Wang Xinyu stood on the upper deck of the second floor, looking out at the sea in front of him, and the outline of Singapore City in the distance gradually became clear.

"Singapore, I'm back!"

Singapore was the core fortress of the Nanyang Ming Army, connecting Qiongzhou, Luzon, Borneo and the city of Anuradha at the mouth of the Greater Jinsha River. Now Anuradha was renamed Xingdu by Yongli and was the capital of the Yongli Dynasty.

It's been almost a year since I left Singapore, and when I returned here, the fortress had been turned upside down: piers had appeared on the shores of the sea, which had been desolate; Houses have risen over the overgrown wasteland, and a bustling market has emerged; A huge castle rises from the ground and stands on the banks of the Singapore River.

"This was supposed to be a deserted island?" Zheng Jing asked in surprise.

Wang Xinyu nodded and said: "Yes, when I first came here, there was only a small Han fishing village by the river, and even pirates didn't bother to visit it on weekdays." ”

"It's too fast! Now it has developed into such a big city! I didn't expect the speed of development to be so fast! Zheng Jing sighed.

The catamaran sailing boat approached the pier, and a small boat of the Nanyang Navy had already rowed over, seeing that it was Wang Xinyu who came in person, the chief of the small boat saluted: "Please dock!" ”

The ship slowly sailed into the inner harbor, and at this time, Zheng Jing and Zheng Xi discovered that there were still many ships flying various flags of Taixi moored in Singapore Harbor! The clipper was led to a pier and docked. Wang Xinyu took Zheng Jing and Zheng Xi down from the boat. Surrounded by his own soldiers, the group left the wharf, crossed a stone avenue, walked about thirty steps, and entered the bustling town.

Although the town has no walls, it does not seem to be smaller than the medium-sized cities in China, such as Fuzhou and Ganzhou. Walking on the street, both sides are densely packed with shops, restaurants, and grain stores. There are tea shops, tobacco shops, grocery stores, tailor shops, pottery shops, ironware shops, carpenter shops, and other shops. What surprised Zheng Jing and Zheng Xi even more was that there was actually a bar opened by the Taixi people here. And churches! Of course, there are also temples and Taoist temples.

"It's been less than two years since construction began, right? It's amazing to build such a big city in two years! It seems that the way to send the captives over to be used as coolies is the right one! Zheng Xi was full of praise.

Wang Xinyu explained: "In fact, it is not only the work of coolies, because of the fair trade here, things from all over the world can be bought here, and many Taixi and Francoji people also come here to participate in the construction." There is a lot of power in numbers, and the more people who come, the faster the construction will be. A city is built like this. ”

Because Singapore is located on the Strait of Malacca, the transportation is very convenient. Ships passing through. After the appearance of a port here, many foreign ships would replenish their freshwater food, and the port would also receive goods from all over the world. You can buy a variety of goods here, including silk, ceramics, and tea from China. There are jewellery from the Middle East and Africa, rum, wine, beer, ironware and firearms produced in Western countries, and Nanyang cigarettes produced in Singapore.

There are huge grain warehouses on the island, and slaughterhouses have also been opened. Grain brought from the islands of Luzon and Borneo is stored here, where the livestock can be slaughtered and made into meat products. Supply merchant ships and warships to and fro. Water is abundant here, providing fresh water for ships coming and going. The South Seas Company also purchased large quantities of Western-produced liquor from the East India Company, which it supplied to the ships that came and went.

Western-made liquor, as well as Singapore's own cigarettes, are very popular with seafarers. Wang Xinyu built a tobacco factory on the island, and the tobacco produced by Li Dingguo in Myanmar was shipped to Singapore, where Nanyang Double Happiness and cigars were produced locally. When they arrived, the merchant ships had to buy a large number of cigarettes and cigars, and even the pirates who were active in the vicinity often sent people to buy cigarettes.

It's not that foreigners haven't thought about imitation cigarettes, but their imitation cigarettes taste far less than Nanyang Double Happiness, and although their cigarettes are much cheaper, the tobacco here is still very popular.

"Tessie and Franc are building their own houses?" Zheng Tai asked strangely.

"They certainly don't build their own houses, they have slaves. They brought with them the Sulu natives of the opposite peninsula, black slaves taken from Africa, and these people were used as coolies. Wang Xinyu replied.

"Why is there no [Halal] temple of the Great Cannibal?" Zheng Jing felt very strange when he saw that there were big cannibals wearing white robes and white scarves on the street, but he couldn't see their [real] temple. Even in China, there are such places in Quanzhou and other places, which are used to facilitate the worship of the big cannibals who come to China.

Wang Xinyu said: "Here refuse to preach from cannibals!" We welcome them to do business, but we strongly disagree with the mission! The Great Cannibal himself has been beaten all over the ground by the Tessians, what privileges do we want here? Want to go on a pilgrimage? Go to those Sultanates on the other side! ”

"But there is a sultanate that destroyed the Great Eclipse, it seems to be quite powerful, and they also believe in this religion." Zheng Jing had learned a lot from his father and knew that there was a powerful Ottoman Empire in the Middle East back then.

