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

"Reporting to the commander, the Zheng family is the one who runs the Guangzhou seaport. I have been there several times when I passed by Haojing.

The small Franji people have been operating there for a hundred years. Since the Apocalypse, the Franji Kingdom has officially sent troops there to protect their merchants.

Haojing is the only foothold of the Francois in the waters of our Ming Dynasty. Apart from this place, the other places where they have troops stationed are very far away.

The number of troops stationed there was not large, probably less than a thousand people, but the coastal defense force of the trench was very complete, and many artillery batteries were built in dangerous places along the coast.

Why do you ask this, sir? Could it be that sir..." Ma Tong first told Zhang Shikang what he knew truthfully, and then made a bold guess.

He never understood why Zhang Shikang insisted on taking this fleet with him when he went to Guangzhou.

You have to know that the fleet is just like the marines. The consumption of food rations is different when stationed and sailing.

"Why? Haojing has been the inherent territory of our Ming Dynasty since ancient times. Now they are shamelessly refusing to leave. I am going to recover the territory openly and honestly."

Zhang Shikang said this righteously with a stern face, but he didn't know much about naval warfare. He didn't even understand the land battle formations. After that, he changed his expression and asked:

"Vice Admiral Ma, do you think we can recapture the trench mirror with our fleet?"

Professional matters should be left to professionals.

But when Zhang Shikang asked this, Ma Tong's brows immediately furrowed into knots.

"My Lord, this is not a question of whether or not you can do it, but how much you are willing to pay.

I once had the honor of participating in the Zheng family's battle to capture other pirate lairs. The threat posed by the artillery to the warships was too great.

If the Marshal really gives the order, I will risk my life to get the trench mirror back for him.

But by then, apart from the marines needed to land on the beach, this fleet might...maybe there won't be many ships left."

Although Ma Tong felt a little distressed, he had made his intention clear. As long as Zhang Shikang gave the order, he would still use his best skills and fight to the death.

What he said was true. The reason why a fort is called a fort is because the cannons rely on a solid base. As long as the cannon barrel is not hit directly, the cannons on the ship will not pose much threat to the fort.

The ship's artillery is limited by the wooden ship structure, and its caliber is naturally limited, but the coastal defense artillery does not have this restriction.

Not only are these forts built in dangerous locations, they are also large in caliber and have platform defenses. Just imagine how outrageous the losses would be if warships rammed the forts.

When Zhang Shikang heard this, he immediately gave up the idea.

Just kidding, not to mention Ma Tong who felt distressed, Zhang Shikang would be even more distressed.

The fleet was bought with more than 10 million taels of silver. If Brother Chongzhen knew that he was destroyed in one battle, all for a piece of land so small that it could not be found on the map of the Ming Dynasty, I guess he would not be able to eat for two days.

"We still have to use our wits to outsmart them!" Zhang Shikang curled his lips.

It seems that it won’t be possible in the short term, so I can only go over and see if I can get some powerful firearms.

"The Marshal is wise!" Ma Tong breathed a sigh of relief and quickly offered his compliments.

"But we can't let them get away with it so easily. We have to collect some rent this time." Zhang Shikang made up his mind.

Ma Tong heard this and thought for a moment.

"As far as I know, the artillery produced by the Bugalo Foundry in Haojing is of first-rate quality. Little Franji once said that the Bugalo Foundry is the best foundry in the world."

Zhang Shikang nodded when he heard this. Although he felt that the little Frenchman's words were a bit of bragging, he had to admit that the Frenchman was indeed quite good at making cannons.

Otherwise, the imitation cannons that were everywhere in the Ming Dynasty could not be called Portuguese cannons.

"Don't they have a shipyard there?" Zhang Shikang asked.

The reason why he didn't let the Zheng family get involved in this matter was that he had his eyes on the cannon foundry and shipyard of the Putao family.

This is an area that the Ming Dynasty currently needs to improve. If we can obtain these two factories and their skilled workers, the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding and cannon-casting industries will see a qualitative improvement.

“Replying to the Marshal, there is indeed a shipyard, but that shipyard mostly builds merchant ships.

The Marshal knew that the Europeans crossed the ocean not to fight wars, but to do business, and this was true for both the red-haired barbarians and the French.

The shipyard they have there is not very big, and they don’t even build ships very often, but it is used as a docking and repair place for passing merchant ships.” Ma Tong said truthfully.

"Can you build merchant ships? How do the French merchant ships compare with those of our Ming Dynasty?" Zhang Shikang said with his eyes lighting up.

Shipbuilding is like training soldiers. You can't build it immediately if you want to. And even if the soldiers are only half-trained, at least they can be pulled out for a walk.

But if the ship is not built properly, it will definitely not be able to leave the port.

Zhang Shikang originally wanted to wait until he had built the port terminal and shipyard in Tianjin before building his own merchant ships.

But at the moment, these are still a long way off.

Instead of doing this, it would be better to secretly ask someone else to build a batch of ships behind the Zheng family's back, so that the Ming Dynasty would have its first batch of merchant ships when engaging in maritime trade in the future.

"Replying to the Marshal, the merchant ships of the Europeans are different from those of the Ming Dynasty. Their merchant ships run fast and are suitable for all wind directions.

But in terms of cargo capacity, the Zheng family's merchant ships are not inferior to those of Europeans.

It’s not that the Zheng family can’t build that kind of multi-sail merchant ship, but the main reason is that the wind direction of several of the Zheng family’s routes is fixed, and there is no need for more sails to assist navigation.

In terms of cost, European ones are naturally more expensive.”

Zhang Shikang nodded upon hearing this.

Although what Ma Tong said was not very detailed, Zhang Shikang had already thought of two words - ocean current.

The Ming Dynasty, the East Ocean and the Philippine Islands are the closest maritime trade areas to the Ming Dynasty’s waters. The ocean currents there are relatively stable, so the Ming Dynasty’s ships, whether merchant ships or warships, do not have many sails.

At that time, the Suez Canal had not been opened, and European merchant ships wanted to sail to Ming Dynasty from the Atlantic Ocean.

It has to go around a big circle, first passing the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean, crossing the entire vast Indian Ocean, passing through the Strait of Malacca, and then entering the South China Sea.

The ocean currents along the way are quite complicated. Without more sails, the ship sometimes cannot move at all.

"Yoshi, in that case, European merchant ships are better." Zhang Shikang smiled sweetly.

If the Ming Dynasty wanted to engage in maritime trade, it would certainly not be like the Zheng family, which only traded in Southeast Asia and Asia.

Otherwise, what will happen to the mines in Australia and the cocoa in America?

It’s a pity that steam engines were not easy to make at that time. Otherwise, if steam power could be used to replace sails, it would be a real qualitative leap.

"Marshal, do you want to go to Haojing to purchase artillery and merchant ships?" Ma Tong asked tentatively.

"What else? Are you really free to wander around?" Zhang Shikang glanced at Ma Tong and said.

"You don't know, Marshal. The French are very greedy and stingy. Not only are they not easy to sell their artillery, but the price is also very high."

……