"Marquis, you came back from the New World, what happened there?"

Zheng Zhilong squinted his eyes, looked at Shi Lang, who was invited by him to drink at home, and smiled and asked a question that surprised Shi Lang a little.

Shi Lang came back from Japan with the Henan. According to the original plan, the Henan will be overhauled after returning to the sea, and the entire crew will also get three months of vacation. However, the crew of the Henan had good luck, and as soon as they returned, they encountered the Battle of Kagoshima Bay, so they all went with them to pick up another credit.

Now that the war in the Japanese direction has come to an end for the time being, the Henan has returned to Hong Kong for vacation. Although Shi Lang is a native of Fujian, because he has been an officer in the Oriental Fleet for a long time, he has settled his home in Pukou - the educational resources here in Pukou are too good, not to mention the gathering of famous schools, and it is easy to become friends with the future emperor, princes, county kings, and princes from childhood to adulthood, so Shi Lang's officers of this level want to squeeze into Pukou, and he is of course no exception.

Today, when he was teaching his three-year-old son Shi Shize to know the 26 French alphabets at his home in Pukou, a steward of the Quanguo Mansion came to ask for someone with Zheng Zhilong's post.

Zheng Zhilong wants to invite him to dinner!

Of course, eating with Zheng Zhilong is more important than teaching Shi Shize French, so Shi Lang hurriedly dropped the French alphabet, got on his horse and went to the Quanguo Mansion in Tangquan Town. When I arrived at the gate of the mansion, I saw Zheng Zhilong's sixth son, Zheng Zheng Laoliu, who was studying in Pukou Engineering School, standing at the gate to greet him - Zheng Zheng was a famous scumbag in Pukou Engineering School, and he couldn't get into the exam (the tradition of despising industry and commerce was not so easy to change, so Pukou Engineering was far from being as popular as Taixue, Jingxue, Jiangwutang, and Naval Academy, but it was still difficult to get in), and in the end, Zheng Zhilong donated 30,000 taels of silver to let Zheng Zheng go in to study. But it still can't change Zheng Xi's true character as a scumbag, and he is ranked last in every exam, which is really anxious......

But no matter how scumbag he is, he is also the uncle of the Ming Dynasty, the son of the richest man, and Zheng Zhilong is still the former owner of Shi Lang.

Therefore, Zheng Xi personally greeted him, which still made Shi Lang feel courteous.

And the next treatment of eating with Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Xi and his son in a Western-style mansion in the back garden of the Guogong Mansion made Shi Lang a little flattered.

He originally thought that the Duke of Quanguo was going to feast guests, but he didn't expect that he was the only guest tonight, could it be that the grandfather had something to do by himself, right?

When Shi Lang was pondering, Zheng Zhilong had already raised a question.

"The New World?" Shi Lang was stunned, "The New World is big, and Xia Guan has only been to the Gulf of Americas." ”

The Bay of the Americas is the area of what would become Seattle, Vancouver and Vancouver Island. Zhu Cihong regarded it as a "Greater Bay Area", and at the same time, it was also regarded as the fundamental place of the Ming Dynasty in the New World.

"Let's talk about the Gulf of the Americas, what the hell is going on?"

"Grandpa," Shi Lang shook his head, "This Gulf of the Americas is too big, and Xiaguan just went around a circle, roughly around an island that is slightly smaller than Taiwan Island, about 2,000 miles."

In addition, there is a fairly large inner bay in the Gulf of America, which is also two or three hundred miles deep...... It's a good place, there are many islands in the bay, the trees are thick, the land is flat, and the climate is mild, there is a lot of rainfall, and the land is even more fertile!

Therefore, our first stronghold in the Gulf of the Americas was at the bottom of the inner bay, near the mouth of a wide river, and we built a tunzi, named Peanutun. ”

"Why is it called Peanutun?" Zheng Xi asked.

"That's because the first batch of people in the past brought all kinds of seeds, and after they came ashore, they reclaimed a few pieces of land and carried out trial planting, and the first to sprout was a few fallen peanuts, so that area was called Peanut Tun."

"Oh." Zheng Zhilong nodded, "Are there any natives there?" ”

"Yes, there are some," said Shi Lang, "but the lower officials have not seen them, and the Marines have seen them, and they have fought with them." ”

Along with the first batch of 31 families (one of which was a tunchang) immigrants, there was also a company of marines who landed on American soil. Their mission was to "clean up" the area around the colony and help the colonists build a cantonment. If there is no major threat, they will return with the Henan. Before returning, flintlock muskets were also left for the tun people so that they could deal with the small indigenous tribes.

