In the East China Sea of the Ming Dynasty, hundreds of large and small ships were sailing from north to south. Among these hundreds of ships, there were hundreds of lucky ships and sailing ships. They were huge in size and had bulging sails on their masts.
The entire huge fleet was led by a fleet of more than fifty Dafu ships and sailing ships. The tall masts were hoisted with the dragon flag of the Ming Dynasty and the flag of Tianjin Ocean Trading Company.
More than fifty large ships sailed in a triangle on the water, like a formation of wild geese. The leading ship had the three characters "Taishan" written on its huge hull.
Behind the triangular formation were hundreds of large and small ships. Like the ships of the Tianjin Ocean Trading Company, each of these ships hoisted the dragon flag of the Ming Dynasty and the flag of their respective trading company on their masts.
Sangong Ocean Trading House, Zhang's Trading House, Li's Trading House, Northern United Trading House, Huishang Ocean Trading House... The ships of the large trading houses also followed the ships of Tianjin Ocean Trading House in front of them in an orderly manner, and the same was true.
Triangular formation on the sea route.
Each of these large trading houses is strong, and they own not only a large number of ships, but also many large ships, at least medium-sized ships.
Behind these large trading houses are many small trading houses or individual merchant ships. These small trading houses are often weak.
Not only are the number of ships of a trading house small, but there are also very few large ships. They are generally medium-sized ships. You can even see some small ships following the team.
It's really crazy. In order to make money in Nanyang, even small ships dare to go to Nanyang.
Hundreds of ships, large and small, are sailing together on the sea. The scene is very spectacular. Hundreds of boats are vying for the current, thousands of sails are racing. Between the water and the sky, seagulls are constantly chirping around the fleet, and from time to time they fall on one of the ships.
Resting on the boat.
On board the Taishan, Taiping Hou Du Mingen looked at the sea in all directions with his telescope, as if he was expecting something.
"If we go out in such a big way, they shouldn't dare to rob us, right?"
Beside Du Mingen, Lin Shuhong put down the telescope in his hand and said with a smile.
"I don't know, but I still hope they can show up. It's best if they all come and wipe out these pirates and Japanese pirates. Only then will this route be truly safe. Otherwise, if these pirates and Japanese pirates are on these routes, merchant ships will be in trouble in the future.
Those traveling from north to south will definitely be robbed, and then they will suffer heavy losses."
Du Mingen put down the telescope, smiled and said.
Pirates and Japanese pirates need to be cleaned up.
They pose a major threat to Ming Dynasty's maritime expansion and global colonization, and will seriously affect Ming Dynasty's foreign strategy and hinder the development of capitalism.
What's more important is that behind these pirates and Japanese pirates are actually the large merchants and big families in the Jiangnan area. Fighting against these pirates and Japanese pirates can severely hit these large merchants and big families in the Jiangnan area.
After cleaning up these pirates, everyone can travel north and south freely and safely, and naturally their monopoly will be broken.
If they want to share the benefits from maritime trade again, they must support the Ming Dynasty's opening policy, instead of asking the court to strictly enforce the maritime ban as before.
"If they don't come this time, they will have no chance in the future. When the new army is fully trained, my mentor will definitely form a special navy, and then they can hunt them down across the five great lakes and four oceans."
Lin Shuhong nodded slightly, thought for a while and said: "I guess they will definitely come, and this time they will definitely come in full force. All the pirates and Japanese pirates from the Ming Dynasty will definitely come back."
"I'm just afraid that they won't come. If they come, I'll kill them all this time and return the ocean to a clear sky."
Du Mingen didn't care at all.
This voyage to Nanyang can be said to be the Ming Dynasty's largest voyage to Nanyang since the Sanbao Eunuch. The scale of these hundreds of ships is comparable to that of Zheng He's voyage to the West.
Of course, the purposes between the two are completely different.
Back then, Zheng He's voyages to the West had many purposes, but they lacked the purpose of making money. But this time, many merchants went south to Nanyang together. They had no purpose, only one purpose, and that was to make money, make money, and anything else.
