From Chief to Ball

Collected goods, hired employees, placed the middle-level of all parties, perfected supervision, recruited 800 militiamen, hired several retired military officers, and bought flintlock guns from Chen Jian's military workshop...

to the end of December.

The Great Wilderness fleet returned, luckily, quite smoothly.

The northern official fleet and soldiers also began to gather in Mincheng, and various selected craftsmen, apprentices, and scholars also bid farewell to their families.

The Lanfang and the four large ships were separated from the fleet and joined the circumnavigation fleet.

The cargo starts to be loaded on the ship, water and various supplies on the road are prepared, and the equipment is checked.

At the beginning of January, the Dahuangcheng Fleet departed from Turtle Island and met with the Global Navigation Fleet in Mincheng.

In addition to the Dahuangcheng fleet and the 40 ships planned to sail around the world, a fleet of more than [-] ships assembled in Mincheng.

The two fleets need to travel together for the time being. In addition to the personnel who sailed around the world normally, the fleet is also full of goods from the Nanyang Trading Company, which are temporarily transported by this fleet.

The third batch of immigrants transported by the Dahuangcheng Fleet was not much in number, mainly helping to transport some goods and more than 500 hired workers from Mincheng recruited by Nanyang Company who were familiar with building roads and buildings.

They won't go too far, but just go to the place in the south named Ziyou Port by Chen Jian to build forts and fortresses.

Chapter 19 Panic

Ziyou Port was not called Ziyou Port. Chen Jian discovered the island from other people's charts, and Chen Jian didn't pay attention to the original name.

Before the fog around the Republic opened, this island didn't have much strategic significance, but it's completely different now.

This place is about nine latitudes south of Mincheng. If the longitude is estimated, it should be between ten degrees and fifteen degrees west longitude, which can only be estimated.

Before the fog dissipated, this place was not on the main shipping lane, it was too far away from the Spanish mainland colonies, and it was not within the scope of the Indies, so there were not many people.

Maybe a fleet has come here, or maybe a pirate has anchored here, but everything is meaningless.

After the flag is planted and the location of the fort is selected, the previous history is in vain, and the previous name is no longer meaningful, and it will only be called Ziyou Port in the future.

Now this is a very important strategic support point, not far from the island colonies of Spain, and not far from the mainland colonies of Spain, it can be used as an important transit point.

The land on the island is fertile, suitable for tropical plantation, the water quality is clean, there is a natural harbor, and the water depth is more than [-] paces.

The mixed fleet landed at the port, and the skilled hirelings left to cut down trees and build shelters.

The people in the fleet temporarily rested on the island, and the draftsman began to draw a map around the island. The draftsman Wang Zhe, who didn't like to make noise, also went to sea with Chen Jian as a draftsman because of his relationship with Chen Jian.

A large amount of cement material on the ship was unloaded and stacked in the warehouses of several wooden houses that had been built. The two architects were also busy investigating the terrain and drawing the graphics of the fort and the fort.

The 500 full-time construction workers are here to build these things. In addition to forts and houses, they also need to build storage warehouses.

After all, there are nearly [-] or [-] latitudes away from Mincheng to the Spanish colonies, and price fluctuations are difficult to control. It is better to build a warehouse here.

After the 300 soldiers stationed on the island disembarked, Chen Jian discussed with the commander of the garrison and made many regulations.

Even with the habit of disinfecting powder and boiling water, diseases such as dysentery fever and other unacclimatized diseases will cause huge attrition, so we must be careful in everything.

This is the first official tropical settlement that must be secured as a model and a benchmark of future appeal.

Officers and some captains gathered beside Chen Jianjian, looked at the chart in Chen Jian's hand, and asked, "Mr. Chen, how should this island be managed?"

"Some plantations have been established on the island to ensure the food here. In addition, planting sugar cane is also a great income. This is no problem. We have just taken the first step now. We can't build this island too quickly. Let's talk about the forts and ports."

The captain asked, "Trade here?"

Chen Jian sighed and said, "No way. The Spanish royal family monopolizes trade, and it is said that no foreign ships are allowed to directly trade with their colonies. In the short term, we still have to rely on smugglers. The location of this island is very important."

Everyone looked at the sea chart, a little puzzled.

