Chapter 164: Set sail

On the first day of December in the 37th year of Kangxi, Shanghai County, which has begun to take shape, is full of people, the crown is gathered, 20 large sea ships are neatly moored on the wharf, the drums on the shore are noisy, lively and extraordinary, and a large offering table is full of sacrifices such as pig's heads, steamed buns, incense burners, etc. More than 100 officials, large and small, under the leadership of Guo, the current governor of Liangjiang, personally went to the wharf to see off the fleet that was about to set sail. Seeing that the hour was approaching, the master of ceremonies in a big red robe shouted: "Incense!" Old Man Guo stepped forward with a serious face, lit the incense himself, and finished worshipping the Dragon King, waved his hand, and said loudly: "Set sail!"

The trumpet sounded, the sailors who had already been ready shouted the trumpets neatly, raised the sails, and the ships set sail in turn, slowly sailing out of the port of Shanghai, the fleet circled around the sea, and after thanking the people who saw them off on the shore, they divided into three routes---- all the way north to Korea, all the way to the east to take Dongying, and all the way to the south, aiming at Batavia, Java.

Yinzuo has never fought unprepared battles, in order to realize its maritime strategy, it can be said that painstakingly, as early as a few years ago has been scattered in Fujian, Shandong, Shanghai and other places using the sailors in the hands of his servants to train a lot of sailors, to the Kangxi 37th year of July 20 sea ships completed, after the captain is complete, and these sailors are concentrated in Shanghai port training for half a year, this is the beginning of this voyage.

The fleet was divided into three routes, although all of them were engaged in overseas trade. But the goods carried on the ship are different, and their purposes are also different--- all the way to North Korea, there are five ships, the ships are full of ceramics, silk, soap, tea and other daily necessities, not only sales, but also the purchase of mink and other local products, can be called two-way trade; On the way to Rìben, there were six ships, most of which were loaded with luxury goods such as soap, perfume, silk, handicrafts, and Buddha statues. Just earn money, and don't buy anything from the rì. This is called economic plunder, and of course it is not wrong to call it dumping; Batavia has the most boats. There were nine ships in total, all of which were filled with tea, ceramics, silk, and a small amount of high-end perfumes, and in addition to earning silver, they would also purchase a large amount of copper, iron, and other materials.

In addition to England, the Netherlands, the "sea coachman" is the strongest, the base camp of the Dutch East India Company is in Batavia, and if you want to dominate the ocean, England and the Netherlands are the two mountains that can't be bypassed. In the end, these two powers must be defeated, and for this reason, Yinzuo has planted a number of local intelligence officers on the ships sent to Batavia.

These intelligence officers are all selected by Jīng in the spy system under Yinzuo's ---- "Honghu", in addition to their martial arts, they mainly have strong language skills and the ability to observe faces. After secret training, it was planned to let them take advantage of this trade opportunity to lurk in the local area, use the local overseas Chinese to infiltrate the local business circle and the East India Company, and establish two sets of unrelated intelligence systems in Java to monitor the East India Company's every move. Prepare for future wars.

Although Yinzuo was able to design a sufficiently advanced artillery. His men can also design the most advanced warships of this era, but they want to dominate the seas. It is not enough to rely on the advanced ships and artillery, but also to have a "heart of the ocean". What is the "heart of the ocean" is complicated, in fact, in the final analysis---- the god jīng who takes risks for the sake of sufficient benefits, and the nation without the "heart of the ocean" can only be a continental nation, and is not worthy of competing in the ocean.

Throughout the thousands of years of history of the Chinese nation, there is no shortage of adventurous gods, as early as the Qin and Han dynasties, there are daring to fight with the sea and the land, and the heroes of the sea, but it is a pity that since the Mongol invasion and the bloody massacre in all directions, the backbone of the entire nation has been broken in half, and the Confucian kind of shame for words and profits, only thinking of the idea of governing the country in the middle has once again destroyed the backbone of the nation. If you want to cultivate a nation's "heart of the ocean" road is long and tortuous, there is a lot of work to be done, Yinzuo also has a clear understanding of this, without the efforts of several generations to compete for global hegemony is not a fool's dream, but if you want to dominate the Asian generation of efforts is enough.

