Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 235 Preparations for Nanyang
"one two Three!"

"boom--"

In mid-July, when the Ming Dynasty was still reforming the Weisuo, the lonely Ryukyu Mansion overseas seemed to be the only pure land.

Beigang Shipyard, the area around Keelung in later generations, can be said to be full of people at the moment.

There are nearly [-] million people in the Ryukyu Prefecture, of which nearly [-] live in the Beigang basin. As the only place with economic output and working to earn money, the Beigang Shipyard has more than [-] people.

Among the more than [-] people, nearly [-] were all migrant masters and apprentices from Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang.

Here, apprentices earn six hundred cash per month, and masters earn one tael or five cash.

Since preparations for construction in the twelfth lunar month of the second year of the Apocalypse, and since May of the fourth year of the Apocalypse, warships and merchant ships from the Tianjin Shipyard have been manufactured here.

Although technically inferior to Tianjin Shipyard, which can build tens of thousands of materials, Beigang ranks first among the four major shipyards of Longjiang, Nangang, Lushun, and Beigang that started at the same time.

So far, Beigang has been able to skillfully manufacture [-]-material merchant ships and supply ships, and [-]-material C-class warships.

The prosperity of the Shipbuilding Department has driven the shipyards in Nangang, Beigang, and Nanjing in disguise.

Although the maritime merchants continued to send "moistening pen silver" to the civil officials of various parties in the south of the Yangtze River, they have been suppressed and suppressed by Zhu Youjian since the third year of Tianqi.

Coupled with Zhu Youjian's appearance that he wants to collect land commercial taxes, who has the heart to manage maritime merchants?
Although the trade volume between the maritime merchants and the East and the West in this era reached tens of millions of taels, in fact, the simple tax collection could only charge a tariff of one or two million taels.

If you really want to make money, you can only monopolize the goods in maritime trade, and the Shibo Division is taking this path.

All maritime trade in Ming Dynasty gradually formed a closed loop of "raw material yard - Huangdian - Shibo Division - Maritime Merchant - Trading" after the supervision and inspection of the Shipbuilding Department.

After all sea merchants purchased goods in Huangdian, they began to pay taxes to the Shipbuilding Department, and after paying the tax, the Shipping Department issued a certificate, so that the ships could hang the iron plate of Huangdian and conduct offshore and ocean-going trade.

However, such a model is not without good things, because with the growth of the Shibo Division, the Navy's twelve guards will also send a fleet to protect the waterway.

In addition, the Twelve Guards of the Navy are also doing their best to attack all the pirates in the Daming sea area. This kind of attack is forcing all the armed merchants of the Ming Dynasty to turn into pure maritime merchants.

Some people who conduct maritime trade under the banner of pirates also have to change their appearance and pay taxes honestly.

It's not that they didn't want to resist, but when they saw the four first-class fleets with a total tonnage of more than [-] tons, their desire to resist was instantly extinguished.

How fast is Ming's shipbuilding?This can be seen from the "Southern Ships" in the Jiajing period. The Ministry of Industry issued an order in July, and the Longjiang Shipyard launched the warship in September.

During the Korean War, many shipyards in the Ming Dynasty built hundreds of warships before they even started to work hard.

Although the scale of those warships is not as good as the current Class C warships, the original shipyard is also not as good as the current shipyard.

In the five major shipyards of the Ming Dynasty, the total number of craftsmen and peasants working all year round has reached more than [-], far exceeding the scale of the Wanli period.

This is the result of the slowdown of the shipyards after the construction of the four first-class fleets. If calculated according to the peak period, the number of craftsmen and civilians in the five major shipyards in the third year of Apocalypse exceeded [-].

Such a huge scale was originally for the construction of warships, but with the gradual improvement of warships, the five major shipyards began to turn to the construction of civilian merchant ships.

Especially after the Shipbuilding Department had completely stabilized its position at sea, a large number of merchants in Ming Dynasty went to major shipyards with money, just like today...

"Captain, if these merchant ships are equipped with rams, they may be able to ram and sink the warships of the Red Haired Yi and the Big Frang Robot with a single blow."

"Well, the amount of cargo carried is also enough."

On the wharf of the Beigang Shipyard, among the tens of thousands of peasants and craftsmen coming and going, there are also maritime merchants who come to buy merchant ships on the road.

However, unlike in the past, Beigang ushered in a big customer this time.

Under an unfinished merchant ship of [-] materials, a sea merchant in his fifties stretched out his hand to caress the merchant ship, and there were hundreds of people around him.

