Due to insufficient prior consideration, Liu Kongzhao had no choice but to suspend the talks with the British and Dutch envoys, and instead sent the Portuguese and Spaniards away. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Portugal and Spain, to put it bluntly, are here to accompany them, but since people are running errands, they can't go back empty-handed.

What's more, Li Hongfei's purpose is to muddy the waters, dozens of steam warships may not be able to have any impact on the European region, but there is still a great threat to dealing with the European colonies in Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East.

At worst, forming a group of pirates to plunder merchant ships to and from Europe and reap the benefits of fishermen will also make these two countries make a lot of money.

Originally, the initial discussion was to set aside a share of thirty steam warships to divide Portugal and Spain equally, but Liu Kongzhao was more inclined to the Portuguese, after all, the Portuguese still made a lot of contributions in the more than ten years of war in the Ming Dynasty.

The Hongyi cannon and the Furlong rear-loading artillery were all brought by the Portuguese, and it can be said that there has been an arms trade between the two countries.

Coupled with the Portuguese, they helped the Ming Dynasty turn the originally uninhabited Macao into a relatively prosperous trading port in the coastal area, and the Ming Dynasty should make a statement.

So in the end, the Portuguese received a share of twenty steam warships, while the Spaniards only had ten.

However, the envoys of these two countries, just like Wu Hao said at the beginning, except for complaining that the share was too small, did not feel that the 200,000 steam warships were too expensive.

sold thirty second-hand goods that were about to be eliminated in one go, and earned a full six million taels of silver, but Liu Kongzhao couldn't be happy, the real big head, and the requirements put forward by Lord Zuo Xiang, he didn't do anything.

"In that case, I was negligent." After listening to Liu Kongzhao's explanation, Li Hongfei said calmly: "It's because I didn't think it through, both of these things are major national affairs, and the envoys really can't make decisions." ”

"That......... Why don't you let them go back first, and when their respective kings are clear, they are making a decision? Liu Kongzhao asked.

Without waiting for Li Hongfei to speak, Li Dingguo on the side preemptively spoke: "No, Xiyi is a small country, thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty, this time and again, the time is too long, who knows how long the Anglo-Dutch war will last?" By the time the dust settles, it's too late! ”

A group of people in the Ministry of National Defense are particularly sensitive to time and distance because they have been dealing with war all year round, and the first thing that came to Li Dingguo's mind was that the longer the negotiations dragged on, the greater the variables.

"General Li is right, once and again, it will take a year to say less, this thing is not easy to do!" Li Hongfei sighed.

Li Hongfei's purpose was Malacca and wool, and these two things had to be "looted while the fire was hot" in the case of the Anglo-Dutch war, so he also felt that he could not delay.

In history, the first Anglo-Dutch war was only fought for about two years, and now it has been a year since the two sides went to war, even if the two countries' envoys returned to Europe, the war had not ended, but presumably the situation had become clear, and the leaders of the two countries could directly deny the requirements put forward by the Ming Dynasty.

"What if you depart from Daming and go to Europe to sign an agreement? Wouldn't this save half a year! Liu Kongzhao suddenly thought.

"You mean, sending envoys who can make decisions to the countries of Europe?" Li Hongfei asked.

"That's right, instead of waiting, it's better to take the initiative." Liu Kongzhao replied.

The British and Dutch envoys could not call the shots, because the Ming Dynasty suddenly put forward these conditions, and the requirements were high, and even for the Dutch, it was a lion's mouth, and there was no domestic reply, so they naturally did not dare to make decisions easily.

But the envoys of the Ming Dynasty were different, before they went to Europe, they already had the expected bottom line in their hearts, and they could talk about achievements and talk about it, so Liu Kongzhao's proposal was still very good.

"This is a feasible proposal, and we may even send a fleet into Europe, for the British hope that we will not intervene in helping the Dutch, who will surely not be able to sit still if they learn that a fleet has arrived in Europe. As for the Dutch, the same idea is the same, they don't want to see us help the British, and even if they are unwilling, they can only pinch their noses and admit it! Li Hongfei said.

Now the strength of Britain and the Netherlands is in a delicate balance, once this balance is broken, the other side will definitely fall into a desperate situation, and the fleet sent by the Ming Dynasty is the ultimate bargaining chip to break this balance.

