Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1054 Discussion ([-])

"Can such a ship be built?" In Kushiro Port, Wei Boqiu held a blueprint of a 650-ton flute-shaped ship and asked Garcia: "If it can be built, there will be a lot of rewards!"

Garcia is actually a Han Chinese—to be precise, he is a descendant of the Han Chinese. His ancestors went to Luzon from Fujian many years ago to seek a living—but now he can hardly speak official Chinese, and he can’t even speak Fujian dialect well. He usually speaks either Spanish or the local dialect of Luzon. Therefore, apart from his blood, he is already a Southeast Asian Han who has lost his cultural characteristics in other respects.

However, after being detained by the people on the east coast, this guy was forcibly renamed Garcia, and he was not even allowed to pray in Christianity.

At this time, Wei Boqiu asked him with the blueprint. After listening to the words relayed by the translator, Garcia first discussed with his companion behind him in a low voice for a long time, and then replied respectfully: "Your Excellency General, this kind of We have never built a large ship before, and it seems to be a Dutch ship according to the model. However, I think we can try to build it. Although this ship is relatively large (Manila galleons are generally 200-300 tons), I I don't think this is a problem. It's just that our manpower is relatively short, and it seems that there are too few people here who know how to build ships."

"How sure are you that we can build a qualified ship?" Wei Boqiu asked immediately, "I want the exact number."

"About three-quarters of it." Garcia discussed with his partners for a while before replying: "However, the general's technicians are very poor, and he lacks experience in building large ships. We expect that the construction of this ship will The cycle will be extremely long, and the cost may also be high."

"You don't need to worry about the cost." Wei Boqiu waved his hand and said indifferently: "No matter how much money is spent, this ship has to be built. It's just that the shipbuilder can't solve it in a short time. I miss you guys. One person can lead some apprentices. I already have seven or eight technicians here, and they can also lead some apprentices. If there are fewer people, there will be fewer. The big deal is that the cycle of shipbuilding will be longer. I can afford it. That’s it, start today You start to make preparations, some of the wood has already been piled up in the shipyard, and someone will deliver the wood needed later, don’t worry.”

The seven or eight shipbuilding technicians that Wei Boqiu hired were all from the Heishui Shipyard in the north.Many people in this premier shipyard in the Heishui area were promoted by him, Wei, at that time. Although the factory was under the nose of his opponent Liang Xiangjian at this time, relying on his identity as Wei's deputy commander, a few technicians came out It is not difficult, so this has the basis of Kushiro Shipyard.

At present, these seven or eight technicians plus a dozen or so technicians from the original Cavite Port, if they bring dozens of apprentices, they can almost support this fledgling shipyard. After all, many of them ( Mainly technicians from Cavite) have built large ships of two to three hundred tons, and their experience cannot be said to be rich.

After finishing the matter of the ship, Wei Boqiu left the windy shipyard and went to his office to discuss the matter with his student Chen Shuo.

"We also have to get involved in the trade with Matsumae." Wei Boqiu said openly, "In the name of Japanese companies, we sell leather, salted fish, grain and salt to them. It's a pity that the most lucrative fake money trade Now it is in the hands of the development team, and no one else can touch it, otherwise, if this business is handed over to our company, I am afraid that it will not be able to turn the company into a profit immediately."

"That's inevitable, teacher." Chen Shuo skillfully stuffed Wei Boqiu's pipe with premium Virginia tobacco, and after lighting it, he said: "There are more and more waste coins in the Japanese market. I heard that the Dutch are a Ships carrying waste coins and copper to Vietnam for sale are very profitable. It’s a pity that we don’t have a license to sell goods on Dejima. The Japanese only allow a few Dutch ships to go there every year, and no one else is allowed to go to trade. , what a pity. The copper that the Dutch brought back to Europe from Japan caused the Swedish mining industry to suffer a cliff-like decline, not to mention that they can extract other precious metals from copper, which is really enviable. We now If you want to trade with Japan, it seems that there is only such a narrow window as the Shandan trade of the Matsumae Domain, but the scale cannot be large. If it is too large, it will be suppressed or even banned by the shogunate. Alas, it is really difficult and worrying. "

It seems that the continuous losses of the Japanese company have really put great pressure on Chen Shuo, Wei Boqiu's leader, so that he is trying to find ways to turn the company into a profit, but this is not easy - of course, there is no way , the Shandan trade and the North Korean trade that was officially launched at the end of last year are a path worth trying.

