Daming: I, the emperor who trains the carpenter

Chapter 737 The Maritime Silk Road, Troubled!

Daming in the 12th year of Apocalypse,

The provincial capitals along the coast, especially Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, are a little more prosperous than last year.

With the lifting of the sea ban by the imperial court and the promotion of industrialization, all kinds of commodities emerge in an endless stream. Whether it is porcelain or silk, they are becoming more refined and beautiful, and more and more foreign countries are delighted. These are priceless goods.

But there are no sea bans in the coastal areas, fishermen can go out to fish, and seafood and aquatic products are more and more abundant in Daming. Some large sea fish or aquatic products are caught and sent to the city, and they can often be sold for a good price.

In addition, the shipbuilding industry on the southeast coast, which has been silent for a long time, has also begun to develop again. Now, everyone who is interested knows that this is an era of overseas trade. If you go to sea to do business, as long as you can reach the destination, you can make a lot of money. Full.

Therefore, the number of seagoing ships in all parts of Ming Dynasty is growing rapidly.

Take the Jiangsu-Zhejiang generation as an example. In the original Jiangsu-Zhejiang area, the smuggling ships owned by various gentry, small cargo ships and large sea-going ships totaled no more than a few hundred ships. However, after the imperial court explicitly lifted the sea ban last year, the number doubled. Fan, I don't know where so many sea ships came from.

As for this year, there are no less than [-] sea-going cargo ships in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and other places, and this number is still expanding.

Take the rich merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang who are engaged in the silk, satin, cloth business and porcelain tea business as an example. They divided their hometowns, established companies to raise funds for listing, and then raised funds to purchase large ships for export trade business.
The love of the same hometown and the same surname is the most stable bond. The company can also have better competitiveness under the crowd-funding. Sufficient funds allow the company to develop extremely fast, and everyone gains more. Enterprises dominated by China are blooming everywhere, whether they are listed or not, their capabilities are not small.

Therefore, in today's southeast waters, the most common thing is that ships flying the flags of various countries ride the wind and waves on the sea.

These sea flags, which either hang Shen, or hang the flags of Liu, Zhang, Li, Qian and other gentry, are often the property of a place or the main business of a family.

On the southeast coast of Daming, the scenery is beautiful, and thousands of sails are competing to sail. The ships that come and go are constantly returning to and fro like schools of fish, bringing products and gold and silver from all over the place into Daming, and into this great era.

With the continuous voyages of merchant ships from all over the world to trade in Korea, Japan, Fanbang, the southeast island country, and even further afield, the corresponding stocks of porcelain, tea, and silk and satin cloth in the Ming stock market are also rising steadily. The new trend of opening the sea and the new policy has inflated their own assets several times, and everyone eats their mouths full of oil, pouring a lot of food, and naturally they are more and more supportive of the court.

On the South Seas, a fleet is cutting through the wind and waves.

This fleet consists of more than a dozen large ships, each of which is full of sails and blowing wind, and is advancing steadily under the drive of the monsoon. The word "Shen" on the sails represents that this fleet belongs to Jiangnan. Family.

The Shen family is undoubtedly a big family in the south of the Yangtze River. It has always been involved in water transportation and salt transportation, and there are many sea ships doing smuggling business. It is a real family with a huge fortune.

The fleet controlled by the Shen family has as many as a hundred ships, so it can be said that it is not weak.

The current fleet of more than a dozen large ships is just an ordinary fleet owned by the Shen family. After all, with the listing of the Shen family's business, the Shen family, which was already proficient in overseas trade, took advantage of this shareholder wind to start a business. In the business of porcelain and cloth, salt and grain can make money in the country, and because of the system established by the imperial court, in order to stabilize the market, the prices of daily necessities such as salt, grain, and oil are set by the imperial court according to the situation, and the increase is extremely low.

It can be said that you can make money, but they are all small profits. You can’t lose money, but you can’t make a lot of money. After all, salt and food are the same as coal and iron. Most of them are in the hands of the court.

It’s not that no one tried to make more money. For example, before the flood in Henan flooded half of Henan Province, the imperial court asked nearby regions to support Henan, and some merchants took the opportunity to sell salt and grain at high prices.

