Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 336 Pirates Descend from the Mountain and Rampantly Rob Money
In the dead of winter, the capital city was already a frozen wasteland.

The inner sea of ​​the Ming Dynasty has even begun to freeze over, especially the waters near the coast, where the ice layer is nearly a foot thick.

During this period in history, the capital region of the Ming Dynasty was devastated by the Jurchens, and the Ming inland seas were completely devoid of ships.

At this moment, the capital region of the Ming Dynasty was a scene of great prosperity, and the sea in the Ming Dynasty was filled with giant ships, making it extremely lively.

As for the ice on the sea, it doesn't affect the navigation of ships. The Ming Dynasty has long had icebreakers, and there are countless icebreakers patrolling back and forth near the ports and docks outside the Haihe River estuary.

The icebreaker's structure is actually quite simple; to put it bluntly, it's just a medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ship with a huge steel icebreaker wheel added to the front.

However, this simple thing has already undergone several improvements.

At this point, the icebreaker can not only break the ice, but also collect all the ice shards onto the ship.

As for how to load the ice crushing material onto the ship, it's not difficult at all. Just install a downward-sloping iron trough under the icebreaker wheel.

After the icebreaker breaks through the ice, it will scrape the ice fragments and seawater into the iron trough, and the gap between the iron trough and the icebreaker gets narrower as you go up.

In this way, seawater will flow away through the gaps, while ice shards will be scraped onto the ship by the icebreaker.

The icebreaker even had rows of horse-drawn railcars, and people on the deck were constantly pushing those railcars to the bow, filling one car and then replacing it with another, keeping the sailors on board extremely busy.

On the naval flagship at the port, Zhu Jue carefully observed the icebreaker's icebreaking process through binoculars, then asked, "Liangfu, can this icebreaker break through the solid ice on the river?"

Well, the ice on the river must be at least two or three feet thick.

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng said with some helplessness, "Your Majesty, these ice-breaking wheels are powered by steam engines, and the thicker the ice layer, the larger the ice-breaking wheels need to be."

Nowadays, even breaking through a layer of ice about one foot thick on the sea requires a large steam engine to power the icebreaker. River ice is often two or three feet thick, and in some places even four or five feet thick; the large steam engine-powered icebreaker can't break through it at all.

This steam engine can be made even bigger!

Zhu Jue pondered, "Right now, Liangfu is developing an extra-large steam engine. When the time comes, ask him to develop one for you too. No matter how big you need, just tell him."

"If the ice on the river could also be broken, water transport in the north wouldn't be cut off by the ice anymore. You can imagine the immense benefits that would bring, right?"

Steam engines can be built to any size you want!
Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng said with great interest, "That would be wonderful! If we could break through the ice on the river, not to mention the benefits of water transport, the money we could make just from selling ice would be unimaginable."

The ice on the sea is still somewhat salty, so it's unusable in many places. They can only store it in ice cellars near the port to chill seafood. Ice from a river, however, can be used anywhere.

This is a good business opportunity.

Nowadays, there are no air conditioners or refrigerators. In the sweltering summer, if you want to cool down or preserve fresh seafood and meat, you can only use ice.

Ice is not expensive, and as the income of the people of the Ming Dynasty gradually increases, the demand for ice will definitely continue to grow.

As they were discussing, Zheng Zhilong suddenly put down his binoculars, pointed to the distant sea, and said, "Your Majesty, Hong Kui has returned."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue immediately raised his binoculars and scanned the sea.

Sure enough, a dense patch of black dots had appeared on the sea surface, numbering in the tens of thousands.

At this point, only the American Fleet could have reached such a scale.

This is because the South Sea Fleet is mainly equipped with small Zhenyuan warships, medium Zhenyuan warships, medium Weiyuan warships, and large Zhiyuan merchant ships. The number of these ships is still limited. The small Zhiyuan merchant ships from the South Seas generally do not return with the fleet. Therefore, at this time, the South Sea Fleet only has three or four thousand large ships, while the American Fleet has more than five thousand ships.

Of course, in terms of combat strength, the American Fleet would never be able to defeat the South Sea Fleet, because the American Fleet only had a little over a thousand small Weiyuan warships, and the rest were all medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships, while the American Fleet had over a thousand small and medium-sized Zhenyuan warships.

Zhu Jue raised his binoculars and scanned the area carefully until the ships of the American fleet were visible to the naked eye. Then he put down the binoculars and ordered, "Zheng Hua, send someone to meet them and have Hong Kui come over."

Fang Zhenghua quickly clasped his hands in greeting, bowed, and took his leave.

Before long, the first group of Weiyuan warships of the American Fleet docked at the pier.

