Daming Military Empire

Chapter 301 Departure to Europe
After more than three months of waiting, at the beginning of April in the 11th year of Chongzheng, more than 400 warships were finally remodeled, and the super treasure ship warships were rushed out. Zhu Cijiong immediately summoned all the entourage after hearing the news, and prepared to set off for Europe. I really dare not wait any longer. If the peace talks between the European powers succeed, it will be troublesome!

Although he was in a hurry, he couldn't make the trip right away, because the accompanying team this time was too huge. First of all, in terms of battleships, there were a total of [-] warships of various types, specifically:

A large treasure ship warship, newly built, 44 feet long, 62 feet wide and [-] feet wide, powered by sails and propellers, a three-story gunboat, with fifty [-]-style ship-mounted howitzers, There are [-] Type [-] ship-borne howitzers and [-] Type [-] ship-borne howitzers, which can accommodate nearly [-] people at the same time. Zhu Cijiong directly named it "Daming"

There are also two medium-sized treasure ship warships, namely "Sun Moon" and "Success"

There are also [-] super battleships and [-] Fuchuan warships, all of which have been transformed into combined power of sails and steam paddle wheels.

In terms of accompanying troops, there are:
A total of [-] soldiers of the Beiyang Navy are in charge of manipulating [-] super battleships and [-] Fuchuan warships;

The Nanyang Navy has a total of [-] soldiers and is responsible for manipulating [-] super battleships and [-] Fuchuan warships;

A total of [-] soldiers from the First Corps of the Imperial Guard are responsible for accompanying protection;
Jin Yiwei has a total of [-] people and is responsible for accompanying the guard of honor.

In terms of accompanying service personnel, there are:

Accompanying eunuchs are two thousand, responsible for handling various chores;
Accompanying two thousand maids, responsible for taking care of the emperor's daily life;
There are more than a thousand other imperial doctors and chefs, who are responsible for diet and medical treatment;
In terms of accompanying family members, cronies and officials, there are:
Qin Mingyue, Empress of the Ming Empire, has always been Zhu Cijiong's closest bodyguard. Every time she travels, she is an indispensable member, even if she becomes an empress;

There is also Princess Anna, the imperial concubine, this time it is only possible to make the trip in the name of accompanying her home to visit relatives, so naturally her share is indispensable, as for the other concubines, they will not have this blessing;

There is also Zhennan Wang Zheng Zhilong, who is mainly responsible for translation work, because he is good at Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch. Of course, he also has to inspect the luxury market in Europe;
There is also Zhennan Prince Zheng Chenggong, who will be the commander of Daming's navy in the future, and Zhu Cijiong naturally wants to take him to meet the world;

There is also Wang Zhengnan, the new Commander of the Jinyiwei. Now the main job of the Jinyiwei is to detect intelligence, and Ou Lu naturally needs to establish an intelligence network;
There is also Guozijian Jijiu Zodiac Week, which is mainly responsible for building the Daming Chinese Academy along the way and in Europe to spread Han culture;
There is also Chen Yutai, the left deputy commander of the General Political Department, who is mainly responsible for recording the words and deeds of the emperor during the trip to Europe. After returning, the "Beijing News" will publish a special issue;
There is also Xu Erdou, the grandson of Xu Guangqi, who is mainly responsible for developing the business of Daming Royal Xinglong Company in Europe;
There is also Sun Zhihao, the grandson of Sun Chengzong, who is mainly responsible for developing the business of Daming Royal Machinery Group in the colonies of allied countries and Europe;

There is also sincerity Boshvira, this guy has to be responsible for a lot of things, such as translation, liaison, guide, tour guide, etc. He is indispensable;

There are also envoys from European countries, they have almost learned Chinese, and this time they happened to drop by to go back together.

There are also gifts prepared this time. As an emperor, Zhu Cijiong will naturally not be stingy. He brought a few ships of the newly-made Chongzheng Tongbao alone, including 50 gold coins, 500 million silver coins, and 1000 million copper coins. One thousand one million taels of silver, as well as silk, high-grade porcelain, high-grade tea, high-grade Chinese medicine, Type 100 flintlock guns, revolvers, revolver rifles, various field howitzers, etc., etc., the total value is no less than 3000 million taels!
There are also goods prepared by the Royal Xinglong Company of the Ming Dynasty, such as cloth, porcelain, tea, rice, cooking oil, sucrose, spices, medicinal materials, antiques, treasures, calligraphy and paintings, etc., which filled all the ship's warehouses!
With so many entourages, it would take four or five days just to assemble, and it would take about ten days to load so many supplies on the ship, so everything was not ready until mid-April.

April [-]th is an auspicious day for the zodiac. It is suitable for offering sacrifices, consecration, praying, fasting, traveling, accepting food, tailoring clothes, and marrying. On this day, Dongdaying Xingang Wharf is very lively. The common people looked around eagerly, a forest of colored flags and a sea of ​​flowers on the pier, all civil and military officials of the imperial court came, the regent Zhu Youjian came, and even the empress dowagers of the two palaces came!

Zhu Cijiong comforted the reluctant empress dowagers of the two palaces, and encouraged Zhu Youjian, who acted as regent, and then waved goodbye to all the civil and military officials who came to see him off. itinerary.

This ship is much more convenient to travel than a sailboat. If it is a sailboat, it depends on the wind direction and the current. It takes a long time for the sailors to turn around and leave the port. If you go along the water, you even have to arrange people to line up on the shore to pull the fiber before you can turn around!
With steam power propulsion, it is different. Just fire up the boiler, open the valve, let the paddle wheel or propeller run, and you can turn around and leave the port easily.

The United Fleet's visit to Europe this time left the port very smoothly. First, the Daming ship emitted white smoke from its chimney, and turned around and left the port first without a sound. Shi Ran followed, and in the end, four hundred warships set off a monsoon of mist and followed one by one. The whole process was like flowing water, without any stagnation. The people of Dongdaying who were used to watching the fleet leave the port were all stunned and amazed.

Zhu Cijiong didn't have time to pay attention to the common people at this time. He didn't know how many things he had arranged for this trip. First of all, he wanted to test the speed of the ship, how fast it could go with the sails raised, and how fast it could go with the wind and the water. What is the speed? These are the basic parameters for commanding naval battles in the future, and they all need detailed tests and records.

After less than three days of testing, the results are quite gratifying. The distance from Dongdaying to Dongfan is about [-] miles. Starting from Dongdaying, we arrived at Dongfan in less than three days, which proves that the average speed of the fleet has exceeded [-]. Every hour in the mile, this is still in the case of a bad wind. In the case of a tailwind, the average speed of the fleet can reach at least [-] miles per hour. This speed is at least three times the speed of the sailboat. In the case of smooth flow, it can reach up to forty miles per hour, and generally it is about twenty miles per hour, and the average speed is less than thirty miles per hour!
With such a speed, the time saved is astonishing. Take Daming to Europe as an example. At this time, if you want to travel from Daming to Europe, you basically sail along the coastline to the Arabian Sea, then circle around the Cape of Good Hope, and then go north. It takes nearly [-] miles along the coastline to reach the European continent. Calculated based on the average sailing speed of [-] miles per hour, it would take more than three months. It takes about a month!

(End of this chapter)