This sea merchant has a famous name, the leader of the Han people "Jiabidan", of course, he prefers his real name, Li Dan...

Li Dan was a well-known maritime merchant, whose ancestral home was from Quanzhou, Fujian Province. He did business in the Philippines during the Wanli period. Due to disagreements with the local Spanish rulers, he moved to Japan to settle in Kyushu Island and became the leader of the local overseas Chinese.

In the following thirty years, Li Dan organized merchant ships to engage in maritime trade among Japan, Ming Dynasty, Ryukyu, and Southeast Asian countries. It is said that Tokugawa Ieyasu was funded by Li Dan on the way to unify Japan.

Due to the large fleet under his command, he was revered as "Japitan" by the Europa people in Nanyang, which was their highest title for the leader of the Han people at that time.

However, no matter how powerful Li Dan is, he is still an individual. When Shibo starts to exert his strength, the so-called Jiapidan also needs to bow his head honestly.

When his trade in Nanyang and the coast of Daming was blocked, he immediately led all the ship owners under his command to the south and came to Beigang to discuss maritime trade with the Shipping Department.

The one who spoke just now was Yan Siqi, the second in command of Li Dan's group.

However, compared to Li Dan who went south just to do business, Yan Siqi's south was a bit embarrassing.

Last month, Yan Siqi joined Yang Tiansheng, Chen Zhongji, Zheng Zhilong and other [-] people to worship as brothers and made an oath: "Born on different days, death must be at the same time".

After that, everyone elected Yan Siqi as the leader of the alliance, planning to overthrow the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, establish a political power in Japan, and accept the canonization of the Ming Dynasty.

But before they could do anything, the matter was leaked because of the betrayal of the traitors. The Tokugawa shogunate immediately sent troops to search for them, and Yan Siqi could only lead the crowd to flee in thirteen ships in panic.

The reason why they are said to be a group, but Li Dan is not affected, is mainly because Li Dan is mainly engaged in open maritime trade, while Yan Siqi is in charge of escorting secretly.

One is a businessman and the other is a pirate. They have different identities, but they can cooperate and win-win.

Therefore, when Li Dan knew that the Shibo Division was rising and maritime trade was about to change, Li Dan took the initiative to send people to Kyushu Island, found Yan Siqi and others who were avoiding the pursuit of soldiers, and explained the reason.

The strength of the Shibo Division's crackdown on pirates and the new rules at sea all illustrate one thing, that is, if you want to be a maritime merchant, you must listen to the Shibuji Division.

In this way, Li Dan, Yan Siqi and others traveled southward to the Ryukyu Islands and arrived at Beigang Shipyard a month later.

Before entering the shipyard, they witnessed the passage of a second-class fleet. The main ship of [-] materials and the other auxiliary ships of [-] materials and [-] materials were shocking, and their legs trembled.

That's why Yan Siqi was the first to speak when they found out that they could buy a large merchant ship as soon as they entered the harbor.

Li Dan also agreed with his proposal very much, but when they were still observing the shipyard, a group of twelve navy guards appeared and broke the situation.

"Captain Li, please bring the captain who can be the master, and go to Beigang City Shipping Department, and Deputy Shen will invite you to see me."

The twelve navy guards and horses were not afraid in the face of hundreds of ship owners, and the leading small flag officer even looked at Li Dan without hesitation.

Such an unexpected situation caused hundreds of ship owners to involuntarily touch their waists.

Just before they moved, the artillery on the fort of Beigang Shipyard turned around and aimed at them.

"Since Deputy Shen proposed the invitation, I dare not refuse..."

Li Dan caught a glimpse of the movement of the fort, then bowed in response, and turned to Yan Siqi and the others:
"Brother Yan, Zhilong, come with me to meet Deputy Shen Tiju."

"Yes..." Yan Siqi, who was over [-] years old, and Zheng Zhilong, who had just turned [-], could only agree. Then Li Dan called several more powerful ship owners to form thirteen people, and followed the navy soldiers and horses into the carriage. On the road to meet Shen Tingyang.

It is more than forty miles from the shipyard wharf to Shibosi.

Even though Shibosi had tamped the road and rested it, the speed of the four-wheeled carriage still couldn't be raised.

Along the way, Li Dan, Yan Siqi, Zheng Zhilong and others opened the windows to look at the outdoors, and what they saw were the winding and rugged mountain roads and the post stations that could be seen from time to time.

