This huge fleet preparing to go to America, like the previous fleets that went to America for immigration, trade, and exploration, is the result of the tripartite cooperation between the Navy, the Immigration and Reclamation Department, and the American Trading Company.
Regarding the Americas, the empire has basically reached a consensus on the need for immigration and development, but when exactly the immigration and development will take place is a matter of conflict among many parties.
For the navy, it is natural to hope that the sooner the better, the sooner it develops the Americas, and the sooner the empire's strategic focus can be shifted to the Americas and the ocean. The benefits to the navy are countless.
The same is true for the Immigration and Reclamation Division and the American Trading Company. The Immigration and Reclamation Division has always been the vanguard of the empire's external expansion, especially when the immigration officials knew that the American continent was rich and the local geographical environment was good.
When the Nanyang region was as bad as before, immigration to the American continent was regarded as the main immigration task in the future.
For the Immigration and Reclamation Division, any place suitable for immigrants is a good place and needs to be occupied as soon as possible.
As for the American Trading Company, this company was only established four years ago. It is the latest to be established among the many trading companies controlled by the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises. This American Trading Company has official status with the other three companies in the Tang Empire.
Trading companies have different backgrounds.
There are ocean-going trading companies with official background in the Datang Empire, including Datang Dongyang Trading Company, which specializes in trade in the Fuso region, and Datang Nanyang Trading Company, which specializes in trade in the Nanyang region. Both trading companies belong to
Although ordinary trading companies have official backgrounds, strong capital, and many ships, they are no different from other private trading companies.
However, the Datang Western Trading Company is a bit special, because this company has a Western trade license, not only has a monopoly on Western trade, but it can also legally possess large-scale armed forces.
The American Trading Company combines some of the characteristics of the above two. First of all, the company does not say that it has a monopoly American trading license, but this company does have an American construction license. This construction license is also specifically for
Designed by American Trading Company.
This construction license allows the American Trading Company to build immigration strongholds, cities, etc. on the American continent, and has partial administrative assistance and management rights for these cities they built on their own. This part is the same as that of the Western Trading Company. At the same time, in order to protect these port cities, the construction license is allowed.
The company forms an armed force of limited size.
However, these armed forces have great restrictions, that is, they are only allowed to be stationed on the American continent and carry out military operations against the indigenous people on their own.
At the same time, if there is a conflict with Spain, Portugal and other maritime powers on the American continent, the armed forces of the American Company only have the right to self-defense. If they want to launch an active attack, they need to report to the military and obtain approval.
At the same time, all armed employees of the company's armed forces must be citizens of the Tang Dynasty, and its officers must be veterans.
This American Trading Company is partly similar to the American Trading Company, but some of its powers are less than those of the Western Trading Company. For example, it does not have the special power of monopolizing trade, and it does not have the power to independently conclude treaties or declare war with any country.
, these powers are limited to the indigenous tribes on the American continent.
At the same time, when fighting the enemy, the Western Trading Company has independent power and can fight any country or force on its own, as long as the scope is limited to India, West Asia, Africa, and Europe west of Malacca.
Then the imperial military actually has no power to interfere.
This is not the case for the American Trading Company. They can only fight freely against the natives, but against European civilized countries, they only have the right to self-defense and not the right to attack freely.
Of course, this is only talking about the official power of Spain and Portugal. If it is just ordinary immigrants, merchant ships and the like, it doesn't matter. You can decide by yourself. After all, there are so many pirates these days. Pirates attack merchant ships.
Even port attacks often happened. Spain was attacked, and Datang was no exception.
So, it's not worth the fuss.
As for who those pirates were and whether they were part of the navy of a certain country, there is no need to delve into this issue, because it would be useless to investigate and no one would admit it.
Almost a smaller version of the American Trading Company, it was the pioneer of the Tang Dynasty in developing America. In recent years, it has been promoting the development of America by immigrants.
The Navy, the Immigration and Reclamation Department, and the American Trading Company reached an agreement on the immigration and development of America and worked together.
This is how we have the large-scale fleet we have today.
Moreover, this huge fleet is different from previous fleets. A considerable part of the ships in this fleet are equipped with steam engines.
It is not that steam ships have never been to the Americas in the past. Last year, a steam merchant ship arrived in the Americas. However, the scale was not large, and because there was no coal replenishment along the way, the steam engine was not actually started.
