It was not until the end of the eighteenth century that Watt invented the steam engine of practical significance, and the steamship did not appear until the beginning of the nineteenth century and did not fully mature until the end of the nineteenth century.

However, Zhang Bin's crossing made the process of the steam engine come out much earlier, and the steamship has also become his killer weapon for dominating the sea, in this era, according to the average speed of the sailboat, traveling thousands of miles, all the way without stopping, it takes at least two months, if you count the time for intermediate supply and loading and unloading of goods, three or four months are considered fast.

And if the Zhenyuan cruiser and the Weiyuan battleship don't stop all the way, it will only take about ten days to travel thousands of miles, and even if they need to supply and load and unload goods in the middle, it will only take half a month at most!

At this time, there is no Eurasian Canal, that is to say, from Daming to the European continent must detour the Cape of Good Hope, the entire voyage has reached a terrifying more than 50,000 miles, if the sailing ship sails at the average speed, even if it does not stop all the way, it will take ten months without encountering any problems, even if it is familiar with the ocean currents, the journey is smooth, and it is the limit to go back and forth in a year, so the representatives of the big merchant gang here frowned.

Grandpa Guo has said that it is not recommended for them to do it if the round-trip voyage is more than a year, it is too risky, but how big is the area for a round trip this year, it is less than half the size of the area depicted by Grandpa Guo, and the remaining half of the business will not be done?

Of course, Zhang Bin didn't mean this, and then he introduced: "I believe everyone has seen the Zhenyuan cruiser, if it travels at full speed, it only takes about ten days to sail thousands of miles, and it only takes about five months to go back and forth to Europe, and because the Zhenyuan cruiser is not equipped with many guns, it can carry a huge amount of cargo." At present, the standard configuration of the Zhenyuan cruiser is 50 sailors and 500 soldiers plus about three months of fresh water and grain, if it is transformed into a cargo ship, the 500 soldiers and the fresh water and grain consumed by them for about three months are planed, and it can carry about 30 to 500,000 catties of cargo. ”

When everyone heard this, they all trembled excitedly, does Grandpa Guo mean to sell the Zhenyuan cruiser, this guy, even if it is a million taels, he has to buy it, just go to Europe to fight a few round-trips, and the money will be earned!

Moreover, they have also heard of the firepower on the Zhenyuan cruiser, five or six thousand pound Franc machines, for the Daming Marine, this bit of artillery is indeed nothing, but for the merchants, this artillery is powerful enough, such a big ship, such a fierce artillery, as long as a few ships set off together, what pirates dare to provoke!

The representative of the Longyou Merchant Gang couldn't help but stand up and arch his hand: "Grandpa Guo, do you mean that you are going to sell the Zhenyuan cruiser?" ”

Zhang Bin waved his hand and motioned for him to sit down, then shook his head and said: "My father's intention is not to sell the Zhenyuan cruiser, but to lease it, and the Zhenyuan cruiser, together with the sailors on it, can be leased to you for use." ”

Leasing, the cost is lower, many representatives of the merchant gang couldn't help but give up: "Grandpa Guo, how much is a year, we rent, we rent." ”

These people are directly a year, not even a month, they are really wealthy.

However, they are not only wealthy, they value more than the carrying capacity and firepower of the Zhenyuan cruiser, just kidding, renting a ship that can top more than ten Daifuku ships, and it is much safer than the Daifuku ship, and they don't have to worry about how to drive the ship, how to operate the artillery, this kind of good thing, where to find it!

The reason why Zhang Bin proposed to lease the Zhenyuan cruiser to these merchants was also inspired by the Dutch and British powers, and the East India Company they established was in fact a colonial institution with a national character, and their commercial activities were protected by their respective navies and armies.

In this era, it is simply impossible for an individual to organize a fleet to engage in ocean-going business, who can organize a fleet that can repel pirates, who can organize a fleet to confront the navies of the great powers, if the imperial court does not come forward to support, unless he is a pirate like Zheng Zhilong in history, he himself is a pirate, and he has also annihilated and annexed other pirates, so that a powerful fleet can be organized.