They thought this was the case in the whole of Ryukyu, but after an hour, as the carriage entered Beigang County, the surrounding scene suddenly became clear. What they saw were the people who were constantly digging the soil, burning weeds, and tidying up the fields.

Tens of thousands of people were tidying up the fields for a distance of more than ten miles. Such a scene is jaw-dropping.

"I heard that the reclamation of the Ryukyu Mansion was ordered by the King of Qi. As long as all the people arrive at the Ryukyu Mansion on the ships of the Shipbuilding Division, they can get free farm tools and enough food for a year."

"In the next two years, the government will continue to distribute grain until the fields produce something..."

"I think there are no less than a hundred thousand people in Beigang, and I'm afraid they eat millions of stones every year. Only the imperial court can do such a good deed..."

Yan Siqi's exclamation made Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but said: "If we had done this a few years earlier, there would be no need for so many people to go to sea for..."

In the middle of his speech, he felt that he shouldn't have said it, so he closed his mouth, while Li Dan glanced out of the window and at the people plowing the fields before saying:

"I heard that the king of Qi also ordered such a settlement in Liaodong. If the king of Qi was born [-] years earlier, I'm afraid I would not go to sea to do business."

Li Dan made it clearer, which made Yan Siqi and Zheng Zhilong nod their heads.

To put it bluntly, there is a reason why most of the pirates and maritime merchants in the late Ming Dynasty were Fujianese.

Fujian's population developed in the late Ming Dynasty and reached the limit of this era.

Fujian in later generations was able to feed [-] million people because of the timely allocation of grain, but in this era there was no railway, and the amount of grain allocation was too small.

Even when grain production increases in later generations, Fujian's food self-sufficiency rate is only 30%. In this era when Fujian's population may have exceeded [-] million, if you leave Fujian, you will starve to death.

It is precisely because of this that a large number of Fujianese, Guangdong and Guangxi people began to engage in maritime trade, and even migrated to Nanyang and Japan to live.

If under such a situation, the immigration policy is implemented earlier in the Ming Dynasty, the people in provinces such as Fujian will only respond, not resist.

Li Dan and the others are thankful for these fellow villagers, but also feel unfortunate that they did not encounter such a thing back then.

The atmosphere of the carriage fell to the bottom for a while, and after another two long hours, with the sound of evening drums in Beigang County, four carriages entered Beigang County under the guard of soldiers.

After a quarter of an hour, the carriage stopped, and the door of the four-wheeled carriage was opened. The little banner official bowed and said:
"Captain Li, we are here, we can get off the car."

"Thank you, Mr. Jun." Li Dan got out of the car and saluted, making a gesture to pay for the money, but the little flag officer turned his back on seeing this and rejected Li Dan's move.

It's not that he doesn't want it, but that the imperial court is strict in governing the army, and he will be expelled from active service for corruption.

Compared with a few taels of silver, what he wants is the annual military salary and the military farm in the future.

Seeing that the Xiaoqi officer would not accept it, Li Dan could only put away the money, and then, under the leadership of the Xiaoqi officer, he led the other twelve shipowners into the Yamen of Beigang City Shipping Department.

Walking into the gate, bypassing the screen wall, and passing through the long stone plaza, they immediately saw the two people sitting in the main seats of the hall.

Thirteen people were introduced into the meeting hall, and Li Dan took the lead in bowing:

"Li Dan, from Quanzhou, Fujian, has seen Deputy Shen's promotion, Governor Huang..."

"Oh? Have you seen me?" Huang Long was a little surprised. After all, he had the impression that he had never met Li Dan, but Li Dan smiled and said:
"Although I haven't seen it before, but Caomin thought about it, and the only one who can sit on an equal footing with Deputy Shen in the Ryukyu Mansion is Captain Huang."

"Hehe, as expected of a sea merchant running across the Daming Sea, he has good eyesight." Huang Long smiled and motioned them to sit down.

Seeing this, Li Dan led others to bow to thank him again, and then carefully sat on the left and right sides, sitting upright without daring to be contemptuous.

When he was sitting upright talking with Huang Long, Shen Tingyang didn't speak until they sat down, Shen Tingyang said:
"Li Dan, you are extremely powerful, I mean, I was planning to eradicate you..."

As soon as Shen Tingyang opened his mouth, Li Dan and the others felt terrified, but soon Shen Tingyang said again:

"However, His Royal Highness King Qi ordered that you are allowed to trade in the Daming sea area, so you will be exempted from death."

