"What's going on? Why did the cannon stop?" Zhang Rubao sprinted to the edge of the pier. This speed was so fast that his two soldiers were afraid that Zhang Rubao would fall into the water, so they quickly stepped forward to grab him.
Zhang Rubao waved his arm and shook off the pull of the soldiers, cursing and saying: "Something went wrong again. I really don't know how it happened."
A small sailboat on the river slowly sailed towards the pier. The appearance of this small sailboat was quite strange. The hull was still as chubby as the sailboats of the Ming Dynasty, and the ship also had hard sails, but there was a circle of wooden boards around the deck.
Just a lot of shooting holes were opened in the wooden planks. Especially on the side of the ship, several large holes were exposed, but the cannons at the holes had not yet been retracted.
After finally waiting for the small sailing boat to dock, Zhang Rubao shouted and asked before the people on the boat jumped off the hanging board: "What went wrong this time? Is it the boat or the cannon?"
"Sir!" The leader quickly quickened his pace and came to Zhang Rubao, "It's a ship. When we fired the cannon, we found cracks in the floor under the cannon, so we stopped firing first."
"Then how are you going to solve it?" Zhang Rubao suddenly became angry. After building the small sailboat, Zhang Rubao has been trying it out with a group of craftsmen for four or five months, but the boat has been having problems of one kind or another, which has made Zhang Rubao continue to
He took the craftsmen to tinker with it, but it still can't be finalized. Why doesn't Zhang Rubao get annoyed?
"We are going to thicken the planks under the cannon." the head craftsman replied.
"Reinforce it? Reinforce the ship with wooden planks." Zhang Rubao couldn't suppress his anger immediately, "The speed of the ship is already crawling like a tortoise. If more planks are added, can the ship still be driven? Is it possible for the enemy to let the enemy move?
Drive in front of us and give it to us to beat?"
"There is no way!" The leader of the craftsmen was not afraid of Zhang Rubao. The craftsmen of the Runing Army had a very high status. The leader of the craftsmen was also a great craftsman, and his official position was not much lower than that of Zhang Rubao, so he dared to argue with Zhang Rubao.
"The requirements of the Commander-in-Chief are too high. To install so many cannons on such a small ship, it is no longer possible to demolish the east wall to repair the west wall. We can only continue to reinforce it. If we want artillery, we can only give up speed."
"You fart!" Zhang Rubao immediately became furious, "You think I haven't broadened my horizons? I've also been on a ship in Fujian, and I've seen those Western gunboats. How did they install them on them? They
Okay, but you can't. Are you feeding the three ounces of meat into the dog's belly every day?" These craftsmen in the Runing Army are also treated very well and can guarantee the supply of three ounces of meat every day, so Zhang Rubao uses this matter to
To stimulate them.
Hearing the insult, the leader of the craftsmen was also furious, and he also raised his voice. He retorted: "I said at that time that it was not possible. Use the Fuzhou and Guangzhou ships to install Western artillery? That will definitely cause problems. But what do you do?
What you said? The ship is about the same, so it should be no problem to install cannons!"
"No problem, what? The size of the boats looks similar, but the shape of the boats, the sails, the structure of the boats, and the wood used are all very different. You brought us a donkey, but you asked us to learn from it.
Plowing the land with oxen? If nothing goes wrong, then it’s like hell.”
"Then have you asked Commander Gang and the others?" Zhang Rubao asked again.
"Why didn't you ask?" the leader of the craftsmen replied angrily, "It's not useful at all. When they were on the ship, they were just drinking and talking about women. If you want them to say that the cannon is a good one, if you want them to say that the ship
?It’s almost like being blind with your eyes open.”
Portuguese officers like Gonzalez were all army firearms officers hired by Sun Yuanhua back then. They had no problem scurrying around on the ship to shoot artillery, but if they were allowed to operate the ship and design and build the ship? They would be blinded.
After getting angry, Zhang Rubao felt that arguing was of no use. He slowed down and asked with a frown: "Master Wang, what do you think we should do now?"
Seeing Zhang Rubao starting to discuss the problem, Master Wang also lowered his tone and said: "Either give me a Western gunboat, or reduce the number of artillery guns on the ship. I have calculated that as long as two fewer cannons are used, the problem at hand can be solved. At least
The speed of the ship is not much slower than that of ordinary ships."
"Reducing two ships? What you said is easy. Two ships were enough in the past, but now we have to use three. Moreover, the ships are full of carrots and holes. We need 50% more sailors. This money is spent too much.
That's it." Zhang Rubao immediately objected.
Master Wang did not answer, but made a helpless gesture. As a master craftsman, all he had to consider were technical issues. As for the matter of silver and sailors, that should be considered by Wu Shigong and Zhang Rubao.
"Let's do this! I have to report this to your lord. You can do it here first, strengthen the ship first, and make sure there are no problems with the cannons first. Then make a plan to reduce the number of two cannons and how to modify it. As long as your lord gives the order
, we will renovate it here immediately." Zhang Rubao finally decided.
"If Master Wang is sure, then let's reduce the number of guns by two first!" Wu Shigong glanced at Zhang Rubao who came here specially, "If that doesn't work, then reduce the number of guns. This ship is only useful if it can run. Otherwise, it won't be able to catch up with others.
Fight next to you."
"This matter is a bit ill-considered, but it is mainly my own issue. Don't worry too much. You must respect Master Wang and the others. They can make the final decision on this craft matter. We cannot follow our own wishes. We must respect them.
Otherwise, if we cannot build qualified ships and qualified guns, our soldiers will pay with their lives." Wu Shigong warned Zhang Rubao again.
"But sir! What should we do with the extra money and sailors?" Zhang Rubao asked again.
"Then build fewer ships!" Wu Shigong said with a smile, "Our Runing Army's main assets are now on the Army, and the Navy can only spend less money. But you must be prepared and be ready at any time.
We occupy the coastal area. At that time, at least I will not let Zheng Youqi live alone, and your ships will continue to flow."
"So what are you afraid of if there are more sailors? By that time, you may feel that there are not enough sailors. Recruit more of those children and train them from an early age. There are too few people in Henan who want to work on the water. Don't be afraid of money.
If it's not enough, if Mr. Deng is stuck, you can come directly to me. Look, haven't our craftsmen been trained? In the past, they could only repair ships, but now they can build small boats, so everything needs to be prepared for a rainy day.
!”
Zhang Rubao nodded, tried hard to write down everything Wu Shigong said, and finally said before leaving: "It would be great if we could get a Western gunboat!"
Seeing Zhang Rubao complaining, Wu Shigong immediately burst into laughter. (To be continued...)
