Great time travel

Chapter 22, 27 moments in the four years of Chongzhen (22)

No.20 Two moments: Who is the real overlord of the seven seas?
Southern Indian Peninsula, Portuguese Colony, Port of Goa, USS Constitution of the Chinese Republic
An open-air banquet, which can be called luxurious by the standards of this era, is being held on the flagship deck of the Expeditionary Fleet of the Huamei Republic.

However, a certain general wearing a frock coat and gold epaulettes showed an extremely rude expression in front of the guests.

"……puff--"

About 50% of the best French Bordeaux wine in 90ml, drew a beautiful arc and perished with the luxurious handmade Persian carpet on the ground, and the other 10% went to Rear Admiral Sun Yang, commander of the Far East Task Force of the Chinese Republic. respiratory tract.

——This is what happened within 5 seconds after Major General Sun Yang learned the name of the heroic female captain on the opposite side.

"...cough cough cough cough... Li, Hua, Mei?!! Miss, is your name really Li Huamei?"

Major General Sun Yang frantically took out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth while holding back the crystal glass wine glass. At the same time, holding back his cough, he reluctantly asked.And the admirals of the Huamei Republic standing next to him were all stunned and unbelievable.

"...That's right, my surname is Li, Muzi Li, the word 'Hua' is the same as your country's name, the plum of plum blossom...is the captain of the Hangzhou..."

On the opposite side, wearing a black knee-length skirt and a loose Spanish-style shirt, with short ear-length hair, a young woman who is quite in line with modern aesthetics, blinked her eyes curiously, and at the same time raised the glass of juniper in her hand Jiu motioned, "...Is there any question?"

What is the problem?It's clearly a big problem, okay?Didn't we travel through time and space, but in some video game?

Major General Sun Yang rolled his eyes secretly, and while he was perfunctory, he turned his head to look at a few worthless subordinates, and found that they all looked like they had seen a ghost, stretched out their hands to pinch themselves, and stared at each other Those who came to see and go even whispered: "...Hangzhou...Li Huamei...all match "The Age of Navigation"... I wonder if there is any evidence of the overlord of the Seven Seas..."

Just when Major General Sun Yang was embarrassed and annoyed, Captain Li Huamei, who had sharp ears, had already heard the whispers of the travelers, "...the proof of the overlord of the Seven Seas?" She asked with a smile, "...what's so interesting about that? Is it a thing? I wonder if you can let me see it?"

Poor Major General Sun Yang was sweating coldly, profusely, and waterfall sweat for a while—hey, let alone whether you are really the Li Huamei in "The Great Navigation Era", even if this time and space is really the reality of "The Great Navigation Era" Version, where do you ask me to find you the bow and arrow of the hunting god Ur, the crown of the Persian king Cambyses, the Changxin palace lantern from the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, and the crystal skull of the Aztec Empire?Well, I remember that in the captain's cabin of the Sapphire, there seemed to be a fist-sized modern crystal glass skull handicraft. I wonder if I can make do with it...

In short, with the above-mentioned messy thoughts in mind, Major General Sun Yang managed to perfunctory the interesting Captain Li Huamei, and immediately arranged for people to inquire about the origin of this mysterious female captain Li Huamei. Her information:

According to the Portuguese businessman in Goa Port, Li Huamei has been running business on the "Macau-Goa" route since five or six years ago, trafficking various Chinese specialty products to India.Initially, the goods were traditional Chinese specialties such as silk, porcelain, and tea. In the past two years, some so-called "Australian products" have been added—steel needles, sugar, glass mirrors, salt soda, and Chinese patent medicines. A very popular in the market.

"...According to several Portuguese businessmen who helped us smuggle immigrants from China, this Li Huamei has a lot to do with the transmigration forces entrenched in Hainan Island. For three years, he has monopolized those transmigrators who claim to be Australians on Hainan Island. Trade patents between the Portuguese chambers of commerce in Goa, searching for various Indian and European goods for them, and even helping us transship Chinese immigrants a few times..."

