Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1119 Departure, the fleet heads to Europe

At Tianjin Wei Wharf, more than 50 galleons are neatly lined up, as well as warships of the Fourth Fleet led by captains such as Sun Xu, Ruan Youjin, and Ruan Youyi.

The Fourth Fleet has three sailing battleships from Wei, Shu and Wu, and about ten frigates and supply ships.

The ships of the Western Trading Company have eight armed merchant ships, and the others are cargo ships of great capacity.

"Steel, porcelain, vaccines, silk, pepper and other materials have been counted again, and the numbers are correct." The deacon of the Western Company reported to the twelve directors who arrived in Tianjinwei.

"If there is no problem with the cargo, everyone is ready to board the ship." Li Jinde said to his companion.

"I hope everything goes well." The other eleven directors said one after another.

Half of the 24 directors of the Western Company went to London to establish a branch, some of them were government-appointed directors, and some were maritime merchants in coastal areas.Many of them either have business in Liaodong, Dongying and other places, or have traded in Southeast Asia all year round. This time they voluntarily went to Western Oceans for a large amount of profits, and secondly, they wanted to go there after hearing Li Jinde talk about their adventures in the West. Get acquainted with the situation in the West.

"If possible, we should ask His Majesty the King to send a special mission here to inspect the local customs and find ways to collect advanced technology. It is best to establish a permanent embassy here and send personnel to stay here. Keep an eye on the movement here." Earl Compton boarded the ship with the envoys, looking at the street lights on the shore and the large carriages passing by from time to time.

"Their fleet has arrived in London. I don't know if it will affect other countries on the mainland." One of the British nobles accompanying the group said to the Earl of Compton.

"It will definitely cause a huge sensation. This is an inevitable wave. Even if we, Britain, do not conclude a trade treaty with them, the rising East will look for other agents. The size of hundreds of millions of people is really terrible. Our There are only more than 500 million people in Britain, and less than [-] million people in Ireland and Scotland. In the east, the population of the four islands of Dongying exceeds that of the three islands of England.” Earl Compton said, “It seems that people in the east attach importance to childbirth. The Mughal Empire also had hundreds of millions of people, fortunately they are not as advanced in terms of system and technology as here, and they are still living under the rule of the Mongols and Turkic aristocrats, otherwise it would be another terrible empire.”

"Emphasis on fertility requires sufficient food supply. They have huge plains and rivers...and if they face a famine, many people will die. The Mughal Delhi and Gujarat areas five years ago The famine alone killed 200 million people. It is said that there were also terrible famines and a large number of peasant uprisings in northern Shaanxi and other places here, so the number of deaths also exceeded one million, and it has only improved in the past few years." A Said the British nobleman who inquired about the famine in the late Ming Dynasty.

"From the perspective of personal interests, more people may not be a good thing. But from an overall point of view, it doesn't matter if hundreds of millions of people die and a few million die, and a new batch of people will be born in a few years, just like weeds .” Earl Compton thought of the large population in the east, and his scalp became numb.

Unless it has absolutely leading technology, the competition in the farming era is the population, and the more the population in an area, the more output it will produce.

"The soldiers and sailors of all warships are already in place, and it's time for our Fourth Fleet to prepare for departure." A naval officer said to Sun Xu of the Fourth Fleet.

"Before arriving in Malacca, our ships will lead the way, and when we leave Malacca, let the ships of the Western Missions be in front. They have a complete nautical chart of the east and west. Our Admiralty should also use this opportunity to record the route and hydrology along the way. and humanity." Sun Xu said.

This time the Admiralty sent the Fourth Fleet to Britain not only to protect the merchant fleet of Western companies, but also to let the captains and sailors of the Fourth Fleet familiarize themselves with the route to the Atlantic Ocean. The sailing time is too far apart.

Only when you actually sail will you know where there will be supply stations, where there are hidden reefs, how the local aborigines treat the fleet, and the wind direction and pirate activities.

"Hold the anchor, raise the sails and set sail!" The sailors on the various galleons pulled up the sails, and the ships began to gradually sail out of Tianjin Wei.

The sailing battleship Shuhan led the warships of the Fourth Fleet to lead the way ahead, followed by the sailing battleship Crown Prince and several other British armed merchant ships loaded with goods, and behind them was the fleet of Western companies.

The number of this combined fleet exceeds more than 60 ships, and they are not ordinary small merchant ships or fishing boats, but large sailing ships with hundreds of tons or more.Among them, the four sailing battleships Wei Shu Wu and the Crown Prince are large warships with thousands of tons.