Moreover, even Zheng Zhilong, he has not been seen to do business all over the world in history, he is only dominating the Southeast China Sea and the South China Sea.

Therefore, it is unrealistic to expect these merchants to help them organize an ocean-going fleet to do big business, and it is difficult for them to organize such a large fleet without the support of the imperial court.

The reason why Zhang Bin proposed such a method is actually a little selfish in it, because the military expenses of the Fujian Navy Division and the Fuguang Army are borne by Dongshengtang, at this time, the Fujian Navy Division and the Fuguang Army have a total of only 160,000 horses, and the military expenditure has reached nearly 20 million 20 a year, and most of the profits of Dongshengtang have been put in, and after the Ming Dynasty entered the ranks of the colonial hegemony, the Fujian Navy Division and the Fuguang Army will definitely have to be expanded, where does this military expenditure come from?

Now the Zhenyuan cruiser of the Fujian Navy Division has reached more than 300 ships, and the Dongfan Shipyard is still in production, reaching 400 or even 500 ships in a few years, as long as the Zhenyuan cruiser is leased out of a part, the military expenses of the Fujian Navy Division and the Fuguang Army will be solved, and it can also help the major merchant gangs quickly organize an ocean-going fleet and seize the colonial market, so why not have the best of both worlds.

Seeing the excited expressions of the representatives of the merchant gang, Zhang Bin directly stretched out a finger and said lightly: "A Zhenyuan cruiser, with fifty well-trained sailors, 10,000 taels of silver a month, 100,000 taels of silver a year, do you think this price is fair?" Who wants to rent? ”

This price is too fair, even if they don't do ocean-going trade, with the huge cargo capacity and terrifying speed of the Zhenyuan cruiser, they can rent it and make a profit of more than 10,000 taels of silver for a round trip between Dongying or Nanyang.

With such a short voyage as Dongying and Nanyang, how many round-trips can you make in a month at the speed of the Zhenyuan cruiser?

Some people are still calculating, while others can't wait to stand up and arch their hands:

"Grandpa Guo, the villain wants to rent ten ships."

"Grandpa Guo, the villain rents fifty ships on behalf of the Huizhou merchants."

"Grandpa Guo, the villain rents a hundred ships on behalf of the Ningbo Merchant Gang!"

At this time, even Zheng Zhihu couldn't sit still, Nima, how many Zhenyuan cruisers are there in total in this Fujian Navy Division, and they have all been rented by you, and our Dongshengtang is still doing a fart ocean business.

He also stood up and waited to report the number, but Zhang Bin raised his hand to stop him, joking, at this price, Dongshengtang will at least open more than two hundred, how can there be so many Zhenyuan cruisers in the Fujian Navy.

Zhang Bin raised his hand and pressed it weakly, motioned for everyone to sit down, and then smiled: "Okay, okay, don't worry, everyone has also seen it, the number of cruisers in this town is limited, and it can't stand everyone's shouting." In this way, the number of this public is limited, this year and next year, each merchant gang, the upper limit is 20 ships, and the Dongshengtang is 100 ships. Don't think that my father is really favoritism, in fact, the military expenses of the Fujian Navy Division and the Fuguang Army have always been borne by Dongshengtang, for which they pay more than 10 million taels every year, and the share of this hundred ships should be given to Dongshengtang, right? ”

"Shhh As soon as Zhang Bin's words fell, the sound of gasping suddenly sounded in the conference room, more than 10 million taels a year, this guy, if you don't count the ocean business that is about to start, a merchant gang and all the businesses may not be able to earn 10 million taels a year!

They looked at Zheng Zhihu and couldn't help but become reverent, giving the imperial court more than 10 million taels of military expenses a year, and it was really useless to give them a lease share of 100 Zhenyuan cruisers.