A few days later, King Ning's fleet, which had rested on the Island of Ceylon, continued its journey westward, taking away 20,000 dans of grain and 300,000 taels of silver from the Governor's Palace in Ceylon.
Well, King Ning used his mouth to deceive Hu Xian. Of course, he also wanted Hu Xian to leave some mortgage documents, which stated that some of the gold, silver, and copper mines of Ning State would be allocated in the future.
Mortgages like this were given to the Western United Commercial Bank, and they also promised that if the Western United Commercial Bank enters the African continent in the future, Prince Ning must provide help.
Anyway, they were all invisible things, and Prince Ning also used them to deceive him. He actually got food and money from the Western United Trading Company, which greatly alleviated his embarrassing situation.
In the Port of Ceylon, King Ning's fleet set sail one after another. More than two hundred large ships headed westward with great momentum. Hu Xian, who came to see King Ning off, looked at King Ning's fleet and also endured it.
He couldn't help but smile and sighed: "Prince Ning is a man who does great things. He will definitely make great achievements in Africa in the future."
"Lao Hu, do you really think so?"
Next to Hu Xian, Zhu Benduan thought for a while and asked.
"This Prince Ning will give up his face for his own great cause. Such people are the ones who achieve great things."
"That King of Shu came to me. I gave him a thousand loads of grain and then left angrily. This King Ning is different. He knows his situation very clearly and can get whatever he can."
"Ning Guo, who also knew how to use the things he got to mortgage and deceive me into investing. Don't you think this Prince Ning is a bit like a person?"
Hu Xian nodded, thought for a while and said.
"You mean Liu Jin?"
Zhu Benduan thought for a while and his eyes widened slightly. He immediately thought of a person and almost blurted it out.
"Yes, it's Liu Jin~"
"Liu Jin had nothing at the beginning, but with just one mouth, he gradually achieved everything that he did without even a shadow of it."
"The British Dukes, Cheng Guogong, and Ding Guogong who followed Liu Jin back then are all now richest in the world. Even our big families from Jiangnan are far inferior to them."
"Otherwise, do you think that just because of Prince Ning's opening of his mouth, I will really give him so many things?"
"Compared to the King of Shu and the King of Chu, this King Ning will have greater achievements in the future. In places like Africa, he may be able to build another Ming Dynasty. If you invest in him now, there will definitely be a large number of people in the future.
In return.”
Hu Xian said with great certainty that he was an old fox and could read people very accurately.
Although Prince Ning is young, he is very ambitious and a daring person. He has long heard that Prince Ning even sold Prince Ning’s Mansion in Nanchang in order to go to sea, as well as the antique calligraphy and paintings in the house.
There was not a single one left, they were all sold out.
In comparison, the other princes of the Ming Dynasty seemed less courageous.
King Zheng occupied a small island in Nanyang and became a local emperor on the island. He had no pursuits but wanted to leave the Ming Dynasty and be free.
The King of Shu is planning to occupy a colony in Western Tianzhu in the north, but it seems that he is not very ambitious and only wants to occupy a small area.
There is another King of Chu who is similar to King Ning. He is more ambitious, but not as courageous as King Ning. He feels a bit petty.
It seems that this Prince Ning is very ambitious and courageous. The key is that he can cheat. Maybe he will be able to achieve great things in the future.
"Africa is very big. Our Western United Trading Company will definitely enter Africa in the future. If we give Prince Ning some help now, we can get it back from Prince Ning in the future. This business will not be a loss."
Hu Xian smiled and looked at the sailing boat leaving.
…
King Ning's huge fleet continued westward on the sea.
On the huge "Ning Wang", Ning Wang, Liu Yangzheng, Li Shishi and others were studying the next route.
"Dong Lin, you are a navigation expert, can you tell us what should we do next?"
Prince Ning looked at a young man next to him, who was also in his early twenties. He was a navigation expert who he hired at a great cost.
Dong Lin graduated from the first phase of Tianjin Maritime College and has extremely rich sailing experience. He has been the captain of several large ships. He has been to Korea, Japan, and even traveled to Africa with Du Mingen. He is a very rare talent.
Such people are very hard to find.
Because they needed money, they had money. After running at sea for several years, Dong Lin already had his own fleet. He could make enough money to spend a lifetime just by going to sea.
The status is also quite prestigious. Navigators like him with rich sailing experience are very popular wherever they go. Many people hire them. All major trading houses need such talents.
In order to please Dong Lin, Prince Ning really spent a lot of effort.
Of course, Dong Lin played a big role. The fleet went very smoothly without any problems. Dong Lin, who has extremely rich sailing experience, did not let down King Ning.
