Although forty-three ships are not too many, they are not too few for historical Southeast Asian trade. According to Dutch records, in the 17th century, the number of Chinese merchant ships that went to Batavia each year was only fifty or sixty at most, and only ten or twenty at rare times. At that time, there was only so much long-distance trade between China and Southeast Asia.
The arrival of the Senate somewhat changed this historical situation. The Senate's large import and export trade, especially the huge demand for bulk commodities, caused a significant increase in the number of ships traveling between them. Moreover, once several resource colonies are opened in Southeast Asia in the future, the demand for transportation capacity will only increase further. Increasing shipping tonnage should start now.
The Planning Academy gave him a gift, which were the two Manila Galen ships captured from the Spanish during Operation Hunger. The tonnage of these two ships is not only the largest large ship in the Southeast Asian company's fleet, but also in the entire East and Southeast Asia. The St. Louis has a load capacity of 800 tons and a displacement of 1,450 tons, and the San Raymundo has a load capacity of 650 tons and a displacement of 1,200 tons.
After being captured in 1632, these two ships underwent a year-long repair and transformation. In 1633, they were incorporated into the transport fleet directly under the joint logistics and performed various "strategic" transport tasks for a long time. Traveling to and from Jeju, Sanya, Kaohsiung and other places. After the mainland strategy began, emergency transportation missions to Guangzhou were carried out many times.
However, although the San Luis San Reymundo had a large carrying capacity and a sturdy and durable hull, it was limited by the galenic ship's hull shape and sailing defects. The sailing speed is too slow. Under tailwind conditions, the maximum speed is only 7 knots. The average speed does not exceed 4 knots. The loading and unloading capacity is also far inferior to that of the T800, which is specially optimized for freight. The key is that it requires an absurdly large number of crew members. During long voyages, each ship requires at least 200 people to operate normally. After the transportation capacity of the joint logistics fleet was increased, Minister Hong "liked the new and disliked the old". Nanyang Company opened its doors, and these two ships were eliminated from the joint logistics fleet and fell into the hands of the surrounding areas.
To be honest, the people around them didn't look down on these two stupid big ships - the ship was certainly impressive, but it was much clumsier than the later large sailing battleships such as "Kingdom" and "Victory", and it couldn't be equipped with too many installations. Artillery - Galen is essentially a merchant ship.
But something is better than nothing. Not to mention, there are no ships larger than these two in the entire Southeast Asia Company's fleet. The largest Chinese sailing ships have a fully loaded displacement of no more than 800 tons. The two ships are now docked in Hong Kong for maintenance work. It is expected to be officially put into use next year.
"No matter how modified it is, it will still be a Galen," the people around shook their heads with regret and put down the ship's inventory. In his heart, what he wanted was a clipper ship. In his opinion, this fast merchant ship designed by the British to transport tea was the most suitable for his needs.
In his mind, the future Nanyang Company would not only control the maritime trade of the entire Southeast Asia region, but also imitate the British East India Company in the past, capture the Indian subcontinent, and use it as a jewel in the future crown of the Senate.
Ordinary sailing boats are considered qualified for traveling between Southeast Asia and China, but they are beyond their capabilities when traveling to India or even further Red Sea routes. The speed of six or seven knots can only satisfy the "internal waters" of the South China Sea at best. Maritime trade to India and the Red Sea coast, and even further to East Africa, required faster ships suitable for ocean voyages.
The people around were in a trance, and someone came in to announce: Wang Kai is here.
"What is he doing here?" There was something strange around him. This man had long served as trade attaché in the ministry—frequently traveling between ports to coordinate trade and shipping plans and rarely in the office. In the Ministry of Colonial Trade, he could only be regarded as an acquaintance. However, he knew that Wang Kai was very fanatical about sailing. Except for the 1st generation, he knew all the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation very well, and he had beaten them countless times. But he didn't have much interaction with the people around him, let alone friendship.
Probably planning to come to Nanyang Company to show off his ambitions? It's not impossible to say that. After all, this man's obsession with sailing is obvious to all. When the shipyard in Bopu was still a beach shipyard, he went to the shipyard all day long, and he also participated in setting up a "big sailing club". The hasty launch and poor completion of the Beginning of Spring were all closely related to the club's advocacy.
Since someone has come to join us just after we established our own business, it is also a good sign. People around him immediately said: "Please come in."
A few minutes later, a fat, slightly bald man with glasses appeared in a nearby office, carrying a fake branded briefcase in his hand.
The two exchanged brief greetings before taking their seats. Wang Kai looked around and sighed: "I didn't expect Southeast Asia companies to be so shabby!"
