Chapter 455: Ming Dynasty wants to build an invincible fleet
There are many people coming and going in Yingtian City every day.
As a result, even the Longjiang Shipyard on the riverside outside the city was forced to station a team of Beijing officers and soldiers, and a new fence was erected five miles outside the shipyard wall.
In addition to the officers and soldiers, the outermost area is stationed and inspected to prevent ordinary people from entering by mistake, and to be wary of the approach of some people with hidden evil intentions.
And deeper in, you can sometimes see figures in flying fish suits.
Zhu Yuanzhang, who was taking the lead, naturally did not know what the current rules of the Longjiang Shipyard were, let alone that this series of preventive measures were all made by his most beloved grandson in the past.
People only know the majesty and existence of the emperor, and most people will never see the emperor in their lifetime. Just like ordinary local people, their moving range may only be a few dozen miles in their lifetime, and they will never know the official status of their parents.
who.
no doubt.
There must be something wrong with an old man with white hair, wearing coarse linen clothes, and riding straight towards the Longjiang Shipyard.
In particular, there was a large group of Ying Tianxun's disciples chasing after the old man.
It could not be said that this old man stole the nobleman's horse and rushed to the shipyard in a panic.
"Who is coming!"
"Stop your horse! If you dare to step forward again, you will be killed without mercy!"
Behind the barricade connecting the road outside the fence, a small flag officer of the Beijing army took out the long gun leaning on the wooden frame and scolded him coldly.
Zhu Yuanzhang on horseback shrank his eyes. There was murderous intent in the eyes of these bastards.
The movement outside the shipyard had long attracted Zhu Yunxi's attention. Seeing that the flag officer on duty today actually raised his spear in front of the old man, he was so frightened that a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.
Zhu Gaochi shouted to the front: "You are outrageous! Everyone, stand down!"
Zhu Yunxi whipped his riding whip fiercely, causing the horse to feel pain and its speed doubled instantly.
Finally, just before these dedicated officers and soldiers were about to raise their crossbows at the old man, Zhu Yunxi rode his horse from the side and rushed in front of the old man's horse.
The war horse stopped suddenly, and Zhu Yunxi reached out and grabbed the reins of the old man's horse.
Zhu Gaochi had also rushed over with a large group of people at this time.
"Come up directly to the military guards!"
Zhu Gaochi glanced at Zhu Yunxi, who was holding the old man's horse, then took out a token from his arms and rushed towards the small flag officer of the Imperial Army outside the shipyard.
The little flag officer looked up and saw that the token could be walked in the palace, and his heart suddenly trembled.
He saw the old man rushing forward just now, and the anxious look on the young man's face.
Obviously, this old man is not a horse thief.
And now that there was this token from the palace, the flag officer immediately put away his spear, put it on the ground, and nodded: "I see you, your superior."
Zhu Yunxi observed the old man for a while, and then he secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the old man was fine. He glanced at the officers and soldiers behind the flag officer who had already lowered the string of the crossbow after seeing what had happened.
"I'm going to the shipyard today on official business."
The little flag officer was already pounding in his heart. If he was just a person who went directly to the military guard, he would be a member of the emperor's army, so it wouldn't be a big deal. At the Longjiang Shipyard here, even people from the imperial court had to check their identities when they came.
But the key is that the sign the other party took out can even enter the palace.
The little flag officer did not dare to show any slightness and quickly stepped back to make way for him: "This subordinate who rushes into the superior officer shall be punished by death."
After saying this, the flag officer waved his hands repeatedly to signal his officers and soldiers to move the roadblock away.
Zhu Yuanzhang's interest was quite high. He looked at his two eldest grandsons who looked nervous and laughed: "If everyone in the court can abide by their duties like you, why should our Ming Dynasty worry about not being prosperous?"
This old man must be a high-ranking official, or an elder of a noble family in the court.
The little flag officer was extremely nervous at this moment and lowered his head: "It is my duty to bump into you. We deserve to die."
Zhu Yuanzhang just shook his head and turned to look at his eldest grandson.
Zhu Yunxi was stunned for a moment, and leaned forward while sitting on the horse, with a look of inquiry on his face.
"If I remember correctly, Tang Li from the Xinguo Gong family is in charge of the Central Military Governor's Mansion." Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to be murmuring to himself.
Zhu Yunxi nodded immediately and whispered: "It is Governor Tang who is presiding."
After replying to the old man, Zhu Yunxi glanced at the little flag officer who was already nervously clasping his hands.
Zhu Gaochi on the other side was smiling and glanced at the little flag official who was obviously going to have good luck.