None of it is important, except for the money.
This is the fundamental difference between the two.
This will also determine that the two will have completely different fates.
Zheng He's voyages to the West, although on a grand scale and promoting the national prestige of the Ming Dynasty, also exhausted the national power of the Ming Dynasty and were destined to be unsustainable.
Many commercial banks in Tianjin go to the West, and the scale is equally huge, but they are only for profit and money. This is destined. Once many commercial banks can make money in Nanyang, they can continue to develop and their scale will only get bigger and bigger.
The larger the number, the more frequent the visits will be.
With such a large scale, the goods carried by the major trading houses in Tianjin alone are worth millions of taels of silver. In addition, without the escort of the navy, if these pirates and Japanese pirates do not seize the opportunity, then they will really never do it again.
No chance.
Liu Jin also calculated all this accurately.
These large merchants and big families in the Jiangnan area will never let go of this opportunity. This is their last chance.
They have already lost the markets of Japan and Korea in the north, and if they lose the market of Nanyang, they, the large merchant families, will be destined to weaken.
Once there are no huge profits from sea trade, what will these large merchants and big families do to support themselves?
The fleet continued its mighty journey south. Their first stop was Ryukyu Castle. In a few days, they would almost reach Ryukyu Castle.
Here in Ryukyu City, they will rest for a few days, replenish fresh water and food, and then continue south to Luzon. After arriving in Luzon, they will go to Siam, Annan and the entire Nanyang region. Finally, they will come again depending on the situation.
Decide whether to travel to South Asia.
Du Mingen and Lin Shuhong were discussing whether there were pirates. Similarly, on other ships, everyone was also discussing pirates and Japanese pirates.
On the "Huishanghao", Zhu Benduan and Feng Xiang stood on the deck, looking at the mighty fleet on the sea, and they were a little obsessed with it.
These hundreds of ships are running rampant on the sea, giving people the feeling of thousands of troops. When standing on the bow of the ship, I feel like a general commanding thousands of troops, pointing the country and scolding Fang Qiu.
"Brother Feng, do you think we will encounter pirates and Japanese pirates?"
Zhu Benduan said with some worry that this time the two of them decided to follow the fleet to the Nanyang region, which was also a very determined decision.
They are Huizhou merchants and salt merchants, but life is not easy for Huizhou merchants and salt merchants now. Last year they lost the northern market. As soon as the spring began this year, Changlu Saltworks began to enter the southern market. Wherever Changlu Snow Salt went, they
These salt merchants were completely defeated and had no resistance at all.
You can only watch your market being completely eaten up by the Changlu Saltworks, and it will be a matter of time before you completely withdraw from the ranks of salt merchants.
In fact, if the Changlu Saltworks is dealt with in this way, there will be no more salt merchants, and there will be no more salt merchants.
It is almost impossible to make money from salt.
Therefore, they had to find new ways to make money, and the salt merchants, who always had a huge appetite, naturally focused on sea trade first. The profits from sea trade were really too great.
Silk, porcelain, and tea that were common in the Ming Dynasty would cost several times more when they went to places other than the Ming Dynasty. When they came back, they would be filled with local specialties. For a round trip, ten times the profit would be the least.
Moreover, it is now confirmed that the Golden Continent is full of gold. A trip to the Golden Continent can bring back wealth worth thirty million taels of silver. This has also attracted the attention of the entire Ming Dynasty.
Naturally, salt merchants like them would not miss it.
If you can really go to Huanghuangzhou, why sell salt? Salt merchants don't make much money. Ten ships went to Huanghuangzhou and brought back 30 million taels of silver in more than a year. There is no such thing in the world.
There is no business more profitable than this, and it is nothing more than making a million profits.
There was no other way, they had to change and find a new way out.
Huizhou merchants were mainly salt merchants, grain merchants, and tea merchants, and did not involve maritime merchants. Maritime merchants were mainly merchants from the coastal areas of Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangsu.
