Da Ming started to ascend the throne

Chapter 454 Discovering the Pirate Ship

Now the capital has changed a lot compared to before. Not only is it more prosperous and lively, but the atmosphere and environment have also completely changed.

In the past, the streets were full of garbage and horse manure, which gave off an unpleasant smell.

After the invention of cement, Zhu Youjian said that he aimed to build toilets on Jingshi Street and set up a sanitation office. Sanitation workers would sweep the streets every day.

No one is allowed to defecate anywhere on the street.

Any war horse pulling horse manure on the street must be cleaned up immediately, otherwise he will be fined to sweep the street for three days, and those who refuse to obey will be fined fifty dragon coins.

The execution of the order was very strict, which quickly changed the appearance of the streets and alleys of the capital.

Now the streets and alleys of Jingshi are very clean and tidy, and there is no mess like before.

The concrete roads between the various provincial capitals of Daming have also been completed, and cement and gravel are laid on top of the original official roads.

The main roads in many cities and towns have also changed. The cinders produced by burning coal in winter are concentrated on the muddy dirt roads, and the road conditions have also improved.

There are large horse-drawn carriages going to and from various provincial capitals every day, which makes it much more convenient for the common people to travel.

The Heroes Monument has also been built, and the famous generals who died in battle from the founding of the Ming Dynasty to the present are engraved on it.

Even some generals who were unjustly killed in the previous dynasty were rehabilitated by Zhu Youjian, and their names were also engraved on the monument, such as Lan Yu and others.

At this time, Zhu Youjian was watching a song and dance performance in Qianqing Palace, and these performers were all maids in the palace.

Of course, their master, Qin Huai Bayan, was also among them.

For more than half a year, Qinhuai Bayan has been teaching the palace maids piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, singing and dancing in the palace.

Now, apart from calligraphy and painting, their level is lower, and musical instruments, singing and dancing have already reached a certain level.

Today's song and dance performance is over, Qinhuai Bayan will leave the palace, they can freely choose to stay or stay.

You can go to Yichun Building for management, you can also go to Royal Hotel for management, and of course you can choose to return to your hometown.

They were all homeless, and none of them was willing to leave the capital in the end.

Now the chamber of commerce will not allow them to serve customers in person, as long as they show up occasionally.

Their own fame is enough to attract some wealthy businessmen to spend.

Kou Baimen voluntarily stayed in the palace, of course he was the lead singer, Zhu Youjian would not let her be a concubine.

For the time being, Ruyan and Si Xiaohua are waiting for him, Zhu Youjian feels that it is enough, they can't handle it alone, they can fight in groups.

Now these five little beauties are not only proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but also have reached the pinnacle of the job of serving the emperor.

After realizing the strength of Ming Dynasty, some small and unambitious countries came to Beijing to pay tribute, hoping to become a subordinate state of Ming Dynasty so as to be protected by Ming Dynasty.

But there are also small countries that still disdain Ming Dynasty, such as the country of Wa, Burma, Annan Jungar, and other countries with a little strength.

Some small maritime countries in Southeast Asia had become colonies of Western powers at this time, and none of them continued to maintain suzerain-vassal relations with Ming Dynasty.

The business of the Royal Chamber of Commerce is also getting bigger and bigger. Not only does it control many monopolized industries in Ming Dynasty, but also the maritime trade is booming.

Except for the Netherlands being sanctioned by Ming Dynasty, other countries have trade relations with the Royal Chamber of Commerce.

Now the Royal Chamber of Commerce has reached more than 1000 cargo ships.

The taxes they handed over to Daming accounted for almost 30% of Daming’s treasury revenue.
In addition to paying taxes to the treasury, there are also some dividends for the shares, and the rest of the profits go into Zhu Youjian's internal funds.

After the Ming Dynasty stopped trading with the Dutch, it continued to attack all Dutch fleets within its sphere of influence for a long time, causing the Dutch to suffer huge losses.

In order to retaliate against Ming Dynasty, the Dutch are also looking for opportunities to attack the Ming trade fleet.

The Straits of Malacca are actually controlled by the Dutch, but they will not openly attack the Ming merchant ships in the Strait of Malacca.

It's not that they dare not, mainly Malacca is the main traffic lifeline connecting the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Once they attack the Deming fleet in the Straits of Malacca, it may cause an all-out war between them and Deming.

Now the Dutch are not afraid of the military strength of Ming Dynasty, but mainly worry about trade issues.

Although they can't do business with Daming at present, they can get Ming's goods from other countries.

Once the Ming Fleet is attacked in Malacca, it may cause a series of reactions, which will be even more unfavorable to the Dutch.

The best way is to disguise their warships as pirate ships and rob the Ming merchant ships in the name of pirates.

This will not only hit Daming, but also make all the goods on the merchant ship of Daming into the possession of the Netherlands.

In fact, their plan can still be realized under normal circumstances.

The entire plan and command are carried out by the Dutch headquarters in Batavia.

After they were ready, three Dutch warships were disguised as pirate ships and searched for the Ming fleet in Malacca.

There was no radar at that time, so we had to rely on binoculars to search for the Deming Fleet.

Searching for the Daming Fleet in the Malacca Strait is not difficult in the face of our current technology.

However, in that era, it was very difficult to successfully search for a fleet, almost all depended on luck.

Half a month passed, and they did not encounter a Ming fleet. At this time, the Dutch realized that the reality was much more difficult than the ideal.

But they didn't give up, and they were still proceeding as planned, but their mentality had relaxed a lot.

Although the Ming court has not launched large-scale caravans to go to the West again, private business groups and the Royal Chamber of Commerce have already gone to the West several times.

Every time a ship full of Ming goods is sent out, a large amount of gold and silver can be exchanged from the West.

Compared with other fleets, the Royal Chamber of Commerce fleet has larger merchant ships and stronger sailors. They are all retired and active soldiers.

Their wages are paid by the Royal Chamber of Commerce, and the imperial treasury will not bear them.

The nautical chart used by the Royal Chamber of Commerce fleet was exchanged by Zhu Youjian from the system. It is far more advanced than the blueprints of other fleets, and the route is closer and safer.

The most important thing is that their merchant ships are equipped with artillery, as well as security teams equipped with flintlock guns and grenades.

Each merchant ship is equipped with [-] cannons and [-] flintlock security personnel.

The fleet of the Royal Chamber of Commerce is equivalent to the emperor's own merchant ships, and the preparation is of course not bad.

A fleet of [-] merchant ships from the Royal Chamber of Commerce sailed into the Strait of Malacca, loaded with cloth batches of tea, raw silk, porcelain and other commodities.

The three of them have a clear division of responsibilities, and Yang Chunming sits in Daming and is responsible for purchasing products that Westerners like.

Liu Wu and Li Yong were responsible for sending goods to the west to exchange for gold and silver and other items.

This time their destination is Lisbon, Portugal, and they are reselling the goods to European countries through Lisbon.

Liu Wu clearly remembered that this was their sixth voyage to the West.

Although drifting at sea is very tiring and bitter, but thinking of the heavy responsibilities on their shoulders and the trust of the emperor, they are still full of energy and are willing to fight for the prosperity of the Royal Chamber of Commerce.

Of course, the Royal Chamber of Commerce earns more, and their dividends are even more impressive.

The weather was good and the visibility on the sea was high. Liu Wu and Li Yong walked out of the cabin and came to the deck. They took a deep breath of fresh air.

On the high mast, the observation post has been holding a telescope to observe around.

Suddenly they found three sailing battleships in the distance, and the skull flags were flying on the battleships.

"Fuck, this is a pirate ship, please inform the two stewards."

(End of this chapter)