"Of course, but iron is too expensive. How much silver does an iron-hulled ship larger than this cost? I'm afraid it won't cost more than four million taels. Even the court can't afford it." Wang Haiting shook his head and said.
"I can import them from the West. The reason why I am so confident about going to war is because we have this kind of iron-hulled ship, which is our unique killer weapon." Tang Wen said.
"If we can equip an iron-hulled ship larger than this, plus our cannons can shoot far and powerfully, coupled with powerful fire cannons, we will be much more confident." Ximen Taigao nodded.
.
"Don't worry, our ship is already at sea. It will arrive soon. Even if the Linghai General Military Office wants to recruit my people, it will still take some time.
Hasn't the battle in the east just begun? It's not that serious yet.
What we have to do now is to train soldiers, especially on board ships, to enhance their naval combat capabilities.
It is necessary to form an integrated sea battle and land battle. For example, you can practice landing operations, shipboard battles, etc.
By the way, I told the speedboat masters to select a group of boatmen to learn how to drive iron-hulled boats during this period," Tang Wen said.
"We have been training for this for a long time, and we have trained dozens of boatmen who can drive iron-hulled boats," Luo Yiwu said.
"From now on, we call the captain, not the boatman. Those who help sail the ship are called the first mate, and the second mate...
The person who specializes in driving a ship is called a helmsman, while the captain is the captain of a ship and is responsible for overall management of the ship's personnel.
Our boat is not small, and it requires the cooperation of more than a dozen people to make it run normally.
By the way, a group of people from Zhan Dongwen's mechanical repair team were dispatched to repair the ship.
Because ships often break down and require dedicated personnel to repair them," Tang Wen said.
In fact, Tang Wen's plan is to go back to Yunhai City and order a batch of merchant ships that look like coast guard ships.
Put the black cannon on it and it will become a gunboat. Of course, the necessary shooting holes must also be installed in place.
It is used for fighting during wartime and for transporting goods during peacetime.
Of course, the tonnage is not very large. There are about 200 to 300 people on board, and the maximum displacement is about 700 to 800 tons.
At that time, each ship will be equipped with several black cannons and two hundred fire cannons, and it will be an ancient warship.
"Jiang Xuan has met the Duke!" As soon as he saw Tang Wen, Jiang Xuan actually rushed out of the living room and went to the door to greet Tang Wen.
He even bowed slightly when receiving the gift, which really made the Yunhaitang group feel nervous.
You know, this guy Haolie is also the deputy capital commander of Linghai Province, a dignitary in the provincial capital, and a third-rank official.
Wang Haiting couldn't help but look at Ximen Taigao in shock, and Ximen Taigao also looked at Wang Haiting in shock.
Jiang Xuan's bow completely destroyed the self-esteem and arrogance of the elders of Yunhaimen.
Of course Tang Wen felt it too. He glanced at the popular figure above them and found that they all bent down towards him. The inclination reached 10 degrees, and they were almost touching the ground.
"Master Jiang's face is flushed and his hall is shining, something good must be happening." Tang Wen said with a smile.
"It's all thanks to the Lord." Jiang Xuan didn't deny it, he was quite proud.
"My master has been promoted to the commander of Linghai City." Wei Zhao, the steward of the Jiang Mansion, said with a smile on his face.
"Congratulations, congratulations." Tang Wen said congratulations with his hands in hand, and they pulled each other into the living room.
"This time we went to the front line, the materials provided by Sir Alex played a big role.
Especially wine and weapons, they like them both.
I drank all the wine I bought from the lord and gave away all the wine, so I also made a lot of military exploits, which I will directly upgrade after I come back." Jiang Xuan said with a sigh on his face.
"Master Jiang, if you need it, just ask." Tang Wen said.
"Of course I have to buy another batch, this time the quantity is bigger. However, I still need a batch of tents, maybe a thousand tents." Jiang Xuan said.
"We have to wait a few days, the goods are still at sea." Tang Wen said.
"No problem, there's time. However, there has been another war on the east coast recently, so I'm very busy again.
Gu Chi
Sir, please be careful, the Kingdom of the Sun is attacking, and beware of pirates on the sea.
Otherwise, the loss will be huge if the goods are robbed." Jiang Xuan said.
