When you come to the Ministry of National Defense in an orderly manner, some formalities must be handled in the military and political departments.

Seeing Minister Cochlin, he exchanged a few words of greeting, and took out a gold pendant in an orderly manner, "I heard that you have added another son, I was fighting abroad last year, and I didn't go to congratulate you, and now I will make up for it." ”

Cochlin smiled and accepted it, the ghost guy is good at this, and he doesn't pretentiously collect money. Cochlin is nearly 50 years old, and it would be a great joy to have a son at this age.

Shou Xuan took out 4 papers and handed them to Cochlin.

"What is this?"

Shou Xiang smiled at the corner of his mouth, "Proof of the decommissioning of 4 ships." ”

Cochlin put on his reading glasses and looked closely. Perhaps it was the long life at sea that had damaged his eyesight, and now he needed reading glasses. Compared with myopia glasses, reading glasses are cheaper, and the market price is about 10 taels a pair. Cochlin's glasses are beautifully made, and they should be more than that.

There was no problem with the two ships Excellence and Adventure coming from the Americas with the fleet. With the launch of new frigates and notification ships, the navy has long looked down on these two old ships, which have been changed from large sloops to brigs with a displacement of 130 tons. Although the ships were in decent condition because of their relatively diligent maintenance, the Navy most of the time still let them stop on the dock in a daze.

Shou ordered to buy the two ships in the name of Sanya Iron and Steel Company, and Sterling did not intend to make any money, and the price they negotiated was almost half sold and half given away.

Cochlin glanced up at Order, and without saying a word, he signed the documents for the retirement of the Excellence and Adventure.

The ones in question are the West Reef and the Louvre. The construction of the 200-ton schooner represented by these two ships has been discontinued, and now the new frigates are all 250-ton displacement, mixed cross-sail and schoon-sail brigs.

But these were two very young new ships, and Cochlin hesitated.

He asked suspiciously, "Where are these two ships now?" ”

Shou Order: "In Taiwan, two warships suffered some damage in last year's battle, and I brought back all the officers and men of the battleship. The Taiwanese brothers set up a reclamation company, and they wanted to buy the two ships. ”

"That's not good, is it?"

Shou Xuan smiled, "Maiden, they are willing to pay, they are all their own brothers, what's wrong." Since these two ships are slow in the navy, I think it is better to sell them to them. ”

"The Navy agreed?"

"Sterling is trying to use the money to build 2 new frigates."

Cochlin looked at it, 4,000 taels, almost 1,200 pounds, and the price was fine.

Seeing that Cochlin was still in ink, Shou Xuan said very casually, "Taipei has newly reclaimed a lot of land, and I have purchased a manor in the name of your son, with arable land and mountains and forests, and the scenery is good." You pick a few trustworthy people, come with me this time, and run the manor well. ”

Like the other goblins, Cochlin was a cultist. He did not intend to renounce his faith, so only the children born to the first Siamese wife had the right to inherit. According to the order, Cochlin's son was born to a woman from Melaka Mestiso, and neither mother nor child had any name, and this was an illegitimate child with no inheritance rights. Orderliness is helping him solve a problem that may bring hidden dangers to the family.

Cochlin smiled and immediately swiped his name on the paper.

Orderly: "Don't forget to date back to last year." ”

By the time the order came out of the Ministry of National Defense compound, the Adventure and the Excellence had become the property of the Sanya Company. The two ships were not large and were each armed with eight 4-pounder iron guns. Orderly drew 130 men from the guards. There were unemployed sailors in the capital's port, and Izumi wandered around the dock tavern for a few days, recruiting 40 people.

Lin Tongwen and Li Junchang are working hard for 30,000 tons of rice procurement quota this year, and it will take time for rice procurement and fleet formation.

Rice was once the core trade variety in Malacca. Compared with China, which is short of food, Nanyang is a paradise in this regard, and the agricultural cultivation techniques of the Nanyang natives are very poor, so they can find a plot of land at random and make a few strokes of rice, and there is endless rice. Almost all of the big countries here are rice exporters.

Rice is the main source of calories for the people of Nanyang, and with the addition of fish, the nutrition of all ethnic groups in Nanyang is generally better. Although there are few vegetables, the fruits that cannot be eaten make up for the relative lack of vegetables, such as lime and pomelo, which constitute an important source of vitamins.

Adequate nutrition allowed the 17th-century Nanyang natives to not lag behind Europe in height. The average height of an adult male here is about 160, which is the height of a medium-sized European in the 17th century, and slightly shorter than the Chinese.

The natives of the South Seas may have the longest average age in the world, and mild disabilities such as lame people and rickets are rarely seen here, and these conditions abound among Europeans.

Probably because of the influence of Hinduism in history, the people here did not eat much beef. In areas with dense weeds, herds of buffalo are everywhere. On the island of Java, 1 tael of silver can buy 60 chickens, and 1 strong buffalo is only 3 taels of silver.

For the Chinese who have suffered from famine in the past few years and have just immigrated to Nanyang, they can eat 2 meals of rice a day, yes, this is paradise.

The Chinese are the cleanest ethnic group in Nanyang, they never drink raw water, and boil the water to make tea and drink, which is the greatest resistance to epidemic diseases.

Malacca has changed hands and it is no longer a central port for the South Seas rice trade, but the changes in the port have not affected the rice production capacity of various countries.

The island of Java still exports 20,000 tons of rice a year, 15,000 tons from Mataran in Central Java, and 5,000 tons from several small countries in East Java. Siam exports 12,000 tons a year, Chenla 7,000 tons, and Myanmar also has nearly 10,000 tons. Together with other small countries, about 80,000 tons of rice are shipped at sea every year in the South Seas. The Dutch would buy 6,000 tons of it, and the Portuguese were originally big buyers of grain, but now the Dutch have eliminated this demand.