But as soon as the imperial court's warehouses were opened, a large amount of salt and grain flooded into Henan at low prices. These merchants not only lost money, but also lost a lot of travel expenses.

If this is the case, it’s fine, as soon as the waterlogging is over, the court began to liquidate, teams of Tiqi set out from the capital and started to take people, those who ransacked their homes, those who were exiled, all backgrounds were wiped out under the anger of the Supreme in the palace.

In the end, the imperial court not only did not lose money, but also confiscated a large amount of money and salt and grain. However, merchants from all over the world knew the power of the imperial court’s new law and what it means to speculate and make the country lose money.

In the words of the old lady of the Shen family, it is "a group of dead people who have been blinded by lard, and they don't even look at the time, but they still want to fight against the court. Let it be that they are dead, and don't implicate those of us who are doing business well."

Affected by those businessmen who were characterized by Zhang Xiangye as "speculatively making money for the country", the government offices in various places strictly investigated the situation of each businessman during that time, but they were very frightened. After all, you are as rich as a country. In the eyes of the imperial court, you are just a fat pig. If the imperial court really wants to attack, what else can you do but wait for the slaughter?

Shen Chao didn't think much about it, the current imperial court is very disciplined, no matter if it is the Holy Majesty or Zhang Xiangye, what is their status?
Others rely on their brains, opportunities, and background to make a fortune, but the Holy One and Master Zhang decide whether they can make a fortune, and they are the ones who set the rules of the game.

Shen Chao, as the son of the second wife of the Shen family, is now in his thirties. He was only more than ten years old when he became the throne today. It can be said that he is the group of people who have truly experienced the reform of the New Deal.

Since the second year of Tianqi, the imperial court has been changing, the yamen has been changing, and everything has been changing.

At that time, as a high-spirited young man of fifteen or sixteen years old, Shen Chao also admired Zhang Haogu's new learning and practical learning, and despised the old Donglin learning, thinking that he would at least be a famous official of the generation who denounced Fang Qiu in the future.

However, Shen's family was in the south of the Yangtze River. At that time, the new learning did not appear in the south of the Yangtze River, and he could not slip away to the north.

Afterwards, a lot of things broke out, and the Holy Majesty could encounter assassinations and conspiracies, but with these small twists and turns, the current Holy Majesty's dragon power is becoming more and more serious, and the imperial court's majesty is also constantly reflected, breaking Liaodong, flattening Monan, and taking over. Well-being, the new army of the imperial court has demonstrated the strength of the imperial court to the people of the world. The implementation of the New Deal has become a truth between the ruling and opposition parties among the hundreds of thousands of new troops in the imperial court and Datong Academy all over the country.

At this point, the Shen family has also begun to move closer to the New Party. Now the Shen family is more and more aware of the benefits of the New Party. It does not want your money, nor does it need your compliments. As long as you do not break the law, nothing will happen. If you can Do some practical things, and the new party will like you even more.

Taking today's fleet as an example, if it weren't for the support of the New Party, the Shen family wouldn't be able to raise funds and go public easily.

Standing on the bow and smelling the fresh air on the sea, the air is much better than some places in the south of the Yangtze River today.

Nowadays, the rural manors in the south of the Yangtze River are fine, but those big cities are doing industrialization. Industrialization has indeed brought convenience and money, but it has also made the original good air dirty.

The industrialization promoted by the imperial court is equivalent to putting dust on a beautiful picture scroll of misty rain for the beautiful Jiangnan, but no one can refuse the process of industrialization.

Shen Chao has also been to Tianjin Mansion. Looking at the picture of the train running on the road with billowing black smoke and screeching whistle, he clearly realized that these things are the future.

No one cares about anything until you have enough food, clothing, and a family.

But in fact, the progress of industrialization in the northern and southern Zhili of Ming Dynasty is also limited, because all kinds of factories are close to towns, relying on sufficient population market and convenient roads, so some small cities, or manors outside the city, mountain villages are still so beautiful, Full of poetry and picturesque.

Smelling the slightly cold and fishy air at sea, Shen Chao felt that he liked life at sea more.

Of the various houses in the Shen family, although the eldest house is taking care of business, the children of the eldest house are all studying. They hope to give the Shen family a few more official clothes in the future.