Zhu Yuanzhang clamped the horse's body between his legs, and the war horse under him began to move forward lightly: "I turned back and said to the boy from the Tang family, it seems that the court should be fair to the soldiers who have done their duty and know how to use them properly."
Zhu Yunxi responded and gave Zhu Gaochi a look, indicating that Xiaopang would take people to protect the old man.
And he also drove his war horse towards the core area of the shipyard, just when he passed by the little flag officer.
But Zhu Yunxi said calmly: "I went back to find Tang Li and asked him to move you to the position of Baihuguan. Just say that Mr. Zhu San asked you to find him."
As he spoke, Zhu Yunxi waved to Xiao Pang.
Snapped.
The token that Zhu Gaochi had originally carried in his arms fluttered into Zhu Yunxi's hands, but he didn't stop for long. He threw it towards the little boy who raised his head in confusion and looked at him in confusion.
Flag officer.
There was another snap.
The token fell into the hands of Xiaoqi Guan.
When he raised the token and wanted to refuse and return it, he raised his head and saw that the nobles, whose identities were not yet known, were already far away on horseback, heading towards the hinterland of the shipyard.
"Boss, who are they?"
The soldiers under the flag officer came forward cautiously, looking curiously at the token held in the palm of the flag officer's hand, with expressions on their faces that they wanted to touch it.
The little flag officer shook his head, glanced sideways at his curious subordinates, couldn't help but tighten his hand on the token, held the token tightly in his hand, and hid it in his sleeve with a flip of his hand.
"I don't know either."
His subordinates were unwilling to give in, and turned their heads with some longing to look at the team that left only their retreating figures, and said with envy: "Boss, with this token, you will really become a hundred households this time."
A smile appeared on the little flag official's face: "This token comes from the palace. The nobles may not care, but we still have to send it to the governor's house and present it to the governor so that it can be handed over to the nobles."
The eyes of the soldiers under his command were filled with envy.
When will I be able to be like a boss, be appreciated by the nobles, and be rewarded with an official position?
After just thinking about it, the soldier shook his head, and finally forgot to take a look at the group of people who were about to arrive at the shipyard, and had already put away all his envy.
Nowadays, the imperial court has a law for military merit. I heard that in the past two days, the imperial court has been discussing the matter of conferring kingships on the two generals of the Eastern Expedition and the Southern Expedition.
I had a good time working as a errand, and when I got the opportunity to go out with the army in turn, I could take back those first-level military merits with my own hands.
After thinking clearly, the soldier put his hand on the hilt of the knife and stood back to his original position with his head held high, his eyes full of hope.
Today's Ming Dynasty is the sprout of a towering tree full of hope and growing vigorously.
When he stood in front of the gate of Longjiang Shipyard and looked at the warship behind the gate that was higher than the courtyard wall and houses, Zhu Yunxi could not help but have a magnificent picture unfold in his mind.
Zhu Yuanzhang, who came to Longjiang Shipyard for the first time, was like an old farmer walking into Qinhuai, ten miles away, for the first time.
Everything in front of you is novel, and everyone is shocked by what you see.
Longjiang Shipyard was built along the Yangtze River, with a wall surrounding the entire shipyard.
Behind several courtyard houses, most of the entire shipyard is stacked with massive shipbuilding materials.
The three channels are thirty feet wide and two hundred feet long, parallel to the shipbuilding platform in the middle.
Before getting close to the shipbuilding platform, you can see a total of five shipbuilding platforms on the left and right of the three canals. There are nearly 20 large and small ships under construction parked on them.
There are the largest treasure ships in the world today, as well as warships used by the navy such as Fu Chuan and Lou Chuan. There are also merchant ship orders placed by the people who control maritime operations, headed by the Prince of Zhongshan.
In the face of these huge structures, human beings will always form a huge sense of contrast and impact, giving people a sense of fear and awe of giants.
And when this number is piled up into ten digits, that kind of awe will be infinitely amplified.
Withstanding the impact over and over again, Zhu Yuanzhang unconsciously began to breathe heavier.
In his sight, countless craftsmen were busy on the five shipbuilding platforms.
Huge keels penetrated the huge ships, and the thick decks were fixed to the frames.
Small steam engines have begun to be put into use on a large scale.
On each shipbuilding platform, there are countless steam engines spewing thick smoke, either lifting or pulling heavy shipbuilding materials and delivering them to the required locations.
The craftsmen seemed to only have eyes on the work at hand, and in their hearts they only had these ships waiting to be completed and sent into the canal connecting the Yangtze River.
