The bow of the battleship "Yingchuang King" plowed a white wave, and its track was straight to the west. The sailors on the deck were conducting artillery drills on the gun positions on both sides. Following the instructions given by the Dutch instructors, the sailors from Sichuan and Yunnan were nervously carrying out simulated loading and firing.
Li Jicheng and Song Yaowen stood on the stern deck of this large galley warship with a load capacity of 280 tons, observing the training of the sailors with interest. Beside the mainmast amidships, there were also sailors training under the guidance of a Dutch instructor. Under guidance, you can either climb up or down the mast, or pull the rope hard to try to furl or lower the sail.
However, the west wind was blowing in the Bay of Bengal at this time, so the "Yingchuang King" sailing westward did not rely on sails to provide power, but sailed on oars. There is also an oar deck below the upper deck of the "Yingchuang King". Eighty oarsmen from Arakan and Chittagong are working hard to shake the heavy long oars to drive the Dashun Navy's flagship to break through the waves and move westward.
The sea surface of the Bay of Bengal in front of us is filled with swells and howling sea winds. A huge fleet of fifty-five Western-style galleys was heading towards the coast of Orissa Province in the Timurid Empire of India, 1,000 miles southwest of Chittagong, against the sudden westerly wind blowing from the sea.
Among these fifty-five warships, there are five warships the same size as the "Yingchuang King". In addition to the "Yingchuang King", they are the "Yingtaizi", "Yingtaisun", and "Yingchuangwang". "Welcome the King of Qin" and "Welcome the King of Han".
These five ships were all built in the Portuguese shipyard that was "acquired" by the Dutch on Boki Island outside Mrauk U. They can be regarded as the "top equipment" for galleys. The ship has a strong hull, a large load capacity, a large sail area, and a large number of oars, which can provide a faster speed, and the firepower is also very powerful. There are a total of 28 gun positions on the upper deck, and up to 24 6-guns can be placed. Jin bronze cannon or cast iron cannon.
These five "ying"-class warships undoubtedly entrusted the naval dream of Li Jicheng, the grandson of the Dashun Emperor. Therefore, except for the oarsman who is an Arakan, the sailors on the ship are all serious Dashun soldiers, and Dutch instructors were also invited to train and serve as advisors (actually responsible for command).
The remaining fifty galleys that followed these five "Ying"-class ships to sea were larger and newer warships selected from the original Arakan navy. The sailors on board were all Arakan people. However, officers and guards from Dashun were also sent to supervise.
Now riding on these fifty-five galleys, in addition to sailors and Dutch instructors, there are also 5,000 elite Long March soldiers!
The targets that these Long March soldiers will attack are corrupt officials and landowners in Orissa Province, which is ruled by the Timur Empire in eastern India!
Dashunjun! In the end, we are more sympathetic to the working people. Even if we become imperialists, we will still be progressive imperialists who want to fight local tyrants and divide their land.
Therefore, this trip to India will also carry the slogan "Welcome King Chuang, refuse to pay for food, and divide the fields". Oh, there is also a slogan, which is "Abolition of Caste"!
The person who proposed "abolition of caste" was Song Yaowen, who was sent by Li Jicheng to inspect India. He originally wanted to see Aurangzeb, but Aurangzeb was in Samarkand, so he could only meet with the terminally ill Governor Mir Zum in Bengal. Meet up. Mir Jumla was dying of illness, so he had no time to argue with Song Yaowen, and readily agreed to the Dashun Empire's request to annex Chittagong.
After the diplomatic mission ended, Song Yaowen made a request to visit and worship Buddha in the Timur Empire in India. Mir Jumla gave him a pass and sent several Hindu officials to accompany him everywhere.
After some investigation, Song Yaowen found that the working people here in Tianzhu suffered much more than the working people in Ming Dynasty!
The biggest injustice faced by the working people of Ming Dynasty now is one - inequality between rich and poor!
Moreover, the inequality between rich and poor in the Ming Dynasty is not completely unsolvable. The poor still have many ways out...if they are willing to endure hardship and are not particularly afraid of death.
