Expedition to Europe

As an island country, Lanfang vigorously develops the maritime transportation industry.

So far, there are more than 200 merchant ships registered in Lanfang, belonging to the three major transportation companies in Lanfang.

In Qin Zhiyuan's plan, all future transportation of Lanfang will be handled by Lanfang's freighters.

This goal has been basically achieved, but there are still certain hidden dangers. The problem lies in the selection of the captain.

Although Lanfang's cargo ships have ocean-going capabilities, the number of Lanfang captains is seriously insufficient. They can only hire a large number of French or British captains, and they are also training Lanfang's own captains.

This is the case of the "Minnan".

The "Minnan" is a 10,000-ton ocean-going cargo ship with ocean-going transportation capabilities. It is currently operating in Lanfang from Wanghai Prefecture to Northern Xinjiang. When the "Minnan" went to Northern Xinjiang, it transported various materials needed by Northern Xinjiang. When it returned, it took people who wanted to immigrate from the Republic of China to Lanfang.

The "Minnan" is a relatively advanced cargo ship with a relatively fast sailing speed. It can make a round trip from Wanghai Prefecture to Northern Xinjiang every half a month.

Like most ocean freighters in Lanfang, the captain of the "Min Nan" is a Frenchman, and he is an acquaintance of Qin Zhiyuan. He is Henry, the captain of the "Victory News" that Qin Zhiyuan and the others took when they went to Europe.

Henry has been a little depressed these past two days, because the original first mate and second mate on the "Minnan" were transferred and went to a new ship to serve as captain and first mate respectively. Henry also had to retrain his first mate and second mate. .

And this happened once four months ago.

That's right, Henry has been working under Qin Zhiyuan for more than half a year.

The trauma caused by the World War in Europe was extremely serious. The "Victory News" was originally an "old guy". When the "Victory News" was about to be retired, Henry's boss had no money to replace it with a new ship, so Henry came to Lan Fang is looking for food.

In fact, for Henry, even if he retires now, Henry can still live a life without worries about food and clothing.

However, Henry's love for the sea has penetrated deep into his bones. Henry could not refuse the temptation of the sea, so he continued to use his remaining talents in Lanfang.

When he came to Lanfang from France, Henry only had a group of unskilled sailors, not even a first mate or a second mate. It could be said that they were "poor and useless", so Henry had to train them from scratch.

Fortunately, these "children" were diligent enough and enthusiastic about learning. No matter what Henry asked them to do, they always completed it neatly, which made Henry feel very happy.

Just when Henry had trained qualified first mates and second mates and was about to start a happy and leisurely life as a captain, bad news came. Henry's first mate and second mate were transferred away, and Henry had to start all over again.

This is already the second time.

Henry knew that Lan Fang was using him to train more qualified captains for himself.

If this continues, one day Henry will be unemployed again.

It is true that some English and French captains refused this arrangement because they did not want to create competitors for themselves. But Henry didn't want to refuse, because just after the "Royal Ocean Line" transferred Henry's first mate and second mate for the second time, the "Royal Ocean Line" signed a new contract with Henry.

According to the contract, if Henry does not want to be a captain now, then Henry can choose to teach at the "Deep Blue Ocean Academy" founded by Lan Fang to train those unfamiliar boys into qualified sailors. This is equivalent to finding a way out for Henry. At the same time, the contract also increased Henry's salary by a large margin, which gave Henry no worries at all.

Of course, Henry has another option. Henry can choose to become a Lanfang nationality, which will completely eliminate his worries.

Henry is indeed considering this matter. Henry has been to Coconut City and knows how beautiful Coconut City is. If he can own a house in Coconut City, then Henry thinks it would be good to join Lanfang citizenship.

In fact, Henry has already thought about it. He plans to apply for Lanfang citizenship when he returns to Coconut City. In that case, Henry feels that he will live happily in the sunny Lanfang.

Every time he thought about this, Henry felt like his bones were yearning for sunshine. Years of living at sea had caused Henry to have severe arthritis. Henry really didn't want to experience the cold and dampness of European winters again.

In contrast, the sunshine in Lanfang was so attractive that Henry felt that he would not be bothered by the sun all year round.

It was another sunny morning. Henry got up, washed up, put on a new shirt, and came to the bridge with his pipe.

"Lou, where are we now?" Henry asked the first mate who had just taken over.

Yes, this is Henry's daily life as a captain. He cares about almost nothing and only speaks when his crew members need advice. The advice Henry gives is often the accumulated sailing experience of Henry's life.

"Sir, we are now near 37 degrees north latitude and 131 degrees east longitude. We will arrive in Vladivostok at about noon tomorrow." Lu Feiyu, who has just been promoted to first officer

Do your best.

