In Manila, Luzon, Zheng Zhibao and Zheng Chenggong walked side by side, heading to the Palace of the Prince of Zhou, which was the original Spanish Governor's Palace in Luzon.
Along the way, Zheng Zhibao looked at the Western-style buildings. The streets and alleys were now full of signboards with Chinese characters, Ming Dynasty Mandarin with Fujian accent, and shouts one after another. It always felt a bit unrealistic.
Especially the port is full of ships from the Ming Dynasty, and there are huge crowds of people. If it weren't for the many natives unloading goods, I would have thought this was a port in the Ming Dynasty!
Although in the past, his men said that they would conquer Luzon Island and conquer the indigenous people here, etc., this was actually a joke.
Zheng Zhibao knew very well that if his Zheng family really wanted to conquer this place, it would not be impossible, but it would probably cost a lot.
If Luzon was really that easy to defeat, the Dutch, who were showing off their power everywhere, would have defeated Luzon long ago.
Although the Zheng family is not very fond of Luzon, the Dutch have been coveting it for a long time, but they have nothing to do with the Spanish on the island.
I really didn’t expect that in just over a year, earth-shaking changes have already taken place here.
His nephew told him that since he left, the Dutchmen of the high rank also attacked the Zheng family fleet. No, that's not what my nephew said. He said that he attacked the Ming Dynasty's navy.
Later, the emperor successfully renamed his nephew, brought his fourth brother back from the north, and equipped him with new warships and artillery. He killed the majority of the Dutch like a swamp, and then wiped out Luzon in the blink of an eye. The Spaniards avenged the Spaniards who massacred the Ming people several times. Luzon was also regarded as a vassal state of the King of Zhou and a permanent place of the Ming Dynasty...
Zheng Zhibao was really filled with emotion when he thought about all this.
He didn't expect that in just over a year, the Ming Navy... no, the Ming Navy was really a sailing warship that was not afraid of the Westerners. It could roam the sea without relying on arson ships.
Once the power of the imperial court breaks out, it is so powerful! No wonder my nephew has always emphasized that it is the Ming Dynasty navy, not the Zheng family fleet!
Thinking about such things, Zheng Zhibao couldn't help but asked Zheng Chenggong: "What about the new warship? Why didn't I see it?"
As a pirate, he naturally cares about warships.
"It's inside the military port. It's guarded and can't be seen from the outside!" Zheng Chenggong heard this and replied with a smile.
"Why? Keep it secret?" After hearing this, Zheng Zhibao was a little confused and asked doubtfully, "We have such a good warship, shouldn't we display it to scare the enemy?"
After hearing this, Zheng Chenggong stopped smiling, his expression became more serious, and he said in a low voice: "This new warship actually has many shortcomings. If the enemy knows about it and conducts targeted operations, we will not win so easily!"
Zheng Zhibao was stunned for a moment, then came back to his senses and asked curiously: "What's the shortcoming?"
It's okay to know his identity.
But despite this, Zheng Chenggong did not answer immediately. Instead, he thought carefully for a while and then said to Zheng Zhibao: "The paddle wheel is protected by armor, but if the enemy knows that it contains the power of the warship, If the artillery hits, the warship will be destroyed."
When he said this, he also gestured briefly.
With Zheng Zhibao’s background, it’s easy to understand what’s going on.
But he had another question. When he was about to ask, Zheng Chenggong had already continued: "Moreover, new warships need to burn coal. The coal stored in warships is limited. If the battle lasts for a long time, once the stored coal is used up, , without power, it is worse than an ordinary battleship!"
As a Ming Dynasty person, I have naturally heard of the steam engine. After all, when the steam train appeared in the capital, it caused a sensation throughout the Ming Dynasty.
After Zheng Zhibao asked some more details, he nodded and said: "It seems that there are indeed many shortcomings. But as long as I have many Ming warships and are assisted by other warships, even if the enemy knows the shortcomings of the new warships, There is nothing you can do!"
As expected of a pirate, he has a deep understanding of naval warfare.
After hearing this, Zheng Chenggong also smiled and said: "Xingguo Gong once said that the imperial court is still developing propeller warships, and the power is hidden in the water, which is much more powerful than this paddle-wheel warship! I believe it won't be long before this If you plant a propeller warship, it will definitely come out."
He didn't know that the propeller warship still had many problems to overcome, but the root of the problem lay with Zheng Zhibao.
"What about the new artillery?" Zheng Zhibao asked again after hearing this.
After Zheng Chenggong heard this, he lowered his voice and said: "The new artillery is actually very simple to put it bluntly. It just pulls the rifling into the barrel."
Having said this, he casually asked for a rifled flintlock gun from his personal guard, pointed it out to Zheng Zhibao, and then replied: "But this is probably more difficult to keep secret, but the rifling is not that simple. Our Ming Dynasty completely You can win with volume.”
