Chapter 185: Going to Yuegang
Inspector Wang followed the caravan into Nanping City, but he did not know that the Su Ze he wanted to see had already taken leave and returned to Changning Guard.
After Wang Daokun entered Nanping City, he did not alert the government, but stayed directly in an inn.
He first asked the bookboy to buy the latest issues of "The Surprise", then asked the bookboy to go to the bookstore to find out whether "Young Learning Qionglin" and "Guwen Guanzhi" were in stock, and also asked the bookboy to collect information about famous local young scholars.
Wang Daokun's job was to supervise schools. In addition to presiding over the Fujian Provincial Examination, he also had the responsibility of supervising the academic affairs of a province. He was equivalent to an imperial envoy sent by the imperial court to inspect local cultural and educational work.
At this time, Su Ze had returned to Changning Guard.
County schools have one day off at the end of each month and another day off at the end of the month.
Su Ze didn't have any vacation these days. During his vacation, he was asking Hai Rui for homework, and he also found time to help Hai Rui teach in the middle of the month.
Taking advantage of nothing at the end of mid-term, Su Ze asked Hai Rui for a six-day holiday and returned to Changning Guard.
Hai Rui saw that Su Ze was studying hard and knew that he was an extremely self-disciplined person, so he allowed him to take a vacation.
In the past, Su Ze rode Aunt Ninth's donkey and it took a whole day to return to Changningwei from the county seat.
Later, riding the horse borrowed by Hai Rui also took half a day.
Now riding Yu Zongyuan to deliver a good horse, it only takes less than two hours to return to Changningwei from Nanping County.
This time Su Ze not only came back by himself, but also brought bottled black tea. He returned to Changning Guard this time to go to Yuegang.
Selling black tea, buying more guns and artillery, and collecting Western books were Su Ze's main tasks when he went to Yuegang.
With the restoration of maritime order in Fujian, Lin Mojun's profits from robbing merchant ships by pretending to be King Deer have gradually declined, and the previous opportunities to make a fortune through robbery have become less and less.
But Su Ze also knew very well that they were not real Japanese pirates after all. The current situation in Fujian was actually caused by the consensus of the public and the three parties, not how powerful the deer king's tiger skin was.
No matter how big the deer skin is, can it be as big as Xu Feng and Wang Zhi's tiger skin?
The anti-Japanese war in Zhejiang is not intensifying, instead of being calm like Fujian.
Su Ze's rule of only robbing merchant ships without flying the Yuegang flag maintained the interests of smuggling merchants and even reduced the escort fees for these merchants.
At that time, the commander-in-chief Zhu Wan conquered Shuangyu Bay. With such a huge contribution, Zhu Wan himself was deeply trusted by the emperor. In the end, he was framed and suspended from duty and committed suicide. This shows the power of Fujian smugglers.
The "Deer King" did not intrude on the local area, thus saving the face of Fujian officials and maintaining a state of "nothing goes on the sea frontier".
However, this stable relationship will definitely change with the anti-Japanese situation in Zhejiang.
As long as the anti-Japanese situation in Zhejiang is reversed, officials from various bureaus in Fujian will definitely have new ideas.
Once the Zhejiang Japanese pirates were defeated, some of them would naturally flow into Fujian, which would inevitably destroy the tacit understanding between the "Deer King" and the government and maritime merchants.
So now is the rare honeymoon period, which is also the most suitable period for doing business. This is why Su Ze has to go to Yuegang before the provincial examination.
"I'm going too!"
Lin Mojun said immediately when he heard that Su Ze was going to Yuegang.
Since the engagement, Lin Mojun's attitude towards Su Ze has been the same as usual, and Su Ze quickly adjusted his mentality.
But Lin Mojun strongly requested to go to Yuegang with him, and Su Ze was still a little uncomfortable.
"I'm either going as the Deer King, or I'm pretending to be a merchant ship to go to Yuegang to inquire about the situation."
Lin Mojun said firmly: "I know, I will accompany you."
"You go, what will happen at sea?"
Lin Mojun said Jun curled his lips and said: "I'm not needed at sea anymore. I just need to patrol regularly under the banner of King Lu. Now there are no ships that can be robbed on the sea in Fujian." Su Ze thought for a while, a place like Yuegang where fish and dragons are mixed
. It was indeed unsafe. Lin Mojun was very skilled in martial arts and was obviously a good helper.
In this case, Su Ze also said cheerfully: "Then please trouble Baihu to go with me."
In addition to Lin Mojun, the person who went to Yuegang with Su Ze this time was Lin Deqing, the shopkeeper of the bookstore. .
