On the ocean leading from the southern end of Tianzhu to Malacca, a three-masted ship about 15 zhang long with a high tail tower is breaking the waves on the sea.

This hull is very large, a little pointed and pointed, a bit of a combination of Chinese and Western, it is a large ocean-going ship, but the hull of fifteen zhang long is as small as a lonely boat in the vast sea.

At this time, the hull of the ship rose and fell with the waves, and there were Miao swords or katanas hanging on the deck at their waists, and the sailors with firearms in their hands stood on the side of the ship and the ship, talking, and in the middle of the deck, there were more than 100 Kunlun slaves densely crowded.

The samurai with weapons on the ship, including the sailors, were probably only more than 50 people, but the more than 100 Kunlun slaves who were trapped hand and foot did not make a single move.

At this time, a fat man with a little tan was standing on the ship's floor, scanning the sea with a clairing mirror.

A young sailor next to him grinned, "Second brother, you are the one who can achieve great things, we are really right to come out with the second brother, this trip is enough for everyone to eat for a few years and enjoy a few years of happiness!" ”

The fat man is none other than the one who pulled this clan to run a workshop in Nanjing, and after the workshop went out of business, he took more than ten men of the same clan to Nanyang Gao Yihuan, the second brother of high school.

The deeds of this second brother can be said to be legendary, and his experience has almost witnessed the changes of the times.

He worked as a partner for a business and opened his own handicraft workshop, but unfortunately because the workshop was destroyed during the war, he owed a lot of debt.

With no way out, he fled to Luzon with more than a dozen clansmen in order to avoid debts.

Originally, they were going to open up the wasteland, but it happened that because the Zheng family withdrew from Fujian to Luzon, many sailors with family businesses took refuge in the imperial court and the merchants in Guangdong, resulting in Zheng Chenggong having no ships.

Gao Yihuan was active, so he relied on the Zheng family's business name, and the Zheng family also offered many good conditions in order to attract personnel to join.

For example, Gao Yihuan joined the Zheng family's business, and the Zheng family provided them with ships and goods, and they only needed a little principal, recruited people to go to sea, and paid half of the payment in advance, and they could go to sea on the Zheng family's ships.

Of course, the Zheng family will send someone to follow the ship, and when they return to Luzon, the Zheng family will collect 30% of their profits.

This model is equivalent to the firm cooperating with them, not completely serving the firm, which attracted many merchants who did not have enough capital to summon people from the coast and borrow the Zheng family's ship to go to sea.

Gao Yihuan, a person who has done business, where can he calm down and farm the land, he felt that this was an opportunity, and immediately took the more than 300 taels of silver, took more than 10 clansmen, recruited more than 30 sailors, and found a Fujian tea merchant to partner, pulled a boatload of tea, and went out to sea from Luzon to the south of Tianzhu.

After they completed the transaction here, they should have gone back, but he met a Portuguese merchant who changed the formation of Gao Yihuan.

The Portuguese knew a little broken Chinese, because the Ming Dynasty had good relations with Portugal, and Gao Yihuan learned his trade story from him.

These Portuguese led a fleet from Europa to southern Africa, where they exchanged large quantities of Kunlun slaves at extremely low prices, and then sailed west across the Atlantic to southern America.

It was a whole new continent, and they bought Kunlun slaves from Africa, sold them to sugar planters there, and then bought sugar there, entered the Pacific Ocean from the Strait of Magellan at the southern end of the continent, sailed west to Macao, sold some of the sugar, loaded it with Ming tea and porcelain, and then went all the way west, buying spices, ivory and other goods from time to time along the way, and returning to Europa.

The words of this Portuguese businessman made people foggy, and Gao Yihuan didn't understand most of them, especially how the Portuguese went all the way west and finally returned to Europa, which he couldn't understand.

However, Gao Yihuan did not dwell on this matter, he focused on the cheap Kunlun slave, he immediately sensed the business opportunity, and pulled up the banner of the Zheng family, saying that the national surname of Luzon was very interested in Kunlun slave and was willing to buy Kunlun slave at a high price, and persuaded the Portuguese merchant to take him to sail west with him until Africa.

