Tianjin Wei Pier, Li Xiao stands on the pier.

Two black spots appeared on the sea level, and the black spots gradually expanded. Everyone took a breath, and the warship approaching in the distance actually had no sails. This thing was like a legendary beast, constantly spitting out

It was covered with black smoke, but its speed was faster than a large sailboat with full sail.

As the ship continued to approach the dock, the workers on the dock felt weak in their legs, and groups of people knelt down and knelt down to worship. The old dock man who had been working on the dock all his life had never seen such a big ship. It was so tall that it was suffocating, and the sound of the whistle

The sound was like the roar of a dragon. They looked at the people on the boat as if mortals were looking up to gods.

Li Xiao nodded with satisfaction. It took three years to finally build these two ships. Fully steam-powered, the speed is twice as fast as that of a sailboat of the same level. In fact, there is no sailboat of the same level. The huge five-masted

The big ship is like a kindergarten child in front of the big ship.

The only regret is that this ship is still made of wood. There is nothing we can do about it. The current technical conditions cannot effectively weld steel plates, and it is impossible to produce qualified cold-rolled steel plates.

The tall spiral staircase was lowered, and with the support of his grandson, the old fisherman walked down the gangway with a smile.

"Thank you for your hard work!" Li Xiao stepped forward and held Yu Lao's rough hand. In this day and age, building a warship the same size as the Liaoning out of wood is enough to prove Yu Lao's superb shipbuilding skills.

"Haha! I originally wanted to build one, but there was no way to realize the rotation of ships. The second master always said that the five-masted ships he owned were too young and too old. Even his boat had wooden

His hair was rotten. Now it's better. He has two ships at once, which is enough for him to enjoy for a while. The second master didn't come?"

"No, the military newspaper said that the Yangtze River Estuary was just launched ten days ago. It is probably floating on the Yellow Sea now. If he sees such a big ship, he will definitely go crazy with joy. Two ships at a time! In order to make him happy, I

I didn’t even tell him. I just asked him to come back and we could go back to my hometown in Liaodong to pay homage to my parents during the Chinese New Year.”

"There is no way not to make it so big, because the boiler is too big. If we don't make the boat bigger, it won't be able to fit in it. I never thought that a boat that can sail without sails can be built in this life. It's still so big,

Just like mountains.

The front main guns are all newly cast, with a large caliber and a firing range that is twice as long as the previous guns. The only drawback is that the loading is too slow. The original copper cannons are installed on both sides. There is no main gun on the rear deck.

It is equipped with twenty heavy rocket launchers. Didn't you say that this thing is powerful enough? Why don't we just install it all at once. If this thing hits targets on land, as long as it is turned around the stern of the ship, the overwhelming shells will shake the mountains.

Earthquake. Jinling Chengqian is nothing, even the mountain can collapse."

The old fisherman was obviously very satisfied with his masterpiece. He kept pointing at the giant ship with his hands and a proud smile on his face.

Anyone who can build such two giant ships in his lifetime is worthy of pride. In this era, these two battleships are definitely the best in the world!

"The second brother turns twenty this year, so these two ships will be his birthday present."

"Hey! Then you have to come up with a good name!" the old fisherman said with a smile.

"This ship is called Dingyuan, and that ship is called Zhenyuan. Mr. Sun wrote the name himself!"

"Dingyuan, Zhenyuan. Good, good name."

Not far behind Li Xiao, Ao Canghai took a sip of wine from a wine flask. "The war on land has not been over yet, why did you think of building ships? Building such a big ship is enough to build two or three more divisions."

Who can such a big ship deal with? Japan? North Korea? They are all as good as cats. With Zheng Zhilong in the South China Sea, it is not our turn to intervene."

"You can't stop your mouth after drinking. I didn't hear that it was a gift for the second master. The handsome man loves his younger brother, so he just built two ships. It's not a big deal." Zhang Huangyan stroked his beard. He was very satisfied with such a big ship.

Shocked. But the old fox is an old fox after all. The so-called "very shocked" actually meant that he was shocked for ten minutes.

No matter how big a ship is, it is just a man-made tool. Tools are tools, and people are the masters of this world.

The fisherman invited Li Xiao to board the Zhenyuan. When Li Xiao held on to the railing and looked at the cheering crowd below, a feeling of being lost in all sentient beings arose spontaneously.

Li Xiao didn't speak, others didn't speak, and everyone didn't speak. Everyone was immersed in the size and horror of the battleship!

