Chapter 1546 Diego
The "Diego" sailing ship is very eye-catching on the East China Sea. This three-masted cargo sailing ship is a standard Spanish sailing ship. It has high sides, a high stern, a relatively low front deck, a straight stern, and both sides of the hull from the bottom. The top is tilted inward, and the length-to-width ratio of the entire ship is about four to one. It is significantly different in appearance from the Fu Chuan, Guang Chuan and Haihan sailing ships that are common in the East China Sea. Moreover, this sailing ship is equipped with artillery on the bow and sides of the ship, and has certain maritime combat capabilities. Generally speaking, when civilian ships from the Ming Dynasty find a sailboat with this shape on the sea, they will get out of the way early to avoid trouble.
However, this three-masted sailing ship with a displacement of 500 tons does not actually belong to Spain, but is an authentic Portuguese merchant ship. This ship was built in Portugal, from the captain Diego Ribas to all the crew members on board. They are all Portuguese, and the only thing that can be related to Spain is that this ship has experienced four armed conflicts with Spanish sailing ships at sea.
This type of sailing ship was named Spanish galleon because the Spanish were the first to build it on a large scale and used it to form a powerful fleet. However, it was actually the Portuguese who first developed and built this type of sailing ship. After the Spaniards' stronghold in northern Taiwan was overthrown by Haihan, their large sailing ships basically disappeared on the East China Sea north of the Fujian Strait. Coming here again was asking for death, and only those who had concluded an alliance with Haihan early on Only the Portuguese could sail in and out of this sea area.
Even so, the "Diego" still very carefully hung the red and blue flag on the mast to show its identity as an ally. Otherwise, if the Haihan warship patrolling the sea mistakenly thinks that the Spaniards have broken in, there will be big trouble. Although the "Diego" is equipped with several artillery pieces, they are like toys compared with the long-range and accurate naval guns on the Haihan battleship.
However, the "Diego" will certainly not appear in the Zhejiang waters just to hang out. The last stop it stopped at was Kaohsiung Port in the southern part of Taiwan Island, where it shipped about one hundred tons of grain, as well as some locally produced fruits and vegetables. Fresh food, as well as some special materials that were transported from Sanya to Kaohsiung Port in advance and then transshipped there, as well as more than 100 tons of cement urgently allocated by the local government for Zhejiang, were specially shipped to Xiangshan County to supply the salt farm project.
This kind of cross-regional material allocation that can be implemented in a short period of time can only be achieved by Haihan in this era. This not only requires instant communication technology and networks between various colonies, but also requires overall transportation capacity arrangements. Otherwise, even if the news is received through the radio, there may not be a suitable shipping date to transport these materials to the destination in time. As for the cross-border mobilization of cargo ships from the Ming Dynasty or Portugal to transport supplies for the country, this can be regarded as Haihan's exclusive skill, and other countries will definitely not be able to do it.
Captain Ribas was born in a small town called Almada in the port city of Lisbon. He went to sea with his father when he was a boy. In the past twenty years of sailing, he has traveled to most of the world, especially starting from Europe and heading south. He has traveled through the African continent and across the Indian Ocean to the Far East several times.
But in Captain Ribas's rich sailing experience, he has never seen a nation like Haihan emerge from an island without a sound, and hold in their hands a treasure that transcends this era. Known navigation and military technology. Ribas believes that even the Spanish Empire, which has established colonies all over the world, may not be able to match the level of navigation of this group of mysterious Easterners. The Haixi War that broke out in northern Taiwan in early 1633 completely confirmed his view. The Haihan people organized troops to carry out armed landings there, and captured the two strongholds of Tamsui and Chicken Coop built by the Spaniards, completely driving them out. to the island of Taiwan.
This kind of fighting ability amazed the Portuguese, because they tried various methods to remove the Spanish stronghold in Taiwan to clear the northward channel, but all failed to work. Others who made the same attempt At that time, the Dutch were sitting on the mountain watching the fight between tigers and tigers. What the two colonial countries in Europe, which were relatively close to Spain in terms of strength, failed to accomplish, the Haihan people accomplished in less than a month.
