Yang Peng also brought 50,000 kilograms of crucible steel. Yang Peng's steelmaking workshop can produce 20,000 kilograms of crucible steel every month. These steels can be sold for about 10,000 kilograms a month, but the price can only be sold for one to two or five cents. It is said that the Japanese country has a high demand for cheap steel from the Song Dynasty. Yang Peng took some to the Japanese country to test the water and see how much silver crucible steel could be sold in Yangpeng.
If the sales are good, Yang Peng can expand the production of crucible steel. Yang Peng also brought a lot of other glasses and mirrors. These glass products are difficult to transport and must be wrapped in a large amount of paper. Fortunately, the unit price is expensive, and a little transportation is worth a lot of money.
Then came the soap. Yang Peng loaded forty large boxes of soap on the ship, with each box containing 8,000 pieces of soap, totaling 320,000 pieces of soap. Coupled with some miscellaneous products to test the market, Yang Peng loaded a ship full of goods. Yang Peng's cargo is loaded from the Xincheng pier in Tianjing New City. Tianjing New City Wharf is originally a center for maritime trade. Many southern goods are landed from Tianjing New City Wharf. Some goods destined for Jiangnan are also shipped from Tianjing New City Wharf and then transported to Jiangnan and Lingnan via sea-going ships. These cargo-carrying ships include both government ships and private ships, making Tianjing New City Wharf a lively seaport.
Yang Peng is now powerful and the prefect of Cangzhou. No one dares to object to the maritime trade in Tianjing New City. Yang Peng swaggered around to purchase and load the goods onto the ship, and no one raised a voice to stop him. In fact, the maritime ban in the Song Dynasty has basically been abolished. Although the steward only opened the sea ban in Fujian Province, since the Fujian sea ban was opened, it means that hundreds of officials in the Song Dynasty were no longer hostile to maritime merchants, and they would no longer force coastal water fortresses to exterminate smuggling merchants. Therefore, half of the maritime merchants in the north and south of the Yangtze River were Openly run up the sea.
On July 10, Yang Peng's new crew and sailors had been training for half a month. Yang Peng no longer waited and let the Tianjing go to sea. On this trip to sea, Yang Peng personally led the team, leading 150 sailors and more than 50 boatmen to drive the Tianjing to the Japanese country. Early that morning, the crew of the Tianjing moved the long oar and rowed the ship out of the Xincheng port. After leaving the port, the steam engine was running at full speed, spewing black smoke from the incomplete combustion of coal from its chimney, and chopping forward in the swaying sea. The ship left the Xincheng Pier, getting further and further away from the departure port, crossing the Bohai Sea, and took a day to reach the Bohai Strait.
Under the guidance of experienced guides, the Tianjing avoided the rocks and passed through the islands in the Bohai Strait. Then we bypassed the Jiaodong Peninsula and drove all the way south. On the third day at sea, Tianjing had already reached the west side of the Koryo Peninsula. At this time, the sky was high and the clouds were clear, and the midsummer sun was shining directly on the sea, illuminating the undulating sea into a deep blue, making it look very beautiful. The sea breeze was extremely cool on my body, blowing away all the summer heat.
The Song Dynasty ships of this era sailed along the islands and coasts in order to observe reference objects on land and islands and understand their location. At this time, the Tianjing was sailing on the west side of Korea, only a dozen miles away from the coast. Yang Peng held up the telescope on the poop and looked at the scenery of the Korean Peninsula in the east, but suddenly he heard the lookout on the mast shouting:
"There is a boat to the south!" Everyone on the boat raised their heads and looked to the south. Yang Peng also raised his telescope and looked south. Sure enough, at the end where the sky and the sea meet, I saw a three-masted wooden sailboat heading this way. It was summer at this time, and there was a steady south wind blowing on the sea, and the incoming ship sailed very fast. Not long after, the sailboat sailed more than ten miles away. Yang Peng was holding a telescope to observe the incoming ship, but he heard the lookout man on the mast, Abban, shouting: "The incoming ship sails fast in shallow water, and there is no cargo on board. I'm afraid it's a pirate ship!"