Standing high and looking far, standing on the giant ship, you can have a bird's-eye view of the entire Tianjin Wei Pier. You can also see the Tianjin Wei City Wall in the distance. With the help of a telescope, Li Xiao can even see the large Chinese characters floating in the wind on the top of the city.

flag.

Three cavalrymen were galloping on the official road, and the smoke from the horses' hooves rose into the sky. Li Xiao could clearly see the big red feathers on the heads of the knights, and these knights were carrying leather bags behind them. These were the legendary red feather messengers.

, eight hundred miles expedited.

Li Xiao was shocked, Jiangnan has been calmed down. Logically speaking, there is nothing particularly important now, and it is necessary to use the 800-mile express. You know, the 800-mile express will not stop people. When the post station is farther away, it is better to use the 800-mile express.

A horse will be exhausted to death. Unless the military situation is urgent, the eight hundred miles will never be used to rush. In the Liao army, many military affairs used carrier pigeons.

After all, running on the ground is nowhere near as fast as flying in the sky.

Tianjin Wei is not a city like the Capital City. Li Xiao is the only one who is qualified to receive the 800-mile express.

Li Xiao watched as Hong Ling's messenger ran all the way to Tianjin Wei Wharf. The guard on the dock saw Hong Ling from a distance and immediately opened the gate to let him go. He didn't dare not let him go, and being trampled to death by Hong Ling's messenger would be in vain.

The guard company did not stop him. The Red Ling messenger ran all the way to the bottom of the boat and boarded the boat under the guidance of the guards.

"Commander, there is an urgent envoy from the capital, Hong Ling." Shunzi held up the leather bag with both hands and presented it to Li Xiao.

"What happened?" Li Xiao muttered while checking the paint on the leather bag.

Opening the leather bag, Li Xiao took out the cowhide envelope and tore it open. He took out the letter and was stunned after reading two lines.

The letter slipped from his hand, but fortunately Ao Canghai's quick hands and eyes quickly caught it before it floated into the water.

Zhang Huangyan took the letter and glanced at it, his eyes widened immediately: "A foreign warship appeared in the East China Sea, and the second master was seriously injured...!"

"Go back to the capital!" Li Xiao said with a serious face and walked down the gangway first.

The capital is the landing point for Fei Ge's message. In an era without phone calls, WeChat, or text messages, the capital can obtain the latest intelligence from the empire as quickly as possible. Old Chen Fu has done nothing else during this time, but is busy building a national espionage network.

things.

Hearing the news that Li Xiu was injured, Li Xiao felt like grass had grown in his heart. He rode his horse all the way and was almost exhausted when he returned to the capital.

"How is the second brother? Why are there warships in the East China Sea?" When Li Xiao returned to the capital, the first thing he did was to find old Chen Fu. He was the first to know about all the latest news in the entire empire.

"Uh...! In fact, Zheng Zhilong discovered this fleet more than 20 days ago. His report said that this fleet did not sail through the strait, but suddenly appeared in the waters of Fujian. It would be destroyed as soon as possible.

Arriving at Mawei Shipyard, Zheng Zhilong's fleet resting in Mawei Shipyard was almost completely wiped out.

As for the attack on the second master, it was because the fleet tracked Zheng Zhilong’s escaped warship and ran to the East China Sea. Chen Laohu’s report said that the second master asked the big brother...!"

"Don't talk about this. How is your health? Where is the injury? How serious is it?"

"Chen Laohu reported that the second master was injured in the chest. He has been treated by military doctors. The warship was also seriously damaged and has returned to the Yangtze River. It docked at Jinling Pier. The specific condition of the second master is unknown. But please rest assured, commander.

I have invited Divine Doctor Li to go south to diagnose and treat the second master."

Hearing that Li Zhongzi went to Jinling, Li Xiao felt relieved. In most cases, injuries on the battlefield will not cause death as long as they are not dead at the time. Especially with penicillin, injuries and infections are no longer a problem.

Terminal illness. "Zheng Zhilong was attacked more than 20 days ago, and you didn't know it?"

"Commander...!" Old Chen Fu was a little embarrassed, "Jiangnan has recently moved to the south, and the carrier pigeon stations in Fuzhou and Quanzhou are newly established. First, there are not many carrier pigeons, and second, there are many mountains and raptors there. According to investigations,

None of the three homing pigeons sent from Fuzhou returned to the capital. This news was rushed to the capital from Fuzhou eight hundred miles away."

"I don't know where the fleet came from and how big it is. What kind of weapons do they have? They can actually damage Lao Er's ship like this." Li Xiao was a little puzzled. Li Xiu's five-masted ship was in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea.

