In the hall of the Nanjing General's Mansion, there are military attaches wearing various colors of unicorn robes with plackets, oblique collars, and wide sleeves, and black gauze on their heads. Most of these military attachés have dark faces, and at a glance they know that they are often thrown into the sun, and they don't seem to know what to calmly give, and when they speak, their voices are one by one, and they talk loudly and forcefully in the official dialect of a southern Fujian accent.

Listening to the accents of these people, and then looking at their black faces like Bao Qingtian who have been running to the sea all year round, you can know that these people are all the backbone of the Nanyang Trading Company controlled by Zheng Yiwang's family - these backbones all have the rank of the Ming Navy, and they are not low, the youngest is also a staff general, and most of them are vice generals and general soldiers.

However, they are now in a state of "suspension and retention", and it is Zheng Jing's Nanyang Trading Company that gives them money, and it is also the Nanyang Trading Company that they serve and allegiance.

This kind of practice of allowing a "commercial company" to have mercenaries, even a navy, and granting the company the privilege of lawlessness, is of course relatively rare in later generations, and it is not uncommon. However, in the 17th century, it was a common practice used by countries that wanted to start a zero-dollar purchase business overseas.

After all, colonization is risky, and you must be cautious when going to sea!

Moreover, colonies were often far from home, which was very difficult to manage, and often had to give the colonial governor the power to act cheaply. However, after such heavy power, how to supervise it, so as not to rapidly corrupt or breed excessive ambition in the colonial governors with absolute power, is another headache for the leaders of all countries with colonies.

In order to pass on the operational risks and management difficulties of the colonies, those new colonial powers, which did not reap the rich gold and silver producing areas, and did not have the first bite of the monopoly benefits of the East-West trade, could only create these colonial companies that could not only transfer risks but also shirk their responsibilities.

And Li Zhongshan, of course, also knew the "difficulty of management" in the colony!

Almost all the colonies opened up by Western imperialism have the problem of harming the public and private interests, and many of them have been in a state of loss for a long time, or even lost all their money!

For example, Britain's thirteen North American colonies - there is really no one to run a "daddy" in the end!

Therefore, after he got the southeastern half of the Ming Dynasty, he was not very active in the matter of colonial expansion, and he was unwilling to invest the limited financial and military resources of the Ming Dynasty into the bottomless pit of colonial development. Still, he was willing to encourage private, or rather powerful, individuals to invest their own resources in the adventurous business of colonial land grabbing.

The Nanyang Trading Company of the Zheng family, the Guangdong Trading Company jointly owned by Li Nanwang, Li Zhongwang, and Li Yingwang, together with the Wuxi Wang, Jia and Cai (Cai Yurong), was established with the support of Li Zhongshan's general's mansion.

With the support of the General's Office, a group of officers of the original Ming Army and Navy Division (Navy) joined these two so-called "trading companies" while retaining their military status and rank.

And the army owned by these two trading companies is also under the dual management of the General's Mansion and the company!

Therefore, as soon as General Li gave an order, the backbone of the Nanyang Trading Company was all concentrated in the General's Mansion in Nanjing.

At this time, everyone has arrived at the meeting hall of the General's Mansion, Li Zhongshan, Zheng Jing, Chen Yonghua, and Lu Sanhao, the big leaders have not yet appeared, and these senior martial artists of the Nanyang Trading Company have already learned the purpose of General Li and Zheng Yiwang summoning them to the meeting - something is wrong! Spain and the Netherlands, the two bandit countries, actually because of the Ming Dynasty's capture of the port of Acapulco and Bintan Island, made a big alliance of eleven countries, and wanted to come to the trouble of the Ming Dynasty, and it was even possible to send the navy to the South Seas and the coast of the Ming Dynasty to kill people and set fires. If something like this happens, can you keep the voices of the high-ranking martial artists of these trading companies getting louder and louder?

This is really not good! We can only build sail gunboats with a displacement of 1,000 tons at most, which sounds so big, but according to the division of the Western Ocean, at most it can be regarded as a fourth-class gunboat, and only 50 cannons can be installed. And this kind of 10,000-stone sail gunboat has only been built now, and it is not easy to build at all, so it can only be regarded as learning to build! ”

"That's right, according to the English professor of the Naval Academy, in 1637 on the English side. It's about ten years of Chongzhen, and they have already built the 'Sea Overlord' (Sea King) with a displacement of 1,700 tons, which is equivalent to 20,000 stones on our side, right? And there are many cannons, which can be loaded to more than 100 guns! ”

"This was a ship from more than 40 years ago, and it's not sure what it will look like now. Maybe we can build a ship with a displacement of 3,000 tons and 150 cannons! ”

"In fact, the gap between ships is not the largest, even if Westerners can build 2,000-ton and 3,000-ton ships, we can only build 1,000-ton boats, but we can build a few more! It is impossible to beat 3, or even 5 ships of 1000 tons, and 1 ship of 2000 tons! This can still be overcome, but what really can't be overcome is that we don't have so many sailors who can handle soft sailing ships, and we don't have many bows that can run the ocean.