The sea power of England and the Netherlands is very strong, not to mention the strength of the whole country, even the strength of these two countries in Asia is far superior to that of the Qing Dynasty's sailors, but this is only temporary, once Yinzuo's army reorganization plan can be realized, with the economic strength of China, at least in terms of warships and troops, it is just a matter of fingers to catch up with the strength of these two countries in Asia. Of course, it is not enough to have ships and cannons, but also to have jīng soldiers who can drive ships and cannons, and this is the core of Yinzuo's large-scale dispatch of fleets across the ocean to engage in trade---- training sailors for the future.

There is no eternal friendship in the world, there is no eternal law, there are only eternal interests, as long as there are enough interests, there is the motivation to dare to take risks, Yinzuo large-scale shipping in addition to making money, training troops, there are three purposes---- one of them, with high profits to impress the heart of the old man Kangxi, let him see the importance of the ocean, so as to lay a solid foundation for the rectification of the navy. Second, Yinzuo, as the prince of the elder brother, although the reputation of engaging in overseas trade was damaged for a while, but once the huge amount of money rolled in, how could those brothers not be moved, if the elder brothers all followed suit, and the rich merchants of the people joined, the attention of the whole nation will be attracted by shipping, and it is not impossible to reproduce the glory of the Song Dynasty. Third, once large-scale trade rises, especially if China has more exports and less imports, there will inevitably be trade frictions after a long time, and Britain and the Netherlands will inevitably become greedy, and greed will come together, and the opportunity for Yinzuo to compete for hegemony in Asia will come.

There is more than one good news, although the news of the sailing of the ocean-going fleet makes Yinzuo happy, but another news makes Yinzuo even more excited---- the steelmaking method that has invested heavily in research has finally been rewarded with eyebrows. Since the 30th anniversary of Kangxi, Yinzuo has invested heavily in the acquisition of barren mountains that may have mining land. After two or three years of exploration, by the 32nd year of Kangxi, a lot of minerals had been discovered one after another, including coal, iron, copper, gold and silver.

Contrary to ordinary people, Yinzuo did not care much about gold and silver mines, and did not even invest much effort in mining, but attached great importance to coal, iron, and copper. Yinzuo doesn't know how to smelt, and he doesn't have this knowledge in his memory, so he can't make innovations beyond the times, so he can only rely on teamwork---- as early as when Liu Siyuan was promoted to the waiter of the Ministry of Works. Yinzuo has already asked Liu Siyuan to come forward and gather a lot of talents in iron smelting and steelmaking to conduct research in this area. At the end of the 35th year of Kangxi, when Yinzuo took over the Yamen of the Ministry of Manuals, he used his power. A large-scale gathering of local smelting talents that could be found at that time, a large-scale R&D center was set up in Xuanhua, Zhili, relying on the surrounding large iron mines such as Qian'an and Luanxian, and Kailuan, Jingxi and other large coalfields to carry out industrialized steelmaking. Yinzuo divided all the personnel into three groups, competed with each other, and gave a heavy reward for this---- but anyone who can propose an innovation will be rewarded with 1,000 taels of silver, and those who can complete the entire process will be rewarded with 100,000 taels of silver, and those who can be co-employed will be rewarded with 10,000 taels of silver according to merit.

The ancient Chinese method of iron-making was block iron-making, which began in the Chūn Autumn period, i.e., at lower smelting temperatures. Iron ore is reduced to a solid state to obtain sponge iron, which is then forged into an iron block. For smelting block iron, three types are generally used: earth furnace, flat ground furnace and shaft furnace. Before the middle of the Ming Dynasty, this method was regarded as the world's most advanced steelmaking method at that time, and it was able to smelt pig iron with coke, but it was still far from the effect that Yinzuo wanted. Not to mention the low output, the quality of the steel produced is not good, at least it cannot meet the requirements of Yinzuo's cannon.

