Start North America 1400: nation building

Chapter 275 [274] Zheng He's Fleet

Compared to the Malindi people...

The reactions of Tiaoyu and others were much calmer.

They have had enough time to complete their psychological construction, unlike Lu Baen and others, who have a vague impression of the ancient eastern country.

Until today, it was the first time I felt a deep shock when I saw the giant ship approaching.

Daming is known as the most powerful country in the world today.

You can look up and worship, which will be the driving force for the balance;
But fear and cowardice must not exist.

Tiaoyu glanced at the dozen or so people, and shouted loudly: "Follow my lord's divine order, welcome the Daming Mission, and worship my lord Balanced!"

Zhou Ruoyu, Zhou Wangshan and the others looked solemn and said in unison——

"Praise the Lord, praise the balance;"

"Balance exists among all things!!"

It doesn't matter whether Ming Dynasty is strong or not.

Only balance is the only incarnation of law and order in the world.

It is also because of this scene.

The restless hearts of Lu Baen and others suddenly became quiet;
It was as if there was a sacred aura in the dark, shrouding them.

A group of people set off.

In the high ground of the palace, Tiaoyu and others also saw the magnificent fleet on the distant sea level for the first time.

The heart is ready to move, it is expectation and yearning.

One day, the banner of equilibrium will be like them, flying across the world.

A seed full of majestic vitality has been planted in their hearts.

outside the palace.

Malindi's knights are in place.

The aged Lu Baen boarded the king's carriage and wanted to invite the envoy to sit with him, but he saw that Tiao Yu and others had followed Qiao Lan and got on the horse.

As the knight in front shouted to open the way, the entire guard of honor marched to the port pier.

The city was already boiling.

The grand sight of the distant fleet spread throughout the city, and the people rushed to the harbor.

When arriving at the pier.

There are already crowds of people around.

The knight dismounted, cleared the way, and escorted the princes, ministers and angels to the front.

A minister in charge of maritime commerce said: "The size of the huge ship is unknown, but from a distance, I am afraid that it will not be able to dock at the port. It can only anchor in the deep water far away!"

At the same time, the fleet is still far away now, and the port is not as clear as before from the high ground of the palace.

After everyone discussed for a while, Gaza asked Tiaoyu for instructions: "An envoy, the Minister of the Kingdom suggested that His Royal Highness should go by boat and invite the Daming Mission to enter the country!"

"The envoys of the gods are honorable, so they can't go with them. When they land, His Royal Highness will invite the envoys to meet the envoys of the gods."

Tiaoyu was a little undecided.

If he takes the initiative to welcome him, will the name of Balance be underestimated?

But the giant ship couldn't dock at the port, and they had to leave the port by boat if they wanted to see Daming's ship accomplishments.

Without waiting for him to speak.

Zhou Ruoyu couldn't wait any longer: "Noble? Why are we so noble! We are all the people of Balance, and only our lord, the true God, is noble and supreme in the world!"

Tiaoyu was awakened by the words, and secretly praised the atonement in his heart, and then said: "Let's go with the prince, that giant ship is rare in the world, so it should be observed and referenced."

Will achieved.

The group quickly boarded the ship.

Only some aged princes and ministers and the old lord Lubaan remained on the shore.

A total of five boats left the port. First, the boatmen and sailors rowed the oars. When they reached a distance, they raised their sails and sailed through the waves.

……

above the open sea.

"Truly—"

The long sound of the horn resounded through the formation of a ship.

At the head and tail of the ship, there will be flag bearers waving the command flag to convey orders.

Not long after, shouts continued to be heard from ships everywhere——

"A first-class treasure ship, lower six sails!"

"B falls three."

"Bing stay one."

The same semaphore and shout continued to spread, and a speed adjustment was quickly completed.

The entire fleet has more than 60 first-class treasure ships, which are driven by sails, and a giant ship with a hull length of more than 9 meters needs [-] masts to set sail.

The deck of a giant ship.

Everyone gathers to look far away, and the burly man is the head of the crowd. He is pointing to the land in the distance, and the faintly visible scale of the city——

"What is this city?"

