On the first day of the seventh month, the sailing ships of Qingdao Port gathered, and only five armed merchant ships, plus thirteen merchant ships ranging from 200 to 500 tons, formed a huge trading fleet.

This trading fleet, with a carrying capacity of 4,000 tons, was stolen from the Dutch for the five armed merchant ships, and the other thirteen merchant ships were bought from the south one after another.

The laborers at the wharf were in full swing to carry the goods into the cargo hold, and this time they loaded the goods onto the ship with 100,000 loads of cotton cloth.

Overseas cotton cloth is at least 15 taels of silver per load, and it used to be sold for 20 taels in the past, but due to the export of nearly 700,000 taels of cotton cloth to Yue in recent months, the price of cotton cloth has plummeted, and a load can only be sold for 13 taels.

In addition to loading a large amount of cotton cloth into the holds, there were many porcelain, tea, and iron ware, as well as some glass mirrors, worth more than four million taels.

This batch of goods is still transported to the capital, and the gross profit can reach at least five million taels for one round trip. Zhao Yan looked at the cotton cloth that was constantly loading the ship on the dock, and a cold smile appeared on his face.

No matter how the price of cotton cloth plunges in the book, we must insist on the output of cotton cloth, and first break the natural economy of the book.

The goods that are currently imported are mainly luxury goods, which are used for those lords and samurai to enjoy.

And Zhao Yan exported luxury goods to Yueben, and there were also goods that he could have produced. As long as the natural economy of the book is washed away, the book will fall into a turbulent situation.

Although he signed the "Far East Cooperation Agreement" with the Spaniards, Zhao Yan was not so anxious about the trade with Spain, and it was still the time of the southwest monsoon, and the fleet was not suitable for going south.

Although the sailboat is able to sail in headwinds, it is relatively slow. It is already the beginning of August in the solar calendar, and the northeast monsoon will blow in a few months.

If you go to Manila now, and there is no merchant house in Manila, the preparation of goods will inevitably be very slow, and it will become a headwind when you return.

Therefore, the trade with the Spaniards must wait until the beginning of winter before going south, and then return to Qingdao in June and July next year, during which they can trade in the southeast peninsula and other places.

The trade of Qingdao is not affected by the monsoon, first of all, the road is closer, and then it is not a south and a north, but the northwest and southeast distribution, generally do not need to consider the monsoon factor, even if it is a headwind, with a sidesail for more than ten days to return, the clipper ship can arrive or return in only five days under the headwind situation.

Zhao Yan's trade not only has the advantage of being close, but also has the advantage of a steady stream of goods, the textile factories in Denglai Erfu and Qingzhou Prefecture have a continuous source of energy to produce yarn and cotton cloth, Handan Energy has continuously produced all kinds of ironware, plus porcelain, tea, raw silk, sugar, and white lead that are constantly trafficked by foreign merchants, and there will always be no shortage of products.

Priority is generally given to transporting goods trafficked from other places, but these commodities are not too large in quantity and are often in short supply, so cotton cloth and iron products are transported.

Sometimes even cotton cloth and iron products could not be transported to Qingdao, and the fleet would even transport sweet potato vermicelli, and then transport silver and brass back from Yueben to intensify the plundering of precious metals.

Zhao Yan came to Qingzhou Port this time to see off the American Fleet.

The American Fleet originally consisted of Qingdao, Mengtian, Yue Fei, and two 500-ton clippers numbered F001 and F002.

However, two months ago, six Dutch warships were captured, as well as one warship that was seriously damaged but could be repaired, as long as these warships were repaired, the number of Zhao Yan's warships would increase to ten, almost a quarter of the Batavia Company, and unless the Batavia Company mobilized warships from the Netherlands, it would no longer be able to compete with Zhao Yan in Asia. Therefore, Zhao Yan added two Dutch warships that had already been equipped to the American Fleet, named Honolulu, and Jinshan, plus Qi Jiguang.

The Meng Tian, Yue Fei, and Qi Jiguang were used as troop carriers, and the American Fleet sailed this time, carrying a total of 3,000 marines.

The three warships had 600 sailors, and the fleet also had 30 cooks, 50 doctors, 200 shipwrights, and 100 administrators.

According to Zhao Yan's order, adjutant Lin Jun will lead the fleet to Hawaii first, then occupy it by force, and then go to Fort Vanguard, leaving behind a part of the administrative staff, shipwrights, doctors, and cooks, and open sugar cane, cocoa, coffee, and pineapple plantations in Hawaii.

Shipyards and dockyards were opened, and some food was grown to supply and repair passing ships.

The number of people left behind depends on the degree of resistance and combat effectiveness of the local indigenous people.

After going to Fort Vanguard, Cao Li commanded a fleet to go north to North America, occupy what would become California, and establish rule among the local Indians.

Then gold was mined in California, and the Indians were directed to grow cotton. At the same time, a large shipyard was set up in North America in Jinshan (San Francisco).

After ensuring self-sufficiency in food, shipbuilding was given top priority, cotton cultivation was secondary, and gold mining was put last.

There was a gold rush in California's gold mines, where gold deposits were very shallow and gold was everywhere. However, these gold mines cannot be run, and can be mined slowly.

The reason why shipbuilding is the most important thing is naturally that Zhao Yan lacks ships, and establishing a shipyard in the Americas can make full use of local Indians as laborers.

