"I see, Brother Zhou wants the construction method of the new type of ship?" Zhu Han immediately guessed his intention.

Zhou Gushan is engaged in maritime trade, which involves trafficking from the Central Plains to Japan and Korea. Occasionally, he also goes south to Guangzhou, Nanyang and other places.

However, the world is now very chaotic on all seas, and we are often intercepted and attacked by various pirates, which has already caused heavy losses.

The last time the Red Scarf Army defeated the Goryeo Navy at the mouth of the Yangtze River, Zhou Gushan happened to see some scenes on the shore.

The two battleships of the Red Scarf Army are not only fast and powerful, but also possess invincible combat capabilities.

If there are so many warships on the sea to escort them, let alone escort them, even if they want to plunder other ships on the sea, it will not be difficult.

In the late Yuan Dynasty, all naval battles relied on battleship collisions or hand-to-hand combat.

Zhu Han's artillery battleship is definitely a god descending from the earth.

"I also ask the deputy commander to agree. As long as I, Zhou, can build three or four identical warships, I am willing to give the deputy commander Xiang five hundred thousand silver every year to support military expenses. In addition, I will show my filial piety during the new year!" Zhou Gushan said.

"Five hundred thousand taels?" Zhu Han was shocked by this amount.

He never expected that Zhou Gushan would be so generous.

Five hundred thousand taels of silver, are all merchants in the big sea making money like this?

In fact, Zhou Gushan was willing to pay so much money just to make a living. If the Zhou family could not maintain its status among the large merchants, the Zhou family would be reduced to a second-rate existence among the big families in Suzhou. Their local real estate shops were far away.

Less than a businessman like Shen Wansan.

Moreover, sea merchants like Zhou Gushan have never been good men and women. Once they have powerful force on the ocean, they will not just sit there and collect tolls, but they will have to fight openly and openly.

Anyway, no matter how you calculate it, half a million taels of silver is a lot, but it is definitely a bargain.

"Shipbuilding is not something that happens overnight. Just preparing wood, cement and other items may not take a year or two," Zhu Han said tentatively.

Any wood used to make a wooden boat must not be fresh wood. It must be soaked in water for a year after being cut down before the boat can be built.

Otherwise, once fresh wood is used to build a boat, it will soon deform and fall apart after being launched into the water.

"Deputy Commander, don't worry about this. Our Zhou family has a dock in Zhenjiang and has a lot of wood and cement in stock. Even if it's towering wood, there is a lot of it." Zhou Gushan said.

"Is there a dock in Zhenjiang?" Zhu Han's eyes suddenly lit up.

He had exhausted all the assets captured by the Red Turban Army before he could build two artillery battleships. To be honest, these two artillery battleships were streamlined in many places because of the lack of suitable wood.

A big businessman in Suzhou actually found a shipbuilding dock just by asking, which made Zhu Han envious.

"Yes, there are many shipyards in Zhenjiang. Although my Zhou family's shipyard is not the largest, it is still among the best. It will not be a problem to build ten or eight ships."

Good guy, there are ten ships and eight ships in one mouth.

"Are you really sure you can build my new warships?" Zhu Han asked again.

"It looks quite exquisite from the outside, but I can guess a lot about it, but I don't dare to make random guesses about the specific construction methods inside." Zhou Gushan said.

Zhu Han knew as soon as he heard this that he had met an expert in shipbuilding. He was definitely a rare talent who could understand the hull of a ship just by relying on its appearance.

"Of course I have French craftsmanship. How many ships can your shipyard build?" Zhu Han asked.

Zhou Gushan thought for a moment, and then said seriously: "If we guess the materials used based on the appearance, it should be no problem to build ten ships. If we borrow more materials from other shipyards, we should be able to build fifteen ships."

hiss!

Zhu Han suddenly took a breath after hearing this.

The strength of the Dahai Zhou family is simply terrifying.

Fifteen artillery battleships, once launched, can be said to be the strongest navy in the world today.

"Brother Zhou, I can agree to your request." Zhu Han said calmly.

"Great, great!" Zhou Gushan looked grateful.

"However, I also have conditions, and you must agree first." Zhu Han said.

Zhou Gushan was stunned for a moment, then showed a very understanding expression.

It seems that his five hundred thousand taels of silver are not enough for Zhu Han's appetite, so he wants to make more demands.

However, the wealthy Zhou family in Suzhou are not afraid of Zhu Han's conditions, but they are afraid that Zhu Han will not agree.

"Deputy Commander, it's okay to talk!" Zhou Gushan said loudly.

"I want to share your shipyard with you. Each of our two families will own half of the shares. We can build fifteen warships. I can give you three warships to the Zhou family, and the remaining twelve are mine!" Zhu Han said.

Upon hearing this condition, Zhou Gushan almost jumped up in anger.

Most of the fifteen warships were actually eaten by Zhu Han, so how could the Zhou family maintain its status as a large sea merchant?

Twelve warships versus three warships, as long as Zhu Han wanted to take away Zhou's position as a maritime merchant, he only had to move his fingers.

"No, no, deputy commander, this is absolutely not possible." Zhou Gushan waved his hands repeatedly.

