Just as the Fifth Division and a large amount of supplies were being transported domestically to the Beijia area, Xu Donglai, who had been in Nanyang for more than half a year, also ushered in a new stage of his life!
The first rubber plantation he invested in and built in the Kingdom of Siam has been successfully opened, and rubber saplings purchased at considerable cost have been planted.
Xu Donglai originally wanted to go to the Beijia area to set up a plantation, but later found out that this idea was unreliable because opening a plantation required a lot of manpower, and it was difficult to get enough manpower in Beijia.
Because there are very few immigrants from the mainland, and the immigrants have their own land, they will not work for you to grow bananas!
As for the indigenous people... In the actual control area of the Dachu Empire, for the sake of safety and to avoid subsequent trouble, the indigenous people are not allowed to enter.
If you go to a place where there are a large number of indigenous people in the actual control area to open a plantation, then the risk is too great.
The Chu Empire's continuous suppression and expulsion operations in these areas aroused strong resistance and hostility from the local indigenous people.
If Xu Donglai dares to run out of the actual control area and go to open plantations in places where there are still a large number of indigenous people, it is unknown whether he can come back alive.
Moreover, the empire's expulsion and suppression operations in the Beijia area are still continuing, and the scope of the actual control area continues to expand. Sooner or later, this will cover the area where the plantation is located. By then, what will happen to the indigenous people employed in the plantation?
From the perspective of Xudong, the poor place in Beijia is only suitable for ordinary immigrants to farm in the actual control area. It is quite unfriendly to businessmen like them who want to open plantations there...
In desperation, he could only divert to Bangkok, and then wanted to open a rubber plantation in the Kingdom of Siam, where the situation was relatively stable and after all, it had reached various commercial and trade agreements with the Chu Empire.
By opening plantations in the Kingdom of Siam, local people can be hired to plant rubber, and the manpower problem can be solved.
Don’t worry too much about security issues. The Kingdom of Siam was even scared by the Chu Empire. Now many Siam officials are afraid of the Chu people when they see them...
When Xu Dinglai was running around to open up a rubber plantation, the local Siamese officials took the initiative to send troops to protect him, fearing that Xu Donglai would cause some problems on their land and cause some diplomatic turmoil...
If something really happened, he would be dismissed from his position in a matter of minutes.
With the strong cooperation of local indigenous officials, there will be no problems with safety, and the wages of these indigenous workers are cheaper.
In this way, Xu Donglai placed the rubber plantation in the Kingdom of Siam.
Although these rubber saplings still need several years to grow before they can be harvested, Xu Donglai is full of confidence because he has reached a cooperation agreement with the Panyu Rubber Factory, the only rubber processing factory in the country.
As the only rubber processing factory at present, Panyu Rubber Factory wants to get more sources of rubber and wants to go crazy...
Over the years, they have purchased rubber from the Spaniards. After the Spaniards discovered that this stuff could still be sold for money, they began to arrange for indigenous people to harvest rubber and plant it on a large scale in South America.
There is only one source of rubber supply, and it is difficult to ensure the safety of the raw materials. More importantly, the Spanish sell it too expensively!
There is nothing the Panyu Rubber Factory can do about it. After all, this stuff can only be produced on a large scale in areas controlled by the Spanish. The price is whatever they say.
In order to solve the problem of rubber supply, the Panyu Rubber Factory had previously allowed the government to invest in the construction of several rubber plantations through superior coordination. However, the scale was still relatively small, and most areas in the country were not suitable for rubber growth.
Now, after they discovered that some people from the private sector came to Siam to invest in the construction of rubber plantations, they came directly to them for support and cooperation.
They even signed a purchase contract in advance, freeing Xu Dinglai from worries and allowing him to increase investment in rubber planting.
This rubber has been planted. As long as it is maintained well, it will be harvested in a few years and bring a lot of money to Xu Donglai.
However, Xu Donglai did not plan to idle for several years. Instead, he used the remaining funds to open a small trading company.