The Bohai people are all ruthless people who walk sideways. How could they be beaten so badly that they fled into the Yangtze River? Who is the other party, and he is so ferocious?

"Chen Laohu reported that there were more than 20 ships, and Zheng Zhilong reported that there were more than 70 ships. I think the latter is more likely. Chen Laohu's report said that those ships were also five-masted.

Big ship. But the ship seems to be bigger and faster than our five-masted ship. The most deadly thing is that the guns on their ship also use explosive bombs. It was because of the explosive bombs that Erye shattered the glass on the Jian Bridge

, was seriously injured.

After the second master's ship was severely damaged, it retreated all the way back to the Yangtze River estuary. Those warships actually dared to follow and attack. In the end, they used rocket launchers to scare those warships away. As for which country the fleet belongs to, it has not yet been found out.

Chen Laohu's report said that they seemed to be flying the Union Jack flag. A letter has been sent to Tang Ruowang, and I think he can know which country the Union Jack flag is."

"Police flag? I understand!" Li Xiao nodded, and at the same time muttered to himself, why did the British come over?

It is now known that the British fleet has at least 70 ships, and they are all large ships. Large ships larger than five-masted ships. What are these British guys going to do? Such a huge fleet is definitely not here for a friendly visit. Once it is launched, it will

After destroying Zheng Zhilong's Mawei Shipyard, Zheng Zhilong also had two brushes. When he was in Macau, he also captured a lot of Dutch artillery. In these years, all ships trading in the South China Sea must bear the flag of the Zheng family.

He won't be robbed. From the annual dividends given to Li Xiao, it can be seen that this guy is the kind who gets cramps in his hands after receiving money.

Why was it that all of a sudden, the shipyard was taken over?

Questions lingered in Li Xiao's mind, but what Li Xiao was most worried about was Li Xiu's condition.

"Tell Jinling immediately and do your best to treat the second child."

"promise!"

"Order all the prefectures and counties along the coast to pay close attention to the movements of this fleet." Li Xiao was not surprised that the British invented explosive ammunition. After gunpowder was spread to the West, these guys have been studying it. In just a few years

Before that, the most advanced artillery of the Ming Dynasty was still the Franco machine gun.

That kind of thing represented the world’s advanced level at that time!

Only after cheaters like Li Xiao appeared did the Ming Dynasty's artillery level lead the world. It's not surprising that the British are now tinkering with explosive artillery shells. After all, this is not an overly sophisticated technology.

The first question now is to find out what the British are doing here.

"Deploy a hot air balloon to the coast to monitor the fleet. Every day, the fleet's position must be reported to me. Second...! Forget it, let Chen Laohu lead the crew and rush to Tianjin Wei Port to receive the new ship. Jinling

If the ship is broken, it is broken, and it is repaired there.”

"promise!"

Old Chen Fu left with Li Xiao's order, and Sun Chengzong arrived. As the chief minister of the cabinet, he needed to know where the warship came from, and he was embarrassed. At the same time, Sun Chengzong also felt that this battle was useless.

I was beaten so hard that I didn’t even know what country the person was from.

"Is there any new news about Chen Fu?"

"No, but I know that the battleship belongs to the British country. That country is the overlord of the Western oceans and has colonies all over the world. These guys are not easy to deal with. I have asked Chen Laohu to come back with the team and take over the fishermen's dock.

Two ships in Tianjin Wei Port.

In the future, we will have to approve more of Yu Lao's shipbuilding plans. Our Chinese civilization has thousands of years of history, and the threats have always come from the northern barbarians. But now it is different, the danger comes from the sea.

The southeast coast is the soft underbelly of our Ming Dynasty. As long as foreign ships pass through the coast of Guangdong and Fujian smoothly, they can go all the way north and enter the Yangtze River along the Yangtze River Estuary to threaten Susong and Songfu.

The Susong Second Mansion is the most prosperous place in our Ming Dynasty, and it has hardly been damaged by military disasters in recent years. Even the great plague did not affect the Susong Second Mansion. As long as we take care of it, the economy of our Ming Dynasty will not be affected.

Poor. We must ensure that we kill this English fleet, otherwise the long coastline of the Ming Dynasty will become a paradise for them to rob.

Mr. Sun! These people are much more powerful than the Japanese pirates back then. Our department has encountered a formidable opponent."

"England? I have never heard of this country, but now that they have opened a station, we must not give in. It's just a pity that we owed so much to the navy in the past few years. The old fisherman applied again and again before allocating money to build Zhenyuan and Dingyuan.

.If we now have twenty warships of the size of Zhenyuan and Dingyuan, what do we have to fear from England?"
Chapter completed!