King Lu Chenyang of Chu looked at the two flags fluttering in the wind above the battleship island.
One flag is the Chinese character Chu in gold letters on a black background.
Show the world that this battleship belongs to the Chu Kingdom.
The other flag has three large characters "Chen Yang" on it.
Morning Sun is the name of this battleship.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu named this battleship after himself.
From this detail, you can see his love for this battleship.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu stood on the steel deck, feeling the power of the battleship.
He looked up to the south, the strong wind blowing on his forehead.
Lu Chenyang, King of Chu, said with emotion: "Now that ships use steam engines and internal combustion engines, they no longer have to worry about wind direction and ocean currents, and can leave the port at any time.
If it were still a sailing ship, it would have been impossible to choose to go south in strong winds."
King Lu Chenyang of Chu looked up from time to time to look at the seabirds that landed on the battleship.
The weather at sea changed at any time, but it was still sunny and windy when we left the port.
As they headed south to the sea near Shandong, the weather suddenly changed and it started to rain lightly.
The sea also became rough and rough, and waves kept hitting the battleship.
"Your Majesty, the sea is rough, you'd better go to the island to rest."
King Lu Chenyang of Chu saw a big wave four or five meters high from the sea water, which hit the deck of the battleship directly.
The crew members on the ship continued to work on the ship with ropes tied around their waists.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu heard the advice and immediately returned to the safe island.
He was about to reach the most glorious moment in his life, and he didn't want anything to happen to him because of a small accident.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu went to the ship island to rest, while the soldiers on the deck continued to deal with the incoming wind and waves.
The largest battleship they served before was only a cruiser and had never served on a battleship.
These people were a little confused in dealing with it, but with their excellent quality, the battleship did not have any major problems.
When the fleet passed by Yantai Port, King Lu Chenyang of Chu saw a large number of merchant ships parked in the port in an orderly manner.
There is no one on the decks of these merchant ships.
The crew had already gone to the shore to rest. These ships gave people the impression that they were not suddenly docked in the port.
These boats are tied to the pier with ropes, so there is no need to worry about waves pushing the boat out.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu asked curiously: "Why didn't these merchant ships go to sea?
They seem to have predicted in advance that this area of the sea will be rough."
Hu Weiwei, the future naval commander of Chu State, heard the question from King Lu Chenyang of Chu.
He immediately explained: "Your Majesty, all the merchants have joined the Chamber of Commerce.
These chambers of commerce cooperate with two companies owned by the Crown Prince.
They purchase insurance and information services.
The telegraph network in the hands of the crown prince allows him to know the situation of the main waterways.
If it is discovered that there are high winds and waves in a certain place, the merchants who purchased the service will be notified immediately so that they can respond in advance.
This is aimed at ordinary maritime merchants with poor risk capabilities.
Our fleet's daily itinerary has been arranged in advance.
All the fleets are large ships and have strong risk resistance capabilities.
Unless you encounter a large-scale natural disaster such as a typhoon, there is generally no need to avoid it."
King Chu Lu Chenyang nodded. Standing here in the fleet, he only felt a little bumpy.
Through the telescope, he saw the cargo ships and passenger ships behind him.
These cargo ships and passenger ships carry more materials and people, and the heavy cost is relatively low.
They are more resistant to risks and have no problem coping with these storms.
The fleet left Shandong waters, the wind and waves became much lighter, and the sky was no longer dark.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu saw different ships shuttled on the busy waterway.
There was a large chimney erected in the middle of the ship, with black smoke billowing from it. This was obviously a ship powered by steam engines and internal combustion engines.
There are also some wooden-hulled boats, but they have steel paddle wheels on both sides, and their chimneys do not come out.
Among these ships, there are also several sailing ships.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu lamented: "I thought that all kinds of ships had long been replaced by steam engine ships or internal combustion engine ships.
I didn’t expect that the ancient sailing ship is still active on the route.”
Hu Weiwei answered with a smile: "Your Majesty, we are in the offshore, and we will definitely see all kinds of ships.
If you get closer to the coast, you can still see some fishermen rowing boats and fishing on the beach.
These sailing ships are mainly fishermen's fishing boats.
Steam-powered ships are very expensive and require heavy taxes, so fishermen with average wealth simply cannot afford them.
The imperial court had granted tax exemptions to wooden ships, and the technology to manufacture these sailing ships was not difficult.
Fishermen use these sailboats to fish offshore without any problems.
Those small steamers are mainly the main force of short-distance shipping.
