I, the grandson of the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty, earned 100 million taels at the beginning

Although there was money in the bank, neither the father nor the son wanted to touch the money there.

The bank has just been established for a few years, and the trust in the hearts of the people is not high. If the imperial court spends the money in it, once the news spreads, it will easily cause turmoil.

If there is a run on the bank, the trust that the bank has built up with great difficulty will collapse in an instant, thus affecting the rule of the imperial court.

Once the trust in the hearts of the people collapses, it will not be so easy to bring it back.

Therefore, the money in the bank will not be used by the imperial court unless it is absolutely necessary.

"I'll give you 3000 million taels of silver from the Chamber of Commerce and myself. In August, I will go to sea with Zheng He to see if I can go to the West to make a fortune. No matter how much I can earn, at least The expenses for the past two years must be sustained.”

"The railway cannot be stopped. This is the capital of our old Zhu's family to control the world, and it is also the confidence of the imperial court to control the world. Even if the tombs of your old man and my mother are stopped, this cannot be stopped."

Now the court belongs to his own family, and Zhu Zhangui didn't make calculations as clearly with his father as he did with the old man.

As the first prince in history to hold the military power of the whole country, Zhu Zhangui's position can be said to be the most stable.

To put it bluntly, Zhu Pangpang's mobilization of the army was not as fast as Zhu Zhangui's. If the two gave orders at the same time, the military would probably execute Zhu Zhangui.

After all, which one, the emperor or the prince, is most beneficial to the military support, those in the military can still tell the difference.

Zhu Pangpang didn't care about this aspect, and even told Zhu Zhangui after he became the emperor.

When Zhu Zhangui wants to be the emperor, just tell him, don't bother to rebel, anyway, he doesn't care about the throne, and he can retire early and spend his old age with his wife early, enjoying the family happiness .

Sometimes Zhu Zhangui wondered, with the old man and father as role models, when he gets old in the future, he also chooses to abdicate to his son, will it bring different changes to the throne to future generations.

Zhu Pangpang also nodded in agreement with his son's idea.

Both he and the old man are very aware of the importance of the railway, so no matter how much money is spent on the construction of the railway, they must grit their teeth and support it.

As for the method for his son to go to the West to earn money, Zhu Pangpang can guess the general idea without thinking.

If his son went to other countries to plunder and kill in this way before he became emperor, he might object or even stop him.

But after becoming the emperor, he realized that the people under his name are his people, and those foreign barbarians have nothing to do with him, and he can't get any good by worrying about it.

As an emperor, if he wanted to ensure his status and reputation, he had to get the support of the people all over the world.

But if the people in the world live in hardship and cannot eat enough, then why do you let the people support you.

So for the common people of Ming Dynasty, for the inheritance of the royal family, Zhu Pangpang chose to acquiesce in the fact that his son used the flesh and blood of other countries to nourish Daming.

During a meal, the father and son set the tone for Daming's next steps.

Zhu Pangpang manages government affairs in the country to stabilize the court situation, and by the way allows the people to recuperate and prepare for further expansion in the future.

Zhu Zhangui took Zheng He's naval fleet to the west to earn development funds for the court in the next few decades.

As for how to earn this money.

Hehe, this is Zhu Zhangui's old profession.

In the blink of an eye, in June, after Zhu Zhangui had been with his wife and children in Beiping for half a year, he left Beiping with the reluctance of his wives and the excited expressions of his little ones, and went to Tianjin Wei Wharf, ready to take a boat to Quanzhou .

Quanzhou Shipyard.

Today is the day when the two ironclad ships are officially launched for sea trials.

After a period of accumulation and experience summarization, at the beginning of last year, Quanzhou Shipyard finally began to manufacture large-scale iron-clad warships.

These two warships are the first large pure iron warships manufactured by Daming Shipyard.

Ever since the news of these two ships started to be built, the navy has gone crazy. Li Hu has been gliding here whenever he has time, watching these two warships take shape bit by bit, like looking at his son. .

To be honest, even his own son has never received such a degree of concern.

Watching the warship take shape bit by bit, the mood of the navy officers and soldiers became more and more excited.

But at the beginning of March this year, a thunderbolt from the sky shook the entire body of the navy officers and soldiers.

The two ironclad warships were taken away by others before they were launched.

This time the navy officers and soldiers became angry. You must know that in their minds, everything that can float on the water in the entire Ming Dynasty is under the control of their navy, and whoever has eaten the heart of a bear has actually robbed the navy.

Just when a group of people blocked the Quanzhou Shipyard, and were about to deal with the robber to death, Zheng He leisurely walked up to them, patted Li Hu on the shoulder very calmly, and said, "I want the ship." , and wandered off to see the armored battleship.

The whole navy cried.

There are 5 people in the entire Ming Dynasty, and their navy dare not provoke them. One is the abdicated old man, the other is Zhu Pangpang who has just ascended the throne, and the third is naturally the crown prince who manages them, and their immediate boss Li Hu.

