Rise of the 1630s South America

2268 - Revolutionary Change

"Boys, it's time to cross the strait, cheer up. The Dragon Lord will not refuse the tribute delivered to your door. He will very much like to enjoy beef, biscuits, chocolate, wine and your little life." February 1695 On the 2rd, in the choppy Drake Passage, a ship puffing out black smoke was driving hard.Because of the strong wind and waves, the sailors on deck were very busy.They ran around with the thick water pipes of the pumps, relying on the power provided by the main engine to discharge the seawater that had entered the cabin as much as possible, so as to avoid unnecessary losses to the cargo on board.

All the water pipes on board are made of rubber, replacing the hard water pipes or leather pipes that were widely used in the past.Sailors also liked the new watertight and soft thing, as it greatly speeded up their drainage.The only downside is probably that the cost is a bit high, which the shipowners don't like very much, but how much does this have to do with ordinary sailors like them?What's more, the state-owned rubber factory in Yong'an County is also constantly reducing production costs. In the future, this new gadget will become more and more popular in the extremely conservative sailing industry.After all, you can’t expect something to remain unchanged for decades, can you—well, well, there seems to be an aircraft in later generations whose fuselage has remained unchanged for decades, so that it made a big news...

"Stand firm, don't panic, what do you look like? I, Wang Daudao, don't have any cowards like you under my command. Sometimes the more panicked you are, the more likely you are to make mistakes. Follow the usual training and take it step by step." Sailor The long and loud voice continued, and amidst his hoarse shouts, the sailors did calm down a lot, and started the drainage work step by step.

This is a steam ship, not a "steam ship" (steam engine sailing ship) in the traditional sense, but a new type of full steam-powered ship produced by Zhenhai Shipyard. It is the only steam ship in the fleet of the Yu family (Yu Xingguo). Ships are also the most advanced ships.This large ship with a standard displacement of more than 2200 tons has only been in Yu's fleet for only three months, and it has already carried out a mission to transport Indian immigrants to South Africa-Imagine, the huge, wet bulk cargo hold is full I have met anxious people——now I have received an order from Sun Chunyang Nanhuo Store to transport food and daily necessities to Chile, and I can't be idle for a moment.

Their ship set off from Qingdao Port, stopped at Yancheng and Xingnan Port, and then went directly south, intending to cross Cape Horn and enter the Pacific Ocean.On the towering rocky beach near Cape Horn, there are lighthouses and weather observation stations affiliated to the Navy to provide some guidance for passing ships.It's a pity that they haven't established a submarine cable to Xingnan Port, so they can't send the wind and wave conditions on the sea via telegram in time. Otherwise, they can provide more accurate information to ships traveling between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, so that they can Use your own judgment as to whether it is safer to go through the Strait of Magellan or round Cape Horn.

Obviously, the ship of the Yu family is unwilling to face the huge iceberg floating in the strait, which is a huge hidden danger when sailing at night.Therefore, they chose to bypass Cape Horn and take the Drake Passage with high winds and rough seas and even worse sea conditions, and they were unwilling to face the threat of icebergs. The insurance premium will inevitably rise to a new level, which is unacceptable to the shipowner.

"The wind and waves in the strait are indeed very strong. I don't know how Senior Zhang explored the Antarctic back then." Beside a railing on the poop of the ship, two well-dressed people with expressionless faces appeared. Among them, everyone who was talking Everyone knows the captain of the ship, but the other young man standing next to the captain is much more unfamiliar. Only the cadres on the ship know that this is Mr. Yu Tao, the second son of the boss Yu Xingguo, a retired navy officer.

The "Senior Zhang" he just mentioned refers to the navigator who explored the Antarctic waters in the early days of the East Coast and was named Zhang Yunhai. He later served as the general manager of the South China Sea Fishery Company. figure.It was also this person who vigorously developed the whaling business off the east coast of the southern hemisphere during his tenure, enabling the east coast industry, food, medicine and clothing industries to obtain a large amount of valuable raw materials.Just like the machine lubricants that are popular now, most of them come from whales (about [-]% come from seals), which has made great contributions to the development of industry.

The lubricating oil used on their ship in front of them was produced by the South China Sea Fishery Company. When they came, they encountered several whaling ships that were fighting along the way.When he saw those ships that were only over 200 tons fighting whales in the raging sea waves, Yu Tao also had to admit that those guys could be called brave.

"It is said that expedition ships and whaling ships are getting bigger and bigger. The design drawings of Hyundai Special Ship Factory have been finalized. When the new base in Shanghai County is fully put into production, it is almost ready for trial production." The captain held a big one in his mouth. Pipe, still at ease in the fierce sea breeze, only heard him say: "But the fishing company is still a little resistant. They think that the larger the ship, the higher the cost, but the efficiency of whaling may not be improved much, so they are a little hesitant. The South China Sea fishery The company is rich and powerful, and it has started a comprehensive refit, and its old whaling ships have been gradually sold off. Don’t tell me, they are quite popular, and there are many people who buy them.”

