In November of the 11th year of Chengshun, many warships of the Chu Empire Navy escorted many large armed merchant ships of the Nanyang Trading Company southward.
In addition to them, many merchant ships heading to Southeast Asia also set out with them in order to obtain naval escort, and also to gather together to protect themselves and avoid pirate attacks.
"I Have a Picture Book of Ghosts and Gods"
When the autumn and winter monsoons set off, it was the peak period for a large number of merchant ships from the Chu Empire to travel to Southeast Asia for trade.
Sailing in autumn will not only benefit from the acceleration of the monsoon, making the sailing faster, but you will also not encounter too many storms, making sailing safer.
However, this does not include the ships of the Liuhe Trading Company. In the summer, the two lucky ships of the Liuhe Trading Company had already sailed to Nanyang in the south monsoon several months in advance. Sailing against the monsoon is more difficult and risky. , but the competition is also smaller, and relatively speaking, the profits will be more.
By the time the Nanyang Trading Company's fleet headed for Nanyang, Liu Jiaquan had already led the fleet back to Guangzhou against the wind.
When returning, because they were sailing on a fixed route, Liu Jiaquan was also able to see the navy's escort warships and many large armed merchant ships from the Nanyang Trading Company.
Looking at the huge Shenghe on the sea ahead, which was much larger than the escorting warships next to it, Liu Jiaquan's face was full of envy and jealousy.
This is a real armed merchant ship!
It can carry thousands of tons of cargo at a time, has powerful naval gun firepower, and can carry hundreds of ships across the country. With such an armed merchant ship, it can't go anywhere in the vastness of Southeast Asia.
Not to mention Nanyang, he dared to run even to the Indian Ocean.
However, Liu Jiaquan also smiled when he thought about Luohua Shipyard.
Calculating the time, Luohua Shipyard should have completed the basic shipyard construction, and the 1,000-ton sea-going ship that I ordered should also be in the process of preparing materials.
In another year or so, I should be able to get a large-scale ship of 1,000 tons.
If nothing else happens, his Liuhe Trading Company will be the fourth trading company in the Chu Empire to own a thousand-ton large-scale ship.
The previous Songjiang Naval Shipyard, Guangzhou Shipyard and Lishi Shipyard had basically taken over their thousand-ton large-scale ship production capacity by the three major trading companies. It is unlikely that other trading companies will take advantage of these three shipyards for many years to come. Obtained a thousand-ton large ship in hand.
By taking a stake in Luohua Shipyard, he successfully obtained an order for a thousand-ton large-scale ship, and also obtained priority order rights.
According to the agreement, the first two thousand-ton large-scale ships of Luohua Shipyard will belong to Liu Jiaquan, and the third, fourth or even fifth ship will depend on the situation!
If there is no problem with the funds and nothing goes wrong at the shipyard, and if the maritime trading company continues to be as prosperous as it is today, then Liu Jiaquan will raise funds and use priority rights to continue to order a third ship or even a third ship. The fourth and fifth thousand-ton large-scale ships.
If the situation is not good by then, then Liu Jiaquan will naturally not use the priority, and then there will be requests from his trading company to obtain these thousands-ton large-scale ships.
In any case, except for the three major trading companies, other trading companies have to follow Liu Jiaquan and eat dust.
Although there may only be a time difference of two to three years or even one or two years, for maritime trade with huge goods value and huge profits, these few years are enough to bring huge profits to Liu Jiaquan.
While Liu Jiaquan was enjoying the beautiful scene after his thousand-ton large-scale ship was put into service, Xia Houjun, dressed in a scholar's robe and holding a monocular telescope, stood calmly on the deck on the Shenghe in the same sea area, using a telescope. Observing the surrounding sea.
The surrounding sea is relatively calm, and there are many ships on the surrounding sea, but they are all the ships of the Great Chu Empire.
There are two oncoming blessing ships on the left front. The crew has informed that the two blessing ships are ships of the Liuhe Trading Company, a private trading company with a large number of powerful navigation skills and even combat capabilities.
Xiahoujun also knew a little bit about this company and even the owner of this company, Liu Jiaquan, because when Xiahoujun was serving in the Pearl River Fleet, he was ordered to go to sea many times to encircle and suppress pirates along the coast of Guangdong. One of his goals was this The entire Liu family.
However, Liu Jiaquan was smarter. He went directly to the coast of Vietnam and later registered it as a trading company. Such a big pirate leader suddenly became a maritime trader... It sounds very ridiculous, but in the early years of the Chu Empire It is very common along the coast.