The main purpose is to purchase goods from domestic maritime trade from Bangkok, and then transport them to the inland areas of the Kingdom of Siam for sale.
To put it bluntly, he is just a second-rate dealer!
This kind of small business of second-rate dealers is generally looked down upon by large traders in China. They just ship the goods directly over by ship, then wholesale them in Bangkok and sell them to local indigenous merchants, or they come here like Xu Donglai. A businessman who makes a fortune.
They make a lot of money!
As for Xu Donglai, he actually earned hard-earned money!
But because he is a businessman from China, he can show his face when purchasing goods. Even if the price is not favorable, he can still get more in-demand goods than those indigenous businessmen.
For those large trading companies, these in-demand commodities can be sold to anyone. As long as the price is high, selling more to colleagues like Xu Donglai is just a piece of cake.
With the supply of these in-demand commodities, it only took Xu Donglai a few months to initially open up the market. He also attracted several local indigenous families in the inland areas to cooperate and further expand the market.
The scale of this business is actually not that big. It cannot be compared with those trading companies that own merchant ships, and the value of their goods can easily reach hundreds of thousands when they go out to sea for trade.
But he, Xu Donglai, is not a big businessman. He is very satisfied if he can earn some money that is just hard money in the eyes of those big trading companies.
In Siam, he was busy with rubber plantations and trade. When he settled the accounts on the 15th day of the 15th year of Chengshun, he found that the money he brought from the country was not less, but more...
You know, he successively invested in rubber plantations during this period, but he spent a lot of money. Basically, most of the money he brought from home was spent on rubber plantations.
However, through the trading company, he made the money back.
And it only took more than half a year.
Looking at the ledger, Xu Donglai couldn't help but sigh: Nanyang is indeed full of gold!
However, there are actually many people who like Xu Donglai went to Nanyang to take risks and try to make a fortune. In fact, there are not many people who can be as successful as Xu Donglai.
Many people either lost all their money or never came back. Who knows where they died? There were even some brave but weak people who tried to do business on islands with cannibals. As a result, Became the excrement of those cannibals...
Nanyang in this era is certainly full of opportunities for wealth, but it is also brewing with countless dangers.
Even in the Beijia region of the Great Chu Empire, apart from the safety of areas that have undergone large-scale expulsion and suppression, those areas that have not yet undergone comprehensive expulsion and suppression are not considered safe.
If someone rushes out of the safe zone and wants to experience some exotic customs, the end will probably not be good...
As an invader, you must have the consciousness of an invader. If you foolishly go to someone else's territory, you are not asking for death!
Could it be that you still expect them to entertain you, the invader, with fine wine?
It's broad daylight, what are you dreaming about?
When friends come, there is wine, and when there are wolves, there are great powers. To the original indigenous people, the Dachu people were definitely not friends, but jackals that robbed their homes.
Many people who come to Nanyang to make a fortune actually do not have this awareness. Some people from Chu who come to Nanyang often have the illusion of being superior to others, and then go to the indigenous territory, thinking that the indigenous people respect him as a highly civilized person. …
Then most of these people died violent deaths!
There are relatively few people as conscious as Xu Donglai. Although he is also active in the indigenous territory, he is only limited to the safe zone of the Kingdom of Siam.
The Kingdom of Siam has been frightened by the Chu Empire. At the same time, although the Kingdom of Siam was defeated, they did not collapse internally. Instead, they still maintained efficient local governance and were able to ensure basic local security.
In order to avoid causing any diplomatic troubles, the local officials of the Kingdom of Siam were relatively cautious towards the Dachu people and tried not to let the Dachu people cause problems on their own territory.
In any case, more and more Chu people are coming to Nanyang to seek opportunities to make a fortune, and many of these people quickly sense the danger... and there are still opportunities!
Xu Donglai in Bangkok is one of them. He found that during this period at the beginning of the year, there were a lot fewer merchant ships coming to Bangkok from China. When he inquired, he found that many domestic merchant ships had been drafted by the military at the beginning of this year.
