To be honest, Zheng Zhilong's request was very abrupt, just like a person suddenly running in front of another person and saying to him that I have no money now, whether it is money or things, you have to do your best to support me.

It would be good if ordinary people didn't kick you out, but fortunately, the Sonod City Mansion was relatively deep, so he didn't turn his face on the spot, but calmly asked the reason.

I saw Zheng Zhilong staring at Sonod and said word by word: "Because once I am eliminated by the Great Ming Water Master, their next target must be you, let alone conquer the Ming Kingdom at that time, I am afraid that even you will be driven back to your hometown in disgrace." ”

"What......" Sonord was stunned at first, and then couldn't help laughing, he laughed louder and louder, and even leaned forward and back: "Zheng ...... Are you joking with me, or did you drink too much when you came? Naval ...... of the Ming Kingdom No, does he have the strength of the sailor of the Ming Kingdom? ”

Sonod has reason to laugh that now is the time when the country of the Netherlands is at its most prosperous, and the nickname "Coachman of the Sea" is not for nothing.

In the seventeenth century, the Netherlands had 15,000 ships of all kinds, and the navy had more than 80,000 sailors, and the number of his ships and the total number of sailors exceeded the total number of other European countries combined, among which the total tonnage of warships was more than double that of Britain, a European power at that time, and the tonnage of his merchant ships accounted for three-quarters of the total tonnage of European merchant ships at that time. So now when he heard Zheng Zhilong say that they were very likely to be driven away by the Ming army, how could this not make him laugh.

"He has the strength!"

Just as Sonod was laughing, Zheng Zhilong's voice came into his ears lightly.

"Because I saw the new warships of the Ming Dynasty with my own eyes a few days ago, to put it mildly, your country's warships are all vulnerable in front of this new warship!"

"Vulnerable?" Sonord, who was originally laughing, finally stopped laughing, and his expression became serious, "Zheng, do you know what you're talking about?" ”

"Of course I do!" Zheng Zhilong also said with a solemn expression: "It is precisely because I have seen their new warships with my own eyes that I will say this." ”

Zheng ...... Did you know that if you're lying, you're responsible! Thornold stood up, a hint of anger in his blue eyes.

"Of course I can!" Zheng Zhilong also stood up and looked directly at Sonod, "I can swear in my honor that everything I said is true, and for this reason I have even drawn a sketch of this kind of battleship." ”

After speaking, Zheng Zhilong took out a piece of drawing paper from his arms and handed it to Sonod.

Sonod opened the drawing, first glanced at it casually, his face immediately became serious, he lowered his head and looked at it carefully for several minutes before he looked up and said to Zheng Zhilong: "Is the data above real?" ”

Zheng Zhilong shook his head: "The data on the drawings is only my rough estimate, but Sir Shornold, you are asking you to believe that even if the data on the drawings is different from the real situation, it will not be too far behind, and I still have this confidence." ”

Sonod stopped talking, he was also a former naval officer, of course he knew that a veteran like Zheng Zhilong, who had been adrift at sea for many years, could roughly estimate the approximate displacement, firepower, and speed of any warship at a glance. After all, the firepower of warships in this era is all on the bright side, and it is not like later generations to evaluate what soft combat strength these situations are.

"The displacement is 1600 to 2,000 tons, the artillery is about eighty, and the speed is eight to ten knots." Sonord muttered, his face becoming a little ugly, such a statistic was completely unexpected.

Today, the main ship of the Netherlands is the Gallien galleon, which the Ming called the "plywood", which is a modified version of the Caravel and Clark sailboats, and is well suited for ocean voyages. It features a lowered bow and an extended hull that gives it unprecedented stability when sailing on the surface. The unique construction of the Gallien yacht reduces wind resistance on the foreside, allowing for increased speed and ease of steering.

Due to the fact that the lower part of its hull is double-layered, it has stable navigation and good anti-sinking performance. The volume is even more huge, at that time there were already warships with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, and the firepower was also strong, so it was also called "plywood ship" by the Ming Dynasty.

Since the seventeenth century, the Dutch have been invincible on the sea with this warship, but now the drawing given to him by Zheng Zhilong shows that the tonnage of this new warship of the Ming Dynasty may reach 1,600 to 2,000 tons, which is twice that of the Gallion sailing ship, how is this possible?

"Where's the quantity?"