In the Ming Dynasty, the cost of shipbuilding was higher, and it was impossible for Zhao Yan to treat laborers as slaves, and at the same time, wood was also one of the important checks and balances, and there were no scruples in the Americas, and wood was everywhere, just let the Indians cut it down.

If you want to dominate the oceans, the ship is the key.

The cotton plantations were opened to trade with the Spaniards, and the cotton grown was woven into finished cotton cloth and sold to the Spaniards in Central and South America, where they directly obtained gold and silver, and then shipped back to Shandong.

When there were more merchant ships in the Americas, it was possible to transport Hawaiian sugar and honey to Central and South America, and cotton cloth from North America to Central and South America.

After exchanging for gold, silver and local specialties, it was transported back to Shandong to form a chain of precious metal acquisition. At the same time, it can continue to migrate to North America and form other industries in North America.

Of course, it is not possible to devote too much energy to North America at present, but the opening and exploration of bases should be sooner rather than later.

Before setting sail, Zhao Yan explained to Lin Jun all the problems that needed attention, and carefully explained the management methods of the colony to the administrative staff sent to him, and even explained to the doctors in the fleet that he should pay more attention to the control of infectious diseases, and any member who suffers from infectious diseases must be isolated.

"Especially when you go to Central and South America to trade with the Spaniards, it is best to wrap your whole body in cotton cloth, and usually apply this kind of panacea to avoid mosquito bites, and you should be more careful when drinking water, and don't drink unclean water there." Zhao Yan specially explained, "Before the personnel return to the flight, they must carry out epidemic prevention inspections, and anyone who has an infectious disease cannot be brought back." ”

He was very afraid of cholera and yellow fever in Central and South America, cholera was better, the treatment was simpler, and yellow fever was not easy to deal with, it was an urgent infectious disease.

At present, these two infectious diseases have not appeared in Asia, if these two infectious diseases are brought back to Daming, it will be a big trouble, and there is no vaccine yet!

Yellow fever is most prevalent in the rainforests of Central and South America, and the best way to prevent it is to wrap your whole body in a cotton cloth that mosquitoes can't bite.

In addition, if you usually apply panacea balm, mosquitoes will not dare to bite.

Panacea balm is made with menthol, camphor, cinnamon oil, eucalyptus oil, etc. plus paraffin, which have a strong repellent effect on mosquitoes, midges, gnats, flies, flies and flying insects such as Mafeng.

In addition to these effects, it can also relieve headaches, nasal congestion, itching, muscle pain, strain sprains, abdominal pain, flatulence and discomfort caused by mosquito bites.

The magic balm is something that Zhao Yan asked the doctors to develop last year, and after a year of development, it can already be sold as a product, and it can be met, and another money-making commodity has appeared.

The doctors who used this cooling oil were full of praise.

…… Under Zhao Yan's advice, a total of five sailing ships of the American Fleet sailed out of Qingdao Port and headed for Hawaii, bringing a large amount of soybeans and fresh water on board, soybeans can be made into bean sprouts to supplement vitamins, so there is no need to worry about sepsis.

Zhao Yan stopped in the port for a long time, watching the sailboat sail out of his line of sight, and sighed in his heart, if he had time, he would like to go overseas to occupy the colony in person, and then fish and hunt in those undeveloped lands. However, this idea is clearly not realizable.

At this time, his chief of the guard, Qin Zhiyuan, ran over with this letter and reported to Zhao Yan: "My lord, there is an urgent report. ”

"Read." Zhao Yan said sideways.

"Jiannu took the 27th and said that the soldiers entered the Xifeng Pass and Dushikou in three ways, and the patrol of the imperial history Wang Zhaokun refused to fight, and the soldiers were defeated and died." Qin Zhiyuan thought.

"Back to Huang County." Zhao Yan immediately turned over and got on his horse, and under the protection of two hundred personal guards, galloped towards Huang County.

When he returned to Huangxian, the generals and the staff had already gathered, and when Zhao Yan came back, everyone already knew the news of the Manchu Qing Dynasty's entry into the Kou, and Zhao Yong, Lin Yi, and Wang Wenyue all showed excited expressions on their faces, and they were all eager to try.

Under Zhao Yan, no general would be afraid of Jiannu's soldiers, although the two sides did not face each other once, but Zhao Yan always instilled in them the view that Jiannu was vulnerable, coupled with the army's sophisticated armor, weapons, artillery, and long-term training, they gradually lost their fear of the Manchus.

"Jiannu invaded my Daming Pass, the land of the capital is in danger, I will wait for half a year to prepare for the war, and I will only wait for today to beat Hu Lu, and all the soldiers will listen to the order." Zhao Yan shouted.

"Yes." The people answered.

"According to the original plan, I will go on the expedition."

"My lord, Jiannu invaded the pass, Denglai was guarded by the Liaodong Army, and the lower official asked all the officers and soldiers of the Qingzhou battalion to follow the army to King Qin." Li Ran suddenly clenched his fists and half-knelt on the ground to ask Zhao Yan for battle.

"Hmmm! According to the original plan, the third battalion needed to stay behind to defend Denglai, but our plan to attack Liao was postponed, so the Qingzhou battalion would follow! Zhao Yan nodded.

"Master Xie." Li Ran was overjoyed, and immediately got up and stood on the side, with strong excitement in his eyes.

(To be continued)