Dominate the Country

"Dang-dang-dang..." A bell rang overhead. The Ekdal couple, who had just shouted to the land in the distance, were immediately startled. They knew what the bells above their heads meant. Then they and Adler Kreitz heard the lookout on the mast shouting loudly, "Ahead, ahead, there are two clippers approaching us. One big, one small,... God Ah, they run so fast!"

The lookouts were stunned. In his sight, the two ships approaching from the opposite side looked exactly like two big birds in flight. Yes, they were not swimming, but 'flying'! This speed can at least leave the Gothenburg behind.

A thousand-ton medium-sized scissor-bow light cruiser and a five-hundred-ton small scissor-bow destroyer appeared on the sea far away from the Gothenburg. Their speed was no less than eight knots, and the speed of the Gothenburg at this time was definitely not more than five! They discovered the tall Gothenburg and rushed over quickly.

Zhu Xun stood on the deck of the Marlin No. 1. The warship was heaving in the waves, but his feet seemed to have roots, standing firmly and motionless. From an outsider who joined the navy halfway to becoming the third commander of the medium-sized clipper bow warship that is the first to enter the navy today, he has put in efforts and struggles that ordinary people cannot imagine. But he is by no means arrogant. Because Zhu Xi knew very well that his own efforts were not uncommon in his efforts. Zhu Xi had seen more than one person who worked as hard as him. But this world is so unfortunate. In many things, many times, it is not that you will be rewarded if you work hard. Zhu Xun was a lucky man. God gave him the talent of sailing on the sea. He was unimaginably keen on warship command and combat timing. So, his efforts are now paying off handsomely.

Marlin No. 1 is the second medium-sized scissor bow warship to be officially built. The first No. 0 was left in the Jiangnan Shipyard forever as a prototype ship. Zhu Xun is the third commander of this ship that has not been in the water for a long time. The two seniors before him are now the commander of the squadron and the other is the deputy commander of the district fleet.

It is very easy to be promoted to an officer in the new Western fleet.

Zhu Xun put away the telescope in his hand and waved his hand without saying a word, but the soldiers behind him already knew what he meant. Marlin No. 1 and Swordfish No. 16 slightly adjusted their direction and rushed towards Gothenburg quickly.

"God, this speed..." Adler Kreitz couldn't believe his eyes. The speed of the two warships in front of me, the big one and the small one, was too fast, "flying scissor bow! This is the flying scissor bow..."

Just last year, a report was revealed in the British "The Times" and caused a sensation throughout Europe. After learning from Western sailing ships, the Chinese launched a new type of ship. They don't know the specific performance yet. The only thing they can confirm is its extremely fast speed.

People always believe deeply in what is ingrained in their minds and remain skeptical about things they have not seen with their own eyes. Adler Kreitz is such a person. He doubts that the British reports are eye-catching. It's all lies. But now he had to believe it.

At the same time, on the Marlin 1, looking at the getting bigger and bigger Gothenburg, Zhu Xun's eyes flashed with heat. He had seen such a giant ship many times, but he could never let go of the excitement and excitement in his heart. envious. This kind of giant ship, which weighs about 1,500 metric tons when fully loaded and can reach more than 2,000 tons when fully loaded, is much larger than the medium-sized clipper bow ship he is standing on now.

Zhu Xun knew that such merchant ships were among the big ones in the West. He had learned a lot of knowledge during his years in the Fuhan Army, especially history. Before, he had only heard about Zheng He's seven voyages to the Western Seas, but he didn't know how huge Zheng He's fleet was or what it meant. I don’t even know when the foreigners who showed off their power in Nanyang came to Nanyang, where their country is and what it is like.

If you don’t understand the enemy’s history, how can you truly know and understand the enemy?

Zhu Xun had both hatred and contempt for foreigners in his heart, but that was all. Many sailors on the southeastern coast believe that the foreign capital is to the west of the Southeast Asia. Using nautical charts, it is in the Bay of Bengal or India. After Zhu Xin officially entered the navy's training class, he practiced on a Western sailing ship day and night, from the most ordinary sailor who wiped the floor to the comptroller, then the sail chief, the captain, and finally the navigator. . In countless trials and tribulations, and in the danger of being thrown into the sea, he learned how to maneuver a Western-style sailboat, became familiar with various positions on a large sailboat, and also meticulously studied under the dim light of the sea. I learned about the great voyages that took place in Europe, the power of Spain and Portugal, the glory of the Dutch, the pride of the French, and the ruthlessness of the British.

Know what colonization is! There was even a papal state or something.

At the same time, an urgent feeling of anxiety arose in his heart. The majestic and upright China has been wandering around in the same place for the past two thousand years, while the small barbarian countries in the West have made a lot of money in the New World. The bowl is full. The Americas in the East are much larger than the entire Central Plains. The land is fertile and the climate is suitable. The indigenous people there are still tribal. They have been oppressed and enslaved by Westerners for hundreds of years, and have been usurped by Westerners for hundreds of years.