"That's not bad. We were working in a container back then. At least it's a decent house." He said as he took out a box of "Golden South China Sea" from the drawer, "Would you like one?"
"No, no," Wang Kai shook his head quickly, "Drinking is still okay, forget smoking." He said and put down the briefcase carefully, as if it contained something valuable.
I took one nearby, lit a fire and took a puff. In fact, he has no interest in tobacco products and does not experience the pleasure of nicotine. However, ever since the Senate introduced cigars, this kind of ceremonial thing in hand has gained his favor. After all, when discussing issues, holding one in your hand, taking a puff from time to time, and then blowing out curls of smoke will not only make you look calm and calm, but also give yourself enough time to think before speaking.
"What year was that in the container?" Wang Kai said, "Southeast Asia Company is an important enterprise of the Senate that radiates to Southeast Asia. To be treated like this, some people don't take Dahai seriously!"
The Southbound faction could not say more than three sentences, which would inevitably involve topics such as "the short-sightedness of the Executive Committee" and "the unprofessionalism of the Government Affairs Council." As soon as these words came out, they knew they were one of their own. Next, we must turn to the argument that "going south is an important opportunity for the development of the Senate."
However, Wang Kai did not follow this routine. He went straight to the point: "You have opened a new store now, and I want to come to you."
There were nods around, as expected. Speaking of which, his so-called Nanyang Company is now his one-person company, and it does need a few veterans to join in to discuss the big plan. Wang Kai has been engaged in maritime trade for many years, and he is indeed the person he needs in business.
"Welcome!" Everyone nodded, "I'm in need of people here, that is, in the ministry..."
"It doesn't matter to Lao Si, I just say it." Wang Kai said carelessly, "I asked for transfer, can he still let me go?"
"What you said is correct. But the job in your hands..."
"I'll just seize the time to hand over the job these days." Wang Kai said, "One week is enough."
"That's good." People said, "Now is the time for me to build a team. Do you have any work intentions after coming?"
"As for me, my job in the Colonial and Trade Department is to engage in trade, and I can do this in the Nanyang Company. But I prefer to engage in exploration and other work, just like the Portuguese sailed along the coast of Africa and landed in a certain place. , do some business with the indigenous people, and explore for any resources worth developing..."
"Then let's call it the Exploration Department," the people around said and frowned again, "We are a company. We can't use official names like Yu and Ke. How about we call it the 'Development Department'. You can be the manager of the Development Department."
"It doesn't matter to me," Wang Kai waved his hand, "You can call him whatever you want, as long as you let me do this." As he said that, he opened his briefcase, took out some documents and handed them around.
"Look at the memo I wrote. These are some of my thoughts on the company's ships."
The surrounding people thought that this was unusual. They had just been thinking about the equipment of the company's ships, and the first thing Wang Kai did when he came was to talk about the ships! Let's see what specific ideas he has.
When the document was in hand, there was as usual a lengthy analysis of trade and navigation conditions in Southeast Asia - this was also the usual habit of people like them who had been tortured and bald by papers, so they skipped this part and went straight to the main text about ships.
It turns out that Wang Kai mentioned two types of ships that he "designed" or rather "improved" in his memorandum.
The first one he named "Surprise". Its prototype is the old wooden-hulled steam-powered bulk carrier "SS RJ Hackett", which is used for bulk cargo transportation in the Great Lakes region of North America.
The "SS RJ Hackett" is 63.84 meters long, 9.88 meters wide, and has a cabin depth of 3.81 meters. It has a square shape and a large space. Its registered gross tonnage is close to 1,500 (4,245 cubic meters) and it can carry 1,100 tons of cargo. According to the plan, the "Jingjing" will be equipped with a 500-horsepower steam engine produced by Lingao, which is heavier than the steam engine of the prototype ship and can also reach a speed of 10 knots.
The biggest advantage of bulk carriers is that they can be loaded and unloaded quickly. Of course, the corresponding cargo is also ore that can withstand rough handling. The boat's wide and thick hull can cope with the rapids in the lake area well, and it has good seaworthiness even at sea.
Bulk cargo is the main source of goods for the Senate's current foreign trade, including coal, rice, timber and various ores to be purchased and transported in the future. Currently, there are almost no ships owned by the Senate that are suitable for these bulk cargoes. Not only does loading and unloading take a long time, a lot of extra packaging is often required. Bulk cargo such as coal is still mainly transported by the whale, a coastal barge brought from the old time and space. The "Surprise", which only exists on paper, obviously meets the needs of Nanyang Company.
It's a pity that this ship needs a steam engine. Everyone knows that based on the production capacity of the industrial sector, high-power steam engines have to be queued up by the planning institute. The most optimistic estimate is that it will take a year to get the goods.