Zhu Han could guess what Zhou Gushan was thinking.

He calmly took out a map from the book bag behind him and unfolded it on the table.

"Brother Zhou, come and take a look at this." Zhu Han said with a smile.

Zhou Gushan stood up and took a look. It didn't matter. His face suddenly turned extremely pale, almost bloodless. If he hadn't been holding the table with both hands, he would have collapsed if his feet gave out.

"This, this, this,,,." Zhou Gushan trembled as he spoke.

"Haha, brother Zhou, don't get excited. This is a sea chart. Can't you see it?" Zhu Han said with a smile.

Zhou Gushan cursed in his heart, it was just nonsense. Of course he could see that it was a nautical chart, and it was precisely because he saw that it was a nautical chart that he was so rude.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! In ancient ocean trade, whoever mastered a detailed chart was equivalent to mastering the rich routes and the locations of all the islands along the way.

, where you can replenish fresh water, where you can get food, and where you can avoid wind and waves, all are under your control.

The navigation charts of each large merchant family are their own secrets that are not passed down. They are often passed down from father to son, and from son to grandson, and from male to female.

It can be said that the chart that Zhu Han took out just now is many times clearer and more accurate than the chart that Zhou Gushan keeps in his home.

And if Zhu Han has this thing in his hands, it is equivalent to having the capital to join the ranks of large-scale merchants at any time. All he needs is to prepare ships.

The land of China in this era is synonymous with abundant products. No matter what kind of specialty product it is, as long as it is loaded on a ship and shipped to any place overseas, you can make a lot of money.

As a result, Zhou Gushan has no capital to continue bargaining.

Although fifteen battleships are a lot, the Red Scarf Army can always get them together if they spend more time.

A detailed nautical chart is the work of several generations of a family.

Zhou Gushan thought for a moment and agreed to Zhu Han's conditions.

Zhu Han saw this and smiled and said: "Brother Zhou, don't worry, I won't let you suffer. In the future, your Zhou family can get the 'Development License' and 'Private License' issued by me!"

Zhou Gushan was confused when he heard this, and immediately asked: "Deputy Commander, may I ask what these development licenses and privateering licenses are?"

"Soon after, I plan to set up a naval governor's office to specifically govern all maritime trade. For any ship that has not been registered with the naval governor's office, you can use your privateering license to collect taxes or launch attacks, or confiscate the ship. All consequences will be

I, the Navy Commander-in-Chief, will be in charge." Zhu Han said.

In the troubled ocean at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Japanese pirates from Japan appeared frequently. Coupled with merchant pirates from vassal states such as Goryeo, it can be said to be the most lively sea area in the world today.

The existence of privateering certificates allowed Zhu Han's naval governor's office to quickly establish prestige and control those large merchants.

"I will not participate in your Suzhou merchant group's military campaign, but all matters at sea can be done under the name of our Red Scarf Army," Zhu Han said.

"I understand, the deputy commander is really generous!" Zhou Gushan said excitedly.

According to Zhu Han's statement, the Zhou family's ships can walk sideways on the sea from now on. Anyone who disobeys discipline or refuses to pay protection fees will be thrown into the sea to feed the sharks.

If there are some forces that are difficult to deal with, you can also ask the Red Turban Army's Navy Governor's Mansion to take action. No matter how big a pirate you are or whether you are a prince or prince, you will never be able to stop the Red Turban Army's thunderous strike.

.

After all, even Emperor Meng Yuan was killed by the Red Scarf Army, let alone others.

Just listen to Zhu Han continue to say: "As for the development certificate, it is used to encourage the development of various islands. Any new islands that can be discovered, as long as they are not on this chart, are all based on the same principle, then whoever discovers them first will be the first to discover them.

Whoever has the power to govern first will have exclusive power over all the wealth on the island. If so, let it be limited to fifty years."

The so-called nautical chart is naturally the offshore nautical chart along the coast of China. This development certificate is only applicable to islands outside this range.

"I'm afraid the islands on the East China Sea have already been included. If it works, we can only go to the Nanyang area. There are islands there and are rich in various products. However, the miasma is too severe, so we can only plan slowly in the future. ." Zhou Gushan thought secretly in his heart.

After this conversation, the Zhou family, a large merchant, was basically taken under Zhu Han's command.

The Zhou family wanted to obtain stronger maritime escort capabilities, and Zhu Han wanted to quickly expand the navy, so naturally they hit it off.

At Zhu Han's suggestion, he planned to go to Zhenjiang in a few days to personally check the scale of the Zhou family's shipyard there.

By the way, take a look at several other shipyards in Zhenjiang to see if they are qualified to enter your screening range.

After leaving Suzhou, only two days passed.

This was the beginning of the "Suzhou Uprising" planned by Shen Wansan and others.

Under the planning of the major businessmen and wealthy families, thousands of people poured into the streets, beat and killed the semu tax officials stationed in the local area, destroyed the tax officials' offices and warehouses, and opened warehouses to release grain, recruiting more poor people to participate.

The local Mongolian and Yuan officials were completely helpless.

Behind the stars, there is a prairie fire.
To be continued...