Everyone on the ship was stunned when they heard this, and all looked at Yang Peng. The steward on the ship ran to Yang Peng and said, "Lord City Lord, our ship is fast, why don't we avoid this pirate ship!" Yang Peng used a telescope to observe the ship on the opposite side.
That pirate ship was not as big as the Tianjing, but it was not small either. It looks a bit like a lucky boat, but it doesn't have a low bow like a lucky boat. The hull is Song style, curved like a crescent moon, but the sails on the mast are Western-style soft sails. At this time, the jib, horizontal sail and foresight sail on the ship were all swollen by the wind, and they were pressing towards Yang Peng with great momentum. Yang Peng took a closer look and found that there were two machine crossbows on the ship, but he couldn't see clearly what crossbows they were.
Yang Peng put down the telescope and thought for a while. Seeing the ship on the opposite side getting closer and closer, Yang Peng's manager became a little nervous and asked: "Lord City Lord, what should I do?" Yang Peng put down his telescope and shouted loudly: "Try this pirate ship to practice! Sink him! "The steward was stunned, gritted his teeth, ran down the poop and shouted loudly: "Enter combat status! The whole ship is in combat status!"
After hearing the steward's words, the atmosphere on the ship suddenly changed, and the sailors began to prepare for battle. They either ran to the crossbow position on the second deck and manipulated the crossbow, or they raised their rifles and stood on the upper deck with grenades, preparing for a broadside battle. The boatmen ran to the boiler of the steam engine to help the boilerman add coal to increase the speed of the Tianjing.
Yang Peng walked to the helmsman and said: "Go around and drive around the pirate ship! Take advantage of our ship's speed and always keep a distance of two hundred steps from the pirate ship, so that the crossbows on the left and right sides can take turns firing!" The helmsman is an experienced helmsman, and it was Zha Yunke who supported Yang Peng. He nodded when he heard Yang Peng's words and said: "Don't worry, City Lord, I will definitely control the position and let the strong crossbow shoot these pirate ships to pieces!"
Yang Peng nodded and said: "It's up to you!" The two ships gradually approached, five miles, three miles, two miles. Yang Peng used his binoculars to look at the pirate ship opposite, and sure enough he saw more than two hundred pirates holding swords standing on the deck, each with red eyes, ready to join in a gang fight.
Yang Peng cursed: "You are so brave, you dare to rob me, the Tianjing!" When it was more than a mile away, the Tianjing suddenly turned the rudder and headed west, aiming its port side at the rough sea. Pirate ship. On the second deck, eighty crossbowmen were already waiting on the port side. They quickly cranked the rotating rod on the gun carriage to adjust the crossbow. After all the crossbows had finished aiming, the crossbow commander shouted: "Shoot!"
Nine powerful crossbows fired from front to back, one after another. The nine-door long arrow drew nine straight lines in the air and shot towards the enemy ship three to four hundred meters away. The eight-shot long arrow missed and hit the water, causing a splash several meters high. A long arrow hit the bow of the pirate ship, instantly piercing the old-fashioned hull with no or only a few ribs. There was only a bang, and the pirate ship's bow was hit with flying wood chips like fireworks, and the wooden boards on the bow burst into pieces like paper.
When the sawdust gradually dispersed, a large hole one foot long and wide was revealed on the bow of the pirate ship. Fortunately, the waves were small at this time and the bow of the boat did not enter the water. If there is a big wave and the bow of the boat continuously penetrates the big waves to break the waves, such a big hole can allow the pirate ship to sink into the water. The pirate ship took a hit. The pirates were shocked by the firepower of the Tianjing, and all of them turned pale. But they reacted quickly. The pirates howled and took out the long oars on the ship, rowed the long oars on the deck to speed up the ship, and continued to rush towards the Nova.
