Chapter 21, Twenty-seven moments in the fourth year of Chongzhen (Twenty-one)
Moment 21: When Australians meet Australians
The "Australian" base camp in Lingao County, Hainan Island, the residence of the Senate, Bairen City
According to the views of some European "international observers" at this time and space, a European-style "council" system was implemented among the five hundred "Australian elders" in Lingao. Formally, all senators enjoy the same political status and form an institution called the "Senate". Theoretically, all major policies must be decided by a vote of the Senate. But in fact, since it is impossible for the five hundred elders to hold general meetings every day, there are ten more senior "executive members" who actually hold all the power, forming a highest power circle similar to the ruling cabinet.
And the top of this circle is naturally the head of the ten elders of the Executive Committee—the ever glorious, great, and correct Chairman Wen Desi!
However, the ever glorious, great and correct Chairman Wen Desi was standing in the office of his Executive Committee Chairman with a sad look on his face.
On the wall in front of Chairman Wen Desi hung a huge map, with red flags marking the ever-increasing territory under the Senate's name - so far, after three years of conquest and expansion, Hainan Island, Taiwan Island and half of Fujian Province have become The actual territory of the Senate, even excluding those "wild areas" that cannot be effectively controlled, the actual territory it controls reaches more than 40,000 square kilometers, which is almost different from the mainland of the Dutch Republic in this era. It can be said that it already has a territory The foundation for striving for hegemony in East Asia. In addition to this core territory, there are also a series of important strongholds such as Hong Kong Island in Guangdong, Hongji Coal Mine in Vietnam, and several islands along the coast of Fujian and Zhejiang, forming a strong chain that firmly restricts the movement from North Vietnam to Jiangsu. The mainland coastline, the northernmost tentacle on mainland China, has reached the Haizhou Huaguo Mountain at the junction of Sulu and Shandong.
Outside of this island chain stronghold, the Ryukyu Kingdom has in fact become a vassal of the Senate. Japan's Satsuma Domain has been defeated and surrendered, and the Choshu Domain is the Senate's most important ally in Japan - since defeating Zheng Zhilong, the Senator has The hospital is already the well-deserved maritime overlord of the entire East Asia!
——I remember that when Britain was still the empire on which the sun never set, Jevons, a famous British economist at that time, once proudly boasted: "...the plains of North America and Russia are our cornfields. Canada and the Baltic Sea are our lumberyards, UM Peru is our silver mines, South Africa and Australia our gold mines, India and China our tea base, the East Indies our sugar cane, coffee and spices, and the American South our cotton Plantation..."
And today’s Chairman Wen Deji can also proudly declare: “…Siam (Thailand) and Annam (Vietnam) are our rice fields; Japan is our gold, silver and copper mines, and also cannon fodder samurai the army-raising places; the chiefs of Malacca and Sumatra supplied us with slaves; the Batavia The Dutch are our contractors, and the primitive and wild Taiwan is our lumberyard; the densely populated Guangzhou and Jiangnan bring us tea and silk, and are also our commodity dumping markets; and China, which has experienced repeated disasters, provides us with a steady stream of supplies. Send people and provide labor..."
Overall, the situation in the Lingao Senate seems to be very gratifying, but in the eyes of Chairman Wen Desi, there are many threats and hidden dangers of all kinds - in fact, since the launch of the time-travel undertaking, all strategies The plan has always been in a derailed state of "the plan cannot keep up with the changes".
First of all, there is the early advancement and rise of Huang Shi, a younger generation - it is really unimaginable that he would go wrong during the collective travel and fall alone to ten years ago. What’s even more incredible is that this young man who was originally only good at writing in one stroke, after experiencing several years of hard life in Liaodong, was completely transformed and became a world-famous and powerful general; sweeping across Liaodong. Invincible, Huang Gongbao and Marshal Huang broke into the enemy camp and killed the slave chief alone! Not only did he have an elite army in his hands, but he also occupied a large territory in Fujian Province after being ordered to transfer to the south. Not long after the Fengcheng ship carrying five hundred travelers arrived in Lingao, it received Huangshi's envoy and secret message...
