In the first year of Taichang, Jiang Kui and Wen Zhongfa and others set off from Tianjin Port by boat, and then at the end of the year, they arrived at the mouth of the Yangtze River along the current, docked in the area of Chongming Island, and then waited for more than two months, and the owner loaded most of the ship's goods, together with Yusheng's goods, together with a total of 200,000 taels of goods, at that time it was also the top ship and the highest value of a sea trade, the general ship will not be so big, a cargo may be 100,000 taels to the top.

From the mouth of the Yangtze River, it went to sea and followed the coastline to the coast of Fujian, stopping many times along the way to replenish fresh water, and then sailing directly to Japan when the ocean current and windward were suitable, and finally arrived in Japan in late April of the first year of the Apocalypse.

"This is Hirado in front of you."

The captain Zheng Shaolai who spoke was a man in his forties, a Fujianese who ran the sea all the year round.

Floating on the water for several months did not make Zheng Shaolai and the sailors any different, they were used to this kind of life, but for Jiang Kui and the others, eating stale food, few vegetables, insufficient fresh water, and seasickness caused by the waves at sea were almost all fatal.

"Brother, how many of you are left?"

Jiang Kui wanted to take people on the boat, but Zheng Shaolai did not agree at first. Even the owner of the cargo rarely sends people to the ship, the space on the ship is not sufficient, and one more person means more goods, which means less cargo and less profit margins. In addition to the necessary sailors, a large ship can carry as much cargo as it can.

"One person died of illness, and one person drowned by accidentally falling into a boat." Jiang Kui said: "I took eleven people on the boat, and now there are ten people including me." ”

"That's good." Zheng Shaolai said with a smile: "You are a group of northerners, I will kill at least half of you." ”

Jiang Kui frowned and said: "Lao Zheng, you crow's mouth, if you say this at the beginning, I will guarantee that you will have two big mouths." ”

Zheng Shaolai laughed.

He was telling the truth, but he really didn't dare to say it at first, Jiang Kui and the others were all tall and strong men except for two or three people, not only that, but everyone had a fierce aura on them, and they knew at a glance that they were not good people...... Zheng Shaolai feels very right, in addition to Jiang Kui, Wen Zhongfa and others are either from the Military Intelligence Bureau or from the Field Service Bureau, Jiang Kui is also from Lahu, and he has a lot of ferociousness, but he has been by Zhang Han's side for a long time, and he is much more restrained than before, even so, if Zheng Shaolai dared to say it now, Jiang Kui would at least knock out his teeth.

Jiang Kui glanced at Zheng Shaolai sideways, and knew in his heart that what this guy said was actually reasonable.

From the sea in the north to the mouth of the Yangtze River, and then to the coast of Fujian, and then directly to Japan, from time to time on the sea is a few zhang high waves, the whole ship in the waves in the east and west, Jiang Kui and others saw such a scene, their legs were weak...... They are all men who fight, they don't frown when they kill people and set fires, and they dare to do it desperately even if they worry about their lives, but when they are in front of the power of heaven and earth, people's courage is too small.

When the boat shook badly, Zheng Shaolai and the others only felt a little unwell, and they still ate, drank and slept as usual, but Jiang Kui and the others vomited out all the bitter gall, and they couldn't stop eating and drinking, if their physical fitness was seriously reduced, they might get sick, and they would die faster. And vomiting soon after eating and drinking, and then eating and drinking again, that kind of taste is really much more terrible than going to the battlefield and fighting with people.

Fortunately, only one person died of illness, and one person accidentally fell into the water, Zheng Shaolai comforted Jiang Kui and others at that time, whether it was death or falling into the water, it was normal at sea...... Even Fujian people are the same, and those who have been soaked in the sea since childhood will inevitably die at sea.

After adapting, it is to watch the sea and sky every day, sometimes the wind and waves are calm, Jiang Kui and Wen Zhongfa and others are fishing at sea with the sailors, sometimes they harvest a lot, everyone grills fish and eats together, feasting, sometimes nothing can be caught, but they also feel relaxed and happy.

Jiang Kui, Wen Zhongfa and others grew up in Shanxi since childhood, and the most they saw were mountains, rivers, and rivers, not to mention the Yangtze River.

Zheng Shaolai pointed to the port in front of him and said: "This is Kyushu in Japan, there are Higo Nagasaki domains, Li Dan and Li Ye live in Kyushu Hirado, this port in front of him is Li Ye's private port, and Li Ye's fleet is roughly maintained and stationed here." ”

Jiang Kui had already watched the initiation...... Fortunately, he had seen some of the world in Nanjing before, but the situation at the mouth of the Yangtze River was a world away from what he was looking at.

"Furry?"

A member of the Military Intelligence Agency couldn't help but exclaim, and in front of him was a Tessie ship with a completely different style from a Chinese schoon, slowly sailing out of the harbor.

This is a typical Galen ship, with a U-shaped hull design, three longitudinal masts, and soft sails hanging on it, which is completely different from the style of the Chinese V-shaped boat, which also uses hard sails.