There are more than a dozen people in strange clothes on one side, smiling, "...%#￥!"

After they finished speaking, a young man said: "Report to Chief Envoy Zheng, the envoy who has all the bones said that this place is Malindi, one of the three countries along the coast."

"The situation is weak, and there are more than a thousand soldiers and horses;"

"But the number of black slaves is large, ranking first among the Three Kingdoms!"

The so-called envoy Zheng is Zheng He.

Take on the duty of the fleet envoy on this trip.

The boy's name is Ma Huan, and he is only fifteen or sixteen years old this year.

This is the first time he has accompanied him on a mission, and he has served as a teacher and a general officer.

There are not a few young people like him in the fleet, most of them are from poor families, or they are good at sailing boats to fill tanks, or they can speak foreign languages.

And the status of such people is relatively low.

But Ma Huan is from the south of the Yangtze River, and his ancestral home is Kuaiji;
The ancestors became rich in business, so they welcome the scholar; and because they often do business with Arab businessmen, they have acquired a proficient Arabic since childhood, so they were recruited into the regiment.

Compared with those who are mostly "self-taught", literati like Ma Huan who are "graduated from a major" and who have read poetry and books are especially precious.

Zheng He said: "How far is this place from the last city?"

Ma Huan was the translator.

He also said: "The envoy of Mugudushu said that if the speed of the treasure ship is used, it can be reached in three or four days, but now it is summer, the wind is not smooth, and if you go back and forth, you have to wait for several months for the wind to blow before you can go north again. "

On the side, another young supervisor said: "If we have to wait for several months, I'm afraid it will delay our return trip."

Zheng He understood, and said: "If so, can the Malindi people send envoys to call the Kilwa embassy to come overland and meet us?"

After Ma Huan asked, he said, "Yes!"

at the same time.

The formation of the fleet has changed quietly, the speed of the ships has slowed down, and more than [-] ships A, B and C have gradually gathered.

Flags were flying on the bow of the ship, and not long after, a messenger came running: "Report to Chief Envoy Zheng, the front ship sent a message, and there are foreign ships coming."

"Which ship sent the message?"

"Vice Envoy Wang's main ship."

Looking at the city-state on the coast, Zheng He saw that the distance was almost there, so he gave orders: "Every ship will change into a 'serial pass' and prepare to drop anchor!"

"All arms and defenses;"

"Let's pass on people of rank six and above to join Wang Jinghong's main ship."

"Yes."

The horn sounded again, and the semaphore was waved.

There are countless mobilizers on board, methodical;

And this scene was very shocking to the Mugudushu (Mogadishu) pilgrimage mission that had just boarded the ship more than ten days ago.

They saw that the boat in the flank began to raise its sails and speed up, but it formed a precise formation on the "unmarked" sea.

From the outside to the inside, multiple barriers are formed.

In the front are two first-class treasure ships as barriers, and the two ships are sideways, so that the muzzles of the guns are facing outwards.

The small boats are also extended like chains, linking more than 60 large ships at the core of the ship formation.

The ship formations are stacked, and there is nowhere that is not densely covered by the range of firecrackers and magic arrows.

Ma Huan, who was still a young man, not only admired him, but also showed the power of the heavenly court, and said to the foreign mission:
"A few months ago, we traveled to Sumatra. The small foreign country was in a state of chaos. Its princes didn't show respect to each other, and they were slack towards our Ming Dynasty. In the end, they even raised troops to intercept and kill us, intending to rob our Daming treasure ship."

"However, the [-] soldiers of my Ming Dynasty are all good soldiers and good generals. They quelled the chaos in that small country with a sweeping force, and even captured Prince Su Gan alive on the boat.

A group of messengers were dumbfounded and shouted that the power of the gods was invincible.

At this time, a young man patted Ma Huan on the shoulder and reminded: "Ma Huan, don't let the foreign missions fear me, this behavior shows the magnanimity of the Ming Dynasty."

Ma Huan felt slightly embarrassed, and said, "I see, Brother Fei."

The young man didn't blame him either, because the two of them got along very well for several months.

His name is Fei Xin, and he is both knowledgeable and teaching.

