Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 822 New Battleship Large Caravan Voyage
On May 22, the 26nd year of Chongzhen, an ocean-going fleet, led by three large merchant ships each from Sihai Commercial Bank and Huitong Commercial Bank, and accompanied by more than [-] merchant ships from more than ten major merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, set sail from Guangzhou Port and went straight to Europe.

This is the first time in Chinese history that such a large-scale merchant ship has traveled thousands of miles to Europe. The significance of this feat has surpassed that of Zheng He's seven voyages to the West.

Nearly [-] merchant ships were loaded with all kinds of goods from the Ming Dynasty. In addition to the traditional three-piece set of silk tea and porcelain, there were also popular commodities such as cotton cloth, white sugar, iron pots, white paper, spices, etc., as well as a large number of flintlocks, ammunition and other military equipment. , as well as newly developed riding boots, suits, dresses made of colorful satin cotton, printed with various patterns, and novel high-heeled leather sandals and other latest products.

These latest styles of products were made by Zhu Youjian based on the styles of the later generations, after drawing rough drawings, and then made by the garment factory to which Sihai Clothing belongs after several revisions.

The size of suits and dresses is also determined based on various data. According to the existing population base in Europe, there should be no problem with the sales of this batch of ready-made garments. If it is good, the production can be increased at any time in the future.

This batch of ordnance was ordered by the Portuguese and Spanish governments earlier, and they were shipped together for delivery this time.

Now the armies of the two countries are confronting the Ottoman army on their respective borders, and the current battle situation is in the stage of repeated see-saw.

Since the Spanish army had just lost a big defeat in Luzon, the elite suffered heavy losses. This also led to the rapid advance of the Ottoman army after crossing the border. In just a few months, it penetrated nearly [-] miles into the Spanish territory.

After several emergency consultations, the Spanish government decided to seek help from France immediately.

After careful consideration, the high-level French government decided to send troops to exert pressure on the Ottoman Empire from the southeast, forcing the Ottoman Empire not to advance westward with all its strength. Portugal, which knew the truth of the death of lips and teeth, also dispatched its own elite to take an offensive posture in the southwest. It was under such circumstances that the Ottoman army was forced to divide its forces to respond, and the Ottoman army slowed down its westward advance.

The series of major events that happened thousands of miles away has little to do with Daming. What Daming has to do now is to try his best to develop new products that are exported to foreign countries, and strive to earn more wealth from Europe. Therefore, suits and dresses came into being.

Although the costumes of the Ming Dynasty are gorgeous and generous, in view of the huge cultural and aesthetic differences between the East and the West, it is unrealistic to sell Hanfu to the West.

In terms of Daming's current level of open-mindedness, woolen suits and dresses and other exotic clothes cannot be widely popular in the market, so this new ready-to-wear can only be used for export, and it can also be said to be an attempt. See how well the European market recognizes this, and then decide whether to increase production.

Since the 21st year of Chongzhen, at the request of Zhu Youjian, the trademark registration system has been fully implemented for various export commodities in Ming Dynasty. No matter what the product is, it must have a trademark name and a special pattern, so as to improve the recognition and popularity of the product. It can make the products of Ming Dynasty with good quality have more competitive advantages.

After the various products under the name of Sihai Trading Co., Ltd. launched their own exclusive logos one after another, the market responded well to this, and the sales of these products with trademarks increased to a large extent.

Driven by this demonstration effect, it seems that overnight, shops and workshops all over the world are scrambling to imitate, such as Wang Mazi kitchen knife, Tassel white sugar, Dongyou ceramics, Songjiang Jiangsu Ji cotton cloth, Li Ji ironware, etc. Wait, all kinds of trademark patterns have sprung up on the market, and this kind of novelty has also increased the sales of various shops suddenly.

According to the trademark registration law promulgated by the imperial court, the product trademark is permanently used by the first registrant, and any similar product shall not be registered with the same or similar trademark name pattern. If there is a violation, the original trademark owner can go to the local government. Strong measures should be taken to protect the rights of original trademark owners, and necessary actions should be taken to combat counterfeiting and other types of infringement of property rights.

There are many provisions similar to this article, but in summary, its purpose is similar to the protection of intellectual property rights in future generations.

The content of the Trademark Registration Act is still relatively rough. This is because Zhu Youjian knows too little about it, so he can only rely on his memory and imagination to roughly come up with a framework. When encountering specific problems in the future, he can just add to it.

In order to ensure the safety of this large caravan voyage to the West, the Ming Dynasty sent a powerful escort fleet.

This fleet is composed of two newest "Zunsun" class cruisers, two "Bendian" class frigates, and two supply ships of 1000 tons each. The fleet will stop in Manila for maintenance in the middle of the voyage, and continue westward after replenishing fresh water and food.

The "Zhuri" class cruiser has a full load displacement of 120 tons and is equipped with [-] guns of various calibers. The firepower is unmatched in the world. Compared with the original "Kunlun" class, the firepower configuration has been significantly improved.

This most advanced warship in the world was jointly developed by the Netherlands and Ming Dynasty. It took 24 months to build one in two docks, each costing 45 silver coins, and officially entered service after half a year of sea trials. .

The two "Sunsun"-class cruisers are in service with the North Sea Fleet, and another cruiser of the same class is under construction at the Jinzhou Shipyard. It will be launched in about ten months, and will be under the jurisdiction of the South China Sea Fleet after successful sea trials.

During the entire voyage, the escort fleet will conduct live ammunition exercises from time to time to test the tacit understanding between the gunboats in combat, and effectively build a firepower network with [-]% distance, middle distance and near distance to deal with unpredictable emergencies.

You know, whether it is the declining Spain, the strong rising Netherlands, or the veteran sea power Britain, the merchant ships of these countries are all engaged in the pirate business part-time, and most of the merchant ships are equipped with varying numbers of artillery. Sailors are no different from warriors.

Once they encounter single ships of different nationalities during the long voyage, these armed merchant ships will quickly pounce on them to kill people and rob them.

Under the bottomless Indian Ocean, countless innocent lives are buried. The birth of every maritime power has a lot of dirt and blood behind it. Zhu Youjian is extremely disgusted with such acts.

The Ming Navy should shoulder the responsibility and mission of maintaining the safety and smoothness of sea passages. If such behaviors are encountered during the voyage, they should be resolutely attacked.

　Thank you Wang Xiaoxiaoyiran, who is single but handsome for the reward. I wish you to get out of singles as soon as possible and marry Bai Fumei.

　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)