Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 428: Naval Battle Is About to Break Out

"Are you sober?"

"Wake up! Lord!"

"Okay!" Shen Yourong said loudly, "Send the signal, have the fleet arrange its formation, and when the military order arrives, we will hoist the sails and move forward at full speed with the morning breeze!"

On the fifth day of the first lunar month in the sixteenth year of Taichang, it was still dark on the south side of Malacca City.

On the huge Zheng He, the flagship of the Ming Dynasty's South China Sea Fleet, at the command of Shen Yourong, a special lamp was lit on the main mast's lookout, which was more than 70 meters high in the past and is now called more than 24 meters high.

The sea breeze howled, and the flames danced violently. The captain in charge of the lights and flags quickly sealed the glass edges with several holes, and then began to pull the copper cover embedded in the outer periphery.

As he moved up and down, the lights naturally flickered with a special rhythm.

Next to him, there was another person holding a telescope tightly in his hand and peering into the distance.

Beneath their feet, things began to get busy on the Zheng He.

Shen Yourong did not miss any position that needed to be prepared, and inspected them one by one. Every time he arrived at a place, he would naturally say a few words of encouragement.

"The Zhenyang Cannon was specially made based on the Mingwei Cannon at my request! The flagship officers and soldiers, as well as the Jiulei Gun! We have fought a battle with them in the past, and the Ming warships all have noses, which are fast and stable! This battle will be easy, but we must not underestimate the enemy." He said loudly, patting his chest, "Thanks to your majesty's grace, I am already the Marquis of Fubo! I have specially celebrated the New Year and have had enough good wine and food. Next is the time to get military merits and rewards!"

"Don't worry, my Lord!"

"Order!"

The morale on the Zheng He was high. Since the first year of Taichang, the Ming army had first gained greater independence under the Privy Council system, and no longer had to worry about being suppressed by civil officials. Secondly, and most importantly, the emperor was generous with his rewards. The court never treated soldiers unfairly if they were talented and had military merit. Even if they were injured or retired, they could go anywhere, such as to the Security Court or local government offices.

Finally, of course, it was the military preparation that gave them the confidence. As Shen Yourong said, at least their warships were already terrifying sea monsters. Needless to say, the new generation of warships themselves had already integrated the strengths of the East and the West, and had other innovations. Telescopes and various new navigation equipment all gave them more power. As for iron smelting, steel smelting, and firearms improvement, this had been going on for more than ten years, and their firepower had already completely surpassed that of Westerners.

"Report!" After a long time, a loud shout came from the heights, "All ships have replied with lantern messages, get ready!"

Shen Yourong looked up, then looked at Prince Jalil of Johor beside him: "You have led the way well on this road."

"You are too kind, General!" Jalil was very excited. "The Heavenly Soldiers are so powerful that it is my honor to watch the battle with them. The Heavenly Soldiers are brave and resourceful. It doesn't matter whether I lead the way or not."

Shen Yourong smiled and said, "Since it can catch people by surprise, it is of course the best."

After saying this, his expression became stern: "Pass on my order, weigh anchor, hoist sails, and march out of the gorge!"

The lights on the lookout were relayed again, and on the Zheng He, shouts were heard from under the front, middle and rear sails. As the propeller turned, the sail system using gears and pulleys was operated by the sailors to start hoisting the sails.

It is still in the Strait of Malacca, but is located between the main island of Sumatra and several offshore islands to the northeast.

The route was personally led by someone from Johor who was familiar with this area. The purpose was to allow the couple to take a short break after coming from the east side of the Strait of Malacca, and to celebrate the New Year here at the same time.

Here are the main forces of the South China Sea Fleet. There are four other main battleships of the South China Sea Fleet that are slightly inferior to the flagship Zheng He. In addition, there are ten other large and small warships and five highly flexible patrol ships. A total of twenty warships are sailing towards the northwest one after another.

After passing this small gorge, you will enter the main gorge of Malacca. If you go north across the strait, you can go straight to Malacca City.

On the bow tower, the navigation room was busy. The ship commander of the Zheng He was watching the fleet's full-time lieutenants who had graduated from Baijiayuan and studied in the Boyan Institute.

A man was busy using a specially made stargazer in a specially opened observation room in a corner of the watchtower. He kept talking, while another man next to him was placing a specially made ivory abacus needle.

Sextant, compass, star map, counting sticks...

"Ship order, at this time of year the tide is flowing eastward..."

Before the other person finished speaking, the stargazer suddenly said, "Venus enters the Pleiades!"

The ship commander also understood. He went over to see the direction that the person who was calculating had calculated after comparing the star map with the compass, and placed the ivory abacus on the sea chart. He looked at the direction pointed by the unicorn statue on the bow in front of the watchtower and the direction pointed by the abacus, and asked, "How much is it off?"

"We need to turn right twenty-three degrees and five minutes..."

