"Since coming to the world, every pore of capital has been dirty and bloody, and it will expand out at any time."

Twenty-six years ago, in the first year of Xingqian, along the Cape of Good Hope in the southern end of Africa.

Although this location has long been marked on the Ming Dynasty map, this is the farthest place for the Ming Dynasty merchant ships to sail. Although no one has ever restricted their navigation, no one has ever sailed through this sea area.

From the Cape of Good Hope to the west, from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, these are two completely different worlds.

Now, a small sailboat with a displacement of less than 600 tons is mooring in this sea area, quietly waiting for the captain's order.

The Dutch in the Cape of Good Hope banned the entry of Ming merchant ships. Due to the conflict of interest in maritime trade, many conflicts occurred between the Dutch and Ming merchants.

For the Qingyuan, which is full of cargo, returning means that it will suffer huge losses.

Where to go?

Zhang Yong, the cousin of the same clan of Zhang Jin, the Marquis of Zhiyong, stood silently at the bow of the ship. In front of him was the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean on the other side, he was in an unprecedented dilemma.

what to do?

If he returns, he must pay more than 50 crew members' salaries. In addition, the loss of goods will not make him bankrupt, but it will also cause him to be seriously injured. Although he told others that he was the cousin of Zhang Jin, the Marquis of Zhiyong, in fact, the blood ties of the two families need to be traced back to the generation of great-grandfather.

"It's time to return, Captain."

The first mate whispered. On the deck of the ship, there were more than fifty crew members, most of whom were Fujianese and several natives from the South China Sea. They came here from thousands of miles to not only pay for long-distance voyages, but also dividends after entering the Cape of Good Hope trade.

If they return now, their income will be reduced.

what to do?

"No, keep moving forward and go to Europe!"

Zhang Yong made a decision resolutely.

Almost everyone felt that when he said this, the air instantly solidified.

"Forward? Go to Europe?"

As sailors, although they all knew that after passing the Cape of Good Hope and sailing thousands of miles, they could reach Europe, but everyone knew that they were strangers to that sea.

"Walk forward and go to Europe to see that the Dutch could close their ports, but when they came to Europe, there were Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, and they could not all turn us out."

"But Captain? What should we do if we don't have a guide? And there is no chart."

Going west, it has always been a forbidden area for the Ming merchant ships. In the final analysis, it is because there is no navigation chart or guide.

"Yes, just break through like this, maybe you will lose your life."

"When Europeans came, there was no guide or chart, so we could not stay here in the Indian Ocean forever. We will sooner or later enter the Atlantic Ocean!"

"But by then, maybe there will be a chart."

"No, no one will give us a chart. If we want to enter the Atlantic Ocean and go to Europe, we must draw the chart ourselves. The sea can be conquered by Europeans, and the Ming Dynasty can conquer it too!"

Zhang Yong's eyes looked at the depths of the ocean with longing. At this moment, what he thought in his heart was no longer the wealth brought by navigation, but a mission.

"But, but Captain, this is a great risk..."

"Risk? How can this bowl of rice be without risks?"

Zhang Yong said to the sailor in front of him.

"I have decided. If you don't want to go, I will put the sampan down. You can go to the Cape of Good Hope and go back on a Dutch boat. If you are willing to go, the dividend will increase by 20%!"

After he said this, the boat fell into silence. Zhang Yong looked at everyone, he did not speak, and the sailors did not speak either.

Europe!

Each of them is filled with irresistible mysterious temptations.

"set sail!"

That day, the Qingyuan broke through the wind and waves, knocked away the waves of the two oceans, headed west to the Cape of Good Hope, and drove along the coast to Europe.

A few months later, the Qingyuan, heading north along the African coast, sailed to Portugal after great hardships. They were welcomed by locals at the port, and this was the first Ming merchant ship to arrive in Europe.

...

Twenty-six years later, when the "Fuye" sailed into Edinburgh, Europeans had long been accustomed to the Ming merchant ships and the "Sun and Moon Flag" of the Ming Dynasty. Eighteen years ago, more and more merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty appeared in Europe. Once upon a time, the Dutch were called "Sea Coachman", but soon the Ming Dynasty also won this title.

With the cheap ships provided by North American colonies, the Ming merchant fleet competed fiercely with the Dutch in Europe. Just like the Dutch, Norwegian wood, Danish fish, Polish food, Russian fur, Southeast Asian spices, Ming cotton textiles, silk and porcelain, etc., the Ming merchant ships transported these goods to all parts of Europe, and were not limited to the resale of their own merchants. Merchants from any country could become their buyers.

By the 26th year of Xingqian, more than 2,000 merchant ships were engaged in various trades in ports of European countries. Although they could not be compared with the Dutch or other European countries, everyone knew that this was only a small part of the Ming merchant fleet. Just like the Europeans back then, the Ming merchant ships had already penetrated across Europe.

"Sir Captain, you must be careful. Those people in the customs are extremely greedy."

As the merchant ship was dragged by a sampan and slowly sailed into the port, Steve said nervously to You Liang Huali.

"Opium...if they find it, they will definitely ask for a lot of money. You must know that it is not allowed to import opium at the official level."

As early as a few years ago, due to the flood of opium, the UK had banned the import of opium, but in the face of a market of millions of people, smugglers still transported a steady stream of opium to the UK.

"I know, I'm ready for their gift."

Liang Huali said confidently. Looking at the sampan slowly dragging the ship, his eyes turned to a small steam tug in the port. Although Europeans had already begun to try to imitate steam engines more than ten years ago, their technology was very backward and the steam engines were always malfunctioning. Therefore, although you can see steam boats here, they often have no practical value.