"I don't know, but I saw ten of them that day alone. Out of the hatred of the Ming Dynasty, I have reason to think that their next target is me, and if I am defeated or eliminated by them, I think it is not difficult to guess who their next target is. ”

Zheng Zhilong's words had a strong smell of threat, but Sonord couldn't refute it. Zheng Zhilong's meaning is very clear, now we are grasshoppers on a rope, you can't run away and you can't jump on me, if I am finished, you will not be much better.

After muttering for a long time, Sonord had no choice but to say depressedly and helplessly: "Zheng ...... Although your request seems to me to be a bit excessive, it is not unreasonable, but you must know that the Netherlands mainland is too far away from the Ming Dynasty, even if we are willing to provide you with support, it will take at least four months for our help to arrive, can you resist the attack of the Ming army during this time? ”

"If we can't even hold this little time, then we deserve to be wiped out by the Ming army." Zheng Zhilong said proudly: "No matter how sharp the warships of the Fujian Navy Division are, but after all, they have only been established for a year, and the number and scale of the warships they pick up are still far inferior to ours. ”

Thinking that he had ambushed Liu Xiang's second fleet twice in a row, but was escaped by her twice, Zheng Zhilong felt extremely depressed in his heart, could this Liu Xiang belong to a cat, why couldn't he kill him every time.

Thinking of this, Zheng Zhilong said: "Sir Sonod, if you can, I hope that your country can support me with ten of your main warships, only in this way can I better resist the attack from the Fujian Navy." ”

"What...... Do you want ten Galion battleships? Sonod first exclaimed, and then shook his head decisively: "This is absolutely impossible, the Galion battleship is the latest capital warship of our country, and it is impossible for any country except the Royal Netherlands Navy to equip it." ”

"That's fine!" Zheng Zhilong sneered: "If this is the case, I will order all the ships to be withdrawn to the South Seas and Japan next month, and I hope that you will still have a good mood as you are now." ”

After speaking, Zheng Zhilong stood up and was about to leave.

"Wait a minute!"

After much consideration, Sonod finally said: "In this case, tomorrow I will apply to the mainland, and I will allocate you another 100 twenty-four-pounder guns and two Galion warships." ”

"Five!" Zheng Zhilong stretched out five fingers, "If there are less than five plywood ships, we can't stop the attack of the Fujian Navy Division at all, I might as well take people to Nanyang and Japan now, with my connections in Japan, I can still mix well." ”

Sonord scolded: "Okay...... Damn, you're a vampire! There are only five ships, no more, and I don't even know how to write that report to His Majesty and to Parliament. ”

"That's your problem!" Zheng Zhilong said unceremoniously: "You just sent out the battleships and artillery, but we want to use our lives to block the attack of the Ming State Naval Division." ”

"Perhaps!" Sonord also figured it out, since you want people to do things for you, then pay enough price, otherwise why should people work for you.

In the following days, Sonod also sent a large number of spies and bribed a lot of people to go around to find out the intelligence of the Fujian Navy, after all, Sonod is not a fool, it is impossible for Zheng Zhilong to believe whatever he says, he has to personally send someone to investigate before he can write a letter to the locality.

Soon after, the information of the newly arrived battleship of the Fujian Navy Division also reached his hands, and when Sonod saw this more detailed report in his hand, Rao Shi, as the governor, couldn't help but gasp.

This warship, which was called a third-class battleship by the Ming Dynasty, has a displacement of an astonishing 1,800 tons, equipped with a total of 80 guns, and it also has armor in an important part of the ship's side, and the ordinary twenty-four-pounder gun cannot penetrate it at all.

"It seems that before the arrival of local reinforcements, we can only rely on Zheng Zhilong and them to resist the attack of the Ming Dynasty."

In the next half a month, Zheng Zhilong sent all his fleets out, desperately harassing the passing ships on various routes, and for a time the ships in the South China Sea and Japan were in turmoil, and the merchant ships in Fujian did not dare to go to sea for a while, and many ship owners asked to see Lu Guangbiao and asked the Fujian Navy Division to send warships to escort them.

Lu Guangbiao had no choice but to find Yang Feng to discuss countermeasures, Yang Feng was also very helpless, and in the end he could only let the First Fleet and the Second Fleet all dispatch to escort those merchant ships, after all, it was not easy to open the sea ban, once this good situation was destroyed, then it would be very difficult to recover again. And once the merchant ships are no longer at sea, what will happen to the customs tax? This is a matter related to the money bag, so Yang Feng can't afford not to pay attention to it.