"Is there any progress on the artillery?"

Compared with others, Zheng Zhilong is still more concerned about the progress of their firearms.

"Don't get on it, the Dutch foreigner we kidnapped last time really has a brush that can already help us forge a thirty-six-pound cannon!"

Zheng Haomin nodded again and again, and was extremely excited when he mentioned this: "Helper, is it that after we can cast cannons and foreign ships ourselves, we don't have to look at the faces of these foreigners?" ”

"Huh?"

After all, Zheng Zhilong was still much more serious, and glared at his young nephew, but then saw that there were no other miscellaneous people around, so he withdrew his blaming gaze and explained his doubts: "Yes, the life under the fence is really not easy!" ”

"If it weren't for the fear that the Dutch people would have too many scruples, our Wyvern Gang wouldn't have only had these seven or eight thousand soldiers and forty or so warships so far!"

"When we can make artillery and build foreign ships ourselves, the world is big, and we can't let it gallop!"

The two uncles and nephews were in the secret room of the manor, venting their emotions that they did not dare to show outside, or excitedly or calmly depicting the next scene of their Wyvern Gang.

is also a heroic figure in history, and Zheng Zhilong did not really think about sending people under the fence and becoming a lackey of the Netherlands at the beginning.

The reason why he still obediently obeys the words of the governor of the Netherlands until now and is willing to take care of things for them, in fact, Zheng Zhilong's deeper pursuit is the two sharp weapons that Westerners value most - warships and many artillery.

The battle with Hongmen broke many of Zheng Zhilong's previous self-righteous ideas, and at the same time, it also made them superstitious about the way of thinking of Westerners who are strong ships and cannons.

The Orientals are very backward in these two aspects, and no other force other than Hongmen can make artillery and warships that can catch up with the Westerners, for the sake of advanced technology, Zheng Zhilong and Yan Siqi and the deceased are attached to the Netherlands with the remnants of the Flying Dragon Gang.

The Dutch people are among the best in seagoing ship manufacturing and artillery manufacturing technology, even in Western Europe, so while Zheng Zhilong and his team are superficially subservient to the Dutch people, they secretly try their best to collect intelligence, kidnap Westerner technical talents, and secretly study and imitate Westerner shipbuilding technology on a remote island in the Indonesian archipelago.

In fact, over the years, in addition to the disappearance of more than 100 people in the Java Netherlands, Zheng Zhilong has also kidnapped about five or six hundred Westerners one after another by disguising himself as pirates and sneaking up on other Westerners' territory.

Among them, many Westerners who did not have much skills, after being found useless by Zheng Zhilong, were directly slaughtered, and now Zheng Zhilong and they are really waiting for the old nest, and there are still more than 300 Westerners with shipbuilding and cannon casting skills.

Zheng Zhilong's ambition has never really retreated much, and the burden of humiliation over the years is to one day rise again and send back all the insults that the Hongmen people and Westerners once inflicted on him.

It's a pity that now Westerners have suddenly begun to unite, which makes Zheng Zhilong, who likes to fish in troubled waters, feel a little constrained.

Without fighting, it means that their Wyverns will have a lot less source of income, and the risk of being constrained by the Netherlands with food and supplies is also increased.

All these things quickly dispelled Zheng Zhilong's joy brought by the progress of cannon casting technology, and his face gradually returned to calm, and he began to instruct his nephew: "The progress of artillery casting should be increased, so that the apprentices who are difficult to follow the foreign craftsmen are more attentive, and we will not have such a good time in the future!" ”

"It would be great if I could master the cannon casting process thoroughly!"

Compared with shipbuilding technology, cannon casting technology is the technology that has always contained Zheng Zhilong, and they can't invest a lot of manpower and material resources to study cannon casting technology like Hongmen, and Zheng Zhilong, who secretly imitated it, spent too much energy and cost for this technology.

"Also, from now on, convert all the goods in your hands into food and materials, and quietly send them to our secret warehouse!"

"Understood!"

"I really hope that we can cast our own cannons and wait for the day to come sooner, and I don't have to be so patient anymore!"

Looking down at his calloused and thick and powerful hands, Zheng Zhilong, who was also entering the forty-year-old mark, gradually became a little more urgent in his heart.

Between the Malay Archipelago, just like the Dutch Governor Dandell said, the contradictions and struggles between the Westerners have gradually decreased, and the relationship between the several native indigenous kingdoms they have locked up has gradually become peaceful with each other because of the easing of the relationship between the masterminds behind the scenes, and there is no longer the previous rivalry.

Secretly, under the instructions of Zheng Zhilong and others, the Flying Dragon Gang quietly began to hoard supplies, and then quietly transported them to the secret island that the Flying Dragon Gang had already selected for storage.

In order to avoid suspicion, Zheng Zhilong took the fleet of the Flying Dragon Gang to the Indian Ocean further west to fight the autumn wind, plundered the Mughal dynasty in the northern part of the Indian Ocean, and looted the materials for his own use.

Anyway, since the sailors of the Mughal Dynasty were beaten to pieces by the Hongtang fleet, the Indians who once flaunted their might in the Indian Ocean can now only retreat on the Indian Peninsula, relying on their strong population base to resist the invasion from the Westerners, the Ming people, and the Nanyangs.

Everyone in the Malay Archipelago has begun to live in peace, so Zheng Zhilong went to the Indian Peninsula with a huge fleet to beg for a living in order to live, and Dandel, as the governor, had no way to stop him.

If they are away from the plunder, Zheng Zhilong and they are missing a channel to loot materials, and in the case of not being able to attract the attention of the Dutch people, Zheng Zhilong secretly imitates the pig iron resources needed for artillery, but it is difficult to have a procurement channel, which is also a major problem in Zheng Zhilong's heart for a long time.

This went out to plunder, and it took more than a month, when Zheng Zhilong led a group of soldiers back to Clawwa, most of the empty fleet was now piled up with a lot of materials and money.

Without waiting for Zheng Zhilong to say hello to Governor Dandel, Zheng Haomin, who was responsible for taking care of his own manor and collecting food and materials, sent someone to find him.

"Helper, there is a distinguished guest at home, the little master can't make up his mind, please go back!"

Feilong helped the people find Zheng Zhilong and recounted to him what Zheng Haomin had explained, but at the same time, he did not tell the other party the specific content, which made Zheng Zhilong a little surprised and curious.

After hurriedly reporting the experience of this trip to Dandel, Zheng Zhilong rushed back to the manor with goodbye to Dandel to see what was going on, so that Zheng Haomin couldn't make up his mind.

(End of chapter)