"No hurry! There is a reef ahead that the patrol ship reported. What is the current speed of the ship?" He asked the question first, then pointed to a newly circled area on the nautical chart and looked at the time on the clock beside him. "Keep counting. Send an order..."

He delivered orders in an orderly manner, leading the entire fleet in the correct direction.

At this moment, twelve three-masted Fuzhou ships were entering the harbor in the morning mist. Under the gilded plaque of "Shunchang" on the bow, Chen Ahfu held a cloisonné snuff bottle and frowned at the Malacca Port Search Officer who was boarding the ship: "We are old friends. This time, I didn't spend the New Year at home. I just came to deliver the goods that we agreed with your Governor. I said we are here to trade Siamese fragrant rice. I wonder if it is ready here? If not, when we return to the port and are questioned by the Maritime Customs, we will actually come to Malacca in violation of the ban, and we will be sentenced to death!"

The interpreter quickly explained the situation, and the inspector looked at him, then at the many ships anchored behind him, and first took the exquisite snuff bottle in his hand and looked at it carefully. The exquisite porcelain from the Eastern Empire, although not a better set of objects, but this small thing is indeed more suitable for him to keep privately - many nobles also like to collect such amazing porcelain.

He nodded, kept talking, walked forward, and waved.

The interpreter said as they walked: "The ships of the enemy country still need to be carefully inspected. Although you have reached a tacit understanding with the Governor-General through special relations, and the transactions in the past two years have been very smooth, the additional taxes must not be reduced!"

"Of course, of course." Chen Ahfu nodded repeatedly, "But please search and pick them up. According to the agreement, each of our ships only carries a maximum of five shells per gun, just in case of any accidents during the journey..."

This Shunchang is indeed one of the foreign companies specially chartered by the Ming Dynasty to expand its business.

Although their main activities are now in Luzon, who knows that they have secretly come to Malacca and established a tacit understanding with the Portuguese?
"There are twelve ships this time?" The inspector continued to ask as he watched his men busying themselves. "I wonder how long it will take to check each ship one by one. It seems that you have made a lot of money in the past two years. The size of your fleet has more than doubled."

"It's all about risking your life," Chen Ahfu replied immediately. "Your country is stuck here, but occasionally some Spanish merchant ships come to Ming from the east. Many Ming officials and gentry are still excited to see the rare and special products of the West. But although we can sell rare goods at a high price, we have to take care of countless people. This time we contacted some more people and came together. Some of them are unfamiliar faces, so we will act as guarantors!"

As he spoke, he waved his hand, and his men brought over a large box and opened it.

"It's just a small token of my respect." He introduced, "One set of top-quality official kiln tea set and one serving of tribute tea. Thanks for your hard work. After the inspection, each person will also receive a piece of top-quality silk."

As for the inspector, he leaned over and said, "You have another box. When the ship docks, we will send someone to deliver it to your house when it is unloaded!"

The inspector then laughed happily, and the other people working on the site also smiled after hearing what the interpreter said, and their attitude towards the inspection became much more relaxed.

Arriving at the warehouse, the inspector still had a greedy look in his eyes when he looked at the boxes of silk, porcelain, and tea. Ever since the naval battle near the island east of Tokyo, the route that Portugal used to use Macau to trade with Ming and Japan has been cut off. Compared with the profits of trading in Japan, Ming, and then returning to Malacca, the profits brought by the private sea merchants in the Eastern Empire secretly coming here to trade are actually average. Although they can collect additional taxes and get some benefits, the situation is much worse than before.

This time, twelve ships of high-quality Ming Dynasty goods arrived at once, which would probably cause a sensation in Malacca soon.

"You came at the wrong time. Just like you in the East always have grand festivals during the coldest winter, many merchant ships returned home as early as last summer and autumn. If you want to trade all the goods on the twelve ships, you will have to wait here for at least two months."

The inspector looked at him with trembling eyes: "How about it? Can you afford to wait? Or lower the price, and I can find a buyer with financial resources for you first."

"… Your Excellency the Governor-General and the big trading companies with agents in Malacca, don't you have the financial resources to buy twelve ships of good goods at once?"

"Before returning, of course I bought a lot of spices. Why, you don't believe me?"

Seeing the embarrassed expression on the face of the Eastern Fleet's manager, he smiled complacently.

After hearing the report from his men, he found out that there was indeed only the agreed amount of gunpowder and shells in the ammunition depot. He looked at these Eastern merchants as if they were lambs to be slaughtered.

Greed is the original sin. Since you want to bring so many goods at once, you must take the risk of being undercut by others.

Portuguese merchants could no longer go to the Ming Dynasty to trade, and Ming merchants were not allowed to come. When they went out to sea to trade, they had to declare and limit the destination and the types of goods they carried on their return voyage, including the time limit within the normal range.

If you cannot return after the expiration date and use the excuse of encountering a storm at sea, even if you are understood, you will still be at risk of being fined or even having your sea trade license revoked.

The Portuguese in Malacca were also well aware of these regulations.

