I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 467 Expedition Fleet
Zhu Houxuan nodded.
"I've also heard of this Wu Liangchen. He's Wu Liangshan's cousin. He's been sailing on the sea for more than ten years and is very famous among maritime merchants," Chen Hong continued.

"Okay, let them in," said Zhu Houxuan.

Chen Hong took the order and withdrew.

After a while, two men in their thirties came in. The common feature of these two men was that their skin was rough and dark, which was caused by their frequent life at sea.

After the two men entered the house, they paid homage to Zhu Houxun with great ceremony.

"Get up, don't be restrained." Zhu Houxuan said.

The two men stood up slowly, but they were still very nervous. They really didn't expect that they would be summoned by Zhu Houxuan in person.
One of them was from the Chen family in Fujian, and the other was from the Wu family in Guangdong. They were the two largest maritime merchants in the Ming Dynasty. They both understood what Zhu Houxuan in front of them meant to them.
Both families completely surrendered to Zhu Houxuan in the eighth year of Zhengde, and achieved tremendous development under Zhu Houxuan's support in the past seven years.
Zhu Houxuan has been developing the maritime force and has invested a huge amount of money in this regard. The maritime force under the Royal Group has increased several times in the past seven years. The Chen and Wu families have played a huge role in this process, and they have also reaped the biggest dividends from this development process.
Last year, Zhu Houxuan, against all odds, conferred the title of Xinghaibo on the head of the Chen family and Shenghaibo on the head of the Wu family. These two maritime merchant families suddenly became nobles of the Ming Dynasty, shocking the world.
This move made the Chen and Wu families grateful to Zhu Houxuan and they followed the Royal Group even more wholeheartedly.
Many people from the Chen and Wu families also hold important positions in the Royal Group and are closely tied to the Royal Group.
In fact, the cooperation between Chen and Wu and Royal Group is just a microcosm. Royal Group is quietly gathering the power of more businessmen.
"How is the preparation going?" Zhu Houxuan asked indifferently.

"Your Highness, after receiving your order, we have summoned the most experienced sailors, modified the six ships, and conducted corresponding training. I think we are ready," said Chen Lang after taking a deep breath.

"Hmm," Zhu Houxuan said without comment.
Chen Lang and Wu Liangchen were worried again.
"Have you practiced the muskets and new cannons?" Zhu Houxuan continued to ask.

"Yes! The muskets are really powerful. They can suppress the enemy during boarding operations. The new cannons are even more powerful. I have never seen such powerful cannons. If dozens of them are installed on each ship, there will be no need for boarding in naval battles in the future. We can just use cannons to bombard the enemy until they surrender." Wu Liangchen answered first.

There was a burst of light laughter from all around, and everyone present was amused by Wu Liangchen's contradictory words.
Wu Liangchen also realized his mistake, and his face suddenly became darker.
Zhu Houxuan was also amused and said, "Practice well. The fire guns are for you to defend yourself on the shore, and the new cannons are for you to defend yourself at sea. I hope you will never need to use them."

The new artillery is the famous red cannon in later generations. It is not difficult to make it with the current technical level of the Royal Group. The Guards cannot use it because there is no need for siege, so some were made for these expedition ships.

In fact, this expedition fleet was not equipped with many red cannons. The two ships were equipped with about ten each. After all, they were expedition ships, so a few for self-defense were enough.
The Royal Group has begun researching and manufacturing specialized warships, as the Portuguese in Southeast Asia seem to be restless recently.
"Come and tell me more about your plan," Zhu Houxun said as he ordered someone to bring a map and spread it on the table.

This is a map showing the coastlines of East Asia and North America.
This is also the advantage that Zhu Houxuan's super memory brings him. He can clearly recall the maps he has seen in his previous life.
If you can recall it, you can draw it naturally, so the accuracy of the various maps used by the Royal Group is beyond this era.
Chen Lang and Wu Liangchen looked at the map in front of them. Although this was not the first time they had seen this map, they were always very surprised every time they saw it.
They couldn't imagine that there was a huge continent to the east of Ming Dynasty.
If this had happened seven years ago, they would have considered it a joke. But after the Royal Group has continuously produced various navigation technologies and maps in recent years, they no longer have any doubts about what the Royal Group has produced.
The two carefully picked up the charcoal pencils and wrote and drew on the sea chart, introducing their sailing plan to Zhu Houxuan.
Zhu Houxuan listened carefully to their introductions and offered his opinions from time to time. Each opinion was quite insightful, which made the two men more awed by Zhu Houxuan.
"This voyage is different from the previous ones. We won't be able to see land for a long time, so we must make good preparations for storing and collecting fresh water," Zhu Houxuan instructed patiently.

The biggest problem in sailing these days is the storage of fresh water and the supplement of vitamins at sea.
Zhu Houxuan made corresponding preparations for this purpose.

The common practice of fresh water storage in this era is to use alcohol and vinegar to inhibit the growth of various bacteria in fresh water. This is also the reason why sailors often drank rum during the Age of Discovery, because they would produce a lot of rum every time they sailed, and they would drink it as fresh water. However, this method can only store water for a dozen days at most, and it will not work for longer than that.
Zhu Houxuan didn't have any particularly good ideas for fresh water storage.
So he had to start with collection. Zhu Houxuan specially had rainwater collection devices installed on each ship, and also installed a set of distillation equipment on each ship for emergency use.

For this purpose, he also replaced the ballast stones of the six ships with coal, but he did not dare to replace all of them. Instead, he replaced some of them in a dispersed manner. After all, a large amount of coal piled together might spontaneously combust, and if it did, it would be a lot of fun.
As for the supplement of vitamins, Zhu Houxuan had a batch of air-dried fruits and vegetables specially prepared. After eating, you can also use soybeans to sprout to supplement vitamins. It is relatively easy to supplement vitamins by drinking tea.
After some discussion, Zhu Houxuan was finally satisfied.
"This voyage is extremely dangerous. If you can lead the fleet to accomplish this feat, I will not hesitate to reward you. You will both be made earls. I hope you two captains will work hard." Zhu Houxuan looked at the two men closely and said
"Yes! We will definitely live up to your trust, Your Highness!" The two men said with great joy and excitement in their hearts.

In the spring of the 18th year of the Zhengde reign, Chen Lang and Wu Liangchen led six expedition ships to sail out from Jinshanwei (Dalian) and headed east. Zhu Houxuan naturally could not see them off, so he sent Chen Hong to see them off.
The game is so fun. I haven't written the two chapters I owe. I will try harder tomorrow.



(End of this chapter)