Chapter 107 Suez Canal

  Three Spanish pirate ships sank, suffered heavy losses, and escaped. More than 230 pirates were killed or injured. The blow to this brutal pirate was huge, and its strength plummeted by nearly half.

This is a group of Spanish pirates raging in the waters of Malacca and the entire Southeast Asia. The captain is Captain Juan-José Ballesta, known as the "Head Shaver", and some people call it the "Terror Juan". He is the second ship. The captain of the escaped Spanish galleon, the lair is located on an unknown island in the Luzon Islands.

  The pirates were cruel and ruthless, posing a serious threat to the trade route to the Far East, and they were a very troublesome opponent for the Royal Fleet of the British Empire.

  Many times of encirclement and suppression, but returned to no avail, I did not expect to fall into a big somersault today.

  In the age of ironclad ships

  The Royal Navy of the British Empire has eliminated a large number of old-fashioned sailing warships and replaced them with cutting-edge iron-clad ships. In the face of pirates using old-fashioned Spanish galleons, the biggest reason is speed.

  The Spanish galleon has flexible steering and fast speed. It can run 13 to 14 knots under normal sea conditions, and can even run an amazing speed of 19 knots when the sea wind is strong.

  The speed of most iron-clad ships equipped by the Royal Navy does not exceed 13 knots, and a small number of light iron-clad ships have a speed of 16 knots. Even if they catch up with the Spanish galleons, they will not take much advantage in the bombardment of naval guns.

  The arrogant British Navy’s Far East Fleet is not active in combating pirates, and even condoned this vicious Spanish pirates to wreak havoc for many years. It is hard to say that there is no consideration for self-respect.

  After the sea encounter in Malacca

  Li Fushou immediately sent a serious warning to the 19th Century United Shipping Company, Normandy Import and Export Company and Guangjitang through the telegraph room of the "Taishan" ship, and ordered all ocean-going ships to take strict precautions to deal with pirate retaliation.

  This group of Spanish pirates has been raging in the waters of Southeast Asia for many years, but the nest is set up in the Spanish colony of Luzon. If the two are not secretly linked, I am afraid the three-year-old would not believe it.

  This reminds people of the British and French pirates that wreaked havoc in the Caribbean two centuries ago, posing a serious threat to the Spanish and Portuguese merchant ships that frequently travelled between them. The two seem to have the same effect.

  After passing the Strait of Malacca smoothly, the Vessel Taishan arrived at the Port of Kolkata, India after several days of sailing. After adding coal, fresh water, meat, vegetables and fruits and other non-staple foods here, it continued to sail.

one week later

  Suez Canal

The Taishan ship sailed through the city of Suez from the Red Sea and entered the Suez Canal just 10 years after its opening. This is a small desert town with a population of less than 1,000 people. You can see tents inhabited by nomads everywhere. The two-story Victorian white building in the center of the small city is the Suez Canal. The seat of the management committee.

  The vast desert scenery on both sides of the canal can not be seen at a glance, with the sense of long-term desolation, the undulating sand dunes continue to extend into the distance, and the contrast is particularly dazzling under the clear blue sky.

The   straight Suez Canal divides the vast desert into two. You can see scattered coconut trees along the shore, and more of the low camel thorns, which are the only plants that can be seen.

  The Taishan wheel was driving in the calm and waveless Suez Canal, and there were loud readings from the deck.

  The 31 Jiangnan talents who sailed on the Shanghai Sea, after the most difficult adaptation period at sea, became active again.

  Being bored on the boat with nothing to do every day, he began to teach the students the principles of Confucius and Mencius.

  One is willing to teach and the other is willing to learn.

  On the deck deck, more than a dozen people sat in a circle, forming dozens of on-site teaching classes. Even the guards and crew members were willing to attend classes in their leisure time, which was filled with a strong learning atmosphere.

  Under the light-colored pergola on the rear deck of the captain’s cabin

Due to the hot weather, Li Fushou was wearing a white cotton-breasted Hanfu. He was drinking afternoon tea with a female family. He was accompanied by Xin Changjun, Pan Shoudao, He Fang, Wu Mozhou and others. There were two tables of people sitting next to each other. .

"Master, how far is it from here to England?" Gu Liuyan wore a light blue embroidered dress, holding a gold-painted Su embroidered round fan in her little white hand, looking at the endless desert on both sides of the canal. Looks sad.

   "Hehe, it's coming soon."

"Oh sir, many days ago you said it's fast, but today it's still fast, alas... I feel my whole body is sitting rusty, but when is my head?" Gu Liuyan was very angry. Sighing, he took a delicate sip of the tea.

"Don't worry, Madam, it's really fast now." Li Fushou looked at Gu Liuyan with frowning eyebrows and held back a smile, pointing to the calm canal and said; "This is a canal dug by the French government. From here, you can save at least half a month’s voyage to Europa. There is no need to bypass the Cape of Good Hope, which is raging by storms. The safety of maritime transcontinental navigation is greatly increased. After crossing the canal, you enter the Mediterranean Sea, which is not far from Europe."

"Oh." Gu Liuyan nodded and said, "It's like the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in the Qing Dynasty, but the canal is covered with sand on both sides, not even a village, so much money. It's not a good deal."

"Pretty little lady, your concerns cannot be said to be unreasonable. I prefer to have a canal here rather than walking the sea for half a month." Yelena is wearing a tight-fitting white dress with a large thin skirt on her head. The summer hat, following Gu Liuyan's words, said; "God testifies that the Franks have finally done a good thing. Compared with these, I care more about your spoken English. It sounds much better than before. It's really fortunate. thing."

