Zhu Linmiao nodded and said, "How many of those nine-pounder cannons are there?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, two doors on the port side. It was also equipped with six four-pounder guns. ”

"A total of ten cannons, enough to deal with a small group of pirates."

Lin Yaocen was a little surprised when he heard this, and asked Shao Zhizhang, the shipyard ambassador on the side, in a low voice, "This lord, the flying clipper ship can only be equipped with such a cannon, which is not conducive to naval warfare, right?" ”

When Ambassador Shao saw his clothes, he knew that he was a new science and technology sergeant, so he smiled and said: "Brother Tai doesn't know, this clipper ship has a narrow hull, and if you use a heavy cannon to the side of the ship, it will sway from side to side very violently until it capsizes, and it is extremely difficult to match a nine-pounder gun.

"However, this ship is so fast that ordinary warships can't catch up with it at all, and it is only used to transport goods on weekdays, but it does not need cannons.

He said that he would send grain, rice and daily necessities to Guinea and other places, starting from Quanzhou and arriving in more than 20 days. Later, the ore produced on the island was transported back, which took more than a month less than ordinary sea vessels! ”

Lin Yaocen suddenly realized, in this way, hundreds of thousands of catties of copper arrived in Daming every month, no wonder the price of copper has dropped so much recently, these flying clippers have made a lot of contributions, and suddenly have a lot of interest in these sea ships.

Shao Zhizhang suddenly pointed to a 200-ton clipper ship that was setting sail in the distance, "Brother Tai, look, it is the 'Shaohuashan' directly under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Commerce, and it is about to set sail for Australia......

The north coast of mainland Australia.

This flat and warm grassland was named "Little Quanzhou" by the Ministry of Commerce of the Ming Dynasty, and only Zhu Linmiao knew that this place should be the Darwin City of the later generations.

Two men in gray robes, one tall and one short, were talking to each other, and the shorter one looked up from time to time and instructed dozens of dark-skinned, curly-haired natives to dig wells in jerky language.

"Lord Zhao," said a few soldiers who were obviously Han Chinese, carrying bows and arrows on their backs, and arched their hands, "I saw a big ship approaching at a rapid pace on the other side of the lighthouse, and it was an official ship of the Ministry of Commerce. ”

Then Lord Zhao looked happy and hurriedly asked, "How far is it from the shore?" ”

"Back to my lord, it looks like it's less than ten nautical miles."

"Quick, quick, gather everyone and go to the docks to meet you!" Lord Zhao commanded, and then turned to the shorter man beside him, "Shopkeeper Hu, do you remember the Lord Sun I mentioned to you a while ago?" He's on this boat. ”

Shopkeeper Hu was stunned for a moment, "Is it Lord Sun Fusun, the governor of Australia sent by the imperial court?" ”

"Who else? It's him! ”

"Great!" Shopkeeper Hu stroked his palm and said, "Australia finally has a chief official!" It seems that the Ministry of Commerce is quite satisfied with what we have done recently. ”

"Haha, that's, that's. You go and change your clothes, and follow me to meet you, and the road beside you is saying. ”

"Good!"

In a moment, Master Zhao and Hu Shopkeeper changed their clothes, and surrounded by seventy or eighty Chinese and more than a hundred natives, they hurried to the dock a few miles away.

It's just that only two of the Han people around them wore official uniforms, and the rest were all dressed as civilians. This is so because the first settlement on the Australian continent was founded by a merchant expedition, and the main people were recruited from Fujing. Those "soldiers" with weapons are actually all family members brought by the shopkeeper Hu, one of the shareholders.

On the way, Shopkeeper Hu turned his head and asked, "Lord Zhao, I don't know how many people the Governor has brought this time?" ”

"It is said that there are more than 300 craftsmen, about 200 armor soldiers, and some Tartars who have been sent here to work as coolies, probably more than 300 people."

"More than 800 people have been added at this time," Shopkeeper Hu's eyes lit up, "It seems that the imperial court is really going to spend time in Australia!" In that case, maybe we can start mining the copper mine to the east! ”

He invested most of his wealth in the expedition team, and personally brought his family members here, naturally hoping to make money as soon as possible. Although Australia has sea cucumbers, animal skins, birds of paradise and the like, it is far from enough to sell these things to make it back, and only when copper or gold mines are dug up is the real cornucopia.

Lord Zhao shook his head thoughtfully, "If you open a mine...... That's not enough. ”

As they spoke, the group had arrived at the port of Xiaoquanzhou, which was a natural harbor, and it had become a simple wharf with wooden frames according to the topography, but it could also dock four or five hundred tons of ships.

In a moment, a huge sailing ship appeared in everyone's field of vision.

Although the large triangular sails on the ship have been half folded, the sharp bow still cuts through the waves with ease, and the speed is obviously extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, the ship was already in the harbor.

The boat threw the cable, and a large group of natives tied the rope on the stake under the command of the shopkeeper Hu, and when the shopkeeper returned with sweating profusely, dozens of people had come down from the ship - no way, he was the only one in Australia who knew the aboriginal dialect, and wherever he wanted to use the natives, he could only bow down to everything.

Lord Zhao hurriedly pulled him forward and saluted the person in charge, "Xiaguan Zhao Weisheng pays a visit to the Governor." ”

"Hu Yuancai, a grass man, meets the Governor."

Who knew that the person who was the leader hurriedly dodged to the side, helped them up and said: "Master Sun is still on the boat, and the next official is the secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Lin Yaocen." ”

Zhao Weisheng and Hu Yuancai glanced at each other, and then noticed that the emu pattern on the person in front of him was Qipin, and he hurriedly asked: "I don't know ...... Lord Governor"

Lin Yaocen said with a solemn face: "Lord Sun was infected with the epidemic the day before yesterday and is extremely weak. Xia Guan wanted to send him back to Fujing for treatment immediately, but he was worried that the grain and rice in Australia would run out, so he still insisted on unloading the things on the ship before returning home. ”

Zhao Weisheng and Shopkeeper Hu were busy visiting on the boat, but they were blocked by Sun Fu outside the cabin, just afraid that the illness on their bodies would infect them.

The two had no choice but to gather manpower, move the supplies on the ship as quickly as possible, and let the goods prepared by the crowd be sent to the ship, so that the "Shaohuashan" could return to Daming as soon as possible.

Lin Yaocen and the others walked a few miles with Zhao Weisheng, and saw a hill in front of them that had been flattened at the top, with a wall of one zhang high and neatly bundled wood, enclosing the range of dozens of zhang on the top of the hill.

There were two layers of the wall, inside and outside, and sixty or seventy men patrolled the wall with swords, nearly half of whom were natives. Inside the walls, there are a large number of wooden houses with thatched roofs, which are rough in workmanship, but look quite sturdy.

"I didn't expect Australia to have such a big camp!" He turned his head to Zhao Weisheng and praised, "Lord Zhao has only been here for three months, and there are only more than 100 people under him. ”

The latter hurriedly waved his hand and smiled: "Lord Lin praised it falsely." This was originally a local indigenous village, and the walls and houses were all built by the natives a long time ago, and the lower officials only made people repair them, but it didn't take much work. ”