Smuggling Daming

In the port area outside Tianjin, Zhou Zhong was inspecting the shipyard under construction in front of him. Behind him, apart from some Tianjin local officials, there was another very conspicuous guy. He is wearing a seventh-rank official uniform, but he is a European with a yellow beard and green eyes. This person is the first batch of shipbuilder Chilawa introduced by Zhou Zhong.

Chilawa was originally a shipbuilder in a shipyard affiliated to the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce. However, after Zhou Zhong became the Governor of the World, some shipyards were set up under the Governor's Mansion, mainly to build and develop some warships. Because of insufficient technical force, Zhou Zhong The master shipbuilder Chilawa was transferred to the Governor's Mansion, and he was officially awarded the official position of a shipbuilding envoy. I also imitated the habit of the Han people and set up a banquet, celebrating with my relatives and friends for many days.

This time when Zhou Zhong entered Beijing, he did not bring Chilawa into the capital, but because Tianjin Port is under construction, with a port, there must also be a shipyard. After all, there are lush forests in Liaodong and North Korea, which can provide a lot of good In addition, Tianjin is very close to Beijing, so it is natural not to rely solely on the shipyards in the south to provide ships. Therefore, under such circumstances, Tianjin’s port has specially set aside an area for the construction of a large-scale Tianjin shipyard. According to the original estimate, if the construction of this construction plant is completed, then the ships needed for the northern shipping will no longer need to be purchased from the southern shipyards.

However, the shipyard is easy to build, but after the shipyard is built, it must be able to build satisfactory ships.This requires some famous shipbuilders to sit in person.With the guidance of these master shipbuilders.The entire shipyard will not lag behind those southern shipyards in technology.

It was also under such circumstances that Chilawa, as the best shipbuilder in the Governor's Mansion of the Four Seas, was transferred to Tianjin to take up an official position. The name of the position was still Shipbuilding Supervisor, but this time his official position had been removed. Being listed as a capital official and being promoted to the seventh rank is a commendation for Chilawa's hard work over the years.

"Your Highness, please see that the Tianjin Shipyard in front of you has basically been built. There are eight large docks in total. As long as the craftsmen of the shipyard are in place, eight Warren-class warships can be built at the same time, and they can also be repaired at the same time. Some small merchant ships are enough to meet the needs of Tianjin Port." Chilawa pointed to the shipyard in front of him and explained to Zhou Zhong with an excited face.

He is very satisfied with his current life. Originally, he only planned to stay here in Daming for ten years, and then return to Europe with a boatload of porcelain that Zhou Zhong promised to give him at the beginning, but he did not expect that he could become an official of Daming, and The grade is not low either.So now Chilawa has already thrown away his plan to return to Europe, not to mention that he is used to life here in Daming.I like the wine, food and exquisite silk here, and recalling the stinky Europe, Chilawa has no intention of going back.

However, there is an old saying in Central China called "every family has scriptures that are difficult to recite". Although Chilawa does not believe in Buddhism and does not need to recite scriptures, he also has his own troubles. Willing to marry, although their European girls marry later, but they live in Daming now, as the so-called do as the Romans do, Shila is now 20 years old but still refuses to get married, this has become a heart problem for Chilawa.

Listening to Chilawa's introduction, Zhou Zhong couldn't help showing admiration on his face. The first batch of craftsmen he introduced from the Portuguese made great contributions to the industrial construction of Daming. It is Chilawa, the master shipbuilder, who has already raised Ming's shipbuilding industry several steps. It is also with Chilawa's help that Zhou Zhong was able to build a warship like the Warren Warship, which is better than the Portuguese warship. It can be said that Now half of the victory of the Ming Navy at sea is due to Chilawa.

"Qilawa, you are an old subordinate of this king. I can rest assured that you can find a way. If you encounter any difficulties in the future and the local officials in Tianjin can't solve them, then come directly to me. I will definitely do my best. Help you!" Zhou Zhong nodded with a smile and said, his words were not for Chilawa, but for those Tianjin officials behind him, after all Chilawa wants to preside over the operation of the shipyard, The support of local officials is bound to be needed. Now that he points out that he is Chilawa's backer, even if others want to embarrass him, they have to weigh whether they are enough?

Chilawa not only speaks Chinese very well now, but also has not been a fool in the officialdom for a few years. It is natural to hear that Zhou Zhong is supporting himself at this time, which makes him refreshed and stands smilingly standing around Chong nodded and said yes, and the local officials in Tianjin were also surprised. They didn't expect that the Portuguese had such a big backer as Zhao Wang standing behind him. Fortunately, he didn't offend him much before, otherwise it would be difficult in the future.