"Leave them alone!" Wang Xinyu smiled, "They can't do it at sea!" When it comes to fighting, they are no match for the Tessians, and their hands can't reach for us! ”

Walk through the busiest and lively neighborhood and you will arrive at the Singapore Castle by the river.

It is a huge castle, comparable in size to the castle built by the Spaniards in Manila. There are twelve fortresses on the periphery of the castle, one at each of the four corners, and one on each side of the four gates. The main city of the castle is about four zhang high, with a circumference of more than 300 zhang and a fortress five zhang high.

Inside the city gate, there is the barracks of the Ming army stationed in Singapore, and there is an inner city above the main city wall that is two feet higher, and four forts are built on the inner city, on which are placed 32-pounder guns and various small cannons.

At the top of the castle is the office of the Nanyang Company, which is actually equivalent to the Governor's Palace. Climb the stairs to the top floor and stand in an airtight office with a bird's-eye view of Singapore, a thriving emerging city. In the shipyard to the west in the distance, a large amount of oak that had been cut down a year ago was being dried. On the slipway, a ship is laying its keel, surrounded by a mountain of dried oak and ironwood. On the dock of the shipyard, a ship that has been launched is moored.

"What kind of ship is being built in the shipyard?" Zheng Jing asked.

"The boats that are being built are all clippers, and they are all oak and ironwood that have been dried from the Tessians. We are now going to trade on a large scale, immigration, and we urgently need this kind of fast boat. In this way, you will go to the Americas and Australia, and the transportation will be more convenient, and the trade between us will be more convenient! Wang Xinyu replied.

Zheng Xi asked a little worriedly: "If this kind of ship is built too much, this kind of ship is fast, doesn't it rob all the business of the Franc and the Taixi people?" Will they be bad for us? ”

Wang Xinyu pointed to a large amount of oak that was being dried and said, "Yes, I have also considered this result, if we monopolize the maritime trade, they will turn against us sooner or later!" It's like the current red-haired ghost, isn't he being red by the Britons? At that time, if we want to maintain maritime trade, we must have a stronger navy! Those dried oaks were ready to build battleships in large quantities! When there are battleships, are we still afraid of them? ”

Zheng Jing asked: "Brother-in-law, you have such a big city here, the town has no walls, if a strong enemy comes to attack, can this castle accommodate all the people to take refuge?" ”

"The castle only protects us Han people, if this castle can't be installed, there are hidden forts and fortresses in the mountains behind, where the world's most powerful cannons will be arranged, so that all Han people can be evacuated to a safe area is not a problem at all." Wang Xinyu replied confidently.

"Can we go and see the forts and fortresses?" Zheng Jing asked.

"It's not finished yet, but I can take you to see the construction site." Wang Xinyu nodded and said.

Wang Xinyu left the castle with the two of them and came to the construction site of the fortress.

The construction site of the fort is in an unnamed hill to the west of Singapore City, which is later known as Mount Faber, although the altitude of the mountain is only more than 100 meters, but the relative height of the mountain is already very impressive by the sea. Here, you can get a bird's-eye view of the island's southern coastline, and it's one of the best places to build a fort.

Of course, there are more than one fort, there are also forts on other hills.

On the fort construction site, there were many coolies with shaved heads and wearing Qing soldier uniforms, sweating under the leather whips of the Ming soldiers. Needless to say, I also know that these coolies were all prisoners of the Qing army, and there were many Eight Banner soldiers among them. Although it is the lunar month, there is no winter in Singapore, the climate is hot, the sun is exposed, and the captives are miserable and die violently.

Later, a professor surnamed Yan said sadly: "Singapore's prosperity is built on the bones of the banner people!" ”

As for the heavy artillery to be used in the Singapore Battery, it is a new type of artillery designed by Wang Xinyu. This cannon, the caliber equivalent of a sixty-four-pounder cannon of Westerners, will pull out the rifling inside the barrel! Due to the use of long shells, the shells could weigh up to one hundred and ten pounds! Because the technology of this era is immature, the cost of this kind of front-loading rifled gun will be very expensive, and the number cannot be too much, and the reloading speed of shells is very slow, the rate of fire is estimated to be seven or eight minutes per shell, and the rifling is very easy to wear, a gun can only fire four or five hundred shells will be scrapped. However, this kind of heavy artillery is extremely powerful, and the accuracy is extremely high, and the range is so long, even the battleship of the Sealord, the largest British battleship, cannot withstand a few shells!

The technology was immature and did not allow for the mass production of rifled guns. Only the invention of the steam engine can make the weapon qualitatively developed. However, building a steam engine is not an easy task, and Wang Xinyu thinks that it is very good that he can see a steam engine in his lifetime. (To be continued.) )