Taking advantage of the interval between the banquet and the program, several senior officials of the Huamei Republic Expeditionary Fleet quietly gathered in the captain's room, avoiding the dignitaries and dignitaries of Goa Port on the deck, and had a short private meeting. "...Her ship 'Hangzhou', I just took a small boat to look at it, and it was parked less than 500 meters away from us. It is a small two-masted schooner of about 150 tons. Its ship There is a swordfish-like tooth on the head, which can make it hang a long row of sails, and it is more agile than ordinary sailboats. It can reach 11 knots when the wind is down. It is a very useful A ship used for smuggling and piracy. According to the information provided by the port authority, in addition to Indian spices and cotton, the 'Hangzhou' bought goods from the Portuguese, as well as more than a dozen white female slaves bought from the Basra slave market... "

Yan Xiaosong, the government's special envoy for foreign affairs, knocked on the table and said, "...let's have a discussion now, what's your opinion on this matter?"

"...How should I put it? I don't think we have traveled to the game of "The Age of Voyage". At least we have never heard of many important elements and plot characters in that game over the years—except for those in front of us. Except for this female captain Li Huamei! Even this Li Huamei feels strange, at least the noble Li Huamei in the game will never get involved in the slave trade."

Major Li Fan, the captain of the light cruiser Chicken Blood Stone, a fan of the "Great Navigation Era" game who traveled through the past, said in a deep voice, "...and the time is wrong—the Li Huamei character set in the "Great Navigation Era" game , but a person from the last century. In terms of the average life expectancy of the ancients, by this time in 1631 AD, that Li Huamei should have been buried in the earth... So I suspect that this female captain should be hired by the group of traversers in Hainan Island A spy or informant, it is even possible that she herself is a well-disguised traverser!"

"...a spy? Ha ha!" Someone scoffed at this, "...if she is really a qualified spy, she shouldn't use that name!"

"...Maybe she didn't expect to face us and was just in charge of intelligence gathering on Europeans and Indians in Goa," countered another.

"...Maybe it's just a coincidence? But... Li Huamei added the Hangzhou number? This coincidence is too coincidental!"

……

Seeing a group of subordinates chattering about such absurd topic as "Have I crossed into the "Great Navigation Age" game", Major General Sun Yang couldn't help but feel a headache... But on the other hand, since the "catastrophe" , the various stories of these travelers in North America, and even the birth and establishment of the "Huamei Republic", in the eyes of future generations, is it not an absurd thing?
——Catastrophe, this is the name of all the travelers in the Huamei Republic for the mysterious storm that blew them to the North American continent in the seventeenth century.

This catastrophe made them leave their familiar homes and came to the still desolate Manhattan Island in New York, USA in 1620 AD, but it also sent them hundreds of containers of modern industrial products and all kinds of There are industrial machinery, port machinery and vehicles, and even five large freighters—although these poor ships are all stuck on land, and can almost only be recycled as scrap iron...

Next, they first concluded an alliance with the Delaware tribe, a native Indian in New York, and formally established the "Huamei Republic" on this land."Manchester City" was built on the island of Manhattan in later generations as the capital.Over the next 11 years, the nascent nation quickly thrived, drawing on the legacy of 21st-century industrial society and the rich resources of the North American continent.

——Although they came to the American continent almost at the same time, they also adopted the system of the republic, and they also had technologies and ideas that transcended the times. However, due to the huge difference in the geostrategic environment, the East Coast countries and the Huamei United States soon embarked on completely different paths. Development path:

The East Coast Republic entrenched in the Uruguay region of South America in later generations, because its land was surrounded by Portuguese and Spanish colonies, and was also harassed by France, the Netherlands and other countries at sea, it had to extremely advocate force, and bet on the country's destiny time and time again. Poor population size, a bloody battle with the huge Spanish Empire, seizing territory and resources from Spanish colonies in America, just like Japanese militarism in the seventeenth century.

