it anymore, but just watched from the sidelines.

Seeing this, Hu Dexing also said to Zhang Xiaojun with a smile; "What Du Xian said is really right, these civil officials are some misers, as long as they mention spending money, they all hide to the side!"

Zhang Xiaojun snorted coldly and said: "Most of these civil officials are really villains, and they get angry when they look at them. ”