Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 802 Across the Ocean ([-])

The southeast trade wind in early autumn was still very strong. Walking on the boundless sea, Zhang Jinhua only felt refreshed.

The solid bow made of heavy Xinhua red sandalwood splits the waves and splashes a large canopy of water mist.The unchanging westward currents provided sufficient power for the ships to sail. Even without sails to take advantage of the southeast wind blowing on the sea, the full steam-powered "Tahiti" still reached a speed of about 7-8 knots.Although not as fast as those motor sailboats, it is still an extremely impressive speed in this era when the great voyage has just entered the middle stage.What's more, this is the first large ocean-going vessel with full steam power on the earth (except for small inland steamboats), with a standard displacement of 1300 tons, which is of great significance, and it is certainly not comparable to those transitional steam engine sailboats.

Thanks to the efforts of Pingan Iron and Steel, Tieling Special Steel, First Heavy Machinery, Railway Machinery, Western Forging, Zhenhai Shipbuilding and other enterprises, the quality of the "Tahiti" is very good, and the overall performance is extremely reliable.Since going to sea these days, the frequency of replacing steam engines and propulsion system components has been much lower than before, which means that the material and machining level on the east coast has reached a new level.

Some seabirds appeared in the sky, which lifted Zhang Jinhua's spirits. He flipped through the charts in hand, and then carefully read the logbook of the past few days, and finally calculated on straw paper. This small fleet should have been extremely close to the famous Tahiti Island.

"I don't know what happened to those people." Zhang Jinhua looked at the seagulls flying above the sea and murmured.When he left Tahiti, he left 16 expedition members and 16 strong sailors on the island. Although they had camps, food, seeds, livestock, and of course weapons and protective gear, God knows that these people were Not alive, not dying of disease or native raids.Although Zhang Jinhua also informed Deputy Captain An Chu'an in Australia to send some people to the island to garrison him, God knows if he did.Without the support of immigrants and soldiers sent by Australia, once the aborigines on the island changed, it would be difficult for the thirty or so people left by Zhang Jinhua to last long.

At the beginning, they sailed upstream from the west of Tahiti, and took away from the island Tahitian sugar cane (high sugar and high yield), which is of great significance to the sugar industry all over the world, as well as local unique varieties such as Tahitian lemons. The crops have been transplanted in Australia to the St. Mary Island Botanical Garden on Xinhua Island.It is believed that after a period of breeding and cultivation, people from the east coast can find a site for small-scale planting on the tropical island of Xinhua Island.

Of course, this matter is of great importance and must be carried out in the utmost secrecy, otherwise Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and other countries that have invested heavily in the sugar industry will come to ask people on the east coast for this "big killer".At that time, these countries that already have a first-mover advantage in the sugar industry will inevitably use their advantages in raw materials, technology, markets, and even capital to completely suppress the sugar industry of the people on the east coast, and they will be dumbfounded.Therefore, when their own sugar industry has not improved much, it is best for the people on the east coast to secretly cultivate fine varieties on Xinhua Island and expand the scale of sugarcane planting. At the same time, they learn the latest sugar technology and strive to open up the market. Only in this way can we effectively protect our own industry.

"Sir, we have compared all types of astronomical clocks." With the sound of footsteps, a young sergeant walked up to Zhang Jinhua's side and said softly, "Among them, the 'East Bank-' produced by Haidiao Watch Factory The 7' series performs best, with an error of less than five seconds from your mechanical watch. The performance of other astronomical clocks is uneven, with a good error of only seven or eight seconds, and a difference of more than ten seconds. There are seconds, I really can't watch..."

Reporting to Zhang Jinhua is Liu Fubo, the son of Navy Captain Liu Dafa, who is currently serving in the Navy after successfully graduating from the Nautical School with the rank of sergeant.This time when Zhang Jinhua's "Tahiti" sailed, the navy recommended more than ten young people including Liu Fubo when recruiting sailors, which was regarded as a kind of training for them.Of course, this is also the second cooperation between Liu Fubo and Zhang Jinhua. When Liu Fubo made the first voyage to Tahiti in 1648, Liu Fubo was in that expedition team, so it can be said that he is not unfamiliar with this island at all.

"Since the Dongqi series of marine astronomical clocks are the best, I will write a use report truthfully. After returning, compared with the navy, the large orders will continue to fly to the Haidiao Watch Factory. Mo Ming, it is I have won a good business that makes money, and I have to give him a few meals when I go back." After listening to Liu Fubo's report, Zhang Jinhua nodded slightly, and then made a final decision on the matter.Many years ago, the watch factory jointly established by Mo Ming and Torricelli, after so many years of dismal operation, has finally achieved fruition, and it is expected to embark on the fast track of development in the future.

