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Taiwan, Yanping Palace. Taiwan's civil and military gathered together, and they did not see the joy of the New Year on their faces at all, but their faces were solemn. The New Year is the time for all the people to take a big holiday, and the government at all levels on the mainland has annual leave, and the time is not short to 20 days. Taiwan and the mainland are in the same line, and they are completely following the Ming Dynasty system. Although the government at all levels is on holiday, officials still have to go to their official offices from time to time to handle the official business that must be done, and the affairs involving the judiciary cannot be stopped. But today, it is the second day of the New Year, and according to custom, it should be the time for the people to visit relatives and friends, which is actually the day when the daughter and son-in-law return to their parents' home.

Taiwanese officials and people, in addition to the original Gaoshan people on Taiwan Island, the other eight layers are from Fujian, and even the eight or nine layers of the Zheng family's sailors belong to Fujian. In recent years, the ties between Taiwan and Fujian have been strengthened, and some ordinary people will return to Fujian by merchant ship from time to time. Since Geng Jingzhong and Zheng Jing secretly signed an alliance, there have been many exchanges between the two families. Taiwanese merchants can continue to go to the port to trade, and they are no different from smugglers from Fujian and other places.

At present, the two major ports in Fujian, Fujian's local merchants participating in maritime trade account for one-third, and the rest are all other sea ships from all over the world, among which the merchant ships from Taiwan and the merchant ships from Jiangsu and Zhejiang are the most. Originally, maritime smuggling in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was also quite prosperous, but due to the vigorous development of Fujian, the center of gravity of trade has run to Fujian, and at the same time, the imperial court has also cracked down on smuggling in other places. The original intention was to give Geng Jingzhong a warning, but he forced smugglers from other places to Fujian.

In addition, after the Wakoku market was opened. The more goods were needed, and every few days several merchant ships would go to the Wa kingdom in groups, or a caravan would set sail alone. Although Taiwan has benefited a lot from this, it has also developed quite rapidly in recent years, and its strength has almost doubled. This refers to the infantry side, and the naval division is still maintaining its previous size. Such a result, if it had been put in the past. It really made everyone happy, but as soon as they saw the changes in the Geng family in Fujian, the excitement that had just risen disappeared in an instant.

"All these years. The Geng family on the opposite side is getting stronger and stronger! Every time he thought of this, the king regretted that he had not listened to the words of his military advisor. If this development continues, we can only become vassals of his Geng family, what can you do to change this situation! "The people in the room have been deliberating for a while. Talking about this topic. made everyone's expressions heavy. But Zheng Jing had to mention that although he had won the country since the Qing court, he had already extinguished his ambition to dominate the world, and just wanted to defend the island and be his king of Taiwan in peace and stability. But now it seems that it can't be done, the threat to him from the Geng family on the opposite side is getting bigger and bigger, and some precautions must be taken.

Everyone was silent for a long time. Chen Yonghua, the military advisor, was the first to speak: "Lord Wang, the current Mawei Navy is indeed stronger than our sailors. But it is not much stronger, and the Geng family will never dare to invade our Taiwan. However, Fujian's development speed is quite fast, and our Taiwan is isolated overseas, and all materials are restricted, which is indeed not as good as the Geng family. Also, most of our soldiers belong to Fujian, and now most of our soldiers have been cut off. Therefore, our priority now is to grow the population of the island. There are still many places in Taiwan that have not been developed, as long as there is enough population, every qiē will develop. My subordinates have recently heard some Westerners say that they can transport a large number of black slaves from Africa, and as long as we can afford the silver, we can transport as much money as we want. ”

Chen Yonghua and Zheng Jing and others are a little arrogant, and they don't know the real combat strength of the Mawei Army now, if the Taiwanese Navy really fights with the Mawei Navy, it can only be Zheng Jing who will lose in the end. However, Chen Yonghua's advice to Zheng Jing is real, and it is also in line with Taiwan's current situation. Black slaves are indeed a good choice. Chen Yonghua just said this, Shi Lang patted the chair, and echoed loudly: "My subordinates often hear those Westerners talk about this, and those black slave subordinates have also seen it, a few days ago, a Western ship brought more than 100 black slaves here, but it is said that they have not been sold yet." The black slave was indeed born tall and mighty, but his complexion was pitch black. If they fall into the ashes, it's hard to tell them apart. ”

"Oh? Are the black slaves really tall and mighty? Zheng Jing asked in surprise.

"Back to the prince, that's true. The black slaves were generally taller and stronger than our people. It's just that those black slaves didn't eat well on the ship, as long as they were raised for a few days, they were all good at helping. Although I don't know what these black slaves will do, it is no problem to let them do hard work. And the price of these black slaves is also cheap, only five taels of silver per person. Shi Lang said in his loud voice again.