The small steamer has a small load capacity, but its operating schedule is more flexible, and it can also enter inland rivers.
Large-tonnage ships are more valuable and mainly travel long distances."
After Hu Weiwei finished the introduction, he said with emotion: "Your Majesty, the routes around here are not busy at all.
The north has a well-developed railway network, and railways are generally used to transport goods.
The major cities in the south are by the sea and rivers.
Soon we will see Songjiang County, one of the most prosperous cities in the south.
The fleet will replenish thermal coal in Songjiang County."
King Lu Chenyang of Chu asked curiously: "I purchased a batch of supplies in Songjiang County, but they were sent to Chu State by sea long ago.
The fleet cannot purchase thermal coal at any port."
Hu Weiwei immediately explained: "Your Majesty, Songjiang County is the mouth of the Yangtze River.
There are several coal mining areas along the Yangtze River. The coal they produce can be transported to Songjiang County by cargo ships at very low cost.
Through water transportation, the larger the number of objects, the lower the cost will be.
As a result, the price of coal in Songjiang County is already the lowest in surrounding cities.
Our fleet needs a lot of coal, and each ton of coal can save a few taels of silver, which can save a huge amount of money."
The King of Chu, Lu Chenyang, nodded and praised: "This is a very good idea. We are newly established in Chu and need money everywhere.
If you can save a little bit of fuel here, you can use more money in other places.”
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! King Lu Chenyang of Chu looked at the black smoke appearing in the sky.
Steam-powered ships have many advantages over sailing ships.
Its only drawback is that it costs extra to move this huge ship.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu was bored and observed the merchant ships around the route.
He found that the closer to Songjiang County, the more ships on the route became.
When the fleet was about to arrive at the port of Songjiang County, the sea was already crowded with ships.
They need to be guided by a guide boat sent by Songjiang County in order to dock at the dock smoothly.
The main people in the fleet need to wait on board.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu visited Songjiang County with his confidants.
The first impression of the city of Songjiang on Chu King Lu Chenyang was that it was prosperous.
He had been to Songjiang more than ten years ago, and Songjiang at that time felt to him like an ordinary place.
Today's Songjiang has completely changed. King Lu Chenyang of Chu believes that Songjiang is more prosperous than the capital.
After all, the capital has Emperor Su He, nobles and civil servants.
The overall atmosphere in Beijing is one of seeking stability.
The business here in Songjiang is more prosperous, and at the same time there is no sense of oppression in the capital.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu felt that Songjiang had let himself go a little bit.
His first impression of Songjiang was the lighthouse standing next to the pier.
The lighthouse in Songjiang is seventy or eighty meters high.
Even King Lu Chenyang of Chu could imagine this huge lighthouse guiding the direction of confused ships at night.
The overall architecture of Songjiang City is also different from other cities in the impression of Chu King Lu Chenyang.
Other cities have more or less preserved ancient buildings.
Even though there are fewer ancient buildings, the houses in the city are mainly bungalows.
The houses here in Songjiang are often six or seven stories high.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu saw some houses with twenty or thirty floors.
These high-rise buildings are rare in other places, but they are very common here in Songjiang.
Lu Chenyang, the king of Chu, understood after a moment's thought that the area of Songjiang was not big, but it gathered a large number of merchants.
Songjiang also has many local factories, absorbing a large number of workers.
If these people are allowed to live in bungalows, Songjiang simply doesn't have that much space.
Songjiang could only find another way and build the building higher.
In this way, dozens of people can live in a place that could only accommodate three or four people.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu looked at the constant calls of merchants on the street.
He could also see salesmen walking around carrying goods on the street.
There are many trucks passing by on the roads in Songjiang.
They take the goods produced in the factory and go to the dock for shipment to all parts of the world.
There are three industrial centers in the empire: the Bohai Rim, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta.
During this time, King Lu Chenyang of Chu was purchasing goods needed for the founding of the country around the capital.
He has already seen the situation in the industrial towns around the Bohai Sea.
The industrial depth of the Bohai Rim mainly produces heavy industrial products, such as steel, steam engines, and locomotives.
The Yangtze River Delta places equal emphasis on light industry and heavy industry.
In addition to shipbuilding, heavy industry mainly includes machinery manufacturing that serves light industry.
Before King Lu Chenyang of Chu, he purchased a large number of textile machines and agricultural machines in Songjiang.
These machines have now been quickly shipped to Chu State. When he arrives in Chu State, some factories that are quickly prepared can be put into use.
King of Chu Lu Chenyang experienced the delicious food here in Songjiang.