For the newcomers to Lingaozhong, having such an influential and powerful faction join them at the beginning of the time travel was certainly an added advantage, but the resulting power redistribution problem caught Chairman Wen Desi, who was originally strategizing, unprepared... In the end , the Executive Committee, as the actual highest authority, had to have an additional position, and various factional disputes immediately emerged within the Senate. As one of the five hundred time travellers, Marshal Huangshi also had many problems. There are a few friends who can lend a helping hand. As the supreme authority of Chairman Wen Desi was shaken, small groups formed by various cliques within the time travelers also surfaced one after another, eager to compete for various rights to speak, causing the Chairman a headache.
——No matter what kind of deified propaganda was carried out among the indigenous people and "naturalized people" in the Ming Dynasty, among the five hundred travelers who were really crucial, Wen Desi was unlucky to have none from the beginning. Absolute prestige and power, its prestige and real power are only equivalent to those of ordinary company CEOs. Although Chairman Wen Desi has never considered himself to be a cold-blooded strongman like Hitler or Stalin, nor does he have any intention of wearing a yellow robe and proclaiming himself a king, nor can he raise a butcher knife and cleanse fellow travelers to centralize power, the current situation is still It made him uncomfortable.
Fortunately, although Wen Desi could not turn the Executive Committee into his own hall, there are basically no such stupid jokes among the "Executive Committee members". Under the banner of conquering the world, basically no one is willing to turn the Senate into It will become the Legislative Yuan of Taiwan in later generations, so there will be no trouble in strategic and tactical decision-making. At least for a long period of time, there should be no need to worry about the internal unity of Lingao travelers
Secondly, they discovered that they were not alone in this world - Huang Shi from Fujian who had already returned to the team and Zhang Wei from Taiwan who voluntarily surrendered were not mentioned for the time being. Soon after the intelligence forces of the Lingao Senate infiltrated into Macau, they I was shocked to find that the Portuguese in Macau were actually helping the two "Oriental immigration countries" in America to recruit Ming Dynasty refugees! Based on some "Made in Gorgeous" and "Made on the East Coast" small commodities obtained from the Portuguese, the Lingao traversers who originally thought highly of themselves could not help but discover to their dismay that two other groups of traversers had already arrived in this world!
Fortunately, due to the poor transportation capacity of the Portuguese people at this time and the long sea journey from East Asia to the east coast of America, such an ultra-long-distance population business can only transport more than a thousand people per year, so it has not affected the Lingao Senate's support for the time being. Recruitment of refugees. Also due to the long geographical distance, the two Chinese traveler countries in the Americas seem to be unable to interfere with the changes in the situation on the East Asian continent and pose no threat.
However, the group of American travelers far away on the other side of the earth can be ignored for the time being, but other travelers who appear in the territory of the Ming Dynasty must be treated with caution. For example, Dengzhou Town, which is located in the Shandong Peninsula, has already started to compete with Lingao Chuanchuang Group in the cigarette business in Jiangnan. Regarding how to deal with this force, the Senate still has different opinions and no conclusion yet, but everyone basically knows: if the time-travelers who formed Dengzhou Town can be included in the Senate, they will definitely be able to provide the Senate with a northern strategy. A huge boost. But if they become enemies, then this warlord force that is quite good at fighting will also become a troublesome stumbling block on the Senate's journey.
As for other sporadic "suspected" time travellers, there are even more. However, due to the distortion and distortion in the process of information dissemination, it later turned out that almost all were false alarms and misjudgments - the troubled times of the late Ming Dynasty linked to the Global Age of Discovery , was originally an era of mavericks and the spread of Western learning to the east. Officials in the imperial court had converted to God and became Christians, and the people were filled with countless non-mainstream people who behaved strangely. What's even more terrible is that because Huangshi's ten-year time travel career has greatly changed history, even if we find situations that are inconsistent with the history books, it may not mean that there is a problem.
In this regard, the Lingao Traveler Senate has no good solution. They can only take it one step at a time, and then decide what to do after seeing it.
Next, the "real Australians" suddenly arrived - when they accidentally received the wireless telegram from Australia at the end of last year, it really shocked the 500 people in Lingao: The modern all-metal 10,000-ton sailing ship crossing Australia, the unlucky life crossing Australia, the global voyage of South America's "East Coast Republic of China"... and the Polish expedition trying to colonize Australia? ! ! This is quite a bit of information!
