Chapter 22 Chapter 156: Eighty-one Difficulties

The crew knew that the Congo River had already been sailed by sailors from the far west, so they were full of confidence in the way forward. After another long journey, after going through ninety-nine and eighty-one hardships, they finally arrived in Xitian.This may not be the Paradise of Elysium, but for people who have been wandering on the sea for so long, this place is like a paradise. There are many small kingdoms here that are fighting endlessly. I don't think you should anchor there. Further on, there is the Kingdom of Franks, but the Kingdom of Franks is also at war with the Kingdom of England. They have been fighting for a hundred years, and they don't know what Time is a head.

So, I thought maybe we could adjust course and head straight for Venice, which I know well. On the bow, Fei Yinglun graciously explained to Xia Xun. They had just left Morocco, a country founded by the Arabs. They rested in Morocco for ten days. During these ten days, the hungry and rich sailors of Ming Dynasty almost took all the prostitutes in Morocco. As the battleship prepared to resume their voyage, some of the women were already too tired to get out of bed, but they were very happy to see the beautiful jewels piled by the head of the bed. The wealth and generosity of these oriental people, especially the majesty on the bed, left a deep impression on them, so that later, when the merchant ship of Ming Dynasty came here along the Xiaxun route, when they saw those oriental faces, they immediately fell in love with them. Will increase the price.

Of course, there are also women who are obsessed with sex in bed, including some noble ladies. After hearing about this incident, they began to seduce those Orientals who came from afar, just for the legendary madness. After Xia Xun's fleet left Morocco, they continued along the Strait of Gibraltar and sailed into the Mediterranean Sea. On their left was Spain, which is the Flangji that traveled to Daming a hundred years later (the Ming people's name for Portugal and Spain ), at this time there is not yet a unified kingdom here, and the various small principalities are vying for each other in this small land, and they are fighting happily.

Further on from Spain is France, and France and Britain are constantly fighting over land and succession to the throne. Fei Yinglun, who was eager to go home, suggested that Xia Xun directly drive the fleet to Venice.Of course, he wanted to do this because he thought of an extremely serious problem, but he didn't want to tell Xia Xun this worry. Xu Hu objected: Because the countries here are very close to each other, we didn't bring much food and water. Can we directly reach the place you mentioned?in case of any storm Fei Yinglun hurriedly said: No, no, there are few strong winds and huge waves here. This is an inland sea, as gentle as a cat.

Xia Xun interrupted him and said: No!We have to go all the way, and after going through thousands of mountains and rivers, we finally arrived here. Isn’t it a pity that we pass through the gate and fail to enter? this Fei Yinglun showed a disturbed expression, but after Xia Xun finished speaking, he turned and walked up to the upper deck, and Fei Yinglun hurriedly followed. Fei Yinglun thought of a very serious problem when he left the mouth of the Congo River and continued to sail not far north. This problem was about the new sea route. The discovery of the new shipping route is definitely a golden road, and the efficiency of the entire shipping will definitely be higher than the old shipping route, but for many Mediterranean countries, it will also be a nightmare that interrupts their road to prosperity.

Once the new route is formed, it will bring disaster to the countries that rely on the old route and land commercial transportation, unless they can actively become one of the masters of the new route. Countries such as Spain, Portugal, France, and the United Kingdom are all close to the open sea, while the Federation of Venice is completely in the inland sea. When the news comes that the Eastern Fleet will bypass the African continent and sail directly to the Mediterranean Sea, these countries will be closer to Venice than Venice, and they will occupy this area first. route. As long as Spain and Portugal control the Strait of Gibraltar based on their geographical advantages, they can be locked in the Mediterranean Sea. If they want to pass by, they have to let others ask for a lot of taxes. Their ocean trade will be controlled by others.

Although the Venetian Fleet is still the most powerful fleet, this fleet dominates the Mediterranean Sea. Their ships and naval training are adapted to the stormy Mediterranean Sea, and they cannot withstand the stormy waves in the ocean. In this regard, countries close to the open sea have richer sailing experience than them. At the same time, the ships of these countries are not as large and numerous as them, and the cost of transformation is also less. Although Fei Yinglun is a pirate, he is a Venetian after all, and he has been allocated a lot of treasure now, and he is also a person who has personally experienced the new route. He wants to take advantage of this advantage to form a huge ocean trade fleet. Take a new route, make money safer than being a pure pirate, and make more money.

However, once the news of the new route spreads in other countries, his plan will go bankrupt. Therefore, when he was in Morocco, he kept a close eye on the interpreter on board and enthusiastically took the interpreter out for a trip. All by him, to prevent the interpreter from leaking the news. But going to other countries one after another in the future, it is difficult to guarantee that other countries will not be informed of the news. All he needs is to seize the opportunity.With thoughts in his mind, Fei Yinglun pulled the interpreter, followed Xia Xun to the top deck, and mustered up the courage to make his plea to him.

Xia Xun was greatly surprised. He thought about it carefully, and said generously: "Okay, I agree to your request. I will send a boat to Venice for trade first, and you will take it there. My people can tell them to wait there." Me, and you can get in touch with your relatives who are officials in the Federation of Venice as soon as possible, and take the lead! Xia Xun patted him on the shoulder and said sincerely: "Without your rich marine knowledge along the way, perhaps we would not have been able to get to where we are now, and this is my repayment to you!" Fei Yinglun didn't expect Xia Xun to agree so quickly, he gratefully said to Xia Xun: Mr. Xia, you are so generous!I swear to God, you will be my friend forever!

