Chapter 486: Diplomatic Mission to the West to Enhance Our Country's Prestige

The next day, early in the morning.

After breakfast, the imperial envoys represented by Tan Wenxue and Zhang Youwei were ready to set off.

Officials from the Guangdong Road Transportation Department and local government representatives from Guangzhou saw them off.

The ships and personnel were all ready.

After the imperial order was issued, Guangdong Road took on the work of dispatching and escorting.

Guides and translators were dispatched to escort the envoys all the way west.

This mission was naturally not as big as Zheng He's, with tens of thousands of people.

But there were also more than 5,000 people.

In addition to the more than 100 people in the envoys' own group, there were also a large number of fleet sailors, attendants, soldiers, and some personnel led by many guides and translators.

However, the Guangzhou Navy led 5,000 people to sea, accompanied by an ironclad ship and several supply ships of the Jinghai Navy.

In this way, at least the fleet maintained a scale of more than 100 ships and 13,000 people during the South China Sea period.

Over the years, the navy of the Song Dynasty has not developed. It still has seven fleets, each with 5,000 people, and the number of active naval soldiers is 35,000.

Even if the relevant logistics, maintenance, auxiliary, supply and other personnel are added, the total number is only more than 50,000, and there is not much scale improvement.

However, the strength of the navy has achieved a qualitative leap.

From the launch of the first ironclad ship in the seventh year of the Qingli period, there are now six ships, and the seventh is also under construction, so as to ensure that each navy has at least one ironclad ship.

And as the technology of ironclad ships becomes more mature, the ironclad ships produced later are more powerful.

For example, the displacement of the first ironclad ship was only 500 tons, the second was 1,200 tons, the third was 1,800 tons, and the fourth was 2,600 tons.

By the time of the sixth ship, it had reached 5,900 tons, with a total length of 72 meters and a width of 16 meters. The average cruising speed is 13 knots, and the maximum speed at full power can reach 18 knots.

Therefore, while improving the quality, the Song Dynasty did not increase the number of troops, but only needed to ensure that the ironclad ships were continuously produced.

After all, with the current size of the navy, it is already able to guarantee absolute control of the ocean, which is enough for the Song Dynasty to dominate the entire world ocean and thus occupy a dominant position in global trade.

As for further improvement, there is no need for it for the time being.

Because if the combat effectiveness of the Song Dynasty Navy is compared to 100, then the combat effectiveness of the navy of all countries in the world can only be regarded as 5.

Added together, it is just a dregs of combat effectiveness 5.

Even many countries do not have large ships over 20 meters, they are all small boats like small fishing boats, no matter how many there are, they have no firearms and can't get close to the Song Dynasty Navy.

Therefore, whether it is 100 vs. 5 or 1,000 vs. 5, there is actually no difference. Continuing to improve the combat effectiveness of the navy is just a waste of national strength.

Therefore, the current national policy of the Song Dynasty is to fully develop the economy and technology level, and it is enough for the combat effectiveness of the army to maintain a steady increase.

When industrialization accumulates enough, it is a natural thing to upgrade armaments.

"The director said that after industrialization, it is like a train that is always moving forward. It can only move forward and cannot move backward. Now our Song Dynasty is rising like the morning sun, and the momentum is unstoppable."

After the morning hour, Wang Han looked at the rising sun on the dock, and a sense of pride appeared in his eyes.

Su Yan and other Guangzhou officials beside him also held their heads high.

Under the scorching sun, countless merchant ships raised their sails on the Pearl River dock, and countless large ships sailed towards Guangzhou.

Among these thousands of huge ships, there was a very large one with two tall sails, a huge chimney in the middle, and billowing white smoke rising into the sky. The ship with a ferocious appearance was extremely dazzling.

This ship was the second ironclad ship of the Song Dynasty, Guangzhou.

Because the war in the north had been settled, after the first ironclad ship Taizhou was delivered to the Ninghai Navy stationed in Taizhou, the Song Dynasty began to focus on the south.

To be precise, Southeast Asia.

Therefore, the second ironclad ship was immediately equipped to the Jinghai Army stationed in Guangzhou to open up places such as Mayit and Srivijaya.

Compared with the Taizhou, which is only 33 meters long and 6 meters wide. The Guangzhou is 46 meters long and 8 meters wide. It looks only 10 meters longer and 2 meters wider, but the load and displacement are doubled.

The main reason is that the Taizhou is not fully armored, but only wrapped in armor on the outside. Most of the places and craftsmanship inside are the Song Dynasty sea ships, so the main part is similar to the ordinary sea ships of the Song Dynasty, but with more iron armor on the outside and two steam engines inside.

The subsequent ironclad ships gradually increased the proportion of steel and the number of steam engines.

For example, by the time of the sixth Dengzhou ironclad ship owned by the Shandong Weihai Navy, this giant ship had replaced most of the hull with steel, and the number of steam engines reached 10.

The seventh ironclad ship under construction is made of steel, with an estimated length of 130 meters, a width of 19 meters, a displacement of more than 9,000 tons, and 12 steam engines, which can be called a giant.