It's just that compared to Ma Huan, his foreign language is far inferior, and he is all self-taught.

Along the way, he also benefited a lot from Ma Huan.

And the two have something in common, both were conscripted into the army when they were teenagers.

It's just that Fei Xin went to sea with the army for the first time in the last seven years of Yongle, and this is the second time.

After a small episode, a medium ship came side by side.

A group of dozens of people transferred to the Chinese ship, and then went to another treasure ship at the front of the ship array.

Due to Zheng He's order, people above the sixth grade gathered at Wang Jinghong's place.

Wang Jinghong is also a "eunuch", and he is the deputy envoy for this purpose.

In addition, there are dozens of other "eunuchs, supervisors, young supervisors, and internal envoys" scattered among the main ships to preside over the affairs of the division fleet.

The eunuch here is not a collective name for eunuchs, but the rank of the position.

Internal envoys are the lowest, and those who go to Jiancheng are the fifth rank; young supervisors are from the fourth rank;
For example, Zheng He, Wang Jinghong and other chief eunuchs are of the fourth rank.

Among them, Zheng He and Wang Jinghong should be the leaders, supplemented by some commanders and deputy commanders.

When the Chinese ship they took set sail.

Many ships from various places in the army set off at the same time, bringing envoys and generals from all over the place to gather.

Shortly after.

Nearly a hundred people gathered in one place.

Following Wang Jinghong, he stood at the bow of the ship and pointed to the five small boats swaying in the distance: "When they left the port, the boat in front gave a warning. Now that the size of the boat is seen, it should not be hostile."

Hear this.

There was a chuckle in the crowd.

Such a landing operation might be detrimental to the Ming Fleet, but since the first time they sailed overseas, they have never seen anyone who dared to challenge the Ming Fleet.

The size and quantity of the ships of the Ming Fleet are all crushed in the world.

Someone said: "Or the Malindi people also heard about our arrival, so they saw the fleet coming, so they went out to greet them?"

"Very likely! This coastal city-state has a lot of trade and contacts, so we can get news in advance."

Wang Jinghong looked at Zheng He again: "What do you think?"

Zheng He said: "Since we are friendly countries, we can repair supplies here, visit this exotic land, do business with them, and present exotic treasures and rare animals for 'Jian Shang'."

Everyone was overjoyed when they heard that they could disembark.

Although there is nothing lacking on board, who doesn’t yearn for the smell of earth and the feeling of being down-to-earth when sailing on the sea?
A general in armor said: "Then if you see that they don't carry weapons, can you 'switch' and let them go?"

"Can!"

Wait for the answer to drop.

The order sounded again.

at the same time.

Five boats in the distance are constantly approaching.

Every inch they approached, the shock in their hearts deepened. From a distance, the huge ship that was the size of a palm was now the size of an elephant.

And they are still far from within the fleet formation.

Zhou Wangshan said: "I don't dare to imagine how huge the ship will be under that giant ship..."

He looked at Zhou Yusheng: "Yuhao, are you confident in creating such a giant ship?"

Everyone looked sideways, and their eyes were a little complicated.

The profound meaning of the law bestowed by our Lord is naturally supreme.

But you must know that today's balanced boats are all used for fishing.

The newly developed "transport ship" still uses two boats spliced ​​together to barely improve its stability and carrying capacity.

You can go downstream from the "Golden River" (Sacramento River) in the No. 2 big city to reach the newly built main city of health and provide construction materials.

Seeing the fishing rope, he was silent for a while.

Tiaoyu immediately opened his mouth to smooth things over: "Don't put too much pressure on the fishing rope. The fishing rope has passed many tests. As the leader of the ship research team, this is approved by the chief gatekeeper."

"Besides, isn't the purpose of coming here this time to absorb the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding skills?"

Everyone nodded.

But at this moment, the fish rope suddenly said: "Such a huge ship is not the direction of research on shipbuilding in the Kingdom of God..."

"Tiaoyu is right. This time I am here to learn from Daming's shipbuilding achievements, but it is only to absorb its useful experience as a reference."

"The cost of building a large wooden ship is extremely high. Not to mention the acquisition of wood, the processing and anti-corrosion treatment will take several years to settle."