Most of our sailors can only operate hard sailboats, and most of the bows will only follow the coastline, which is difficult enough for them to go to Japan. Besides, our bows and sailors are not very good at artillery battles."

"That's right, it's not easy to build a ship, and it's even more difficult to train sailors and train the bow! Moreover, the bow and sailors of the Nanyang Trading Company are still businessmen in the final analysis, and it is okay to fight with the foreign merchants of the East India Company, and if they really want to face the Spanish Invincible Armada, I am afraid."

Liu Guoxuan, the Naval Governor of the Nanyang Trading Company, Zhu Tiangui, the Right Military Division (in charge of the Navy) of the General's Mansion, He You, the Admiral of the Nanyang Naval Division, and Feng Xifan, the General Manager of the Nanyang Trading Company, sat on the sidelines and did not join the discussion, but just looked at everyone in the audience with expressionless faces.

The four of them have already had several private meetings with Li Zhongshan, Zheng Jing, Chen Yonghua, and Lu Sanhao, and they all have a little bottom in their hearts, but there is only a little bit of it, and the rest are still uneasy.

The Great Alliance of Eleven Nations!

Da Ming can at most pull France and Rakshasa to make a three-kingdom axis eleven against three, and the advantage is in the enemy!

Just then, footsteps could be heard from behind the screen. Liu Guoxuan, Zhu Tiangui, He You, and Feng Xifan glanced at each other and stood up from their chairs. Liu Guoxuan also shouted: "Be in good spirits, stand on duty, don't lose the military salute!" ”

The backbone of this group of Nanyang Trading Company "buzzed", and they returned to their positions one after another, and you hit me, I hit you, and they disturbed for a while.

As soon as they finished their shifts according to their grades, they saw Li Zhongshan, Zheng Jing, Chen Yonghua, and Lu Sanhao turn out from behind the screen with serious faces. The warriors below snapped together, then bowed and shouted, "See the general, the king of wings, the king of Tong'an, and the king of Dali!" ”

Li Zhongshan smiled faintly at the backbone of the group of Nanyang Trading Companies below, glanced over one by one, and then raised his hand to point to the chairs on both sides of the chamber: "Sit, sit down." ”

The people below cheered up and shouted "yes", which shook the hall and moved.

Li Zhongshan took his robe again, and then sat down on the four Taishi chairs placed side by side. Zheng Jing, Chen Yonghua, and Lu Sanhao also sat down together.

Seeing that everyone was seated, Li Zhongshan slowly opened his mouth: "I heard the discussion of the big guy just now, and I heard it with King Yi, King Tong'an, and King Dali. ”

King Tong'an and King Dali are the knights of Chen Yonghua and Lu Sanhao. Both of them are county kings, a little smaller than Li Zhongshan's "one-word kings" with the titles of princes. Originally, Li Zhongshan wanted to give them the title of king, and it was more "republican" for everyone to sit on an equal footing, but Chen Yonghua and Lu Sanhao were both "modest" and refused to accept anything. Therefore, Li Yat-sen can only ask for the title of county king for the two of them.

Li Yat-sen paused, and continued to say calmly: "The navies of Spain and the Netherlands are indeed much stronger than ours, and these two countries have first-class battleships with 100 guns, and we can build up to 4-class ships at the moment, but we can't build first-class battleships that can hold 100 cannons for the time being, so we should bow to Spain and the Netherlands?" Can we bow our heads tomorrow? ”

"Can't! How can my great tomorrow dynasty bow to the two barbarian states of Spain and the Netherlands? Liu Guoxuan, the admiral of the Nanyang Trading Company, waved his hand, "Don't they just have a few hundred guns and dozens of second- and third-class warships?" What's the big deal? It is impossible for all of us to come here, and our fourth-class ships, soft-sail galen ships and old lock ships are not built as many as they want? Even if we use the fourth-class ship, the Galen ship, and the old lock ship, we will definitely be able to win! ”

Zhu Tiangui also nodded heavily, and his tanned face was full of righteous indignation: "When the eldest brother of Yiguan and the first king of Yanping were alive, we didn't even have a Galen ship, and we didn't even have a few old lock ships, so we didn't defeat the Dutch fleet anyway?" Now, even if a few 100-gun battleships come to us, let's build a few more fourth-class ships, and we can still clean them all up! ”

He You's expression looked much more solemn: "General, although we can't bow our heads to Yangyi and compromise, we must also prepare for a protracted battle on Bintan Island, and we must be prepared for Bintan Island to be besieged for several years!"

In addition, Xia Guan also suggested that the Battle of Luzon should be launched as soon as possible, and it was necessary to take their largest stronghold in the South Seas before the Spanish armada arrived! ”

Li Zhongshan nodded, this suggestion is good!