"Dan, Your Highness Xie and Deputy Shen raised Long En." Li Dan stood up and bowed to express his gratitude, but soon Shen Tingyang said again:

"Don't be too happy, although His Highness excused you, it's all because His Highness needs you to do something."

"Deputy Shen, please speak frankly..." Hearing that King Qi needs him now, Li Dan also developed some courage.

In this regard, Shen Tingyang was not uncomfortable, but said bluntly:
"The Europeans invaded Nanyang and disrespected my Ming Dynasty. Now His Royal Highness Qi issued a military order. I hope that you, as the guides of the Huanglong Army, will help my Daming regain Nanyang!"

"..."

When Shen Tingyang said what he said, the pupils of Li Dan and the thirteen people trembled.

Recovering Nanyang, the simple four words, Li Dan and the others are not unexperienced. When the Spaniards made a massacre in Luzon, Emperor Wanli had thought of sending troops to Nanyang, but was stopped by hundreds of officials.

Li Dan, who heard the news at the time, was quite sorry, but after fourteen years, he heard the news again, and the news was told by His Royal Highness King Qi himself, who was able to call the shots, and was relayed.

This attitude is obviously different from the situation in the Wanli period.

Thinking of the benefits that his own fleet could gain after Daming got Nanyang, Li Dan immediately said:

"Caomin has more than [-] merchant ships and more than [-] sailors under his command. If His Highness does not dislike him, Caomin is willing to cooperate."

Li Dan's power is huge, and the so-called more than ten thousand sailors are actually what he said at least, and the reason why he said less is because their power is actually an alliance of interests.

However, now that Daming Hai has a new order, he can't guarantee that others will follow his orders.

However, Shen Tingyang and Huang Long didn't care about the number of sailors under his command. What they cared about was Li Dan's fleet's familiarity with the Nanyang waterways.

"In your opinion, if I, Ming Dynasty, want to send [-] troops, how much food and fodder do I need to prepare?"

Huang Long asked about the issues he cared about, and Li Dan, who often organizes fleets to trade in Nanyang, also familiarly said:
"There are two routes to Nanyang. One goes directly south to Luzon through Nangang, and arrives in Manila in about half a month. After that, it goes south to Sulu, Brunei, crosses the sea and arrives in Batavia, and then walks west for a few days to reach Old Port. The waters of Canada all over the country."

"The other is to go to Fujian through Beigang, go along the coast of Guangdong and Guangxi, replenish in Annan, pass through Siam, Dani, Dingjialu, Pahang, Johor along the coast, cross the sea to the old port, and go east to Batavia, Java. Lai, Sulu, and then arrived in Luzon."

"The two routes, the first one is completed and then returned to Nangang, it only takes about four months, and the second one takes about six months."

"However, if you want to go the first way, you must let the fleet arrange the supply places in advance. You must send people to establish a hidden supply area in northern Luzon, then take down Manila, continue south, and go south after supply in Sulu and Brunei."

"As for the second provision, it's much more convenient. If the countries in Southeast Asia hear that our soldiers are coming, they probably won't dare jump on the beam."

Li Dan talked about the deterrent power of Ming Dynasty in Nanyang, and Shen Tingyang glanced at Huang Long after hearing the words, Huang Long said after thinking:
"Take the first route. First, we will destroy Dafraji and Hongmaoyi, recover the old port, then re-cultivate and cultivate the old port, visit all countries, and then return to Daming."

"According to His Highness's temperament, I'm afraid the people will be relocated to the places that have been conquered." Shen Tingyang discussed with Huang Long:

"If you really want to fight, I'm afraid you have to send people to Siam in advance to prepare a lot of food and fodder."

"Once the army sets out to conquer Luzon, the Siamese fleet will need to transport food and fodder to Luzon, Java, and the old port."

"The matter of transporting grain can be handed over to the grassroots, and the supply of Luzon can also be handled by the grassroots." Li Dan immediately stepped forward to take over this task, while Shen Tingyang glanced at him and said:

"Alright, I'll let you be the guide, and the Shipbuilding Department will send a fleet to follow."

"As for the supply of Luzon, if it is possible, we can start to deal with it now."

"I'll have someone transfer thirty thousand taels of silver to you in a moment. How to handle it is up to you, but if it delays the army..."

"You can cut the heads of the grassroots!" Li Dan boldly responded, and Shen Tingyang also leaned on the chair when he saw him on the road, and said easily:

"If Nanyang can be successfully recovered, you will be responsible for the future fleet of the Ming Navy."

