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On November 11, the sixth year of Kangxi, this is a memorable day, and the first caravan of Fujian Ocean Trading Company was officially established! For a year, the Fujian Ocean Trading Company only had an empty shell, but did not form a caravan, because of the lack of merchant ships.

Some of the shareholders who originally participated in the shares have ships at home, just like the Gu family has three big ships, but most of them are no more than 800 materials, and the load is only a little more than 100 tons, and most of them are old, and it is estimated that they will be unusable in two years! In this way, the total number of merchant ships is still small, in the early fifties. However, there are quite a few small sea vessels like the offshore formation just formed by Geng Jingzhong, and there are six or seven hundred in all coastal areas, but these small ships can cruise in the coastal waters and cannot sail into the deep sea at all.

Today, 30 4,000-material ships are moored in Houyu Harbor, all the same style and size, if you don't look at the number of the hull, you think it is a mold carved out. In fact, there is nothing wrong with saying that they are carved out of the same mold, these sea ships are indeed using the same drawings, and when each shipyard builds ships, it is according to the same standard. If you want to point out the difference, it may be that some of the rooms in the cabin are arranged and decorated!

These thirty sea ships, which looked very much like the third-class battleships of the Red Army fleet, belonged to the type of Galen ships. However, this style differed from the Dutch and Spanish Galen ships in a number of ways, and was improved. These thirty ships were all large Galen ships, all with a load of 1,200 tons, which seemed to be not much worse than the third class of battleships, but the warships were not the same as their usefulness. The drawings from England also have strong British characteristics, which if they were seen by Western merchants, they would definitely be recognized as British merchant ships just by looking at the ship type. However, the hulls of these merchant ships, like those of the Red Army Fleet, were all painted red with auspicious clouds, and if it weren't for the distinctive numbers on the hulls, they would have been recognized as naval warships.

"It's spectacular!" The head of the Lu family in Haicheng Town has been running a salt business, and his family's sea salt business covers Fujian and Guangxi, and can be shipped to Hunan as far away. He also has a dozen small sea boats at home, but they are far from being comparable to the fleet in front of him. Today's scene is not as big as when the Monkey Island Port was completed, and almost all of the shareholders and employees present are the large and small shareholders and employees of Sino-Ocean Company, and some of them are foreign businessmen anchored in the Monkey Island Port.

"Brother Guanchen, you are also a person who has seen the world, why do you feel so emotional?" Wang Jiazhu, one of the landlords in Fuzhou City, said with a smile that their major shareholders have met many times because of the company's affairs, and they are very familiar with each other.

"Yes, Brother Guanchen, the naval fleet was at your doorstep some time ago, you won't see it!" Followed by the head of the Tian family of the great family of Quanzhou City, surnamed Tian Haozi Ruitu, he and the head of the Lu family have known each other for a long time, and the two families used to have many business contacts.

The head of the Lu family shook his head and waved his hand and said, "Hey, how can this be the same. We have lived by the sea for generations, and we have seen not a thousand but eight hundred large and small ships, and I have seen the majesty of the Mawei Navy, but those are not our own after all! Now look at these thirty! It's all exactly the same big ship, there are 4,000 materials, you may not care too much about the big ship, but my Lu family has never owned such a big ship, of course the mood is different! ”

"I'm embarrassed to say that your Lu family's business is so good, you don't have to make a living at sea at all, how can it be like us. With the strength of your Lu family, you could have purchased a lot of sea ships a few decades ago! The Gu family master of Fuzhou City sneered, and then the Lu family master's words said.

"Don't discuss this, what Brother Guanchen said is not wrong at all, I am also very excited to look at these merchant ships in front of me, I don't believe that you three don't feel it at all?" Wu Yuan, the head of the Wu family in Zhangzhou, who had never intervened, couldn't help but interject, saying that it was impossible to say that there was no emotion in the face of these merchant ships.

"Not bad!"

"Huh!"

"Hey, hey!"

The first few people quickly fell silent, just smiled. Raise your eyes and continue to look at the merchant ship formation not far away, looking at the red color of the hull, and the Arabic numerals on it 1, 2, 3, 429, 30! The many shareholders who followed continued to talk to each other, looking up at the fleet on the sea from time to time.

"The son of the world has arrived!" Suddenly, a long shout came, and the shareholders turned around and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

"I've seen the son!"

"I've seen the son!"

"See His Royal Highness!"

After seeing Geng Jingzhong walk in, uneven voices rang out one after another.

"Why are you all standing here, why don't you go on the boat and take a look? Many of you have just arrived at Monkey Island! Geng Jingzhong said to everyone.