Although the Guangzhou is not much larger than the Taizhou, it is already very large compared to the ordinary merchant ships parked at the port.

The largest sea ship in the Song Dynasty can reach more than 100 meters. Although it cannot be compared with the Fu ship that Zheng He used to sail to the West, it is not much different.

However, few people would choose it to go to sea.

For one thing, such a large ship is very expensive, and ordinary merchants can't afford it at all.

Secondly, the ability of ancient wooden ships to resist wind and waves was poor. If the ship was too large, even if it could carry a lot of cargo, it would be very likely to capsize once it encountered a storm.

Many Song Dynasty merchant ships were unearthed near the coast of Quanzhou and Guangzhou in later generations, but few were over 50 meters long.

Almost all of them were more than 30 meters long, 10 meters wide, with a displacement of about 600 tons and a load capacity of about 800 tons, which was close to the size of the Taizhou.

The reason is that merchants pursue profits, and eggs will not be put in one basket. It is impossible to choose such a large sea ship, which will bring themselves the danger of being wiped out by a storm.

Therefore, the sea ships parked at the dock are all less than 30 meters in length, generally between 30-20 meters.

In this case, the Guangzhou, which is almost one size larger or even twice as large as these sea ships, stands out among the sea ships and is dazzling.

"Is this the Guangzhou?"

Tan Wenxue and others also focused their eyes on the huge warship, showing surprise.

"Yes, this is the Guangzhou!"

Su Yan praised: "I also thought it was spectacular when I saw it on the spot."

"It is really a great weapon of a great country."

"I heard that there are many pirates on the route. With this divine ship protecting us, what is there to fear?"

"Yes, I think we will be safe on this mission."

Other officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs praised it.

In addition to the Guangzhou, there are more than 80 ships of various sizes parked nearby.

If the escort ships of the Guangzhou Navy are included, the total number is more than 100.

They were separately allocated a dock for mooring, and there were soldiers standing guard around them, which made the people and merchants watching from a distance talk about it.

"Oh my god, this is the first time I've seen such a big ship."

"What's the big deal? It's said that the Dengzhou of Shandong Weihai Navy is more than 20 zhang long and 5 zhang wide, more than twice the size of Guangzhou."

"Is it true?"

"Of course it's true. Haven't you read the newspaper?"

"I heard that Guangzhou is stationed in Guangzhou. Why haven't we seen it before?"

"Because the Jinghai Navy is not stationed outside the square city, but in the Xiangjiang Silver Field in Dongguan County to guard against pirates."

"So that's why we haven't seen pirates in recent years."

The people then knew why they had never seen the Jinghai Navy or pirates before.

People in later generations thought that pirates were rampant only in the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, the scale of pirates was already very large during the Song and Yuan Dynasties.

Since the Northern Song Dynasty, the court stationed troops in Hong Kong, Macau and other places to guard against pirate attacks.

But pirates were still very rampant. For example, during the Southern Song Dynasty, Wang Dayou, the governor of Quanzhou, defeated more than a thousand invading pirates in the Penghu Islands and captured more than 400 prisoners. This shows how powerful the pirates were at that time.

Therefore, there were local navies in Guangxi, Guangzhou, Fujian and other places. The Jinghai Navy and the Anhai Navy were the main navies of Guangzhou and Quanzhou respectively. They not only guarded the local areas, but also often went out to sea to hunt pirates.

Under their siege, the pirates who had been rampant in the coastal waters of Guangxi, Guangzhou, Fujian and other places disappeared for a while. In recent years, fishermen on the coast have rarely heard of pirates.

At this moment, the morning sun was in the sky, with the Guangzhou ship as the main ship. Under the scorching sun, the dragon flag of the Song Dynasty was inserted and penetrated like a shield against the sun, and it fluttered in the strong wind.

The envoys slowly came to the port terminal where the fleet was located.

When they got closer, they realized that the Guangzhou ship was larger than they had imagined. People standing next to it were like the difference between an elephant and an ant.

However, the envoys were not on the Guangzhou ship.

Because the Guangzhou needs to face crises that may occur at any time, once there is an enemy attack, it needs to fight everywhere to play a defensive and counterattack role, and cannot be protected like the main ship.

So the ship of the envoys is a sail-powered paddle wheel ship, 36 meters long and 11 meters wide, which is not much different from an ordinary sea ship.

When the Song Dynasty sent a fleet to America, there were many giant Fu ships over 100 meters long, but the American fleet only went near the edge of the sea and along the coastline, which was slightly safer.

In addition, the journey was too long and there was no national supply along the way, so they could only send large ships with more supplies to sail far.

This time, the Song Dynasty was on a mission to Western countries, and there were national supplies on the way, so there was no need to worry about the supply problem, and many of them had to cross the ocean on the way, not near the sea, so naturally safety was the priority.

"This ship is also very spectacular."

"Although this ship is a wooden ship, it is the best ship in our Song Dynasty. If the ironclad warships don't come out, this ship should be the best."

"There are so many large ships in the back."