Although it feels strange why the Poles also come to play the great voyage - just as when mentioning Russia makes people think of Bodega, Siberia and the Arctic Ocean, mentioning Poland only makes people think of winged cavalry and super gorgeous His suicidal nature has absolutely nothing to do with things like navigation and colonization. But this happened in another isolated and wild continent thousands of miles away, so in addition to continuing to maintain radio contact with Australia and the East Coast Country expedition fleet arriving in Australia, the "pseudo-Australians" in the Lingao Senate also did not Too much attention is paid to this.
After all, there are still a lot of troubles and chaos around them. If they worry about these distant things all day long, they no longer need to worry about anything else.
But now, the "pseudo-Australians" in the Lingao Senate can no longer put this trouble aside.
——According to the information exchanged in the wireless telegram, as Australia enters the rainy season, the tide rises again, and the "real Australians" and their big ship will soon be able to escape from the shoals of the lagoon. After the East Coast country's global expedition returned to the capital of Uruguay, it immediately caused a huge sensation in the country. It quickly assembled a second, larger expedition fleet, which just arrived in Australia a few days ago... And prepare to participate in the "Australian Public" After the 10,000-ton ship "Cosco Star" was renovated, the two parties headed north to visit Batavia to establish trade relations with the Dutch colonists there. If possible, the joint fleet might go further north to recruit people along the coast of China. Displaced people and purchasing supplies.
This earth-shattering news caused a sudden chaos in Lingao - the "time-traveling senior" who was originally far away was actually bringing a warship to his own territory? Hey, hey, this chess game of the Ming Empire has been messed up enough, why do you still want to get involved?
What's even worse is that if those "real Australians" drove their 10,000-ton giant ships to Batavia, talked about their origins with the local Dutch and Chinese businessmen, and did not talk to Lingao in advance If the confession is correct, then the "Australian visitor" identity fabricated by Lingao Chuanyuan will be exposed, or at least the two sides will be wrong, and eventually cause a big joke. But the Lingao Senate could not stop the departure of the "Australians" and the East Coast Fleet. It could not say: "We have already used the name Australians. If you appear in front of the Dutch again, you will be in trouble, so Please continue to hunt kangaroos in the Australian wilderness and watch the stars as Flintstones, and never come into contact with the Eastern and Western civilized worlds”?
——Such shameless words, even if I can say it shamelessly, Australia will definitely not listen!
"...Oh, I really regret that I just slapped my forehead and casually claimed to be Australian! Now I don't know how to face people from Australia! Why didn't I think that I could claim to be from Antarctica? What about? At least emperor penguins don’t talk nonsense with others..."
Chairman Wen Desi unbuttoned his clothes irritably, stood up and opened the window. The fresh sea breeze blew in from the coastal window, which had a somewhat cooling effect. But there were probably cicadas or insects similar to cicadas in the green belt bushes outside the window. Anyway, the sound was so noisy that people almost subconsciously ignored it and it never stopped. When the window was opened, the noisy insects became even louder.
The noisy sound of insects made Chairman Wen Desi couldn't help but cover his ears, and also made everyone staying indoors to discuss countermeasures feel more and more irritable.
"...How about we spread the word to the outside world that a natural disaster hit Australia and Song Dynasty, and we were forced to move the whole country. We don't want our homeland to be stolen by pirates. How about that?"
The speaker was Dai E, the deputy of the Taoist Council of the Lingao Senate and one of the five hundred time traveler elders. When Taoist Master Dioquanzi is away, he is solely responsible for the educational activities of the Lingao Taoist Council. Including health propaganda, literacy classes and calling on natives to be loyal to the Senate, etc. Recently, a missionary booklet about the new Taoist classic "Dongyuan Shenmantra" was printed, which excerpted the myth of "five hundred immortals descending to earth in a large iron boat to save the end of the world" (according to the "Australian Catholic Church" It was five hundred angels who descended to earth, leaving believers confused by the contradictory statements from both sides).
However, with the emergence of "real Australians", these missionary myths full of errors were immediately in danger of being completely exposed.
"...What? You just call them pirates? How can those Australian compatriots agree? Please be more realistic!"