However, the state of New York, which is located in later generations, is backed by the vast North American continent and has no strong hostile forces in the surrounding Huamei Republic. However, it can selectively absorb European and Asian immigrants while calmly conquering and integrating Indian aborigines. Rhythm and pace, establish your own country, its organizational structure and social form are more similar to the United States of America in the [-]th century-although the status of soldiers in the United States is also lofty, but the militaristic atmosphere of "all for war" The idea of ​​war and expansion is far less strong than that of the East Coast countries in South America.

When these two traverser regimes, which were nine thousand kilometers apart, finally discovered each other, there was indeed a period of time when they were touched by "meeting old acquaintances in a foreign land" and the passion and joy of "meeting fellow villagers with tears in their eyes".But then, in order to compete for the European market and resources, under the ruthless competition for interests, the East Coast countries and Huamei quickly tore off the veil of tenderness-commercial competition, price war, diplomatic competition, proxy War... In addition to the formal military confrontation, the two sides used almost all means: the modernized arms produced by Hua and the United States were used by the Spaniards in the Second La Plata War to encircle and suppress the East Bank country; The pirate fleet armed and hired by the United States plundered Chinese and American merchant ships in the Caribbean Sea.Especially in the South African colony, the colonial black troops on both sides fought directly, almost provoking a full-scale war...

After a series of civil and military battles, although the East Coast Kingdom has repeatedly won the war against the Spaniards and seized a large area of ​​fertile land in South America, it has been unable to deal with it at sea due to the consumption of too many resources in the land war. The American fleet gained the upper hand.Fortunately, the Huamei Republic did not intend to help the Spaniards eliminate this "country of compatriots". In the end, the two sides reached a general intention of "cooperating in development and sharing the new world" and an information sharing system for mutual exchanges. The sense of competition between each other has never been completely eliminated.

This Eastern Expedition of the Navy Fleet of the Republic of China, in a sense, is also a product of competitive consciousness—since the East Coast Country’s global voyage expedition returned to Uruguay in the early spring of this year, it brought "Accidental Discovery of Australian Travelers Group, and established radio contact with the Ming Dynasty's local traveler group" After the explosive news, it not only caused a huge sensation in the East Coast, but also set off a wave of turmoil after it spread to the Huamei Republic... So, when the East Coast Republic At the same time when China's second round-the-world voyage fleet set anchor from their capital "Oriental Port", the Huamei Republic organized a huge fleet not to be outdone, and rushed thousands of miles to the ancestral land of Eastern Asia.

Due to the hasty departure, the Eastern Expeditionary Fleet has not yet fully decided what to do after arriving in the Far East until the time of sailing. Of course, doing business along the way and recruiting immigrants from the Ming Dynasty are established matters that cannot be changed, but Other matters and how to deal with the relationship with the Ming Empire and other traverser forces can only be determined by the military and political officials of the Eastern Expeditionary Fleet.

Then, just after the Eastern Expeditionary Fleet arrived in Goa on the west coast of India, when they were hosting a banquet for officials of the Portuguese colonial authorities and wealthy businessmen, they unexpectedly discovered a "Li Huamei" falling from the sky... This discovery made Special Envoy Yan Xiaosong, Sun Major General Yang and the others were all very confused.

Of course, confusion is nothing more than confusion. To put it bluntly, this is just an interesting little discovery, so Major General Sun Yang quickly made a decision: "... strengthen the monitoring of this female captain, and continue to collect information. She is not a special run Is it the route from Macau to Goa? You should be very familiar with the South China Sea in this era! Find someone to try and ask her if she is willing to lead the navigation for us? The employment price is favorable! Since it is a suspicious and unstable factor, Just put it under your nose! Anyway, with her small boat of a hundred tons, she can't break any big waves..."

