Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

In the next few days, since Zhang Shikang did not continue to take advantage of the situation, he had a very pleasant conversation with the Zheng family, including Zheng Zhilong.

On the ninth day of the eleventh month, Zhang Shikang left Quanzhou Prefecture with the small fleet he had taken advantage of.

Of course, the cost of this trip to the Zheng family was not small. This small fleet of 115 ships alone cost 13.2 million taels.

These included one No. 2 Fu ship, thirty-two Zeng ships, nine bird ships, eight Haicang ships, as well as more than eighty small and medium-sized auxiliary ships such as centipede ships, mother-and-child fire ships, and eagle ships.

According to the price of the twenty silk ships that Zheng Zhibiao had promised him before, including all firearms such as cannons, all cold weapons such as armor, sailors, gunners, and boatmen, the total cost of each ship was 190,000 taels.

Zhang Shikang roughly compared the price Zheng Zhilong gave to this squadron and found that there were no major omissions.

Come to think of it, since Zheng Zhilong has already decided to give in, it is unlikely that he will try to cheat him on the price.

After all, the Zheng family is not short of money, and the imperial court is not short of money at the moment.

This total price also includes an active No. 1 Fuchuan ship. The cost of building this ship alone plus all the equipment, manpower, etc., reached a terrifying 360,000 taels, not including sailors, gunners and other manpower.

The current No. 2 Fuchuan ship, including the gunners and other equipment on board, was worth 320,000 taels.

The total strength of this squadron reached 7,600 people, which means that Zhang Shikang spent 13.2 million taels to buy an active navy of the Zheng family.

There are Fuchuan No. 1, Fuchuan No. 2, and the main silk-chasing ship. If we ignore Zhang Shikang's naval command level, then this is a small fleet that has reached the current equipment level of the Zheng family.

In addition, they were also given two damaged galleons equipped with all Dutch firearms, which was a pleasant surprise.

If the order placed with the Zheng family is included, that would be twenty silk-carrying ships equipped with sailors and gunners, and sixty small and medium-sized auxiliary ships without sailors and gunners.

The Ming Dynasty expected to have such a fleet within two years - one No. 1 Fuchuan, one No. 2 Fuchuan, two galleons, fifty-two silk ships, and more than one hundred and forty auxiliary combat ships.

In terms of construction schedule, twenty silk ships are expected to be delivered by the end of next year, and the remaining sixty auxiliary combat ships will be delivered by the middle of the 14th year of Chongzhen.

If the warships that are being purchased are included, the total cost will reach a terrifying 21.8 million taels!!!

If Chongzhen knew this number two years ago, he would probably be shocked.

When has our Ming Dynasty ever been so wealthy?

You have to know that two years ago, Brother Chongzhen had only 200,000 taels left in the national treasury, and he had to discuss with a group of court officials every day how to spend it.

In addition to the warships, Zhang Shikang and Zheng Zhilong agreed that starting from January of next year, the Zheng family would collect 200,000 shi of grain and fodder from overseas for the court every month, at the rate of three taels and eight cents of silver per shi.

Zhang Shikang will discuss with the Ministry of Revenue when the supply will be delivered based on the situation next year. Two hundred thousand shi of grain will cost another 780,000 taels of silver per month.

It's no exaggeration to say that I spent money like water on this trip.

But overall, Zhang Shikang was still very satisfied. Before this, he had never thought that the Ming Dynasty would be able to have an active navy so quickly.

The sailors, marines, gunners, and boatmen in this small fleet, including Ma Tong, were all veterans with combat experience, and this was what Zhang Shikang valued most.

It's so terrible for new sailors to have a new ship. The cost is so high, and they have no combat experience. They will be wiped out when they go out, and they won't even have a place to cry.

As for whether the current Ming navy is strong or not, that depends on who they are compared with.

If compared with the Zheng family, which claims to own 3,000 ships of various types, it is nothing but a small Karami.

But if compared with the surrounding countries or forces, it is already a naval force that other countries and forces cannot ignore.

After all, in the Battle of Liaoluo Bay, which Zheng Zhilong often talked about, the Dutch only dispatched nine main galleons.

However, this is indeed an objective situation. Whether it is the Portuguese or the Dutch, their national bases are too far away from the Ming Dynasty waters after all.

This small active navy was the original accumulation of the Ming Dynasty Navy's First Fleet in the future, and was also the first step for the Ming Dynasty to move towards the ocean.

But Zhang Shikang still wanted to sigh that it is really damn expensive to run a navy!

After running around outside for almost a year, I don't know how the nobles in the capital are preparing, and whether they are really trying to train the sailors. After all, after a year and a half, there are still more than 60 small and medium-sized warships without sailors.

Although Zheng Zhilong felt bad that Zhang Shikang was able to negotiate such a big deal, he finally accepted it. The main reason was that Zhang Shikang did not mention merchant ships and maritime trade at all.

Zhang Shikang knew very well that this was the issue that Zheng Zhilong and even the Zheng family were most worried about.

If Zheng Zhilong knew Zhang Shikang's vision for the future, not only would it be impossible for him to sell this small fleet to the court, but even the more than 80 warships under construction would be impossible.

Taking someone's money is like killing their parents.

Of course, this was also the reason why Zheng Zhilong didn't want Zhang Shikang to go to Guangzhou.

He was worried that Zhang Shikang would go there and contact the Europeans. There is no doubt that the Europeans wanted to do business directly with the Ming court.

At that time, Zheng Zhilong had to make a choice: either accept future losses or break with the Ming Dynasty and continue to monopolize.

Zheng Zhilong did not say it clearly, and there was no way to say it clearly.

In fact, Zhang Shikang always knew what the other party was worried about. When he went to Guangzhou this time, he would not really agree to do business directly with the Europeans.

After all, the Ming Dynasty's navy was not strong enough, and the court still needed the Zheng family to protect the coastal defense, and could not break up with the Zheng family because of temporary profits.

Of course, he will not be soft-hearted when it comes to taking advantage of the situation. After all, the protection fees and trade profits that the Zheng family earned through monopoly should actually belong to the imperial court.

Therefore, Zhang Shikang did not feel the slightest bit of guilt about taking advantage of the situation.

When he said goodbye to Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Zhibiao and others, Zhang Shikang smiled particularly happily, and Zheng Zhilong also politely gave him a lot of gifts.

Originally, Zheng Zhilong wanted to give the Japanese girl and the Persian girl to Zhang Shikang, but Zhang Shikang considered it and declined.

Lust is a sword hanging over his head, and he is sworn enemies of gambling and drugs.

You still need to be moderate.

Zhang Shikang boarded the Fuchuan No. 1, which was also the largest warship that the Ming Dynasty, including the Zheng family, could build.

The original No. 2 Fuchuan lost Zhang Shikang's favor.

He mobilized most of the sailors and all the soldiers from the Fuzhou Ship No. 2 to the Fuzhou Ship No. 1, and designated the Fuzhou Ship No. 1 as the flagship of the First Fleet of the Ming Navy.

"Vice Governor Ma, should our flagship have a resounding name?"

Standing on the deck of the flagship, Zhang Shikang took a deep breath and asked the future deputy admiral of the Ming Navy.

……

PS: I’m back from my hometown, and will continue to update from tomorrow.