"Thank you for the promotion of Deputy Shen, Captain Huang!" Li Dan was a little excited when he heard that he could be responsible for the supply of the twelve guards of the Ming Navy.

The twelve guards of the navy, the supplies for more than [-] people, if they are well managed, can make a profit of more than [-] taels of silver every year.

And this is just a small head, the real big head is to be able to follow the twelve guards of the navy to sell goods in various countries.

With the fleet escort of twelve navy guards, Li Dan's fleet will be the safest fleet in the Daming sea area in the future.

"For the recovery of Nanyang, the specific time to send troops depends on when Li Dan arranges all the supply places."

Huang Long suddenly opened his mouth, and Li Dan immediately bowed and said:
"In just three months, the grassroots can prepare the food and vegetables needed by an army of [-]."

"Hmm..." Huang Long was very satisfied, but he still said, "I'll wait for your news in three months."

"in addition……"

Speaking of this, Huang Long looked at Yan Siqi, narrowed his eyes and said:
"Yan Siqi, His Royal Highness Qi Wang heard that you tried to overthrow the shogunate in Japan, is there such a thing?"

When Huang Long changed the subject, everyone who participated in the overthrow of the shogunate, including Yan Siqi and Zheng Zhilong, felt tense. Regarding this, Yan Siqi could only bite the bullet and say:
"It's true, but the grassroots want to overthrow the shogunate and dedicate Japan to the imperial court, absolutely not..."

"Since you have the heart, let's continue." When Huang Long spoke, everyone was stunned.

Before they could react, Huang Long continued:
"Starting tomorrow, all the twenty-six people you worship and the sailors under your command will go to Dayuan County. I have already arranged soldiers and horses there."

"They will teach you the art of war, teach you how to use Yanshan General Cannon and Yanshan Rifle Gun."

"In addition, from now on, you and the more than [-] people under your command will belong to the Fusi of Jinyiwei North Town."

Huang Long's words stunned Yan Siqi, Zheng Zhilong and the others. They did not expect that the imperial court would use their hands to clean up the shogunate.

However, this gave these ambitious people a chance. They secretly had official positions and Huanglong's support. Even if the Tokugawa shogunate wanted to encircle and suppress them, it would not be so easy.

Just from Huang Long's mouth, when they heard the words "more than two thousand people", they were all shocked.

These four words clearly stated their general number, which may indicate that the imperial court had already sent people to go deep into them.

For a moment, several people who participated in this matter glanced at the others secretly.

"Starting tomorrow, you are allowed to recruit three thousand soldiers in the Ryukyu Mansion."

Huang Long spoke again, which doubled the confidence of Yan Siqi and others in overthrowing the shogunate.

"Grassmen thank the governor Long En!"

Yan Siqi got up first, knelt down to salute, and Zheng Zhilong and others also knelt down to salute.

Huang Long watched them salute with his own eyes, then motioned them to get up, but finally said:

"This is a handwritten letter from His Royal Highness. After reading it, burn it on the spot."

Hearing this, Yan Siqi stepped forward respectfully, then took the handwritten letter and opened it carefully.

At first, his complexion was normal, but in the next second his complexion started to look strange and became more and more ugly.

The first time he finished reading the handwriting, he strode to the nearby candlestick, lit the handwriting, and bowed to Huang Long:
"Your Highness's request, Caomin has seen it clearly, please pass it on to Your Highness, Caomin will definitely live up to His Highness..."

"If that's the case, then step back..." Huang Long served tea to see off the guests, and although Li Dan and the others were curious about what Yan Siqi saw, they didn't dare to ask for a while.

The thirteen people got up and bowed to leave, and Huang Long also looked at the handwritten letter that was burnt to black ash suspiciously.

"What did His Highness write to make this guy look so ugly..."

He was thinking about this question, and when Li Dan and Yan Siqi were arranged to rest in the inner courtyard of Shibosi, everyone went to Yan Siqi's room one by one, wanting to ask him what he saw.

But in the face of their inquiries, even if Li Dan asked personally, Yan Siqi remained tight-lipped and only responded with three words.

"can not say……"

Seeing this, everyone had no choice but to leave, while Yan Siqi sat down on the main seat in the hall of the small courtyard with a dark face.

He recalled the content of the handwriting he saw just now, and his face became more and more gloomy:

"This matter must never be known to a third person..."

　It is estimated that the car will be sealed tonight, and when I arrive home in the early morning, I will be quarantined at home for seven days, and the two shifts will resume tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)