A moment later, Zheng Hongkui strode forward, cupped his hands, and bowed, saying, "This humble general greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Hmm, Hong Kui, you must be tired from your journey. How much gold and silver did you bring back this time?"

Well, you ask about gold and silver as soon as we meet. Does the inner court not need money?

Upon hearing this, Zheng Hongkui quickly explained in detail: "Your Majesty, in addition to the payment for the goods, Valdes also sent over ten million taels of gold and silver, saying it was for the purchase of ships. Therefore, the gold and silver I brought back this time are worth a total of over fifty million taels."

It seems the second batch of armed merchant ships and warships hasn't arrived yet; otherwise, it wouldn't be just over ten million taels more, but thirty to forty million taels more.

If only they could keep doing this ship-robbing business forever, they would never be short of money.

Unfortunately, the Dutch and British and French ships were limited, and they could not disrupt the balance of power in Europe. Moreover, the Spanish had so much gold and silver to buy warships because it was difficult to transport gold and silver back to their homeland during this period. If the sea routes had been opened, there would not have been so much gold and silver.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then raised his hand and said, "Hong Kui, come, take a look at the map."

Uh, look at the map?
Right now, I'm in charge of running the Americas route. I know this route like the back of my hand; I can run it without even looking at a map.

Does His Majesty intend for me to go somewhere else?

Upon hearing this, Zheng Hongkui was taken aback for a moment before carefully approaching the command table.

A world map was already laid out on the command table.

Zhu Jue pointed directly at the map and said, "We have already signed an agreement with Spain, and they have agreed to transfer this narrow strip of land to us."

Oh, so it turns out the Spanish ceded this narrow strip of land in the middle of the Americas to us.

The question is, what's the use of such a small area?

Upon hearing this, Zheng Hongkui carefully examined the map before cautiously asking, "Your Majesty, are there any gold, silver, or copper mines in this area?"

I have no idea about that.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly, then explained in detail: "We came to this place not to mine, but to extend our influence to the European seas."

Your eldest brother, second brother, and fourth brother will lead five hundred medium-sized Zhiyuan warships and five hundred medium-sized Zhenyuan warships to the western Americas and European waters to help the Spanish seize ships. This area is where I will land for them to dock, rest, and replenish their supplies and ammunition.”

Are my older brother and the others going to America too?

This meant the brothers would have more opportunities to meet. Upon hearing this, Zheng Hongkui couldn't help but reveal a hint of excitement.

However, this area seems to be deserted.

He thought for a moment before cautiously saying, “Your Majesty, it seems that the Spanish have not yet developed this area. I have passed through here many times, but I have never seen a single Spaniard, nor have I seen any ports, docks, or cities.”

They don't yet know the value of this area.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "It's good that there are no Spanish people in this area. We can just relocate our own population there to develop the area."

Right now, there are many ordinary people who want to migrate overseas to farm. At least tens of millions of people would have to be migrated from the Americas, and you would have to make two trips.

For your first trip, take around five million people to this area, including their living supplies and tents. Since you don't need to take much cargo to the Americas, a thousand or so small Weiyuan warships should be enough to carry it all.

"I'll provide you with another thousand medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships, adding to your existing four thousand-plus ships. That should be enough to transport over five million people, along with food, fresh water, supplies, tents, and so on. Is that alright?"

Uh, it transported more than five million people in one trip!
This is too big a scale; he hasn't even transported more than 500,000 people in one trip yet.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Hongkui paused for a moment before cautiously asking, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, what kind of supplies are these?"

Zhu Jue explained in detail: "The main living supplies are boilers, ice-cooling fans, and ice-making equipment made of saltpeter, as well as pots, pans, and clothing."

Pots, pans, and clothes don't take up much space or are heavy, but the key items are boilers, refrigeration fans, and saltpeter ice-making equipment. You need to transport 50,000 sets of these to more than 5 million people.

Fortunately, the weather is still relatively cool, so you don't need to bring saltpeter. You can arrange for the Zhiyuan merchant ship to transfer the saltpeter to them once you get there.

We also need to bring 50,000 sets of boilers, ice-cooling fans, and saltpeter ice-making equipment.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Hongkui cautiously said, "Your Majesty, if we bring so much stuff, we won't be able to carry much food and fresh water. Fresh water is fine, but if it really comes down to it, we can stop supplying it along the way."

The problem is food. A medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ship can only carry 1,500 to 1,600 shi of food. With so many people and so much stuff, it would be good if a medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ship could carry 1,000 shi of food. Even if more than 5,000 medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships were fully loaded, they could only carry more than 5 million shi of food.