At the beginning of the 36th year of Kangxi, a technician named Mao Sanwa first created a complete large-scale coke refining process, which made a qualitative leap in the output and quality of coke. Yinzuo specially rewarded his people with 30,000 taels of silver. It caused a sensation for a while, and all the technicians and technicians involved in the development of steelmaking methods were full of energy. I spent no time studying how to realize the process of large-scale assembly line steelmaking. By the end of the 37th year of Kangxi's reign, a research team headed by a Shanxi man named Li Da took the lead in achieving a breakthrough --- inventing the converter steelmaking method, blowing air into the molten iron in the converter, so that the content of silicon, manganese, carbon and other elements in the molten iron was rapidly reduced, and at the same time a large amount of heat energy was generated, so that the liquid pig iron was smelted into liquid ground steel, which completely solved the problem of turning pig iron into steel. Another group led by Chen Shun, a native of Jimo, Shandong Province, proposed a one-time molding method for molds, which raised the casting process to the pinnacle of this era. At this point, the large-scale production and casting of steel that Yinzuo wants to achieve has initially taken shape.

Yinzuo's heart is very big, just having these basic things is not enough for him to be satisfied, he also wants to make equipment such as hydropower, machine tools, steam engines and so on, but these things are a hundred times more difficult than steelmaking, and it is not possible to achieve these goals one by one, so Yinzuo has also done a lot of preparatory work.

As early as the twenty-seventh year of Kangxi Yinzuo was ordered to run a school, has begun this work---- the north and south of the two Mongolian schools are free admission, from the schoolchildren selected some talented, poor, and not enough to enter the technical school children, what they learned, is Yinzuo with a strong memory to write out the middle school mathematics, physics and chemistry knowledge, because Yinzuo can not teach in person, there is no other teacher to teach these children, everything can only rely on the children themselves to explore, to now ten years have passed, Although not everyone is successful, there are many people who can be cultivated. Yinzuo will leave some of these people to teach in technical schools, some will enter Yinzuo's factories, and the rest will be given a lot of funds, provide various conveniences, and let them toss after giving a goal.

For those technical school research talents, Yinzuo is highly valued, set up a lot of laboratories, every year spent on them as much as four or five hundred thousand taels of silver, although limited to infrastructure and other factors, there is no big result, but Yinzuo is not in a hurry, he believes that the seed he planted, one day will grow into a towering tree, maybe in the near future, maybe a few generations later, but there will be a day.

Chapter 165: A friend came from afar

On the eighth day of December in the thirty-seventh year of Kangxi, the heavy snow began to clear, and the sun that was not seen for many days finally showed a smiling face. Facing the warm noon head, a team of carriages slowly entered the Chaoyang Gate under the escort of the dart master and the executioner of the Jiangnan Weiwu Dart Bureau, and a dart master in the dart bureau rode a horse to a small carriage. said with a smile: "Girl, I have entered the Beijing Division, and the task of despicable land is completed."

A crisp voice came from inside the carriage and said, "Thank you Liu Darttou for sending me all the way." Uncle Hu, pay the dart silver and find an inn to settle down. ”

The man who drove the carriage was a middle-aged strong man, who respectfully looked back into the carriage and replied, "Yes." Then, with a Yang in his hand, a money bag flew into Liu Darttou's arms, and without speaking, he drove the carriage straight to the city. Liu Dart looked at the carriage in the distance and swallowed his saliva secretly. I was stunned for a while before I caught up with the dart team in front.

Uncle Hu is a person who often walks the rivers and lakes, and he is no stranger to Jingshi. Soon arrived at an inn called "Hongyun", and after settling a courtyard with great skill, he whispered to the carriage: "Girl, can you rest in the inn first?"

