“…… Like any country that entered the Age of Discovery, the Ming Dynasty once again went to the Western Ocean, and the navy was responsible for surveying routes and finding ports along the way, and their main focus was to obtain multiple supply ports and stable trading bases from Nantianmen to Tianzhu, Africa and the coast of Europe. In order to achieve this goal, conflict with the Dutch was inevitable, but more often than not, it was the opening and construction of new ports, which were both the bases of trade between the Ming and the West, as well as the forward base of the Ming Dynasty's advance into the West. ”

"The Age of Discovery" Yan Fu Jiatai forty-five years

How many ships sail the ocean every day?

No one has specific data, but it is certain that the European shipping industry in 1689 was far worse than it had been a decade ago, when the Ming and Zhuxia had more than 35,000 merchant ships and almost monopolized the maritime trade from the East to the West. Tea, cotton textiles, silk and porcelain, etc., most of the commodities needed in Europe were transshipped by Ming merchant ships and sold by merchants from various countries.

"On any piece of the sea, you can see ordinary Chinese merchant ships at any time."

However, while a large number of Chinese merchant ships traveled between the West and China, there were also a large number of naval ships cruising on the sea, clearing out pirates on the routes and protecting the smooth flow of trade routes.

Very early in the morning, I saw a merchant ship of a Western company in the direction of starboard. At that time, Li Jie was immersed in a cool "bathtub", which was made of canvas, and according to the requirements of the navy's regulations, as long as the conditions permitted, when sailing in the tropics, he must ensure a bath, this condition refers to having enough fresh water, and most of the time, this is only a regulation on paper.

Because of the boat's proximity to the land, they could get fresh water from the land, so they could bathe twice a day, and of course, they had to bring fresh water from the land to the boat in a dinghy and soak it in a canvas "basin" for a while.

For sailors, bathing has always been a pleasure, even if it is just cold water, it can still make people feel refreshed for a day, but the requirements of the Navy regulations are based on the perspective of health, and keeping clean during long-distance voyages is the basic premise of saving the lives of sailors, so even if they are on long-distance voyages, they cannot be guaranteed to have fresh water for bathing, but also ensure that they can have water to wipe their bodies with a damp cloth.

After the brothers brought fruit and fresh water collected from the edge of the rainforest on the shore to the boat, Li Kit, like the brothers, lay in a canvas "bath". Enjoying the coolness of the cold water, at this time, he felt very relaxed.

In this brief moment, he didn't have to think about the countless questions, the personnel and ships of the warship

body, rigging, routes, and so on. Until then, these questions haunted his mind forever. This is the responsibility of being the captain of a ship.

Compared with the previous 22-gun gunboat, he preferred the cruiser "Sanshan", which had 20 18-pound guns and 6 50-pound guns, even if it seemed to be only 26 guns, it seemed that there were only four more guns. But he knows very well that the two are definitely not the same weight class.

After enjoying half an hour of bathing, Li Jie put on his clothes again, and then came to the bridge with a radiant face.

"Alright, when the brethren have packed up, let's get ready to go!"

He greeted the first mate, Shi Mingde.

"Yes, sir."

Shi Mingde stood in front of the ship's bell, and he was always so meticulous.

"Don't be so restrained."

Li Jie glanced at him.

"Take it easy."

"Yes, sir."

Shi Mingde's answer made Li Jie take a deep breath, and then stopped talking. He knew that the character of this deputy of his was like this.

"Ship spotted on the port side."

As the sun rose and the sea fog dissipated in the distance, the sailors at the lookout post shouted loudly.

"Hey, a sailboat...... The stern port side is two compass points...... Two, three ships! I can't see the flag clearly. ”

"Captain, do you want to mobilize?"

Shi Mingde looked at the captain, only to see that the captain had already walked to the stern.

Although the captain did not give the order to mobilize, the brothers who were bathing still sped up, and when they returned to the shore one after another, Li Jie, who was standing at the stern of the ship, was holding a telescope to observe the three ships approaching.