The pirate ship was an empty ship, very light. With the help of the downwind sail power and the oar power, the pirate ship suddenly rushed very fast, at least seven or eight knots. Yang Peng's Tianjing ran faster. At this time, the boatmen tried their best to burn the steam engine boiler, making the ship faster than usual, almost nine knots. After sailing west for a while, the Tianjing left the pirate ship more than a mile behind.
The helmsman of the Tianjing saw that the distance had been widened, and turned the right rudder full to the north. The Tianjing's paddle wheel also assists in turning: if the ship wants to turn right quickly, the transmission device of the right paddle wheel is stopped and the rudder is turned at the same time. In this way, the left paddle wheel and stern rudder can work together to quickly turn the boat to the right. The same goes for turning your head to the left. With the assistance of the paddle wheel, the Tianjing can turn much faster than a ship relying solely on its stern rudder.
The second helmsman, that is, the second helmsman holds the flag next to the helmsman and directs the boatman next to the paddle wheel to operate the transmission device of the paddle wheel. The bow of the ship quickly turned to the north, pointing the starboard side of the Nova towards the pirate ship to the east. The nine-door crossbow on the starboard side took aim for a while, and then opened fire when the pirate ship caught up to two hundred steps, or three hundred meters.
The nine powerful crossbows spit out tongues of fire and made a loud noise. Yang Peng felt the whole boat shake, tilted to the left, and accidentally fell on the board.
The manager quickly came up and helped Yang Peng up. Ninety long arrows were fired at the pirate ship. This time, two long arrows hit the bow of the enemy ship, breaking the wood into pieces. Another piece of sawdust flew from the bow of the pirate ship, as if it had exploded. When the sawdust gradually dispersed, Yang Peng discovered that the entire bow of the pirate ship was gone.
The entire bow of the ship was smashed by solid bullets and became tattered, and the inner deck of the pirate ship was exposed. As the waves rise and fall, seawater pours into the exposed bow from time to time. The pirates panicked and did not dare to charge with their oars again. The pirate leader on the boat screamed and screamed, and a dozen pirates ran to the bow of the boat and used wooden basins to scoop water out of the boat, fearing that too much water would leak and the boat would sink.
Yang Peng believed that his powerful crossbow could sink the pirate ship in just a few more shots. These pirates were all desperate desperadoes. Taking advantage of the fact that there were more than 200 people on their ship and the light sail of the ship allowed them to run very fast, they wanted to rush to the Tianjing and join in a hand-to-hand fight. But after suffering a long arrow, the pirate leader finally discovered that the Tianjing was different, and realized that he could not catch up with the Tianjing no matter what, and could not rush up to engage in a battle.
The pirate leader didn't understand that this strange ship without sails, loaded with cargo, could run faster than the pirate ship that rowed at full strength without cargo. Is this magic? But one thing is clear to the pirate leader: the powerful crossbows on both sides of the Tianjing will soon sink the pirate ship.
The pirate ship did not dare to pursue the Tianjing anymore and turned around to escape to the east. However, Yang Peng was not willing to let these pirates go, so the Tianjing also pursued them eastward. It didn't take long for the Tianjing to catch up to three hundred meters behind the pirate ship again. The ship turned south and aimed its port side crossbow at the pirate ship.
Ninety long arrows were shot out, and another hit the pirate ship, making a big hole in the stern of the escaping pirate ship. There was a panic on the pirate ship. Apparently someone was killed by a long arrow in the poop, or stabbed to death by wood chips exploded by the long arrow. The pirate leader ran to the poop to have a look, and decisively lowered the flag when he returned to the deck.
Lowering the flag means that these pirates have surrendered. The pirates knew they could not escape from Yang Peng's hands, so they surrendered resolutely. There are pirates who have already lowered the sails on the mast, preparing to stop the ship and surrender completely. The pirates, who had been so aggressive just now, completely surrendered under the power of steam engines and crossbows. Yang Peng was afraid that the pirates would be slippery, so he let the cannon fire another round.
