The expedition to the New World has been prepared for many years. As early as when the Flying Ship arrived in China, Emperor Zhu ordered the Naval Department and Shipbuilding Department of the Grand Marshal's Palace to secretly prepare for the voyage.
The reason for secret preparations is that the west coast of the New World in this era was basically still under the firm control of New Spain. New Spain was hostile to all non-Spanish ships and would even sink them. There were no telegraphs or satellites these days. A sailboat disappeared on the east coast of the Pacific. No one could blame the New Spanish authorities. Button it up! The authorities of New Spain spread their hands and said they didn't know. Who else could take advantage of Spain?
If we were on the Atlantic coast, there would be people who could cure Spain's nerves, but on the Pacific side, not even the Dutch could do anything to them.
Therefore, Emperor Zhu’s New World plan must be kept secret!
In addition to keeping it secret, it is about building a large expedition ship!
Because of the hostile stance of the New Spanish authorities, small sailing ships were not suitable as expedition ships, and slower Chinese-style sailing ships were also not suitable.
The Flying ship from the Netherlands is very suitable for strolling to the west coast of the Pacific, because this ship is not an exploration ship at all, nor is it an armed merchant ship, but a warship of the Dutch Navy! In this era, the Dutch Navy is the best in the world!
Moreover, the combat effectiveness of this Flying HMS is not weak in Europe. Although it is not as good as the Royal Flagship of Spain and the Sovereign of the Sea of England, its 800-ton deadweight is still considered to be first-rate, and its forty cannons The weapons are also powerful. And the speed of this Flying Ship ranked among the top three among the large and medium-sized battleships in Europe at that time!
According to the captain of the Flying Ship, David Jones, a warship that can run faster than the Flying Ship will definitely not be able to defeat the Flying Ship. And a battleship with stronger firepower than the Flying Ship will definitely not be able to catch up with the Flying Ship...
In addition, this warship was designed for the high sea conditions of the North Atlantic, so it is very sturdy and can sail in violent storms, so it is also very suitable for use as an expedition ship across the Pacific.
However, Emperor Zhu did not immediately let the Fei Xiang go on an expedition in the Pacific. Instead, he asked the master craftsmen of the shipbuilding company to imitate the Fei Xiang with the help of foreign craftsmen invited from the Netherlands.
Because Ji Kun and Li Shaoyou bought a complete set of drawings of the Feixiang, the counterfeiting work went smoothly. By the seventh year of Hongxing, the replica of the Feixiang, the 800-ton battleship Henan, was finally completed and delivered to the ship. The Ming Navy.
While the Henan was delivered and put into use, its original version of the Flying had been active in the Pacific battlefield and became a strong enemy of the Spanish Navy's Far East Fleet under the banner of Mongolia.
Although the Spanish Navy is stronger than the authentic Ming Dynasty Navy in all aspects, the people who take the lead on the Flying Ship are all Dutch, and they have also experienced the Dutch Navy. Their standards are obviously higher than their Spanish counterparts.
Moreover, the combat effectiveness of the Flying Ship itself is stronger than any Spanish warship in the Far East. Therefore, in the maritime battles in the past few years, the Flying became the backbone of the Ming Navy, sinking or capturing at least three small and medium-sized Spanish Galen ships.
Its sister ship Henan has not officially appeared since its completion, and not many people even know of its existence.
This ship was not built in a shipyard in Nanjing or Shanghai, but in the highly confidential Fujian Shijing Shipyard (this is a shipyard owned by the Zheng family, and it is also the shipyard with the highest technical level in the Ming Dynasty). After it was delivered, it has been commanded by Chen Shangchuan, a first-year graduate of the Naval Academy who once served as the first mate of the Flying Ship, and it has been operating in the South China Sea under the flag of the Dutch East India Company.
It wasn't until April of the ninth year of Hongxing's reign that they secretly sailed into Dinghai Port, the home port of the Ming Dynasty's Eastern Fleet, to stand by.
When the news of the Henan's arrival in Dinghai reached Nanjing, Wei Zaode, who had handed over the position of chief assistant to Lu Zhenfei, was summoned to the Laoshan Palace where Emperor Zhu was staying, together with the naval commander Zheng Jiangong.