After visiting the shipyard, it was already noon, and today was Zhou Zhong's first day of inspection in Tianjin, so the local officials had already prepared a reception banquet for Zhou Zhong. Speaking of the origin of this custom of eating and drinking in official circles It has been a long time, and even later generations have already established a custom, so although Zhou Zhong is not used to it, he is unable to change it. He can only ask those officials to be as frugal as possible, and must not be too extravagant.

This reception banquet lasted until noon. In fact, the key to this reception banquet is not what to eat, but the contacts between officials at the banquet. For example, a prince of a country like Zhou Zhong, who is also highly regarded by His Majesty the Emperor , so these officials naturally fawned desperately at the banquet.

However, at the end of the banquet, Zhou Zhong suddenly received a piece of news, which shocked him. He clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention and said, "Everyone, Nanyang sent another group of Portuguese craftsmen. They were all obtained from the newly occupied Goa, and now they are all shipped to Tianjin. These craftsmen are selected shipbuilders, and this time they will also be arranged to work in the shipyard. You can take it to the next level!"

Hearing that the imperial court transported a group of Portuguese craftsmen from Nanyang for the shipyard in Tianjin, all officials were surprised. The importance attached by the shipyard made all the officials present understand the position of the shipyard in the hearts of the imperial court, and at the same time let these officials firmly remember that they must fully cooperate with the shipyard in the future, otherwise if something happens to the shipyard, they may will be held accountable by the court.

Tianjin officials are still very curious about those Portuguese craftsmen, especially since they know that Chilawa is also a Portuguese, so they all want to see what the hometown of this shipbuilding supervisor looks like.It's just that what they don't know is that Chilawa has always considered himself a Roman. Although he lives in Portugal, he does not recognize his identity as a Portuguese. In addition, he was bullied by the Portuguese Indian governor before. So Chilawa didn't consider himself a Portuguese for a long time, but insisted that he was a Ming from the beginning to the end.

It is precisely because of this that Chilawa heard that Zhou Zhong had transported a group of Portuguese craftsmen, and these craftsmen were transported from the occupied Goa. This made Chilawa not only feel sad, but also very sad. I am very happy, because his shipbuilding skills come from Europe after all, and he always feels a little uncomfortable when he cooperates with the shipbuilders of Ming Dynasty. Now that there are such a group of Portuguese craftsmen, he must be able to better display his talents.

Now Zhou Zhong brought a group of Ming officials to the port again. The last time a large number of Portuguese came to Tianjin, it was the Portuguese mission led by Da Gama who went to Beijing to meet His Majesty the Emperor. But it has only been a few years since Portugal People's lairs in India were all occupied by Ming, and so many Portuguese craftsmen were also captured. Although the treatment of these craftsmen was higher than that of ordinary prisoners of war, it was much lower than that of Ming's craftsmen.

Originally, for these Portuguese craftsmen, it was only necessary to send a small official to take over. However, Chilawa, as their fellow Europeans, will need these people to work hard in the future, so he feels that he needs to show more enthusiasm, so he Zhou Zhong decided to meet them in person, because Zhou Zhong wanted to see the results of the navy he created, and it was purely out of curiosity for those officials in Tianjin.

The Portuguese craftsmen transported to Tianjin this time were all specially selected. First of all, it was a large shipyard in Goa. This shipyard was not mainly for shipbuilding, but for repairing those Portuguese warships and merchant ships. Three to four hundred craftsmen were all packed and put on the ship. In addition, some people in Goa who had experience in shipbuilding or who knew how to build ships were all sent to Daming. Together with their families, they were finally sent to Tianjin. The number of Portuguese reached more than 2000.

These Portuguese experienced an unforgettable period of labor reform in the plantations in Goa. Under the whip of the native supervisors, these people quickly learned to obey, especially for the orders of Ming officials, no one dared to Questioned, so after they were selected and put on the ship, they all behaved very docilely.

But speaking of which, the treatment of these shipbuilders who were transported to Daming is not bad, at least it is much better than those African slaves they sold in later generations. Although there is no separate cabin, men and women live separately, and seven or eight people squeeze into a small room. In the single room, you can sleep with your body straight. Although the daily diet is rationed, you can at least eat half full. This is one of the reasons why these craftsmen did not resist along the way. (to be continued..)