Two long arrows hit the pirate ship again. A long arrow hit the poop and made a big hole two meters above the waterline. If this long arrow had gone any lower, it would have sunk the ship. Another long arrow hit the pirate ship's rear mast, breaking the mast. The huge sail folded down, killing countless pirates on the deck.
The entire pirate ship was beaten into tatters, where was the majesty it had just now? The pirates were so frightened that no one dared to stand anymore. They all knelt on the deck and begged for a way out. Seeing the pirates kneeling down and surrendering, the sailors and boatmen on the Tianjing were jubilant. This was their first victory at sea. Although they only defeated a ship of pirates, it was of memorable significance.
Yang Peng thought for a while and said: "Aim the crossbow at the pirate ship to deter the pirates. The first platoon, second class, and third class sailors went up on the small sampan to collect all the pirates' valuable things. Tie up all the pirates." The Tianjing slowly stopped more than 300 meters south of the pirate ship, and pointed the nine-door crossbow on the port side at the pirate ship. If the pirates act slippery, Yang Peng is ready to sink the pirate ship at any time. Fifteen sailors boarded the pirate ship in two small sampans and began to collect loot.
Yang Peng walked into the captain's room on the poop, poured two cups of tea, and brought it out. One cup was given to the helmsman who performed well, and he drank the other slowly while waiting for the fifteen sailors to finish their work on the pirate ship. "The helmsman performed well. What's your name and how many years have you been at the helm?" "City Lord, our name is Xiao Tong. I have been at the helm for four years." Yang Peng nodded and said, "Xiao Tong, I performed well this time." I will reward you with thirty taels of silver. If you teach more apprentices who learn to steer from you these days, if you teach two apprentices, I will reward you with another thirty taels of silver."
Xiao Tong was very happy and said: "Thank you City Lord!" "You deserve this." After waiting for an hour, two squads of soldiers finally searched the pirate ship, tied up all the pirates, and carried two A big box was returned to the Tianjing. The small sampan stopped at the side of the Tianjing ship, tied the big box with a rope, and let the sailors on the Tianjing pull it up.
Yang Peng walked to the side of the ship and opened two large boxes. He saw that there were about a hundred taels of gold and several thousand taels of various pieces of silver inside. Yang Peng spat: "These pirates are so poor."
After thinking about it, Yang Peng turned around and shouted to the sailors: "Eighty crossbowmen, each of them will be rewarded with ten taels of silver!" The gunners were jubilant and high-fived each other. The captain of the second squad of the first platoon of sailors who climbed aboard asked Li Zhi: "City Lord, these pirates are all Japanese pirates from the Japanese country. I can't understand a word when they are babbling. How should I deal with them?"
Yang Peng waved his hand and said: "If we had been defeated by these Japanese pirates just now, we would all be dead. We cannot be soft-hearted towards these Japanese pirates! Sink the Japanese pirate ships! Let them sink into the sea to feed the fish!"
The ship sailed for another three days and arrived at Hirado, a trading port in the northwest of Japan. Hirado is an island and the territory of a Japanese vassal named Hirado Domain. Before the Tianjing entered the port, two small boats came out of the port. In addition to the boatman and sailor, there were three Japanese samurai and two Japanese translators standing on the boat. The boat arrived next to the Nova, and the Tianjin lowered the rope ladder, allowing the samurai and translator to climb up.
Those who boarded the ship were the inspection envoys and translators of the Japanese Hirado clan, who came to check the route of the ship. Yang Peng asked Zheng Kaida to take these warriors to check. The three Japanese samurai were very happy to see that all the people on board were from the Song Dynasty. They chatted with Zheng Kaida for a few words and were particularly enthusiastic. The three warriors checked it and determined that it was the Song Dynasty's ship, so they took the ship back to the port. A quarter of an hour later, two more boats came out of the harbor. On each small boat stood a samurai with a shaved Tsukiyo head and wearing ordinary haori uniforms. The two warriors could speak the Mandarin of the Song Dynasty, shouted loudly in the Mandarin of the Song Dynasty, and guided the Tenkyo into Kawauchiura, the port of the Hirado Domain.
