Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 103 Our Pirate King (V)
"How magnificent! Lord Drake is truly a role model for our generation!"
"Yes, yes! As Your Highness said, this lord completed two circumnavigations around the world and successfully plundered the Spanish treasure fleet many times. The gold and silver he reaped amounted to tons! Hey, Brother Yan, I used to think that the foundation my father and I created in the East China Sea was enough to be proud of, but after listening to Your Highness 's story about this lord, I feel ashamed! Hey! It's a pity that I couldn't be born a few decades earlier to compete with this lord on the sea!"
"Brother Guozhu, what I admire most about this lord is that although he made his fortune with a privateering fleet and has accumulated enough wealth, he can bravely stand up when the country is in trouble. As your highness said, the Spanish Invincible Armada is so powerful. But when this fleet headed for his motherland, he led his fleet and stood out without hesitation. Such a hero is truly amazing!"
Francis Drake, pirate, navigator, politician, and Lord of England. His achievements were the pinnacle of the pirate profession. After Zhu Youdong told Yan Siqi and Li Guozhu about his life, the two young men, who were already full of outstanding pirate genes, immediately felt their blood boiling.
After watching the two young men sighing, Zhu Youdong smiled slightly and said meaningfully: "Haha, in my opinion, although Drake is also a great hero, if there is no Queen Elizabeth I of England, even if Drake is ten times more powerful, it will be difficult for him to accomplish anything."
"Your Highness is absolutely right! Lord De is not invincible, especially when facing such a powerful Spain. He was completely defeated several times. If it weren't for the Queen of England's protection and financial support, Lord De would never have been able to make a comeback, let alone achieve great success."
After Yan Siqi finished speaking, he bowed and said, "I am willing to be your Highness's Drake. I hope your Highness will do better than the Queen of England in the future!"
Li Guozhu saw Yan Siqi's actions, hesitated for a moment, and then bowed deeply: "Your Highness, after I return to Hirado, I will tell my father everything I saw and heard today. No matter what my father decides, I am willing to be your Highness's Drake!"
Elizabeth Tudor (1533-1603) ascended the throne of England in 1558. She inherited a poor, divided country full of religious hatred. When she died, she handed over to her successor, James I, a country where religious problems had been basically resolved, the economy was beginning to pick up, and technology was about to take off.
Such an outstanding queen completed the accumulation of primitive capital by funding her own navigators (pirates) such as Drake, Raleigh, and Gilbert. She provided them with national protection on land and relied on them to seize wealth on the ocean...
Now, the wealth in the sea east of China is so huge that if Zhu Youdong, as a time traveler, doesn't know how to reach out, he would be really stupid.
It is not appropriate for His Royal Highness to be a pirate, ahem, or a navigator. Professional things need professionals to do. Originally, in Zhu Youdong's plan, if he had to spend the first twenty years of his life in Beijing, he would have to focus on training Zheng Zhilong or training a pure man. But now that he has been sent to Nanjing, and Yan Siqi and Li Dan have been contacted again, this plan can be put on the agenda.
"You two, this is what I think." Standing up, Zhu Youdong took out a map of the area around Yingtian Prefecture from the bookshelf behind him. He then slowly traced the Yangtze River from Nanjing to the east to the Yangtze River's estuary. "If you two are interested in this place, I will immediately send a letter to the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue to make this place an imperial estate under my direct jurisdiction."
When doing business, what is the most important thing after determining both the supply and demand sides? Of course, logistics! The superior location of Chongming Island is obvious to anyone with a little business sense: overseas goods are unloaded here and can be quickly sold to most of China via the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal. Similarly, most of China's goods can also be transported here by water and shipped out to sea!
"Your Highness! I still say what I said just now. I am willing to be your Drake. I will go through fire and water for you, no matter what!"
"Master Yan, I am only the grandson of the crown prince now, so it is difficult for me to say more. But I can guarantee that as long as you are absolutely loyal to me, I will treat you better than Queen Elizabeth I treated Sir Drake."
Such hints and temptations are too obvious: In a few years, when I become me, you will also have a title!
Chinese people, especially those of this era, all hope to achieve success and bring honor to their motherland. When Zhu Youdong gave the hint, Yan Siqi immediately bowed again without hesitation: "It is a great blessing to meet a wise master! Yan Siqi will always follow your orders in this life. If I break this oath, my whole ship will capsize and I will die when I go out to sea!"
“Hahahaha~~ Mr. Yan really has the style of an ancient man!”
Seeing Zhu Youdong and Yan Siqi getting along so well with each other, Li Guozhu felt a pang of annoyance.
You, Yan Siqi, have only been in Japan for four years and don't even have a ship. You just rely on your generosity and strength to help the Ming Dynasty's sea merchants. Now that the Crown Prince invites you to join, you can certainly bow down without any scruples. But my family is different! Under me, there are thousands of brothers who rely on these dozens of ships for their livelihood. Not to mention me, the young master, even my old father can't just join us.
However, what our Li family is striving for is a way out, isn't it? It's rare that the Crown Prince takes the initiative to meet him, and after two days of contact, I feel that this prince is much more friendly than those minor officials of the Ming Dynasty that I have met before. The most important thing is that this prince does not discriminate against us sea merchants from the bottom of his heart... If we can rely on the Crown Prince, the future achievements of the Li family may surpass that of Lord Drake.
Thinking of this, Li Guozhu also bowed and said, "Your Highness, I am here to greet Your Highness on behalf of my father. Therefore, I strongly agree with and look forward to Your Highness's proposal. I am also willing to be Your Highness's lackey. However, my father is still the master of my family, so..."
"Well, I understand this very well. Guozhu doesn't have to reply right away. Let me prepare a handwritten letter for Captain Li. You can give it to him when you return."
In his personal letter to Li Dan, Zhu Youdong raised several questions:
First, the Tokugawa shogunate had been established, and Japan's division had ended. In such a context, how would the Li family fleet, which was mainly composed of Ming people, deal with it? How would the Tokugawa family treat the Li family?
Secondly, it is said that the young master of the Tokugawa family is a person with a vision of heaven and earth. If such a person comes to power in the future, will Japan still be able to survive?
Third, if the Li family could not trust the Ming Dynasty, could they trust Japan? Should all members change their nationality and become Japanese?
Fourth, what is the future of the Li family? How high can the Li family's future business develop?
Zhu Youdong did not elaborate too much in the letter. He just listed the problems in a guiding way. He firmly believed that no persuasion or inducement would be of any use to a person like the Chinese captain. If he could figure it out himself, he would make up his mind and come over firmly.
Come on, Li Dan, the Chinese captain. You, your son Li Guozhu, and Yan Siqi. Come to me. I will make you the Pirate King of Ming!
