Global colonization began with Ming Dynasty pirates.

After finalizing the plan to recruit subordinates from Yiwu, both the old man and Lin Hao were very happy.

The old man felt that he had finally done something for his hometown and found a way out for the young people there.

The old man was reluctant to let people from his hometown come here, mainly because he felt that this line of work wasn't very legal.

But now, with Lin Hao spending thousands or tens of thousands of taels of silver at a time, the old man also wanted his fellow villagers to benefit from it, so he couldn't care less about anything else.

Lin Hao was also very happy. With these excellent soldiers, his strength would expand further, and his grand plan was gradually being realized. This feeling made Lin Hao extremely excited.

......

"Is Mr. Guo settled in?" Lin Hao asked loudly from outside a wooden house.

A moment later, the shipwright who had been arrested earlier appeared at the door.

Upon seeing Lin Hao, he dared not be negligent and stepped forward respectfully to greet him, saying, "Greetings, young master. Thank you for arranging the room. My family is all settled in."

As Guo Kai spoke, the little boy from before looked over through the window. Lin Hao made a face, scaring the boy away immediately.

After teasing the child, Lin Hao turned to look at him seriously and said, "I hope Mr. Guo won't find this place too simple."

"I don't mind, I don't mind. It's much better here than being a prisoner. Besides, young master, you can just call me by my real name. I'm just an ordinary craftsman, and I don't deserve your title, sir." Guo Kai replied timidly.

He dared not express any disdain; the other party was a pirate, and he was already doing well to keep his life. He dared not hope for more.

"My Lin family values ​​talent most. Since you are knowledgeable in shipbuilding, you are naturally my teacher," Lin Hao replied with a smile, then extended his hand in an inviting gesture, "Mr. Guo, would you like to accompany me for a walk?"

Seeing Lin Hao's respect for him, Guo Kai felt a strange sensation.

He had never been so valued in all these years. Even in his previous shipyard, despite being the only senior shipwright, he still held a lowly position.

Being bossed around by the boatman was commonplace, simply because he was still a fugitive craftsman and had nowhere else to go.

After the ship owner was arrested, his entire family was also punished with hard labor, and eventually they were robbed by pirates.

He thought his whole family was doomed, but to his surprise, the pirate captain was so polite to him. Although his men were fierce and ruthless, none of them were as unruly as the previous constables.

Not only that, once they arrived on the island, they were given cloth, salt, and a large piece of meat, which puzzled Guo Kai. He didn't dare to refuse Lin Hao's invitation and quickly nodded and followed.

"Mr. Guo, what kind of ships have you built before?" Lin Hao led Guo Kai on a slow walk along the beach, where busy figures could be seen everywhere on the island.

As the Lin family's influence in the area gradually deepened, more and more people came to the island to work. In addition, with the addition of the several hundred newly captured government troops, the small island was crammed with people and appeared extremely crowded.

The good thing is that everything is progressing very smoothly, especially the village. After being besieged once, the village walls were reinforced again, and more than ten houses were being built in the village at the same time.

Before long, a village that can accommodate a thousand people will be fully formed.

"Reporting to you, young master, I have built all kinds of boats in the shipyard before, including large-scale boats, haicang boats, grass boats, bird boats, and monk boats. It mainly depends on what the client needs," Guo Kai said knowledgeably.

These words surprised Lin Hao, who then nodded and said, "Mr. Guo is truly a genius for building so many different types of ships."

"Young master, you flatter me. My family has been in this business for generations, and these ships all come from the Fujian shipbuilding system, so there's not much difference between them." Guo Kai spoke with considerable confidence, and then began to explain the differences between the various ship types to Lin Hao.

Lin Hao listened and nodded. He naturally already knew these things, but hearing them from the shipwright's mouth gave him a different feeling.

After Guo Kai finished recounting everything in great detail, Lin Hao nodded and asked again, "Sir, have you ever built Western ships?"

"Western ships? Young master, you mean those barbarian deck boats? I did build one before," Guo Kai replied after a moment's thought.

"Huh?" Lin Hao stopped abruptly. He had only asked casually, but he hadn't expected the other party to actually have done it. At this moment, Lin Hao turned around and began to re-examine the other party.

Lin Hao had initially thought he was just an ordinary shipwright, but now he was quite impressed.

"Sir, it's quite remarkable that you've even built plank boats. Please tell me more about it." Lin Hao found a rock on the beach and then sat down to talk with the other person.

"Our shipyard often takes on the repair of other ships, so we've also come into contact with those barbarian ships. A few years ago, our boss ordered us to build a ship in the shape of a barbarian plank boat, and I was in charge of all of that," Guo Kai explained, standing next to Lin Hao.

"Mr. Guo, you don't need to stand. Sit down and talk. Is this the only ship you've ever built? How big is it?" Lin Hao continued to ask.

"Thank you, young master. I'm used to standing, so I'll stay standing."

Guo Kai waved his hand awkwardly, then continued, "This is the only ship I've ever built, a large ship of 1,000 liao. However, this type of ship is quite resource-intensive to build, and the keel requirements are very high, unlike our Fujian ships, where we can use any suitable piece of wood to make the keel."

At that time, the size of ships in the Ming Dynasty was calculated using "liao," which is the carrying capacity. One liao could theoretically carry one shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice. A large ship with a capacity of 1,000 liao was roughly equivalent to a full-load displacement of 200 to 300 shi, which was not small along the coast of the Ming Dynasty.

"In Mr. Guo's opinion, what are the differences between these Western ships and our Ming Dynasty ships?" Although Lin Hao had done a lot of research in the past few years, it was still just theoretical, so he wanted to hear the opinion of a professional.

"Young master, the construction method of this plank ship is completely different from that of ships in our Ming Dynasty. It requires a very strong keel and is built using the close-rib construction method, which uses a lot of materials."

They were difficult to build, but they weren't as good as our Fujian ships for transporting cargo. They didn't use watertight compartments, and their overall sturdiness was far inferior to that of the Fujian ships. The only advantage they had was that they could withstand greater artillery impacts.

Guo Kai said with a hint of disdain, "This ship was expensive to build and labor-intensive. After we finished building it, no one wanted to buy it. In the end, the owner had to drastically reduce the price to sell it. Since then, our shipyard has never built a similar ship again."

Guo Kai's dismissive attitude toward Western ships surprised Lin Hao, but he quickly understood.

These Western ships were specifically designed for long-distance ocean voyages and carrying cannons, but in the East, there was no such need.

The Ming Dynasty's maritime merchants conducted business near their home, primarily sailing in coastal waters, with the furthest they ventured being Southeast Asia. Their requirements for ships were that they be scuttlerable, capable of carrying large amounts of cargo, and require as few crew members as possible.

In this respect, Fujian-style ships perfectly meet these requirements.

Westerners, on the other hand, had to travel thousands of miles to trade with the Ming Dynasty, and they also had to face increasingly powerful pirates and imperial privateer fleets. The emergence of the new ship type was inevitable, and there was no question of superiority or inferiority between the two sides.

Unfortunately, as the Ming Dynasty deepened its involvement in Western trade, both sides gradually learned from each other, and the Ming Dynasty eventually developed its own ocean-going vessels. However, all of this came to an abrupt end with the sinking of China.