——For navigators in the age of sails, knowledge of meteorology, hydrology, ocean currents, wind direction, astronomy and other knowledge is indispensable, otherwise they will get into great trouble.At that time, Magellan and his group didn't even have a chart, so they sailed around the world in a small boat of more than 100 tons.Although the Huamei Republic's equipment is much more advanced than that of Magellan, and its knowledge reserves are more abundant, it is impossible to measure the distance between two ports on a map and then draw a straight line to sail - this behavior is very ridiculous.The choice of a route between two ports is a very serious matter. Seasons, weather, wind direction, and ocean currents need to be considered. The route may be completely different in different seasons. Sometimes the wind direction and current may be suitable, but the sea conditions are bad, so that is not the case. Easy sailing... In short, sailing in the age of sails is an extremely complex system engineering. Without advanced technology, rich knowledge and a certain amount of luck, it is impossible to succeed.

For the Fleet of the Huamei Republic who visited East Asia for the first time, even with the accurate maps of later generations, they are still exploring an unfamiliar route. Although they have advanced tools (sextants, mechanical watches), ships with strong survivability and Experienced sailors, but in the final analysis this is still a matter of luck. It is very likely that a storm or a reef can wipe out a huge fleet-in this case, it is possible to hire a sailor who works every year for a small price. The veteran who has run back and forth several times on this route helped lead the way, which is obviously a very cost-effective thing.

At the same time, the mysterious Captain Li Huamei was also carefully observing the huge fleet with the blue and white five-star flag.

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Li Huamei, formerly known as Li Chun, is a female spy, as speculated by an officer of the Huamei Republic Expeditionary Fleet—however, she is not serving the "pseudo-Australians" in Lingao County, Hainan Island, but a hostile force A spy who broke into the "Australian".

——Li Huamei's boss is Li Siya, a Chinese-Portuguese mixed-race pirate leader who is quite influential in Macau, and is known for his cruelty.Long before the "Australians" landed in Lingao, Li Siya had bad intentions against the traversers in Guangzhou. She first planned to kidnap Chairman Wen Desi, and after she failed, she joined forces with Liu Xiang and the Spaniards to attack Bopu Port. It's still a big loss... Fortunately, none of her direct descendants lost.

Therefore, Li Siya, who had learned from the painful experience, decided to send capable people to infiltrate the group of "Australians" in Lingao County, Hainan Island to find out information. Siya still got some gadgets from the modern world, among them was a piece of cover paper of the pirated game disc of "The Age of Discovery", on which was the heroic Li Huamei cartoon image.

The content on this piece of paper aroused Li Siya's great interest: the sea, the big three-masted ship, the beautiful female pirate, and the inexplicable explanatory text.Among them, she can still understand the word "Great Navigation Era", but what does the certificate of the Seven Seas Overlord mean?And who is Li Huamei?But no matter what, Li Huamei must be well-known among Australians—this can be seen from the caption on the painting.

In short, after reading this piece of paper, Li Siya has a new goal in her thrill-seeking life - to obtain the certificate of the overlord!
But what is the proof of the overlord, obviously, can only be found out from the mouths of those Australians.The adventurous Li Siya originally planned to take on the role of breaking into the enemy's formation by herself, but she had already shown her face in front of Wen Desi, and her reputation in the local area was too great, so she had to decide to let the younger sister Li Chun go——Li Chun is the daughter of her wet nurse. She is of pure Chinese descent. She grew up in her family. Like her, she is deeply influenced by the two cultures of China and Portugal. She is her deputy and sister. They have been adventurous at sea for many years, which is very suitable for her. Play the role of a sea merchant.

In the end, in order to make it easier for Australians to accept her, Li Siya named Li Chun "Li Huamei"—Li Siya instinctively felt that Australians would have feelings for her spies because of the illusion of this name. Good impression.

Thus, the freshly released Captain Li Huamei started contacting the "Australians" in this way, but unfortunately it was not successful. Although he got acquainted with some "Australians", he failed to find out any key information— —The main reason is the difference in knowledge accumulation. Even if the steam engine is placed in front of her, Li Huamei doesn't know how to imitate it.But even so, Li Huamei still left behind the majestic iron ship, those amazingly powerful cannons, and the warship that can sail without sails while emitting black smoke, as well as all kinds of novel but extremely practical navigation tools. I was deeply impressed, and even thought that as long as time passed, with their various secret skills, these Australians would definitely become the real overlords of the Seven Seas.