In addition, Xu Donglai also discovered that the government purchased large quantities of grain in the Bangkok area and then shipped it away.
Although the market said that this was to increase the grain trade between the empire and Siam, so the purchase volume was increased, Xu Donglai also had his own personal connections.
He heard from a friend who worked in the Nanyang Trading Company that these merchant ships loaded with grain were not transported directly back to the country, but were transported to Beinian Port in the Beijia area.
At the same time, he also heard that the Nanyang Trading Company had suspended trade to the Indian Peninsula this year.
Since the opening of the Indian trade, the Nanyang Trading Company has basically organized several fleets to go to the Indian Peninsula for trade every year. However, this year, the Nanyang Trading Company's fleet has been delayed in setting off.
These unusual places made Xu Donglai doubt whether there had been any changes in the situation in Nanyang.
However, Xu Donglai was just suspicious. After all, he was only a small businessman, and his net worth and social status were not enough for him to know the movements of high-level officials.
Unlike Xu Donglai and other small businessmen who were still suspicious but couldn't figure out what happened, Liu Jiaquan, a large trader, had learned the relevant news early.
At the end of last year, Liu Jiaquan had received a notice from the Navy, asking Liu Jiaquan to prepare the merchant ships under his Liuhe Trading Company in advance to accept the navy's call.
The recruitment date starts in February of the 15th year of Chengshun and is expected to last for about half a year.
In accordance with the navy's recruitment order, Liu Jiaquan had to prepare two Fu ships under his command and a new-type sea-going ship that had just been commissioned.
In addition, Luohua Shipyard, in which Liu Jiaquan has a stake, has also received orders from the Navy to speed up the construction progress of several new seagoing ships under construction to ensure that they will be completed and delivered in the spring of the 15th year of Chengshun.
Although the military did not disclose why it wanted to recruit ships on a large scale, you can tell with your toes that the military is definitely going to make a big move, and there is a high probability that it will launch a large-scale sea crossing and landing operation.
Otherwise, there is no need for the military to recruit so many ships from major trading companies.
After all, for ordinary maritime operations, the military's own warships are enough. There is no need for the armed merchant ships in trading companies. Even for small-scale landing operations and transportation tasks, the navy also has its own transport fleet.
Nowadays, a large number of armed merchant ships from major trading companies need to be recruited, which means that the scale of future operations will be huge.
At least it is a large-scale operation to transport tens of thousands of combat troops and corresponding logistics supplies, so it is necessary to recruit dozens of armed merchant ships at every turn.
Liu Jiaquan is actually somewhat resistant to this kind of recruitment by the military... After all, although the military recruitment will provide compensation, it only gives basic compensation, that is, crew wages and basic ship requisition costs, but the amount is not large. , it can only guarantee the daily maintenance costs of the drafted ships.
But for trading companies, trade is where the benefits lie. If there is no trade on this day, there will be losses.
However, there is nothing that can be done about it. The recruitment laws of the Da Chu Empire are very strict, especially the recruitment regulations for armed merchant ships. Anyone who dares to disobey will basically be imprisoned and beheaded.
The Dachu Empire allowed private individuals to form ocean-going trading companies, and issued special licenses to allow trading companies to own armed merchant ships. In addition to allowing the trading companies to protect themselves, the purpose was to be able to recruit large numbers of these armed merchant ships during wars.
Whatever happens, there will be losses. Since the authorities have liberalized trade and relaxed restrictions on armed merchant ships, these trading companies will naturally need to bear additional responsibilities.
And accepting the military call-up when necessary is the most important responsibility.
During the Battle of Siam, the Chu Empire also recruited merchant ships from various trading companies on a large scale. Now that it is about to invade the Malay Peninsula, it will naturally recruit again.
Therefore, although Liu Jiaquan had some objections to the military's recruitment, he did not dare to disobey. Instead, he planned in advance, prepared all three armed merchant ships under his command, and officially accepted the military's recruitment in the spring of next year. , became part of a huge fleet transporting the Fifth Division and a large amount of logistics supplies.