When the two arrived at the Huangji Hall of Laoshan Palace, Zhu Cixiang was meeting with the cabinet. Today Emperor Zhu wants to discuss with the cabinet the issue of land certificates in the North and the opening of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
According to the memorial sent by Shi Kefa and Shen Tingyang, who has already arrived, it can be determined that there are about 100 million acres of unofficial and ownerless farmland in the North. In addition, there are relatively high-value assets such as forest farms, pastures, coal mines, and iron ores, which can also be converted into land certificates-that is, these "state-owned assets" are securitized and then issued to meritorious soldiers and volunteers who followed Emperor Zhu southward. The citizens (the citizens are all registered), and then make reasonable allocations through the market, and also tinker with the securities market...
If such a big mess comes to pass, then the capitalist road in the north will be on a broad road!
In Zhu Cixiang's view, capitalism is nothing more than letting capital be responsible for productivity - if the farm loses money, you capitalists just cry! In the early stages of socialist reform in later generations, wouldn’t “work for yourself” be used to encourage workers and peasants? The workers and peasants work for themselves, the capitalists work for themselves, and Zhu Cihong is the emperor for himself. It all means the same thing!
Zhu Cixiang, who was the emperor for himself, was always very motivated. As soon as the cabinet meeting was over, he continued to summon Wei Zaode and Zheng Jiangong during lunch.
The great navigator of Wei, who was about to become the first person in China to open up the New World, now looked very sluggish and much older. He was only in his forties and already had a white beard.
Zheng Jiangong didn't look happy either - he had been busy for many years on his voyage to the New World! When things came to a head, Wei Zaode actually took advantage of them. This was so disturbing.
"Sit down, please sit down..." Emperor Zhu smiled and waved to the two of them.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"Thank you, please sit down!"
Neither of them was polite to Emperor Zhu, and sat down in a grand manner.
Zhu Cixiang smiled and ordered the people around him, "Add two pairs of bowls and chopsticks!" He then said to Wei Zaode and Zheng Jiangong, "Let's eat some together."
He paused, "When can the Henan depart? How many armed merchant ships have been arranged to accompany it? How much supplies are you planning to bring?"
"Your Majesty," Zheng Jiangong said, "the Henan can leave at any time. However, this ship is our trump card and cannot be easily revealed to others. I suggest that the Marquis of Tongzhou first take the Flying to Uraga Port in Japan. After completing the mission in Japan , then change to Henan heading eastbound."
"Is there any risk in traveling eastward?" Zhu Cixiang expressed concern for his subordinates, "We cannot let the Marquis of Tongzhou make any mistakes."
"Your Majesty, things at sea are never foolproof." Zheng Jiangong said with a smile, "If Your Majesty is worried, I can take a trip on behalf of the Marquis of Tongzhou."
Zhu Cixiang smiled and waved his hand: "Uncle Xiamen, wait until next time... I also know the place for reconciliation, and I will arrange for Uncle Xiamen to go there next time. But to get there, we must first make a nail in the New World!"
A good place to arrange for Zheng Jiangong is Australia!
The plan to explore Australia is also in progress, but this is not easy. The Americas must be dealt with first - you have to go through the Americas to get to Australia! It sounds incredible, but the reality is so funny.
This route is related to the wind direction and ocean currents at sea. If you want to go from East Asia to the humid areas on the east coast of Australia, the cheapest and shortest route is to take the Japan Warm Current and the Pacific Warm Current to the west coast of North America, then turn south and use the California Cold Current to go south, and then take the North Equatorial Warm Current to the west - of course You cannot go all the way west, otherwise you will end up back near the Philippines. Instead, after going west for a period of time, you must use the northerly, northwesterly, and northeasterly winds to go south into the equatorial countercurrent, and then drift eastward to look for the southward sea breeze that can be used.
Because the equatorial countercurrent is in the equatorial windless zone, it is a little difficult to ride the wind south, but it is not impossible to wait, and even if you can't wait, you can drift back to the Americas. Because the equatorial countercurrent will turn southward near the coast of South America, it can help the ship sail out of the windless area, and then it can use the Peruvian cold current to go west again, and then use the south equatorial warm current to go westward, and it can reach the east coast of Australia... ..
