Facing the broad Yangtze River, there is a row of six huge wooden scaffoldings. The workers are getting up and down like busy worker ants.

Six long and narrow boats are being hammered by workers, revealing their final graceful appearance.

According to Wan Jun's assembly line operation method, one workshop is only responsible for one process, and the size and quality of all materials are almost the same.

Du Changqing stood on the high platform and looked at the six new warships in front of him with satisfaction.

These boats are different from traditional Fu boats. The entire bow remains hollow, and the bow pillar extends forward, with a slash extending out like a sword.

The long and narrow hull gradually tapers back, and the inclined waterline transitions harmoniously to the narrow round stern.

Du Changqing is an old shipwright, so he naturally understands what such a shape means. These ships will be more agile than flying fish on the sea.

However, in Du Changqing's mind, what is the use of water battles with light ships? The most important thing is that the ship must be big enough and carry enough soldiers and guns. In the final analysis, naval battles still rely on big ships to defeat small ships, and to use big guns to defeat small guns.

A ship is better than a few ships, and many guns are better than a few guns.

The Chaohu Navy of the Ming Dynasty has been dominant for two hundred years. When Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang were competing for hegemony, the Chaohu Navy began to equip their warships with fire tubes, firecrackers and cannons.

But for more than two hundred years, the victory of a water battle is not determined by joining the other side. It has never been said that the opponent will surrender after firing blunderbuss and artillery.

Different from Du Changqing's idea, Jiang Pingping was more convinced of Wan Jun's words, the firepower of the artillery became more and more fierce, and the method of naval battle also began to change.

Of these six warships, two are 26 meters long, four meters wide, and three meters deep. They can be equipped with eight heavy artillery pieces on their sides.

The other two ships are fifty-five meters long, ninety-five meters wide, six meters deep, and can be equipped with twenty-four heavy artillery pieces on the sides.

There are also two ships with a length of 93 meters, a width of 16 meters 2, a depth of 9 meters 1, and can be equipped with forty heavy artillery on the sides.

These are the first batch of new warships from Huaxia Shipyard. According to Wan Jun's instructions, the construction data of all types of warships must be studied, adjusted and recorded here.

During the construction process, each ship was equipped with three times the number of shipbuilders, in order to prepare for the construction of a cruise fleet in the future.

Jiang Ping looked at the shipyard in front of him, then turned to look to the northwest. The mysterious Five Elements Research Bureau was very imaginative. It was said that they were studying the art of flying with the wind.

The east of Hankou city was buzzing with people. After a fast horse brought the news of the return of the army, Shang Zhaoxin, Gui Dongliang and others gathered outside the east gate to wait. Then the people who knew the news gradually gathered.

Soon the vanguard of a regiment arrived at the east gate, and then there was a loud clatter of horse hooves, and thousands of soldiers rushed to the front with their people, all four thousand of them on horseback.

The common people knelt in the mud formed by the residual snow and shouted, "Long live Lord Wan!"

"Long live!"

Wan Jun was running all the way, his legs were sore, and he only felt a burning pain under his thighs. It seemed that the skin was already worn out. At this time, he cheered up in front of the people and said, "Everyone, get up quickly. Kneeling in the snow is easy to get rheumatism."

, the Chinese army does not like to kneel down."

The nearest person shouted, "Master Wan will allocate land to us. We will kowtow to you three times and wish you longevity and happiness."

As soon as the words were spoken, the people all knelt down and kowtowed to Wanjun. When the people kowtowed and stood up, Wanjun followed Chang Jian and others into the city.

When he spoke again, Wan Jun's voice had already

Hu Hua said, "Those people were organized by you, right? The situation is tense now. From now on, we should not engage in this kind of formalism of welcoming people on all sides."

Gui Dongliang said, "Originally there were only people from the Chinese Army. When the common people heard that the head of state was coming, they all spontaneously came to welcome him."

Wan Jun was moved when he heard this and said, "Send us some hot water and hot meals. We all have a hard time traveling."

Shang Zhao thought to himself, "Don't worry, head of state. Hot meals from all ministries have been prepared in advance, and wine and food have been prepared for the head of state in the office."

Wan Jun had been eating and sleeping in the open all the way. He almost drank cold water and swallowed dry food in order to make the journey. At this time, Dang Dang entered the main room first, waved everyone to sit down, stopped being polite, picked up chopsticks and started eating.

After a few glasses of hot wine, the whole person seemed to have relaxed. With a certain amount of drunkenness, Wan Jun breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Ah, I finally have a hot meal."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a woman sitting next to him, "It's you, long time no see, how are you doing here in Wuchang?"

Dressed in aqua green with a crescent-white underskirt, with white teeth and red lips, looking forward to life, it was Wang Huan whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

"Thanks to you, sir, I live a good life here."

Wan Jun nodded and smiled, "That's good." Then he thought again that when the war in Wuchang was over, it would be great if Zhang Xiaoyan was brought to Wuchang.

However, the Battle of Wuchang is over, Jiujiang is still in the hands of the barbarians, and Lucheng is safer than Wuchang no matter how you look at it.

Thinking of this, Wan Jun's smile disappeared. There is still nearly a thousand miles from Wuchang to Lucheng. I don't know what the situation in Lucheng is like.

"Is there any news about Lucheng coming recently?"

Shang Zhao thought to himself, "There is no news yet."

"How is the situation in Nanyang?"