However, steam engines are becoming increasingly popular in the Ming Dynasty. In the eyes of many people, perhaps in a few decades, steam engines will be popularized in all aspects of the Ming Dynasty. Just like in some science fiction, steam engines can even be used on aircraft.

But Europe...their steam engines are still in the exploration stage.

"Smuggling steam engines or components into Europe can earn at least 2 times the profit..."

Although as a businessman, his desire for profit drove Liang Huali to make many choices, he would never violate the law and sell the machines to Europe. However, this does not prevent some profiteers from selling the machines to Europe for huge profits, and some even willing to serve the Europeans and help them build machines in their factories.

When Liang Huali was thinking about it, he stood on the sampan, and looked at the boat getting closer and closer, and all his eyes were full of greed. For him, it didn't matter what was transported on the boat. What was important was whether there were no contrabands. As long as there were contrabands, he could get additional income. This was the most important thing.

"Lu State?"

Looking at the somewhat unfamiliar flag, Andre muttered in his heart.

The State of Lu... is also the Heavenly Kingdom.

At least it should be part of the Celestial Empire. This discovery made Andre feel a little unhappy. After all, the merchants of the Celestial Empire rarely get involved in illegal trade. They have sufficient goods to make profits and do not need to consider making profits through contraband or illegal smuggling.

"Hey, Will should be asked to check this boat."

Andre, who felt a little boring, muttered to himself in his heart.

It's boring, there's no extra income, of course it's not interesting.

"They are all cotton cloths shipped from the Heavenly Kingdom."

Like any merchant ship of the Celestial Empire, the ship is full of goods transported from the Celestial Empire. Cotton is the most common commodity. In any corner of the world, you can see the influx of high-quality and low-cost cotton cloth. The influx of a large number of Celestial Empire cotton cloths has even brought devastating blows to the European cotton weaving industry, so that there have been many incidents of boycotting "open goods" in some countries.

Of course Andre didn't care about these things. His eyes looked at the captain from time to time. The captain was very young. There were many captains as young as him in the Celestial Empire. Compared with the poverty of the British, many young people did not even have food to cover themselves and could only act as low-level sailors on the ship. In the Celestial Empire, they could buy a ship at any time as long as they were willing to sail on the sea. Of course, they needed to master the sailing skills.

"Sir Captain, you are the youngest captain of the Celestial Dynasty I have ever met. Where did your ship come from..."

While chatting with Liang Huali, Andrei gave some hints from time to time that even ordinary goods could ask for some benefits, such as reducing the size of the cabin when the customs inspects the goods, so that less tariffs can be paid.

"Sir, you have always been in charge of this port, have you?"

Liang Huali looked at the official in front of him who was at least 200 kilograms. He was so fat that he even made people wonder if he could still walk. Even when he was talking, the flesh on his face was trembling.

"Of course, as the King's tax officer, I have been in charge of taxation and inspection of this port since five years ago, and I will definitely still be here in the next few years..."

Looking at the young captain in front of him, Andre said in a relaxed tone,

"Many captains are willing to be friends with me, including the captains of the Celestial Empire. They know that being friends with me will bring them a lot of convenience."

It is rare for officials to be so "candid". At least in Liang Huali's understanding, he has never seen such "candid" people, but the other party's "candid" made him much easier.

"Yes, sir, I think, maybe, we can be friends, what do you think?"

While speaking, Liang Huali took out a thick envelope and stuffed it into Andrei's hand without saying a word. He just pinched it with his hands. His years of experience made him very clear that the envelope contained at least 500 taels of silver coupons - this kind of silver coupon of the Ming Dynasty was very popular even in Europe, especially in certain specific occasions, not only because it was endorsed by the most powerful empire in the world, but more importantly, the Ming bank had opened branches in many European countries in the past decade. With these exquisitely printed silver coupons, these smiles on Andrei's face became extremely bright.

"Of course, I think we will definitely become good friends. My name is Andre Fehr, and in this port, you can come to me no matter what happens."

Then he lowered his voice and said in a very faint voice.

"If you have some special cargo on your ship, you can wait until the night before transporting it out. I can provide you with some help, just a little reward..."

This is a paradise!

When thousands of kilograms of teeth were transported out of the dock safely, looking at the lively dock, Liang Huali suddenly had such an idea in his mind. Even in the Persian port, the greedy tax officials were not as blatant as the tax officials in England.

"Sir, to England, everything is priced..."

Following his employer, Steve pointed to the passers-by who looked pale and thin and malnourished on the roadside, and then said.

"From beggars to nobles, as long as they are given enough money, they can be bought. In fact, this is the case in this country from top to bottom, even the king, even the same."

With his eyes on his employer, Steve's tone was filled with some hostility.

"Now that damn guy, no matter who gives him enough benefits, will be willing to sell everything, even if he sells his soul to the devil. Believe me, he has sold his soul to the devil."

Facing Steve Liang Huali, who was constantly complaining and cursing someone, seemed a little strange. He looked at Steve in confusion and asked in confusion.

"Steve, who are you talking about? It seems you are very dissatisfied with him."

"Who else can it be? Of course it's our king, that pagan. That damn guy has sold his soul to the devil. Believe me, as long as you give him enough silver, he can do everything for you, really, I swear to God."

Looking at Steve in a dumbfounded state, Liang Huali couldn't imagine what the king did, which made him so angry.

Besides, Steve is just an ordinary person. Is he the same as himself?

"Has he done anything to you?"

"He is a pagan, sir."

Steve said angrily.

"This one is enough!"
Chapter completed!