The head of the Gu family immediately stood up and replied: "Shizi, everyone is waiting for you to come, you still have to preside over this ceremony!" ”

"You!" As he spoke, he pointed at the Gu family master, and then pointed at the Wang family master. "Of course you two don't feel it anymore, you two have already boarded it ten days ago, and you also consider other people's feelings! Look, many of the owners have just arrived! ”

"Shizi, you can't blame us, who let the two of us live close! You say yes, Wang? The Gu family master said with a smile, and at the same time raised his head at the Wang family master.

"Hey, hey! This is called the first month near the water! The head of the Gu family also smiled and echoed.

Geng Jingzhong didn't continue the topic anymore, and said: "Since everyone is here, let's start!" Let's go, go to the dock! ”

The high platform has already been set up on this side of the dock, and all the personnel are already in place, just waiting for Geng Jingzhong and them to come! Today's ceremony is different from the last Monkey Island Port completion ceremony, in addition to celebrating the official establishment of the caravan, there is also the most important flag ceremony. After a year of selection, the final thirty captains were also waiting in the audience, and they were all selected from various families who were well-versed in seafaring. In fact, to put it mildly, these thirty are the most excited.

Nearly 10,000 people in the audience looked at Geng Jingzhong on the stage with smiles on their faces, waiting for him to speak. The thirty captains at the front kept their eyes on him, waiting for him to announce the official appointment and confer the flag.

"Following the completion ceremony two months ago, Houyu Port ushered in another lively celebration. Today is also a day of great joy and a day worth celebrating. Next, I announce that the first ocean-going formation of Fujian Ocean Trading Company has been officially established! ”

"Oh!"

"Oh!"

"Hooray!"

The audience immediately cheered, the shareholders cheered that the company would be able to make money immediately, the crew cheered that they had a formal high-paying job, in short, everyone in the audience was excited.

Geng Jingzhong raised his hand and pressed it downward, and the voice in the audience quickly became quieter and disappeared. "This is just the first ocean-going formation, we will have more in the future! We Fujian people will travel all over the sea, we will do business with people from all over the world, and we will transport back the world's gold and silver treasures! I can assure you that life will get better and better, and there will be no problem for the young men to marry the daughters-in-law of both parties on a sea boat trip in the future! ”

"Hehehehehe!"

The audience immediately burst into laughter, and the crew was full of hope for the future.

"Thirty captains are invited to the stage!" Geng Jingzhong raised his arm slightly, made a gesture to the thirty people, and said loudly at the same time.

The thirty captains had been looking forward to this moment for a long time, and when they heard Geng Jingzhong call them to the stage, they immediately took a deep breath and marched up to the stage. Many of the crew members below looked at them with envy, eager to go up and replace them immediately. Thirty people neatly walked up to the high platform, lined up in three rows, and stood behind Geng Jingzhong.

Geng Jingzhong glanced back at everyone, then turned around and continued: "Their thirty captains have all been tested and strictly selected in this year, I believe that they will be very good captains, and our first ocean-going caravan will always be smooth sailing!" Below begins the awarding of the formation flags! ”

The flag of the formation is somewhat similar to the navy's blue tiger flag, but the pattern on it is not a tiger, but a blue Kunpeng flag. Acquisition is an allusion to the getaway. There is a saying: there is a fish in the North Underworld, and its name is Kun. The Kun is so big that I don't know how many thousands of miles it is. Turned into a bird, its name is Peng. Peng's back, I don't know how many thousands of miles it is. It is really suitable to use the Kunpeng pattern as a flag, which is far better than those flags in the West!

The employees of the trading company carried the wooden tray and delivered the Kunpeng flag to each captain, who immediately shook the flag and hung it on his chest for everyone in the audience to see. Immediately, the audience erupted in cheers again!

Geng Jingzhong motioned for the captains to return to the ship immediately and hoisted the flag on the mast. When the flags were raised one after another, the gongs and drums of the wharf also sounded, and this time, the shareholders did not hide from the side to watch the excitement like when the port was completed, but sang and danced directly with the crew!

The Kunpeng flag was not only raised by the latest 30 merchant ships, but also eight ships in the style of fortune ships next to the new formation. These are the big seagoing ships that can continue to go to sea at the families of several major shareholders, and now they are also included in the first ocean-going formation. However, if it were to go as far as Europe, or sail into the depths of the Pacific Ocean, it is estimated that these eight ships are still a little worse. However, recently, the trading company has no need to go to Europe, and it is enough to run around the entire Chinese sea, and then go to Batavia, so there is no problem for a few lucky ships.

At this time, there were also two foreign caravans staying in Houyu Port, both of which came from Macao, and these foreign hairs were also attracted by the lively scene here, and also joined the army of watching the singing and dancing!