The merchants and passers-by at Tianjinwei Wharf were still amazed to see the mighty ships leaving the harbor in long lines. It was the first time for most of them to see such a huge fleet.

Earl Compton spoke highly of the escorting fleet: "Their fleet has three battleships as huge as our Crown Prince, and they are also sent to our Britain. If they can unite with our Royal Navy, the Netherlands and Spain The fleet would not dare to fight recklessly in the English Channel."

"A fleet is sent tens of thousands of miles away, and their navy is really abundant. On the contrary, not only do we have no standing army, the Royal Navy has begun to shrink after Queen Elizabeth's era, and it has lost its bravery against the Spanish Armada. .” A British nobleman longed for the splendor of the Elizabethan era.

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, they regarded it as the golden age of Britain. They successfully defeated several expeditions against them organized by the Spanish Empire, which possesses maritime supremacy, and frustrated the Spanish Armada.

Afterwards, King James I could not afford the huge expenditure of the navy, and the British Royal Navy began to decline, and even had to pay protection fees to the Barbary pirates to trade safely in the Mediterranean.The current King Charles I wants to revive the Royal Navy, but after all, he is short of money.

"As far as I know, they have four fleets, and the other three fleets are on missions outside. It is their fourth fleet that protects us from returning to Europe. This is their standing fleet. If there is a temporary sea battle, they can call a large number The merchant ships equipped with artillery for their merchant ships may all be added together, and their strength must be higher than that of the Armada. In contrast, our King Majesty has to raise funds for a new 70-gun battleship for the navy. I think that we in Britain should establish a standing army and navy, rather than a casual army formed temporarily when it comes to battle. We should comprehensively study the selection, appointment, and military systems here." Earl Compton said.

"If His Majesty the King learns the Eastern examination system and establishes a standing army, I'm afraid it will harm the interests of our gentry and nobles? There is no such thing as landlords and nobles here, and all the land belongs to the government. And our Britain is divided into the royal family. The land directly under the Central Government is also the land rented by the gentry and nobles from all over the country. If we learn the Eastern system in an all-round way, I am afraid that it will harm our interests." Several British nobles who accompanied us said.

"I think there may be measures that can balance the interests of the land gentry and the country, but we can't think of it for a while." Earl Compton said.

The nobles of the British Mission were whispering on the deck of the Crown Prince, and Li Jinde and other twelve directors of the Western Company were also discussing the voyage.

"Treasurer Li, you said that the last time you were in the royal city of Britain, the local king hosted a banquet for you. I don't know if we will have a chance to attend the king's banquet when we go to Britain this time?" said a director.

After a new understanding of the world, Chinese businessmen gradually recognized the geographical location of their country, and also knew that Britain, which can manufacture thousands of tons of sailing battleships, is different from the previous Nanyang countries, at least in terms of shipbuilding technology and artillery technology. .As for the summoning of the King of Britain, perhaps he was not as honored as being summoned by Chu Yun, but the other party was at least a king who could be equal to Chu Yun, and he set up an exotic banquet.

"We are on such a large scale this time, and we are escorted by the Navy's Fourth Fleet. On the surface, it is a private trade of our Western company, but in fact it is an official exchange. And according to the insiders, the king of Britain is quite good. For the sake of face, the other party's king will definitely entertain us with a banquet out of etiquette." Li Jinde firmly believed that Charles I would entertain them with a banquet.

"I never thought that something as common as pepper would be more than ten times profitable in the West. When Western merchants came to buy these commodities, we sold them too cheaply."

"The risks in ocean voyages are too great. Only huge profits can drive them to travel thousands of miles. We also go to the West for huge profits. They don't have steam engines there, and textile technology is behind us. We set up local Textile factories must be able to continue to make profits. Coupled with organizing a group of fleets to travel between the East and the West to obtain excess profits every year, the scale of our Western companies will become larger and larger.”

"Thousands of miles of voyage, maybe our group of people will leave a name in the history books."

Merchants think about the future, and for everyone, fame and fortune are considered.

From the corner of his eye, Li Jinde glimpsed the edge of the continent that was gradually moving away, and he felt somewhat guilty towards his family, but he regarded sailing as his lifelong career, and he could not refuse this great voyage.

This history-changing fleet will follow the coast of East Asia, enter the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Malacca, and then follow the traditional sea route pioneered by the Arabs through the Indian Ocean, the west coast of Africa, and enter the east coast of the Atlantic Ocean around Cape Storm.

(End of this chapter)