In addition to Liu Jiaquan's Liuhe Trading Company, other trading companies were recruited, mainly trading companies directly under the three major state-owned enterprises.
These three government-run trading companies alone provided a total of forty-seventy armed merchant ships, and these armed merchant ships were all medium and large ships, and most of them were new-type seagoing ships.
Other private trading companies are much weaker and have basically only recruited one or two ships. The number of Liuhe Trading Company that has been recruited by three ships is relatively small.
These conscripted armed merchant ships were loaded with supplies or soldiers from various domestic ports and set sail southward. After gathering at the Hong Kong Naval Base, they were escorted south by a fleet of navy warships.
At this time, the fleet heading south was extremely large, with a total of more than one hundred ships.
Before this huge transport fleet, a main navy fleet had left the Hong Kong Naval Base and entered the depths of the sea several days in advance.
This naval main fleet not only has the main force of the Southern Fleet of the Great Chu Empire Navy, but also temporarily mobilized a large number of capital ships from the Northern Fleet of the Great Chu Empire Navy.
In order to coordinate and integrate this huge combat fleet, Luo Zhixue personally gave the fleet the temporary designation of the First Fleet of the Dachu Empire Navy.
The First Fleet consists of two first-class battleships, twelve third-class battleships, eighteen cruisers, thirty-eight frigates, armed transport ships, maintenance ships, hospital ships, and fast communication ships, totaling more than ten ships.
This can be said to be a collection of most of the best battleships of the Chu Empire's navy. All ships are new-type battleships with excellent combat effectiveness.
You must know that in the current Da Chu Empire, there are actually only two first-class battleships completed and in service, and now both of them have been dispatched.
There are more third-class battleships, but only eighteen have been completed and put into service. Four of them were completed and put into service in time because the war was about to break out in the past few months. The empire had the shipyards work overtime.
Strictly speaking, these four newly commissioned battleships are still undergoing seaworthiness training and do not have full combat effectiveness.
In other words... there are currently only fourteen third-class battleships with full combat effectiveness in the Dachu Empire's navy.
The Navy sent out twelve ships at once, leaving only two Jinling-class improved battleships with four new recruits to look after them!
In terms of cruisers, although the total number sent out was not large, the actual eighteen cruisers sent out were all the main cruisers of the Dachu Empire.
Among them are four of the latest Liaoyang-class first-class cruisers, which are improved versions of the Songjiang-class first-class cruisers. After six Songjiang-class first-class cruisers were built, the Navy felt that the firepower was too weak. After all, its main gun caliber was only the same. One hundred and thirty millimeters, its penetration capability is limited, and its lethality against battleships is seriously insufficient.
In addition, the ocean seaworthiness is not very good, and long-term deployment in the ocean is very unfriendly to sailors.
Therefore, the Songjiang-class first-class cruiser was upgraded, mainly by replacing the main gun from 130 mm (18 pounds) to 150 mm (24 pounds). In order to control the weight, this kind of gun was specially designed. The cruiser developed a naval gun with a slightly shorter barrel. Of course, even if the barrel is slightly shorter, it still belongs to the ranks of cannons.
Although the increased weight is relatively large, resulting in a smaller number of main guns, it also gains the ability to damage battleships.
Secondly, it increases ocean seaworthiness, increases material reserves, and the living space of sailors.
All these have led to an increase in tonnage, so that the standard displacement of the improved Liaoyang and first-class cruisers has increased to more than 1,100 tons, which is 300 tons more than the original 800 tons, and the price has also increased significantly. few.
But these costs are in exchange for a huge performance improvement. Its firepower can be used to bully various cruisers without any problem, and it can also fight against some small battleships with fifty or sixty guns in many European colonial countries.
It also has excellent ocean seaworthiness and is very suitable for ocean deployment and long-term overseas cruising. It is also fast!
This thing has no disadvantages except that it is expensive!
