Chongzhen Undergraduates

Fan Wencheng was standing next to Dorgon, watching Dorgon's face all the time.He found that Dorgon glanced at the Three Kingdoms first, and then at the map.

"Tell me, will Zhang Xianzhong be the next Liu Bei?" Dorgon actually didn't believe it in his heart, but he still couldn't be sure.

"It's absolutely impossible." Fan Wencheng vetoed it in one gulp.

"Why?" Dorgon needed a reason, a reason that was convincing enough.

"First: Zhang Xianzhong doesn't have Liu Bei's ambitions, he is just a bloodthirsty reckless man with two ends, capricious; second: Zhu Youjian will not let the situation in Sichuan become corrupt. Judging from the current situation, After Dajin entered the customs, I underestimated Zhu Youjian. He resolutely gave up Hebei and Henan, and gathered the remnants in Huaisi. A series of methods were very successful. Especially the one move in Shandong was perfect."

"You are an afterthought. Things have already become like this. Why do you need to say more?" Dorgon was very angry. Fan Wencheng and Hong Chengchou said that at the beginning. They agreed that Zhu Youjian was nothing to worry about, even if he did not die Still can't play the Nanjing government.

"Damn it, I made the prince angry." Fan Wencheng hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed.

"Get up, I can't blame you. Zhu Youjian has been unconscious for 17 years. Who would have thought that he would suddenly wake up when he went to the south."

"Thank you, my lord, for your kindness!" Fan Wencheng quickly got up, and he had to thank him first.

"Whether it is the situation of the Three Kingdoms or not, this king is angry when he sees Shandong. Cao Wei has never received such restraints. I, Da Jin, have to clean up Li Yan first. In this way, even if it is the map of the Three Kingdoms, this king will feel it. Get comfortable."

"My lord, the Zheng family in Fujian is secretly buying food for us. This year's food crisis has been passed safely, and we will be able to do a lot of things again in the middle of the next year, once the people in the fields have a harvest."

"Hmph! The money the Zheng family asked for is not cheap, and they have earned us a lot of money. This will have to be settled sooner or later."

Chapter 256: The Ship's Prosperity

The bustle of Nanjing City at the end of this year surpassed last year. The city is bustling with people, there are a variety of shops, and the people are all busy shopping. The market gradually has a peaceful atmosphere.

The Longjiang Shipyard in Xiaguan is another busy scene.All the shipbuilders who are working here are packing up their things and preparing to move to Baguazhou.

Longjiang Shipyard was the place where Zheng He's treasure ships were built.There are three large docks and numerous small docks.Unfortunately, it has been abandoned for a long time now, leaving only a piece of broken bricks and tiles.

Zhu Youjian stood on the two-story office building of the newly built ship in Baguazhou, watching the busy scene outside.In the room, Shi Lang and a group of interpreters were arguing with a group of Europeans.In the middle of the room are three large oval tables covered with various drawings.

Ship repair and shipbuilding are simply not the same thing.What Shi Lang brought back was just a group of ship repair craftsmen.And Zheng Zhilong would not give it to the top shipbuilders of the court at all, he just sent a group of ordinary craftsmen who would benefit the ship.

"Shi Lang, come here." Zhu Youjian looked at the quarreling crowd anxiously, planning to leave the room.

"Your majesty, what are your orders?" Shi Lang was a little anxious, he knew that Zhu Youjian might not be satisfied with his trip to Nanyang this time.But he couldn't help it. On the way back, the three best craftsmen he brought were detained by Zheng Zhilong.After all, he is still Zheng Zhilong's subordinate.

"Is it possible that these people can't build new ships?" Zhu Youjian stared at Shi Lang with an obvious expression of peeping people's hearts.

"Yes, Your Majesty. The minister is incompetent and has not found a master shipbuilder." Shi Lang lowered his head and quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"Did you buy the ship outside?" Zhu Youjian pointed at the two European-style warships outside, his face finally no longer gloomy.This is a nearly scrapped boat that Shi Lang bought in Nanyang. No matter how strong Zheng Zhilong is, he dare not directly detain the boat that Zhu Youjian bought with money.

"I didn't hire anyone, and I didn't want to bring back the money I brought back, so I thought about buying a ship. I don't know what I did right?" Shi Lang felt uneasy. of the head.

"The merits and demerits are equal, so I won't punish you this time. It's better to settle these people first. If you can't build a boat, it's good if you can build some ship's utensils."

In fact, Zhu Youjian was insanely happy, because the smaller of the two ships that Shi Lang bought back was actually an English-style "Galen", which was a typical "Queen's ship". The short forecastle, square stern, and long and narrow ship shape are all the hallmarks of British ships.

The other is a typical Clark sailing ship. Although it is much larger, this thing is already a product that is about to be eliminated.Zhu Youjian estimated that the reason why Zheng Zhilong let go was because the Zheng family only focused on the Dutch "Galen".

"Your Majesty, I suggest dismantling the small ship and repairing the big ship first. The small ship has gone through naval battles and is already dilapidated. In addition, this small ship is too narrow and long to hold many soldiers and cargo."

Seeing that Zhu Youjian was not angry yet, Shi Lang made a suggestion based on his professional vision.