As a northerner, he is not used to the food here.
He looked at his friend from the same hometown who was in charge of finance.
"There are not many businessmen in Songjiang who buy our development company."
King Lu Chenyang of Chu usually didn't pay much attention to these matters and left them all to the driver.
His opinion is obvious. The proportion of businessmen here in Songjiang is relatively high.
He will meet these businessmen and understand their needs.
These businessmen could spend a lot of money to bet on Chu's future rise.
The King of Chu, Lu Chenyang, would also give these businessmen extra care because their interests were basically the same.
Fu Gao waved his hand and said: "The businessmen here in Songjiang are extremely shrewd.
They didn't know where they heard that there was a shortage of coal and oil in Chu State.
They believe that countries lacking energy will have very low development potential.
Businessmen here in Songjiang rarely buy the stocks of our Chuguo Development Company.
Businessmen from Guangdong buy more of Chu State Development Company's stocks."
When King Lu Chenyang of Chu heard about this situation, he said angrily: "This is completely nonsense.
Songjiang is also short of energy.
Its development has not been affected at all.
What's more, who knows what's underground, maybe our Chu State can dig out a large amount of coal and oil underground like the Xiang State."
King Lu Chenyang of Chu was angry at the shortsightedness of the merchants here.
He did not continue to stay in Songjiang and learned that the fleet had completed the supply of thermal coal.
He ordered the fleet to go south immediately, and the next stop was Guangzhou.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu stored a batch of supplies at sea in his warehouse in Guangzhou, waiting for shipment.
He is also planning to invite businessmen from Guangdong for a brief meeting to understand their needs.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu witnessed the rapid development of the empire in recent years.
The hierarchical concept of scholars, farmers, industry and commerce in his heart had long been shattered.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu had realized the contribution of merchants to a country.
Although these people are not easy to manage, if you make good use of them, the country will develop extremely quickly.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu believed that as long as he selected businessmen who fit his ideas.
He was confident that he could control these businessmen and would not let them do evil in Chu State.
The fleet continued to move south, and the commercial activities in the south were indeed more developed than in the north.
After the fleet crossed the Yangtze River Estuary, the number of fleets on the route far exceeded that of the northern route by several times.
These ships are mainly ocean-going trade ships, small steamers and other ships, which have been pushed to the edge by these large cargo ships.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu asked curiously: "According to statistics from the Imperial Ministry of Finance, the total tax paid by the major cities in the south is almost double that of the cities in the north.
If they can pay so much tax, they must earn more.
Southerners really love doing business."
Hu Weiwei sighed: "Your Majesty, the profits from doing business are too great.
Departing from Tianjin Port, it follows the imperial coastline directly to the Strait of Malacca.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Pass through the Strait of Malacca, along the coastline of the empire, across the Persian Gulf, through the Red Sea and north to the Suez Canal.
Cross the Mediterranean and reach Europe.
This is an extremely mature route and is called the golden route by these maritime merchants.
It only takes several months to load a ship of goods.
Then you can exchange the goods for gold and silver coins. If you have a better vision, you can make a fortune by transporting the return goods.
Many people became rich because of this route, and a large number of businessmen traveled on this route.
Merchants spread word of mouth and called this route the golden route.
The two most important nodes of the golden route are the Panama Strait and the Suez Canal.
Fortunately, these two places are already under the control of the empire."
After hearing Hu Weiwei's explanation, Chu King Lu Chenyang was shocked.
"Brother Fang, I think we should adjust the tariffs on various items in a timely manner.
Certain items are reduced or exempted from tariffs.
This will attract a large number of merchants willing to come to Chu State.
These merchants work thousands of miles just for money, so I will let them earn more.
These merchants will naturally bring over the goods we lack."
Fangfang replied seriously: "Your Majesty, I will immediately start arranging this matter after arriving in Chu State."
The Morning Sun lit up huge lights and led the team to continue sailing at night.
The crew is divided into day shift and night shift, as long as weather conditions permit.
The fleet will not stop at the dock to rest at night, but will continue to move forward.
The Chenyang is a warship, and the navigation staff can use the sextant to determine the location of the fleet and guide the team's direction.
In addition, there are lighthouses on the shore along the way to guide ships coming and going.
The fleet had arrived near the mouth of the Pearl River, and they saw a tall and bright lighthouse guiding ships into the port.
King Lu Chenyang of Chu ordered that he could rest in Guangzhou Mansion for a few days.
Under the guidance of the lighthouse, the fleet entered Guangzhou Port.