Gao Yihuan bought a batch of Kunlun slaves there through the channel of the Portuguese, and agreed that when the Portuguese returned to Luzon, he would introduce him to the national surname, and then Gao Yihuan would carry a boatload of Kunlun slaves on the return journey.

Gao Yihuan is still quite satisfied with this voyage, not to mention that a boatload of tea was transported to Tianzhu and made three times as much, just say that the Kunlun slaves on this ship were transported back to Luzon or Daming, and he would definitely make a lot of money.

"Second brother, let's pay off the debt on this trip!" Gao Yiyan, a clansman beside him, touched his head and said.

The shopkeeper of the Zheng family next to him smiled, "It's not just to pay off the debt, I think it's enough for you to add three more boats!" ”

Talking to the ship's shopkeeper like this, it must have been really earned, and several guards immediately laughed stupidly.

He is a member of more than ten clansmen, and this time he went to sea mainly to serve as a guard, after all, he worked in the workshop for a period of time, and when he was defending the city in Nanjing, he received some training.

The second brother Gao listened to the laughter of the clansmen around him, and he was naturally very proud in his heart, but the second brother was a person who did great things, but he didn't show it on his face, but deliberately said: "Laugh and laugh, you all be cautious, this sea area is dangerous!" ”

He didn't scare a few people, they saw several robberies along the way, and once they were almost robbed by a Xiyi ship.

"Second brother, don't worry, the third brother is watching in Wangdou!" Gao Yi, who was beside him, said with a smile.

After speaking, he asked again, "Second brother, this time in Luzon, what should we do, are we going back to Daming?" ”

Gao Yihuan glanced at him with disdain, and cast his deep gaze on the sea, "Go back, it's not time yet!" We should take the money we earn, recruit more sailors, buy cannons, and continue on this course. The second brother dares to say that in the whole of Luzon, even in the Ming Dynasty, no one has run farther than us! ”

What he said is really true, although the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty have begun to run the route from Guangzhou to Mumbai, but there are really no ones who have gone to Africa.

Saying this, he looked at a few people around him, "You also learn from the sailors on the ship, follow me well, as long as it takes five years, the second brother guarantees that when you return to your hometown, you can buy the entire village." ”

The young people of Gaojiazhuang, listening to his words, couldn't help but get excited, and at this moment, Gao Laosan on the main mast suddenly shouted loudly: "Second brother, it's time to Malacca!" ”

When the many sailors on the ship's floor heard the call, they couldn't help but cheer and walked to the side of the ship to look.

Gao Yihuan was also overjoyed, and hurriedly took out a clairvoyant mirror to look at the sea, and sure enough, he saw that on both sides of the ship, there was land appearing, and his heart was suddenly overjoyed.

The sea voyage is both boring and dangerous, and the city of Malacca is ahead, and the ships that have been adrift for more than a month can finally get supplies.

Now the maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty have gradually become familiar with the rules of Westerners at sea, in the vast sea, they can become pirates at any time, but in the land and harbor, it is generally relatively regular.

Gao Yihuan put down the clairvoyant mirror and immediately smiled, "Adjust the sail and move north against the shore." ”

When the sailors on board the ship, there was a movement, and the sea breeze blew on the sails, and the lucky ship took advantage of the wind to break the waves, and the mast and hull made a creaking sound and sailed forward.

After Malacca is the South China Sea, which is close to home, and there are Ming Dynasty naval warships cruising there, which is relatively safe.

Standing at the bow of the ship, the second brother couldn't help but be in high spirits, this voyage, which lasted nearly seven months, was finally coming to an end.

At this time, the third senior on the mast suddenly shouted, "Second brother, the Dutchman's ship!" ”

Gao Yihuan heard the voice, looked up at him, and then looked in the direction he pointed, and saw two gunboats flying the Dutch flag in the east, cruising in the strait.

The Dutch occupied Malacca, charging tolls for ships passing through the city, and boats cruised there.

They need to keep this section of the channel safe in order to attract ships and collect fees, so they generally don't rob here.

The Ming Dynasty had a trade agreement with the Netherlands, and Gao Yihuan saw that the ship was hung with the Dutch flag and not the pirate flag, so he didn't care, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, go directly to Malacca to replenish!" ”

(End of chapter)