Kagoshima. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

In the official residence of Shimazu Mitsuhisa, the lord of the Satsuma Domain, an important guest was welcomed.

The guests were very generous and brought rich gifts to Shimazu Mitsuhisa's wife and children. Fashionable winter and spring clothes from Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty, candies and toys from Tianjin, and fine Confucian classics printed in Linqing. Of course, Mitsuhisa Shimazu also received a special gift list.

Above, is a drawing of the construction of the ship.

"This is the blueprint of the new type of Fu boat built by Longjiang Shipyard, in order to get this thing, but I wasted my old nose strength." Saying that, the guest couldn't help but show a smug expression: "Day and night, it's difficult to prevent thieves." The secrecy of Longjiang Shipyard is very good, but I still got this drawing. ”

"The power of Soga Zhengsang is very much believed in below. The power of this drawing is really great for the Satsuma Clan. Please rest assured that Mitsuhisa Shimazu is a person who knows etiquette and righteousness, and will never let Zheng Sang regret cooperating with our Japanese country! "Mitsuhisa Shimazu is high-spirited.

As an island nation, Japan's ability to build ships is quite remarkable.

But compared to Da Ming, it is still a step worse.

Perhaps, because of the long-standing social concept of the Ming Dynasty, the status of craftsmen is not high. But since Zhu Cihong was born, he relied on hand-cranked computers to reverse the situation when he first made his fortune, and now in the Ming Dynasty, craftsmen are already a job that can hold their heads high and stand proudly in the world.

For many people, reading books has the hope of great wealth. But with the level of talent and hard work of most people, if you want to make a name for yourself by relying on the imperial examination, it is very likely that you may be hopeless for the rest of your life.

But being a craftsman is different, as long as you learn steadily, mastering a craft is always something that can be achieved.

All in all, under the atmosphere of Zhu Cihong's brewing, the status of craftsmen has risen, workshops have sprung up, and large shipyards such as Longjiang Shipyard have begun to rejuvenate.

Overseas trade was strongly supported in Zhu Cihong's time, and the demand for seagoing ships naturally exploded. Many shipyards have suddenly come out of the quagmire of decay and thrived.

Among them, Longjiang Shipyard is the leading shipyard in the Ming Dynasty.

As a flying clipper ship that His Majesty the Emperor personally opened the drawings with his own hands, Longjiang Shipyard was not only begged to buy a ship, but also moved his mind to work hard and invested in technology research and development.

Zhu Huanfa, the director of the Longjiang Shipyard, who is in charge of the affairs of the Longjiang Shipyard, is not only a skilled worker, but also a qualified factory director with vision selected by Zhu Cihong. He plans to develop a new type of ship to replace the previous mainstream Fukubune and Clipper boats.

Although the Fu ship is good, it is already an old ship type that has been in service for hundreds of years, and it has long been unable to keep up with the times. Especially in front of the Galen ships of the West, it is even more backward. The clipper ship can keep up with the changes of the times, the speed is fast, and it can also install a certain amount of firepower.

But the clippers were too thin and fast, but because they were too slender, they couldn't accommodate too many guns even if they tried to refit them. For fear of accidentally firing a salvo, the enemy did not die, but he would shatter the hull.

Zhu Cihong understood that the Swedes had done such a stupid thing, and the huge ships built indiscriminately sank by themselves as soon as they left the port because of their unscientific design.

Of course, Longjiang Shipyard made a different move.

The biggest disadvantage of the new type of Fu ship is that it has a deep draft, is as large as a city, and lacks maneuverability. The new Fukubune has improved sails in terms of increased maneuverability, while at the same time having excellent robustness. This opens up the possibility of larger ships, more artillery.

Although there are many Chinese ships along the coast of China, they all understand that the impression of Xiyi ships has been cast in this era, rather than waiting for the Opium War to be experienced.

In the 17th century, the era of maritime hegemony began in full swing. While Western shipbuilding and naval power are growing, China is falling behind.

In 1637, the Netherlands had the ability to build the three-deck battleship "Sea Monarch" with a displacement of up to 1,500 tons and 100 cannons. By 1644, the Netherlands had more than 1,000 ships of all kinds as warships to protect commerce, more than 1,000 large merchant ships for maritime trade, more than 6,000 small merchant ships for fishing and inland transportation, and more than 80,000 of the world's best sailors.

In September 1639, the Spanish fleet under the command of Admiral Oquado attacked England. The strength of this fleet is about 70 ships, of which 12 have a displacement of more than 1000 tons, such as the "Santa Tressa" with 2400 tons.