"They're fast, they seem to be clippers."

Because the distance was too far, Li Jie quickly climbed to the top of the mast. He held the binoculars and confirmed his initial suspicion that these were all merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty.

"Sir, such a fleet is rare."

Shi Mingde reminded loudly.

"It is impossible for a merchant ship to form a fleet!"

"Mobilize!"

As the ship's bell rang, Shi Mingde loudly gave the order to mobilize, and the shrill voices of the sergeants and sergeants immediately sounded on the deck.

The sailors arrived at the gun emplacements one after another, ready to go.

On deck, Li Jie laid out a route to intercept them, one by one, this route would only make the "Three Mountains" deviate slightly from its course, but it could intercept them. After deploying one by one, Li Jie hurried down to enjoy tea and breakfast, the breakfast on the ship was quite rich, in addition to the salted meat, the freshly picked fruits were undoubtedly the best delicacy.

After Li Jie sat down, the other off-duty officers also sat down, and while they enjoyed breakfast together, the alternates were sent down from time to time to report to Li Jie the course of the strange ship. Before the feast was over, Shi Mingde came down and said.

"Sir, they're just merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty."

"Oh, okay, disarm the whole ship and keep it on guard."

Li Jie said.

"Song Qing, please tell my chef that I have to prepare something to eat today. We had three captains come for lunch. ”

Since they are on the same course, it is the most basic courtesy to invite them on board for dinner.

An hour later, the three ships converged with the "Three Mountains", and after they converged, Li Jie received the news that all the armed ships were going to converge at Ganquan Harbor.

"All armed ships, this is an order."

Armed ships, not only limited to warships, in addition to warships, there are also armed merchant ships, these three clippers, is armed merchant ships, in fact, 90% of the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty have artillery, but not all ships can be called armed merchant ships, according to the agreement, the number of artillery must exceed 18 to be regarded as armed merchant ships, and most merchant ships 6-12 self-defense artillery.

Since the armed merchant ships are all assembling, it is natural that the "Sanshan", as a warship, will also join the fleet and assemble at Ganquan Port.

"They received the order in Greenwood Harbor, something should have happened......

Along the way, Li Jie and Shi Mingde chatted endlessly, and they knew very well that if it wasn't for an accident, they would never give such an order.

With a serious and thoughtful expression on his face, Li Jie paced back and forth on the back deck.

What happened?

"Ganquan Harbor...... There shouldn't be anything going on there. ”

For Ganquan Port, Li Jie is no stranger, that is the Ming Dynasty's stronghold on the African coast, it is on a long and narrow peninsula in the central and western regions, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, hundreds of ships can be moored in the bay, there is actually not suitable for human survival, because there is very little fresh water, only a few North African aborigines live by fishing, but more than ten years ago, the navy's expedition team found rich spring water, the navy decided to set up "Ganquan Port" there, it has been the Ming Dynasty on the road to Europe, the westernmost port.

What's going to happen there?

Li Jie thought about this whole day, until the evening, he was still thinking about all kinds of possibilities, and in the middle of the night, he still couldn't sleep, he stopped at the side of the boat, the sea breeze blew on his body, he groped for the gangway, and walked up to the back deck. The night was so dark that it couldn't be darker, and not a single star could be seen in the sky.

The undulations of the warship, the squeak of the rigging and sails overhead, allowed him to perceive the movement of the ship, and the speed of the ship was very fast, although it was not as fast as the clippers, but the fast cruiser itself was known for its speed.

Commanding the helm on the aft deck was a helmsman named Sun Ming, and a much younger helmsman Zhao Jiawo.

"Sir, why haven't you rested yet?"

Suddenly, he heard Shi Mingde's voice, and he was standing under the mainmast, as if he was not sleeping.

"Why are you here?"

"I changed shifts with the second officer."

Shi Mingde said casually, he walked to the side of the boat, looked out, and then lit his pipe.

"You must be thinking about the Ganquan Harbor."