Xia Xun smiled and said: "I am afraid that other countries will not be so reconciled to the conflict of interests. You can go on the road as soon as possible. There is an old saying in China that it is the first to strike first!"You have seen how powerful our fleet is. If you lose the battle with other countries for the port, maybe you can ask us for help! Fei Yinglun was overjoyed, and immediately used Western etiquette to hug Xia Xun tightly again. Tang Sai'er, who had just ran up the deck excitedly, saw it, and couldn't help pouted his mouth when he saw this scene, thinking sourly: This western gorilla is really annoying!

Fei Yinglun raised his head with tears in his eyes, and kissed Xia Xun on the cheek again, Tang Sai'er's little mouth pouted even higher: I hate it! Fei Yinglun said incoherently: Thank you, Mr. Xia, I will go back to the cabin to prepare, thank you!Thanks! Fei Yinglun nodded and bowed back to the ramp, Tang Sai'er rolled his eyes, stretched out his toes and tripped lightly, Fei Yinglun rolled down the gangway screaming all the way. snort! Tang Sai'er straightened her chest, put her hands behind her back, and walked away like a proud peacock Xia Xun smiled, not because of Tang Sai'er's little action, but because of Fei Yinglun's request. Ever since he confirmed that he had indeed discovered a new route, he has been thinking about the interests of the route. He wanted to hold this route in Daming's hands, and he also thought about finding key points like the Cape of Good Hope on the return journey, building ports and castles, and sending a team to station them.With a thousand or eight hundred people and dozens of ships, it is not impossible in this era to control the entire route by getting stuck at key points, but this is really a bit ridiculous. It is too far away from Daming, and it takes more than a year to sail here, so it is a problem to replenish soldiers and weapons and equipment. Of course, Ming can build many ports and forts of its own along the coast, but it is impossible to start construction on this long coastline at the same time. If the expansion is too fast, the result will be collapse. If they act steadily, then by the time their power radiates here, the place will probably be in the hands of Westerners long ago. Xia Xun also envisioned finding an ally in the local area, allowing Daming to build harbors and castles at important key points, and use their armed forces to control the road that must be passed. At the same time, make a local ally to coerce other countries. Pulling one side to fight the other side is not only used by Easterners, Westerners are also accustomed to this strategy.But if you want it, so can others.Why should he be your ally, be controlled by you, be your cannon fodder if he can eat you? The motherland is too far apart, and it will take several years or even more than ten years for frequent ocean trade to fully form. Before that, it is not just a question of supplies and soldiers. At the same time, due to the consistent homeland thinking of the Chinese, you want to arrange a team It is very, very difficult to be alone thousands of miles away. The most difficult thing in this world is to change a person's mind. It takes a long time to change his mind. Before that, I am afraid that even the emperor will not agree with his ideas.Unexpectedly, when he was about to doze off, Fei Yinglun brought him a pillow, why didn't he agree? Xia Xun knew that the Venetian Federation was gradually declining, and the emergence of new ocean routes dealt it a fatal blow, making it gradually withdraw from the stage of history in the age of great voyages.The three Atlantic countries, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom, will gradually replace them and become maritime hegemons. Then, you might as well give this opportunity to the Venetians. Venice has the opportunity, while Portugal and Spain have the advantage. When Britain and France resolve the century-long war, they will also join in, and then there will be fun Lo and behold.They each have their own advantages and are evenly matched, so the ownership of the control of the new route will be extended indefinitely. In the original history, Da Ming did not participate in the competition for ocean routes, so one of them successfully became the controller of the entire golden route through Europe and Asia. Now that Da Ming has also participated, will he sit back and watch them cover the sky with one hand? The controller of the old route must occupy Horumos, the controller of the new route must occupy the Cape of Good Hope, and the eastern route must occupy Melaka. But now, not only Malacca, but also Mount Ceylon is under the control of the Ming court, and Ming's influence is gradually penetrating into Little Gelan, Kezhi, and Guli.Daming was already far ahead of them, devouring and robbing the territory that the Arahs had operated for hundreds of years. Then, first throw out the Cape of Good Hope and ask the Europeans to grab it. When they fight to the death, Ming’s fleet will grow stronger and its routes will become farther and farther. Their power will continue to spread along the Indian Ocean to Africa. At that time, even if the Cape of Good Hope had already fallen into the hands of a certain European country, it would be able to grab it with the strength of Ming Dynasty. Even if they don't grab, most of the entire route is already in the hands of Daming, and the controllers of the Cape of Good Hope must cooperate with Daming and provide mutual convenience, so that their occupation of the Cape of Good Hope is meaningful, otherwise their fleet will be able to sail around the Cape of Good Hope even if they bypass the Cape of Good Hope. how? Of course, if they were still vying for each other at that time, they would not need Da Ming to take the initiative, they would invite Da Ming to join, offer favorable conditions, and win Da Ming's support, so as to jointly own the control of the Cape of Good Hope Well, far away and close at hand, Westerners are not stupid. There are so many variables in the future that even God cannot control.Under the current conditions, Xia Xun's plan is undoubtedly the best choice. How could he be unhappy?