"Who won?" Zheng Zhilong asked again.

"Of course we win," said Shi Lang, "they are just blood-drinking savages, and it is said that they can't even use bows and arrows, so where are the opponents of flintlock pistols?" ”

"That's ......" Zheng Zhilong was suspicious, "They don't even have bows and arrows, how can they hunt?" ”

"It's not very clear to this subordinate." Shi Lang didn't stay on shore for a few days, and he followed the Henan around the Gulf of Americas during his days in America.

"So......" Zheng Zhi asked thoughtfully, "do you think the imperial court can set up a vassal state in the Gulf of America?" ”

"Founding a country?" Shi Lang pondered for a moment, "Xia Guan thinks that the water and soil around the Gulf of America can support many people, and there are no strong enemies...... If the Spaniards in the south did not send troops north, there should be no problem. ”

"How far did the Spaniards get from the Gulf of America?"

"It's quite far, estimated to be more than 2,000 miles," Shi Lang said, "I don't know how many officials there are, because the Henan deliberately avoided the Spanish territory when it returned." ”

"That'...... Do they know you're in the Gulf of the Americas? Zheng Zhilong asked, "Will you send troops to rob it?" ”

"I don't know yet," Shi Lang said, "if I knew, I would probably send troops." He paused, "Grandpa, if the imperial court wants to establish a vassal state in the Gulf of America, then you have to send someone over quickly!" At least a few thousand troops had to be sent with war horses and artillery to build cities, open ports, and set up batteries in the Gulf of America, so as to withstand the Spanish attack. ”

The number of Spaniards in the Americas was in the hundreds of thousands, while the population of the Ming in the Americas was only a few dozen......

Zheng Zhilong asked again: "How were the winds and waves along the way?" Can the Wanshi Big Bird Boat pass? ”

The Wanshi Big Bird Boat is a mass-produced bargain, reliable performance, easy to maneuver, and requires a small crew, which is enough for a few dozen people. If it is not equipped with artillery, the cost of the Wanshiniao ship can be reduced to five or six thousand taels (without artillery, the strength of the hull can be reduced).

If it were to be redesigned to increase the number of passengers, it would be possible to transport 200 to 300 migrants one way on a ship. Even if it is calculated for 200 people, the price of the boat is spread over the heads of 200 people, which is 25 taels per person. Hire another 50 crew members, 50 taels per person, that is, 2,500 taels, and spread over 200 immigrants is 12.5 taels. Buy some rice wine, kimchi, flour cakes, seeds and farm tools, and add 12.5 taels to reach the sky.

In other words, just counting the cost, even if the Wanshiniao boat takes a one-way trip, the cost of 50 taels is enough for a migrant to drift across the Pacific Ocean......

"Did any of the first past immigrants die on the road?" Zheng Zhilong continued to ask, "Did anyone catch the epidemic when they were in the Americas?" ”

"No one died," replied Shi Lang, "and no one died when the lower officials left...... However, this group of immigrants was specially selected, strong, and seasickness was not too bad. If you really have to transport it in large quantities, I'm afraid that someone will die on the way. ”

He paused, and then said: "If you add the shipwreck factor, it would be good to have an eighty to ninety percent delivery rate." ”

That is, one to two percent of death......

Shi Lang said again: "As for the epidemic, it should be relatively few...... Because the climate of the Gulf of the Americas is still relatively cool, about the same as the area around Beijing. The weather is cool and there is less disease! ”

Zheng Zhilong said to himself: "If you drown half of the world, and half of you die of illness, you can live for eighty percent...... It's much better than going to the South Seas!

The cost of going to Nanyang is provincial, but there are too many deaths of illness, and when converted, the cost of one immigrant is more than 100 taels! ”

Speaking of this, he slapped the table: "America can vote!" ”

Can you vote? What to vote for? Shi Lang was ignorant, and just wanted to ask, he heard Zheng Xian speak first: "My lord, this is a deal of more than 10 million, just follow it without looking at it!" ”

"Makes sense!" Zheng Zhilong nodded, quite agreeable, and said to his son with a smile, "Xi'er, for my father's old age, I can't stand the bumps on the sea...... You have always been very filial, shouldn't you come forward and take a trip to the New World on behalf of your father at this time? ”