"Seems bigger than our ship?" Wen Zhongfa couldn't help but exclaim.

"This ship is five hundred tonnage in the words of the Red Hair, and it is a rare large ship in their country." Zheng Shaolai was also amazed, with a look of envy in his eyes.

"What tonnage is our ship?"

"Our ship is one hundred and twenty tons," Zheng Shaolai said with a little pride: "It is also a big ship in our Ming ship...... Our ships are generally tens of tonnage, and there are very few of 100 tonnage, not to mention that we are a 120-tonnage ship. ”

said that it was a "big ship", and when the Hongmaoyi Galen ship passed by, Zheng Shaolai's eyes still had fire spewing out. Even if the ship he piloted did not belong to him, in any case, when a captain saw a bigger and better sailboat, the envy and desire to possess it were as strong.

"I heard," Zheng Shaolai said in a regretful tone: "There are already nearly 2,000-tonnage ships on Taixi's side, but that kind of ships are pure gunboats, not for trading, so if we don't sail away, if we want to see them, I'm afraid we won't have a chance in this life." ”

"Nearly two thousand tonnage!" Jiang Kui felt that his superficial arithmetic was not enough all of a sudden, how big should this big ship be, and what a magnificent appearance it would look if it was sailing in front of him.

"Our ship, according to the calculation of the Taixi people, is eighteen meters long, six meters wide, three meters in draft, and has a load of 120 tons, and their big ship I have inquired about, with a total length of 76 meters, a width of 15 meters, a draft of 7.6 meters, a load of 1,600 tons, and a capacity of 100 Hongyi cannons, and the crew is estimated to use nearly 1,000 people. This ship is more than four times the size of ours, and I heard that it is still being built, but I don't know when it will be built. By the way, they use the best hard oak for shipbuilding, and the wood has to be stored for many years before it can be used, because every year when we build ships, there are many large woods stored, unlike us, we can't find good wood if we want to build big ships. ”

Jiang Kui nodded again and again, and praised: "Good guy, good guy, I really don't know how big the world is if I don't come out, we are really frogs at the bottom of the well." ”

This has the intention of getting closer to Zheng Shaolai, but it is really out of Jiang Kui's sincerity.

Not out of the Ming Dynasty, they have always been circling around Datong Mansion, and they still have those mountains and rivers in Datong Mansion in their eyes, and everything is closed.

Even if you go to Zhangjiakou, Jingshi, Tianjin, and Nanjing, it is nothing more than the same scene, the same style, the same court, the same garrison, the same merchants, the same people and the people, and the same customs and pictures.

Only when you come out, you can see many wonders in your eyes, and your mind is invisibly open a lot, and you know that the world is big, and it is not only the Ming family that is alone, but also many countries, many strong civilizations, and even in a certain aspect, more than the civilization of the Ming Dynasty, is also very big.

The people of the Ming Dynasty are not so narrow-minded, they use things if they are good, they admit it when they are strong, there is nothing to be embarrassed about, and the scholars in the capital also admit that the Taixi people are excellent in calendar and arithmetic, and no one is in a group to suppress these foreigners, Xu Guangqi is the first to learn the language of Taixi, and translate Taixi's geometric theory for others to learn, under this mentality, even if Jiang Kui has such a huge and super-firepower ship sailing in front of him, he is at most a little amazed in his heart, but he does not have an inferiority complex.

About Jiang Kui and the others always had a thought in their hearts, this is because my Ming did not focus on this kind of thing, it was the ancestors in the forbidden sea that made us not build big ships, otherwise these Hongmaoyi can be built, of course we can build them, and even we will build bigger, better, and more artillery.

It is this kind of self-confidence that enables people in the Ming Dynasty to learn from the strengths of others, admit the strengths of others and learn, and do not see something stronger than themselves to shrink their necks, close their eyes, and summarize the strengths of others to "strange skills", which is a waste of things!

"Is this a merchant ship or a warship?" As the ship approached, one could clearly see the black holes on both sides of the hull...... Jiang Kui and the others smelled the salty sea breeze, which was the smell of the hull of the boat splashing through the water, they also heard the crackling sound when the wind blew the side jib, heard the sailors shouting in Yi, and there were sailors climbing up and down on the high mast, they adjusted the direction of the sail, felt the wind speed and direction, kept tying ropes or untying them, and adjusted the sail to the angle suitable for the sea breeze as much as possible.

Jiang Kui was more concerned with artillery...... Although nominally not, in reality the people of Xinpingbao have come to regard themselves as pure soldiers, and they are more concerned about the strength of the ship than the ship itself.

"It's a battleship." Zheng Shaolai said: "This is the Dutch Hongyi ship, which is their East India warship, named Kruninsing's House, and is one of their main warships. ”

"I'll tell you." Jiang Kui said: "Lao Zheng, you said before that the Dutch Hongmaoyi is stationed in Batavia, with 50,000 employees and 10,000 soldiers, 150 merchant ships, and more than a dozen warships. ”