On the newly built Jinghai Guard Military Port, there were dozens of warships, ten 500-ton warships, and thirty 300-ton warships.
Although these ships were not equipped with cannons and muskets, the thick crossbow bolts on the deck were daunting. These five to six meters long, thick ballista bolts were terrifyingly powerful when shot out.
Once it hit a person, no armor could withstand its power and would be smashed into a string of gourds.
These warships might not be much in places like Ming, Fujian, Guangdong, and Southeast Asia. However, in the northern seas of Great Ming, it was an incomparably powerful naval force, and there was almost no opponent to be found.
Moreover, each warship was equipped with a fully-armed squad that had undergone months of training and was extremely familiar with the way to attack other ships.
Because of Lin Feng's consideration for the territory, he decided to expand the territory's sphere of influence on the sea and train the navy's long-distance voyage ability and actual combat ability.
He set the policy of releasing the three fleets under his command.
After all, it was impossible to train a powerful navy by keeping the navy fleet near the port.
Without going through long voyages and actual combat training, how could they be called a powerful navy?!
Moreover, it was a huge waste of resources to keep it in the port.
It would be better to send out the navy and let them fight the pirates to subsidize the territory's finances.
"Set sail, set sail!"
Jinghai Squadron Commander Li Yi gave the order, and the sound of conches rang out from his flagship. Through the sound, the order to set sail was transmitted to the other warships.
At the same time, on the watchtower, flags were waved and flag signals were used to greet them.
Dozens of warships slowly raised their sails and began to leave the port.
As the sails were fully pulled, the speed of the fleet became faster and faster, heading straight for the southern sea.
According to the requirements that Lin Feng had set for them, the Jinghai Squadron had expanded their patrol range to the Yangtze River mouth. They were patrolling around the sea route to ensure the safety of the sea route.
As the trade volume between Weihaiwei and the south increased, from the initial hundred thousand silver dollars to the current ten million silver dollars per month, the merchant ships on this route also increased, and it naturally became more and more lively.
Rich profits and many fat sheep naturally attracted the attention of a large number of pirates.
Many pirates in the south began to head north, focusing on the north. They occupied remote islands and began to plunder merchant ships on the sea route.
On the route to the south, many merchants had purchased thousand-ton merchant ships manufactured by Weihaiwei. The speed of the ships was as high as ten knots, making it difficult for the pirates to catch up.
However, most merchants still used old merchant ships.
Weihaiwei's thousand-ton merchant ships were too expensive.
The price of each ship was as high as 50,000 silver dollars, which was daunting!
Weihai Wei's silver coins were worth almost two taels of silver, which was equivalent to a thousand-ton merchant ship worth nearly 100,000 taels of silver.
Unless one was a wealthy businessman, they could not afford it at all!
For many merchants who traveled on the sea, although the small boat was a little small, the cost was low. Three to five sailors could move it. It was flexible and convenient, and there were too many benefits.
However, as the islands heard the news and came, these dilapidated merchant ships suffered repeated disasters. They were easily caught up by the pirates and then the entire ship was plundered.
The better ships would lose their goods, and the unlucky ones would lose both their people and goods!
Although the appearance of pirates did not affect Weihaiwei's marine trade, and because of the appearance of pirates, many goods were lost in the sea, causing the shipment of many goods to increase by a lot.
The monthly transaction volume continued to rise after breaking through ten million silver dollars.
However, Lin Feng knew that the appearance of pirates would threaten the safety of the sea route. In the end, many merchants would be afraid of this route, and in the future, Weihai Wei's sea trade would suffer a serious blow.
After all, he wasn't a businessman, so he didn't care about the amount of silver.
What he cared about was how many goods were sold and how many raw materials were shipped in every month.
The more goods he shipped, the more businesses he owned. Most of Weihaiwei's products were owned by him. The more goods he sold, the more he earned. The more the people in the territory earned, the better the territory's economic development would be.
The large amount of raw materials meant that the price of raw materials would drop, which would greatly increase his profits and greatly reduce the cost of various weapons and equipment.
However, once the number of merchant ships decreased, the various statistics in his territory would drop drastically. This would cause a huge blow to the economic and industrial development of the territory.
Now that the territory placed great importance on sea trade and was extremely dependent on it, Lin Feng absolutely could not tolerate those pirates threatening the safety of his sea route.
The Jinghai Squadron's deployment was also because Lin Feng was prepared for danger in times of peace and had planned ahead.
On the southern route, the merchant ships cheered when they saw the huge formation of the Jinghai Squadron. Every merchant ship had the flag of Weihaiwei Ocean Trade Chamber of Commerce.
This flag was used to distinguish between the enemy and the enemy. Without such a flag, it meant that it had not been registered at the Weihaiwei Sea Trade Exchange and could not be docked at the Weihaiwei port.
At the same time, any ship that didn't have such a flag on patrol would be on guard against the Weihai Navy.
The Jinghai Squadron's patrol was very popular with the merchant ships, and it also gave them great safety.
Many merchant ships that could keep up with the ship's speed followed behind the Jinghai Squadron.
"Report, five nautical miles ahead, we have discovered three suspicious ships without flags and records!”A signal came from the watchtower and was immediately sent to the ears of fleet commander Li Yi.
"Order the fleet to chase after him, surround him, and search him thoroughly!”
"Anyone who tries to stop us will be killed without mercy!”
Li Yi ordered coldly, his tone filled with killing intent.
In order to protect the safety of the flight route, he had to start a massacre on this flight route. He had to implement the principle of those who obeyed him would prosper and those who resisted him would die!
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