Dragon Sea Empire

Although his adventurous plan made the Zeng family a lot of money, the Zeng family itself is not very powerful in the official circles of the imperial court. Only Zeng Qi pays tribute to the supervisor as the second official of the prefecture and county, and his wealth and strength are also limited, so the adventurous spirit is far away. It's not as good as Yin Feng who ventured into the world alone.

"Brother Feng, businessmen talk about business, and businessmen talk about profit. Your plan is intended to be profitable, for my Zeng family, and for yourself." After listening to Yin Feng's crazy plan, Zeng Qi said slowly: "After all, you are from overseas, and you don't know the inside story of my Ming Dynasty. The so-called tree is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it. This year, a good name firm has been too dazzling. Next year, all transactions must not be risky again. Business is about long-term flow."

Yin Feng thought about it calmly, then nodded: "Master Zeng's words are absolutely true, the boy is reckless."

In fact, on the day he left Macau for Yazhou, after thinking about it over and over again, he almost denied his plan by himself.However, he only denied the plan of the Zeng family to cooperate in "Tongwa"; he planned to discuss going to Japan with Bernardo, Li Dan and others.Anyway, sooner or later, Li Dan will go to Japan to do business, so I will be a butterfly that changes history and let him go a few years in advance.

After running around all year this year, he inquired about the Zeng family's family background one after another from Zeng Jingshan.The Zeng family used to be a wealthy family in Chaozhou. Before the Jiajing year, they made their fortune by colluding with pirates and smuggling.During the period of the Great Japanese Pirates in Jiajing, they were also involved in the activities of "Japanese Pirates" to varying degrees. However, from the early years of Jiajing to the Longqing period, the appearance of the bandit Zeng Yiben almost wiped out the Zeng family.

Zeng Yiben was a slave of the Zeng family, the lowest servant with slave status.Then suddenly he became a mountain and sea bandit in Fujian and Guangdong, gathering as many as 10 people at most.In order to avenge the past abuse of the master's family, Zeng Yiben killed the Zeng family until only Zeng Ke, Zeng Qi, and Zeng Bai were left.The Zeng family's stockade was destroyed by fire, and the residential compound was razed to the ground.

The Zeng family brothers fled to Quanzhou and Fuzhou for refuge.In the third year of Longqing (1569), after Zeng Yiben was wiped out by the government army, the Zeng family, with the help of distant relatives, settled in Quanzhou with the remaining money.After that, the three brothers relied on their past business relationships to start a business.After the catastrophe, the three brothers of the Zeng family realized that in order to keep the family safe, money alone is not helpful. Official positions and certain political status are also necessary to ensure property and personal safety.Zeng Qi, who was originally a child student, worked hard to be admitted as a student member, but then failed the township examination three times, and finally spent money to get the title of tribute supervisor, and was sent by the official department to Tianya Haijiao as a state judge.

In the Ming Dynasty, when the imperial examination system was developed to a mature level, "the imperial examination must be given by the school", and "non-examination candidates are not allowed to be an official", paying tribute to the supervisor (buying the title of supervisor for non-students) is slightly superior, but in fact it is not much The difference; in the eyes of ordinary scholars in the Ming Dynasty, this is not the right way to become an official.The regular supervisors can only be elected as the assistants of the prefecture and county (zhoutong, prefectural judge, county official, and chief book), the chief secretary, the procuratorate, and the chief official of the government (such as Dian Shi, etc.). She belonged to Shanglinyuan, and she became a different person all her life, and she was stared at all the time.Zeng Qi is such an alternative to the normal course of the imperial examination. He is in his 50s, and his career promotion is basically hopeless.

The hope of the Zeng family lies in Zeng Shan, the son of Zeng Bai, the youngest of the Zeng family, who is Zeng Yue's cousin.He will take part in the imperial examination this year. If he succeeds in the examination, he will become the first person in the history of the Zeng family, and the Zeng family will also become a bureaucratic family with a formal background in the imperial examination.

Therefore, in the short term, the Zeng family pinned their hope of rejuvenating the family business on Zeng Shan, and business and trade have taken a backseat.

Yin Feng denied his plan, but only his plan to cooperate with the Zeng family.He decided to build a ship by himself and join forces with Bernardo and Li Dan to continue to open up new business routes.But for the time being, he still wants to maintain the employment partnership with the Zeng family. After all, the Zeng family treats him well and does not interfere with his own business.Although Yin Feng already has tens of thousands of taels of wealth, all his wealth and life are attached to the Zeng family in Quanzhou.It's not that he wants to do this, but it's something he has no choice but to do.After all, he was a bottomless commoner with no foundation in the Ming Dynasty.However, in any case, as long as he still controls the foreign trade channels, his wealth and life should still be safe.