Most of the dozens of trading companies with ocean-going trade licenses in the Dachu Empire are pirates. Of course, they may not think so. They still think that they are maritime merchants who only commit robberies occasionally...
Not to mention private trading companies, even the 18th Trading Company directly under the Ministry of Industry, this company's predecessor was the merchant fleet that was split off from Zheng Zhilong's gang!
On the other hand, Nanyang Trading Company and Dongyang Trading Company are relatively pure. The crews are all from the navy, and many of the ships are retired from the navy.
To a certain extent, these two trading companies are actually the second-line fleet of the navy...
"This Liu Jiaquan is quite courageous. He has been running the anti-monsoon route like this, and he is not afraid of something happening one day." Xia Houjun still admired this Liu Jiaquan.
Those who dare to take risks will never be too old, and those who take risks will never be too old.
Except for the two lucky ships of Liuhe Trading Company ahead, Xiahou Jun found no other foreign ships. The rest around them were all his own ships.
His six merchant ships, three in a group, formed two columns and sailed side by side after being separated by a certain distance.
At the side and behind, there are more than a dozen armed merchant ships from other trading companies. They also followed the instructions of the navy and listed two columns connected end to end.
The navy's many escort warships were scattered in front, back, left and right.
Thousands of meters in front of the Shenghe are two cruisers of the Dachu Empire Navy. The distance between them is very large, several kilometers, and behind them are two Jinling-class battleships sailing in two columns. That is, the Suzhou and the Hantian, with a frigate behind them.
These five warships formed a relatively large search warning area in front, ensuring that other approaching ships could be discovered in advance.
There is a frigate on the left and right of the merchant fleet, and there is also a frigate in the rear, which is also responsible for perimeter security.
The navy's seven warships plus six large armed merchant ships of the Nanyang Trading Company loaded with valuable cargo, plus more than a dozen various lucky ships of other trading companies, brought the entire fleet to more than 20 ships.
A fleet of this size is definitely a giant in the South China Sea. Whether it is the Dutch or the Portuguese, unless they all go out in force, it will be difficult for a few ordinary warships to cause any real impact on this fleet. Sexual threats.
This is also a major feature of the Chu Empire's merchant ships heading to Southeast Asia for trade, that is, they sail together as a group with the navy's escort fleet.
I would rather go slow and toss a bit to ensure safety.
On the contrary, Liu Jiaquan was like this, he was just sailing against the monsoon, and most of the time he sailed alone, which was relatively rare.
People like Liu Jiaquan are generally maritime merchants who are relatively confident in their navigation skills and their combat capabilities. There are still relatively few such merchants.
After all, the Liu family are all professional pirates... and although most maritime merchants have occasionally been pirates in the past, they mostly focused on trading.
The difference between them is quite large.
After Xiahoujun observed the surrounding situation and confirmed that there were no errors in the navigation of the six armed merchant ships under his command, he then looked at the sea conditions and weather, which gave Xiahoujun some peace of mind.
Xiahou Jun is not only the captain of the Shenghe, but also the head of the Nanyang Company's merchant fleet this time. After all, he retired from the navy with the rank of captain. After joining the Nanyang Trading Company, he served as the Deputy Minister of Navigation. Today, years later, he has been promoted to the director of the Navigation Department of Nanyang Trading Company.
Therefore, Xiahou Jun is not only a captain and a fleet leader, he is also one of several senior executives of Nanyang Trading Company.
Otherwise, he would not have been able to carry six top-notch large-scale armed merchant ships across the sea, carrying millions of goods. Ordinary people would not be able to shoulder such a heavy responsibility.
All he had to do was ensure the safety of the voyage, successfully lead the fleet to India for trade, and then return with a batch of various goods purchased from India.
At the same time, we naturally cannot forget to finalize routes along the way, supply ports, and improve the Indian Ocean route.
His work pressure is still quite high. If something unexpected happens on this voyage and he loses all his money, he doesn't know how many domestic businesses will go bankrupt.
Therefore, he was very cautious along the way. Even now, he is still in the relatively safe Nanyang waters and on a fixed route.
When Xiahoujun felt relieved and returned to the cabin to rest, the sailors on the Shenghe were still working!
This is a behemoth with a full load displacement of more than 600 tons, with three mainmasts and a huge and complex sail system.
To keep such a huge ship sailing according to the captain's orders and ensure safety, a large number of sailors are required to constantly adjust the sails every moment.
Adjust the angle of the sail, adjust the number of sails.
When the wind direction changes, the angle of the sail must be adjusted in time to ensure the heading and speed.
