Listening to Wang Xinyu sketch out the blueprint for the future, Pan Ying felt that her heart was drunk. Her eyes widened, and she looked at the man infatuatedly.

Wang Xinyu turned his head suddenly, just met Pan Ying's eyes, and saw that the pair of bright eyes were shining brightly under the candlelight, and the eyes were as pure as water, and as brilliant as black gems, and he couldn't help but feel a little moved. But after thinking about it: although this girl has helped her a lot, she and Miss Zheng are definitely going to get married, and she also likes Miss Zheng very much. Besides, the marriage with Miss Zheng is not only related to the trust of King Yanping, but also to the King of Jin in the future.

Wang Xinyu didn't think about marrying three wives and four concubines, so he could only sigh in his heart, let's help this girl find a good family in the future.

Seeing Wang Xinyu staring at him intently, Pan Ying's face turned red all of a sudden, and it looked like a red cloth in the candlelight. She pushed the rock sugar lotus seed soup on the table: "Son, hurry up and use it!" After speaking, he turned his head and ran out of Wang Xinyu's study.

When he was quiet alone, Wang Xinyu was thinking about his idea, and he always felt that there was something wrong, but he couldn't think of it for a while. "Population?" Suddenly, a flash of inspiration flashed in my head, yes! Exactly the question! The problem of population! According to the statistics of the Pan family, there are about 50,000 Chinese in the vicinity of Manila and 100,000 in East Borneo. These populations, which are currently under the control of Nanyang Company, add up to no more than 150,000 people. There are more than 300,000 Chinese on Java Island, Jinzhou, the Sultanate of Aceh, Siam and Annam. But will those Chinese listen to themselves? In Burma, there are tens of thousands of people from Yongli and Jin kings, and they will not listen to themselves. Most of the Chinese in Siam and Annam are also more inclined to the Jin king.

Eat the population controlled by King Jin? Wang Xinyu didn't dare to have such a thought.

In Wang Xinyu's heart, King Jin was the most amazing national hero in the late Ming Dynasty, and he existed like a god, no matter how he said it, it was impossible for him to fight the idea of King Jin.

Eat Zhang Huangyan's Zhejiang army? Wang Xinyu can't do such a thing. You can cooperate with Zhang Huangyan, but you don't have the idea of annexing him.

What should I do? According to this situation, Nanyang Company's grain production is sufficient, but the population problem is a serious problem. Even if you count your own population in Xiamen, Wang Xinyu can control less than 200,000 people at hand. With a population of less than 200,000, it is too difficult to fight against a large country with a population of 40 million.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was estimated that there were 780 million to 100 million people, and after years of war, by the 17th year of Shunzhi, the number of recorded people was more than 19 million, and the total population was estimated to be more than 40 million. This number of people, excluding women and children, is estimated to be about 40 or 50 million. And with the spread of crops such as sweet potatoes, the population of the Qing Empire would skyrocket. By the time Wang Xinyu spent ten years preparing to fight the Qing court, the population controlled by the Qing court would be even larger.

For now, because he has too few people, Albert has bought so many warships, but these warships only have sailors, no gunners! And most of the sailors were still British.

Wang Xinyu tried his best to replenish the gunners of these battleships, but each battleship was still unable to reach the highest combat effectiveness because of insufficient manpower.

How can we increase the population of the area controlled by Nanyang? Wang Xinyu pondered and finally thought of a bold solution.

It was already late at night, so Wang Xinyu lay on the table and fell asleep groggily.

Wang Xinyu stayed in Yanping City for two days, arranged some things, and then said goodbye to Pan Ying and prepared to return to Xiamen with the fleet.

left his henchman Luo Xiang here, and Pan Ying, who was smart and knew business, Wang Xinyu felt very relieved.

In addition to the eight Ming warships that were going to depart, Albert's naval fleet of the Nanyang Company would escort the Ming Zhengjia fleet all the way to Macao. And Albert was naturally very excited when he heard that he had become the commander of the navy of the Nanyang Company.