Even the British, who were weaker than the Dutch, now had thirty-nine warships. This is not an old-style armed merchant ship on the southeast coast of the Ming Dynasty, where most ships can only be equipped with one or two guns, but a giant warship with more than 60 guns.

For example, the British "King of the Sea", built in 1637, has a keel length of 39 meters, a total length of 51 meters, a width of 14.7 meters, a depth of 23.17 meters, a draft of 6.8 meters, a weight of 1,683 tons, and four decks. The ship was erected with 3 masts, and crown sails were hung on the mainmast and foremast. The ship is armed with 102-104 guns, 30 guns on the low and main decks, and 26 guns on the upper deck. There were 12 guns on the bow floor, 14 guns on the half deck, 10 bow guns and a number of stern guns. The fleet has 11 anchors, each weighing 2 tons. There were more than 800 sailors, the largest shells had a net weight of 60 pounds, and a salvo of shells weighed a ton.

In this era, most of the Chinese warships were very few and very few were more than 400 tons.

This is not because the Chinese have no money to build, but because the technology is backward.

Even Qi Jiguang, who grew up in the Anti-Japanese War when the imperial army recovered, had no choice about this, and if the large-caliber artillery wanted to be powerful at sea, it was necessary to have strong ships. Otherwise, if the cannon bombards and misses the enemy, it will be scattered. So much so that if the caliber of the gun is too large, the gun must be put into a small raft and fired first, so as not to damage the main battleship.

Of course, these things were less in the Zhu Cihong era. Although the new clipper battleship is too slender and small in size, it adheres to the advantages of military products: excellent quality.

The army warships are strong, but the people still have to use the blessing ships. If you want to buy a clipper of the same model as the sailor, you can't buy it at a high price.

In the case of a blowout of demand, most maritime merchants can only make do with the fortune boats built by small private workshops.

At this time, the new Fu ship of Longjiang Shipyard came into being, and it became the Ganlin that everyone was looking forward to.

But I never expected that the secrets of Longjiang Shipyard would now spread to the hands of the Ming man in front of him.

Shimazu Mitsuhisa was full of emotion, and his heart was indescribably excited. Originally, when he heard that he had the opportunity to get the blueprints of advanced warships, Shimazu Mitsuhisa didn't believe it.

But I never expected that it would be like a pie falling from the sky, and the opportunity would come.

If someone else said it, Shimazu Mitsuhisa would never believe it, and he just felt that he was a charlatan. What is the place of Longjiang Shipyard, that is the place to build warships for the Daming Naval Division, and it is the important place for military aircraft. Stealing top secrets in such a place, that is something that ordinary people can do?

It's just that the person who appeared in front of Shimazu Mitsuhisa today is indeed not an ordinary person.

When this person spoke, Shimazu Mitsuhisa really believed it.

And in fact, this person does have this ability.

Because, the guest who arrived at Kagoshima Shimazu Mitsuhisa's house was the first maritime merchant of the Ming Dynasty, the head of the Zheng family, Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong is very confident in the gifts he has prepared. And in fact, Shimazu Mitsuhisa is indeed happy. If there is a good warship, the Satsuma clan can also be strong. Especially in the face of the possible secession of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the strength of the surface power is crucial.

"Since the feudal lord is satisfied, then I can rest assured." Zheng Zhilong smiled: "I understand that the lord of the domain is a person who doesn't like red tape. Since the talk is exciting, then I will also speak bluntly. I, the Zheng clan, want to migrate to Japan, and I ask the feudal lord to fulfill it. ”

Although "Hiss ......" had been prepared in his heart for a long time, when Shimazu Mitsuhisa really heard this sentence in Zheng Zhilong's mouth, he couldn't help but be a little distracted.

"All migrated?" Zheng is a big customer of Japanese smuggling, and his relationship in Japan is very strong. is Zheng Chenggong, who was also born in Japan.

Unexpectedly, now Zheng Zhilong wants to move all the Zheng family's family into Japan.

It's a big deal, a big thing that is crucial.

Zheng Zhilong slowly bowed his head: "I have already transferred some of my family to Edo, but the family is big and the business is big, and it still takes a lot of effort to move smoothly." ”

"That Sino-Japanese trade ......" Shimazu Mitsuhisa looked at Zheng Zhilong and smiled silently, and changed the topic with interest.