"People are inevitably a little curious."

"Actually, there's nothing curious, I guess there may have been a conflict."

Shi Mingde said, staring at the shimmering waves of the water and staring at the other three clippers, all of which were far away from each other.

"Conflict?"

"It is unlikely that the Spaniards will be there, and although the port of Ganr is said to be not far from the Canary Islands, the Spaniards have no objection to this, after all, it is not their inevitable range."

Shi Mingde said while smoking a cigarette.

"If my guess is correct, it may be with the British, after all, we have always supported James II, and perhaps for this reason we have a conflict with the British." ，

"Are these your guesses?"

"Just guess, after all, now apart from the British, Spain, France, and the Netherlands, they are unlikely to clash with us, after all, there is no conflict of interest between us......"

Shi Mingde's voice fell silent, and after a long time, he spoke.

"Actually, if it were the UK, I would sympathize with them, because they didn't realize how far they were from us."

"You seem pretty sure it's British."

Li Jie asked rhetorically.

"Actually, sir, our problem with the British is not just with James II, but also with the North American colonies, and we want the British to withdraw from North America, and of course, maybe the French, and then we will control the whole of North America, so, as long as there is an opportunity, I think conflict will be inevitable."

"However, without the consent of the Central Capital, it is impossible for a war to break out,"

The captain's words made Shi Mingde smile, and then said,

"Conflict is not a war, the general is outside, the king's order is not subject to it, these envoys stationed abroad, all have the responsibility and obligation to protect the overseas Chinese, under this premise, if he is only to protect the overseas Chinese, and mobilize the nearest fleet to show strength, and clash with the navy of another country, this is not a war at all."

Looking at the captain, seeing that he seemed a little puzzled, Shi Mingde smiled.

"My brother was just posted abroad last year, so I have some understanding of their rights and responsibilities."

"Oh, according to you, the envoys can go to war at any time."

Li Jie said with some incredulity, although according to the navy's regulations, he needs to cooperate with the actions of the foreign envoys. But it never occurred to him that the envoys could directly declare war.

"As I said earlier, it's not war, it's conflict."

Even though he knew it was just a play on words, Shi Mingde said.

“…… It is a conflict that breaks out, but as for whether it will lead to war, I am afraid that only God knows, or rather, it all depends on the choice of the other side, we may have a demonstration of force, but if the British choose to fire at us, shouldn't we fight back? ”

The answer was obvious, nodding silently, Li Jie glanced into the distance.

"Actually, in addition to clearing out pirates, I quite hope that war will break out, but I didn't expect it to be in this way."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of bells, and the shouts of the sailors and sentries were heard around the ship.

"Lifebuoy, everything is normal."

"Starboard, everything is fine."

"Starboard, everything is fine."

Then all the other shouts followed. The boatwright's assistant, carrying a lantern, reported that the water between the bilge pumps was eleven inches deep......

Then the alternate student on duty fiddled with the lantern and hourglass for a while, and then reported.

"Twenty-three miles, Your Excellency, please."

Shi Mingde wrote this down on the log board. Then the silence on the deck returned, even quieter than before.

But Li Jie's heart was frivolous, and after a long time, he looked into the distance and said.

"Sometimes, when I was sailing, when I saw those Europeans, I always wondered what choice they would have made if the country had learned about the backwardness and ignorance of Europe. Occupy here? Occupy such a place of poverty and hunger? To be honest, I don't see any benefit from doing this, really, nowhere else. ”

Li Kit, who has visited many seaport cities in Europe many times, has a full understanding of European countries, and he does not see the benefits of occupying these areas at all.

"In addition to poverty everywhere here, I really don't know what else is here, of course, they do have their strengths in some aspects, and we are learning from them, but this does not change the reality of poverty, if we occupy here, all we get is a heavy burden, I really can't understand, why ......"

Shaking his head, Li Jie smiled bitterly.

"Since you can't figure it out, don't think about it, as a soldier, you just need to obey orders, as for the rest, let those people think about it!"

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