After New Year's Day, it was already 1636.

On the two huge docks in the Zhenhaibao shipyard, two large transport ships are being built at the same time. These are two newly ordered ships belonging to the South China Sea Transport Company under the Ministry of Communications, with a full load displacement of 650 tons, supported by the newly introduced Flanders shipbuilders in the shipyard, and the ship type is a Dutch flute, which is especially suitable for ocean transportation.

Since such transport ships do not have to take on combat missions, there is no need to build them all with expensive Brazilian mahogany, many of the superstructures are made of domestic pine planks, and the bulkheads are not as thick as those of warships. As a result, the cost of each ship was maintained at a price of about 50,000 yuan.

In view of the gradual prosperity of trade, the export volume of goods from the East Coast Republic of China is increasing day by day, and it is necessary for the East Coast region to have its own transport fleet. Under the guidance of this ideology, the South China Sea Transportation Company was newly baked. It's just that this company still exists only on paper, and the company doesn't even have a few office staff, let alone sailors and ships, so it can only be said that everything is still in the process of being created.

After absorbing some of the technical personnel of Dayuhe Shipyard, Zhenhai Shipyard has become a large-scale shipyard with hundreds of technicians, craftsmen and apprentices after nearly two years of development under the policy tilt of the Government Affairs Yuan. The successful construction of the Common Market, the second ship of the 10 August class battleships, is a testament to the shipyard's technical prowess.

Nowadays, relying on the backbone enterprise of Zhenhai Shipyard, the Zhenhaibao area has developed state-owned enterprises such as anchor chain factory, shipyard factory (production of rigging, net rope, canvas, etc.), as well as some private handicraft enterprises such as barrel workshops and brewing workshops. Without exception, they are all supporting services for shipyards.

After the arrival of a new batch of Ming immigrants (600 people) at the end of last year. The Council allocated half of it here. The remaining half was assigned to Ping'an Town. After the arrival of 300 new immigrants. The population of Zhenhaibao directly exceeded 1,000, reaching a record high of 1,289 people, becoming the fourth settlement in China with a population of more than 1,000 people.

At the end of November, after the Pasquier family's armed sailing ship "Butterfly" arrived again with more than 30 children and nearly 200 French immigrants in the port of Orient, the executive committee allocated all the immigrants except children to Zhenhai Fort, so that the population here almost caught up with Ping'an Town.

The vast majority of this population of more than 1,000 people are employees of shipyards, and other supporting manufacturers such as anchor chain factories and small private workshop enterprises are very small. Many factories and workshops are filled with women. If it weren't for the Ministry of Education's compulsory primary education for all minors, it is estimated that these factories and workshops would have recruited children, and the population of the Eastern Republic would not be as hungry as usual.

In order to get rid of the constraints of population bottlenecks, these factories have tried everything they can. For example, the shipyard introduced a "Barbarian-1" steam engine, which was different from the Changshan Iron Mine in that this steam engine was used as a power output, so it was equipped with a crank flywheel device to drive a large loom to weave dense marine canvas; Like Changshan Fort, this steam engine is also lying in the nest most of the time, which is basically not of practical significance.

This settlement, which was developed entirely on the basis of industry, has now become the home port of the First Fleet of the Republic of China Navy on the east coast of China. The First Fleet has five warships: the 10 August, the East Coast Eagle, the Beagle, the Sea Writer, and the Red Trout. Because it is mainly stationed in the port of Zhenhaibao, it is also commonly known as the Northern Fleet; The battleship "Common Market" and the armed transport ship "Galician Exocet" were assigned to the Second Fleet. The home port is the Port of Oriente, which regularly patrols the waters between the Port of Orient and the later Maldonado south of Rocha, commonly known as the Southern Fleet.

After two years of state-organized privateering activities, the Admiralty now has a much broader range of hands, not only with a greatly expanded number of personnel, but also with the construction of ships one ship after another. After the "Common Market" entered service, the sailors and officers had not yet been completely filled, and the plan for the construction of the third battleship "Free Trade" by the Admiralty was submitted again, as if it was afraid that the tens of thousands of dollars in their hands would not be spent.

In the face of such a plan that ignores reality, the Executive Committee will naturally not let it pass. This is not counting, under the encouragement of the Minister of Communications Xiao Bailang, the Executive Committee also unanimously decided that the Ministry of Communications and the Navy Department will jointly invest 100,000 yuan to build two flute-type ships to transport goods. The Admiralty, who had been beaten with a dull stick, had no choice but to twist his arm and thigh, so he could only agree to this plan with "hatred". Of course, the Ministry of Communications may have promised that once war breaks out, the South China Sea Company's transport fleet will be requisitioned by the Navy without compensation, which can be regarded as somewhat easing the resentment of the Admiralty.