Zheng Zhibao was a little stunned when he heard this. He couldn't understand why rifling in the barrel could shoot farther and more accurately.
When he was about to ask, he had already arrived at Prince Zhou's Mansion, so he had to keep the question in his heart.
Not long after King Zhou became a vassal, everything depended on Zheng Chenggong, who was stationed here. Therefore, when he heard that he was visiting, he immediately received him in person.
He was smiling, and one look at him showed that he was in a very good mood.
In fact, this is normal. After all, in China, they were like pigs raised in captivity. In addition to having enough food and clothing, they had to apply to the local government to go out, even if they went out of the city to worship their ancestors. It’s okay to be locked up for a day or two, but who would feel comfortable being locked up for a lifetime?
After arriving in Luzon, King Zhou is the boss, who else can control him? He is the one taking care of others, how can he be unhappy?
And there was another thing that also made him very happy.
There was an imperial edict from the emperor before, saying that a group of vassal princes would be organized to come to Luzon for a month, and he was asked to receive him well.
Of course, King Zhou was happy with this, and he had even been looking forward to the arrival of those vassal kings early in the morning. To this end, he thought about a lot of things and started making arrangements early.
As the first person in the vassal, he obviously made the right choice and would definitely be envied by those vassal kings.
At this time, facing Zheng Chenggong and Zheng Zhibao, King Zhou did not dare to neglect and quickly asked what happened?
Zheng Chenggong heard this and did not answer. He just turned to look at his fifth uncle.
Seeing this, Zheng Zhibao said to the King of Zhou: "Your Highness, I went to the Pacific Ocean according to the order, and found many unique things there. But along the way, there was something on a ship that would not be transplanted to the ground. I'm afraid it will die. I'm also thinking that there may be climate reasons, so I plan to plant it in Luzon first."
Upon hearing this, King Zhou was very satisfied. Because it makes him feel like a master. He said without hesitation: "No problem, how about we just allocate the most fertile land?"
"It would be best to send experienced farmers who are familiar with planting and farming to ensure that they can survive!" After hearing this, Zheng Zhibao immediately made another request.
This was his hard work, and he had to kill two ships of his men to get it back. Therefore, he would not be polite to the King of Zhou.
"Yes!" King Zhou agreed immediately after hearing this.
After he finished speaking, he was a little curious, so he asked Zheng Zhibao: "I wonder what they are?"
After hearing this, Zheng Zhibao did not hide anything from him, and immediately replied: "The tree that the imperial court asked to find must be there. There are also some that we have not seen in the Ming Dynasty. The general thought they might be useful, so he took them. Some……"
In fact, after he passed there, he did not use force at all and directly offered rewards for the Ming products he brought. The Western barbarians and natives over there were rushing to exchange their unique things.
For Westerners and natives, the so-called unique things are things they can see everywhere. They are worthless, or even if they are worth some money, they are not as valuable as Ming goods. Only a fool would not do this kind of exchange!
Or if you don’t change it quickly, others will rush to change it first, and then you will regret that you started too late!
As for grabbing Ming Dynasty products, most people really don’t dare to grab three warships! Who would want to go to war when there was easy access to Ming goods?
This is also why Zheng Zhibao was able to return to Daming in such a short period of time.
But at this time, Zheng Zhibao told the things he found one by one. Whether it was the King of Zhou or Zheng Chenggong who was next to him, he had no idea whether there was any treasure in these things!
But if it were Zhang Mingwei, it would definitely be different! After hearing several things, he will be very happy.
King Zhou didn't quite understand what he heard, but after he heard it, he had an idea and said to Zheng Zhibao: "There are many things here in Luzon that I have never seen in China. Otherwise, you will If you take this opportunity to transport it back to China, it might be useful!”
Of course he wanted to please the Zheng family, otherwise, he would not have made this suggestion.
Hearing this, Zheng Zhibao's eyes suddenly lit up, and he nodded immediately and said: "Okay, okay, this is a good idea. I will write more suggestions for you, Your Highness!"
At this time, he really didn't know that it was because of this that Zhang Mingwei was very happy!
Just like this, after resting for half a month in Luzon and watching with his own eyes the old farmers mobilized by King Zhou transplant the things on the boat into the fields, Zheng Zhibao said goodbye to King Zhou and Zheng Chenggong and headed north along Luzon, first arriving at Da Da member, and then return to Fujian.
When he arrived in DaYuan, he planted all kinds of things in DaYuan just in case, and finally returned to Fujian.
The governor of Fujian was overjoyed when he heard the news, and immediately sent a painter to not only draw a portrait, but also record the status of the seeds or finished product in detail, and rushed it to the capital for the last six hundred miles. At the same time, it was naturally planted here in Fujian.
Zhang Mingwei also successfully completed his business and had two pregnant women at home. But at this time, he was accompanying Emperor Chongzhen to attend the ceremony.