As salt merchants among Huizhou merchants, Zhu Benduan and Feng Xiang naturally knew about these maritime merchants.
In the Jiangnan region, if we talk about money, Hui merchants like them are second to none, followed by these merchants and families who go overseas.
Huizhou merchants and maritime merchants all have one thing in common, that is, monopoly. They both engage in monopoly business, especially salt merchants and maritime merchants, which have an absolute monopoly status.
The monopoly of the salt merchants was mainly formed by relying on the court's salt introduction system. They controlled the court's salt field, and naturally they also controlled the salt business. However, it was now broken by the Changlu Salt Field, and the salt merchants declined.
The monopoly of maritime merchants was partly due to the imperial court's maritime ban policy, and partly due to these Japanese pirates. Almost every maritime merchant or family that went to sea was inextricably linked to Japanese pirates and pirates.
Regarding this point, Zhu Benduan and Feng Xiang are very clear. They are both from the Jiangnan area, and many of them are married to each other. How could they not know it?
"Yes~I will definitely~"
Feng Xiang nodded solemnly and said, very sure.
"They are almost dying. If they don't work hard, they will have no way out. If Nanyang's financial path is cut off, they will have no chance."
Feng Xiang smiled and said, "People in the Jiangnan area have never been so embarrassed."
The imperial court suffered a heavy blow, and so did the economy. The Hui merchants and salt merchants had a hard time, and so did the maritime merchants.
In fact, for these maritime merchants in the Jiangnan area, the most stable way to make money is the route to Japan and North Korea. North Korea and Japan have very close ties with the Ming Dynasty.
Moreover, these two countries were deeply influenced by the Ming Dynasty. Things from the Ming Dynasty were very popular in Japan and Korea, because the upper class people in these two countries learned everything from the Ming Dynasty.
People in the upper classes of Korea and Japan were proud to speak the Ming dialect, write Chinese characters, and read Tang and Song poetry. The tea, cloth, silk, porcelain, etc. of the Ming Dynasty were absolutely popular.
In addition, traveling to North Korea and Japan is closer and safer, and is a stable way to make money.
But now it has been completely robbed by the Tianjin Port in the north. Maritime merchants in the Jiangnan region simply cannot compete and have lost this important financial source.
The road to make money in Nanyang is relatively long and risky. If you are unlucky and encounter a typhoon, you will lose everything.
Without the financial resources of Japan and Korea, the life of maritime merchants in the Jiangnan region can be imagined.
"If you are sure, why would you go to Nanyang if something unexpected happens?"
After Zhu Benduan heard this, he asked again.
"Because I think these pirates and Japanese pirates are definitely no match for Tianjin Ocean Trading Company~"
Feng Xiang smiled and said: "Have you seen the ships of Tianjin Ocean Trading Company? These ships are not only merchant ships, but also warships. There are several rows of cannon holes on the sides of the ships."
"Last year, there was a rumor among the maritime merchants in the Jiangnan area that the big pirates and Japanese pirates in the Jiangnan area jointly wanted to plunder the fleet heading to Ryukyu."
"As a result, the entire army was destroyed, but Ryukyu Castle's fleet was unscathed."
"I have been thinking about a question for a long time, and that is why we have never been able to defeat Liu Jin or them."
Feng Xiang smiled slightly, then turned around, leaning against the side of the ship, as if he had a lot to say.
"Keep talking~"
I hope you will become interested immediately.
"During this period we were in Tianjin and Beijing, did you find anything special?"
Feng Xiang looked at Zhu Benduan and asked.
"Something special?"
"Are you talking about the high-rise buildings here in Tianjin? Or the cement roads?"
Zhu Benduan thought for a while and said.
The prosperity of Tianjin New Town is indeed dazzling to see. Surrounding the Tianjin Port, Tianjin has also formed a commercial district of almost several miles, which is very prosperous and lively.
"No, these are all superficial things. The really special things are the factories and workshops in the Beijing-Tianjin area."
Feng Xiang shook his head and said.