As for the problem of being born unequal, if it does not include wealth inequality, then it was nothing at all in the world of the 17th century. It is said that Dashun, which was the cause of the peasant uprising, cannot compare with the Ming Dynasty in this regard - there are now as many as 600,000 households in Dashun, which is more than ten times more than the nobles of the Ming Dynasty!
Moreover, most of the nobles of the Ming Dynasty were concentrated in Yingtian Mansion, and they could not do too many bad things under the supervision of Emperor Zhu. The greatest privilege they enjoyed was that they could receive high standards and high levels of education.
However, the common people of the Ming Dynasty did not have the opportunity to receive high-level education. The best aristocratic school in Yingtian Mansion also admitted civilian students, but the number of places was limited and the competition was fierce. However, there are now many new private schools in the Ming Dynasty, some of which are of high standard, so civilians with certain financial resources and intelligence have many opportunities to receive new education.
But it is much more difficult for the farmers, workers, merchants and people in Dashun to become "shi" (fu soldiers)!
Of course, difficulties are difficult, but it is not impossible, otherwise there would not be so many Fubing households in Dashun.
However, the problem of wealth inequality in Dashun is not serious. Everyone is poor! The farmers became poor after paying rent, and the government soldiers became poor after fighting the war...
The working people here in Tianzhu suffered all the hardships of the people in the Ming and Dashun dynasties, and they suffered twice as much!
Not only are they poor, but they are also cheap, and their children and grandchildren will not be able to stand up for themselves!
There is some kind of caste system in Tianzhu. People have a certain kind of seed. If the seed is not good, their descendants will all be untouchables! Princes, generals, Xiang Ning, etc. are not allowed to have any kind of inheritance there.
If you want to turn over, you can only cultivate the afterlife... But who knows about the afterlife? This is too bullying!
The descendants of the untouchables cannot stand up, and of course they are poor. The Fubing landlords in Dashun were charging 30% of the rent, which made Emperor Li Guo talk about rent reductions and rent restrictions every day. On the other hand, the government of the Timurid Empire in Tianzhu directly collects one-third of the tax, and the landlords who have "planted" good crops have to collect at least another one-third of the rent. There are also some magicians and corrupt officials who will also collect it. Want money!
I wonder if 10% of them will end up in the hands of untouchables? I really don’t know how these untouchables survive on such little food?
"Grandson, there are many untouchables in Tianzhu Orissa Province where we are going this time, and they are extremely poor. They all have no food to eat, no clothes to cover their bodies, and they will not be able to live anymore! If we don't go, we probably won't be able to survive. Soon, it will be time for them to revolt themselves!”
Song Yaowen saw that the training of the sailors on the deck had come to an end, so he talked to Li Jicheng about launching a rebellion among the untouchables in Orissa Province.
Li Jicheng nodded and said nothing.
Song Yaowen continued: "I also selected hundreds of Ban people who are proficient in the Indian language in Chittagong and taught them Chinese. When we arrive in Orissa Province, we will let them mobilize the untouchables of India to welcome King Chuang."
"Okay, well done!"
Li Jicheng had little interest in mobilizing the untouchables of Tianzhu to welcome King Chuang, because he just wanted to grab a handful and run away, and had no intention of becoming a bandit in Tianzhu. It didn't matter to him whether the untouchables wanted to welcome King Chuang.
However, he still expressed his approval for Song Yaowen's efforts, because "Ying Chuang King" is Dashun's political correctness!
Li Jicheng also boasted the same in the memorial to Li Guo - he didn't dare to say that he asked Tianzhu to be a robber. He didn't care about it, but his grandfather was very taboo and wouldn't let anyone say it. If Li Jicheng dares to talk about being a robber, I'm afraid his grandson's position will be lost immediately...
Therefore, Li Jicheng's memorial is full of the misery of the untouchables in Tianzhu, looking at the Dashun Dynasty in the distance like a baby looking for its parents, waiting for King Chuang to rescue them.
Li Jicheng was silent for a while and then said: "Yaowen, are there many corrupt officials in Tianzhu in Orissa Province? Who are they? How did they become officials? Have you asked about them? Do they have any influence in the local area? ?”
Song Yaowen smiled and said: "I have inquired about it. Most of the corrupt officials in Orissa Province are warriors from a place called Rajput Province in the northwest of India. They are all outsiders and have no influence."