"Five taels of silver, it's not expensive, but I just don't know if this black slave is really as capable as you say. In this case, didn't General Shi just say that there are more than 100 black slaves transported by Western merchants here, then you will come forward to buy them, if these black slaves can really be used, there is no problem with buying a large number of them. Zheng Jing nodded slowly and said. Just now, the military advisor just talked about the issue of population, but is there anything else? ”

"Lord Wang, the Mawei Navy defeated the Tokugawa family of the Wa Kingdom, and the Shimazu family was also wiped out by the Geng family. Our merchant ships can continue to travel back and forth to the Japanese country, and they can be increased in scale, but it is all the credit of the Geng family. According to the subordinates, in addition to the huge number of warships in the Mawei Navy, their artillery is sharp. The number of giant ships in our sailors is far less than that of the Geng family, but the slightly inferior warships are far more than those in Fujian, and there are more smaller fireships. However, no matter how many ships we have, we can't attack everywhere like the Mawei Navy. Therefore, the subordinates are still the original builders, cannon casters, and shipbuilders! ”

Zheng Jing can be said to be a greedy person, and he does not have the same big rise as his father Zheng Chenggong. It is said that Taiwan's annual income is not small, but it is rarely used for investment. When Zheng Chenggong retreated to Taiwan. However, almost all the shipbuilders in the shipyards in Fujian and Guangdong have been brought to the island of Taiwan, but in recent years, the scale of several shipyards in Taiwan has not expanded much. On average, there is only one No. 2 ship launched every year. The rest is just a bit calculation. The main reason for this is that Zheng Jing himself does not want to invest. The island of Taiwan has a lot of forts and a large number of fireships. Siege with fireboats, this is the method of warfare handed down by his grandfather Zheng Zhilong, and his grandfather and father have used this tactic to defeat the powerful Dutch. In addition, the Qing court on the opposite side has always paid little attention to the water division, and the Qing court water division is not the opponent of Taiwan's water division at all, so in the past ten years. The scale of Taiwan's sailors has not changed much. In the past two years, they felt the pressure brought by the Geng family opposite, and Zheng Jingcai increased the investment in the shipyard. However, there were no more boats.

"Yes, my lord." Liu Guoxuan also said out loud. "My subordinates once learned from the guards of the royal caravan that the reason why the Mawei navy defeated the sailors of the Shimazu family and the Tokugawa family was not only because of their huge ships. More are the guns of the giant ships. Reputedly. The artillery of the Mawei Army was very powerful, and it was even more powerful than the artillery laid on the forts by the Wa Kingdom. Lord Wang, you also know that although the artillery of the Wa Kingdom is not very good, the artillery laid on the fort is not worse than ours. Now it is rumored in the Wa Kingdom that the range of the naval guns of the Mawei Navy is almost twice that of the Wa artillery, and it seems that even if this rumor is a bit exaggerated, it is not far off! ”

"I know that, too. The Mawei Navy expanded so rapidly. One or two hundred ships, that is, two thousand guns for each of the ten guns. What's more, the Mawei Army still has many giant ships, and in general, the Mawei Navy has more than 3,000 guns. This king really can't understand, where did his Geng family get all these so many artillery? Could it really be as the military advisor guessed, it was cast by the Geng family themselves? Zheng Jing touched his head, and then said suspiciously.

"I'm afraid it's really like this, those Hongyi cannons, although they can be bought from Westerners, but the number is definitely not much. Being able to sell you twenty doors at a time is already considered a lot of money, let alone nearly a thousand. Liu Guoxuan also expressed his opinion in agreement. It is true that the artillery of the Mawei Army was cast by itself, but the artillery in the Mawei Army was not only 3,000, but it had to be doubled again, reaching nearly 6,000. In the past five or six years in Fujian, the weight of copper and iron used in casting muskets and artillery has exceeded 10,000 tons, of course, these numbers are kept secret in Fujian, and outsiders do not know the details at all.

Zheng Jing continued to touch his own head: "This king also wants to cast a large number of artillery, but there is a lack of craftsmen who can cast cannons, and at the same time, we also lack iron materials, and it is very difficult to cast a large number of cannons at one time." ”

"This subordinate is not too worried. Our spies have been investigating in Fujian for a long time, and their subordinates also know a lot about the young prince of the Geng family. That Geng Jingzhong has never been pragmatic and not pragmatic, and for the people under his rule, no matter who you are, as long as you have the ability, you will be reused. He had many Westerners under his command, and many missionaries served him. Among them, there was a Westerner named Nan Huairen, who was also the right-hand man of Tang Ruowang, the former Qintian supervisor of the Qing court, and after being framed by Aobai, they were invited to Fuzhou by Geng Jingzhong. But until now, Nan Huairen has not shown up, and everyone knows what he is doing. Come to think of it, what the spies found out was that Nan Huairen was the most effective artillery casting master under Geng Jingzhong, and it was very likely to be true. Chen Yonghua said a lot in one breath, picked up the tea bowl and took a sip and continued.