Sitting on a small sofa drinking tea, the Prime Minister of the Central Government Affairs Council, Ma Qianzhu, whose online name is "Supervisor", couldn't help but rolled his eyes and complained to Dai E, who took it for granted, "...What's more, now we don't even have a formula ourselves. Produce a unified standard background information - your new Taoism has a version of five hundred immortals descending to earth, the Catholic Church has a version of five hundred angels to save the world, and then there are There is a version about the descendants of powerful Australian and Song Dynasty officials who failed in the court struggle and went into exile, plus a version about the survivors of the catastrophic disaster at the end of the Australian and Song Dynasty empire who escaped back to their homeland... I have heard so much about it in the Lingao market alone, and those comrades who were sent abroad Don’t you know what you are talking about with the Vietnamese, the Ming Dynasty and the Dutch? This issue must be taken seriously immediately!”
Regarding Ma Qianzhu's above statement, everyone in the audience also nodded. However, although they all looked serious on the surface, they actually didn't care about the matter very much in their hearts: "Australian mythology" has reached this point now. After a while, it actually doesn’t matter whether you are a gangster or not | ——Lingao’s time-travelers have already established a foothold in the border corners of the Ming Empire. The existence of the Australian country cannot shake the foundation of this time-travel group. Just like the rise and failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement in the late Qing Dynasty, they are all far away. The Catholic Church in Europe has nothing to do with it.
However, for the current Executive Committee, or Chairman Wen Desi, the bankruptcy of "Australian Myth" is tantamount to giving the various factions within the Senate a target for criticism, which will inevitably lead to the Executive Committee being criticized within the Senate. China's prestige further declined. For the work of the propaganda and education department, it is really a big blow - no one can tell what consequences the bankruptcy of ideology will bring.
Fortunately, there is still a chance to remedy the situation - Chairman Wen Desi finally decided to send a telegram to the Australian side to explain the matter, hoping that the other party would help cover it up... Soon after, the call back came, and the Australian side agreed to negotiate on the matter. , but because there are too many issues involved, I am afraid that they cannot be explained clearly in a short message, so face-to-face communication is required. In addition to unified external publicity, Australia's image must also be taken into account...
"...Isn't Ping Qiusheng's trading fleet still in Hongji? Let him not have to go to Thailand and wait for the Australian fleet in Batavia in advance!"
Chairman Wen Desi proposed this, "... Now please show your hands to vote... Very good, passed! Now organize a diplomatic delegation and take the fastest ship to Hongji to meet with Ping Qiu Sheng's fleet. ! Of course, before setting off, you have to inform the Dutch East India Company’s trade representative in Lingao to avoid misunderstandings. In addition, the navy also tries to gather a few warships to strengthen the diplomatic delegation..."< br>
"...So what should we do with the four versions of our own background? Which version should we discuss with Australia?" Premier Ma Qianzhu asked.
"...It's too late, let the delegation discuss it slowly on the ship! Anyway, it will take a long time to get from us to Batavia..."
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Vietnam, Hon Kei Fort (near Haiphong Port in the modern Republic of Vietnam, close to the famous tourist attraction Halong Bay)
After several years of construction and development by future travelers, Hongji Fort, which was originally just a coal mine, has become a mining city and trade center under the protection of a military fortress. The scale of the coal mine extends further and further, and Vietnamese miners under its jurisdiction The number of people is also increasing rapidly, and there are people who are unable to eat every day. The poor Vietnamese in the heart of the country came from far away to seek refuge - the brutal civil war between the Zheng family and the Nguyen family warlords, and the resulting heavy taxes, had made these ragged farmers almost desperate, and they went to Hong Gi to earn money through mining. Food is the last straw in their minds.
At the same time, the goods in the Hongjibao Trade Zone are also dazzling. Currently, commodities with overcapacity in Lingao and the mainland, such as salt, sugar, and patent medicines, are being dumped. In addition, Lingao’s traditional advantageous products, glassware, Crystal mirrors, bone china, and other items that are extremely scarce in Vietnam Light industrial products - shoes, umbrellas, fans, hats, etc. are also available, making Hongjii a big place on the Red River Estuary Delta. All kinds of merchant ships dock at Hongjii Port, mainly Chinese businessmen. I was originally doing business along the Beibu Gulf.