Therefore, neither the British nor the Dutch wanted the Great Ming Sailor to join their hostile camp.

"Another point is that our new-generation steam warships have reached a speed of fifteen knots, and according to previous naval experience, they can reach Europe in three months at most." Li Dingguo added.

The new generation of steam warships, although they are also wooden warships, has almost no difference in power system from ironclads, and due to its lighter displacement, its speed even exceeds that of ironclads.

The steamship on which Joseph Horaff and others were travelled earlier was an improved version of the original steamer, and it was also a civilian merchant ship, with a speed of only about six knots.

Even such a merchant ship could reach the mouth of Dagu in Tianjin in the north from Hong Kong in the far south in just 25 days.

And what speed does a fifteen-knot battleship belong to?

It was almost as fast as the ironclad ships of the late Qing Dynasty, and under the leadership of experienced navigators (both the British and the Dutch could be fleet navigators), it was possible to reach Europe within three months.

"Let Zheng Chenggong lead the Nanyang Fleet to Europe, and by the way, bring the ironclad ships with you, after all, a large-scale naval battle is breaking out in Europe, although the steam warship has a speed advantage, but its number is still not enough, in case of an attack, it is difficult to guarantee that it will not suffer." Li Hongfei arranged.

A total of 50 new steam warships have been built now, and Shi Lang's Beiyang Naval Division also needs new warships to fill the façade, so the Nanyang Naval Division only has 30 new steam warships, and in the face of Europe, there are hundreds of warships at every turn.

Moreover, steam warships need to burn coal, and if there are no coal-burning supply points overseas, steam warships can only rely on sail power.

Therefore, it is necessary to have an ironclad ship that can withstand the shore defense guns, and in the absence of coal supplies, seize nearby ports by force and collect coal resources.

Li Hongfei and Li Dingguo, you and I are supplementing this trip to Europe, but the more Foreign Minister Liu Kongzhao listens to it, the more frightened he becomes: Where is this envoy, it is simply an expedition!

In fact, Liu Kongzhao's guess is really correct, Li Hongfei and Li Dingguo are making advance preparations for the ocean expedition, and this mission to Europe is to let the officers and soldiers of the Daming Navy Division be familiar with the western route and various climatic conditions at sea.

Previously, because there were no nautical charts (Zheng He's nautical charts were destroyed, and Zheng He was sailing along the continental shelf, there were too many detours, which was not suitable for today's navy), so although the Ming army had a strong naval division, it only dared to go around the South Sea.

Even over the years, Li Hongfei has been sending merchant ships to European countries, but because merchant ships have no ability to withstand storms, they can only sail along the continental shelf, which is not what the navy needs.

Now that the British and the Dutch are leading the way, the Nanyang Navy Division took this opportunity to draw the latest nautical chart, that is, the ocean road map taken by the Dutch Navy and the British Navy, that is: from the Strait of Malacca, not through the Bay of Bengal, but directly across the Indian Ocean, first through Sri Lanka, and then from Sri Lanka to the southwest, take the shortest distance, enter the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, cross the Cape of Good Hope, all the way north, you can reach Europe.

This sea route was the best sea route between Asia and Europe before the opening of the Suez Canal.

At present, only the Portuguese, Dutch and British have mastered this route, and even the Spaniards can only follow the continental shelf route to the Far East.

The mapper of this route was the famous Portuguese navigator - Magellan.

Later, after the decline of Portugal, Dutch merchants stole the charts of the voyage to the East from the Portuguese, making the Dutch famous "sea coachmen".

The British had to pay the Portuguese very high fees in order to obtain this nautical chart.

However, Li Hongfei took this opportunity to start the idea of this nautical chart.

Only when the navigation chart was obtained, could the Ming sailors truly enter the Age of Exploration and officially participate in overseas colonial plunder...........

In mid-August 1650, under the leadership of Zheng Chenggong, the fleet of the Nanyang Naval Division of the Ming Dynasty sent a general Xuanwei ironclad ship and 20 new steam warships (in order to ensure speed, no additional auxiliary ships were dispatched) to escort Zuo Hongyu, an official of the Ming Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Liu Kongzhao is the foreign minister, and he is quite old, so he is not suitable for traveling), and officially sent to European countries.

