When Liu Ye received the news from Yecheng in September, his face looked a little strange.
Originally, Liu Ye thought that the high selling price would take a long time for the Wei State to prepare. However, the news Liu Ye received was that Cao Cao ordered him to urge the Chu State to complete the transaction as soon as possible!
For a moment, Liu Ye was even a little nervous, wondering if he had forgotten to write "100 million" when he wrote the letter, so he checked the manuscript again and again...
Although he didn't know what happened specifically, Liu Ye also guessed what new policies had emerged in Yecheng.
However, since the message was sent to Yecheng, Liu Ye naturally followed it.
The Ministry of Revenue did not expect that Wei State was so wealthy, and even felt a little guilty about it - if he had known it, he would have asked for a higher price!
After Bai Tu found out through the letter from the Ministry of Revenue that Wei was eager to trade, he first went to the Ministry of Industry to see the progress of the new ship, and then... notified the Ministry of Revenue and asked Liu Ye to talk to the Ministry of Rites, and then notified the Ministry of Rites that if Liu Ye came
, let him go to the Ministry of Finance to talk.
After all, the "Pan-Zhenqi Project" that can provide energy for large steam engines will take at least one or two years to achieve initial results, and it will only be used on a limited basis after three years.
Moreover, at present, both trains and armored ships are only designed on drawings.
Although Pang Tong used his own tactics to conduct simulations and verifications, to actually build it would mean thousands of tons of steel consumables. The Chu State no longer used the old system of one hundred and twenty kilograms per stone, but instead used one hundred and twenty kilograms per stone.
A pound is one stone, and a hundred stones is one ton, which is equivalent to about "2.5 tons" in later generations.
As for the unit of volume, use dendrobium as the standard, separate the concepts of "dendrobium" and "stone", and take the volume of one stone of water as one dendrobium.
Even though the iron ore traded in Liaodong has been refined and hoarded in Zhouhu, the quantity... is enough to despair the princes who are distressed by thousands of sets of plate armor... At the same time, there are already several large stamping machines, but
Building armored ships, even just a few single-digit ships, will definitely not take a month or two.
Bai Tu had no intention of breaking the contract, but he just wanted to wait until at least the "one year" time limit agreed in the contract before trading the sample ship - what Wei wanted was actually just a sample ship.
As for the other ships, they will be slowly delivered over the course of three years and can be towed almost until the armored ship is launched in Zhouhu.
Moreover, there is still enough oil-impregnated wood left to build fourth-generation sea-going ships. There has also been some progress in anti-corrosion painting. In the long run, it will not be a loss to build fourth-generation wooden sail ships.
Only a few people know that in fact... the improvement of the Chu Kingdom's fourth-generation sea-going ships was limited, because Pang Tong and other "main forces" were designing steam armored ships of all levels, while sailing wooden ships have been reduced to a "second-line project of the Ministry of Industry"
”.
However, it can still be made. After all, the number of armored ships is not too many, and sailing wooden ships are still a good supplement. In addition... they can also serve as smoke screens.
The most recent major event in Chu State that Bai Tu has to decide on is the "Crossbow and Gun Controversy" at the Ministry of Industry. It has become more and more intense, and it's time to make a decision!
This decision was not based on just looking at the report, nor was it too much reference to the opinions of the Sixth Department. Instead, it was decided to take representatives from the Privy Council to the testing site...
See for yourself how practical the two sides compare!
As for the cost issue? It can be directly quantified as the quantity of equipment, and the generals will naturally understand it.
When does "when" mean?
Just next month, mainly waiting for Gan Ning to come back...
Among other armies, generals who are commanding troops abroad and cannot rush back to Jinling will miss it if they miss it. After all, it is the same for other generals to evaluate.
However, in the navy, the only one who can be called a master tactician is Gan Ning.
The person who knew the most about naval warfare and warships was also Gan Ning.
Therefore, Gan Ning’s opinions are naturally indispensable when deciding how to equip warships and arm the navy in the future...
After the first group of pioneers arrived in Danzhou and initially established a foothold within half a year, Gan Ning finally set out to return.
Compared with the time it took to "search" for Danzhou, it only took less than a month to return via Zhouhu according to the established sailing route...
In October of the second year of Chu Li, Gan Ning returned to Yangzhou with the main force of the navy. These pioneers received a different welcome at the port than before - folk propaganda has gradually taken effect, even for the wealthy Chu people.
It is difficult to mobilize their desire to take the initiative to go to sea, but most of them respect and even admire the pioneers.
This also caused some young men to even hide their elders from their families and sign up for the land reclamation corps on their own initiative...
However, the Privy Council also has regulations on this, and in principle, only children with elderly people to support are not accepted to register.
Gan Ning was also taken aback by this welcoming gesture. At the same time... he was glad that he was prepared this time and kept an unworn attire so that he would not be embarrassed and conspicuous by wearing those washed clothes.
At the same time, people spread out their own splendid carpets, which is very inconsistent with values and shows off high-profile luxury...
In fact, the State of Chu rarely publicized the "richness and oil" of overseas pioneering, and restricted private groups from voluntary pioneering. The group participation of aristocratic families also designated special pioneering tasks and scope.
Although this makes it more difficult to mobilize enthusiasm,... Bai Tu dare not let civil society groups run amok. After all, being far away from homeland will greatly reduce Chu's regulatory capabilities.
Bai Tu has the confidence to take his time and does not need to overdraw humanity as the driving force for development.
Mankind's best partner, in addition to technology, also has the brilliance of humanistic ethics, especially after the explosion of technology - the technology in the white picture hard drive will eventually be used up, and even in the information age of later generations, the development of science and technology will
The speed will gradually slow down, waiting for the next "big bang".
For the current state of Chu, Bai Tu does not think it is a good thing to hurt the people's moral sense in exchange for development.
Chu State now restricts the conditions for civil society to join in the development, and only encourages immigration within the jurisdiction of the Governor's Mansion. This is nominally to protect the people of Chu State, but in fact it is to protect overseas races, and in essence it is to protect the newly emerging people.
Protection of “Chu Learning”.
Bai Tu also believes that when "Chu Studies" truly takes a firm foothold in people's hearts, it will also protect Chu State on a humanistic level.
Far away from the mainland of Chu State, especially away from the direct jurisdiction of the Governor-General's Mansion, the constraints of "Chu Learning" are even stronger than the constraints of "Chu Law"...
Of course, Bai Tu did not deliberately stop Gan Ning's luxury. After all, Gan Ning deserved his glory, and Chu State only suppressed and criticized the predatory nature of overseas expansion, but encouraged consumption and encouraged those who wanted to better themselves.
Strive for life instead of blindly advocating frugality.
There are many people who can't stand Gan Ning's behavior, but they can't do anything to him, and now there are even more people who please him.
Bai Tu had also been waiting for him to come back outside Jinling City...
This was a routine welcome to returning naval officers, and now Bai Tu had learned his lesson and was only waiting for him in the "city" of Jinling, which was the First Ring Road.
Before that, from the port to the workshop area, Gan Ning could show off his wealth as much as he wanted without worrying about overshadowing Bai Tu.
Of course, in fact, Gan Ning had never had such worries, so he was willing to spend most of the year at sea for the Chu State. Instead, Bai Tuzai took the initiative to avoid competing with Gan Ning in order to "avoid" Gan Ning's limelight.