However, during this routine voyage to Goa Port, because of an accidental reception, Li Huamei made a new discovery...

sex

The deck of the cruiser USS Constitution was newly decorated with colorful flags, leaves and flowers.The long tables arranged neatly and orderly are full of colorful delicacies.What is particularly surprising is that a small stage was temporarily erected at a corner of the deck, and a mini wind band was playing cheerful music, including flutes, clarinets, trumpets, French horns, telescoping horns, and percussion instruments.

Officials of the Portuguese colonial authorities in Goa Port, captains of merchant ships from various countries, and local wealthy Indian gentry were all invited to the banquet, and the deck was overcrowded.Indian aristocrats and Europeans walked around curiously with goblets in their hands, or gathered in small groups to chat.Some people sipped the wine slowly, while others ate it with plates. Many sailors in uniforms with blue and white stripes were carrying trays full of fine wine and shuttled through the crowd like butterflies.And chefs in white top hats show off their skills in front of the grill, sizzling sausages, chicken and lamb.

Captain Li Huamei was also holding a glass of gin and leaning against the railing of the ship's side, but he didn't pay much attention to the food on the long table and the performance on the stage. The "American" fleet at the other end.

——Five [-]-ton "cruisers", five [-]-ton "frigates", twelve [-]-ton steam-sail hybrid merchant ships, no matter which ship is placed in Ming Dynasty Along the coast, there are staggering super giant ships.As for the smaller three-masted boats, two-masted boats, and single-masted speedboats, there are too many to count. According to Li Huamei's visual estimation, the total number is at least one hundred, and even the smallest boat among them seems to be the same as her own. The "Hangzhou" is about the same size - otherwise, it would be impossible to cross the vast ocean for thousands of miles.

On the seas of East Asia, even if the Spaniards, the British, the Portuguese and the Dutch united, they would not be able to defeat such an unprecedentedly powerful fleet. As a battle-tested pirate leader, Li Huamei quickly made a decision Calculated as above.

In addition, she was keenly aware that there were obviously too many similarities between these "Huamei people" who met for the first time and the "Australians" in Lingao - the same short hair, the same northern accent "Guanhua" (Mandarin), also claimed to be a descendant of the Song Dynasty who had been scattered overseas, and also installed a black-smoke machine on the ship, which could propel the ship forward without relying on wind... In addition, after hearing her new name "Li Huamei "After that, these "beautiful people" also made a very gaffe reaction, just like when they first appeared in front of those Australians...

These wonderful discoveries mentioned above made Li Huamei's interest in these "beautiful people" greatly increased.Therefore, when the other party tentatively wanted her to go with her and guide the route, Li Huamei readily agreed—so that she could observe this magical fleet more closely.

"...It seems that even the Australian navy is no match for them—these gorgeous people have the same unique skills as the Australians. When this fleet with the blue and white five-star flag appeared in the When Fujian and Guangdong are on the coast, I'm afraid they will become the real overlord of the Seven Seas!"

Li Huamei thought so while drinking the gin in the glass with a bright red face while feeling slightly drunk.

However, in a certain southern continent where kangaroos are infested, there is another fleet flying the red-bottomed double-sword goshawk flag, which expresses its objection...

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North West Coast of Australia, Central South City (Derby Port)

The sunny sunshine after the rain pierced through the dissipating clouds and shone on the rippling sea.Wooden sailboats of various sizes sway slightly in the calm harbor.A majestic giant ship of [-] tons is guarded in the center, like an old hen with a flock of chicks.

After more than half a year of construction, today's Zhongnan City has begun to take shape.Although the population is still sparse, forts, trestles, ship repair yards, lighthouses, wharf warehouses, and a kind of boom using "steam power" have all appeared on the coast.And on a piece of high ground overlooking the wharf, the houses in the urban area are also well-built—it's a pity that there are too few citizens who can live in them, and they are still in a state of ten rooms and nine empty rooms for the time being.