In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of Western-style warships, Wang Xinyu transferred all the gunners and gunners on the eight Ming warships to Western warships, but in this way, the warships of the Nanyang Company Navy were still not manpowered. Since the Ming warship had no gunners and was almost ineffective, it had become a simple cargo ship, and the guns on it were completely furnished, so they had to be escorted by the Nanyang Company. And when the Nanyang Company sails, it may be able to make a fortune at sea.

In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the eighteen British warships, some of the sailors brought from Manila were also pulled onto the British warships and became sailors of the navy of the Nanyang Company.

At the wharf of Yanping Port, the flags were unfurled, and the mighty soft-sail warships stopped on the pier one after another, quietly waiting for the order to sail.

Luo Xiang, Pan Ying, Gong Xiaoda and others stood on the dock and saw off the fleet.

At this time, the mood of each of these remaining personnel is different, Luo Xiang and Gong Xiaoda and others have not been able to return to their hometown for a long time, and they don't know if they can go home for the New Year, and they are very melancholy. Pan Ying felt unspeakably uncomfortable because Wang Xinyu wanted to go back, maybe she was already married when she came back. She endured the sourness in her heart, but she didn't let the tears flow.

The sound of gongs and drums, the sound of horns, and the sound of the bells of the ship.

Looking at Pan Ying who saw him off, Wang Xinyu left a sentence: "I'll leave it to you here!" I believe you! You cooperate with Luo Xiang and a few of them to do a good job! They are all from my own soldiers, and the big-headed soldiers don't know much, but they are very reliable. If they do something wrong, just say they're good. ”

"The boat is about to go! Hurry up and get on board! Pan Ying only left a few simple words.

When the fleet left the dock, Pan Ying turned her head away and turned her back to the crowd, tears falling like beads with a broken chain.

The wind-blown sails provided a powerful thrust, and the bow split the white waves, and flocks of white seagulls accompanied the fleet from Dingguo Bay to the deep sea.

Wang Xinyu stood at the stern of the Drake, looking at the harbor behind the fleet, and was full of emotion in his heart: "Dingguo Bay, Yanping City, I will come back soon!" Here is my first base, East Borneo, is the second base! ”

Albert walked up: "Boss, how do we get there?" Is it a direct flight to Macau, or a few circles around? ”

Of course, Wang Xinyu understood what Albert meant, and he just happened to mean this, so the two hit it off: "Then let's go around a few times!" Wait, there are no Dutch. "I recall that when I came out of Xiamen, the route was carefully considered, avoiding the main route as much as possible, in order to avoid the fleet of the Dutch. At that time, hiding from the Dutch was like a mouse hiding from a cat. But now, with such a powerful fleet, is there any need to be afraid of the Dutch? The ones who want to rob are the Dutch!

At this time, Wang Xinyu's mood is like a gamer who is usually dressed in garbage equipment and is always bullied, and suddenly gets a piece of superb equipment, and he can't wait to come out and take a few more laps, show off his might, and it is best to run into the enemy who originally hid when he saw it from afar, and teach the enemy a hard lesson.

The naval fleet of the Nanyang Company simply hoisted the British flag and cruised back and forth on the route from Taiwan to the island of Java. In the middle, Scarborough Shoal and the Philippine coast were used as freshwater supply bases, and they swayed back and forth on the sea for three days and three nights.

"We still haven't found the Dutch, so let's give up. I'd better go back early. Wu Haodong proposed.

Wang Xinyu ordered all the sixth-level raiding ships to disperse and search around along the main route. Once an enemy ship is spotted, a pyrotechnic signal is immediately emitted to give an alarm.

"Let's wait two more days! If you can take out a fleet of the Dutch, then when the king of Yanping recovers Dongfan Island next year, there will be a little less trouble. Wang Xinyu said.

On the route from Taiwan to the island of Java, a fleet of ships appeared.

