At the end of this year, Japanese pirates suddenly attacked Kinmen, and then followed the north wind and came to the sea off Zhangzhou, causing people to be shocked. The Zeng family's ship, named Hao, went to the sand embankment (i.e. Shacheng) at the junction of Fujian and Zhejiang shipping as soon as it hit the water;
At that time, the coastal maritime prohibition law stipulated that Shacheng was used to limit the north and south, which ordered Fujian ships not to pass through Zhejiang, and Zhejiang ships were not allowed to pass through Fujian. Since the Zeng family's ship was launched, it has transported three batches of foreign goods and silver to the Zhejiang branch of the trading company to prepare for the coming year.
trade.
Hearing the Japanese pirate warning, Haozhao hurriedly returned to Yuegang. What worried the Zeng family was Yin Feng; this guy went to Dongpanjun Port as soon as his new ship was launched, saying that he was going to train sailors. In fact, except for
In addition to training sailors, he also went to accept a batch of weapons and equipment shipped by the Goa. This was Yin Feng's entrustment to Bernardo, and he bought 50 matchlock guns and 2 12-18 pound copper guns in Siam.
Smoothbore main cannon and four 6-pound bronze cannons. When ordering these goods at the beginning of the year, the price Bernardo asked for cost almost half of Yin Feng's family property. Fortunately, his family property is still increasing this year.
Bernardo originally had no objections to the purchase of a firearms escort ship. He also had a share in this ship. But Yin Feng wanted so many at one time and also had cannons, which really put him in a dilemma; there are many gun manufacturing centers in Europe, the most influential of which is Brescia.
(Italy), Munich, Augsburg, Nuremberg, Saarland (Turingia), Paris, Liege, Maastricht, Utrecht, London, etc. However, that is really too far away.
Among the countries in East Asia that can produce firearms, the Portuguese and Spanish have strict management on firearms sold to the private sector; Yin Feng has never thought of buying Chinese firearms; not only are they impossible to buy due to the strict government control, but also
At that time, Ming Dynasty firearms had lagged behind compared to the West.
Finally, Yin Feng, who had studied Portuguese colonial history, thought of it; he could buy firearms from Thailand-Siam. There was a Portuguese settlement in the capital of Siam at that time. As a condition for settling here, the Portuguese provided mercenaries to the King of Siam.
And taught the Siamese people to produce various gunpowder guns. Therefore, the Siamese people became famous producers of guns and gunpowder. Even Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan, also presented to the King of Siam in 1606 and 1608.
Order muskets and gunpowder.
Not many people know that during the French Revolution, the two cannons used in the battle to capture the Bastille on July 14, 1789 were given to French King Louis XIV by the King of Siam in the 17th century.
Relatively speaking, not many people know about the firearms produced by Siam National Energy, and the regulations are looser and easier to buy.
Finally, in that era of great navigation, the charm of money was endless. The so-called "Jin Ling Si Tian, Qian Shen Zhuo Di", these weapons were successfully purchased. Although the number of cannons is seriously insufficient, there should be no problem in dealing with ordinary pirates and Japanese pirates.
Now. The problem now is that no one knows how to use weapons.
Lu Shitou's pirate ships had almost become good and followed Li Dan in business, and no one on his ship was proficient in firearms. Several of Li Dan's ships were traditional Fu ship types, and he never thought of putting cannons on the ships for combat.
Therefore, he cannot rely on his people. So, he can only wait for Bernardo to bring him an artillery instructor next year. Fortunately, Lin Xiao played with Qianhushuo's quick gun when he was a child. The firing principle is the same as that of a matchlock gun. He is active and has a flexible mind.
Lin Xiao figured out how to launch a musket after playing for a while.
Yin Feng continued to drill his sailors on the beach of Dongfanjing Port. This time, they held wooden sticks to simulate musket shooting training, creating a so-called three-row firing formation. Due to the small space on the ship, this formation training was not allowed on the ship.
Fixed volley training has not been established. Sometimes the training is held on the beach of Yingang. No pirates and fishermen who live in Yingang for the winter are interested in this. Everyone thinks it is just a show. Occasionally, local indigenous people pass by while fishing.
, and looked around curiously.
When Yin Feng slowly took out abnormal exercises such as 100 leap frogs, 50 push-ups and 50 weight-bearing squats every day, and 50 handstands and sit-ups before going to bed at night, the group of Danmin sailors reacted to this.
Already completely numb, everyone was highly nervous, listening to the commands and performing actions reflexively.
To be honest, if these sailors were not suffering people, were not fishermen who have been fighting for their lives at sea all year round, did not have the temptation of Yin Feng's 40 taels of free money every year, and did not have Yin Feng's daily supplement of fish and meat at all costs, it would be said that
Maybe these sailors had escaped long ago. Lin Xiao had already begun to regret: What could I do wrong and have to go to sea with this crazy boss?