With the increasing prosperity of trade and the continuous inflow of a large number of refugees, Hongji's shipping companies and warehouses have also been established one after another. A large number of small-tonnage ships travel between Lingao and Hongji every week. These ships are mainly engaged in: The trade of light industrial products sometimes provides valuable shipping capacity for Vietnamese rice. With the expansion of the supply chain, "Australian goods" completely occupied the market in the entire Red River Basin almost overnight. Even in remote places near Laos, small traders of various ethnic groups continue to bring the goods that "Australians" need from the inland. Potash mines, trade in the market at Hon Kei Port. The large influx of cheap industrial products into the market has even begun to have an impact on the economic structure of northern Vietnam.
Even Runshitang, which sells Chinese patent medicines in partnership with "Australians", opened its semi-colon to the "castle town" of Honji Fort half a year ago - it is more convenient to transport goods to Southeast Asian countries from here, and the Red River itself is also a central There is a great market for dumping patent medicines. Since the Hongji branch of Runshitang opened, it has made no less than 30,000 taels of silver just from the two flagship products of Biwen Powder and Zhuge Xingjun Powder for relieving summer heat.
Generally speaking, the situation on Hongji's side is not a little good, but a great one, and it is almost making rapid progress. In addition to urban hardware construction, cultural construction as "soft power" has not been relaxed either - the Lingao Senate reached a guiding opinion at a recent conference, that is, regardless of Koreans or Vietnamese, there are already people in this time and space. A considerable degree of Sinicization. Without the influence of Western civilization and the decline of China's national power, this process would not be reversed. Therefore, when treating the people in these areas, they must be regarded as the direct population under the control of the Senate and can be taught. of native people.
Therefore, Hongji Fort should also set up basic cultural and educational facilities such as schools and hospitals to lay the foundation for the thorough "civilization" of the local area - many poor Vietnamese who come to Hongji to work as miners are bringing their families with them, and there are many children. If the elders If the hospital can provide unified education to their children, then after these children graduate from school, they will become the vanguard of the Senate to advance into Southeast Asia in the future. Although the new school in Hong Kai has not yet been completed and only offers a Chinese character literacy class, some of the Vietnamese children who were previously selected to return to Lingao to attend school have already returned after completing their studies.
Thirteen-year-old Ruan Bicheng is a native of Hong Kei. This is his hometown. His parents originally made a living by farming and fishing, but later they became "naturalized citizens." A year ago, he and dozens of other Vietnamese children from Hongji won the favor of the "Australian chief" and were selected to be sent to the national school in Lingao.
Like most students in national schools, Ruan Bicheng was suddenly overwhelmed by countless knowledge that he had never imagined when he came to Lingao. During this year in school, he was like a sponge, absorbing all the knowledge, and he was actually learning. In addition to Mandarin and Chinese characters, he also passed a second-class diploma - such academic performance is extremely difficult for many children from ordinary families in the Ming Dynasty. For a Vietnamese child, it is even more of a miracle.
Such outstanding academic performance made a patriarch in charge of education look at this Vietnamese child with admiration and gave him a formal name, Ruan Bicheng. He originally wanted to name him Ho Chi Minh, but was dissuaded by another senator, saying That name was too ostentatious, so he changed it to Ruan Bicheng - which made the thirteen-year-old child feel extremely excited and excited about it. This time when the Trade Department of the Lingao Senate dispatched trade fleets to Southeast Asian countries, they brought him, a native of Southeast Asia, aboard the ship in the name of an intern, so that Ruan Bicheng could go home and visit his relatives.
However, walking on the streets of Hong Kai and looking at the bustling market, Ruan Bicheng found that he became a little afraid of recognizing himself:
"...It has only been a year, and in the hands of the leaders, Hongji has changed again!"
Just one year later, the city appearance of Hongji has been completely different. Ruan Bicheng clearly remembers that when he left, the miners gathered in Hongji were still a group of scruffy guys with scanty clothes and skinny bones. But almost everyone I see now is fully dressed. Even though some people were shirtless due to the hot weather, at least everyone had shoes, whether they were straw sandals or cloth shoes.
