Three Spanish pirate ships sank, one severely injured, and one escaped, with more than 230 pirates killed and injured, which was a huge blow to this vicious pirate, and its strength was reduced by nearly half.

This is a Spanish pirate raging the waters of Malacca and the entire Southeast Asia. The leader of the bandit is Captain Juan Joseph Balesta, known as the "Barshaver", and some people call him the "terrifying Juan". He is the captain of the second escaped Spanish sailboat. His nest is located in an unknown island in the Luzon Islands.

The pirates were cruel and ruthless, posing a serious threat to the trade line to the Far East, and were an opponent with a headache for the Royal Fleet of the British Empire.

Many times, they failed to fight back, but unexpectedly they fell into a big fall today.

In today's Iron Crafts

The Royal Navy Fleet of the British Empire eliminated a large number of old-fashioned sailing warships and replaced them with new ironclad ships. They were helpless when facing pirates using old-fashioned Spanish sailing ships. The biggest reason was speed.

The Spanish sailboat has a flexible steering and fast speed. Under normal sea conditions, it can run from 13 to 14 knots, and when the sea breeze is strong, it can even run from 19 knots astonishing speeds.

Most of the ironclad ships equipped with the Royal Navy have no speed of more than 13 knots, and a small number of light ironclad ships have a speed of only 16 knots. Even if they catch up with Spanish sailboats, they will not gain much advantage in the naval guns.

The arrogant British Navy Far East Fleet was not active in combating pirates, and actually allowed this vicious Spanish pirate to rage for many years. It is hard to say that it did not have the consideration of raising the bandits to respect themselves.

After the sea encounter in Malacca

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

This spate of Spanish pirates rampant in Southeast Asia for many years, and their nests were set up in the Spanish colony Luzon Islands. If the two did not secretly connect, I am afraid that the three-year-old child would not believe it.

This reminds people of the British and French pirates raging in the Caribbean Sea two centuries ago, which posed a serious threat to the Spanish and Portuguese merchant ships that frequently traveled between them. The two seem to have the same effect.

After the Taishan Ship successfully passed through the Strait of Malacca, it arrived at the Kolkada Port in India after several days of sailing. After replenishing coal, fresh water, meat, vegetables, fruits and other non-staple foods, it continued to sail.

A week later

Suez Canal

The Tarzan Ship sailed through Suez City from the Red Sea and entered the Suez Canal for just 10 years. It is a desert town with a population of less than 1,000 people. Tents lived in nomadic people everywhere. The two-story Victorian white building in the center of the small town is the location of the Suez Canal Management Committee.

The vast desert scenery on both sides of the canal cannot be seen at first sight. With the distant and desolate feeling of time, the undulating sand dunes extend continuously into the distance, which is particularly dazzling under the clear blue sky.

The straight Suez Canal divides the vast desert into two, and you can see sporadic coconut trees along the coast, and more of them are low camel thorns, which are the only two plants you can see.

The Tarzan wheel was driving in the calm Suez Canal, and the sound of reading aloud came from the deck.

The 31 Jiangnan scholars who boarded the ship in Shanghai became active again after spending the most difficult adaptation period at sea.

I was so busy doing nothing every day on the boat that he began to teach the students the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, the Four Books and Five Classics, and the scholar cited the scriptures according to the classics, which was unanimously welcomed by the students.

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

On the 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 listen to the class in their spare time, which was filled with a strong learning atmosphere.

Under the light pergola on the rear deck of the captain's room

Due to the hot weather, Li Fushou was wearing a white pure cotton double-breasted Hanfu and was having afternoon tea with a group of women. Those who were accompanying him were Xin Changjun, Pan Shoudao, He Fang, Wu Mozhou and others. There were two tables of people sitting next to him.

"Master, how far is it from here to England?" Gu Liuyan was wearing a light green embroidered dress, holding a gold-painted Su-embroidered round fan in her white hand, looking at the boundless desert on both sides of the canal with a sad look on her face.

"Haha, it's almost done."

"Oh, Master, you said it was getting faster and faster many days ago, but today it was getting faster and faster. Oh... I felt my whole body was rusted, but when did it be?" Gu Liuyan sighed angrily, picked up the tea and took a sip.

"Madam, don't worry, it's so fast now." Li Fushou looked at Gu Liuyan with a slightly frown, suppressed his smile and pointed to the calm canal. "This is a canal dug by France. From here to Europe, you can save at least half a month's voyage. There is no need to bypass the Cape of Good Hope that is raging with the storm. The safety of transcontinental navigation on the sea has increased greatly. When you pass the canal, you enter the Mediterranean Sea, not far from Europe."

"Oh." Gu Liuyan nodded in a vague way and said, "It's just like the Grand Canal of the Qing Dynasty, but there's sand on both sides of the canal, and there's not even a village. It's not worth spending so much money."

"Beautiful little lady, your concerns cannot be unreasonable. I would rather have a canal than walking half a month longer than walking the sea route." Ye Lina wore a tight white dress with a wide and thin hat on her head, and said in accordance with Gu Liuyan's words. "God testified that the Franks finally did a good thing. Compared to these, I care more about your English speaking, and it sounds much better than before. It's a blessing."