I heard that because the Eastern Empire was too large, their emperor was worried that maritime trade would be out of control, so their private maritime merchants were subject to many restrictions.

The search became more casual as they moved to the back of the ships, so much so that they did not notice the oily sheen on the ropes of the last three ships caused by condensed dew - that was the trace of kerosene.

When they arrived at the warehouse, they saw boxes that looked similar. After opening a few, they found that they were filled with the same cargo as the previous ship.

At this time, Chen Acai followed them all the way to the back and was already asking them to choose gifts from the three boats at the back.

The ship was bustling with activity, and no one noticed that on the sides of the three ships, there were twenty people holding bamboo tubes in their mouths, following the cables at the opening of the ship's guns and slowly diving into the winter water under the cover of the cargo ship in front.

The people in the cabin didn't hear any movement, and the patrols at the port dock didn't see them either.

In the water, there were clearly some wooden poles nailed to the bottom of the boat. They shouldn't have been there, and they would have affected the speed. But at this moment, it was just right for these people to hold on to one each, hiding under the water and breathing only through the bamboo tubes sticking out of the water.

After a long time, the ship's anchor was raised and the cargo slowly came to the shore.

Because these three ships carried many gifts for Portuguese officials and many other people in Malacca, they docked first and anchored between other ships already in the port and other Ming merchant ships.

It was already bright by this time.

On the sea southwest of Malacca City, Shen Yourong had already reached the taller stern of the ship.

His combat command room was located on the top floor, with windows on all four sides, allowing him to observe the situation on the entire battlefield.

The loud-voiced standard-bearer stood in the corner of the terrace outside.

"How far can their sentry boats and watchtowers see?" he asked. "Two years ago, a Fujian commander and a captain were beheaded, and an entire clan was wiped out. I wonder if the two lost telescopes have fallen into the hands of the Portuguese. I heard that Westerners also know how to make this thing, but not as good as the Ming Dynasty. It has been many years since the battle of Hetuala City. Now that they know that the Ming Dynasty has this magical weapon, they must be on guard."

Someone from Shunchang Bank replied and told Shen Yourong the information they had learned.

Shen Yourong nodded: "No matter what, deploy your troops and go over there. If the ships of your Takumi Tuanlian Company see any unusual movements in the port or the city, they will naturally take action. Use fire ships to seal the port, fight a quick battle outside the port, and then seal the port and besiege the city!"

The twelve ships were not really going to trade. They parted ways outside the eastern entrance of the Strait of Malacca and ventured directly to Malacca.

Now in the morning light, the South China Sea Fleet first circled to the southwest of Malacca City, and then turned and rushed towards Malacca City.

And in the strait further west of them, there were also some merchant ships sailing towards Malacca.

"Will the Portuguese allow us to trade?"

"Although they are still enemies, there has been a truce now. Moreover, their contact with Ceres was known to Spain, and the merchant ships returning to Lisbon were blocked by the Spanish fleet. I really don't know what they did. Since they wanted to use the power of the East, why did they anger the Eastern Empire and get defeated first?"

One of them sneered and held out his hand: "Are they just going to let the spices they have already obtained rot in Malacca? If they don't allow us to enter the port to trade, we have to consider the firepower of the Golden Hind! Not only us Dutch, but also the English fleet is following behind us. If they are still so stubborn, then it is not impossible to tear up the truce agreement in advance!"

Due to the distance, they could not see the Ming fleet in front of them.

Behind them, they knew about the existence of the English fleet. After all, when they left the last port, the English fleet had just arrived.

Some Portuguese nobles were planning to restore their country, but ended up losing everything. This incident has spread throughout Europe.

The Spanish certainly wanted to take the opportunity to completely replace the Portuguese colonial position in the East Indies, but they were pinned down in the Atlantic by the fleets of England and the Netherlands and could not move.

Then how could the merchant fleets of England and the Netherlands not take the opportunity to come to the East Indies to erode the interests of the Eastern routes?
"We come with a friendly attitude!" the man said expectantly, "The letter from the Eastern Emperor has been sent to Amsterdam. The seven provinces have agreed to send envoys to the Eastern Empire and pay rent to rent the Dutch trading house in their southern capital. Taking advantage of the monsoon, we will head to the Eastern Empire after arriving in Malacca. If we can get their approval, then from now on, the route to the Eastern Empire will be in the hands of us, the Netherlands!"

He was smiling: "By then, how can the Portuguese control Malacca? They should just stay in Goa. I heard that it is dirty and messy there. If they can see the situation clearly and join us to fight against Spain and England, it is not impossible to leave it to them."

All of a sudden, forces from all sides gathered here.

Shen Yourong didn't know that he advocated attacking at the right time.

At this time, the interpreter Fu, who did not go to Southeast Asia with the fleet, was anxiously waiting for the results of the battle in Nandu.

Although the chances of winning are very high, when going on an ocean expedition, who knows what might happen, or whether the weather will be favorable?

(End of this chapter)