I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 588 Hawaii

The Ming Dynasty's voyage fleet stayed here for two months, and all the goods they brought were eaten by the local Spaniards.

Such a large amount of goods and commodities cannot be digested by the newly built Western Governor's Mansion (Arizona) alone. The Spaniards in Arizona, especially the colonial officials, must have taken the lead in being second-tier dealers to resell the goods to the Spaniards in Mexico, and the price should be higher than them.

However, this is an internal Spanish matter, and the Ming merchants will not take care of it. Moreover, the Mexican governor will definitely not lose money, and will even make a fortune. Even the second-hand traffickers here may have the tacit approval of the governor.

After all, the entire Spanish colony on the Yinzhou mainland was under their control and enriched their own pockets. They told the royal family that there were no gold and silver mines in Yinzhou, and the silver and gold shipped to the mainland were decreasing every year, but Yinzhou The European colonies continued to expand.

All the colonial bureaucracy, from the governor to the church, all joined forces to defraud the crown. Everyone made a fortune but the crown lost money.

Sucks!

Kang Zifei's trip was quite fruitful. Not only did he make a lot of money, but he also learned that there were many Chinese people in Yinzhou.

This can be considered an unexpected surprise!

Those Chinese merchants who accompanied us on the long voyage were so happy to sell goods when they came, but now they are frowning when they replenish supplies.

It’s so expensive! Fresh water and fruits are much more expensive than those in China. No wonder the Spaniards here are so poor that they only have money.

It seems that if they come to Yinzhou to trade next year, they will have to bring at least more goods, otherwise they may not be able to earn enough to supply supplies for their return journey.

Of course, this is just talk, and it is impossible to not have enough supplies. It is just that daily supplies are so expensive, which makes these maritime merchants who have only ripped off others for a long time find it very uneconomical.

After staying for more than two months, all the Chinese merchant ship warehouses were emptied. The three local Chinese businessmen who met Kang Zifei also secretly bought some goods and weapons.

"Dangdangdang..."

The bells of the port church rang not for worship, but to bid farewell to the Chinese fleets that brought them wealth.

"Kang, my Chinese friend. I hope we can meet again on this day next year." Torres personally brought colonial officials to the port.

Kang Zifei smiled and said: "I will bring more trade fleets from China next year."

The fleet left the port, and many Spaniards cheered in the port. They were going to hold a grand carnival.

In the past, these Arizona Spaniards would not have dared to be so extravagant and wasteful, but now the Chinese fleet has come back again and again, and has promised to come back next year and bring more fleet trade.

Trade on the east coast was declining, and the west coast might be able to seize the opportunity to become a new trading station, or even develop into the Governor's Territory of Arizona.

These Spaniards were naturally delighted when they saw the hope of getting rich.

But it was said that Kang Zifei left the port with the fleet and did not return to the Boxu (San Francisco) port. Instead, he returned directly. The mission of the voyage to Yinzhou had been completed, and there were many unexpected gains.

On the return route, Kang Zifei asked the record officer to cooperate with the sailors and make slight corrections. This is exploring new shipping lanes, and also paying attention to exploring the huge undiscovered archipelago somewhere in the Pacific Ocean entrusted by His Majesty.

The journey took more than half a year, but it will definitely be much faster when we go back, because there is less burden on the warehouse, and the journey is smooth and there are few storms, so there is enough time to explore the new channel.

The hurricane-prone period in the Pacific is generally concentrated in the second half of the year and does not exceed November.

It was already the end of December when Kang Zifei led the fleet back home. The fleet left the western coastline of Yinzhou, and the crew just celebrated a simple New Year on the ship.

On the deck, we brought out wine, food, salted fish, and prepared some vegetables and fruits. It’s not too lavish, the main thing is that there is wine to drink, and I’m not as nervous as when I came. Kang Zifei also took the lead in having two drinks, and then left so that the crew could have a meal and relax.

Although I can't immediately return to my hometown in China to celebrate the New Year, it's not too bad to drink and have fun with my life and death brothers who went to sea together.

After having dinner and having fun, it becomes boring.

Because we were too busy, it took us more than half a year to get there, and it was still a hurricane-prone period, but the crew and sailors had something to do. The return journey was smooth sailing, and even the lookouts had almost nothing to do.

Many sailors ran to the deck every day, chatting and bragging and basking in the sun. The age of navigation was both dangerous and boring. After more than a month of sailing like this, the lookout hand, who was so idle that he almost dozed off, suddenly glanced and saw a shadow of a sponge in the distance... Huh? Shadow, this guy suddenly became excited and quickly took out his telescope to observe carefully.

"Island? It's an island! There is an island in the sea!"

"Quickly inform Mr. Kang that we have discovered a big island on the sea!"

"..."

Kang Zifei's flagship instantly caused a sensation. After hearing the news, the sailors and crew members went up to the deck to look out. Even from such a distance, they could see a vague black shadow on the sea in the distance.

After receiving the signal from the flagship, the rest of the fleet quickly discovered that there was indeed an island in the distant sea, and it was a large island, otherwise it would not be visible at this distance.