"Your Majesty, because our fleet is large and carries many people, I suggest that we walk along the coastline. This is safer. We can land at the coastline along the way to rest and obtain supplies of food and fresh water at any time."
"In addition, we can also do business along the way while moving forward. My mirrors, silks, porcelain, spices, sugar, cloth, etc. are very popular in the Western region. This is why I asked the prince to bring more when he is in Nanyang.
s reason."
"Because we only need to transport these things to Western Tianzhu, Persia and the Middle East, and their value will be at least several times higher. Once we sell these things, we can make a huge profit, and the prince will have more sufficient funds.
.”
Dong Lin looked at the map and said.
"Hmm~"
"Then I'll do as you said and go to West Tianzhu first."
Prince Ning nodded and said that he was deep in his heart. He was short of money now, and he still owed a lot of debt to the Ming Dynasty. It was easy to do things with money, but it was difficult to move forward without money.
Liu Yangzheng and Li Shishi, who were standing next to them, also nodded. They were both noble scholars. In the past, they would not even bother raising money.
But now, they understand that money is the most important thing. Otherwise, even a prince like Prince Ning would have to beg for help and borrow money.
After King Ning's fleet circumnavigated the southernmost tip of the South Asian subcontinent, it turned around and sailed northwest, heading towards Guli (Calicut) in Western Tianzhu.
"Your Majesty, this ancient city is now occupied by the Portuguese from Europe. The Portuguese are quite domineering and do not allow our ships from the Ming Dynasty to trade with Persia and the Middle East."
"For this reason, the Western United Trading Company has also negotiated with the Portuguese, but it seems that the effect is not good. The Portuguese still insist on blocking this sea area and levy high taxes on our Ming ships."
"I heard that the Western United Trading Company wanted to gather forces to defeat the Portuguese in one fell swoop, and by the way, they also took Guri into their own hands."
When the fleet was getting closer and closer to Guli, Dong Lin also began to introduce in detail the situation in Western Tianzhu, the Middle East, and Persia.
Portugal is rampant in this sea area and is very domineering. Now it has also had conflicts with the Ming people.
"Portugal?"
"Are they very strong?"
When King Ning heard this, he thought about it and asked.
"They are not strong. They only have more than 20 warships. However, their ships are quite advanced and their artillery is quite powerful. They are not easy to mess with."
"The Western United Trading Company is also afraid that attacking Portugal will cause heavy losses to itself, so it has not taken action against them. This has actually encouraged the Portuguese's arrogance."
Li Shishi next to him took over. After spending several months in Ceylon, he was also very familiar with the situation here.
"More than a month ago, the Portuguese even went to the Island of Ceylon to discuss with Hu Xian, the Governor of Ceylon, the issue of spending their sphere of influence. They said that Western Tianzhu belongs to them, the Portuguese, and Eastern Tianzhu belongs to the Western United Trading Company. They mutually agree with each other.
Recognize each other, non-aggression, and maintain friendly trade.”
"However, Hu Xian did not agree to this matter. The Western United Trading Company has already regarded Tianzhu as its own flesh. How could it be shared with them?"
"Even small European countries dare to be arrogant in front of us Ming people. That is to say, the Western United Trading Company is afraid of losses, otherwise they would have been killed long ago."
When Li Shishi said this, he was very domineering and full of contempt for the Portuguese.
"The Portuguese are still very strong. I have been in contact with the Portuguese. Their ships are quite good, no worse than our ships. They also have a large number of artillery on board, and their navigation technology is also quite advanced."
"In general, the Portuguese are not easy to mess with, but that's just the way it is. They have too few ships in Western Tianzhu, so it is very easy to deal with them."
Dong Lin also nodded and said.
"There are more than twenty ships that dare to claim half of Tianzhu. This appetite is really not ordinary."
After hearing this, King Ning pondered for a while and said.
"Well, the Portuguese are indeed very ambitious. They are almost like bandits. They rob if they can and run away if they can't be beaten. The Middle Easterners and Persians were beaten down by their more than 20 ships. The Persian Gulf was also
They blocked it."
Dong Lin also nodded.
"Report~"
At this time, someone hurriedly walked in and said.
"What's up?"
Liu Yangzheng asked quickly.
"Your Majesty, we found a Ming Dynasty ship on the sea. It seems to be the ship of Prince Shu. They sent us a signal for help. They seemed to be chased and attacked by Portuguese ships."
The visitor said hurriedly.
"The King of Shu's rescue ship?"
"The Portuguese are hunting them and attacking them?"
When everyone heard this, they were slightly shocked, and then quickly came to the deck.
