Li Zhi also brought 50,000 kilograms of crucible steel. Li Zhi's steel-making workshop can produce 20,000 kilograms of crucible steel every month. These steels can be sold for about 10,000 kilograms a month, but the price can only be sold for one or two and a half cents.
.It is said that Japan has a high demand for cheap steel from the Ming Dynasty. Li Zhi took some to Japan to test the waters and see how much crucible steel could be sold in Japan.
If the sales are good, Li Zhi can expand the production of crucible steel.
Li Zhi also brought a lot of other glass and mirrors. These glass products are difficult to transport and need to be wrapped in a lot of paper. Fortunately, the unit price is expensive, and a little transportation is worth a lot of money.
Then came the soap. Li Zhi loaded forty large boxes of soap onto the ship, with each box containing 8,000 pieces of soap, totaling 320,000 pieces of soap.
Coupled with some miscellaneous products to test the market, Li Zhi loaded a ship full of goods.
Li Zhi's cargo was loaded from the Dagu pier in Tianjin, Dagu. Tianjin is originally a center of maritime trade. Many southern goods entering Beijing are landed from Dagu, and some goods destined for Jiangnan are also shipped from Dagu.
The goods were put on ships and then transported to Jiangnan and Lingnan via sea-going ships. These sea-going ships carrying cargo were both official ships and private ships, making Dagu a quite lively seaport.
Now that Li Zhi was powerful and the commander-in-chief of Tianjin, no one dared to object to his maritime trade in Dagu. Li Zhi went about purchasing goods and loading goods onto ships without anyone voicing any objections.
In fact, the Ming Dynasty's sea ban has been basically abolished. Although the emperor only opened a sea ban in Fujian Province, since the Fujian sea ban was opened, it means that hundreds of officials in the imperial court are no longer hostile to maritime merchants, and they will no longer force coastal waters to
The village suppressed smuggling merchants, so merchants from all over the country began to operate semi-openly.
On July 10, Li Zhi's new crew and sailors had been practicing for half a month. Li Zhi no longer waited and let the Nova go to sea.
On this trip to sea, Li Zhi personally led the team, led 150 sailors and more than 50 boatmen to drive the Xinxing to the Japanese country.
Early that morning, the crew of the Nova moved the long oar and rowed the ship out of the Dagu port. After leaving the port, the steam engine was turned on at full power, and black smoke generated by the incomplete combustion of coal was sprayed from the chimney.
Chopping forward in the swaying sea. The ship left Daku, getting farther and farther away from the departure port, crossing the Bohai Sea, and it took a day to reach the Bohai Strait.
Under the guidance of experienced guides, the Nova avoided the rocks and passed through the islands in the Bohai Strait. Then it bypassed the Jiaodong Peninsula and headed south.
On the third day of going to sea, the Nova had already reached the west side of the Korean Peninsula. At this time, the sky was high and the clouds were clear. The midsummer sun shone directly on the sea, illuminating the undulating sea into a deep blue and looking very beautiful. The sea breeze blew in
My body feels extremely cool, blowing away all the summer heat.
In order to observe the reference objects on land and islands and understand their location, the Daming ships of this era sailed along the islands and coasts. At this time, the New Star was sailing on the west side of North Korea, only a dozen or so away from the coast.
Li Zhi was holding a telescope on the poop to look at the scenery of the Korean Peninsula in the east, but suddenly he heard the lookout on the mast yelling:
"There's a boat to the south!"
Everyone on the boat raised their heads and looked south. Li Zhi also raised his telescope and looked south. Sure enough, at the end where the sky and the sea meet, he saw a three-masted wooden sailing ship heading this way.
It was summer at this time, and there was a steady south wind blowing on the sea, so the incoming ship sailed very fast. Not long after, the sailing ship sailed more than ten miles away. Li Zhi was holding a telescope to observe the incoming ship when he heard something on the mast.
