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"Brother Li is vain! You're just going to have to do it. If you specialize in learning business, with your ingenuity, I'm afraid that you will be another Tao Zhu Gong! Li Guangdi laughed. Li Guangdi coordinates the overall situation in Mawei, and everything is taken care of in an orderly manner, but some of them are guarded and their innovation ability is insufficient!

"The prince has won the award. By the way, in the past half a month, the shipyards in Fuqing, Putian, Quanzhou, and Zhangzhou have successively sent people to report that their sea ships have been completed. The two big ships of the fastest Putian Linjia Chuanliao have been moored at Houyu Port. Several others are still on trial voyage and will be able to reach Monkey Island in a few days. ”

"Oh! That's a good thing! Although the speed of their shipbuilding is a little slower, it has been nearly a year, and the calculation time should be about the same! Geng Jingzhong was surprised for a moment, but then his face returned to normal. Originally, it was expected that the construction of these 30 ships should be completed in August, but due to the lack of craftsmen in various places, it was dragged on for two months.

"Yes, it's not easy! Each of them has gone all out, but the shipbuilding craftsmen are not easy to find, Guangdong and Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions have been searched by them, and almost all the craftsmen and masters who built big ships in the three provincial capitals have gathered in Fujian! Li Guangdi was also very emotional, how long he came to Mawei, how long these ships were built, and he took care of everything during this period, and he knew the difficulties best!

"Shizi, now that this sea ship is ready, the ocean trade can officially begin, do you want to send them to Europe?" Li Guangdi asked.

"No, the situation on the European side is complicated. Britain and the Netherlands had just finished the war, but there was an urgent shortage of silver, and piracy was bound to run rampant on the sea routes. Our navy can't escort it yet, so let's go around at home for the time being. To the north of Korea and the Wa Kingdom, and to the south of Manila, Batavia, Da Ni, Champang, Srivijaya, Siam, etc., the business in these places is enough for us to do. Our fleet is all 3,000 large sea ships, one is worth five of them, and the income of a round trip is more than five times that of an ordinary caravan! ”

When Geng Jingzhong thought of this, he felt that a large amount of gold and silver was rolling in, but he still said with a straight face: "However, although it is at the doorstep, there are many pirates in that part of the South Seas, and their strength is not weak, especially the pirate gang led by the Dutch. Those Westerners, on the surface, seem to be serious businessmen or serious soldiers, but in fact, they are all secretly engaged in pirate business! The Dutchman, the Taiwanese governor who was beaten away by Zheng Chenggong a few years ago, is the biggest Western pirate leader in our area! Our navy must escort the caravan, as if it were to go to sea for training, by the way, even these merchant ships must be equipped with some weapons, so that they will not be powerless to fight back when they really encounter pirates! ”

"Okay son, I will urge Nan Huairen and others to hurry up and cast artillery." Saying that, Li Guangdi seemed to think of something, frowned and continued, "However, since the next batch of third-class battleships will be launched in less than three months, the artillery is still relatively nervous!" ”

"It's okay, there aren't many guns on a merchant ship. Twelve pounds and below each ship is equipped with more than ten doors, there is a naval escort, and it is estimated that they don't need to take action in case of pirates, and they can protect themselves! By the way, let the crew go to the barracks to learn muskets and practice more. Each ship has more muskets, but they must not be issued until wartime! ”

"Okay, I've written down the world!"

"Hey, Brother Li, our sea strength is still too weak! Thinking about the Dutch East India Company, a private merchant group far surpassed us, and it was really unwilling to think about it. We are in the heavens, and the total number of sailors in the country is not as good as that of a company in a small country, which is sad and lamentable! ”

"Shizi, there is a saying in "Xunzi Persuasion": Qiji jumps, can't take ten steps; Ten horses, the merit is relentless. We're just getting started, and we're going to catch up with or even surpass them! Li Guangdi comforted. Regarding the information on the strength of these Westerners, Li Guangdi has also read it several times, and he has also been shocked by their strength. However, Huaxia Kyushu is rich in land and resources, and now they are catching up, and one day they will surpass theirs.

"Dutch East India Company!" Geng Jingzhong clenched his fists, these old Westerners entrenched in Nanyang have done a lot of bad things to the Chinese. The massacre of Chinese in the Nanyang area is not once or twice, and the scale is not small. "When we are completely strong, we will definitely take care of them, but for now, business is the most important thing!"

Thinking of this, Geng Jingzhong's good mood also fell silent, and there was really a mixed feeling in his heart! Just two hundred and fifty years ago, when the sailors of the Ming Dynasty looked at the world, it was still a symbol of invincibility, Zheng He went to the Western Ocean seven times, and the majestic fleet he led was far ahead of the world. Unfortunately, if it weren't for the fact that the Ming court had changed its thinking and pursued a stricter policy of banning the sea again, it would not have lagged behind the West.

The Netherlands and Spain are just small countries in Chinese. But such a small country has a navy dozens of times that of China. The former Ming Dynasty had fought several wars with the Dutch, but the Dutch at best sent a very small number of armed merchant ships of their East India Company and some light warships, so they blocked the Ming sailors in the harbor and did not dare to come out. For Geng Jingzhong, who came from later generations, it is undoubtedly a great hurt to the national self-esteem and a great shame at the same time.

The simple sea ban policy of "no sails allowed to go to the sea" has completely ruined the Chinese's dream of the sea. After more than 200 years of banning the sea, the development of marine vessel technology has stopped, leading to the situation of being repeatedly bullied by foreign enemies in the history of the previous life. Until Geng Jingzhong crossed, the footsteps of the Chinese ocean were always accused of being within the first island chain and could not be crossed. Even now, Macau is not to mention, it has long been under the control of Portugal, the Spaniards have controlled Manila, and the Dutch have already controlled Taiwan, but they were driven away by Zheng Chenggong, but Batavia is still the territory of the Dutch. In fact, at this time, the sea of China is already a strong enemy, if it continues like this, history will be completely repeated, and the Chinese's maritime dream will probably be completely buried. And now, Geng Jingzhong has made up his mind to vigorously open up the sea and develop maritime strength, and the history of the previous life will not repeat itself.

Now the first task is development, so trading with them is the most direct way. The Spaniards, Portuguese, and Dutch all wanted to occupy some places in China, that is, to be able to trade with the Ming and other Asian countries, and of course, it was better to develop into colonies. Now, Portugal has the upper hand and has deceived Macau, while the Spaniards have occupied Manila and the Dutch have occupied Batavia. However, because Batavia is far away, Chinese smugglers and a small number of Japanese merchants are more willing to do business in these two places because of the proximity of Macao to Manila. Houyu Port is still not famous, otherwise a large number of foreign businessmen would have come here to do business!

The profits of this maritime trade are enormous. The price of a stone of raw silk from Jiangsu and Zhejiang is only thirty or forty taels of silver, and it may even be as low as twenty or thirty taels of silver, but once it is trafficked to Manila, one stone of raw silk can be sold for one hundred taels or even one hundred and twenty taels of silver. A pound of good tea is only a few taels of silver or even less than one tael, but by the time it is shipped to Manila, the value has already doubled several times. In addition, there are all kinds of porcelain, lacquerware, silk, and various handicrafts and other products, which are all good things that Westerners rush to, and once they are shipped there, they are very valuable and profitable.

After all, the people who came to Yuegang and Houyu Port were only part of them, and it was even more profitable to transport a large number of goods out. That's why the sea smuggling trade is so active, otherwise who would want to risk losing their heads to do this!