"The Hu people in Nanyang only besieged but did not attack. Chen Xinmin's reinforcements are about to arrive."

Wan Jun thought in his mind, "In this way, the Hu people have not made much progress, and they cannot see the focus of the attack."

Wan Jun secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but vaguely felt that the Hu people's actions were a bit inexplicable.

Wang Huan raised his wine glass and said, "I heard that your Excellency sent one hundred thousand troops to Sichuan. Thank you very much for avenging our Prince Rui's Mansion. I would like to propose a toast to you."

Wan Jun thought in his heart that pacifying Sichuan is a must, and it cannot be regarded as avenging your Prince Rui's palace. "I don't dare to take it seriously. Going to Sichuan is not to avenge your family. It is just a way to reach the same destination."

Wang Huan raised his head and drank it all in one gulp, then poured himself another glass of wine, "I'll give you one more glass of wine. I beg you to capture my enemy Zhang Xianzhong and leave his head to me as a memorial to my father."

Zhang Xianzhong in history was cruel and bloodthirsty. Unlike Li Zicheng, Wan Jun did not have a good impression of Zhang Xianzhong. Agreeing to a beautiful woman's request was just a matter of course, "Don't worry, if I catch Zhang Xianzhong, I will leave him to you for revenge."

"

Wang Huan just drank a glass of wine, and his peach petal-like face became increasingly red. At this time, his beautiful eyes were filled with tears, and he raised his head and drank it all again.

Putting down the wine glass, Wang Huan's eyes were blurry and he had been drunk for five minutes.

Wan Jun said, "Someone, please send Miss Wang Huan back to her room to rest."

After the female family members helped Wang Huan away, Wan Jun said, "We have something urgent to do and we are leaving after a quick meal. Why do we need the royal family's daughter to accompany us? Whose idea is it?"

Cui Ziyi coughed awkwardly and said, "Head of State."

Wan Jun said, "It seems that you are not tired enough from this journey."

Gui

Dong Liang stood up and said, "Sir, the troops and horses in Wuchang have been assembled, but it's getting late. Why not rest in Wuchang today and set off again early tomorrow morning."

Wan Jun said, "The military situation is like a raging fire. We can't delay. Let's leave after eating."

Shang Zhao thought to himself, "It's really hard to come all the way from Nanjing. Let's take a rest for half a day. I heard that the first batch of warships at the shipyard is about to be completed. Why doesn't the head of state go and take a look?"

Wan Jun thought for a while and said, "Then go to the shipyard to see our new warships."

After that, Wan Jun took a few big bites of the food in front of him, picked up the wine glass in front of him, drank it all in one gulp, and said, "Time is urgent, so I'll eat here, and I'll go to the shipyard."

Everyone rushed to the shipyard. Someone had already informed them in advance. Du Changqing, Jiang Pingping and a group of shipwrights were guarding the intersection.

Wan Jun sighed, thinking that this has always been the case in all eras. The leader came to inspect and everything stopped working.

Du Changqing stepped forward and said, "Sir, everyone in the shipyard respectfully welcomes you."

Wan Jun jumped off his horse, waved his hand and said, "Let everyone return to their posts and continue working. The shipbuilding work cannot stop. I just listen to what you two have to say."

Upon hearing this, all the shipwrights returned home, leaving only Du Changqing, master and apprentice.

Wan Jun looked at the graceful curves of the warship under the tall wooden frame in the distance, "How is the progress?"

Du Changqing said, "The first batch of six warships includes two 26-meter ships, two 55-meter ships, and two 93-meter ships. The 26-meter ships have been basically completed. They can be completed in these two days.

The 55-meter boat will be launched into the water this month, but the 93-meter boat still needs some work."

Wan Jun said happily, "Okay, okay, let's go and have a look."

Du Changqing led a few people to an elevated area, where a 26-meter warship was parked quietly, emitting a strange smell.

Du Changqing said, "Both ships have been painted, and the craftsmen are doing final inspections. They will be allowed to dry for a day or two before they can be launched into the water."

Wan Jun walked forward and found that the whole body of the ship was coated with a kind of vegetable grease, and the eight portholes were all opened with wooden sticks for ventilation.

Wan Jun looked up at the narrow porthole and asked, "Are all the cannons loaded?"

Du Changqing said, "Sir, the ship must be tested on the water before the cannon can be installed."

Wan Jun nodded and said, "Not bad, it seems our navy is just around the corner."

Turning around, Wan Jun was a little excited and said loudly, "This is just the beginning. When the time comes, we will have a showdown with the Red Yi navy in Nanyang. When we defeat the great powers, we will build a naval base in Taiwan.

The more powerful we are, our navy will move towards the deep blue. Vladivostok will be the base of the Northern Fleet, and East Timor will be the base of the Southern Fleet."

Only a few people present knew that Taiwan is the Ryukyu Islands, but the exact location was also a blur, let alone Vladivostok and East Timor.

Seeing the confused expressions on everyone's faces, Wan Jun suppressed his excitement, but remembered a sad incident in his heart.

Due to the aging of modern China, large areas of Northeastern territory, including Vladivostok, were ceded. Heilongjiang and Jilin, the two provinces with the longest coastlines, have never had anything to do with the sea.

The most infuriating thing is that China is only less than thirty miles away from the mouth of the Tumen River, but it is far away from the ocean.
Chapter completed!