Those in Sanfang traveled around mountains and rivers one by one, recited poems, and made a name for themselves in the south of the Yangtze River. They were called something, but it was of no use to the Shen family.

Each house is fighting against each other, thinking about competing for their own share of the family property in the increasingly wealthy Shen family, what's the point of this?
Shen Chao felt that he was born to be at sea. The scenery on the sea is so beautiful. At noon, the sun was high in the sky and sprinkled warm sunlight on the sea. Go to foreign countries one by one, and experience the customs and customs of various places.

Putting aside those messy thoughts in his mind, Shen Chao stretched leisurely: "The scenery on the sea is really beautiful, why think so much, let's take a look at the scenery in the distance."

"Huh? Fleet?!"

"Zijian? Zijian?! Bring the binoculars!"

Hearing Shen Chao's shout, his cousin hurried out from the cabin and handed a three-section binoculars to Shen Chao's hand.

Shen Chao opened the binoculars and looked at the fleet in the distance. The fleet did not have any conspicuous marks, it looked like an ordinary caravan, but which caravan would use so many double-decker red barges? ?
These Dutch ships are more like warships than merchant ships. More than 24 cannons are often placed on their two decks, and the ships are faster than ordinary sea ships. It can be said that they are necessary ships for sea robbery.

When he found that the fleet was heading straight towards him, Shen Chao's heart skipped a beat. He realized that something was wrong: "Zijian, quickly invite Uncle Fu."

Seeing his cousin's expression, Shen Zijian knew something was wrong, so he immediately went to find Uncle Fu, he was an old man from the Shen family, and the pinnacle of the fleet.

Uncle Fu, who was 50 years old this year, came to the front deck, looked at Shen Chao and asked, "Did the second young master find any traces?"

Shen Chao handed over the binoculars: "Look, Uncle Fu, is the fleet coming at us? Are they pirates?"

Uncle Fu didn't hesitate, but when he took a look through the binoculars, his expression immediately became solemn: "It's all red barbarian ships, with this momentum, it's definitely not a merchant ship, it's a goddamn red barbarian thief!"

"These red barbarian thieves have been robbing each of our families for business. I don't know how many times they have done it at sea over the years. Now they see our business getting bigger and bigger. I can't help it!"

Shen Zijian still couldn't believe it, it was his first time going out to sea, how did he meet pirates?

Feeling lucky, Shen Zijian asked: "Is it possible that it is the navy of the imperial court?"

Before Shen Chao could speak, Uncle Fu shattered Shen Zijian's fantasy: "How could the navy of the imperial court come to this water? Besides, the warship of the imperial navy is not like this, and there is no green dragon flag of the imperial navy on it. How could this be the navy of the imperial court?"

"Second young master, let the ships prepare for battle, we can't escape."

Shen Chao said in a deep voice, "That's up to Uncle Fu."

Obviously, in this regard, it depends on Uncle Fu, the old man at sea.

And Uncle Fu didn't hesitate too much, he quickly contacted the ships, and then launched a cannon from the cabin, and within a few quarters of an hour, this merchant ship became an armed ship that could also work as a pirate.

When sailing on the sea, no one can be trusted. The only ones who can be trusted are your own family, swords and guns.

This sea voyage does not have some artillery, it is pure meat buns, anyone can come and take a bite.

After Uncle Fu ordered all the ships to prepare their artillery, he came to Shen Chao again: "Second Young Master, this situation is not right. In my opinion, we have to fight while retreating. If we retreat to the court waters, we may be saved. Otherwise, These red barbarian thieves cannot easily let us go."

Shen Chao also knew that business was not a matter of making money at the moment. It was okay to say that the goods on these dozens of large ships were gone, but the people were gone. Not to mention the various compensation issues under the court system, it was just the loss of so many skilled sailors For the boatmen, if more than a dozen large ships are damaged, the Shen family will definitely be hurt. At that time, the Shen family's stock market will be affected.

"Everything is up to you, Uncle Fu." Chao Shen directly gave Uncle Fu full authority to handle the crisis.

At this time, the Hongyi ships on the opposite side were also approaching. From this distance, Shen Chao could see clearly that these Hongyi boats were a bit narrower than his own merchant ships, and different from the wide and fat Ming merchant ships. It is narrow and long, with rams and cannons arranged in the front, four masts at the front and rear, and all kinds of sails are fully hung. On the deck, those Hongyi people can already be seen waving matchlock guns and swords.

