Yangtze River Estuary.

Large amounts of cargo are constantly being loaded onto ships.

These goods are the guarantee for this trip to the sea. They will be sold to various countries and then a large amount of goods will be purchased from various countries.

It was full of goods when I went there, and it was almost the same when I came back.

Once the Ming Dynasty goods are sold, they will sell other foreign goods when they return to China.

In this calculation, it is equivalent to making money for two trips, not running in vain.

Chen Qizhi, with twelve strong guards, watched his goods being transported continuously, feeling happy for the first time in his heart.

According to the current share division, the Chen family owns 30% of the shares on this ship.

This is already considered a large stock, most of which are only 10% or 15%, so there are about seven or eight families participating in such a ship.

Chen Qizhi was able to bring people on board because he was the major shareholder here.

The twelve guards are his guards, and the sailors on the ship are also a type of guard.

They are usually sailors, but many of them also have swords and guns. If they encounter any danger, they can naturally fight.

Making a living at sea is no different than licking blood from a knife's edge.

"Master, you can't be careless. After the Ming Dynasty, there is no such security, especially those overseas barbarians. They are all untrustworthy. They only have money in their eyes. When it is time to give them a deterrent, tens of millions

Don't be merciful."

"The master was originally going to deliver it in person today, but there was a cold wind last night. Now I am resting at home. Please don't misunderstand me, master. This time I have specifically told you that the prosperity and decline of our Chen family depends on the master."

The old housekeeper said nonchalantly.

When Chen Qizhi heard that his father had contracted the cold, he looked a little anxious and asked quickly: "Father, is he okay? What did the doctor say?"

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The old housekeeper replied: "The doctor asked me not to go out for the next two days to recuperate. It's nothing serious. Young Master doesn't need to worry too much."

After hearing this, Chen Qizhi felt a little relieved and said: "It's fine that my father is fine. Please tell him that this time I go to sea, I will definitely work hard for the Chen family's future."

The old butler nodded solemnly, and then said: "The master also said that money is external to the body, but life is one's own."

"If there is any danger on this road, the main thing is that the young master should protect himself and not give up his life for a little money."

Chen Qizhi said: "Don't worry, father. I went to the Shipping Department to inquire. Now all overseas is under the control of our Ming Dynasty Navy. Even with big ships like ours, the overseas bandits Kou Xiaoxiao can't help them."

No one with ten nerves would dare to take our chances."

The old housekeeper took out a letter from his arms, handed it to Chen Qi, and whispered: "There is a wealthy land over there in Nanyang. According to the special decree of His Highness Taisun, each family can enjoy the rights to purchase overseas land."

"Some specific information is stated in the letter, and the young master will know it by then."

Chen Qizhi nodded heavily after receiving the letter.

Soon, the cargo on the ship was basically loaded, and Chen Qizhi was about to board the ship and leave.

Generally speaking, this new type of sea-going ship is not very different from the Fuzhou ship. The appearance is naturally different. A lot of thought has been spent on the carvings, and the bow is even engraved with a dragon head.

It has been modified in many parts, mainly to reserve some of the necessities of life at sea.

Originally, it should have a load capacity of 800 tons, but because the artillery and other materials were related, the cargo on the ship was about 500 tons, which is only 10,000 kilograms of cargo.

These goods are mainly divided into three categories: silk, tea, and porcelain.

These three categories are the most profitable things for Ming Dynasty.

Especially in distant countries, silk is almost as valuable as gold.

Not to mention porcelain, which is currently the best-selling item in the world.

Tea is also a best-seller around the world,

Especially Daming tea.

With these three items alone, you can directly earn a lot of money through ocean trade, and the profits are often dozens of times higher.

If all the goods on this ship are sold, plus the ones bought back on the road, we can earn at least 500,000 guan of treasure money.

Tens of thousands of coins turned into half a million coins in less than a year. This was an unimaginable huge profit for all the families.

The Chen family has 30%, which means that on this round trip, they can earn 150,000 guan of treasure money.

This money is dividends after taxes. It is really easy to come by.

No wonder everyone wants to participate, no matter how harsh the conditions are, they agree without hesitation.