The Americas are just too far away. Even if we traveled one way, it would take us more than a month. With so many people, the five million bushels of grain probably wouldn't be enough to feed them on the way.

Furthermore, I have hundreds of thousands of soldiers under my command. They need to eat along the way, and their food supplies will likely run out before they reach their destination. What will they do then?

This problem is not big.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "These five million people are not young and strong, but include men, women, and children, with the elderly, children, women and children making up the majority."

They don't consume much grain. If you tell them to eat sparingly, 2.5 million shi of grain a month will be enough. More than 5 million shi of grain will be enough to feed them for more than two months.

After you send them here, take your fleet to the Viceroyalty of Peru to transfer grain for them. Once the people and cargo are unloaded, it shouldn't be a problem for your more than 6,000 ships to transfer about 10 million shi of grain, right?

In this way, they will have enough food to eat for four or five months. Besides, they will also need to clear land and cultivate crops after they arrive there. Given the climate there, they may be able to harvest crops gradually over four or five months.

When you go there again, if their crops are not yet ripe, then transport some more to them. If their crops have gradually ripened and they have enough to eat, then there is no need to transport any more.

As for your soldiers, your elder brother and his men are carrying provisions. The medium-sized Zhenyuan warships can't carry much food, but the medium-sized Weiyuan warships can carry a considerable amount. Five hundred medium-sized Weiyuan warships could easily carry 1.5 million shi of grain, enough for the soldiers to eat on the road.”

This was also the main reason why he insisted that Zheng Zhilong wait until the fleet from the Americas returned before setting sail.

This time, they weren't just going to help the Spanish seize ships; they also needed to bring people over to develop the Central America region. If they waited until Zheng Zhilong led his fleet over before sending American ships to bring people over, who knows when the crops would be grown, and there wouldn't be enough manpower to build cities and ports.

After the American fleets returned and joined them in bringing people over, things were different. Not only were they able to develop the area more quickly, but they also had someone to guide them.

If we let them go there on their own, it would probably take them quite a while to find that place in Central America, and then it would take time to contact Wang Laiping, who was stationed in the Viceroyalty of Peru, or even the Spanish.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Hongkui roughly understood his task, and he nodded repeatedly, saying, "This subordinate understands."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then solemnly said, "Zhilong, after you go with Hongkui and the others, don't rush to find Valdes. They are the ones who should be in a hurry, not us."

Once you arrive, first settle the five million civilians, organize them to cultivate the land, and build cities and ports. After you've finished all that, go find Valdes and have him send men to take you to the western waters of America to seize ships.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

You still don't understand.

Zhu Jue then pointed to the map and explained in detail: "This time you will have to build at least two cities, one on the east coast and one on the west coast, as well as ports and docks, on both the east and west coasts."

As for the specific location, I will send Meng Hou's student to accompany you to survey it. We want to dig a canal in this area to connect the east and west coasts of America, so that you won't have to travel tens of thousands of miles back and forth.

"Also, after Hongkui finishes transporting the people, I will have him transport railway tracks and horse-drawn railcars over there. You also need to arrange for more people to lay more tracks over there to facilitate the transfer of supplies between the two sides. Do you understand?"

There used to be a canal to be built here!

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

There's also the issue of robbery.

Zhu Jue then instructed in detail: "After you lead the fleet to the western waters of the Americas, don't just follow the Spanish around aimlessly. Your main task is to plunder money, not to help them fight naval battles."

You must be careful not to be taken advantage of by them. Once you are familiar with the waterway with them, you can act on your own. Don't let them lead you by the nose.

Don't just focus on robbing their armed merchant ships and warships; rob their ordinary merchant ships too, and rob as many as possible.

The armed merchant ships and warships of the Netherlands and England and France are limited. After you plunder a thousand or so, you need to assess the situation. If the Netherlands and England and France go on a rampage to build armed merchant ships and warships, then you can continue to plunder. If they don't build too many armed merchant ships and warships, then you should focus on plundering their ordinary merchant ships.

In short, you must be careful to maintain a balance of power between the two sides. You cannot allow the Dutch and English/French forces to dominate the Spanish fleet, nor can you allow the Spanish to dominate the Dutch and English/French fleets.

Oh, so we also need to be careful to maintain a balance of power among them, right?
That's a bit difficult.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong slowly nodded and said, "Your Majesty, I will remember this."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then encouraged, "I believe you know better than I do how to snatch things, so I won't go into details. In short, just go ahead and snatch whatever you want, whether it's ships, cargo, or people."

We also need to seize their colonies. We will eventually take back all the colonies the Dutch, British, and French have seized in the western Americas. You need to investigate this and prepare in advance.”

Seizing ships, people, goods, and even territory is indeed my forte.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

(End of this chapter)