After a while, Kang Zifei finally came to the deck. The soldier next to him quickly handed over the telescope: "There is really an island! Could this be the overseas island Hawaii that His Majesty said that has not been discovered by Westerners?"

Kang Zifei was amazed at first, and then said: "Quick, pass on the order, and the whole ship will sail to the big island immediately. Other merchant ships are willing to follow, and if they are not willing, they can leave the group and return home on their own."

Not a single merchant ship has left the fleet. Ocean voyages are inherently risky, and most of these merchant ships are one ship per family. If they leave the fleet without permission and encounter a shipwreck, they will not be able to be saved. "The Marquis of Donghai led the fleet, adjusted its course and sailed in the Pacific for more than a month, and finally saw a large island, calling it Hawaii..."

The recording officer quickly took notes and re-estimated the time and voyage based on the longitude and latitude at the time of travel.

The fleet received the order, changed course, and quickly approached the island.

As I got closer, I discovered that the island was not only big enough, but there were actually boats moored around the island.

But they are all very small, and you can even see the sails.

"Is it a ship or a sailing ship? There are barbarians living on the island."

"These boats are very small. Could it be that the barbarians on the island could only build such small boats?"

"That's pretty awesome, much stronger than the barbarians in Boxu. The barbarians here must be more civilized..."

"..."

The crew members were talking a lot. Kang Zifei was observing with a telescope the whole time, and he saw that although the hulls of the ships were small, their structures were very complete. And they all use sails, which are obviously not comparable to those Indians who can only row canoes.

Kang Zifei thought for a moment and cautiously ordered: "First send a battalion of soldiers to the island, and then push out all the artillery on the ship!"

A battalion of soldiers carried flintlock rifles on their backs and rowed several sampans and boats to quickly land on the beach.

The natives on the island soon discovered the Ming army soldiers who had landed, and they immediately gathered their troops under the orders of the chief.

The name of the great chief on this island is Alayi Alapai. The former "Alayi" is a title and can be understood as chief, king or leader.

The chief did not immediately fight the enemies who suddenly invaded the island during these festivals, but restrained the tribesmen and clansmen. Because he took a look at the several large ships docked, which were much larger than his own "warships", and there were more in number. They were obviously not easy to mess with.

"Tell Mr. Kang that the barbarians here did not attack us. They may want to negotiate."

Kang Zifei received the signal and quickly took the people to land in a small boat.

In his eyes, the clothing style of this indigenous chief was different from that of the previous Indians. It is obvious that this place is not too far from Yinzhou, but are the differences between the indigenous people already so great?

Kang Zifei's attitude was different from before. He ordered the flag carrier: "Sign the flag on the ship and ask them to fire at a place on the sea. It is best to see it from here."

The Alai Ala faction was also not far away from the opposite side, curiously looking at the outsiders opposite. The clothes they wore were very beautiful and special, and they looked different from them.

Kang Zifei asked another soldier to come forward to negotiate. The Alaiyala faction did not order an attack. They just stared at the opponent walking towards him holding a stick, shouting something, and pointed at the big ship behind him. refer to.

The Alaiya faction looked at the big ship. It was indeed big enough, much larger than their own "warship". The island tribes of these outsiders must be more powerful than their own.

"Oh!"

There was a loud bang, accompanied by fire and smoke.

The Alaiya faction was still imagining how powerful the other tribe was, when they saw flames spurting out from one side of the ship, and the sound was like thunder.

If it weren't for the scepter in his hand, he would have almost been knocked to the ground, and then he saw a huge wave rising on the sea not far away.

"This is...the power of Longnuo Spirit!"

Before the Alai'ara faction could recover from their fright, they heard the tribal priests who came with them murmuring.

The Alaiya faction was surprised and asked the priest behind him: "What's going on? Is God Longnuo really back?"

The priest said with certainty: "They must be the God of Longnuo. From what I saw just now, those ships are very similar in appearance to the instruments we used to worship Longnuo. Now that I think about it, how could such a huge ship be built by a mortal? It comes out, and their big ship can also spit out thunder. This is the incarnation of the God of Dragon Nuo in the mortal world!"

After hearing the priest's straightforward and well-founded explanation, Alai'ara immediately believed it.

No wonder these outsiders would suddenly land on the island during the festival, and their appearance is so similar to them. There is also such a giant ship that can spit out thunder. It turns out that the giant ship is the incarnation of the god Longnuo, and these people are the messengers of the god Longnuo. .

Kang Zifei was very lucky. Not only did he find the main island of the Hawaiian Islands, he also happened to catch up with the indigenous people on the island celebrating the "Makahiki Festival (New Year)".

This festival starts in October and ends in February of the following year. It is the largest traditional festival in Hawaii.

Legend has it that during every festival, the god Longnuo will return from the kingdom of God and bring harvest and rain. During this period, war and people's work are also prohibited.

In the remaining eight months, the god of war "Ku" will be sacrificed and war will be launched.

(End of this chapter)