I

The warship made of century-old oak has been officially launched in the autumn.

The first batch of warships consisted of two ships, both of Galenic type. One is 650 tons, the other is 500 tons, four masts, plus square sail.

Galenic sailing ships hung square sails. This operation began thirty years ago and was also known as "Folgate sailing ship". The later sailing frigate was also named "Folgate", but the two were not the same thing.

In addition, the deck superstructure was deliberately reduced during design, and the forecastle became shorter than that of ordinary Galen ships.

This change is all to make the hull lighter and lower the center of gravity of the hull. Not only is it more flexible when sailing, but it is also less likely to be capsized by storms. But from the appearance point of view, before the improvement, it is tall and majestic, and the good looks are minus points.

Europe is also making this kind of improvement, and even moved the foremast and stern to just above the forecastle, so that the mast distribution is more reasonable and efficient.

"Nice ship!"

Kuang Hong couldn't help but admire him before he boarded the ship.

Kuang Hong is Kuang Lu's eldest son. His father previously served as the Zuo Bu's envoy to Guizhou, and now he has been transferred back to Nanjing to serve as the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Household Affairs.

Kuang Hong himself joined the Datong court early. He was good at poetry, music, horsemanship, and swordsmanship. In history, he recruited troops to fight against the Qing Dynasty and died in the battle in the eastern suburbs of Guangzhou.

After Zhang Dai and Liu Xiangke were promoted, it was impossible for them to go to foreign countries in person. Kuang Hong was appointed as the negotiator this time and went to Batavia with the heads of Dutch prisoners of war.

"These two ships were designed and built together by Dutch shipbuilders and Han shipbuilders," Hong Xu introduced with a smile. "The two groups almost came to a fight. The Han shipbuilders had to use hard sails for life and death. It was later decided by His Majesty. Use soft sails. The Han shipbuilders had to add waterwood to the bottom of the ship. The Dutch shipbuilders didn't know this. After going to His Majesty, the Han shipbuilders won this time."

Gangshuimu is the anti-rolling keel, which relies on the hydrodynamic effect of the ship when it rolls to generate a stable moment to reduce the ship's sway. It can work wonders when encountering a storm, and it can also make the ship more stable during normal sailing.

This kind of anti-rolling device for ships in China is at least 700 years earlier than that in Europe (subject to the actual objects unearthed), and was used from the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. In Europe, it was not invented until the end of the 18th century.

The two new ships of the Datong Navy combine the advantages of Eastern and Western ships, and not everything is left to the Dutch shipbuilders.

Kuang Hong led people aboard the battleship, and all the heads of Dutch prisoners of war were packed in wooden boxes.

Hong Xu introduced as he walked: "The Spanish ship captured before was named 'Datong', but now it is changed to 'Taiwan'. This largest new ship is called 'Guangzhou'. The one next to it is slightly smaller. The new ship is called 'Fuzhou'. There are more than 40 large and small artillery pieces on the 'Guangzhou', the largest one is a six thousand catty gun."

Kuang Hong was full of pride when he heard this: "With this giant ship, we can sail all over the world!"

Kuang Hong is from Nanhai, Guangdong, and has been accustomed to sea-going ships since he was a child. Now that I am sitting on the 650-ton Guangzhou, I suddenly no longer want to be a civilian official, but want to become a naval admiral and navigate the oceans.

The naval fleet departed from Taicang Port.

There were several small boats ahead, towing and guiding the large navy ship, avoiding shoals and rocks along the way, and smoothly entering the sea from the Yangtze River.

The navigator holds a navigation compass in his hand, which can be used in conjunction with the "Haido Needle Sutra".

"Haidao Zhen Jing" gathers the efforts of countless Chinese navigators and has been accumulated since the Song Dynasty. At first, only the waters near China were recorded. Until Zheng He went to the Western Ocean, the Indian Ocean was also recorded.

Although most of Zheng He's navigation materials have been lost, his "Sea Dao Zhen Jing" has been circulated. The "Sail from the Bao Shipyard and the Water from Longjiang Pass to Foreign Countries" published during the Wanli Period is a set of Zheng He's voyages to the West. needlebook.

The "Hai Dao Zhen Jing" used by the Datong Navy collected and organized a large number of sea routes, and also asked maritime merchants from each province to contribute their own nautical charts. After the collection, the "Datong Haido Needle Sutra" is engraved, and private maritime merchants can also buy it at a high price.

The heavenly stems, earthly branches, and eight trigrams divide the navigation compass into 24 equal parts.

Following the needle route of Zheng He's voyages to the West: sailing from Taicang port, using Danyi needle, one watch, leveling the Wusong River. Use Yimao needle and go to Nanhuizui at one watch.

Translated into human language: Set sail from Taicang Port and drive along the 105-degree direction, passing ten miles (some say twelve miles) to Wusong River. Then drive along the direction of 97.5 degrees and pass ten miles to Nanhuizui.

All routes of Zheng He's voyages have been accurately positioned, such as in the Nanyang Sea——

"The ship sailed from Sumatra and used Qianxu needle. At the 12th watch, the ship leveled at Ambergris Island. At the 40th watch, the ship used Xinyou needle again. At the 50th watch, the ship sighted Mount Ceylon." (Departing from Sumatra Port, along 307.5 Sailing in the direction of 277.5 degrees, after passing 120 miles, you can reach Ambergris Caye. Continue to move forward for 400 miles, and turn to sail in the direction of 277.5 degrees. After advancing for 500 miles, you can see Mount Ceylon.)

Such needle positioning can be called the ancient version of fool's navigation.