And the last one is Zheng He, one of the founders of the navy.

All the sailors looked at each other, wanting to cry but without tears, and Zheng He, who was very happy, slid beside the iron-clad ship, didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

What should be crying is that their ironclad ship is gone, and what should be laughing is that the imperial court is going to make big moves at sea.

In the end, Li Hu, who was not reconciled, wanted to use his relationship to see if he could get a ship from Zheng He.

But as soon as he arrived in front of Zheng He, before he opened his mouth to speak, Zheng He looked indifferently at him, and fled away in a daze.

Just like that, the aggressive Haijun who was about to talk to the robber was dismissed by Zheng He alone, with a single word and a dull look in his eyes.

"Your Highness!"

Zhu Zhangui, who had rushed to Quanzhou from Peiping, just got off the ship when a large number of navy generals, led by Li Hu, surrounded him with bitter faces.

"What's the matter? Why are you all crying and mourning, and you stepped on dog shit when you went out."

Zhu Zhangui joked with a smile, the expressions of these guys, he naturally knew in his heart that it was nothing more than a duck that was full of mouths and flew away.

"My prince, we suffer more than stepping on dog shit."

"We have been looking forward to these two ships for many years. The whole army is waiting for these two ships to enter service. As a result, they have not been docked yet, and the ship is gone. Let us go back. How can we tell our brothers Please tell me."

Li Hu's lieutenant general complained of suffering with a mournful face.

"Come on, what a big man is acting like a bear, isn't it just two ships, and it's not like they won't be built in the future. Anyway, there hasn't been a big battle in the past two years. You just wait for another two years. Your boy is still young now. A chance to pilot an ironclad battleship."

Zhu Zhangui waved his hands at everyone, then smiled and walked towards Zheng He who ran over with a happy face.

The admirals wanted to say more, but when they saw Zheng He approaching, they immediately shut their mouths, and the expressions on their faces immediately changed to smiles.

Glancing at the admirals headed by Li Hu, he knew what they wanted to do. Zheng He was in a very good mood and didn't bother to talk to them. He said to Zhu Zhangui, "Your Highness, these two ships are simply amazing. By the time you come, I'll have someone drive it into the sea."

Zhu Zhangui patted Zheng He's shoulder with a smile, "Can't it be great? If it's average, as for letting some people, it's the same as having your own wife robbed."

"Hahaha…"

Amidst the speechless expressions of the admirals, the two walked towards the shipyard laughing.

These two steel battleships were almost entirely manufactured by Daming's own technical experience. Except for the design and shape of the ships, they did not receive any guidance or help from Zhu Zhangui.

Looking at the steel warships in the dock that were about to be launched for sea trials, Zhu Zhangui felt excited.

Daming Technology Industry, under his cultivation, has finally blossomed and borne fruit.

"Your Highness!"

The chief engineer in charge of manufacturing the steel battleship saw Zhu Zhangui coming, and ran off the ship in a hurry.

"Liugong, please introduce these two ships."

Although he has already seen the information of the two ships, Zhu Zhangui still wants to hear the introduction from the chief executive.

"As ordered!"

Chief Engineer Liu Gong responded, and then introduced with pride: "The two warships are made of pure steel, and they are sister ships, with the same data."

Pointing to the ship, Liugong said excitedly: "The hull of the ironclad ship is 79.5 meters long, 14 meters wide, and has a displacement of 5322 tons. There are 18 reserved artillery positions."

"In our forecast, the speed of the warship is about 15.5 knots, and it can carry about 200 people."

After briefly introducing the speed of the ship and its own basic information, Liugong walked to the side of the ship and knocked on the steel hull, and said with enthusiasm in his eyes: "The thickness of the iron armor deck on the water surface is 230mm, and it is 200mm underwater."

"It is driven by three steam engines, with a daily coal load of 500 tons and a limit load of 750 tons of coal."

After talking about the creation of the defense system and delivery system, Liugong excitedly said to everyone: "These two ships, as His Highness said every day, are products of a cross-age era."

"I can tell you responsibly that the defense of this ship, in addition to its own artillery, the artillery of the world and even the army, is tickling it. They are invincible in this world. the power of."

Following Liugong's fanatical introduction, even Zheng He and the members of the navy who knew the information all heard shortness of breath, eager to rush up and immediately take this iron guy away.

Zhu Zhangui nodded calmly, without any excitement or ecstasy in his expression.

In later generations, I am used to hearing large ships of tens of thousands of tons. These ships with a displacement of more than 5000 are really nothing. As for iron-clad ships, well, in later generations, apart from fishing boats, which one is not made of iron? A little surprise nothing.

"Your Highness, please give names to the two ships!"

After being excited and ecstatic, Zheng He turned around and knelt down on one knee facing Zhu Zhangui, asking Zhu Zhangui to name the two ships.