"That is a horse ship, which is a ship for transporting goods. Those slightly smaller ones are grain ships, which are used to carry grain and grass. There are also coal ships, which replenish coal for ironclad warships. There are also warships, which can assist ironclad warships in combat."

"I see."

"In addition, on the side of some warships, there are also assault boats, which are extremely fast. Once they encounter an enemy attack, they can quickly counterattack."

"It's really eye-opening. I have never seen such a scene in my hometown of Zhangpu."

Everyone boarded the main ship, and many officials of the envoys were amazed, although the people selected by the court were basically officials from the southern coastal areas who were familiar with water and did not get seasick.

However, even these officials who grew up by the sea rarely saw such a majestic fleet, which amazed them.

At this moment, as the officials boarded the ship, many soldiers, sailors, and entourage also began to board the ship one after another.

The goods have been prepared for a long time. After the delegation arrived yesterday, workers at the dock were hired by the Guangzhou government office to carry the goods overnight. In addition to food, fresh water and other resources, there were also coal, artillery shells, and bullets.

Everything is ready now.

It didn't take long before all the crew members were on board.

When Wang Rao saw that the time was almost up, he said to Tan Wenxu and Zhang Youwei: "You two, we are ready this time. Do you need to make any other preparations?"

"no need."

Tan Wenxu knew what he meant, shook his head and raised his hands, saying, "We must say goodbye after a long journey. Brother Youwei and I have the emperor's mandate, so we should set off early."

"Okay, then I wish you all a safe journey!"

Wang Han returned the gift with his hands raised.

Su Yan also said: "You all go to the ocean to promote the prestige of the Song Dynasty. This journey is long and you should cherish it."

"The emperor's orders are on my side. Please tell Wang Caosi and Su Taishou to tell the court for us. Fortunately, we will live up to our orders. When we return, we will definitely bring envoys from various countries to participate in next year's New Year's court meeting!"

Tan Wenxue said seriously.

Zheng He's next voyage to the West was about two years ago, but that was because he stayed there for a long time, often went to a certain country, and stayed in the port for several months at a time.

In fact, under normal circumstances, it doesn't take this long at all.

According to records in "Zhufan Zhi" by Zhao Rushi, a geographer of the Southern Song Dynasty, it only took 160 days for Arab merchants to arrive in Quanzhou from the Persian Gulf. The smooth sailing and trade expenses at various ports took only 160 days.

And it is not a direct connection, but first goes south from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden, to the Yemeni Dynasty and the Saqwi Dynasty (Ethiopia), and first conducts East African trade with the locals.

After replenishing the goods, then continue south to Bipalluo (Somalia) and Tepab (Tanzania) for trade, and finally go to the Song Dynasty.

Such a one-way voyage would take more than five months, and a round trip would take a year, and there would still be trade on the way.

If we travel directly from the Persian Gulf without a trip to Africa, it will only take more than two months to reach Quanzhou, covering a distance of about 11,000 kilometers, with an average daily driving distance of about 150 kilometers.

The envoys of the Song Dynasty did not need to do trade. They just stopped at the ports of various countries along the way. In their official capacity as the Song Dynasty court, they invited local countries to attend court meetings in the Song Dynasty. Therefore, they spent most of their time on the road and did not stay too long. Long.

Therefore, after many communications with the local merchants, the Guangdong Transportation Department finally determined that if everything went well, it would only take half a year for them to make the round trip.

Even if there is an accident, it will not exceed ten months at most.

If we set off in March, we should be able to come back by December at the latest. Then we can take a boat to Xiangyang and take a train directly to Bianliang to catch the Song Dynasty's annual meeting next year!

"Wonderful!"

Wang Han nodded, held Tan Wenxu's clasped fist with his raised hand and said, "I'll wait for you to come back in Guangzhou!"

"Gentlemen, take care!"

"Take care of yourself!"

Everyone said goodbye to each other.

Wang Han and others got off the boat and stood on the shore.

Tan Wenxu and others also stood on the side of the ship and waved to them.

"woo woo woo woo!"

With the order to set off, the whistle sounded, and the Guangzhou was the first to start preheating.

The ship behind slowly moved away from the dock.

The main ship of Tan Wenxu and others also gradually moved towards the broad surface of the Pearl River.

Wang Han and the others were still standing on the shore, waving.

After a while, the fleet officially set up a formation on the Pearl River. Under the coordinated command of the Jing Navy and the Pearl River Navy, various flags and flags were waving, and they left the port in an orderly manner.

"The Imperial Academy has said that the Song Dynasty wants to show our strength to the world. This time we go here is to promote the power of our heavenly kingdom!"

Wang Han stood with his hands behind his back and said softly: "This time, we must imitate the big man."

"Even the great Han Dynasty was only powerful in the Western Regions back then, but this time we are going to be powerful in the world!"

Su Yan responded.

The two looked at each other and then burst into laughter.

The ironclad ship brought enough coal fuel. As long as the Guangzhou was there, a warship and some small and medium-sized warships brought hundreds of artillery pieces, plus more than two thousand soldiers with rifles, it was enough to intimidate the West!