"Acapulco must also be further strengthened!" Feng Xifan said, "Also, the port and tuntian of Ezo Island should be able to keep up. As long as the supply port on Ezo Island can be used, the cost of sending people to the New World will be low. ”

This Feng Xifan's suggestion is also very correct!

North America must insist that the green mountains will not relax, and no matter how difficult Acapulco is, it must be firmly defended!

Because Acapulco is a well-developed land, there are cities, ports, fortresses, people, and large cornfields around it.

As long as Acapulco is in hand, in the future, Daming will open another base on the Pacific coast of the New World, and he will not be afraid of running out of logistics.

And as long as the Ming Dynasty continues to send energy to the New World, Spain will sooner or later beg for mercy and admit defeat. If they don't beg for mercy, and they can't cut off the Pacific route, then sooner or later they will lose the entirety, at least most of the New World colonies.

And to ensure the smooth flow of the New World route, the development of Ezo Island must also be accelerated!

It's really a ring!

"Wing King," Li Yat-sen asked Zheng Jingdao, "how many fourth-class ships, Galen ships, and old lock ships can be completed at most every year?" ”

"It's hard to say about the fourth-class ship," Zheng Jing said, "The first ship hasn't been cleaned up yet. Galen and Lao Zha are ripe, and it is not a problem to make 100 a year. ”

"Hmm" Li Zhongshan said, "The fourth-class ship is the key to our defeat of the Netherlands and Spain!" Although the firepower and protection of the fourth-level fleet are poor, it is fast, cheap, and suitable for mass manufacturing."

Zheng Jing frowned: "It's not so cheap, 20,000 taels of silver didn't run!" If 50 ships are built a year, it will cost 1 million taels just to build a ship. There is also a ship with 350 sailors, at least that number a year! ”

As he spoke, he gave a slap and demonstrated.

"Fifty thousand?" Li Zhongshan asked.

"It cannot be less than fifty thousand. After all, there are 350 of them! To build 100 such ships, it will cost at least 5 million taels a year! Zheng Jing smiled wryly, "If the trade between the East and the West is interrupted again, then"

It turns out that Zheng Jing also has a time when he has no money!

On one side there was a fleet of warships that burned money, and on the other hand, trade was interrupted and revenues shrunk. Even if Zheng Jing is rich enough to rival the country, even if he is the richest man in the world, he can't afford to lose!

"It's better to do this," Li Zhongshan looked at the backbone of the Nanyang Trading Company present, "It's better for the Ming Navy to take over all the fourth-class warships. The Nanyang Trading Company and the Yuehai Trading Company, it is enough to have the Galen ship and the old lock ship.

In the future, the profitable trade is still a licensed trading company, and the licensed trade can still retain its armament. But the one who competes with a strong enemy on the ocean is the Ming Navy! ”

The Galen and Old Gate ships are armed merchant ships, and the cost of building and using them is much lower than that of a fourth-class battleship.

Nanyang Trading Company is heavily equipped with these two types of vessels, and it is not difficult to achieve profitability under normal circumstances.

As for fourth-tier warships, they are not used to make money at all.

However, once the Nanyang Trading Company handed over the construction technology of the fourth-class ships in its hands and the officers and soldiers who could operate the fourth-class warships on the battlefield to Li Yat-sen's general's palace, it would mean that it was the strongest force in the East Asian seas...... Soon it will become the Ming Navy!

Although Zheng Jing was reluctant to make such an arrangement, Li Yat-sen had already given him sufficient compensation - the Spice Islands in the hands of the Dutch East India Company would be handed over to the Nanyang Trading Company in the future.

But now he still has to pretend to be reluctant to show the people below.

After listening to Li Zhongshan's words, he nodded with a painful expression and said to the people below: "Everyone, now the Spaniards and Dutch don't give us a way to live...... Gathered eleven countries to deal with our Ming Dynasty and our Nanyang Trading Company.

We have no way to retreat now, so we can only fight them to the end with all our might...... In the future, the affairs of the sea will not be the responsibility of our Nanyang Trading Company and Guangdong Company, but the entire Daming! It's the whole world...... This is the rise and fall of the world! ”

"Well said!" Li Zhongshan snorted violently, "The rise and fall of the sea is the rise and fall of the world!" And the rise and fall of the world, even the horseman is responsible, let alone meat eaters like us? ”

He looked at the backbone of a group of Zheng family's "pirates" with burning eyes, and his words were full of confidence: "If you are willing to join the Ming Navy, follow me in the future, I dare not guarantee anything else, but one thing is certain - that is, the Ming Dynasty will win!" I, Li Zhongshan, haven't been defeated yet!

The ocean of the future will inevitably be the place where our Ming Navy gallops. Will you join in such a grand event? ”

"Yes!" How can anyone at the bottom not want to?

"Good!" Li Zhongshan waved his arms again, "In the future, the matter of silver will be wrapped up in me, and I will never let you lose money." Don't worry about anything, just get started, build a ship, and get ready for battle! ”

(End of chapter)