"Then put the small one in the dock and drain the water. Let it dry for two months and take it off piece by piece. Then put it back on after you've measured each piece."

"Ah!" Shi Lang was dumbfounded.

"Let them learn from the small boat first, and save the big boat for training first."

Since the materials on Zheng He's treasure ship were burned, and the Ming Dynasty had implemented the ban on seas, it no longer had experience in building large sea-going ships.The East and the West have completely different development routes in the use of ship types and sails.

The technology tree in this area is different from others, and Zhu Youjian himself doesn't understand it at all, so he can only start from scratch.For a completely unfamiliar thing, the best way is to "reverse engineer".

After thoroughly understanding the structure of the ship's hull, let the hired ship repairers help to build the equipment on the ship. Even if there is anything left that you don't understand, you can only wait until the trial voyage to solve it in actual use.

"As for the wood, I ordered people to cut teak trees in Jiangxi and Hunan half a year ago. I will send them over when the time comes."

"Your Majesty, the wood needs to be dry for three to five years before it can be used..." Shi Lang didn't say the last part of the sentence, which meant that Zhu Youjian was a complete layman.

Three to five years? I'm afraid that the Ming Navy has become an army.

People from later generations let the wood dry naturally? That is absolutely impossible.Zhu Youjian has already started to build a drying kiln, but too few people know about it, and he is still in an experimental state.

If Zheng Zhilong knew about the drying kiln, with his wealth, I am afraid he would dare to establish a country on a certain island.

It's scary to think about it. In the hands of people with construction skills, even if the drying time of wood is shortened from three years to three months, without too much consideration of the firmness, shipbuilding really becomes a "dumpling".

"Really? Then find some usable wood and use it first. I thought it would be usable after cutting it down. I don't know if I can make enough for two ships." Zhu Youjian was pretending to be naive, and this matter should not be done. Premature exposure is better.

"I think it's enough." Shi Lang laughed at Zhu Youjian in his heart. Without wood, the emperor would only be able to build these two ships for fun in a few years.

Regarding Zhu Youjian's desire to build a ship, countless pairs of eyes from the top and bottom of the Zheng family were all staring at them, and they couldn't hide their every move here.The Zheng family thought that with the speed of shipbuilding in Nanjing, it would take at least 20 years of accumulation to catch up with the Zheng family.

The Zheng family owns tens of thousands of large and small ships, and there are hundreds of ocean-going warships alone.As for the Netherlands in this matter, there are more than 1000 "Dutch"-style Galen alone. These are all armed merchant ships, and all of them are larger than the Zheng family's ships.

"Fourth brother, how do we reply in the capital?"

Zheng Zhilong's fourth brother, Zheng Zhifeng, is the fourth eldest. He was the commander of the Jinyi Guards in the 13th year of Chongzhen's martial arts, and now he has changed his name to Zheng Hongkui.It belongs to the existence in the Zheng family whose status is second only to Zheng Zhilong.

"Brother, there is nothing to answer. We earn their money, and if we want us to surrender them, is that possible? We say one thing at sea, so we don't need to look at other people's faces?"

"What the fourth brother said is true, but Dorgon said in the letter that as long as we lower the gold, I will be crowned king, and all of you can be crowned uncles."

Zheng Zhilong is very excited about the title of title. All the high officials in all dynasties have their eyes high above the top. There has never been a person who lives by the sea who can be a prince.

The famous Zheng He didn't even have a knighthood after making such great achievements.The biggest official position is only a fourth-rank internal official supervisor, not even the supervisor of ceremonies.

Zheng Zhilong is now a knight, but who doesn't want to go one step further and become a king?Everyone knows how difficult it is for the king of the opposite sex in the Ming Dynasty.

In contrast, Hou Jin was much more generous in this respect. There were Kong Youde, Geng Jingzhong, and Shang Kexi in the front, and Wu Sangui in the back. These princes who were sealed after surrendering are now living quite well.These examples have already been deeply implanted in Zheng Zhilong's heart. In his opinion, Zheng Zhilong feels that with his strength, he can be crowned king.

"Emperor Chongzhen was not mean to us, so why should he abandon his ancestors just for the sake of fame. I think it is better to earn more money. As long as we guard the sea, we will be as prosperous and wealthy as King Feng." In Zheng Hongkui's view, Anyway, it's not his turn to be the king, and he still holds the military power, and it will be beneficial to earn more money.

"Fourth brother has hit the point. As long as Houjin can continue to let us do the food business, it will be more affordable than Fengwang."

Just as Zheng Zhilong finished speaking, a person came in outside the door, Zheng Zhilong's third brother Zheng Zhiwan.The eldest of the Zheng family is Zheng Zhilong, and the second eldest, Zheng Zhihu, died in a fight with Liu Xiang.

"Brother, I just got the news that the Dutch are also helping the Tartars transport food from Annan." Zheng Zhiwan's voice was clearly filled with anger.

"Houjin is too useless now, how can we give up the business to the Dutch?" Zheng Hongkui interjected.

"We can't blame them. They didn't say they only do business with us. After all, we are Daming's navy. How can you make people believe us?" Zheng Zhilong's tone was already a bit biased toward Houjin.

"But now that we have contacted us, how can we go to a second company? This is obviously stepping on two boats."