January 3, Zhenhaibao Pier. All the Navy's First Fleet, as well as the three-masted galleon "Butterfly" of the Pasquier family, left their berths one after another and sailed into the vast South Atlantic Ocean to the cheerful song "The Eagle of the East Coast is Forward," loaded with 600 tons of potatoes, 30,000 horses of cotton cloth, and a batch of munitions and supplies. They will follow the route of Saint-Vicente-Recife-Canary Islands-Bordeaux, to France.

After the handover of the cargo, the First Fleet will head to the Caribbean Sea for its annual "hunting operation". By July, they will return to Bordeaux to ship cotton and migrants.

And at the moment when the First Fleet sailed north, far away in the port of Portsmouth, England in the Old Continent, a large fleet was also making the most preparations before the voyage.

After a number of "disappearances" of ships that "brought shame to the king and the country" in Virginia last year, King Charles I of England reaffirmed the edict issued by Edward III in 1336 that merchant ships going to sea must assemble at designated places and reach a certain number before they can sail.

In this ordinance, it was stipulated that the British mainland was bounded by the River Thames, and that ships west of it should assemble at Portsmouth; Ships north of the river assemble near the Orwell River; Boats near London meet at the mouth of the River Thames. Before the ships set sail, the king would send officials to carefully check the armament and supplies of each ship, and then order the captains of each ship in each fleet to elect a temporary commander, and everyone in the fleet must obey the temporary commander before returning to the sea. If someone does not listen to the command or leaves the team without permission, then he will be severely punished when he returns to the ship.

At this time, the port of Portsmouth was full of sailing ships, and a large number of merchant ships, warships, and privateers were moored in their respective berth areas in an orderly manner, indicating the development of the British maritime industry. And in the corner of the pier, a group of well-dressed and decent people are forming a circle, performing the last step of the ceremony before departure.

"So, Mr. Hampton, Mr. Hill, Mr. Sheldon, Mr. Morris......" An obese English port official read the names of the owners or captains of the ships, and after reading them, he glanced at them and said, "Are you willing to accept William. Mr. Clifford was the temporary commander of the expedition fleet, and pledged to obey the command during the voyage and not to change course or leave the fleet without authorization? ”

"Yes, we will follow William. Mr. Clifford shall obey any reasonable orders he may give until he arrives at his destination. Unless ordered to do so by the Commander, we will not change course or call at any port without authorization. ”

"So, will you be able to guarantee that you will be united, protect each other, work together, fight tenaciously and never run away in the face of an enemy attack?"

"Yes, we pledge to provide assistance to any ship in our travels and fight together in accordance with the oath."

"So, are you willing to pay William for this? Mr. Clifford has a certain fee to compensate him for all his efforts? ”

"Yes, we are willing to pay His Excellency the Provisional Commander a penny for each barrel of cargo on board to compensate him for all the effort he has made in the course of the voyage."

"Well, William. Mr. Clifford ...... "The fat officer said the most sluggishly, turning his head to look at William beside him. Clifford asked, "Would you like to be the temporary commander of this expeditionary fleet, and take on the tasks of piloting, trading, and directing battles?" ”

"Yes, I am willing to use my strength, knowledge, and experience to provide refuge to any English ships that accompany me, and to direct them in voyages, trade, and possible battles, and not to run away without permission, and to preserve the interests of all and the glory of England." William. Clifford replied.

"Then, the oath of both parties is established." The fat officer clapped his hands, then looked at everyone with a smile, and said, "Fellow shipowners of the merchant adventure company and the East India Company, this voyage to the New World is long, so I won't delay you." Have a great voyage! ”

The group of men had a few more polite conversations on the docks, and then they returned to their respective ships and, under the arrangement of the provisional commander, sailed out of the harbor of Portsmouth one by one, and then formed a formation on the surface of the sea and sailed south.

The New World is not at peace today. Last year, a number of ships traveling between the kingdom and Virginia went missing, losing a lot of tobacco and money. At first, it was thought that they had been sunk in a storm or lost, but it was only later, as more and more ships went missing, that it became clear that these unfortunate ships might have been attacked by pirates or ships of hostile nations.

The robbery robbed the head of the pirate's ancestor, which is how the British could bear it. While sending warships to patrol the waters near the New World, they also ordered the strict implementation of the fleet system, that is, all ships leaving the port must sail together, and the number of ships in the fleet must not be less than eight, and those who are insufficient will not be allowed to leave the port.

This time, some merchant ships of the Merchant Adventure Company and the East India Company bound for trade in the New World gathered in Portsmouth Harbour and waited, and when the last ships arrived, and the fleet had ten sailing ships, they were finally allowed to sail out of port.

And their first destination was Virginia. (To be continued......)