"Factory, workshop?"
I wish I was slightly surprised.
"Yes, according to my statistics, there are tens of thousands of factories and workshops, large and small, in Tianjin alone. Among them, there are hundreds of cement plants alone. Various workshops, cement plants,
It’s very dense and the number of people employed is also very large.”
"These are not seen at all in our Jiangnan area. It is difficult for us to see dense factories and workshops. Even if there are, there are only a few hundred people, and there are not too many workshops with thousands of people.
"
"But in the Beijing-Tianjin area, factories and workshops with hundreds or thousands of people are nothing at all. Factories and workshops with tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people are all."
"How to manage such huge factories and workshops?"
"And the things they produce, haven't you taken a closer look?"
"It's very standardized. If you look at the ships on the sea, as long as they come from the Tianjin Shipyard, they are almost the same without any difference. This is very scary."
"There are also ironware produced by the Miyun Iron Factory in the capital, glass products produced by the glass factory, cloth produced by the textile factory, etc. The things produced by these factories are not only large in output, but also of good quality. More importantly, almost all
The products are all very similar, it’s hard to find the differences, they all seem to be made from the same mold.”
"That's what's special."
Feng Xiang stated his findings in one breath.
"Is this what's special?"
Zhu Benduan is still a little unclear.
"Technology~"
"When I chat with factory owners and workshop owners in the Beijing-Tianjin area, I often hear them mention this word."
"At first I didn't quite understand what this technology was. I only learned about it once after chatting with a factory owner who also ran an iron factory."
"Ironmaking at the Miyun Iron Factory is completely different from our traditional ironmaking. They use blast furnaces to make iron. One furnace of molten iron can weigh more than 100,000 kilograms, and it only takes one day to make it.
, the iron you get from training is still the best quality.”
"Maybe you still don't understand this, so I'll just say salt."
"We are all in the salt business, and we all know that salt is boiled, but the salt from Changlu Saltworks is not boiled at all, it is sun-dried."
"A Changlu salt field employs tens of thousands of people, but the salt produced is enough to supply the entire Ming Dynasty, and there is still excess that can be used to pickle salted fish and sell it to Korea and Japan."
"We have all been to the salt field. The kitchen owners in the salt field cook salt all day long. They can cook ten kilograms of salt every day."
"This is technology. This is why we have never been able to defeat Liu Jin. Because mastering these technologies, Liu Jin is in an invincible position. In addition, he also dragged the emperor and the prince onto his ship. We cannot defeat him."
his."
"Similarly, these large merchant families who are engaged in maritime trade cannot defeat him, and they will eventually be defeated by him. I heard that the cannons produced by Miyun Iron Factory are very powerful. They suffered a setback last year.
Planted on it."
Feng Xiang finished speaking with a smile. When he said this, he admired from the bottom of his heart: "This Liu Jin is indeed a disciple of a master. He is far beyond what we ordinary people can compare with. There is nothing wrong with fighting him."
The advantage is, it is better to learn from the northerners and follow their footsteps, and there will naturally be endless benefits."
Hearing this, Zhu Benduan finally understood, and immediately became thoughtful. After thinking carefully, he nodded and said: "I see, the recent slow sales of cloth in our Jiangnan area is also related to this technology, right? The cloth in the north
Not only is the quality good, but the price is also very cheap, so cheap that it’s unbelievable.”
"Yes, as far as I know, the textile factories and weaving factories here in Beijing all use the new textile machines and looms manufactured by the Jingcheng Machinery Factory. One person can spin several pieces of cloth in a day.
, how can our Jiangnan cloth compete with us?"
"This is technology~"
Feng Xiang nodded and sighed.
"But what's really admirable is that this Liu Jin is actually willing to share all these profitable businesses so that everyone can make money together. This is the son of a master, and his mind is admirable."
"Now there are just some pirates and Japanese pirates. Just wait and see. Forget it if those pirates and Japanese pirates don't come. If they really dare to come and plunder our fleet, they will most likely be beaten to pieces.