Countless amounts of gold, silver, and jewelry were plundered by the Europeans.

Although judging from the current bilateral strength, whether it is the British, the French, or the Russians, they are still far from being China's opponents - Zhu Fu thought. But the foreigners have the support of the New World, which is just like the early history of the Chinese people. Didn't the ancestors of the time also seize the current Central Plains from the four barbarians bit by bit, allowing hundreds of millions of people to thrive on this vast land?

The south in the Northern Song Dynasty was far from the Central Plains. It was developed in the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, the southwest was still a land of indigenous foreigners. Now, haven't they set up provinces and built prefectures? As long as the territory is large and the land is fertile, one day the population will be able to occupy these lands. With the support of the New World, as long as Western countries develop step by step, they can always let their descendants fill the entire America like China in the past. Will they be weaker than Huaxia at that time? Even the shortest population will not be less than Huaxia, right?

Every naval officer who walked out of the training class has a sense of urgency in his heart. They all look forward to China dividing the fertile land in the world. The wealth of Europeans came too easily. An expedition team of a hundred people allowed them to conquer the vast and rich America, bringing themselves countless wealth. All this came too easily and simply.

Just like the silver in China, Zhu Fu had never thought that China's silver was not China's, but earned from foreigners, and the silver in the hands of foreigners was robbed from America. In this way, the trade surplus year after year eventually forged the birth of silver as a "currency".

Zhu Fu had never had such a concept in his mind before. He had never thought about the trade deficit between China and foreign countries, and had never thought about what it would be like after the continuous flow of silver from the West into China. He thought that it was China's, and it was natural.

Now Zhu Fu and countless classmates in the early, late, and same periods know it, and they all understand the meaning of trade. But what is the first thought that churns in their hearts? Not trade, but plunder. Why was the first person to discover America not China?

The cultural courses in the navy training class are not only about literacy, the history of Western countries, the history of the Arabian world, but also various calculation abilities. In this era, calculation plays an important role in navigation technology, because without calculation, there is no accurate positioning.

For example, longitude and latitude, as a difficult problem that has just been solved by Westerners, the West has not yet formed a unified opinion, mainly in Britain and France. But it is obvious that the British, who have invested heavily in this area, are ahead of everyone.

Whether it is the "British Star Table", or the lunar distance method, or the old Harrison who spent 42 years to continuously manufacture 5 more accurate marine timepieces, or the "Navigation Almanac and Astronomical Almanac" which has just been released for only nine years, these are all indelible contributions to the history of longitude and latitude.

Chen Ming had no idea about this. If it weren't for Newton's narration, he wouldn't know who Harrison [Clock Method] was, let alone Mascarene [the author of "Navigation Almanac and Astronomical Almanac" - the representative of the lunar distance method]. In Great Britain in the West, the battle between the two navigation longitude and latitude measurement methods continues, and there is no specific conclusion yet. Three years ago, Captain Cook, a famous British explorer, started his second expedition around the world. During the preparation for this expedition, Captain Cook brought a large amount of sauerkraut with him. Beyond this, Captain Cook's more important move was a sea timer named K1.

He originally wanted to bring H4 to test whether old Harrison's marine clock could withstand the test of long-term sea turbulence. But the British Longitude Committee finally decided to let him bring a replica marine clock made by another watchmaker, Rackham Kendall, in two and a half years. Now the competition between the clock method and the lunar distance method is still continuing, but Chen Ming thinks that the clock method will be better, or more suitable for current technology and more practical. Not because of anything else, just because Captain Cook's name is also known to many people in later generations.

China's navigation is now advancing in two directions, learning both the lunar distance method and the clock method. Chen Ming also spent a huge amount of money to let domestic watchmakers make marine timers, that is, marine clocks. Although he knows that thing is completely different from ordinary clocks.

As a new naval officer, Zhu Fu must first realize the significance of longitude and latitude, and also realize the ongoing war in the Western world concerning longitude and latitude. And because of this point [longitude and latitude], all students can more deeply understand the influence and promotion of the great navigation on a civilization.

As surface commanders, no one can understand the great power of giant ships better than them. Breaking through waves, stepping on the sea and covering the ocean, spreading thousands of miles and seizing land, China's original warships and navigation technology have fallen far behind others.

But history tells him that in the Yongle heyday of that year, China's navigation technology and shipbuilding technology were still far ahead of the world. In the four hundred years of changes, Europeans have completed the transition from backwardness to surpassing. Not only did they come to the East in the late Ming Dynasty, but they also seized such a vast land when countless Chinese people could not see or realize it. And Zhu Fu also knew that the Spaniards at that time had a grand plan. At that time, the Spanish Governor of Luzon planned to seize the whole of China with 20,000 people!