"If you start from Mincheng to trade with those countries in Europe, this can be the only way to pass. Therefore, whether it is our merchants or merchants from other countries, they must pass through here when they trade with us. The hijacking of pirates will affect the surrounding area. For trade, when the caravan matures, we must ensure that the surrounding sea area is clean. If you see one, kill one, and hang them all in front of the port to dry them into dried meat, so as to scare others."

"Pirates and smugglers are different after all. Smugglers need the most basic trust, and what they yearn for is peace. Pirates only judge success or failure by force, and they never need the most basic trust if they can rob. We will rely on smugglers for a while , which must be clarified.”

"If you go south to west, it is a Spanish colony. If you are lucky enough to sign a legal trade agreement that allows one ship a year, it is equivalent to opening the door to smuggling. Bad luck. …If you disagree, you can only make this place a trading place for smugglers. Before we master the language and contacts, most of the profits will be made by the moth smugglers in the Spanish colonies."

Several people looked at the sea outside the fleet and said with a smile: "There is not a single ship here except us."

Chen Jian also smiled and said: "Not now, but there will be in the future. This port allows all ships to berth, as long as they abide by the laws of the Republic within [-] miles around the sea area, they can stay."

"Including pirates?"

"It depends on the situation. Let's see how the negotiations with the Spaniards go. If the negotiations are good and they allow trade, we will naturally fight against pirates. If the negotiations are not good, this port can also become a future The weight of the negotiation."

"Weights?"

"That's right, if the pirates or privateers who rob Spain are attacked, they can run here. If the Spaniards enter the port to hunt them down, they don't take the Republic seriously, and it is naturally regarded as a declaration of war. They can only do Stare, watching this group of people running over."

Chen Jian pointed to the ships moored by the sea and said, "In the final analysis, it depends on our own strength. Our handicraft industry is well developed and can fully meet the needs of the colonies, so it is natural to talk about free trade. Conversely, if our handicraft industry is not developed Of course, free trade cannot be talked about. Similarly, if the fleet is strong, familiar with hydrology and geography, and rely on bribes and Spanish governors to build relationships, there is no need to rely on those smugglers for secondary schools. Conversely, there is no such condition now, You can only rely on smugglers."

"But where's the smuggler?"

"At sea. As we garrison here, claim it, and make it a free port, soon smugglers will flock here. Sharks smell blood, and they come; merchants, smelling profit, It will be the same. The Spanish colonies are much nearer from here than from Europe, and our goods are as good as European goods, and some are better. Merchants, no country."

"Then Mr. Chen, how long will it last for a part of the profits to be earned by them?"

"If everything goes wrong, it could be three years or more than ten years. If everything goes well, it might be one or two years. It depends."

"You mean the negotiations with Spain?"

"More than that. Even if it is discussed, it is unlikely that we will be allowed to trade directly. It may be another kind of monopoly trade. Using the Diaoyu Islands as a transit, the royal family's franchise trade, we can smuggle and so on. It will not be so easy."

"Why should we agree?"

"No way, we are the ones who want to trade. Without us, their monopoly trade will make a lot of money. Asking for help is always lower than being asked."

A group of people laughed, Chen Jian shook his head and said, "Don't laugh, this matter is troublesome."

In fact, it is far more troublesome and complicated than these people think.

The Spanish government is about to go bankrupt again, and they will try their best to collect money, and they will never give up such things as monopolizing trade.

Furthermore, such a behemoth suddenly appeared in the north of the colony, and the Spaniards would be very panicked if they wanted to come.

The world line he is familiar with is about to change, and some things are hard to predict.

Chen Jian didn't want to act as a shield for the Dutch and those Protestant countries, but peace was achieved through struggle. When necessary, releasing news that he would sign an arms trade agreement with the Dutch could also be used as a weight.

Will it just arouse the vigilance of the Spaniards, so that a large part of their attention will be concentrated here?After all, this is the silver producing area of ​​Spain, if there is a problem here, there will be a big problem in Spain, this is very unreasonable.

Likewise, problems can arise on the east side as well.

Such a deformity suddenly appeared. If the handicraft industry here can meet the needs of the Spanish colonies and Europe, including raw silk, cotton cloth, tea, etc., some things cannot move along the original world line.