Ma Cheng said that the boat was very ordinary, which already made Song Yang very excited.
Ship!
As long as the steam engine is installed, it will take off immediately!
Ships already existed in China during the Tang and Song Dynasties, and records of ships were mentioned in the historical records of Yue Fei and Liu Yu.
Unfortunately, after the Song Dynasty, ships disappeared.
Unexpectedly, there were ships in Daqian Dynasty!
This saved Song Yang a lot of trouble in realizing the steamship.
The encyclopedia in Song Yang's mind contains records and drawings about ships.
But just because there are blueprints doesn’t mean it can be built.
Therefore, Song Yang has never thought about building ships now. After all, the main purpose is to stabilize society.
But Ma Cheng actually said that they already had a steamer, and the steamship seemed to have seen the light of day.
Song Yang thought quickly for a while and then gradually calmed down.
Ma Cheng and Qiao Jinglong didn't dare to speak, and just waited for Song Yang with big eyes and small eyes.
"Alas, the time has not come!" Song Yang said.
Some of the thoughts that originally arose were temporarily suppressed.
To build a steam engine, we still have to wait until the problem of eating is completely solved.
"Your Highness...you..." Qiao Jinglong was concerned, he was afraid that the Prince would lose his mind and go crazy...
"It's okay, I just thought of a good way to sail the ship, which can improve the ship." Song Yang waved his hand.
"Ah? Improve the ship?" Upon hearing this, Ma Cheng became interested again.
"Your Majesty, although the ship can be driven without wind, it requires too much manpower and is more laborious than an oar boat."
"If ships weren't used as warships and were more effective at hiding sailors, we wouldn't be producing ships."
"If Your Majesty can find a way to improve the efficiency of ships, then ships may replace paddle boats!"
Ma Cheng thought of more, although he didn't know what Song Yang could do.
But as long as the steamer can save effort compared to the paddle boat, then the steamer will have a greater advantage.
"It's just an idea, not yet mature. Recently, I will let people start exploring and experimenting little by little." Song Yang thought for a while and said.
"Your Majesty! This matter requires the lower officials to get involved!" Ma Cheng stood up and pleaded with his fists clasped.
Song Yang was very curious. Although Ma Cheng had served in the Caoyun Yamen.
But his passion for ships seemed to extend beyond his official duties.
After asking, Song Yang understood.
It turns out that Ma Cheng’s father was the previous chief executive of Jiangning Shipyard!
When Ma Cheng was a child, he lived with his father in Jiangning.
At that time, he often went to Jiangning Shipyard with his father, and he saw with his own eyes the production process of various types of ships.
Moreover, he is very familiar with the shipbuilding masters and often helps them. He has some experience in shipbuilding.
Therefore, he has had an innate affinity for ships since he was a child.
"That's it! Don't worry, Mr. Ma, I will definitely take you with me when I start conducting experiments here." Song Yang smiled.
Song Yang couldn't help but have a knowledgeable helper.
After the two agreed on the experiment, Song Yang brought the topic back to the construction of the fleet.
"Your Majesty, I just talked about the situation of the ships. So many ships can actually be divided into two naval armies, with twenty ships as one team."
"Seventeen transport ships, paired with three warships."
"In this way, we have transportation capacity and escort."
Ma Cheng's idea is very good. Judging from the current situation, the transportation capacity of twenty ships can fully meet the demand.
"Are the three warships too few?" Song Yang asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, three warships are enough. Let's take the warship as an example. Our three warships are all large ships and can easily carry a hundred or so sailors."
"Water warfare is different from land warfare. Three ships and three hundred sailors are enough to deal with ordinary emergencies."
At this point, Ma Cheng talked about the water battle again.
Some of the tactics sounded interesting and made Song Yang feel very novel.
Then we talked about navy training.
"Based on the current size of the ship, 500 sailors and 200 shipwrights are needed."
Song Yang frowned, sending out 700 people at once was a bit difficult for the current Jiangzhou Prefecture.
Each county has requested 10% of the population for standing army training, and now they have provided 4,000 people.
If another 700 were allocated to the water transport fleet, it would seem to be too much.
"Your Majesty, since we are currently short of manpower, we can also appropriately reduce the size of the fleet." Ma Cheng thought for a while and said.
"The current water transportation requirements are mostly focused on the transshipment of grain and grass. Only five watercrafts are needed to complete the transshipment task. Each ship has five people responsible for transportation, and when it arrives at the dock, people will be temporarily assigned to do the transportation work."
"As for the warships, we can temporarily use only three warships with fifty people on each ship to cope with the current situation."
"In this way, the total number of people will only be about 175."
The number of people in the water transport fleet was reduced from 700 to 175.
In addition to the laborers who are stationary in transporting goods, more than half of the transportation personnel and sailors have also been cut.
Song Yang thought about it briefly and said:
"Let's do this. I will give you two hundred people first, and you can allocate them yourself."
"First set up the grass team, and training must start as soon as possible."
"When more refugees come later, we will arrange personnel for you as soon as possible."
These two hundred people are not many, and he can still afford two small squads of civilians.
"Master Ma's ability is very good. I am relieved now. From now on, I will leave Master Ma to take full responsibility for the affairs of the fleet."
After some conversation, Song Yang nodded with satisfaction.
Ma Cheng thanked him sincerely, feeling that meeting Song Yang was like meeting a confidant.
In the next three days, Fucheng's fleet was completed and the supplies that needed to be transported to Pengze were packed.
But the only thing that makes Song Yang depressed is that the ship cannot come here temporarily.
The two wheel boats were anchored on the shore. Although the problem is not serious, they still need to be repaired before they can be launched into the water.
Liu Huairen sent the letter back and said he would find someone to repair the ship as soon as possible.
…
On June 13th, the water transport fleet ushered in their first transportation mission.
Transport the people of Pengze across the lake entrance.
Regarding the fact that they are about to move again, the people of Pengze are actually happy in their hearts.
We are all from Pengze, so we will naturally have no complaints when we return to our hometown.
Moreover, the news that each person can be allocated fifty acres of land has spread, and now the people of Pengze are eager to go back and divide the land as soon as possible.
Of course, even if we go back now, we can't separate them for the time being.
Although the method of dividing the land was determined, the time of dividing the land was set after the autumn harvest.
In other words, all the food in the land this year will still go to the public.
Landed people have some complaints about this, after all, it is the product of their own labor.
But when I thought about being allocated fifty acres of land immediately, all complaints disappeared.
Moreover, although the food was returned to the public, the government did not let the people go hungry.
Under the leadership of the prince, he built his own house and received food subsidies.
The people also willingly obeyed Song Yang's decision.
"Sure enough, water transportation is faster than shipping."
Song Yang watched with a smile on his face as he watched the boatloads of people taking water transport boats to the other side.
Yu Ming was also very happy. When the people of Pengze came here, they came to work as water boats.
But at that time, he was a makeshift boatman made up of fishermen, and the boat was not running very fast.
The fleet now formed is composed of professional water transport boatmen that Ma Cheng hired from Duchang.
In the hands of others, the canoe can move as freely as a war horse.
All five thousand Pengze people were transported there in less than one morning.
The people will walk back to Pengze by themselves.
The water boat will be responsible for transporting grain and grass to Pengze Wharf tomorrow morning.