The car was silent for a long time before replying: "Uncle Hu, I'm sorry for you, the slave family wants to go to Fuyuanji first." Uncle Hu bowed, did not speak, and drove the carriage straight to "Fuyuan Ji".

"Fuyuan Ji", the world's first firm, not to mention its strong strength. The background behind him is even more terrifying---- the current sixth brother Yijun Wang Yinzuo. The façade of "Fuyuanji" is very large, in Beijing, such an inch of land and precious land is stunned to occupy half a street, several three-story buildings in a large courtyard are extraordinary, you can hear the sound of abacus and bargaining from afar, and you can enter the headquarters of "Fuyuanji" are rich and noble people. Not to mention the common people, even the poor rich and noble people can't even enter the door, the big sedan chair and luxury carriage at the door of "Fuyuan Ji" are enough to make people look sideways.

Uncle Hu drove the pony carriage and just arrived at the door of "Fuyuan Ji", and was immediately stopped by the porter: "Hey, you can't park here, if you want to talk about business, please go to the shop outside to see the goods."

Uncle Hu looked at the impatient look on the concierge's face. The face sank. Just as he was about to get angry, the curtain of the carriage was lifted. Walking down a woman dressed in a fox fur and veiled, followed by a little girl, Uncle Hu didn't care about getting angry with the porter, turned back to the masked woman and said, "Girl, this is Fuyuanji"

The masked woman nodded and said, "There's Uncle Laohu." The voice was so crisp and pleasant that it fascinated the porters, and they forgot their own duties at all, and only cared to look at the masked woman's outstanding demeanor, and her mouth was wide open, and her words were about to flow down.

The masked woman stepped forward and said to the dumbfounded porter, "May I ask Liu Mingchuan, the big shopkeeper of Fuyuan Ji, is Old Man Liu here?"

Those porters were stunned and didn't react, Uncle Hu snorted coldly, and only then did someone come back to their senses, and when they heard that they were looking for their own shopkeeper, they didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly greeted politely: "Girl, what is the matter with finding my shopkeeper?" The masked woman thought for a while, took out a jade pendant from her arms, held it in her hand and said, "The little woman's surname is Xiao, someone asked the little woman to take this jade pendant and hand it over to Liu Mingchuan and Liu Shopkeeper."

"Ah, the girl is unlucky, my shopkeeper has gone on a business trip, and it will be two months before he comes back." A porter politely replied.

This woman is the Qin master Xiao Qianniang who Yinzuo met when he was in Yangzhou, and this time she came to Beijing to expect Yinzuo to help her, so as soon as she arrived in Beijing, she found the door of "Fuyuanji", and never thought that Liu Mingchuan would go to Shanghai to see off the voyage fleet on behalf of Yinzuo at this time, and he was not in Beijing. Xiao Qianniang hesitated for a moment, but still handed over the jade pendant in her hand and said, "This big brother, please send the jade pendant in to see if the other shopkeepers recognize this pendant."

"Cheng, you wait, the little one will go in." Those who can be the porter in "Fuyuan Ji" have a little eyesight, and they recognized at a glance that the jade pendant in Xiao Qianniang's hand is very valuable, not something that ordinary people can use, and immediately called himself Xiaodi, and ran into the door with a fart. Most of the time, a young man in a heavy fur hurriedly walked out, and respectfully saluted the masked woman: "In Xia Liu Chang'e, my father is the big shopkeeper of Fuyuan Ji, I don't know where Miss Xiao got this jade pendant?"

Xiao Qianniang hesitated for a moment and said: "It was sent by a young man, well, he said that if you come to Beijing, you can use this jade pendant to find Liu Mingchuan and Liu Shopkeeper."

"Oh, I see." Liu Chang'e was originally the head of the local intelligence under Yinzuo, so he naturally knew that the young boy must be Yinzuo, but he didn't know what the woman in front of him had to do with Yinzuo, and he didn't dare to bring Xiao Qianniang into the palace immediately, so he had to mutter: "Which inn does the girl live in?" Let me report on my behalf next to see if that master wants to see you, so okay?"