Yin Feng didn't know that Zeng Qi was still very satisfied with him, and the little worry that he might endanger the Zeng family at the beginning of the year disappeared.He learned from Zeng Jingshan: Yin Feng is not a social person by nature, he has been running around all year but has kept a low profile, Zeng Jingshan is basically doing the publicity.Not only will he never exceed his authority to embezzle, but Yin Feng actually became an accountant himself.What is even more reassuring is that Yin Feng seldom went to Fireworks and Willow Alley, at most he went with Zeng Jingshan to entertain important clients.Zeng Qi feels that although this person is sometimes impulsive and reckless, it is also out of loyalty, stable and reliable, low-key and serious in his work.He revealed the plan that had been brewing for nearly a year, pulled Yin Feng and said: "Your parents have died early, so you can make decisions about the marriage. Right now, there is a great marriage. I don't know how my nephew..."

In Yazhou and Hangzhou, people have tried to match him more than once.Yin Feng hurriedly wanted to find an excuse to decline, but Zeng Qi waved his hand to gag him, and continued: "I have two sons, the eldest has been betrothed to someone else; the youngest is still in her boudoir; her character is quite gentle and virtuous, haha , what do you think, nephew?"

Yin Feng was speechless for a while: I didn't expect Zeng Qi to take the initiative to be a matchmaker for his youngest daughter, and he still looks like he must marry him. What should I do?

Taking reality, reason and interests as the starting point, Yin Feng should agree immediately.But after all, Yin Feng received his enlightenment education in the 20th century. Although sexual games with sex do not violate his moral bottom line, marriage is another matter, as if it should be related to love.All of a sudden, realism clashed with the romanticism in his heart, his face was flushed, and he said incoherently: "This, this...isn't right? Marriage is a major event in life. There is no tile on the top and no space on the bottom of the boy. But it will be wronged..."

From Zeng Qi's point of view, his performance is a manifestation of his integrity without selfishness and unwillingness to cling to officials and officials.Out of the instinct of that era, Zeng Qi thought that if a vagrant businessman like Yin Feng could climb into a small official's family like his, he would undoubtedly be on the top, so why would he have other ideas.He couldn't help but smiled and patted Yin Feng on the shoulder: "You don't know yet, do you? I've bought a house for you in Quanzhou, and I've cleared up the relationship and transferred your household registration to Quanzhou. Right now, you are very wealthy ,Ha ha!"

Yin Feng left Zeng's house without a word, and was dragged to the hotel by Fatty Li on the way, saying that he must ask for some advice on how to make accounts.However, in the hotel, Boss Li did not talk about the double-entry bookkeeping method, but introduced him to Zeng Qi's daughter: According to him, the second daughter of the Zeng family is a concubine. She is 17 years old this year. It was born by a prostitute who was brought back by the supervisor.His mother had already died of illness, and Zeng Qi was brought up by Zhengfang, who said she was extremely beautiful.Helplessly, Zeng's eldest wife is more aggressive, and the girl has suffered a lot, and has never found her a husband--according to the local custom of early marriage, a 17-year-old woman should have children.

"The Zeng family treats you well, so you have to reassure them." In the end, Boss Li said this sentence without thinking.At this time, Yin Feng's rationality and realistic interests balance overwhelmed morality and romanticism in the balance of life.Of course, generally speaking, this is the case both at all times and in all over the world.

The mother is a beautiful woman from Qinhuai, so the daughter will not be bad, right?Yin Feng thought to himself mockingly, and went back to his residence in Haozihao.He is not an ascetic monk, and he also had the experience of chasing girls when he was a student; after coming to this era, he is busy fighting for his own survival and rarely thinks about women.Out of romanticism, he likes beautiful women and love; based on practical interests, he must compromise with social reality. This is the helpless choice of Yin Feng, who is still under the fence.

Back at the Haozihao firm, he walked into his yard in a sad mood.Magaro still lives in the old house in Hebo, five miles away from the city. Yin Feng is not particular about his personal life and likes to do it himself.

However, as soon as he opened the door, he saw Mai Wan'er standing under the eaves, timidly there.Then Uncle Mai's face weathered by the sea breeze greeted him, he couldn't help but pull Mai Wan'er over, saying that Yin Feng had rescued the young and old of their family several times, but there was no repayment, so he sent Mai Wan'er to him Slaves are servants.