The two chatted for a while, and soon, the navigator sent someone to send a message: Tahiti was discovered!The news shocked the two of Zhang Jinhua. After repeatedly confirming that the news was true, Zhang Jinhua decisively ordered the signal flag to be raised, and the other three ships followed closely behind and headed for the place where they landed last time.

Thank goodness our people are still there!This was the first reaction of the sailors on the east coast who rowed their small boats to the shore.Because they saw a rather large wooden camp on the edge of the island, and a tall flagpole was erected inside the camp, on which the flag of the Eastern China Republic was flying.

There is also a rough trestle bridge made of logs on the shore, which brings great convenience to the sailors on the east coast who land on the shore.Some people in khaki short-sleeved military uniforms were waiting on the pier with muskets. After confirming that the sailors who landed were indeed from the east bank, they put down the weapons in their hands with a smile on their faces, signaled them to go ashore, and immediately dispatched People spread the news to the camp.

Soon, after hearing that four large ships from the mainland had arrived in the outer sea, people in the camp immediately became excited. Sergeant Wang Sizhong of the Dongao Garrison, who was in charge of local security, immediately came out with a group of people.Zhang Jinhua, who had just got off the boat, looked around and saw these people lined up neatly in two columns, with bayonets and muskets on their shoulders, sabers hanging from their waists, and leather boots on their feet. They were different from the soldiers on the pier. Yes, these people were also wearing long-sleeved trousers.All in all, the force appeared to be a regular one—or at least a well-trained militia.

Sure enough, after negotiating, Zhang Jinhua immediately knew that these people were all from Jinshan Port, Australia. There were about a hundred people in total. The Division is responsible for the security of Tahiti.The leading officer of this unit is an army sergeant named Wang Sizhong, who is the nephew of Wang Jiazhong, a former Shandong bandit leader who has settled on the east bank and one of the three Jeju tribes.The sources of his soldiers are also very mixed. Except for half of them from Shandong of Daming, most of the rest are from Shandan, Japan and North Korea. East Coast) Spaniards.

After these people landed in the middle of 49, they joined Zhang Jinhua's 32 expedition members (only 21 were still alive at that time) and took over the defense of this place. In the second half of 49, Jinshan Port transported more than 60 immigrants here—including serious immigrants from the Ming Dynasty (about [-]%), as well as reform-through-labour prisoners (mostly Qing army officers and soldiers) who were exiled here. , and even the aborigines (including aborigines in Australia and the Ainu in Hokkaido) who were forced to migrate here.

After the arrival of the immigrants, Wang Sizhong organized them into groups immediately, and then confiscated them to cut wood to build houses and build the camp wharf. At the same time, he also surveyed the terrain outside the village, measured the land, and prepared to clear some land for planting food.However, their behavior obviously aroused the hostility of the indigenous residents of the island, so the relationship between the two parties immediately fell into tension.After the request to buy land was rejected by the native chiefs, skirmishes between the immigrants on the East Coast and the natives occurred from time to time.

More than three months ago, after an east coast soldier accidentally killed two aborigines, a large-scale armed conflict finally broke out between the two sides: the aboriginal chief gathered hundreds of people and brazenly attacked the camp built by the east coast people by the sea , The soldiers of the garrison fought back vigorously, using muskets and spears to beat the natives to the ground, and left in embarrassment.

After this incident, the relationship between outsiders on the East Coast and the aborigines could no longer ease.The aborigines stopped supplying coconuts, lemons, sugar cane, black pearls and other things to this place, and they were no longer willing to accept the employment of the people on the east coast to cut down trees. The armed confrontation between the two sides rose to the surface.

After learning the news, Zhang Jinhua immediately used his status as a local special commissioner to announce the implementation of military control in Tahiti. people, and officially named it the Tahitian Garrison.As for the ordnance and protective equipment needed for the expansion of the army, the four ships carried a lot of them, and they happened to be dispatched at the same time.There were even three or four small-caliber cannons among them, which greatly excited Wang Sizhong and others.

After doing all this, on March 3, Zhang Jinhua ordered the new immigrants on the ship to disembark and settle down, and together with the old immigrants on the island, they worked hard to build their homes with their own hands.In addition to more than 25 Guarani exiles among these new immigrants, there are dozens of shipyard workers, experienced farmers, carpenters, construction engineers, gun repairers, veterinarians and other technical personnel who will also be ordered to work here , to help build a rudimentary micro-base here—an ocean-going supply base capable of repairing ships and providing freshwater vegetables.

After the base was settled, the three immigrant ships set sail, left Tahiti Island, and headed for Jinshan Port, Australia. They had to hurry up to transport the immigrants.As for Zhang Jinhua, he will leave a few days later, but the destination is Yantai Port in the Heishui area. According to the plan, he will meet with Shao Shude, Wei Boqiu and others there to discuss immigration and trade matters.

(End of this chapter)