When the Tianjing entered the port, it used a paddle wheel to maneuver, which stunned the samurai who were guiding it. However, they all thought that the paddle wheel was turned by the sailors inside the ship, so they didn't ask any more questions. Entering Kawauchiura, the port of Hirado Domain, everyone saw a very prosperous trading city. I saw that there were about 40,000 to 50,000 residents in Nagang Town within a radius of more than ten miles. Hanoi Puri is full of commercial buildings, shops, inns, samurai houses, and entertainment venues with black tiles and wooden walls. Compared with the simple civilian houses, the architectural structures in this port town pay attention to the appearance and appearance, and they look very prosperous.
Various races of people walked among them, including people from the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty wearing Tang Dynasty clothes, Japanese people with shaved hair and sideburns, and Dutch people with blond hair and blue eyes. The largest number of them are Song people, at least half of them are Song people. Yang Peng got off the boat and walked with everyone in the market. He kept hearing people speaking the Song Dynasty Mandarin. It is mid-July now, and it is the time when ships from the south sail to the Japanese country with favorable winds. At this time, there were hundreds of ships of various colors moored at the pier, including thirty to forty multi-deck ocean-going ships. Most of them were Chinese-style fortune ships with low front and high back, as well as spacious and pot-bellied Dutch merchant ships.
There is a large amount of cargo piled on the shore of the pier. The guys in various stores were busy sorting out the transportation, shouting and shouting one after another, and they were very busy. Yang Peng walked around the market and returned to the dock. He found that there were already more than a dozen Chinese and Japanese businessmen gathered around his boat. Seeing Yang Peng approaching in a crowd, the merchants all knew that the captain was back, and they crowded over to drum up business, asking Yang Peng to sell the goods to them.
Yang Peng looked at the steward on the ship and asked: "How are these goods sold?" The steward said: "It turns out that Mr. Cha has a store in Hirado, and he sells the goods slowly in the store. Sir, if in the future If you are doing business in Hirado for a long time, it is best to build a business store." Yang Peng thought for a while and said: "Find the lord of the Hirado clan and say that the hussar general of the Song Dynasty is here and wants to see him. We Meet him on the boat.”
The general manager nodded and said, "Okay City Lord, I'll go find the Lord of the Hirado Domain right now." Yang Peng sent the general manager away and inquired about the price with the merchants who gathered around him. Many of those merchants were from the Song Dynasty and could understand Yang Peng's words. Even Japanese businessmen can communicate with an interpreter.
Yang Peng first asked about the sales of soap. After asking around, he found that these merchants all knew the uses of soap. It seemed that some people had sold soap to Hirado before. Yang Peng tried to bargain with the merchants, and finally sold two boxes of soap for thirty-five cents a piece.
It seems that soap is a best-seller even in Japan. Calculated in this way, if a box of soap is shipped to Japan and sold, the profit will be one hundred taels more than if it is sold domestically. A box of soap weighs more than a ton, and the Tianjin model can hold more than 300 boxes of soap. If Yang Peng's ship is fully loaded with soap and comes to Japan in the future, the profit will be more than 30,000 taels per trip.
Yang Peng showed the Yang family fine cloth to these merchants. The merchants touched and looked at it carefully, and finally gave a price of one, two or three yuan. This price surprised Yang Peng. The fine cloth of the Yang family was sold for only one tael of silver in Cangzhou and Bianjing. If sold to Japan, the price difference would be three taels of silver. Those merchants said that cotton cloth from Japan generally retailed for about one to two five cents or one to two six cents. The quality of Yang Peng's fine cloth is good, and the sales will not be bad. Merchants can buy it for one to two or three yuan, and resell it for one to two or four yuan to wholesale it, which is profitable. Yang Peng sold 10,000 pieces of fine cloth to the merchants at a price of one, two or three yuan, which made the merchants very happy.