Ribas really couldn't understand why there were such powerful oriental peoples in the world, but he had never heard of them even though he had been to all over the world before. Logically speaking, countries like Haihan should have established colonies all over the world long ago. ? Why did it only rise to fame in the Far East in recent years and become a powerful country in the region that no one dares to ignore?
When Haihan established diplomatic relations with Portugal, Ribas heard the news in Macau. In the past few years, he has witnessed with his own eyes the expansion of Haihan's colonies overseas along the sea routes, and its progress. It was so fast that he, an old sea dog from an old colonial country, could only marvel. This is much faster than the time when Portuguese explorers established overseas colonies. If this continues, the day when Haihan will establish many colonies around the world will definitely come within a hundred years. No, maybe it won't take that long at all, because it took them less than nine years to establish a national government from scratch and cover most of the Far East.
Haihan people are straightforward and trustworthy in doing business, which is an important reason why Ribas is willing to trade with Haihan. After nearly two years of exploration, he finally chose a commercial route from Hainan Island to the north along the mainland as the main business scope of his ship. On this route, he can trade with the Ming Dynasty and Haihan, buy low and sell high between various ports, and even contract a part of Haihan official transportation business. The profitability is considerable.
After arriving at Kaohsiung Port this time, Ribas originally planned to ship various local food supplies to the colony established by Haihan in the far north to see what kind of situation Haihan had opened up in the north of the Ming Dynasty. However, the Kaohsiung Port Center temporarily adjusted the content of his shipment, requiring him to free up the foredeck space used for dry bulk cargo to ship cement and other building materials that were urgently needed in Zhejiang. Of course, for this reason, the Haihan Shipping Department also compensated him with a special expedited shipping fee, which was enough to ensure the profit of the "Diego" trip.
What is cement? Ribas has been dealing with the Haihan people for so long, so he naturally knows its uses. This wonderful building material will be used in the ports, docks and some houses built by Haihan in various places. However, Haihan has always kept its manufacturing process and technology secret, and it is difficult for outsiders to deduce the manufacturing method of this thing from the finished product. Haihan had to transport hundreds of tons of cement to Zhejiang at one time, which made Ribas a little suspicious that Haihan was quietly carrying out some large-scale, secretive projects in Zhejiang.
Ribas has been to Zhoushan Dinghai Port several times and was very impressed by the large cargo terminal and military terminal built by Haihan there. In addition, the majestic coastal defense fort built with cement and stone high above Dinghai Port. It is probably a landmark building that everyone who has been to the area will never forget.
However, Xiangshan County is still dozens of nautical miles away from Dinghai Port, so it can be said that it is not within the direct jurisdiction of Haihan. What project did Haihan build locally that would use so much cement? This is something Ribas wants to find out right now.
When the "Diego" entered the waters of Xiangshan Port, its conspicuous appearance immediately attracted attention, and soon a special guide ship approached and signaled for the "Diego" to follow. So the "Diego" followed the guide ship and sailed into the narrow waters of Xiangshan Port, and came to a simple dock that was obviously recently built.
On the deck, Ribas saw hundreds of migrant workers working with shovels and other tools near the coast. The leveled land already covered a considerable area, but based on the current construction progress, it was difficult for him to tell that Haihan was here. What exactly is the construction project? The arrival of the "Diego" naturally caused a small commotion among the people on the shore. This kind of three-masted sailing ship from the West is rare in Xiangshan. It was the first time for many people to see this strange-looking sea vessel. After listening to the explanation, I realized that this was a sea-going ship used by Westerners. However, the people had no fear of this strange visitor, because not far from the dock was the station of the Haihan Army. With the invincible Haihan Army providing protection here, who would be afraid of such a ship.