Watchman Abban yelled: "The incoming ship sails quickly because of its shallow draft. There is no cargo on the ship. I'm afraid it's a pirate ship!"
Everyone on the ship was stunned when they heard this, and all looked at Li Zhi.
The steward on the ship ran to Li Zhi and said, "Grand Governor, our ship is fast, why don't we avoid this pirate ship!"
Li Zhi used a telescope to observe the ship on the opposite side.
That pirate ship is not as big as the Nova, but it is not small either. It looks a bit like a lucky ship, but it does not have a low bow like a lucky ship. The hull is Ming style and curved like a crescent moon.
, but the sails on the ship's mast were made of Western-style soft sails. At this time, the jib, horizontal sail and foresight sails on the ship were all swollen by the wind, and they were pressing toward Li Zhi with great force.
Li Zhi took a closer look and found that there were two small cannons on the ship, but he couldn't tell what they were.
Li Zhi put down the telescope and thought for a while.
Seeing the boat on the opposite side getting closer and closer, Li Zhi's steward became a little nervous and asked: "Captain, what should I do?"
Li Zhi put down his telescope and shouted: "Try this pirate ship to practice! Sink him!"
The steward was stunned for a moment, gritted his teeth, ran down the poop and shouted loudly: "Enter combat status! The whole ship has entered combat status!"
Hearing the words of the chief steward, the atmosphere on the ship suddenly changed, and the sailors began to prepare for battle. They either ran to the gun emplacement on the second deck and operated the cannon, or they raised their rifles and stood on the upper deck with grenades, ready to receive the battle.
During the battle on the side, the boatmen ran to the boiler of the steam engine to help the boilerman add coal to increase the speed of the Nova.
Li Zhi walked to the helmsman and said: "Go around and drive around the pirate ship! Take advantage of our ship's speed and always keep a distance of two hundred steps from the pirate ship, so that the cannons on the left and right sides can fire in turn!"
The helmsman was an experienced veteran, and it was Cha Yunke who supported Li Zhi. He nodded when he heard Li Zhi's words, and said: "Don't worry, Grand Governor, I will definitely control the position and let the cannons blast these pirate ships."
rotten!"
Li Zhi nodded and said, "It's up to you!"
The two boats gradually approached, five miles, three miles, two miles.
Li Zhi used his binoculars to look at the pirate ship opposite, and sure enough he saw more than two hundred pirates holding swords standing on the deck, each with red eyes, ready to join the gang and fight.
Li Zhi cursed: "You are so brave, you dare to rob my Xinxing!"
When it was more than a mile away, the Nova suddenly turned its rudder and headed west, aiming its port side at the menacing pirate ship.
On the second deck, eighty artillerymen were already waiting on the port side. They quickly shook the rotating rod on the artillery truck and adjusted the cannon muzzle. When all the cannons were aimed, the artillery company commander shouted loudly: "Fire!"
Nine eighteen-pound guns opened fire one after another from front to back.
With the help of the flame, the black gunpowder turned into black smoke and red fire, which instantly enveloped the entire port side. A deafening roar followed, and the air was instantly filled with the pungent smell of saltpeter gunpowder. The ship
Driven by the continuous recoil of the gun carriage, it swung to the right and created a wave of waves on the sea.
The nine cannonballs drew nine straight lines in the air and fired towards the enemy ships three to four hundred meters away.
Eight shells missed and hit the water, causing a splash several meters high. One shell hit the bow of the pirate ship, instantly piercing the old-fashioned hull with no or only a few ribs.
Only a bang was heard, and the pirate ship's bow was hit with flying sawdust like fireworks, and the wooden planks of the ship's bow burst into pieces like paper.
When the sawdust gradually dispersed, a large hole one foot long and wide was revealed on the bow of the pirate ship.
Fortunately, the waves were small at this time and the bow of the boat did not enter the water. If there were big waves and the bow of the boat kept piercing the waves to break through, such a big hole would allow the pirate ship to enter the water and sink.