The previous promises were dazzling, and now it is indeed time for Shimazu Mitsuhisa to fulfill his promise: "The migration of the Zheng family can be carried out now." Of course, in the face of the Ming sailors, I believe that the sailors of the Japanese kingdom, including the sailors of the Satsuma Domain, will prepare for Zheng Sang. ”

Zheng Zhilong breathed a sigh of relief: "Well, the date, I have already set it." ”

"When?" Shimazu's eyes were blazing.

"At the beginning of the next spring, the southeast wind will rise, and the main fleet will reach the Satsuma Domain." Zheng Zhilong said.

"In this way, I will wait for Zheng Sang Jiayin!" Mitsuhisa Shimazu stood up and saluted.

"I'm thanking the lord of the domain." Zheng Zhilong knew that it was time for him to leave, and got up to leave Shimazu Mitsuhisa's official residence.

Out of the door, Zheng Zhilong silently got into the carriage.

On the side, it was Zheng Zhihu who wanted to speak and stopped.

"Uprooting from home, no one is psychologically uncomfortable. Is there anything you want to say, do our brothers still have concerns? Let's just say it. Zheng Zhilong's expression looked a little tired.

"Well, it came to this. By the way, there was a message from Zhibao just now. It's very important, I've always wanted to say, but unfortunately I didn't have the chance. These Japanese ...... Shade us. Zheng Zhihu gritted his teeth and was very unhappy to tell the story of the reinforcement of the Ryukyu troops on Amami Oshima.

"That's to be expected. Since the Japanese have some skills, we can feel at ease in the future. Also...... It's not a bad thing. Worse, I expected it. Zheng Zhilong was not discouraged by this.

The migration of the entire Zheng family from Fujian to the Satsuma Domain, although the drawings are important, are often just a stepping stone. If you want the Japanese to help prevent the Ming Dynasty from asking for guilt, the Ryukyu incident is obviously a vote.

It's just that no matter who it is, no one wants to do this kind of faintly traitorous thing.

It's just that Zheng Zhilong obviously has too many choices.

Daming's overseas trade profits began to usher in fierce competition, and the profit margin that was originally lying down to make money fell off a cliff. What's more, they are smugglers. This is inconsistent with the law of the country, and others may not understand it, but in Zheng Zhilong's view, this is clearly the court's use of money every year to make a fortune on them.

As long as you count the major cities of the Ming Dynasty that have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, you will know that their Zheng family will definitely have a hard time in the future.

With a tax of 50,000 taels, others can still fool around, but who believes that the huge fleet of tens of thousands of ships of the Zheng clan is such a small scale of trade?

Leaving Daming has become the only way to protect the family's wealth.

"By the way, has the news come back from Fusong? He should take care of his ideological work more and follow Qian Qianyi to learn scriptures, which is originally a good thing. But now...... I'm worried about him. Zheng Zhilong thought of his precious son, and suddenly became sad.

No more like a businessman and maritime warlord through and through than Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Chenggong was in charge of traditional Confucian education. Heaven and earth are the king's teachers, love the country and love the king, if you hear that your father is going to run away, it will be difficult to agree.

"Not yet...... However, we all know Foson's temperament. This time, I'm ready to tie people back directly. By the way, big brother, is there really such a blessed land in the east of the East China Sea? Zheng Zhihu couldn't help but speak again, worried.

"If you want to talk about this, I don't have a bottom of my mind. However, when you arrived in Japan, you probably heard the news from Seoul some time ago. In the map of the world that day, to the east of Japan, the vast sea past, was a rich new continent. When we get there, there is no government, we are the government. At least, it can't go on here...... Still going there. In short, this time the Ryukyu thing. Don't worry! Zheng Zhilong understood everyone's worries, cheered up, and made Zheng Zhihu feel at ease.

Although Zhu Cihong made them curse in their hearts thousands of times, but the ability and insight of His Majesty the Emperor were clear to everyone.

Since His Majesty the Emperor said that there is, then there really is.

It's just that he has become an enemy of His Majesty the Emperor.

This obviously makes people sigh a little at the change of fate.

……

Ryukyu, the royal palace of Shurijo Castle.

"Amami Oshima reinforcements?" The surprise and calmness on Wang Fuzhi's face made Shang Xian feel both disappointed and expectant.

Obviously, this matter is not in the control of Da Ming. For Wang Fuzhi, 3,000 soldiers and horses are not to be feared at all.

However, the Japanese army increased by 3,000 troops, but it was a huge rock hanging in the hearts of the Ryukyu people. When the Japanese invaded Ryukyu and entered Shuri Castle, it only took 3,000 men.