Just when Yin Feng was having fun playing the game of training soldiers, Li Dan's men, who had already returned to Quanzhou to prepare for the New Year, and the servants of the Zeng family took a smuggling merchant ship to Jingang. News that Japanese pirates suddenly appeared on the coast of Fujian also spread throughout the country.
The people of the Zeng family specially asked Yin Feng to go home for the New Year as soon as possible. The eldest master had already obtained the approval document for his status as a regular prisoner for the donation.
The Ming Dynasty valued literature over martial arts and the tradition of imperial examinations, which had an extremely profound social foundation. Although Zeng Ke claimed to be a merchant family, in any case, their family was already a family of officials. In this way, Yin Feng's
The identity of a civilian businessman was very problematic; among the officials and gentry at that time, the concept of being well-matched was deeply rooted in their bones.
In order to match the family, Zeng Yue, who liked Yin Feng most as his brother-in-law among the Zeng family, thought of donating money. He paid for it himself, so he should thank Yin Feng for his life-saving efforts.
As early as the Jingtai period, the imperial court had issued an order to "take millet into prisons". Nowadays, the Wanli Emperor's mine supervisors and tax envoys are all over the world, and it is very common to donate grains to prisons. At first, only students with scholar status were allowed to "take millet into prisons".
"Enter the prison", now anyone can "take millet into the prison", and it has become a regular system for regular prisons to accept admission. As long as you have money, you can get the title of prison student. In today's Imperial College, seven out of ten
Prison students are either regular prisoners or pay tribute.
It happened that the Fujian Military Preparation Road was about to reorganize its troops and go out to fight against Japanese pirates. Zeng Yue used his connections to provide money, which was used as military pay for the navy, and he successfully sold Yin Feng a title of regular prisoner. Unexpectedly, Yin Feng returned to ancient times and actually became a prisoner.
The son of a rich man who entered the university with the help of sponsorship had no choice but to bow to the social reality; besides, Zeng Yue was indeed helping him by doing so. Now his social status can barely be regarded as a scholar, and he is on par with the Zeng family.
Marriage is no longer a problem; and when traveling abroad to do business, you also have an extra layer of political identity to protect yourself.
…
Wan'er was bored and sat lazily under the plum blossom tree in the yard. The plum blossoms were in full bloom. The girl looked at the plum blossoms with her eyes and thought about her thoughts. Magaro followed Yin Feng to Dongfan on the other side of the sea. Wan'er was the only one who could
The target of the prank was not in front of him either. Magaro was learning to speak Chinese, and the black man's clumsy tongue was Wan'er's only entertainment during the long days of waiting.
People here say that women cannot go on boats, but Wan'er grew up on a fishing boat. Now she is so close to the sea, but she can no longer go fishing on the sea. This makes Wan'er suffer from severe homesickness. In addition, Wan'er also suffers from severe homesickness.
Lovesickness for a heartless male protagonist...
In this year, Wan'er only saw Yin Feng three times, and the total time she served him was only one and a half months. The rest of the time, Wan'er just cleaned the house, washed clothes, and then waited boredly for dark. A month ago, Yin Feng returned
When I arrived in Quanzhou, I didn't even go back home. I went straight to the shipbuilding yard off the coast of Fuzhou.
Starting from March this year, the second young lady of the Zeng family compound and her future mistress began to send little girls to contact her and ask her to enter the back house of the Zeng family to talk to her. She would be asked to go there several times every month.
Reply. Most of the time, she just watched the second young lady of the Zeng family reading and writing at the desk, and then answered some boring questions from the second young lady. Sometimes she also talked about Yin Feng in a roundabout way, but she was limited to asking Mr. Yin where he was now and what he was doing.
.Her expression is always so indifferent, and it seems that nothing can excite her. This makes Wan'er, who was born on the sea and has a hard life, but has a cheerful personality, dislike it very much.
Thinking of this, Wan'er felt very awkward and broke a flower branch with her hand.
"I'm a maid!" She sighed.
On the other hand, the little girl next to the young lady, Rui'er, is petite and cute. She is only about ten years old and is very articulate. She always comes here to talk to Wan'er.
At this time, there was a sound outside the courtyard door, and she heard Magaro's weird pronunciation in Chinese: "Be careful, be careful." Then there was the noise of a group of people making a fuss. Wan'er's heart tightened suddenly, she heard it.
Yin Feng's voice.
Wan'er immediately jumped to open the door. Outside, a large group of servants were carrying two large wooden boxes. She suddenly found Yin Feng in the crowd.
Yin Feng mainly traveled between Macau and Taiwan this year, spending the most time in Macau. However, due to the two months of "military training", he has become dark and thin. He has just returned from the Yuegang Pier by carriage.
The beard is unkempt and the hair is unkempt.
Wan'er frowned in distress, opened her mouth, and said only: "The young master is back."
Yin Feng smiled at her and nodded, and continued to discuss the topic with Zeng Yue: "...Brother Shanyue, you can rest assured that these two self-ringing bells were specially made by me in Macau. When the time is struck, the three stars of good fortune, wealth and longevity will come out one after another.