In early September, the fleet arrived at the port of Banda Aceh, the westernmost point of the Strait of Malacca, to replenish coal and fresh water, and at the same time meet with Zheng Zhilong, who was on an escort mission here.

Zheng Zhilong's fleet, after the Battle of the Bay of Bengal, completed the lease task, lost two steam warships, plus 68 crew members killed in the battle, and also helped the Dutch win the Battle of Bengal.

The reason why Zheng Zhilong and others did not leave was to deter the British fleet hiding in Colombo, and second, they wanted to build up a force belonging to the Ming Dynasty here, so as to seize the Strait of Malacca in the future and establish an outpost.

It's easy to please God, Zheng Zhilong has brought his pirate temperament to the extreme, and the Dutch can't do anything about him now, for fear of completely offending this great god, and when the time comes, he will unite with the British to deal with himself, so he can only turn a blind eye.

Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Chenggong, the father and son, don't know what they talked about, but on the Nanyang Navy warship that set off later, there were more "civilians" with gangstery faces.

Only the Dutch knew in their hearts that these "civilians" who looked like they were the artillery operators in Zheng Zhilong's fleet.

Although the weapons and equipment of the Nanyang Naval Division are more luxurious, the actual combat experience is far inferior to these "pirates" who have been fighting at sea all the year round, and with the existence of these artillery operators, the combat effectiveness of the Nanyang Naval Division will be raised by several grades again.

"What are they trying to do? Is it to invade Europe? Joseph Horaf asked.

Although the British and the Dutch still had their own ghosts in their hearts, when the Ming Dynasty sent an ocean-going fleet, the British and Dutch envoys who led the way on the ship rarely remained the same.

"It shouldn't be, with the Ming Dynasty's warships, they can indeed maintain a certain advantage at sea, but it is almost impossible to land operations, because they don't have enough army. Moreover, the people of the Ming Dynasty took it for granted that the core of the battleship was not the gunner at all, but the captain, and increasing the gunners with combat experience could not play a decisive role in naval warfare. The Dutchman analyzed.

Twenty-one steam warships, in the opinion of Joseph Horaff, were indeed very powerful, because he had led a hundred new British warships, but was defeated by twenty steam warships.

But in the eyes of the Dutch, this is actually nothing, the Dutch, who have been fighting with the Daming Naval Division for a long time, found that although the Daming Naval Division is very strong, their naval combat experience is very immature, just relying on the advantage of equipment.

Even Zheng Zhilong, a perennial "pirate leader" who has been in the South Seas all year round, is not looked down upon by the Dutch, and this Nanyang naval division, which was only formed in the last year, is naturally not favored by the Dutch.

If the captains of each ship were replaced by Zheng Zhilong's men, the Dutch might still be jealous, but if only the gunners were replaced, that would be another story..........

It's just that even the Dutch don't know that the captains of these 21 warships had very rich experience in naval warfare before the formation of the Nanyang Naval Division, and even some of the captains not only participated in the Taiwan Naval Battle, but also served in Zheng Zhilong's Huaxia Ocean Trading Company and participated in many naval bandit suppression operations.

The most terrifying thing is that the commander of this fleet is Zheng Jing, the general who commanded the Fujian Navy Division to invade Taiwan two years ago and forced the Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese people to sign a surrender agreement.

It can only be said that the names of Chinese people are too complicated, and a person can have several names, so that foreigners are stupid and can't tell the difference.

"I'm not worried about anything else, it's just that the flagship of the pilot is so large that I feel vaguely uneasy." Joseph Horaff said.

Due to the need for secrecy, Zheng Chenggong did not invite the envoys of the two countries to take the Xuanwei General.

But even at a distance, Joseph Horaf, with the instincts of a navy, smelled a hint of danger.

"The big guy? Ha ha.......... The Chinese people were too bold to create such a huge monster in order to increase the number of artillery. It's true that it's fast, but don't you know that the bigger it is, the easier it is to be targeted? The Dutchman said with a smile.

In his opinion, instead of spending energy on building such a huge warship, it is better to build a few more medium-sized warships, so that it can easily cope with the enemy's hundreds or thousands of warships.

Well, the idea of winning by numbers is still the mainstream thinking of the navies of various countries, and the era of tonnage winning has not yet come...........