In the distance, at the end of three canals, on the Yangtze River.
A larger warship dropped its anchor in an east-west direction and floated on the river.
The huge roar of artillery echoed in the shipyard for a long time.
"Longjiang Shipyard has five shipbuilding platforms, only one of which undertakes shipbuilding business for external parties, which can be regarded as adding some income to the shipyard and the court."
Zhu Yunxi walked forward slowly, got behind the old man, and introduced him in a low voice.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "They must be shipping operators from the Xu family and several other companies."
Zhu Yunxi agreed: "The fields under the name of Zhongshan Prince's Mansion have all been cleared out over the years and replaced by Jiaozhi Road. Only under the premise again can we start shipping.
However, nowadays, only half of the private shipping of the imperial court is controlled by a few of them. They are all well-informed families, so the imperial court does not need to worry too much that the maritime transportation will escape the imperial control.
In fact, although the imperial court did not account for a proportion of the shipping operations of several companies in the Zhongshan Prince's Palace, the inner treasury accounted for 30%. Originally, the grandson was not prepared to take them, but the Xu family had other companies, but they claimed that
, this is a business I made with the support of my family.
The grandson later asked the tax bureau to conduct a secret investigation, and found that there were no problems with the tax accounts of these businesses. The output on the Jiaozhi Road side was also paid according to the regular tax per mu, while the shipping side was subject to regular taxes.
It is paid regularly according to the new business tax.
If grandpa wants to see it, all he has to do is ask Sun Daban to check the check list of the inner treasury, and he will know everything."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "I can't help them doing this kind of business. They can make clean money steadily, and the imperial court will not take away their income."
Zhu Yunxi hummed and clasped his hands together.
The old man only said half of what he said, and the other half was that as long as the Xu family thought they had control of the Ming Dynasty's shipping business, they could make a lot of money and hide the money they shouldn't have, and the court would also
I won't take into account the feelings of the past.
Zhu Gaochi said from the side: "Longjiang Shipyard has five shipbuilding platforms and the other four shipbuilding platforms. The warships I have seen are not only different, but most of them are no different from the past."
This is Zhu Gaochi's first visit to Longjiang Shipyard.
In his imagination, he should see a scene of all new warships here today, but he did not expect that most of the warships were of the past style.
Zhu Yunxi explained: "The most urgent thing for Zhang Ergong and the others now is to trial the steam warship. If everything goes well, they will launch the steam sea ship. This will be easier. As long as the explanation continues, ordinary shipbuilders can also
Do it well.
Then, there will be the experiment of a new type of iron-armored warships, and then there will be the manufacture of iron-armored sea-going ships. The pace has been determined earlier, step by step, manufacturing in small quantities, and when everything is in place, stop and replace the existing water vessels.
Division warship."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "It should be like this. If we don't figure it out and fix it properly, if there are problems, it will only increase the cost of the court. Zhang Ergong has followed a steady path. Steam engines, warships, and all his new things have been very important to him in recent years."
The imperial court has provided a lot of help."
The grandfather and grandson were watching the shipbuilding platform and talking about these things.
Zhang Ergong, who was still on the river, had long been informed that His Majesty, His Highness, and Prince Yan were here, so he immediately hurriedly got on the boat and rushed to the shipyard.
At this time, Zhang Ergong was leading a group of craftsmen and hurried to the three of them.
"I have met with Your Majesty, Your Highness. I have met Prince Yan."
"I have met with Your Majesty, Your Highness, and Prince Yan."
Zhang Ergong now still has some official status. He greets the driver in a decent manner, and the craftsmen and officials behind him also follow closely.
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand directly, and then asked: "Zhang Ergong, I just want to ask you one thing, I want the Ming Dynasty to build an invincible fleet, can you do it for me?"
Zhang Ergong was obviously taken aback. Who would have thought that when meeting the emperor, his first sentence would be to ask such a question.
Zhu Yunxi coughed lightly: "You will answer truthfully immediately."
Zhang Ergong took a deep breath, cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, as long as you give me another three years, I can start building armored warships! Within five years, the imperial court will have its first small-scale armored fleet!
Ten years! In ten years, the navy of the Ming Dynasty will be invincible on the sea!"
"ten years."
Zhu Yuanzhang murmured in a low voice, and then quietly clenched his fists.
Zhang Ergong was a little nervous.
The ten-year agreement is actually not the best plan in my mind. It can only be regarded as the minimum to ensure that the armored warship can sail on the water without sinking.
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "I heard that the steam warship will be trialled today. Please take me on board to have a look."