Rice carriers in the South Seas are behemoths, usually with a deadweight of 300-500 tons. Mataram generally uses 30-50 ships, and Siam can transport tens of thousands of tons of rice to the importing country with 30 ships.

For example, Siam grows double cropping rice, which is divided into rainy season rice and dry season rice. Rainy season rice accounts for 90% of the production capacity, which is generally sown in the summer, harvested in November, and later on the New Year's Eve. After the rice is harvested, it is collected through the inland river to the city of Ayutthaya and loaded onto sea ships and transported to various places. They send rice to Batavia or Aceh during the north season, and to China and other places during the south season.

The federation is procuring grain from Java and other countries not only in Siam and Chenla, but also through various channels.

Li Jun is often responsible for raising transport ships, the junk ships in the South Seas are generally larger than the ships on the mainland, the federal transport ships are generally 10 zhang long, the displacement of more than 450 tons of Fu ships and Guangzhou ships, there are several Siam Guangzhou ships are 13 zhang long, the displacement is close to 800 tons.

Considering that this time it will be approaching the war zone, the orderly requires that the shipowner must be reliable. Except for some of his own ships, Li Junchang hired other ships from Chenla and Siam, two relatively reliable countries. After the transfer of most large ships, the country's transportation tasks to Guangdong this year will be handed over to small and medium-sized transport ships, and other ships will have to be hired to and from the South Seas.

The main task of the home fleet this year is to escort this unprecedentedly large fleet.

Under normal circumstances, it is customary for the Home Fleet to maintain half of its warships at sea and half to maintain and recuperate in harbor.

In accordance with Order's earlier recommendations, officers of the Home Fleet constantly rotated between warships and academies, and few were permanently anchored to a single battleship. Captains study and exchange advanced courses in mathematics, astronomy and navigation, and climate in academies, and after a period of coursework, they transfer to a warship where they have not served before.

Without new cruisers, rotation is the only way to get people moving. If people are fixed in one position for a long time, they will lose their freshness, and then they will be tired and slack off at work.

In recent years, the home fleet has basically been on duty in the Gulf of Siam, training officers and men, and occasionally carrying out some anti-smuggling and low-intensity operations against pirates. The proportion of veterans of the home fleet is not as good as that of the Taiwan detachment, and the actual combat experience and the ability to carry out combat missions in complex sea conditions are somewhat lacking.

This year's mission will be the first offshore operation of the home fleet, and the officers who have been at home for several years are a little eager to try it. Grenville. Collingwood, Philip. Edward, Thomas. All three of Merlot's old captains asked Sterling to sail.

Even Lynn. Sterling himself was eager to go, and his application was rejected by the Cabinet without hesitation. Personnel, bases, arsenals, naval shipbuilding, officer and soldier training, etc., the home fleet is a mess, and now he can't leave.

The remaining three were approved by Order, after consulting with Sterling.

The home fleet was to be organized into two detachments, with Collingwood leading a direct escort formation, consisting of 1 frigate and 3 notification ships. The rest of the warships will form combat formations.

With ten days to prepare, Shou Orderly set sail in June and quietly left Starlight City. Before leaving, he made an appointment with Collingwood to rendezvous the fleet in Sanya.

The two old fellows of the Adventure and the Excellence spread their blankers, and their movements on the sea were still so brisk. It's just that to maintain this speed all the time, the ship's pump needs to be turned on frequently. This is a common problem of old ships, and water seepage in the bilge is inevitable.

There are no typhoons, and sailing in the southerly season is always pleasant. The sea is calm, and the fresh wind blows the sails, which is very comfortable. Shou ordered did not stop at Houjiangfu and Sanya, and the voyage of more than 1,200 nautical miles arrived in more than a week.

Hainan Island was already very developed in the Ming Dynasty, and the cultivated land of 1.894 million mu in the 24th year of Hongwu had grown to 3.83 million mu in the 43rd year of Wanli, and the cultivated land had more than doubled, but the number of people did not increase. Obviously, because of the problem of human taxation and forced labor, there are too many hidden households on this island at the end of the world, where Han and Li are scattered. The acres of land will not deceive people, the cultivated land area in Hongwu 24 years corresponds to a population of 300,000, and the population of Hainan Island today should be more than 600,000.

Even with a population of 300,000, Qiongzhou is the third largest province in Guangdong, second only to Guangzhou and Chaozhou, and surpassing Zhaoqing, where the governors of Guangzhou, are stationed.

In the year of Hongwu, the land tax of Qiongzhou Mansion was 96,000 stones, and the commercial tax of Jiajing was more than 60,000 ingots of copper coins, in addition to various miscellaneous items and apportionments. If the raids are carried out according to the degree of the three salaries, the excavation of the mines is intensified, and the salt tax and liquor tax are increased, it is not a big problem for the Qiongzhou government to collect 400,000 to 500,000 yuan of grain. Again, this does not take into account the income from the sugar trade.

Lei Lianqiong is a sugar-producing area, and the three prefectures together can produce 40-500,000 quintals of cane sugar a year, even if it is calculated at the current market price of 3.5 riyals per quintal, this is also a business of 150,000 taels of silver.

Lianzhou also has pearls, Leizhou has whale oil, and Qiongzhou has coconut, betel nut and cotton, all of which are just needed materials.

Western Guangdong is very rich, but the relationship is intertwined, and officials from all walks of life, mountain bandits, pirates, and people and people must share in the profits. There is not much that the government can collect. Keeping the order and setting off in advance, he had to discuss with Zeng Ying how to maximize the role of this money and food.