When the wind force changes, you should also expand part of the sail or retract the sail to ensure the speed and avoid damage to the sail when the wind force is too strong.
Of course, the weather on the sea is not stormy now, so the sailors' work is relatively easy.
However, this good weather did not last long. The fleet was hit by larger waves on the second day.
The waves are gradually increasing. Looking down from the sky, the sea surface seems to be quite calm. However, this is an illusion caused by the vastness of the sea and the lack of reference objects.
The actual situation is that the waves are already quite large. Waves of waves continue to hit the Shenghe's hull. When the waves are relatively large, the seawater will directly rush onto the deck.
At the same time, the appearance of waves is inevitably accompanied by strong winds.
Raging winds are not a good sign for sailboats. In the face of strong winds, the sails cannot be opened to a large area, otherwise the mast will break and the sails may be torn.
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However, the sails cannot be lowered completely, because then the ship will lose power and cannot maintain its course.
If a ship encounters a storm, the best way is not to drift with the current, but to sail with the wind. In the process, some sails should be retained to obtain power. This power is mainly used to maintain the course, otherwise the ship will be blown away. If the side of the boat affects the waves, it will easily capsize.
Xiahou Jun was already braving the drizzle falling from the sky and constantly observing changes in the surrounding sea conditions.
However, he is not worried at this time. Winds and waves of this level may be dangerous or even fatal for those small offshore ships, but for a big guy like Shenghe, winds and waves of this level are just shaking. A little more will only cause some trouble for the sailors, but there will be no actual danger.
Not to mention the Shenghe, even several other ships of 1,000 tons or even 700 to 800 tons will not pose any actual danger.
However, it is a bit dangerous for some small-tonnage merchant ships from other trading companies following the fleet. Many of the merchant ships in the trading companies are lucky ships carrying two to three hundred tons of cargo.
Because this kind of lucky boat is small, its ability to withstand wind and waves is also worse.
Looking back at the ships that are struggling to sail in the wind and waves, or even looming, you can feel their hardship.
Sure enough, after the wind and waves calmed down, the escorting navy sent a notification that the main mast of a Fu ship was broken in half by the wind and waves, causing serious power loss and serious water intrusion into the hull, requiring repair work on the sea.
This situation is normal for ocean sailing these days. Small-tonnage sailboats only face wind and waves, and their ability to withstand risks is still too poor.
And this also made Xiahoujun firmer in his idea of large-scale merchant ships.
Traveling across the ocean requires you to face complex and changeable maritime weather. If a ship is too small, the risks are too great. The shipwreck, loss of life, loss of cargo, etc. are enough to cause huge losses.
To run ocean routes, you need larger ships. A few hundred tons of cargo is the minimum standard, and it is best to be able to carry thousands of tons of cargo.
Even if this new type of large-tonnage sea-going ship is more expensive, the increase in trade costs is still worth it.
It is better to go out safely and come back safely with profits than to go to sea and sink directly and come back with nothing!
The fleet went all the way south. Although it encountered a storm and had some accidents on the way, it was generally relatively safe and did not encounter any short-sighted pirates.
The fleet successfully arrived at Manila on Luzon Island and conducted trade with the Spaniards who controlled the place.
Then the fleet arrived in the Strait of Malacca. At this time, the entire huge fleet began to separate. Two naval warships escorted two merchant ships from Nanyang Trading Company and many armed merchant ships from other companies to Bada under the control of the Dutch. Via, trading with the Dutch.
The remaining ships headed for Malacca, which was controlled by the Portuguese.
However, at this time, the Portuguese's control over Malacca was extremely weak, and the Dutch were also eyeing Malacca.
For example, after the Portuguese failed in Macau, they contracted the power of Southeast Asia to Malacca and strengthened Malacca's defense power.
At the same time, the Chu Empire did not want to see the Dutch control the trade in Southeast Asia alone, so it seemed to secretly provide certain support to the Portuguese, providing some guns and so on.
Therefore, the Portuguese defense force in Malacca is much stronger than in previous years, but it is also limited.
Nowadays, the Portuguese are in the midst of a war of independence at home and are fighting with Spain. Without local support, the overseas colonies cannot protect themselves.
If it hadn't been for the strong support of the Chu Empire in recent years, they would have been defeated by the Dutch long ago.
But even so, they probably won't be able to support it for a few years.
Because the Chu Empire has also become interested in Malacca in the past two years, especially after its naval strength has increased significantly.
The only suspense is, whose hands will Malacca fall into?
Is it the Netherlands?
Or is it the Chu Empire that has emerged powerfully in the Nanyang Sea?