Reaching out to help Zheng He, Zhu Zhangui looked at the ironclad battleships that were still making final preparations, pondered for a while, and said to Zheng He: "Since they are long-distance warships, let's call them Zhenyuan and Dingyuan."

Zhenyuan Dingyuan is the eternal pain in the heart of the Han man who is concerned about the navy, and Zhu Zhangui has felt sorry for the Beiyang Navy more than once.

Now that he had the opportunity, he decided to bring these battleships back into service in the army, let them earn back their former glory, and also hoped that they, with these names, would gain a great reputation in this world.

Zhenyuan, Dingyuan, suppress the enemies of the world, and stabilize the world's well-being.

Chapter 313: I came to the West only for 4 things, killing people, robbing money, robbing slaves, and robbing territory!

"Woooooooo..."

The deafening sound of the siren resounded through Tianjin Port.

The two steel warships with colorful flags, cheered by the naval officers and dock workers, slowly entered the specially prepared berths at the dock.

"Your Highness, the people below are constantly arguing about the artillery of the two warships. Some are in favor of using the new artillery, and some hope to continue using the navy's short artillery or the army's new artillery."

"Those who are in favor of the use of new types of artillery feel that in future naval battles, warships will fight at long distances, and the combat distance will be several nautical miles or even tens of nautical miles. The short artillery can no longer keep up with the times."

"As for those who are in favor of the use of short cannons, they feel that the Ming Dynasty Navy is currently number one in the world. Although the future situation may develop like that, in the current era, we are still invincible."

"Combined with the defense capabilities of the new warships, the use of short guns can quickly destroy more enemies, and it can also ensure minimal casualties on one's own side."

"The two parties have been arguing for half a month about this, but in the end they couldn't reach a conclusion, so they came to me."

"I thought about it for a long time and felt that the new long-barreled artillery is the future development trend, while the short-barreled artillery is actually more suitable for the current maritime operations."

"My head is one big and two big. After thinking about it for a long time, I really can't make up my mind. Can you give me some advice?"

On the viewing platform at the pier, Li Hu looked at the two warships docked at the berth and being inspected by the shipyard personnel, and said something that had been in his heart for a long time.

Some time ago, the ship was snatched by Zheng He. From him, the general officer, to ordinary naval soldiers, they were very depressed.

But he didn't dare to rob them with Zheng He, so he could only admit it while pinching his nose.

Later, when Zhu Zhangui saw that everyone was unhappy, he reluctantly mentioned something to them.

In Zhu Zhangui's words, Zheng He is no longer young and has a disability. If it weren't for the Western incident, he would have retired a long time ago and traveled around the world with the Supreme Emperor.

This voyage is said to be to open up the west, but in fact the main purpose is to avenge Zheng He's soldiers who died in the west and lead them home.

As long as this wish in Zheng He's heart is fulfilled, coupled with the fact that the Ming Navy is so powerful, Zheng He will probably choose to retire and travel the world with the old man.

When Zheng He retired, wouldn't these two ironclad ships still belong to the navy?

Give it to Zheng He in advance, and it will be treated as Zheng He's pre-enlistment test for you. What's more, the crew who went to sea this time are all members of your navy. Zheng He also put up a name and said it was for Zheng He. It's still used by your navy.

With Zhu Zhangui's suggestion, the sailors came to their senses in an instant.

They fell into a misunderstanding and always regarded Zheng He and them as their competitors.

But after Zhu Zhangui's mention, they came back to their senses, as if this was the truth.

With Zhu Zhangui's suggestion, the navy officers and soldiers no longer hung their heads down, but instead had a heated discussion about how to transform the two warships. Of course, they were secretly competing for the positions of the two captains.

The imperial court has also built armored warships in recent years, but they are all made of wood and iron, and they are small in size. There are real pure steel warships, but those are as small as jelly beans. Do not make jokes.

Therefore, the Zhenyuan and Dingyuan are actually the first batch of ironclad warships to enter the navy and officially serve.

How to control the battleship and how to arrange personnel are internal affairs of the navy. Zhu Zhangui no longer cares about these trivial matters.

Arranging a good candidate is a matter of course for the subordinates. If the arrangement is not good, then Li Hu, the chief military officer, has neglected his duty.

The navy is also accustomed to this aspect. After several days of competition and secretly fighting for friendship, two middle-aged generals got this opportunity. Le is still blind to eyebrows.

There is no problem with the personnel, but there are differences at both ends of the naval guns.

Some far-sighted admirals hope to reduce or specialize the artillery of these two steel battleships, and even future steel battleships.

Some conservative generals think that the attack speed of long guns is slow and the firepower is very small, which is not in line with the current concept of heavy fire suppression by the navy. It is suggested that the short guns currently used by the navy should be used on ironclad ships, or that the army should use them. new artillery.

The two parties quarreled endlessly over this, and finally even Li Hu was involved.

Zhu Zhangui did not express any opinion on what kind of artillery the two warships were equipped with.