Since Jianyang's publishing industry was destroyed by Japanese pirates, it has still not recovered.
Although Lin Deqing has a somewhat dull personality, he is not as good at attracting new customers as those shopkeepers who are familiar with people.
However, he has a down-to-earth and steady personality and is very disciplined in his work. Instead, he gained the trust of scholars in Nanping County and often asked him to help find books.
Yuegang is not only a port for foreign trade, but also a hub for Fujian's trade with the north.
When the printing business in Jianyang was prosperous, it only took fifteen days for new books published by Zhili in the north and south to appear in Yuegang.
The huge vacancy in Jianyang's publishing industry made Lin Deqing keen to seize the opportunity.
Books themselves were a huge profit product in the Ming Dynasty, and pirated books were even more huge profits among huge profits.
Lin Deqing planned to go to Yuegang to see if there were any best-selling books from the North and South Zhili, and brought them back to Nanping City for Yao Chun to pirate them and sell them.
Su Ze didn't expect Lin Deqing, an honest man, to be so business-savvy, but he still supported his idea.
In addition to Lin Deqing, Su Ze also brought along the farming expert Lin Qishu.
Although the degradation of potato and sweet potato seedlings has not yet occurred, Su Ze still needs to make preparations in advance.
Hybridization is also a way to prevent seedlings from deteriorating. Su Ze is going to see if there are any plant seeds from South America in the market in Yuegang.
In addition to potatoes and sweet potatoes, peppers and corn from South America are also very good crops. There is also a cash crop that Su Ze really wants to get - tobacco.
Of course Su Ze is not planning to grow tobacco to poison the Chinese people, but it can be exported!
Tobacco is an extremely profitable product, and Fujian's tobacco exports in the Qing Dynasty replaced tea, porcelain and silk and became the most important export product of the Qing Dynasty.
The climate and soil in Penghu are also suitable for growing tobacco. The earliest colonization movement in Penghu also started with the planting of cash crops such as sugar cane and tobacco. Only such high-profit products can attract investment from other landowners and wealthy businessmen. Su Ze alone Or the power of Changning Guards would be difficult to complete a large-scale colonization movement.
In addition, Su Ze also brought the old priest Pierre with him. After looking at the moon with a telescope, old Pierre finally recovered and reaffirmed his belief in God. To be honest, the missionaries who came to the East these days were very adventurous, and the grassroots of the priests were the intellectual class in the West. Su Ze also wanted to use Pierre to lure some more Jesuit missionaries to Ningwei.
As for the method of abducting people, let Pierre "appear and speak out", saying that he "convinced" a knight lord of the Ming Dynasty, converted to Catholicism, and established a Catholic stronghold in the southern coastal knight territory of the Ming Dynasty. These fanatical missionaries Aren't you rushing over with a roar?
In order to ensure safety, Lin Mojun also brought 30 well-trained bird gunners. The group took a merchant ship robbed by Lu Dawang, hung the flag of Yuegang, and headed south to Zhangzhou.
After the last sailing experience, Su Ze finally stopped feeling seasick. He looked at the scenery on the sea with a telescope, but he soon got tired of looking at it.
"If the wind goes smoothly, it will only take two days to reach Yuegang."
Relying on Captain Alfonso's chart, Lin Mojun quickly guessed the voyage.
Yuegang is now Haicheng County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province. Zhangzhou and Nanping are in the south and north of Fujian. If you travel by land, you will definitely not be able to reach it within half a month.
However, sea transportation is so convenient. According to the notes of people in the Ming Dynasty at that time, it only took fifteen days to go from Yuegang to Malacca with a tailwind. The convenience of sea navigation can be imagined.
In the eyes of modern people, taking a boat is not a convenient way to travel. However, in the 16th century, sailing ships were like airplanes, which greatly shortened the distance in the entire world, making places that were previously inaccessible become Each coordinate on the nautical chart.
The peak period of all this was the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets. The British relied on sea power and advanced navigation technology to conquer the entire world and established a vast maritime empire.
After a day and a half of sailing, there were gradually more ships in the surrounding waters.
These ships all fly the flag of Moon Harbor, but they still keep a careful distance from each other. The probability of encountering pirates at sea these days is much higher than the probability of encountering their counterparts.
Relying on the "Deer King" to maintain order, there are no large pirate gangs now, but when Baobuqi sees the dark moon and high winds, merchant ships can also make a guest appearance as pirates. Anyway, the sea is vast, and if you are robbed, you can only blame your own strength. .
Although Su Ze's ship was not big, it was equipped with two Folan cannons and a Hongyi cannon. Originally, Su Ze was looking forward to a sea adventure, but he did not expect that the passing ships would stay far away. They didn't come here to rob without opening their eyes.