In addition, there are eight latest Wuzhou-class second-class cruisers. This kind of cruiser is actually a reduced-cost version under the new cruiser concept. Because the Liaoyang-class first-class cruiser is too expensive, the Navy feels that it is better to build too many of these things. Build multi-stage 74-gun third-rate battleships...
However, the number of cruisers is indispensable. For this reason, the Navy designed and built a low-cost version of the Liaoyang-class first-class cruiser, namely the Wuzhou-class second-class cruiser.
The displacement is controlled at more than 800 tons, and it is equipped with a 130mm (18-pound) main gun, supplemented by some 115mm naval guns (12-pound), which also improves ocean seaworthiness.
These two cruisers are currently being built and put into service by the Dachu Empire Navy. There are expected to be a lot of orders. Of course, whether these expected orders can be completed depends on the follow-up situation. After all, the original navy also did not have much regard for the Songjiang-class first-class cruisers. Very satisfied. It was expected that there would be an order for more than ten ships, but in the end only six ships were built.
In addition to the two new cruisers, there are also several old Matsue-class first-class cruisers that have been modified for seaworthiness.
In the frigate fleet, there has not been much change. It is still the Daye-class frigate. The Dachu Empire has a special liking for this kind of frigate. For more than ten years, it has not designed and tried to build a new generation of frigates, but in the end they gave up. , continue to defeat the enemy's Tianzao Daye-class frigates.
Why?
In just two words, this boat is cheap!
As the saying goes, it’s three years of mending, three years and three years…
This ship has actually been improved three times, but the main artillery of this ship has always been the 115mm naval gun that has remained unchanged for thousands of years.
In the early years, there were still a small number of 130mm naval guns. Later, in order to save costs, the Navy simply canceled the useless 130mm caliber and replaced it with 115mm naval guns.
Anyway, the 130mm naval gun is not needed. It is better to replace it with a uniform 115mm naval gun, which can also unify the caliber, simplify logistics and training, and reduce maintenance costs.
The reason for this is purely because the navy's requirements for frigates have always been very low. The biggest role of this thing in the Da Chu Empire Navy is to maintain the establishment and training...
Then there is escorting, fighting pirates, and bullying the natives who have little sea power!
When fighting with the enemy's regular navy, the combat targets are also some of the opponent's small-tonnage cruisers. At this time, the Daye-class frigates actually have quite an advantage. Compared with the same level, the Daye-class firepower is pretty good.
The recently built Daye-class frigates have a standard main gun of twenty-four 115 mm naval guns, which is quite a lot for a frigate doing chores.
At least it's not a problem to use against enemy ships of the same level. It's also good to use against ordinary pirates. After all, pirate ships generally have fewer guns, and the caliber is generally smaller.
In fact, many pirate ships are converted merchant ships, with only a few or a dozen cannons, and the attached artillery is mostly light artillery, with six-pound cannons being the main ones, and 12-pound cannons being rare. As for the 18-pound cannons, Phoenix feather water chestnut...
Except for the pirates who came as guests on the large armed merchant ships of the large colonial companies... The Nanyang Trading Company's latest flagship, the Shunhe armed merchant ship, was loaded with more than 2,000 tons... It usually carried more than 40 artillery pieces for self-defense, and the caliber of the main gun was Reaching 150 mm, the Liaoyang-class first-class cruiser of the Great Chu Empire would be too choked against it...
But ordinary pirate ships do not have such powerful firepower. Most pirate ships have to run away when encountering Daye-class frigates.
Even a small number of so-called relatively powerful pirate ships would be beaten to death if they encountered inferior second-class cruisers such as the Xiangyang-class cruiser!
Unfortunately, there are not many pure pirates these days. Many of them are armed merchant ships from trading companies...or simply naval battleships...
For example, when the new armed merchant ships of Nanyang Trading Company go to the Indian Ocean for trade, they often rely on their fast speed and firepower to do such things!
Alas, people's hearts are not as old as they used to be, and the world is getting worse!