There is no doubt about it, it is aimed at the Shen family's merchant ship!
Under the command of Uncle Fu, the sailors shouted one after another, and each merchant ship began to turn and adjust the rudder slowly. , awaiting the order to fire.

Although these gunners were still a little nervous, they were all veterans of many voyages after all, and some of them had also encountered Hongyi people, so under the leadership of these old people, the newcomers did not do anything stupid.

As the ships of the two sides got closer, Shen Chao looked at the nervous sailors behind him, and still wanted to fight for peace, so he shouted loudly: "Friends on the opposite side, we have no intention of fighting with you."

At this time, some awkward Chinese words came from the Hongyi boat on the opposite side: "Friends on the other side, we don't want to fight, as long as you are willing to hand over the goods, we are willing to let you go."

When he heard that he wanted his own goods, Shen Chao didn't have any hesitation: "If you just want the goods, we can give them to you, but how can you guarantee to let us leave safely?"

The man on the Hongyi boat shouted: "Stop the boat, we will remove your cargo and let you go."

Shen Chao stopped shouting and stopped the boat. Isn't this fatal?

Obviously, the sailors of the Shen family are not stupid, if they stop the boat and let the person on the other side come up, wouldn't their own life depend on the thought of the other side?

Don't mention other ships' fleets, can you believe what the Hongyi people say?

Those who are not of my race will have different hearts. This is not a joke. In the vast sea, even if it belongs to Daming, if the fleet of the Shen family encounters hostile families such as the Li family and the Wang family, they will not mind making a temporary guest appearance. A handful of pirates.

These are all Han people and still like this, not to mention that the opposite is the Hongyi people who often conflict with the Ming coast.

"Let's fight, the opponent has no intention of letting us go." Shen Chao said calmly.

The sailors clenched their weapons one by one, waiting for the battle.

The Hongyi people yelled for a long time, seeing that the Shen family's fleet didn't speak, they knew it was useless, so they speeded up one by one, and the artillery on the bow began to aim.

Accompanied by a bang, a solid iron ball was shot out from the Hongyi people's cannon, drew an arc in the air, tumbling and spinning, rubbing against the Shen family's merchant ship with a scorching breath, fell into the water and splashed. Splashes come.

The shelling was like a signal. The artillery from both sides quickly came and went and fired continuously. Solid shells flew back and forth on the sea surface, and most of them fell into the water and splashed in pieces.

With the sound of rumbling guns and rising smoke, the communication between the ships was hindered. The fleet, which could only know what it meant by shouting loudly, is now fighting on its own, and the merchant ships yelled loudly. The sound of scolding has never stopped, but amidst the deafening sound of cannons, these are all covered by shells and gunpowder smoke.

In the sea battles in the seventeenth century, there were no grand and magnificent pictures, only a ship fired shells one or two nautical miles apart, and prayed that the shells would hit.

Shen Chao stood on the deck and directed his sailors to fight back. One sailor gritted his teeth and blushed and stuffed a solid bullet into the cleaned barrel, and fell to the ground before he breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did he realize that His head was hit by a stray bullet from somewhere, and there was a dark red blood hole on his skull, with fresh blood and some white and yellow spots flowing out.

But at this time, no one cared about the dead sailor. The fleet was desperately shooting shells past. From time to time, one could see a shell fly over everyone's heads and land behind, splashing a large splash of water, but what's more Most of them landed on the near side, and the splashed water splashed on everyone's faces like rain.

The nervous sailors picked up the matchlock guns tremblingly and shot out lead bullets one by one. The scattered gunshots and cannon sounds were everything at this time.

The stray bullets flew, drawing hot lines in the air, sinking into the human body, the ship wall, or making holes in the sails; the solid shells rolled and smashed the ship wall, forming a big gap on the ship's side, some The shells fell straight on the deck and smashed holes one after another. Some of the unlucky ones were directly smashed to half of their bodies by the shells, and those without arms and legs fell on the deck and wailed miserably.

Shouts, cursing, and moans filled the sea.

(End of this chapter)