Therefore, my subordinates think that we can also learn from Geng Jingzhong and recruit some Western craftsmen to work for us with a high salary. In addition, we have a huge island of Taiwan, I don't believe that there will be no iron mine, recruit a large number of prospectors to go to various places to prospect, as long as the exploration is out, we will organize people to vigorously mine. If the prince is worried about the shortage of miners, those black slaves with cheap faces are a good choice! ”

At these words, everyone who listened nodded their heads, and they really got to the point. "The military advisor is high, and his subordinates seconded it!"

"My subordinates also seconded it!"

"Seconded!"

Chen Yonghua said that it is indeed relatively easy, in fact, what he does not know is that Taiwan's iron ore is really very small, and it is not easy to mine. Compared with biological resources and hydraulic resources, Taiwan's mineral resources are single in type, and their reserves are not abundant. By the time of the 21 st century, there were about 110 kinds of mineral resources discovered on the island of Taiwan. However, there are only more than 20 kinds of actual development value. In the 21st century, most of the valuable mineral deposits have been exploited for a long time, and the reserves have been greatly reduced. Many have been depleted, so Taiwan Province can be said to be one of the provinces with the fewest mineral resources and reserves in China.

Taiwan's mineral resources can be divided into three categories: energy, metallic and non-metallic. Energy minerals mainly include coal, oil, natural gas and geothermal. Among them, coal was developed and utilized earlier, and has been gradually depleted, with reserves of only about 100 million tons and an annual output of less than 100,000 tons. Oil and natural gas are Taiwan's most important energy deposits, and the geological exploration of oil and gas has been completed in an area of more than 500 square kilometers, and by the time of 2,000 years. It has proved that the oil reserves are more than 300 million liters and the natural gas reserves are about 10 billion cubic meters, mainly distributed in the western part of the Central Mountains and the Taiwan Strait. Geothermal resources are relatively abundant. There are more than 90 hot springs discovered, of which more than 10 are of economic development value, mainly distributed in the northern Datunshan volcanic group.

There are relatively many types of metal deposits in Taiwan, but the reserves are not much. The metal deposits with proven development value mainly include gold, silver, copper, iron, etc. There are also deposits of manganese, titanium, zirconium, monazite, mercury, nickel and chromium. Gold is Taiwan's most important metal deposit. Later generations have proved reserves of about 6 million tons, mostly symbiotic deposits of gold, silver or copper. That's a staggering number. Among them, the copper ore reserves are also relatively abundant, about 5 million tons. However, iron ore is relatively poor, with total reserves of only about two million tons.

"Okay, then let's learn from his Fujian Geng family, Feng Xifan!" Zheng Jing shouted.

"The subordinates are here!" Feng Xifan immediately responded.

"Go and send out your men and scatter them, no matter how hard they are. Be sure to find iron ore for this king in the shortest possible time! ”

"Tom tom!"

"Tom tom!"

"Tom tom!"

Geng Jingzhong was on his way to Luzon on a warship at the moment, and he was already very close to Luzon at this moment. It's just that at this time, I suddenly heard the sound of cannons. As the distance continued to shorten, the sound of the cannon became louder and louder. If you listen carefully, you can tell that it should be the sound of the Franc machine artillery and other guns, it should be the Westerners in the artillery battle, and it may also be the Taiwanese warship, but it is not like the horsetail artillery.

"What's going on?"

"What kind of battleship is this?"

Geng Jingzhong suddenly asked a little strangely. It turned out that at this moment, more than 30 warships of unknown origin suddenly appeared on the sea, and more than a dozen of them were very similar in appearance to the warships of the Mawei Army. The front part of some of the other ships is very pointed, like a Dutch battleship.

The sails hanging from the masts of the warships that were relatively close to Geng Jingzhong and others looked very complicated and messy. In the bow of these battleships, the same somewhat strange flag was hoisted.

"It's British." Geng Jingzhong put down the binoculars and said slowly.

When these dozen warships appeared in the clairvoyant mirror, Geng Jingzhong was also a little surprised in his heart. He didn't expect that he would be here, and he would find British warships, and it seemed that he was still fighting with the Dutch.

Rice flag! The British flag of rice! These dozen or so warships were flying British flags. At that time, the British flag could not actually be called the national flag, because the British did not have a law that considered this flag to be their national flag, and it was not until two hundred years later that there was a formal legal provision stipulating what the British flag was. But ordinary warships fly such flags to show the difference. Therefore, most countries believe that this rice flag is the flag of the British. This flag, which is a little different from the modern Union Jack, is that it only has a large red cross in the middle, and there are no four small red slashes around it, because Ireland has not yet been incorporated. Of course, you can't be mistaken. Countries with rice flags are more or less related to the later British Empire.

"Tom tom!"

"Tom tom!"

"Tom tom!"

The sound of artillery continued. It was two Dutch warships that fired the guns. Behind the Mizi flag, there were two warships, flying two warships flying the Dutch flag. It was they who kept in hot pursuit of the British battleship at the rear, and constantly looked for opportunities to open fire. There seemed to be a little problem with the sails of the British battleship in front, and the distance between it and the Dutch battleship could not be pulled too far. (To be continued......)