  Yelina can understand simple Chinese. Now she is Gu Liuyan’s private English teacher. Her accent has a strong London aristocratic flavor, which is quite pure.

  There was too much of these words, and Gu Liuyan looked at Li Fushou suspiciously, waiting for him to translate.

  Li Fushou repeated it, looking at Fiona, who had been sitting silently next to him, and asked; "Fiona, what do you think of the role of this canal?"

"I think... this canal does not simply shorten the distance from Europe to Asia. The French kept a whole army of soldiers in Suez, and there are probably more soldiers in Port Said. This should have some important significance to them, right?" Ona was also unsure of her guess, hesitated and continued; "It may be to defend her own property or some other purpose, but I really don't see anything that needs to be defended. God testifies, there is no personal picture here."

  "What do you think of Mr. Xin?" Li Fushou asked Xin Changjun who was sitting at another table.

  Xin Changjun sat at the table and made a salute, and did not answer immediately, but thought carefully and replied;

  "These days there is nothing to do. Several of us have carefully studied the Europa globe and felt that it has subverted countless years of cognition. The traditional theory of the sky and the round place is the word of measurement, and it is self-defeating in the face of truth.

  The name of this canal is "Suez". It is an important node connecting Europa and Southeast Asia from the Far East. It guards important transportation points and is of unparalleled strategic importance. In fact, it is a must for military strategists.

   guard here

   has mastered the traffic throat, taking the lead in the game of great powers, and it is the most important thing.

  I think there is no danger here. From a distance, the Pingchuan River is a desert. Occasionally, there are only a few small oasis. If you want to guard it, you need a lot of troops. It is best to build a city along the canal.

  But in this barren land, all the daily necessities have to be transported from afar, and the price will be too great to bear.

  Whether it is better or worse, it must be carefully studied to be able to explain it thoroughly. Changjun does not dare to speak falsely, and I hope that Mr. Yuanding will be more considerate. "

"Mr. Xin is too modest. You are right. The Suez Canal is indeed the most important strategic location." Li Fushou nodded approvingly, stood up and walked a few steps and said; "With such a global perspective, Mr. Xin is worthy of it. In the name of a great talent, we will have to rely on it a lot in the future."

   "Mr. Yuan Ding is intelligent and natural, and Chang Jun is willing to help, please don't be polite." Mr. Xin Changjun stood up with his hands and said sincerely.

  Li Fushou smiled and nodded, and said, “Today’s world is most prosperous in science and technology in Europa. Great powers such as Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary compete to colonize the world and extend their tentacles to the world.

The opening of the Suez Canal has greatly reduced the difficulty for European powers to colonize the Far East and will surely promote a new round of colonization.

  Now the French have landed in Annan, ambitiously preparing to occupy the entire Indochina Peninsula as the back garden of France.

  Russian Teddy Bear focused on the Korean Peninsula and the three northeastern provinces. The American fast cannon broke through the gates of the Fuso Kingdom. The English had landed on Weihaiwei and sent troops to forcibly occupy Hong Kong Island as a base for expanding north.

  Presumably Brother Longjun, Brother Shoudao, Brother Fang and Brother Mo Zhou can all see the danger contained in this. How can you allow others to sleep soundly on the side of the couch? "

  Speaking of this, Li Fushou looked at the heavy faces of several people and said nothing.

  Smart people don’t need to speak too thoroughly, just experience it by themselves.

  After a long time

He Fang said quietly; "Mr. Yuan Ding, with the benefit of Western swordsmen, and also the strong ship and quick artillery, it is difficult for me to resist the green camp soldiers of the Qing Dynasty and the eight flag brothers. Is there no way? I watched Shenzhou Lu Shen. ?"

  "Brother Fang has an answer, why ask me." Li Fushou asked calmly.

   "Hey..." He Fang sighed and sat down with a lonely expression.

Wu Mozhou glanced at him silently, shook his head speechlessly, and stood up solemnly with his fists, and said to Li Fushou; In the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, I am afraid that the Qing Dynasty will inevitably make mistakes.

  The princes of the imperial court were drunk, dreaming and dying. Corrupt officials were rampant from top to bottom, officials were corrupt, and the prefects were cleared in a year. Is it a rumor that one hundred thousand snowflakes silver?

  The powers of the Western Taixi were eye-catching, and the court princes were still in their dreams. The defeat of the two Opium Wars still failed to awaken the elder empire, and after knowing the shame, he was determined to reform. I think the Qing Dynasty was defeated.

  Now Mr. Yuanding is doing well in Australia, and he has a vast pasture land, enough to protect millions of Chinese compatriots, which is where his hope lies in the future.

  Mo Zhou is unwilling to attach his tail, join in the grand event, do a vigorous career, and deserve to be worthy of his ancestors and future generations. "

   "Hahaha...Mo Zhou said well, Changjun would like to help." Xin Changjun stood up with a big smile while touching his palms.

   "There are few people and it's boring, then I can't be without me, Pan Shoudao, I would like to make a little meager." Pan Shoudao also stood up, and several people looked at each other and smiled.

He Fang sighed decisively and stood up and said; "I waited for people to speak lightly and no one listened to things in the court. On the contrary, I didn't like it. Together?"

  "Hahaha...so I wish I did not dare to ask my ears." Li Fushou happily stroked his palms and laughed.

  (End of this chapter)