In less than two years, the investment can basically be repaid, and every subsequent year, it will be a huge profit.

It is said to be a big family, but this money has been saved from generation to generation in the family. It is very good to have 10,000 to 20,000 yuan every year. Now it is more than 100,000 yuan, and it is endorsed by His Highness the Grand Sun. How can such a good thing be possible?

Found.

In this regard, Zhu Ying's key is to bring out the power of Ming Dynasty's maritime merchants and carry out external expansion.

Chen Dalin's letter to his son contains an extremely detailed introduction.

It’s about arrangements for wealthy areas on the sea route.

You need to use money to buy fertile land from these small and wealthy countries, and then leave stationed personnel to manage and build your own overseas territories.

At this point, Zhu Ying is a mandatory requirement.

In other words, every family involved in shipping must have manpower to manage and purchase.

In the future round-trips of sea ships, a certain amount of food must be transported back to the country, otherwise the shares of these families will be reduced.

Forcibly importing food from all over the world is currently Zhu Ying's policy.

Food is one aspect, and a large amount of meat is also an important part of it.

Of course, this does not mean fresh meat, but dried and cured bacon can be stored for a long time. Zhu Ying had this idea in mind.

The prices of these meats and grains are purchased at par and are not included in sea trade. They are requirements stipulated by each ship.

On the ship, Chen Qizhi, who had already set off, stood on the bow of the ship, looking at the vast sea level in the distance, and he felt so proud in his heart.

There were eight hundred people on board, with a total of more than 2,400 people on the three ships.

The crew members inside are all burly, and at first glance they are not someone to be trifled with.

Coupled with the two rows of cannons on the hull of the sea-going ship, this gave them enough confidence.

There was a vague hope that I might encounter pirates or something.

With the strength of a seagoing ship like this, if you encounter pirates, you can just attack them without any worries.

The pirate's broken ship is not even qualified to collide with this ship.

It looks like a clumsy offshore ship, but it actually has an extremely amazing sailing speed.

"Is this the sea? It's so majestic. Sure enough, there will be times when the wind and waves break, and the clouds and sails will float across the sea."

Chen Qizhi stood on the deck without any discomfort.

It seems that he should originally belong to this sea.

Among the twelve guards who followed, ten of them were vomiting. Only two of them were doing well, but they didn't look very good either.

These are all processes that must be experienced by those who are going to sea for the first time, and they are likely to spend a month or two in such conditions.

Not every sailor can go to sea from the beginning, everyone has experienced this.

Once you stay there long enough, you will get used to it.

It's like learning to swim, who wouldn't choke on a few mouthfuls of water?

Chen Qizhi, on the other hand, acted like a normal person, like a veteran on the ship for many years.

"Earlier, I thought that Mr. Chen might have a lot of discomforts, but I didn't expect that Mr. Chen was a born sailor. This fact makes me quite envious."

"I remember that when I first went to sea, I vomited so much that all my internal organs came out. I was in a coma for a full month and a half, and my body gradually adapted. During those days, I felt like life was worse than death."

A burly old man, about fifty years old, walked slowly to the deck.

He is the captain of this ship and the main person in charge of the entire ship, Liu Chengping.

Liu Chengping didn't say this just to flatter Chen Qizhi. He was truly envious and spoke from his heart.

He has spent half his life making a living at sea, and he has always been sneaky in the past. Now that the court has new laws, he can finally do this business openly.

He is not from Jiangnan, but a native of Fujian. His family has been making a living at sea since he was a child.

But later on, when the sea was banned, they resorted to smuggling in order to make a living.

Now that he has been released, his reputation is quite good in the sea trade circle. It was the wealthy families in Jiangnan who paid a high price to hire him to take over the helm.

"Master Liu is joking. Although I have never been to the sea, I was aware of Master Liu's reputation at that time."

"Such storms and waves on the sea are a common occurrence for Mr. Liu. This kid is new here. If there is anything wrong, please don't take it personally. Mr. Liu will need to take more care of him for the rest of his trip."

Chen Qizhi said with a smile and a bow.

His father taught him since he was young not to look down on anyone, let alone follow his own temperament.
To be continued...