Of course, the sea is changing rapidly, and a gust of wind can blow the course off course, so the "star-crossing technique" must be used in conjunction.

There are documented records that Ma Huaide of Suzhou collected a set of star boards in the late Ming Dynasty. This set of star boards are often praised by later generations as ancient Chinese navigation navigators. But in fact, Ma Huaide's set of starboards could not measure the heights of the stars in Zheng He's nautical charts.

In Zheng He's nautical charts, stars are often fourteen or fifteen fingers high. However, Ma Huaide's star board can measure twelve fingers at most, and the number of star boards must continue to be increased.

What Zheng He used may be a sky-measuring ruler, or a star-pulling ruler, or it may be an extra-measured star-pulling board.

The Datong Navy directly adopted the European right angle meter. In fact, the principles are similar. Moreover, the method of using the right angle meter appeared in China very early, but Shen Kuo used a crossbow at that time.

Following the cold current and monsoon wind, Kuang Hong quickly arrived in Guangzhou. After some supplies there, he joined five more warships from the Guangzhou fleet.

A total of twenty warships, in addition to logistical supplies, also carried some cargo. The navy gets 30% of the profits from trade, the treasury gets 40%, and the remaining 30% goes to the royal family.

Although the navy's trade activities are allowed, they must be reported every time and must pay taxes to the customs.

Moreover, the number of trades and trade quotas each year are strictly controlled. Even the officials who preside over the transactions are sent by the Ministry of Commerce, and Datong Bank sends people to supervise the finances. This trouble is to prevent the navy from completely losing control and to prevent the navy from competing with private maritime merchants for business.

In December, the fleet arrived near Batavia, but did not dock directly. Instead, it continued sailing to Banten Port.

"The Chinese fleet is coming?" Fandelin is still the governor, but because the sea route is far away, the order to remove him has not yet arrived.

Vander Laan said: "There are a total of twenty warships, two of which are large ships exceeding 500 tons."

Vanderlin worried: "Do the Chinese want to occupy Batavia?"

Vander Laan said: "Probably not. They continue to go west, and they should be going to Banten Port."

"Are they going to form an alliance with Britain?" Vanderlin frowned.

The Netherlands is in Batavia and the British are in Banten. The two port cities are very close to each other.

At the beginning, the Netherlands was unable to capture Batavia because the Banten Kingdom itself was very powerful and allied with the British to deal with the Netherlands.

As a result, the Netherlands resorted to alienation tactics, saying that the prince guarding Jakarta (Batavia) was going to rebel, and the Sultan actually called the prince back. The Dutch resorted to alienation tactics, causing the Sultan of Banten to force Britain to sign a special relationship contract, and the alliance between Banten and Britain collapsed.

As a result, the Dutch captured Jakarta in one fell swoop and changed its name to Batavia.

The Sultan of Banten was filled with remorse, and quickly repaired relations with the British, and joined forces with the local indigenous people to attack the Netherlands. The Dutch couldn't stand it anymore and asked for peace talks several times, but in the end reinforcements arrived.

Now, the relationship between Banten and Britain has become very close because they have a common enemy.

Kuang Hong arrived at Wandan Port by ship and found that the place was unprecedentedly prosperous.

Unlike Batavia next door, where there are only Dutch and Chinese people, Banten Port has all the nationalities except the Dutch. This is a free port with the largest number of merchants, many of whom are from the Arab region.

The Datong navy approached, and merchant ships from various countries fled.

As for the Banten Navy, there are only a few small sampans, which were all left behind by the Dutch fleet.

Kuang Hong landed ashore under the escort of navy soldiers and said loudly: "Kuang Hong, envoy of Datong China, comes to visit Wandan!"

The translator hurriedly shouted after him. After shouting several times, the port tax collector from Banten finally came over.

"I am the Chinese envoy. Go and report to your king." Kuang Hong said.

The tax collector had a constipated expression on his face: "The old Sultan has died of illness, and the new Sultan has not yet succeeded to the throne."

Kuang Hong was stunned: "What a coincidence?"

What was even more coincidental was that while he was talking, gunshots suddenly came from the city, followed by bursts of shouts.

Not long after, a large number of nobles and merchants fled from the city in panic.

Kuang Hong didn't know what happened and immediately returned to the warship.

About an hour later, a Banten official finally came to invite him to the city to meet the Sultan.

Accompanied by navy soldiers, Kuang Hong headed all the way to the city. There is no city wall here, it is just a residential area. The royal palace is in the castle in the center of the city.

After entering the city, Kuang Hong found blood stains everywhere, and some Wandan soldiers were cleaning up the corpses.

Make your way to the castle, where there is more blood.

Finally, Kuang Hong met the new Sultan of Banten, Ageng.

This Sultan Ageng had just killed his brothers and seized the throne of the king by force. Next, he will work hard to build an elite navy and establish a caravan to sail to the Philippines and India.

Unfortunately, after the death of Sultan Agung, his sons fought for the throne, and the Netherlands took the opportunity to support one of them and controlled Banten's national affairs from then on.

Standing among the bloodstains on the ground, Sultan Ageng smiled and saluted Kuang Hong: "Welcome the envoy from China, you are the most distinguished guest of Banten. The hateful Dutch are the enemies of Banten, and the Netherlands is also the enemy of China. . We have the same enemies, so we are destined to be friends."

Kuang Hong looked at Ageng standing in the blood, and listened to the translator relay the words, and immediately made a judgment: The person in front of him must be a foreign hero!

(The easter egg chapter in the previous chapter was blocked for review.)