Ye Lina can understand simple Chinese. She is now Gu Liuyan’s private English teacher. Her accent has a strong London aristocratic flavor, which is quite pure.

This said too much, Gu Liuyan looked at Li Fushou in confusion and waited for him to translate.

Li Fushou repeated it and looked at Fiona who had been sitting next to him without saying a word, "Fiona, what do you think about the function of this canal?"

"I think... this canal does not simply shorten the distance from Europe to Asia. The French retained a whole team of soldiers in Suez. There are probably more ports of Sed. This should have some significance to them, right?" Fiona was not sure of her guess and hesitated for a while and continued. "Maybe it is to defend her property or some other purpose, but I really can't see anything that needs to be defended. God testified, there is not even a personal figure here."

"What do you think of Mr. Xin?" Li Fushou asked Xin Changjun again at the other table.

Xin Changjun sat at the table and gave a respectful salute. He did not answer immediately, but thought carefully and replied;

"We have nothing to do these days, and we have carefully studied the Europa globe, and it feels that it has subverted countless years of cognition. The traditional saying of the sky and the earth is a measure of the word, and it is self-defeating in the face of truth.

This canal is called "Suez", which is an important node for communicating Europe and the South Ocean from the Far East. It guards important transportation locations and has unparalleled strategic importance. It is actually a place that military strategists must fight for.

Keep this place

It is the most important thing to master the throat of traffic and take the lead in the game between great powers.

I saw that there was no danger here. From a distance, I saw that the mountain was flat and the desert was everywhere, and occasionally there were only a few very small oasis. If you want to guard it, you must have a large amount of troops. It is best to build a city along the canal to defend it.

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

Among them, we must study carefully to explain it thoroughly. Changjun dares not speak nonsense, but I hope 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 in praise, stood up and walked a few steps and said. "With such a global vision, Mr. Xin is worthy of being a talented person, and he will rely more on him in the future."

"Mr. Yuanding is smart and natural. Changjun is willing to help. Please don't be polite." Mr. Xin Changjun stood up and bowed with his hands, saying sincerely.

Li Fushou smiled and nodded and said, "In today's world, Europa technology is the most prosperous. The great powers such as Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Austro-Hungary compete to colonize the world, and extend their tentacles to the whole world.

The opening of the Suez Canal greatly reduced the difficulties of European powers to colonize the Far East and will surely promote a new round of colonial climax.

Now the French landed in Annan and were ambitiously prepared to occupy the entire Indochina Peninsula and use it as France's back garden.

Russian bears have set their sights on the Korean Peninsula and the three eastern provinces. The American strong ships and fast guns broke the national gates of Fusang. The British had landed in Weihaiwei and sent troops to forcibly occupy Hong Kong Island as a stronghold for expansion to the north.

I believe that Brother Changjun, Brother Shoudao, Brother Fang and Brother Mo Zhou could see the dangers contained therein. How could others sleep soundly beside the bed?"

Speaking of this, Li Fushou looked at the heavy faces of the people and kept silent.

Smart people don’t need to explain it too thoroughly, just experience it yourself.

After a long time

He Fang said in a humble voice, "Mr. Yuan Ding, with the benefits of Western swords and weapons, and with strong ships and fast cannons, it is difficult for me to resist the Green Camp soldiers of the Qing Dynasty and the Eight Banners. Is there no way to watch Lu Chen in China?"

"Brother Fang already has the answer, why ask me?" Li Fushou asked quietly.

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

Wu Mozhou looked at him quietly, shook his head speechlessly, stood up with a serious expression and bowed his fists, and said to Li Fushou, "Looking at history, there has been no invincible dynasty for 300 years since the Qin and Han Dynasties, this is the case with the Eastern Han and Western Han Dynasties, such as the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, and our Qing Dynasty may inevitably be the same, and it is not possible for human power.

All the officials in the court were drunk and dreaming, and they were in a dilemma and hard to save them. From top to bottom, corrupt officials were rampant, and the officials were corrupt. One year, the Qing magistrate, how could it be rumored that 100,000 silver silver?

The powerful men in Taixi were eyeing each other, but the imperial court was still in their dreams. The defeats of the two Opium Wars still failed to awaken the old empire. After knowing the shame, they bravely and steadily reformed. I think the Qing Dynasty was defeated.

Now Mr. Yuanding is doing a great job in Australia, with a large number of ranch land and is enough to protect hundreds of millions of Chinese compatriots. This is the hope for the future.

Mo Zhou is willing to share his talents with his horse, and to join in the grand event and do a grand career with great strength. He should be worthy of his ancestors and future generations."

"Hahaha... Mo Zhou said it well, Changjun is willing to help him." Xin Changjun stood up with a smile on his palm.

"There are few people and boring people, so I, Pan Shoudao, are you willing to be a little bit too thin." Pan Shoudao also stood up, and the few people looked at each other and smiled.

He Fang sighed decisively and stood up and said, "No one listened to the matter in the court when we said something lightly. Instead, it made me dislike it. I will not be this old thing. If Meng doesn't dislike you, you dare to ask her to go with me?"

"Hahaha... I dare not ask for it." Li Fushou laughed happily.
Chapter completed!