My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 912 Return to Venice

Zhu Zhantan decided to return to Beijing, but Zhu Zhanhe could not persuade him, so he had no choice but to agree. As juniors, Zhu Qinuo and Zhu Qikai also wanted to persuade Zhu Zhantan, but it obviously had no effect.

So Zhu Zhanhe and his family stayed in Port Mufas for a few days. In the past few days, Zhu Zhantan also began to prepare for the handover. Originally, there were officials stationed here at Port Mufas. All he had to do was let them take over temporarily. Zhu Zhanhe will send someone to take over again.

A few days later, Zhu Zhanhe's fleet left Mufas Port, and Zhu Zhantan personally saw them off.

Zhu Zhanhe stood on the boat and waved goodbye to Zhu Zhantan. When the port disappeared under the horizon, he sighed, then turned and returned to the cabin.

Now the Mediterranean has been included in the Han's sphere of influence. In addition to Cyprus and Rhode Island, the Han has also established several strongholds in the western Mediterranean, such as Sicily and the Strait of Gibraltar. All those who dared to resist the Han's forces were wiped out. The only remaining Venice, which preserved its naval strength, was a close ally of the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, in the Mediterranean, the most common ones are the merchant ships of Han Dynasty and Venice. The two countries almost control most of the trade in the entire Mediterranean. Many of them are merchants, and they even expand their trade to other port cities in Europe through the Strait of Gibraltar.

The current Dahan navy has three main forces, one of which is stationed in Beizheng Port and Lion Port. This is Dahan's home fleet, which is mainly used to defend the security of Dahan's homeland.

The other is the Nanyang Fleet, mainly stationed in Manchuria, safeguarding the interests of the Han Dynasty in the Nanyang area.

The last one is the Mediterranean Fleet, which is also the most powerful fleet of the Han Dynasty. This fleet does not have a fixed station, but patrols back and forth between several important ports in the Mediterranean.

In addition, the personnel and warships of these three fleets are not fixed, but rotate every three years. For example, Zhang Zhong controlled the Mediterranean Fleet at the beginning, but later it was rotated to the mainland, and then to Nanyang, and now it has been Controls the navy in Southeast Asia.

The reason why the navies are rotated is, firstly, to prevent a certain navy from becoming big in the local area, and secondly, to increase the internal exchanges between the three navies. For example, the local navy can only clean up pirates and rarely has experience in large-scale operations. Therefore, There was a need to rotate men and ships with the other two navies.

The Mediterranean Fleet had long known that Zhu Zhanhe was coming, and General Hong, who was in charge of the fleet, also rushed to Rhode Island to greet him.

This old general Hong was a personal guard of Zhu Gaoxu. After joining the navy, due to his outstanding performance, he became one of the three major generals of the navy and was awarded the title of Pingbo Hou. His son also married a princess of the Han Dynasty, who is Zhu Zhanhe's sister. .

Speaking of which, Zhu Gaoxu not only has many sons, but also many daughters. Even he himself cannot recognize them all. As the eldest brother, Zhu Zhanhe organizes a gathering of brothers and sisters in the capital once a year, so he can barely recognize them all. The son of General Hong married Ancheng The princess was born to Concubine Guo, and her birth was very noble. Zhu Zhanhe had a good relationship with this sister.

General Hong is over sixty years old, but he has a strong body, more black hair and less white beard, and a very loud voice. He is very enthusiastic when he sees Zhu Zhanhe.

Zhu Zhanhe was also very happy and chatted a lot with General Hong at the reception banquet, mainly to learn about the recent situation of the Mediterranean fleet.

In fact, the situation of the Mediterranean Fleet has not changed much. Before Zhang Zhong left office, he had laid a very solid foundation for the Mediterranean Fleet. Now that General Hong has taken over, his main purpose is to consolidate the fleet's position in the Mediterranean. So after General Hong introduced the situation of the fleet, he turned the topic to another matter, that is, the fleet exploring America. This fleet was sponsored by the Han court and consisted of five warships as the main body. There were also many private ships participating, forming a large fleet.

This exploration of the Americas cannot actually be called exploration, because the Atlantic Ocean is only half the size of the Pacific Ocean, and the distance from the Strait of Gibraltar to the American continent is even closer, even only one-third of the route from the Ming Dynasty to the Americas.

European merchants had arrived in the Americas before due to the Trek, but no one knew that it was a new continent at the time. Even some merchants from Han Dynasty had accidentally arrived in the Americas a few years ago.

Therefore, the fleet sent to America this time is said to be for exploration. In fact, the route has almost been decided. As long as it does not encounter a particularly big natural disaster, there will not be any great danger. Otherwise, Zhu Zhanhe would not agree to let Zhu Qinuo Get on board.

Zhu Zhanhe also introduced Zhu Qinun to General Hong and asked him to arrange a new identity for Zhu Qinun to board the ship. General Hong was also very surprised by this. After all, he was the son of the prince and the king of the Han Dynasty. If something unexpected happened, , he can't afford it.

Therefore, General Hong also advised Zhu Zhanhe to be cautious, but Zhu Qinuo's attitude was very firm. Zhu Zhanhe had already agreed to him before, so he could no longer go back on his words. In the end, General Hong had no choice but to agree and promised to personally arrange for Zhu Qinuo. About boarding the ship.

Zhu Zhanhe did not stay in Rhode Island for too long. Originally, General Hong wanted to arrange for him to inspect the Black Sea Strait. Constantine of the Roman Empire had succeeded to the throne and officially became Constantine XI. After his Under the rule of Rome and with the help of the Han Dynasty, Rome regained a lot of territory in Europe, and now it has finally regained some strength.

Therefore, Constantine XI learned that Zhu Zhanhe was coming and was eager to see him.

However, Zhu Zhanhe decided to go to Venice first. After returning from Venice, he would then go on a tour of the Black Sea Strait. After all, there were more things there and it would take more time.

Therefore, after Zhu Zhanhe left Rhode Island, he went all the way north and soon entered the waters controlled by Venice.

The Venetians had been notified long ago, so they prepared a welcoming team early. When Zhu Zhanhe's fleet entered the Adriatic Sea, the welcoming fleet immediately stepped forward to meet Zhu Zhanhe, and then Led their fleet to the waters off Venice.

The last time Zhu Zhanhe and Helen came back, they caused a huge sensation in Venice. Now, after many years, they came to Venice again, which naturally caused an even greater shock.

Especially because of Helen's book, Zhu Zhanhe had a high reputation in Venice and even in Europe. Therefore, in response to his arrival, countless Venetians gathered at the port, wanting to have a glimpse of the majestic prince.

Although Helen's father and mother were old, they still came to the dock in person to welcome their daughter and son-in-law. Of course, the most important thing was her grandson Zhu Qikai.

So when Zhu Zhanhe's family got off the boat and appeared on the dock, everyone on the dock seemed to be going crazy.

(End of this chapter)