Confused, Yin Feng asked the sky speechlessly: Is today a peach blossom catastrophe or a peach blossom luck? Why do people keep giving me their daughters?

There are some words that Mr. Mai is not easy to say.

Unable to shirk, Yin Feng changed the subject and asked Mai Bo about shipbuilding.Hainan's local shipbuilding industry is relatively developed, but it is only limited to the construction of fishing boats and naval vessels with two masts or less. Maibo doesn't know whether it can build large merchant ships.But he knows local shipbuilders, so he can take Yin Feng to meet them.

In the end, no matter how Yin Feng pushed, Mai Bo hurried away without looking back, and left Mai Wan'er in his yard.Boss Li is very reasonable: "You need a maid who makes beds, folds quilts and cleans the courtyard; I plan to buy one for you. At that time, you just give those Dan people some money. This girl, I will let you Give me a break, and teach her how to serve others." He took Mai Wan'er away, and Yin Feng went back to the house depressed, and fell asleep.

Building ships and owning their own ships were Yin Feng's thoughts when he returned to Yazhou.The cost of shipbuilding should not be a problem. In the history of Sino-foreign relations, during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the shipbuilding cost of Chen Kan's "Fengzhou" going to Ryukyu was [-] guan.This is the cost of the Fujian government-run shipyard, and this is the cost of the royal five-masted giant ship.Yin Feng reckoned that he would have no problem with the cost of building a ship.

In the next few days, he followed Mai Bo to Baoping Port, Sanya Port, Yulin Port, Wanglou Port, and even to the seaside of Wanzhou, where he consulted various public and private shipyards.Theoretically, shipyards are all government-run, and shipbuilders are artisans directly under the government's jurisdiction, but now these regulations have become written and exist in name only.The Dan people were able to build boats, and many craftsmen who built boats were originally Dan people.

The results of the consultation were disappointing, with ships built in the state going as far as Champa.

In the early years of Wanli, the Qiongzhou government set up a warship repairing and building factory in Baishazhai, Yinghaikou, which was one of the four major shipbuilding bases in Guangdong at that time; Spread out like two wings, it will be stable in the near sea, and cannot go out to the ocean; it is impossible to build a large merchant ship that needs to go out to the ocean.The shipyards of some fishing boat ports in Yazhou and Wanzhou have built some pirate ships, but they can only build some large fishing boats at most; the furthest one has been to a place where the bells of Buddhist temples can be heard on the seaside of Yazhou when the weather is clear. Champa.

Yin Feng finally found an old shipwright in Yulingang, and he was an old acquaintance with Mai Bo.After asking him for a long time, Yin Feng understood a problem: there was no design drawing for shipbuilding at that time, at most there was only a rough drawing, and then the keel of the ship was built based on the experience of the old boatman. other parts of the hull.The old shipbuilder has a book with yellowed paper, which was left by his predecessors almost 200 years ago. It is said that it contains detailed shipbuilding procedures and know-how, but it is not easy to take it out for viewing.

Yin Feng wants to build a big ship: the merchant ship he imagined must be at least the same as the 900-ton Karak-type ship Tomar.According to the old boatman: It's not that it can't be built, but that it doesn't know how to make it.Without drawings and corresponding models, old shipwrights who have never built large ships would not design their own ship shapes and hull structures.

During the 200-year sea ban in the Ming Dynasty, no one could build Zheng He's huge ships, and all the ships along the coast of the Ming Dynasty were degrading to miniaturization. In the early 16th century, ships in Southeast Asia were also rapidly miniaturized.However, this was the result of the elimination of large merchant ships in Southeast Asia by Western colonists, and finally the locals could only build canoes.However, the stagnation and miniaturization of Chinese sailing ships that began in the late 14th century was the result of brutal attacks by the government of this dynasty.

Yin Feng went back to his room with heavy thoughts, sat down at the desk, frowning and staring blankly.Someone handed him a towel and served him tea.He wiped his face carelessly, took a sip of water, but when he looked up, he saw Mai Wan'er standing beside her with tea, her head lowered, dragging her fisherwoman's long braids, wearing a green collared long-sleeved jacket, very The color of the long skirt is light green, and the tight belt reveals the girl's graceful waist. A "palace sash" made of ribbons hangs from the belt, hanging down to the ground.

The girl was standing by the table, completely dressed as a classical maidservant.Yin Feng almost spit out the tea, and in a panic, he remembered that Mai Wan'er had become his maid, and she had been being fucked by Fatty Li's wife a few days ago, and now the maid training class is probably over.