The white sails were bulging, and the heavy hull pressed the waterline deep. This fleet is all flying the Dutch flag. This is a fleet sailing from Taiwan to Java Island, with a total of one fourth-class cruiser, one fifth-class cruiser, and four ordinary armed Galen merchant ships. The flagship of the fleet was none other than the famous fourth-class cruiser Hector, a large warship with a displacement of 680 tons, the largest warship in the East at that time. Although if this ship went to Europe, it could easily send it to the bottom of the sea if it ran into a British third-class frigate, but in the East it was a symbol of invincibility! The Hector is a fourth-class cruiser converted from the Batavia-class armed Galen merchant ship, with a length of 56 meters, a width of 10 meters, a draft of 5 meters, and is armed with 60 Amstor guns.

Although the Hector is a fourth-class cruiser, it actually has the tonnage of a third-class frigate, but its firepower and protection are not as good as that of a third-class frigate.

The second ship of the Dutch fleet was the Graflan V-class cruiser, which was only a 400-ton battleship, but it was already very powerful, and the Grafland had thirty-four Amst's single-foot bronze cannons. The other four armed merchant ships, the White Swan, the Egret, the Maria, and the Urke, also had between twenty and forty cannons on board. With such a powerful fleet, in the East, don't say that the countrymen, even the Portuguese and Spaniards, dare not provoke the Dutch!

The commander of the Dutch fleet, Van Delang, sat on Hector, and during this time, Van Delang was in a very bad mood.

"Damn it, it's just a coward, with our strength, we can completely take Macau!" Fan Delang said to himself indignantly.

Now that the Qing Dynasty had imposed a maritime ban, the Dutch, who were originally sea coachmen, could not get the necessary items from the Qing Dynasty, while the Portuguese in Macao were occasionally able to get some ceramics, silk and tea to send back. What about the Dutch now? We can only get some inferior silk and ceramics from Japan and Korea to sell in Europe, as well as Japanese tea. Where is the quality of those Japanese and Korean products comparable to that of the original Ming Kingdom? After a trip, the profit is much less.

If Macao can be taken, although the goods smuggled from the Qing Kingdom to Macao are very small, but the strange goods can live, and now in Europe, the prices of silk, ceramics and tea from that eastern country have risen several times. As long as there is a supply, even if it is less, it will be earned. But now? Turning his face with the Portuguese, Macau did not welcome the Dutch fleet, so Fan Delang did not think about going to Macau, and it was a good thing to be able to buy Chinese goods from the Portuguese.

"Damn the Portuguese! And the Spaniards! None of this is a good thing! They are as odious as the British! Fan Delang scolded to himself. In fact, the Dutch don't want to think about it, it's themselves who are really the most immoral. There are benefits, but I want to eat it myself, and I don't want to give others a piece of the pie. Now the whole South Seas, except for Manila, which is Spanish and Forream, is Portuguese, the rest of the places are basically Dutch territory, and even the British dare not cross the Strait of Malacca.

Today, the Dutch fleet is loaded with silk and ceramics from Korea, tea from Japan, and sugar from Taiwan. The fleet was to dock temporarily on the island of Java, load a shipment of spices, and sail for the Dutch East India Company, where ships would be transshipped to Europe.

"How much are these Japanese and North Korean goods worth?" Fan Delang was thinking about how much he could earn on this trip.

In fact, if these goods can be shipped to Europe, the profits will not be low. Now that the Qing Dynasty has imposed a sea ban and no longer exports goods, the Europeans can only use these things produced in Korea and Japan.

Just as Van der Lang was thinking wildly, suddenly a Dutch soldier came to report: "Report to the commander!" A British privateer was spotted ahead! It seems to be a sixth-class ship. ”

"What?" Fan Delang was stunned for a moment, and then laughed, "Just a privateer? Or a sixth-tier ship? Are you sure it's not a joke? ”

"Hahaha!" The Dutchman in the cabin burst into laughter.

"Damn the British, we still want to find you! That's good, send it to the door yourself to find death! The Dutchman was ready to send the small boat in front of him to the bottom of the sea at once.

――

To illustrate: the tonnage of first-class ships to sixth-level ships in each period is different. In the seventeenth century, 1,600 tons were first-class battleships, 1,100-ton were second-class ships, and 800-ton classes were third-class ships, but in the eighteenth century, this standard was different, and with the increase in the tonnage of new shipbuilding, the original first-class ships could only be second-class ships, and second-class ships became third-class ships.