.The uncle will definitely be satisfied.”
Zeng Yue said: "The other clock went to the capital to be sold. In the first month of the first month, the family sent someone to the capital to pick up the second brother, and they happened to go together. This spring failed, the second brother said he would study hard in the capital next year.
Must hit. Haha..."
The general examination in the Ming Dynasty was held in February of the second year after the provincial examination. It was located in the capital and presided over by the Ministry of Rites. Therefore, the examination was also called the "Etiquette Examination" or "Li Wei". Because it was held in the spring, it
Also known as "Chun Wei".
The second brother Zeng is Zeng Shan, who took the new imperial examination. In the first month of this year, he rushed to the capital to take part in the joint examination, but failed in everything. He did not want to go to the Imperial College to sit in prison. After the expiration of the term, he would be elected as a local academic official. He did not
He wanted to go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to take the examination and become an official, but the most he could do was serve as a local promotion official or academic official. So he stayed at the Fujian Chamber of Commerce in the capital, saying that he would study in the capital and take the examination next year.
They entered Yin Feng's yard and directed a group of servants to carry a box into the back room that was used as a warehouse. The other box was placed in the yard to be unsealed. Yin Feng personally directed the servants, and it took him a long time to bring one box to the back room. How high is the chiming clock installed?
It was missionary Luo Mingjian who first introduced chiming bells to China in 1580 AD. When Matteo Ricci came to the capital in 1601, he included two chiming bells as a gift to Emperor Wanli. Matteo Ricci opened a private clock exhibition at his residence in Beijing The meeting caused a sensation among the Hanlin scholars, high-ranking officials, and governors in the dynasty. For a time, there was a bustling crowd, rushing to see it, and spending huge sums of money to buy Western self-ringing bells.
Therefore, Yin Feng had a sudden idea at the beginning of the year and customized three Chinese-style chiming clocks from Portuguese craftsmen in Macau. The shapes were designed to look like Chinese-style buildings with cornices and beams, and the little figures who told the time were all auspicious Chinese gods. In order to give My ship reported that the government's water diversion permit had been delivered to the Fujian tax eunuch Gao Cai.
Of the remaining bells, one was given to the Zeng family for flattery, and the other was intended to be shipped to Beijing and sold at a high price.
Wan'er hid aside and secretly looked at Yin Feng, her mood getting better and better; the reason for her happiness was simple, because the young master was back.
…
There is an open space in the backyard of the Zeng family compound. In the early years, Uncle Zeng Ke came back from the south of the Yangtze River to do business. Arty wanted to turn this place into a waterside garden. However, due to the cramped place, the garden layout was a bit small, and it was surrounded by high walls. It was a large patio with a pond. In the end, Zeng Ke gave up the plan to turn this place into a garden, so it became the back garden of the inner house.
Zeng Qi's second daughter Zeng Jing, nicknamed Liang'er, lost her mother when she was young and was raised by Zeng Qi's first wife. Although she suffered a lot of cold violence, she finally grew into a slim, well-educated girl. Together with her mother Likewise, she has a beauty that only brings her trouble.
Now she has been betrothed to Yin Feng and is waiting for the wedding next year. This is a turning point in her fate, but she has no power to affect the progress of the marriage. All she can do is wait and wait.
Now, she was sitting in the stone pavilion by the pond reading, but she didn't take in anything. Her eldest mother had always opposed her reading miscellaneous books. Although the Zeng family was a merchant family, they now had to be in line with the officials. Therefore, "women have no talent." "It is virtue" is the principle that Da Mu has always emphasized. The only books she can read are things like the Four Women's Books.
The little girl Rui'er hurried over and said breathlessly: "Miss, my uncle is back..." Seeing Zeng Jing's unkind eyes, she stuck out her tongue and said with a smile: "It's Mr. Yin who is back. He also gave me a gift for you." Sir, I have a Western self-ringing clock that can tell the time by itself, and..."
Zeng Jing interrupted the little girl: "Stop talking, if you want to see Western goods, just go by yourself." She turned back and continued reading at her desk.
The little girl Rui'er stuck out her tongue, shrank her hands and feet, turned around, and ran away.
Zeng Jing's mind was filled with her mother's words before she died: "A businessman is a poor person."
…
Yin Feng didn't know that his future wife was slandering all the merchants. He was currently busy with the year-end accounting. He was now the head of the accounting room of Zeng Family Trading Company, walking around with his hands behind his back, supervising the calculation of accounts by his subordinates. But his brain Li is on a desertion, planning to go to Quanzhou and Fuzhou to find blacksmiths and make some firearms; he feels that the weapons and equipment on his merchant ship are still not enough. In fact, according to the weapons configuration of the "emerging" ship, if it is just sailing along the coast of East Asia, it will be difficult to cope with the situation. Generally, there is no problem with scattered pirates and Japanese pirates.
However, Yin Feng's ship was going to the farther ocean. There were ships from the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, British, and French there, so he thought it was necessary to strengthen the weapon configuration.