"Sigh... Mr. Jiang is unlucky. No, he encountered a war as soon as he took office, and this time it was right at home. Therefore, the task given by the superiors is very heavy." Wei Zhao sighed.
"Damn, just for the silver taels, we are required to command the Yamen to raise 1.5 million taels.
You need to buy swords, cannons, muskets, etc.
We were already stretched thin before, but now we still have so much, it’s so difficult.” Jiang Xuan patted the handle of the chair and said with a gloomy look.
Here we go again asking for money...
Tang Wen knew it well.
"I can donate forty black cannons, seven hundred fire guns, three hundred thousand taels of silver, and a batch of ammunition to Mr. Jiang." Tang Wen had an idea. The pile of 'junk' at Yunhaimen has not been sold yet. Now that it's done, it would be more cost-effective to just donate it directly in exchange for war credits.
"Your Majesty is so benevolent and dedicated to serving the country. Jiang admires him, I admire him!
Today, you solved Jiang's urgent need. From now on, you will be my brother, Jiang Xuan.
Your black-clothed cannons and fire blunderbuss will all be counted as double combat merit, and the 300,000 taels of silver donated will be counted as 1.5 times combat merit.
Butler Wei, please do the statistics right away and give me the conversion."
Jiang Xuan stood up and clasped his fists with excitement. He was afraid that Tang Wen would regret it, so he hurriedly cooked the raw rice into cooked rice.
Otherwise, he would not be able to complete the mission when he first took office, and his command would probably make his butt sit unsteadily.
"A black cannon can be converted into a hundred thousand taels of silver, and a cannon can be converted into a silver of six hundred taels.
Forty gates are four million taels, and seven hundred fire guns are five hundred thousand taels.
The total ammunition is 500,000 taels, plus 300,000 taels and one and a half times the amount of silver, it equals 45 taels...
More than 45,000 battle achievements." Wei Zhao immediately took out his abacus and started playing with it.
"Hahaha, brother, are you satisfied with more than 45,000 battle achievements?" Jiang Xuan laughed.
"Thank you, Brother Jiang." Tang Wen said with a cup of his hands, knowing that Jiang Xuanquan would give him 1.5 times, or even double.
Otherwise, a second-hand black-clothed cannon would only cost 40,000 to 50,000 taels of silver at most, which was all discounted to 100,000 taels by Jiang Xuan.
The fire blunderbuss is about the same, the new one is only three to four hundred taels, Jiang Xuan converted it to six hundred taels...
"Hahaha, brothers, we are each other." Jiang Xuan laughed, "By the way, our yamen has to pay you money for those thousand tents. This time, it will be two thousand taels of silver per tent. No need for discounts. Discount, Butler Wei, give the total."
"That's not necessary. Let's go with 20% off. I don't want 20% off." Tang Wen said.
"No! Brother, I bought it on behalf of the governor's office this time. Take it, take it, and make what you deserve." Jiang Xuan said with a smile.
"I'll be disrespectful to you, brother." Tang Wen cupped his fists and smiled.
"One cap is two thousand, and one thousand caps is two million taels. This is one million taels of silver. Sir, please keep it first. The remaining one million taels will be taken out by the governor's Yamen after the tent is in place. "Jiang Xuan said.
"Brother Jiang, if the Kingdom of the Sun attacks, there will definitely be chaos along our coast." Tang Wen said.
"That's for sure. The General Military Office has already reduced its troops to the vicinity of the provincial capital.
Even the naval forces stationed in Yanling County have been withdrawn. A place like yours is too remote and is basically empty now. Only the garrison battalions of various prefectures are left to fight on land.
There is absolutely no way to control it in the sea, so I remind you to pay attention to pirates.
I see that there is a lot of construction going on in Koh Samui, but it cannot be destroyed by pirates and a year's hard work is wasted. How much money will be lost?
Also, you have to pay attention to your own safety. If you really can’t evacuate Koh Samui first, move to the provincial capital to be safer,” Jiang Xuan said.
"This is the property of my Tang family. This is all that is left of the Tang family. It is impossible for me to leave. If the island is destroyed, everyone will die." Tang Wen shook his head.
"Why didn't you listen to my advice? Keep the green hills here so you don't have to worry about running out of firewood." Jiang Xuan said.