The originally dirty and dilapidated shanty town has become like a city - in general, the layout of the market streets in Hongjibao is completely based on the replica of Lingao Dongmen Market, of course it is smaller in scale Much more. At present, Honji Fort itself and the surrounding commercial and light industrial zones have completed basic ground hardening. The cleanliness and cleanliness of the streets alone have greatly exceeded all the large and small towns in Le Chao, Vietnam.
In the shops along the street, you can find all kinds of sugar, salt and daily necessities that are most in short supply in Vietnam. With the development of light industry construction, Hainan Island’s daily necessities production capacity has experienced explosive growth. A large number of bamboo, rattan and paper The products not only meet the needs of Hainan Island, but also source A steady stream of goods were transported to the mainland. When the market research report of Hon Kei Fort revealed that Vietnam lacked the manufacturing capacity of daily necessities, the Ministry of Colonial Trade, which immediately discovered the business opportunities, immediately organized a large number of products such as shoes, socks, clothing, hats, umbrellas and folding fans to be exported to Hon Kei Fort. base, which also includes a large number of rattan shell thermos bottles.
Thermos bottles originally did not have a big market in Vietnam. Apart from making tea, there is not much demand for boiled water here. But when the market in Hon Gi Bao officially started selling ice cubes, the situation completely changed. Ice cubes and thermos bottles immediately became the most respectable enjoyment items for gentlemen from all over the Le Dynasty in North Vietnam. Now even the Le Dynasty’s Even the emperor has used Australian products like this - Vietnam has no place at all due to its geographical location Ice cubes can be mined, not to mention ice cellars for storing ice cubes. The fact that Honji Fort sells ice cubes is a huge news to the people and masters here. Everyone wants to know about this Australian. Where did the ice come from, especially since they not only had a lot of ice, but also seemed to have an endless supply.
All in all, Hongji is completely different from before...
Ruan Bicheng, a classmate who had returned from a long absence, found his father who had just become a naturalized civilian cadre at the customs. Then they sat together in an open-air restaurant on the street of Hongji. They used their saved scholarships to treat his father to the new "summer food" in the restaurant. "Australian-style set meal": chilled candied tomatoes, roasted corn and "Cola Chicken" cooked with high-yield white sugar instead of caramel. At the same time, they talked to each other about all the things that happened since they parted this year.
During the conversation, he couldn't help but look thoughtfully at the port in the distance, with a vague thought in his mind: These powerful "Australian chiefs" came all the way to this rural place in Hongji. It's not just about digging coal here or helping the poor. Based on what he had learned in Lingao, Ruan Bicheng had vaguely realized that the world envisioned by the leaders was something he would never be able to reach... However, before Ruan Bicheng could think about anything, he heard the legend of the pier. The coming whistle and the announcement from the loudspeaker on the street:
"...Attention, crew members of the Nanyang trading fleet! Attention, crew members of the Nanyang trading fleet! Urgent gathering now! Urgent gathering now! The fleet is about to weigh anchor and leave port early! Relevant personnel are requested to return to the team quickly! Repeat, the fleet is about to weigh anchor and leave port early! Relevant personnel are requested to return to the team immediately! ..."
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Under the still intense tropical autumn sun. A huge fleet anchored in Hong Gai, Vietnam, began to change from a lazy calm to a noisy commotion. People on and off the ship were busy non-stop: soldiers were inspecting weapons, workers were busy carrying supplies, and sailors were repairing sails and replacing cables... The leaders, squadron leaders and captains of the labor team He shuttled back and forth among the sweaty crowds, encouraging everyone and urging the workers to speed up the transportation of supplies. No matter what, all supply operations must be completed today, and the entire fleet will set sail early tomorrow morning.
Although the sudden cancellation of shore leave and the urgent pressing of loading and sorting tasks made everyone complain. But under the always harsh military orders and the whips of supervisors, no one dared to go on strike - there are no rules against corporal punishment these days, and being passive and sagging will result in beheading!