Lin Mojun saw Su Ze's dejected look and said, "You seem disappointed that you were not robbed?"
Su Ze shook his head quickly, and Lin Mojun said, "I'll take you to rob next time. The sea area here is not safe." It's suitable for robbery. I'll take you to a better place next time."
"Why isn't it suitable for robbery?" "
It's close to the coast. You won't be able to drive fast after the robbery. There are many reefs nearby. If you get stranded, you'll lose more than you gain."
Professional!
Lin Mojun turned his head when Su Ze saw him and said angrily, "You didn't lead me astray. Now as soon as I go to sea, I spend all my time thinking about where to rob and how to gain the upper hand. It's all your fault!" The two of them were quarreling
. At that moment, the lookout shouted: "We see the port!"
Su Ze took out his binoculars and saw the fort built on the mountain in the distance. This was the defensive fort built by Yuegang at a huge expense.
The people on the boat naturally cheered, and Lin Mojun had no time to argue with Su Ze. He directly took over the rudder and prepared to drive the ship into the port.
Seeing the ships on the sea, Su Ze was also amazed. Yuegang is indeed the largest port in the East. The long queue of ships waiting to enter the port is really spectacular.
Seeing the fast-moving fleet, Su Ze finally understood why Yuegang disappeared from the long river of history after a brief period of glory.
Yuegang is not a good seaport. It is a port where the river and the sea meet. The entrance channel is very narrow, the port throughput is not large, and there is a reef area that is easy to be stranded.
It can be said that this port was a smuggling port from the beginning. The reason for its rise is that it is backed by the hinterland of Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Xiamen. Its location is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It can be said that the rise of Yuegang depends on the forbidden sea.
Due to the sea ban, better ports such as Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Xiamen cannot dock. For safety reasons, they can only dock at Yuegang.
After the Longqing switch, foreign trade channels were restored, and merchant ships were naturally more willing to stop at large ports with better navigation.
However, according to normal historical development, Yuegang will still be prosperous for nearly ten years. After the Japanese pirates were basically pacified in the 37th year of Jiajing, it ushered in its most prosperous period.
After understanding this, Su Ze's expectations for Yuegang have been reduced a lot. After all, Yuegang is just a small fishing port. In terms of port conditions, it is similar to Quanzhou in the Tang and Song Dynasties, where "ships are connected and boundless." There is no comparison with the natural port.
The hardware strength of Yuegang is indeed not good, but the software is still good.
When it was about to enter the port, a small boat came over to guide Su Ze's ship into the port. Under the guidance of the pilot boat, the ship entered the moon port in an orderly manner.
Father Pierre has also been to many major ports in the world. He still praised Yuegang: "Yegang is the most orderly port in the world. I really can't understand why the Ming Dynasty is so reluctant to open its port."
Su Ze also couldn't figure out why the Ming Dynasty banned the sea. As he gradually approached Yuegang Pier, the charm of this city began to appear.
There are a large number of shirtless dock workers on the port. As long as they are paid, they can move any cargo off the ship, even things like artillery.
There is a row of buildings along the coast, and the Moon Harbor Chamber of Commerce is among them. The Chamber of Commerce with the Moon Harbor flag flying is the tallest building in the row.
In addition, Su Ze also saw cross signs, crescent signs, and various flags that Su Ze couldn't name.
"Yuegang actually allows you to set up a church?"
Father Pierre said: "Of course not, that is their Portuguese business house, and they hung the flag themselves."
Su Ze nodded. Regarding foreign religions, all orthodox The Chinese Empire had a very harsh attitude. During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, the number of Manichaean believers in Quanzhou Port increased significantly. Li Longji declared a ban on religion and expelled all Manichaean believers in Quanzhou Port.
These Westerners can do business well, but if they are really allowed to preach, the government will not turn a blind eye.
"What about them?"
Pierre gritted his teeth and said, "That's the Ottoman business building."
"Can the Ottomans come to Ming Dynasty?"
"They are all damn Spaniards. Manila allows Ottoman ships to dock. Their ships Only in this way can we reach Moon Harbor."
Su Ze quickly understood that the Portuguese wanted to monopolize the routes to the East, and in Southeast Asia and East Asia, the Spanish and Ottomans who wanted to break this blockade were allies.
But you, Pierre, are a Catholic and a filial Frenchman, so what qualifications do you have to accuse the Spanish?
The merchant ship arrived at the port. Since there was a merchant house, there was no need to look for Xiyi all over the street. Su Ze paid someone to carry the black tea and headed towards the merchant house.
(End of chapter)