Cloth is very light. If the Tianjing is loaded with cloth, it can carry 100,000 pieces. In the future, if the Tianjing ship is loaded with cloth to the Japanese country every time, then the profit of each trip will be 30,000 taels of silver. Yang Peng asked again about the price of raw silk. The merchants all quoted 200 taels, or at most 210 taels. It seems that the competition in the raw silk trade is too fierce and there is no profit left. If Yang Peng's ship brought all raw silk to Japan, one ship would have a profit of 20,000 taels of silver.
Yang Peng showed the Yang family fine steel to the merchants again. The merchants looked around and showed little interest. I don’t know whether these merchants did not know the goods, or whether the Japanese country did not have high demand for high-quality steel. Yang Peng also asked about luxury goods such as glass mirrors and transparent glassware, and found that the prices were similar to those in the Song Dynasty, and they could only be sold slowly, with limited sales. Yang Peng thought for a while and felt that this should be the case. These luxury goods do not take up space. If the price difference was large and the demand was strong, other maritime merchants would have sold them to Japan long ago.
Yang Peng and the merchants inquired about the price, then returned to the poop of the ship, waiting for the lord of the Hirado clan. After an hour, Yang Peng saw the crowds on the pier moving to both sides, and dozens of Japanese samurai rode fast horses to the port. The warriors all rode tall horses and wore silk feathers. Surrounded by these warriors, a middle-aged samurai with a shaved head rode to the side of the Tianjing ship and jumped off his horse.
The person who came was the Lord of the Hirado Domain. He walked skillfully onto the ship from the gangway and led two guards to the poop where Yang Peng was. When they arrived at the poop, two guards stood outside the poop, and the Lord of the Hirado Domain walked into the poop alone. Yang Peng had put on the official uniform of the Song Dynasty and was sitting there drinking tea with his translator. The lord of the Hirado clan was surprised to see Yang Peng so young. However, he quickly regained his composure, bowed his hands like a Han Chinese, and shouted something in Japanese.
The translator said: "The Lord of the Hirado Domain, Matsuura Jinnobu, has met the Great General of the Song Dynasty. I heard that the General defeated the Khitan people. I admire him very much! I didn't expect to see the Zuo Commander in Hirado." The Great Song Haishang of the Hirado Domain Very much, this Matsuura Zhenxin often had contact with the maritime merchants of the Song Dynasty and basically knew about the major events of the Song Dynasty. When Yang Peng saw that Matsuura Jinxin knew about him, he laughed loudly and said, "Okay, Lord, sit down!"
Matsuura Jinshin sat down on the chair, and Yang Peng said: "Lord, I will have several ships come to Hirado every month to do business, and the business will be more and more." Matsuura Jinshin was stunned and asked: "Every month? How can the ship sail if the monsoons are different?" Yang Peng said: "My ship does not use wind, it is driven by a machine!"
Matsuura Zhenxin thought for a while and didn't understand, but he didn't ask any more questions. Anyway, when merchants from the Ming Dynasty come to Hirado, Matsuura Zhenxin can collect taxes and make money, which is what he wants. Even if Yang Peng's boat came with an oar, he would welcome it. Yang Peng said straight to the point: "The purpose of my looking for you is to set up a business store in Hirado. Do you have a suitable place to sell to me?" Songpu Zhenxin thought for a while and said: "Yes! General Tang Dynasty, Li Gong decided not to engage in sea trade, and has been looking for someone to sell his business store during this period. His business store has more than fifty houses, two large warehouses, a large area and a good location. It is the largest business store in Hirado. "
If you want to know what happens next, let’s look at the breakdown in the next chapter.