In order to improve morale, Hongjibao provided the crew with a sumptuous lunch as much as possible. Everyone was given a wooden lunch box, and when they opened it, they found that it contained snow-white rice mixed with chopped vegetables. The side dishes were whole grilled fish and sizzling fried eggs. The steaming iron bucket also contained miso soup made with soybean paste, which contained dried fish and sea vegetables. Anyone could scoop a bowl of it, and it tasted very delicious... The workers and soldiers happily finished the meal. After finishing the unprecedentedly sumptuous work meal, my mood, which was originally depressed due to fatigue, finally began to improve slightly.
However, the commander-in-chief of this Nanyang trade fleet, Elder Ping Qiusheng of the Trade Department of the Senate, still looked gloomy and had no appetite at all. According to the plan, he originally planned to enjoy a period in Hongji that included sunshine, beaches, Blue sea, coconut trees, Vietnamese girls and other important elements of this tropical holiday, who would have thought that we had just docked in Hongji for a day and had just slept in the guest house when we were faced with such an unlucky urgent task.
At this time, he was wearing a floral shirt and oversized shorts, holding a parasol, and supervising the supply operations of the fleet. Originally, this fleet only planned to sell rice as far as Siam, but now it is going to Siam instead. The voyage to Batavia on Java Island was almost doubled. Although there was a lot of land along the way, and fresh water, fruits and vegetables could be replenished everywhere, there was no coaling station, so the entire crew was working hard to load coal on the ship.
However, since the fleet had just set off from Lingao not long ago, the cargo hold of each ship was still filled with trading commodities, and there was not much space left. The crew had no choice but to pile extra coal on the deck, in the aisles, and in the accommodation cabins. Even the VIP cabin where veteran Ping Qiumeng lived was stuffed with several bags of coal. The gun emplacements on the deck are surrounded by piles of coal packets. Once the cannon is fired, it will become a dusty hell. If it is hit by a shell, it will be even more unimaginable. Elder Taira Akiumori commented on this: It is just like the Russo-Japanese War. That Russian Second Pacific Fleet that circled half the world to die!
Of course, strictly speaking, this is just an angry talk, because there is no Japanese combined fleet waiting to intercept in front of the Lingao Senate fleet. And the voyage from Hon Gai, Vietnam to Batavia (Jakarta) on Java Island is really not very far by the standards of the Age of Discovery... In fact, the real trouble that makes Ping Qiusheng scratch his head is when What to do once you arrive in Batavia?
—— Regarding this trip to Batavia, the Executive Committee of the Lingao Senate did not know whether it was because of a headache, but actually assigned a series of simply whimsical tasks to Comrade Ping Qiusheng who was unprepared: to communicate with Dong as much as possible. He established a harmonious relationship with the mainland, tried to collude with the Australians about his origins, tried to fool the Dutch and Chinese businessmen in Batavia, and even asked him to find a way to deceive the "real Australians". Come Lingao!
Although adding more than a hundred elders may cause financial and power division problems, the 10,000-ton all-metal modern sailboat of the "True Australian" alone is enough to be worth the price of admission - then But the supreme overlord who was absolutely invincible on any sea surface in the world in the seventeenth century!
The problem is that the ideal is very full and the reality is very skinny. Just how to handle the relationship with the East Coast countries is not an easy task - if the East Coast countries dump their industrial products in large quantities to Southeast Asia after opening up the waterway, they will inevitably crowd out the market for "Australian goods". And what if the East Coast Country proposes to recruit a large number of people from the Ming Dynasty mainland? The Lingao Senate still feels that the labor force under its own hands is not enough!
What troubles Ping Qiusheng the most is that now he has to go to Batavia to negotiate with Australian travelers and South American travelers. The Lingao Senate has not even prepared a standard "Australian-Song Exiled History" come out! Seeing several elders from the Education Department and the Religion Department each taking a very different draft of the outline and arguing in front of him, Ping Qiu Sheng, who had always regarded himself as a gentleman, finally couldn't help but slap the table in anger. ：
"...Be quiet! Everyone, from Hongji to Batavia, it can take as fast as ten days or as slow as half a month! During this period of time, you have to finalize the manuscript no matter what, which is five hundred A monkey can jump out of a stone! But you can’t let me negotiate with four or five versions of the manuscript!" - Just when Ping Qiu Shengyuan was as big as a bucket, another group of uninvited guests from America came. It also quietly knocked on the door of East Asia...