After Ribas docked, officials from the Haihan Shipping Department boarded the ship to check the procedures. The cargo manifest was sent to Zhoushan via telegram on the day Ribas departed from Kaohsiung, and it was sent from Zhoushan two days ago. The Ministry of Shipping was afraid that the Portuguese would not be able to find this newly built terminal, so they hired several local ships to wait at the entrance of Xiangshan Port to pick up the "Diego".
After checking the cargo manifest, officials from the Ministry of Shipping disembarked the ship and organized migrant workers to unload the cargo. The people on the ship were also allowed to rest ashore during this period, but their activities were strictly limited to the dock, and they could only leave the ship about fifty meters away at most.
But this did not bother the experienced Captain Ribas. After he got off the ship, he spoke Chinese with a southern European accent and asked the sailors on the shore. Finally, he finally found out the identity of the official in charge here, who happened to be his former An acquaintance whom I met when I went to Dinghai Port. Immediately, he found an officer on duty at the dock and applied for an interview with Yang Yun. It happened that Yang Yun was not too busy at this time, so after receiving the news, he had Ribas taken away from the dock and met at the construction site headquarters.
"Yang, my friend, it's so nice to see you again!" Ribas greeted Yang Yun warmly from a distance. Onlookers couldn't tell that the two of them were actually at work. They had only met a few times, and there was no personal relationship at all.
This was not the first time that Yang Yun had dealt with the Portuguese. He knew that these southern Europeans were more enthusiastic by nature, so he didn't take Ribas's familiarity seriously at all. He immediately stretched out a hand and followed Haihan etiquette. He shook hands with him and said thank you for your hard work.
"Yang, you should learn from your boss, the distinguished Lord Shi Diwen, how to greet guests from afar." Ribas muttered: "The last time I met him, he was Gave me a big hug ”
"That's probably because you brought him something good that he had been looking forward to for a long time last time." Yang Yun responded with a smile. He was also present at the hug that Ribas was talking about. That time Ribas's ship brought a complete bathroom system specially customized in Sanya for Shi Diwen, a private mansion built by Shi Diwen in Zhoushan. The work was stopped for a month and a half just waiting for this set of things to arrive. If it were another captain completing this task, Shi Diwen would probably not be stingy with the hug.
Ribas shrugged, saying that he did not deny Yang Yun's statement. However, reminiscing about old times was just to pave the way for inquiring about information. Ribas immediately asked about the situation of the construction site in front of him.
"It's a salt field. You see, the area enclosed by wooden fences is within the scope of this salt field." Yang Yun did not hide the situation here from Ribas. After all, the salt field project has been made public for a long time, and it is actually considered open to foreigners. No more secrets. Ribas often travels between Zhejiang and Sanya, and sooner or later he will know about the situation here.
"Salt is a very profitable business!" Ribas couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, his face filled with excitement: "I heard that the Yinggehai Salt Farm in Hainan Island earns enough money in one year to build a Dinghai Port. ”
The Yinggehai Salt Field is the salt field with the largest production scale in the area under Haihan's rule. Its production capacity and profits are naturally amazing, but the salt field in Xiangshan Port cannot be compared. Yang Yun responded with a smile: "Yinggehai will definitely not be able to compare, but when it is put into production, it will be able to capture at least more than half of the local market share. The prospects are still very promising."
Ribas said: "Perhaps my ship can contribute a little bit to the development of this salt field in the future?"
"I'm afraid the business is too small for you to appreciate!" Of course Yang Yun would not refuse the Portuguese's offer of courtesy. Although the other party's intention is to get some transportation business from here, the initiative is in Haihan's hands. Whether to give or not, whether to give more or less, that is all Haihan's decision.
Ribas quickly raised a hand and said: "As God testifies, I will never have such disrespectful thoughts towards the distinguished customer Haihan."
After Ribas talked about it for a while, Yang Yun finally relaxed and promised to discuss with the Ministry of Shipping later. When arranging the voyage of the "Diego" next time, the cargo transportation needs of the Xiangshan Salt Farm will be discussed. Taking this into consideration, it left a window for Ribas to undertake the transportation task.
(End of chapter)