"Very good, Lu, keep going in the current direction and let's keep going." Henry sat in his seat and began to fill the pipe with tobacco.

"Yes, sir." Lu Feiyu replied respectfully, and then began to record it in the logbook.

While Lu Feiyu was recording, Henry was carefully observing everyone on the bridge. The result made Henry very satisfied. Everyone performed their duties and no one was lazy.

Well, the Chinese are always so diligent.

Just when Henry was thinking about whether to take a nap, Lu Feiyu's report sounded in his ears: "Sir, there is a Japanese warship approaching at high speed on the port side."

Japanese warship?

Henry immediately lost all sleepiness.

Henry knew about the recent disputes between Lan Fang and Japan. At this critical time when Qin Zhiyuan was about to ascend the throne, it was not a good thing to encounter Japanese warships at sea.

Henry was sure that the Japanese warships were not just coming here for a visit. They would definitely cause trouble, regardless of whether there was a reason or not.

"Keep the course, keep the speed, send a message to Vladivostok and the home port to report our situation." Henry was orderly.

As the captain, Henry did not need to worry about daily navigation. The first and second mates would handle daily work. Henry's value was reflected in dealing with emergencies.

On the vast ocean, the freighter had no advantage over the warships and could only passively wait for an unknown fate.

Soon, the Japanese warship approached the "Minnan" at high speed, and then the Japanese warship began to shout: "Minnan, we are the Great Japanese Empire Maritime Anti-Smuggling Team. You are now suspected of participating in smuggling. Please stop the ship immediately and accept inspection..."

The original text is in the six # 9 @book/bar!

Accept inspection!

This is a somewhat insulting move. The "Minnan" is a Lan Fang cargo ship, sailing on the high seas at this time. The home port is not a Japanese port, and the destination port is not a Japanese port. The Japanese warship has no jurisdiction over the "Minnan", let alone the right to board the ship for inspection.

The Japanese warship and the Lan Fang are moving side by side, very close, almost a dangerous distance. At the same time, the Japanese side keeps repeating what they just said in French, Japanese and Chinese.

The only voice echoing in Cambridge is the Japanese shouting. Everyone looks at Henry, waiting for Henry's next order.

"This is the Lan Fang Min Nan. We departed from Lan Fang Port and our destination is Vladivostok. We have not had any contact with your country. According to the practice of the high seas, you have no jurisdiction..." Henry replied in the same way.

"Min Nan, we are the Maritime Anti-Smuggling Team of the Empire of Japan. You are now suspected of participating in smuggling. Please stop the ship immediately for inspection..." The Japanese warship continued to shout, even though the current distance was already a dangerous distance, the Japanese warship was still approaching.

"Your decision will definitely cause disputes between the two countries, and this time it will cause serious consequences. Please think carefully." Henry continued to reply.

The content of the Japanese warship's shouting remained unchanged, but it pulled away a little. The guns on the warship had begun to turn and pointed in the direction of the "Min Nan".

"Stop the ship and prepare for inspection." Henry issued an unexpected order.

"Sir..." Lu Feiyu was anxious and did not agree with Henry's decision.

"Stop the ship and execute it. When facing a warship, we don't have much ability to resist. This is not the time to show strength. For a captain, keeping the ship is the first priority." Henry said firmly.

Henry is not a soldier, and he does not have the awareness of dying rather than surrendering. When faced with force majeure, Henry will make a normal choice, which is understandable.

Lu Feiyu is different. The conflict between the Chinese and the Japanese has a long history, and Lu Feiyu hates the Japanese.

Stopping the ship for inspection is like surrendering to Lu Feiyu, which makes Lu Feiyu unacceptable.

But it is obvious that the "Minnan" is a cargo ship and does not have a military background. It is inappropriate to put the big hat of national justice on the head of the "Minnan". This hat is too heavy for the Minnan.

After all, Henry has supreme authority. When Henry issued the order to stop the ship, the engine of the "Minnan" stopped running and the speed slowly decreased.

The Japanese warship has lowered the boat, and about a dozen sailors climbed onto the "Minnan" along the rope ladder.

"Hello, I am Henry, the captain of the Minnan. We will cooperate with your inspection. I hope you can understand that we don't want to get involved in any disputes." Henry went up to him and spoke politely.

The soldiers who boarded the ship did not reply. They looked fierce and acted rudely, as if they could not understand French or Chinese.

In this case, there was no way to communicate.

Although the Japanese just shouted in French, it was obvious that the translator had not boarded the "Minnan".

So the Japanese soldiers used actions instead of language.

These soldiers gathered all the people on the "Minnan" together, found a container to empty the cargo, and then locked up all 45 crew members without giving any explanation.

Well, the Japanese had no intention of checking at all, they were just deliberately making trouble.