Xiao Qianniang couldn't help but be stunned for a moment after listening to Liu Chang'e's words before saying: "That's fine, the slave family lives in the Hongyun Inn, and there is Lao Liu Shao's shopkeeper to pass it on his behalf, and the slave family will leave." After that, he was blessed and got into the carriage and left. Liu Chang'e thought for a while, called a porter beside him, whispered a few words, got into a sedan chair by himself, and went straight to Yinzuo's palace.

There are many people in the capital, and the New Year is approaching, and the procurement of New Year's goods is also very busy, the streets and alleys are full of people coming and going, there is a posture of sweating into rain, Xiao Qianniang's carriage is only one horse pulled, it is not conspicuous on the street at all, and there is nothing surprising, but it is such a carriage that caused an accident---- the horse has been driving for most of the day, and is already hungry, and a vendor carrying a cabbage burden in front is crying and selling, and the horse unceremoniously stretched out his mouth to steal food, It made passers-by laugh. Uncle Hu was just about to stop the horse's behavior, and the peddler shook his shoulder, and planned to look back, but he shook his shoulder, and the flat shoulder hit the horse's right eye by chance, and the horse immediately let go of its hooves and galloped wildly as soon as it was in pain.

Although Uncle Hu has martial arts, how can he be frightened, he couldn't help but be anxious, and shouted: "Get out of the way, get out of the way!" Hands tightly tightened the reins, trying to control the startled horse, but it didn't work for a while, the pedestrians on the street screamed and fled in all directions, but not everyone could avoid it, a seven- or eight-year-old child with a rock sugar gourd in his hand was probably frightened stupid, standing in the middle of the road, seeing that he was about to die tragically under the horse's hooves, the people on the street closed their eyes a little unbearably. At this moment of danger, a figure flashed, picked up the frightened child with one hand, and with the other hand was like a knife, and the other palm was like a knife, and the other palm was lightly cut into the ear of the startled horse, but when he heard the startled horse let out a wail, he staggered a few steps and fell to the ground. Uncle Hu in the carriage was caught off guard, grabbed the reins tightly and was dragged by the fallen horse, rolled on the ground a few times, and was wiped with blood on his face by the ice slag on the ground.

Xiao Qianniang's master and servant in the carriage screamed and rolled out of the carriage, and they were about to roll to the ground in embarrassment, the old man who came to the rescue flashed, and he had come to the front, and as soon as his hand was raised, a soft force helped Xiao Qianniang's master and servant up. After this difficulty, Xiao Qianniang had already lost the scarf on her face, revealing a face of Tianzi Guo Sè, and her face was pale for a moment before she came back to her senses and hurriedly greeted the old man: "Little woman, thank you to the old gentleman for coming to the rescue."

The old man looked at Xiao Qianniang expressionlessly and was just about to leave, when a middle-aged man in plain clothes walked out, reached out and picked up the jade pendant that Xiao Qianniang had fallen to the ground when she was tumbling just now, glanced at it, and asked, "Girl, where did this jade pendant come from?"

Xiao Qianniang said in a low voice: "It was sent by a friend who met in Pingshui."

"Oh." The middle-aged man nodded and said, "That's a good ......" Before the middle-aged man finished speaking, there was chaos on the street, hundreds of soldiers in bright armor dispersed the crowd of onlookers, and rushed to the front, a sweaty general did not pay attention to the ice slag and mud all over the ground, knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, the ministers are late to take over, and they are shocked by the holy car, and they deserve death!"

Emperor? The crowd of onlookers in the distance moved, and they all fell to their knees, shouting long live. The old man Kangxi frowned a little unhappily, and said lightly: "Go back to the palace and bring these two girls with you." As soon as he finished speaking, he strode towards the royal car who was hurrying not far away......