Li Zhi also brought 50,000 catties of crucible steel. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoLi Zhi's steelmaking workshop can produce 20,000 catties of crucible steel every month, and these steels can be sold for about 10,000 catties a month, but the price can only be sold for 1 or 25 yuan. It is said that Japan has a high demand for cheap steel in the Ming Dynasty, and Li Zhi took some to Japan to test the water to see how much silver crucible steel could sell for in Japan.

If it sells well, Li Zhi can expand the production of crucible steel.

Li Zhi also brought a lot of other glasses and mirrors. These glass products are not easy to transport and have to be wrapped in a lot of paper. But fortunately, the unit price is expensive, and a little shipping is worth a lot of silver.

Then there was soap, and Li Zhi loaded 40 large boxes of soap on the ship, each box contained 8,000 pieces, a total of 320,000 pieces of soap.

Coupled with some miscellaneous products to test the market, Li Zhi loaded a shipload of goods.

Li Zhi's cargo was loaded from the wharf in Dagu, Tianjin, Dagu. Tianjin was originally an important place for maritime trade, and many southern goods entering Beijing were landed from Dagu, and some goods sent to Jiangnan were also shipped from Dagu and then transported to Jiangnan and Lingnan by sea ships. Among these sea vessels, there are both official and civilian ships, making Dagu a rather lively seaport.

Li Zhi is now powerful and powerful, and he is also the chief soldier of Tianjin, and no one dares to oppose the operation of sea trade in Dagu. Li Zhi swaggered out to purchase, loaded the goods on the ship, and no one spoke out to obstruct him.

In fact, now the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban has been basically abolished. Although the Son of Heaven only opened a sea ban in Fujian Province, since the Fujian sea ban was opened, it means that hundreds of officials in the imperial court are no longer hostile to maritime merchants, and they will no longer force coastal water villages to exterminate smuggling maritime merchants, so maritime merchants in the north and south of the river are semi-openly running to the sea.

On July 10, Li Zhi's new crew and sailors had been training for half a month, and Li Zhi did not wait any longer and let the Nova go to sea.

On this voyage, Li Zhi personally led the team and led 150 sailors and more than 50 boatmen to sail the Nova to the Wa Kingdom.

Early that morning, the crew of the Nova slid their long oars and rowed the ship out of Dagu Harbor. After leaving the port, the steam engine turned on at full power, spewing black smoke from the incomplete combustion of coal from the chimney, and slashing forward in the swaying sea. The ship left Dagu, farther and farther away from the departure port, crossed the Bohai Sea, and spent a day to reach the Bohai Strait.

Guided by an experienced guide, the Nova avoided the reef and passed through the islands of the Bohai Strait. Then bypass the Jiaodong Peninsula and drive all the way south.

On the third day of sailing, the Nova had sailed to the western side of the Korean Peninsula. At this time, the sky is high and the clouds are light, and the midsummer sun shines directly on the sea, illuminating the undulating sea in a clear blue, which looks very beautiful. The sea breeze blows on the body and blows away all the summer heat.

In order to observe the reference objects on land and on the island, and to understand their location, the Daming sea ships of this era drove along the island and the coast. At this time, the nova was on the western side of North Korea, only a dozen miles from the coast. Li Zhi held a telescope to look at the scenery of the Korean Peninsula in the east from the tail tower, but suddenly heard the lookout on the mast shouting:

"There's a ship to the south!"

The whole boat looked up in unison and looked south. Li Zhi also raised his binoculars and looked south. Sure enough, at the end of the intersection of heaven and sea, I saw a three-masted wooden sailing ship heading this way.

It was summer, and the south wind was blowing steadily, and the incoming ship was moving fast. It didn't take long for the sailboat to sail more than a dozen miles away. Li Zhi was holding a telescope to observe the incoming ship, but he heard the lookout on the mast Ah Ban shouting: "The draft of the incoming ship is shallow and fast, there is no cargo on the ship, I'm afraid it's a pirate ship!" ”

The whole ship was stunned when they heard this, and they all looked at Li Zhi.

The chief steward of the ship ran in front of Li Zhi and said, "Governor, our ship is fast, do you want to avoid this pirate ship!" ”

Li Zhi used a telescope to observe the ship on the other side.

That pirate ship wasn't as big as the Nova, but it wasn't small either. It looks a bit like a fortune boat, but it doesn't have a low bow like a fortune boat. The hull of the ship is Ming-style, curved like a crescent moon, but the sails on the mast are Western-style soft sails. At this time, the spinnaker, crosssail and longitudinal sail canvas on the ship were blown up by the wind, and they pressed towards Li Zhi's side with great momentum.

Li Zhi took a closer look and found that there were still two small cannons on the ship, but he couldn't see what kind of cannons they were.

Li Zhi put down the binoculars and thought about it.

Li Zhi's chief steward saw that the boat on the opposite side was getting closer and closer, a little nervous, and asked again, "Governor, what should I do?" ”

Li Zhi put down the binoculars and shouted loudly: "Take this pirate ship to practice!" Sink him! ”

The manager was stunned, gritted his teeth, ran down the tail tower and shouted: "Enter the battle state!" The whole ship is in combat mode! ”

Hearing the words of the steward, the atmosphere on the ship suddenly changed, and the sailors began to prepare for battle. They either ran to the gun emplacements on the second deck, operated the cannons, or raised their rifles and hung grenades and stood on the upper deck, ready to engage in broadside battle. The shipwrights ran to the boiler of the steam engine and helped the boilermen fill the coal to increase the speed of the Nova.

Li Zhi walked up to the helmsman and said, "Go around and drive around the pirate ship!" Take advantage of our ship's speed and always keep a distance of 200 paces from the pirate ship, so that the cannons on the port side can take turns firing! ”

The helmsman is an experienced veteran, and it was Cha Yunke who supported Li Zhi. He nodded when he heard Li Zhi's words, and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely control the position and let the cannon blow these pirate ships to pieces!" ”

Li Zhi nodded and said, "It's up to you!" ”

The two ships gradually approached, five, three, and two.

Li Zhi looked at the pirate ship opposite with a telescope, and sure enough, he saw more than two hundred pirates with swords standing on the deck, one by one with red eyes ready to take on the gang.

Li Zhi scolded: "What a strong courage, you dare to rob my new star!" ”

More than a mile away, the Nova suddenly turned its rudder and headed west, aiming its port side at the menacing pirate ship.

On the second deck, eighty artillerymen were already waiting on the port side. They quickly shook the lever on the gun carriage and adjusted the muzzle of the cannon. When all the artillery had finished aiming, the artillery company commander shouted: "Fire"

Nine eighteen-pounder guns opened fire one after the other from the front.

The black powder turned into black smoke and red fire with the help of the flames, and in an instant the entire port side was enveloped. A deafening roar followed, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of saltpeter powder in an instant. The ship swayed to the right under the continuous recoil of the gun carriage, and a spray was pressed on the surface of the sea.

Nine shells drew nine straight lines in the air and fired at enemy ships three or four hundred meters away.

Eight shells missed, hitting the water, causing a splash several meters high. A cannonball slammed into the bow of the pirate ship, piercing the old-fashioned hull with no or only a few ribs. There was only a boom, and the bow of the pirate ship was shot out with a firework of flying wood chips, and the planks on the bow of the ship burst in all directions like papier-mâché.

When the sawdust gradually dispersed, a large hole in the bow of the pirate ship was exposed.

Fortunately, the waves were small at this time, and the bow of the boat did not enter the water. If it was a big wave, the bow of the ship would continue to pierce into the big waves, and such a large hole would allow the pirate ship to sink into the water. (To be continued.) )