"The scale of Shandan trade with the Matsumae Domain should not be too large. Now the Matsumae Domain has cut a lot of quotas for buying rice from southern Japan, and instead purchased second-hand Korean rice from us, which has attracted the attention of many interested people. If not If we had had the foresight to drag down the Sendai Fan, a strong vassal in Northeast Japan many years ago, the fake money trade would have been unsustainable long ago." Wei Boqiu took a deep breath and said, "Shandan trade is acquiesced by the shogunate. Yes, but there are certain rules, the most important of which is undoubtedly the scale of the trade. The shogunate is not a fool. In the past, there were only two or three small cats in the Shandan trade, but now there are several big tigers popping up all at once. Everyone knows No. Originally, the fake money trade has already been raging, but now if we want to take advantage of the loopholes, hitch a ride and squeeze in to sell some other products, I am afraid that we will be brutally slaughtered by these Matsumae businessmen, but this is not true. If you want to develop quickly, you can only do so."

"What the teacher said is true." Chen Shuo bowed his head and replied, "To complete our plan, we can't do without more money and people. Now the talents have been established by Heishui Transportation College (a Japanese company, and Wei Boqiu, a later generation) Doctors in social sciences and their students give lectures, and most of them train social science talents), and the Anti-Qing Military and Political University in Yantai can also fool a group of people to come here. This aspect is not lacking. Now it is short of money, whether it is with Japan's trade or trade with North Korea is a good way to get money. Teacher, I will pay close attention to this matter, so don't worry."

"Yeah." Wei Boqiu nodded, and then reminded: "I remember that you have family members on the east coast, and you should take them over. If it doesn't work, just find a woman in Shandong or Ningbo to have a bunch of children. We Once the plan is successful in the future, someone must inherit the family business. You see, the eldest of my family works in the local area, and the second and third are all by my side. After the ship, money, food and people are available, we will Start organizing secret voyages. Once this is successful, wouldn’t it be great to be known as a loner outside in the future!”

Wei Boqiu's eldest son, Wei Jianzhang, is now working in the Syphilis Patient Statistics and Investigation Bureau as the section chief.And his second son also came to the Far East from the mainland two years ago. He is just 17 years old this year and has already participated in some plans; as for the third son, he was born to a concubine who secretly married in Shandong. He was personally educated by Wei Boqiu's side, because he was Wei Boqiu's chess piece to break into Japan, so he had high hopes for him.

"Teacher, the second son of Mingxing sailed to the northern part of the Thousand Islands a while ago, and when he came back, he told me that the sea is too foggy and the wind and waves are not small. If you want to sail from here to Alaska, the danger is still quite high. , I don’t know how those Spaniards got there, they’re so courageous!” Chen Shuo suddenly mentioned another thing, that was Wei Mingxing, Wei Boqiu’s second son He and a group of sailors drove a seaboat, sailed secretly from Akkeshi Port late one night, made a tentative voyage in the direction of the Kamchatka Peninsula, and finally turned back after arriving in the waters near Paramush Island.

After this exploratory voyage, Wei Mingxing and others have obtained many extremely valuable first-hand materials of the Northern Thousand Islands, paving the way for organizing larger-scale voyages in the future.Of course, Wei Boqiu and others can only organize such small-scale secret voyages at present. If they want to organize a large-scale fleet voyage (6-8 ships), they may have to wait for some years.At least, they have to wait until the Kushiro Shipyard has a certain scale. Before that, they can only explore silently and accumulate weather and hydrological data, sea ships, sailors, money and weapons, food and livestock, and production tools necessary for long-distance voyages. Waiting for everything - after all, starting from scratch, it is not that simple to get primitive accumulation.

"Let's talk about whether it's dangerous or not, but this matter must be carried forward, just like our efforts in the Matsumae Domain (make friends with the samurai and retainers of the Matsumae family, and strengthen the relationship). The two lines must be carried out at the same time." Wei Boqiu said with a straight face. "There is still a lot of oil and water to be squeezed out of the trade of the Matsumae clan, and it will be strengthened in the future. The other is the North Korean trade. I still have a bit of thin noodles in Wonsanjin. After a while, you can send a boat there to buy some North Korean specialties. By the way It is also very important to see if our products are sold there. It must not be sloppy, and must be taken seriously. I predict that after being tossed by Commander Shao, the Korean Kingdom will definitely bring us more benefits than Japan in the future, so We must work hard to manage it well, and we will have to raise the capital we need for major events in the future from here.”

"Also, pay attention to Liang Xiangjian. He is very hostile to me now. He blatantly opposed me at the Standing Committee meeting last year. It's very disgusting. We can't let him ruin our plan." Wei Boqiu finally said through gritted teeth.

(End of this chapter)