Isn't it ridiculous?

But this kind of joke is a shame for China, an absolute shame.

As a professional naval officer, Zhu Fu knew very well the difference between the giant ship in front of him and the officers under his feet and the traditional Chinese hard-sailed sailing ships, so he did not need to belittle himself. In history, the main battlefield of the Chinese navy was more on the Yangtze River, and the vast Yangtze River was just a small ditch compared to the sea. The technology tree that China lit up in navigation was more inclined to civilian trade, rather than large warships that emphasized single-ship combat power. Especially after the Ming Dynasty!

It was also because of the real understanding of the history of Western navigation and the great navigation of the West that Zhu Fu's deep-seated feeling of depression caused by Chen Han's learning of foreign warships and foreign navigation technology completely disappeared.

"As a Chinese, no matter how proud you are, you can look down on other countries, because your motherland has the qualifications. But as an individual, especially as a soldier, you cannot turn a blind eye to the advantages that other countries clearly have. You must remember that no matter how proud you are, you must respect the efforts of your opponents.

——Being behind alone cannot make people despair, but if you still do not make progress after falling behind, or even deceive yourself and boast, then it will really make people give up completely. That is the degeneration of a nation, the degeneration of the whole.

Such a nation, no matter how glorious its history has been before, will sink to the bottom of the abyss. Their past glory can only remain in history forever. In the long river of history, it stays in the history books, and it is impossible to lend a finger of help to them now.

For thousands of years, our Chinese people have never "deceived themselves" from weak to strong. The four words "Hufu Qishe" should always be remembered in the hearts of every Chinese. When a nation "deceives itself", that nation has already decayed. A "heart" that is too proud never allows itself to fail, never accepts setbacks, then in fact you have already failed and fallen to the bottom.

No matter you have achieved a hundred or a thousand successes, as long as there are mountains to cross ahead, you can only be proud, not arrogant. "

This is what Zhu Fu heard at the graduation ceremony, which was an oral order personally handed down by the current emperor.

The gap between China and the West in navigation is not only a problem of warships, but also a gap in navigation technology and navigation spirit. Chen Ming from the future has a heart of the ocean that China of this era did not originally have, and he has been using his own efforts to realize his dream of the ocean step by step. Although the warships of the Fu Han Army are still small, as long as they continue to develop, Zhu Fu believes that sooner or later he will be able to control a giant ship, a giant ship comparable to the first-class battleships in the West!

It is taller than the foreign ship in front of him, so big!

The Swordfish No. 1 stayed seven or eight hundred meters away from the Gothenburg, and the Swordfish No. 16 approached the Gothenburg at a distance of two or three hundred meters, and lowered the boat at the same time. At this time, both sides have recognized each other's identities, and China and Sweden are still very friendly.

"Captain, this ship is Swedish, affiliated to the Swedish East India Company, named Gothenburg. It is equipped with 113 crew members, 28 cannons, and more than 150 long and short muskets." The young inspector also held an inspection form with the seal of the Jinghai Squadron of the Western Region of the Nanyang Navy, which was to be handed in after returning to the port. "The ship is loaded with 50,000 Spanish silver dollars, food, water, wood, iron, tar, and miscellaneous sundries such as nails and axes. In addition, there are 283 immigrants, all of whom are scholars, technicians, and craftsmen recruited by the court on behalf of the Swedes, as well as their families."

There are no contraband items, and the number of people and guns has been counted. Zhu Fu nodded to indicate that he understood. Looking at the inspection book that has been issued in the inspector's hand, he asked someone to take out his seal. Adler Kreitz took the inspection book with a smile on his face and expressed his gratitude to Zhu Fu.

Adler Kreitz's Chinese is far from the authentic standard of Lustig, but there is no problem with bilateral communication.

"Captain Adler Kreitz, on behalf of myself and all the officers and soldiers on the Tuna No. 1, I would like to welcome all the guests on your ship, your company and all the crew members on the Gothenburg. Some insignificant gifts, please accept them." The Chinese are very hospitable. When the enemy comes, there are swords and guns, and when friends come, there are fine wines. All the passengers on the Gothenburg in front of us are friends warmly welcomed by China.

At this time on the Gothenburg, just after Adler Krejci followed the inspector off the ship, many local people had already gathered on the Gothenburg. These Swedes had never seen Orientals before, whether in Europe, Africa, the Arabian World, or the brown and black lower-class natives of India, there had never been a race like the Chinese.

Yellow skin, black eyes, black eyeballs.

Each of them knew the image of the Chinese before coming to the East, and many people had seen Chinese portraits, but this was far less vivid than the image seen with their own eyes.

"Really black eyes, black hair..."

"Very much like the ancient Romans of the past." Ekdal pinched his chin with his fingers, his face full of smiles. The Chinese were very friendly, and the Chinese inspectors who boarded the ship gave him a humble smile...