And then, when the East Coast Republic's global voyage fleet flying the red-bottomed double-sword goshawk flag and the modern all-metal sailing ship "COSCO Star" finally escaped by the tide, all of them lifted anchor and headed north according to the scheduled plan. When the Dutch "visited" Batavia, the total population of Zhongnan City was expected to drop drastically to less than 500 people... Due to the long journey around the world, the East Coast Republic did not bring many immigrants this time.

In any case, in order to show off its power during this trip to the East and show off its power in front of the various forces in East Asia, the East Coast Republic has indeed spent a lot of money, using the only two new-type steam ships with two shafts and two oars and two In addition, there are dozens of sailing ships of various types-although in terms of total tonnage, they are still slightly inferior to the Huamei Eastern Expeditionary Fleet, but with the full load displacement After the [-]-ton "Cosco Star", it must be enough to overwhelm those "cents" who have been "poisoned by liberalism"!

At this very moment, Li Wei was standing on the deck of the "Cosco Star" with a plate in his hand, tucking into a rare and sumptuous meal with the red wine sent by the East Coast Country: canned spring bamboo shoots in oil, canned curry beef and anchovies Canned food—After traveling to this time and space for nearly two years, the last batch of canned food stored on the "Cosco Star" as a life-saving food is about to expire, so we simply took out all of them for extra meals for everyone.

This feast is a very luxurious enjoyment for all the Australian travelers-although the wasteland reclaimed here last year has already had the first batch of harvest, but due to the barren land, the main crops are some corn Coarse grains such as , potatoes, and sweet potatoes, and even the output of vegetables are not high.As for condiments, there is no way to collect them. Usually, everyone can only eat some salted fish for dinner, and the staple food is crude sweet potato porridge or polenta.Even after the arrival of the Republic Fleet on the East Coast, they didn't have much delicious food to offer to the Australians, but they were able to eat more pasta and tasted a few canned whale meats that didn't taste very good: due to the long distance Well, the rations of many sailors on the east coast are still counting on Australia to provide them!

At the same time, with the crisp whistle, many Australian aboriginal slave laborers in shackles on the shore are loading packages of goods onto the ship with the help of steam booms.Some of them are locally mined coal, while others are trading goods - mostly pig iron and other metal ingots smelted in Australia, as well as steel products brought from the modern world, ready to be shipped to Batavia Sold to the Dutch.

——As the famous "country on the mine cart" in later generations, the mineral resources of the Australian mainland are indeed staggeringly rich.

"...Brother Li Wei, our side is almost ready. How is your side? When will you be able to sail?"

Mo Ming, the commander of the East Coast Republic Expeditionary Force, wearing a uniform and carrying a waist knife, climbed the rope net from the trestle to the deck, and said hello, "...It is still the rainy season in Australia, and it is rare to have a few days of good weather. If you don’t hurry up, going out to sea in the heavy rain will be a bad feeling!”

"...I just finished cleaning up the attachments on the bottom of the ship. Everyone is exhausted. The captain told us to rest for another day. We should be able to set off for Batavia when we pack the supplies." Li Wei changed the taste of the last piece a bit. Stuffing the stewed spring bamboo shoots in oil into his mouth, he said, "... Hehe, with such a large fleet and this unprecedented [-]-ton giant ship visiting together, the Dutch over there must be very impressed. Surprised!"

However, the "surprise" that Batavia's vote of the Dutch will suffer next is much more exaggerated than Levi expected.

——On a certain day in October 1631, the "Pseudo-Australian" fleet from Lingao County, Hainan Island, the Eastern Expeditionary Fleet of the Chinese American Republic from North America, the Global Voyage Fleet of the East Coast Republic from South America, and the only one A "True-Australian" all-metal 10-ton modern sailing ship from Australia, plus a number of Spanish, Danish, British, French, Portuguese, and Japanese merchant ships who followed suit, a super convoy of about [-] ships arrived almost at the same time Batavia, the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company, let the Dutch, overseas Chinese and aborigines here explode together...