"Of course it is very fast to build, but the premise is that the materials are ready-made."

"However, it is mentioned in the Secret Code of Laws bestowed by our lord that a large wooden ship wears out very quickly. If it is not maintained and repaired all year round, it will soon be scrapped; but the cost of ship maintenance is not as simple as building a new ship."

"E.g……"

Seeing that Zhou Yusheng was going to make a long speech.

The three law monks of the ship research team beside him immediately interrupted: "Actually, my mission on this trip is not to learn the blueprints and techniques of building giant ships, as long as I get the skills of small and medium-sized ships."

"In this way, offshore shipping can be satisfied, connecting the sea and land from the kingdom of God to the city-state alliance."

"And in the next step, the wooden shipbuilding would be replaced."

"This is for a transitional use only."

Seeing the three team members summing up for himself, Zhou Yusheng nodded quickly.

But everyone was stunned, in their minds, only the concept of wooden boats.

Zhou Ruoyu said: "What to replace?"

Zhou Yusheng was straightforward this time: "Steel!"

"We want to build a steel warship. Only in this way can we walk on the sea and be indestructible!"

He was full of arrogance, and looked into the distance: "No matter how big the wooden giant ship is, it will be easily crushed under the impact of the steel warship!"

"How can wood be harder than steel?"

Zhou Ruoyu exclaimed, "Steel? Will steel not sink in water?"

The rest of the law monks pondered, and then they were shocked: "If the buoyancy can be designed to be equal to the weight of the displaced water, it can indeed make a heavy object in a confined space float on the water!"

Zhou Yusuo looked at the man suddenly, and said pleasantly, "Yes, this is the concept of ship displacement in the rules of shipbuilding!"

"You haven't read the ship secret volume given by our lord, but you can tell the truth... you can join my ship research team!!"

The man quickly waved his hand and said, "No, no, I still like gunpowder creations and the laws of chemistry! In fact, as the Temple Mount monks improve the realm of physical laws, there will be countless people who can contribute to shipbuilding."

"My lord is above!!" Zhou Ruoyu exclaimed, "You can really build a ship out of steel!!"

Tiaoyu laughed and said: "So Wu, Chief and Ruonan asked you to practice the rules diligently, otherwise you will be an ignorant person who is ignorant..."

"Zhou Ruoyu, Great Wisdom Ruoyu? At that time, can you still bear the name given by our Lord?"

Zhou Ruoyu felt offended and snorted, "Brother Jumping Fish, you are jealous of me!"

"Hahaha, whatever you think."

People talking.

A group of Malindis listened with stares in their eyes.

Qiao Lan hurriedly asked Gaza: "Gaza...Uncle Wang, what are the envoys discussing?"

Gaza looked astonished, he couldn't believe his ears, and after listening for so long, he also understood the first half.

Gaza said: "The envoy said that the Kingdom of God will create a giant ship made of steel, and the Ming treasure ship in front of us will be vulnerable to that steel warship..."

"It's like, how can a wooden sword beat an iron-bladed long knife?"

Hiss! !

The crowd gasped.

Before they could express their emotions, a shadow was already hanging over everyone's heads.

They raised their heads in a trance, only to see giant ships as large as hills approaching in front of them.

The five boats are as insignificant as meerkats at the feet of elephants.

Benedict——

The sound of the horn sounded deafeningly.

Another shout came from an unknown ship: "We follow the order of His Majesty Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty to visit Western countries, to proclaim the virtues of the Ming Dynasty, and to promote the goodness of neighbors..."

A proclamation and singing made people feel unclear.

Gaza didn't even have time to translate, because the distance was too far, the sentences were vague, and Daming's accent was different from what he learned when he was young.

On the contrary, Tiaoyu and others, after balancing the accents of various tribes, can roughly listen to the front and back words and form the meaning of phrases.

Wait until the singing is over.

There was a huge ship with a winch rope, lowered the boat and sailed towards them.

Fei Xin and Ma Huan were at the head, smiling.

The latter said in proficient Arabic: "My lord, I am waiting for everyone to board the ship to meet each other!"

(End of this chapter)