"The development trend of ships is getting bigger and bigger, whether it's a whaling ship or a cargo ship." Yu Tao commented lightly, and said: "Just like our ship, it can transport a thousand tons or a few hundred tons at a time. The goods can be transported at sea in all seasons regardless of the time of day. The utilization rate of this ship has increased immediately, and there is no need to stop at the port to bask in the sun due to unfavorable ocean currents and wind directions. It is a pity that it is not an all-steel ship , if several captains build this kind of ship again, what about transporting grain in bulk? Is the ship still so easy to leak?"

"The current boat is very good. I think the steel keel and ribs are very good. I am very satisfied with this boat." The captain took a puff of his pipe and said with a smile: "If you want me to say, don't Thinking about the all-steel ship, it is unrealistic at present, and the price must be very expensive. What we should do is to gradually expand the proportion of all-steam-powered ships and expand the capacity. This is more realistic. The company's business focus is shifting more and more Go to the Pacific side. It's not easy to sail here, and sailboats are always not safe."

It is said that the Yu family's fleet now operates two main routes.The first route departs from the port of Araucan, goes north along the coast of Chile, and goes to China via the Turtle Islands, Tahiti, and Rabaul. The second route is to travel around the South Pacific, taking a series of small South Pacific Islands and Australia are included.

These two routes may not have looked very good before, but after decades of silent cultivation, they are now very impressive.For example, the Tahiti Management Committee has been committed to conquering the surrounding islands for many years and integrating local natives into the plantations to engage in agricultural production.And the things they planted have gradually changed from simple grains, sugar cane and fruits to crops with high economic value such as sugar cane, fruits, coffee, cocoa, vanilla, pepper, etc., and then carried out unified deep processing in Jinhua Port. Most of the produced cane sugar, dried fruit, coffee, chocolate, flavors, spices and other specialties are brought back to the mainland for sale, which is very profitable.

Compared with the Tahiti Management Committee, the progress of the Rabaul Management Committee is a bit slower, which is determined by the local environment and the degree of resource inclination.However, even in the case of limited resources, the Rabaul Management Committee still achieved the ultimate that they could do. They not only thoroughly searched the whole island, but also established a stable colonial rule (no longer just as in the past) control point, now it is the surface), and sent troops and ships to conquer many surrounding islands, and planted the flag on the east coast all over this tropical sea.What's more, they also greatly expanded their influence on the island of New Guinea through trade or intimidation of force several times, and established several cities including Port Moresby (Port Moresby). Colonial towns ruled [-] to [-] natives.

These natives are currently mainly engaged in gold mining, and they can stably produce three to five tons of gold every year, making a considerable contribution to the country's gold reserves.Of course, we can’t forget New Caledonia. Since the expedition team arrived on the east coast many years ago and discovered that almost “the whole island is made of nickel”, the development of nickel mines on the island has entered a steady development. among.Now, the research on stainless steel and the production of coins (coins) on the east coast require a lot of nickel. It can be said that this island has also played a significant role in the economy of the east coast.

All in all, part of the dream of turning the islands of the South Pacific into the "Caribbean islands on the east coast" proposed by many people has been partially realized.As the development of these islands gradually deepens, their output and economic scale will surely increase day by day.Needless to say about population, economic development will naturally attract a large number of people to come and settle down. These are all complementary things.So, imagine it for free, how big a shipping market is this?Moreover, it is still under the condition that it has not been well developed at present, and there is still great potential to be tapped in the future.

The Yu family has laid out the industry and trade in the Pacific Ocean many years ago.In the era when everyone was flocking to the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, their move was actually not understood by too many people.But now it seems that it is time to reap the harvest. The Yu family has met many local business families in the South Pacific, and has a large number of professional sailing talents who are familiar with the local sea conditions. If the sailing equipment (steam ships) catch up again, the business will definitely improve. There is an explosive growth.

In addition, the Yu family is not satisfied with just investing in the shipping industry. In fact, they have also begun to enter the land, aggressively enclosing land in various ports, and building many first-class warehousing and logistics systems. (Located near the city of Auckland, New Zealand in later generations), they all enclosed the land in a piece of wild grass.Although nothing has been built yet, there will definitely be further actions when funds are abundant in the future.

Yu Tao and his father Yu Xingguo have always believed that the popularity of steam ships will bring "revolutionary changes" to colonial activities.The current slow pace of colonization will definitely be completely subverted. It will become rarer and rarer in the future to transport one or two thousand soldiers (including a large amount of necessary supplies) from the mainland to India with great effort.Large-tonnage steamships will reduce transportation costs to an astonishingly low level, and the distance between places on the earth will be greatly shortened.If you can't realize it in advance at this time, you will have to pay the price in the future, there is no doubt about it!

(End of this chapter)