It will only be started when there is no wind or other emergencies. It usually saves coal.
But this time, in order to ensure the safety of the fleet and the time required for the voyage, of course, and more importantly, the American Trading Company sent a small coal mine in the Americas. This was the preparation for the large-scale use of steam engines as the main power.
Although the coal mine in America is just a small coal mine, it is still coal after all.
After the supply of coal became available in the Americas, large-scale ships that used both machines and sails to and from the Americas were able to use steam power.
When the huge American fleet set sail with smoke rising, countless people along the Huangpu River watched them set sail.
The formation and plan of the American Fleet have no purpose. Even in order to expand its influence, the American Trading Company is still carrying out large-scale publicity.
Therefore, on this day, many people were paying attention to this fleet.
Not to mention the navy officers, immigration officials, and insiders of the American Trading Company, others were also paying close attention.
Other trading companies are paying attention to this action, because the American trading company does not have a trade monopoly, which means that if the American side is profitable, other trading companies can also get a share of the pie.
Unlike India and Africa, European trade is firmly monopolized by the Western Trading Company. At present, except for the merchant ships of the Western Company, no other company's merchant ships can cross Malacca to India.
Regarding this monopoly, the upper echelons of the empire are also interested in making changes. However, considering the huge role of the Western Trading Company and the company's huge operating costs, if there is no support from the profits brought by monopoly trade, then the Western Trading Company will probably struggle.
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You must know that the Western Trading Company currently has its core stronghold in the Go River State of India. It has successively established more than a dozen colonial strongholds on the east and west coasts of India, and has penetrated deep into the Indian mainland. It has also established several colonial strongholds along several major rivers.
stronghold.
It has even established strongholds in West Asia and the east coast of Africa. The most remote stronghold is in southern Africa, near the Cape of Good Hope. Here, the Western Trading Company spent a lot of money and used a large fleet to transport a large amount of cement and other materials at once, and then landed
, and bribed local tribes to provide labor, etc., and secretly built a large-scale fortress in three months.
By the time the Portuguese noticed it and sent a fleet to attack, the bastion and other fortifications had been completed, and a total of 800 armed employees were stationed there.
In the end, the two sides fought a three-year continuous war around the South African stronghold, but Datang Western Company withstood it.
But it is a pity that the Western Trading Company has not been able to establish a stronghold on the west coast of Africa so far. The Portuguese are like madmen. They stationed a large number of fleets in South Africa to watch and defended the Cape of Good Hope. They even dared to attack the extremely dangerous Cape of Good Hope regardless of their own life and death.
Datang Western Trading Company tried several times to carry out blockade operations, but the result was that the ship was destroyed and people died, so it temporarily gave up the idea.
The establishment of the above-mentioned strongholds, each of which means one or even several wars.
Not only fighting the natives, but also fighting the Portuguese.
At present, the conflict and competition between the Portuguese and the Empire in India has entered the most intense situation. The two sides are basically tearing off their faces and attacking each other's colonial strongholds.
Many of the strongholds of the Western Trading Company were taken from the Portuguese.
Of course, the Portuguese also robbed many Western trading company bases and merchant ships.
What's even more interesting is that the two sides were fighting to the death in India, but they were in peace in the South China Sea, and there was not a lot of business to be done.
The Western Trading Company fought with the indigenous people and the Portuguese in India and Africa, and its annual military expenditures were astronomical. Without the subsidies from the profits from the Western monopoly trade, they would have gone bankrupt long ago.
Therefore, given the situation in India and Africa, the Western Trading Company's monopoly will not be revoked in the short term.
Therefore, many trading companies have set their sights on America.
There is a brand new untapped market there, and it can also bypass the Portuguese and the Tang Dynasty Western Trading Company, and directly trade with Europe through the Spanish. The prospects are very promising, and many trading companies have already begun to prepare for the Americas.
route.
These trading companies are paying attention, and ordinary people are also paying attention. Some poor people hope that the Americas will bring good news. If it is really beautiful and rich, and there are countless good lands waiting for them, then they will inevitably grit their teeth and then
So he boarded an immigrant ship and went to America to make a living.
At the Wusong River Hotel at the mouth of the Wusong River in Shanghai, a group of people also stood on the balcony and looked at the huge fleet on the Huangpu River outside.
Most of the people in this group were officials wearing official robes, but among this group of men wearing official robes, there was a young man in casual clothes.