Ming Zuo

Chapter 373 Battleship
A total of twenty-nine Westerners were rescued from Dengzhou City this time.

What surprised Zuo Menggeng was that these craftsmen were all compound talents.

Originally, Sun Yuanhua hired these people, in addition to making muskets and artillery, there were also operational requirements.

For example, Silao, who died in battle, was the commander of the Dengzhou Navy.

In the first battle of Dengzhou on December [-], Silao was hit by a dark arrow shot from somewhere in the city and fell to the head of Dengzhou city.

The only pity is that the shipbuilding skills of these craftsmen can only be regarded as ordinary.

Nowadays, the people who know how to build ships in Europa are also high-level talents, and if they get along well, there is no need to go all the way to the Far East to make a living.

But even if they knew the most basic shipbuilding skills, for Zuo Menggeng, it was the rain of a long drought.

"Can you build a galleon like that in Spain?"

His question made all the craftsmen bow their heads in shame.Obviously, this requirement is a bit too ambitious.

Ehong hurriedly defended: "Dear general, maybe you don't know very well, that kind of galleon was actually built first by us in Portugal. Although we don't know how such a powerful big guy was built, I can give it a shot. You run around once and go to Haojing to find the talents you need."

Yes, the world-famous Spanish galleon was actually invented by the Portuguese.

But Portugal's poor and weak national strength is obviously unable to support such a big guy.After it fell into the hands of the Spaniards, it flourished.

Relying on this kind of galleon, the Spaniards built an invincible fleet that roamed the four seas and was a veritable overlord on the oceans of this era.

As for the Dutch...

It's just a sea teddy.

Can make trouble, dare to make trouble, but get beaten up if you make trouble.

Obviously no one can beat him, but he has to flirt everywhere.

Therefore, the naval power of the Dutch seems to be lively and lively, but it is far less than that of the Spaniards.

If you want to build a strong navy, of course, you have to learn from the most powerful country in the world.

Zhang Keda was next to him, and when he heard Zuo Menggeng was seeking to build a ship and was going to imitate a Western sailboat, he couldn't help but reminded: "Dengzhou navy has a lot of warships. Don't fall behind."

Zuo Menggeng shook his head.

"If we sail offshore, our ship will be fine. But once it enters the depths of the ocean, it is no match for Western warships at all."

Zhang Ke was astonished, and he never thought that Zuo Menggeng actually wanted to enter the ocean.

Zuo Menggeng has absolutely no nativist and nationalistic tendencies in the choice of battleships.Like some people on the Internet in later generations, forcing to find out where Chinese sailboats are excellent.

Modern history shows that ocean navigation is still dominated by Westerners.

If you want to get a piece of the pie and take the initiative in the era of great seafaring, you must learn from Westerners.

Why are Chinese sailboats not suitable for ocean sailing?
Two reasons.

One is the hull construction.

The Chinese-style sailboat is stable and stable. Although the effect against the wind and waves is good, it is in the middle of the river.In the vast ocean, it is far inferior to the streamline body of a Western-style sailboat.

This is something that anyone who knows a little about hull construction understands.

There is also a common problem - sailing.

In later generations, some people have summed up the advantages of the so-called Chinese hard sails, proving that Chinese sailboats are suitable for long-distance sailing.

To Zuo Menggeng, those summaries are jokes.

Chinese-style hard sails are not suitable for ocean sailing in this era. In fact, it is not in the utilization of wind, but in the complex environment in the ocean, and hard sails are not easy to solve.

Another is the time limit.

That is material.

Later generations of sailboats can use hard sails to sail the ocean, and the efficiency is really better than soft sails.

But the hard sails of later generations use metal skeletons and composite structures, which are actually completely different from the hard sails of this era.

At least with current technology, there is no way to use hard sails.

After hearing that Zuo Menggeng was going to build a Spanish galleon, but those Portuguese craftsmen would not, everyone was very uneasy.

One is that Zuo Menggeng feels that they are useless and will abandon them; the other is that he is worried that he will not be able to earn lucrative revenge and continue his poor life.

They didn't know that Zuo Menggeng didn't care whether they would build a Spanish galleon.

Zuo Menggeng asked an important question.

"If I give you the blueprints, can you build a boat?"

The Portuguese craftsmen were stunned, and then nodded frantically.

"Yes, of course."

Ami Er suggested himself.

"Respected General, I have studied with Portugal's top shipbuilder, Andre Toulouse, and graduated from the University of Imbrador. Drawing is my strength."

Zuo Menggeng was very surprised, and then asked Fu Yijian to take the blueprint and open it to show him.

"Then look, can you build this kind of ship? If you can do it, I will hire you as a master craftsman, and your salary is [-] taels of silver per month."

When Ami Er heard this number, her heartbeat immediately stalled, and she threw herself on the drawing without caring about anything else.

Other craftsmen are no exception, although the level of knowledge cannot be compared with Ami Er, but what if...

The generous salary will also favor them.

Looking at the drawings, Ami Er and others looked quite hesitant.Think about it, and tell the truth.

"This ship is very English. You have been deceived, General. English ships are nothing like galleons."

They thought that Zuo Menggeng had been deceived by some Englishman, and wanted to bring Zuo Menggeng back to the right path.

The maritime hegemons of this era were the Spaniards, as for the English...

Just a mouse in the sea.

Zuo Menggeng turned a deaf ear.

"You can only say if you can build it."

The Portuguese craftsmen looked at each other, hesitated for a moment, and finally chose money.

"Can make."

Zuo Menggeng was very happy.

"That's good."

He opened his arms to everyone and said with a smile: "I'm very happy to announce that you are officially hired by me. As long as you work hard and complete the battleship I need, then wealth, honor, and status will decorate your life."

These Portuguese craftsmen thought that Zuo Menggeng had made a huge mistake, but they gave up decisively after one unsuccessful attempt to correct it.

Why bother?
They just work.

Employers did not listen to their opinions and gave them generous salaries, which naturally followed the wishes of the employers.

Employers will obey even if they want to build a ship out of steel.

How did they know that the drawings Zuo Menggeng showed them were part of the drawings of the Royal Navy's first-class battleship Victory, the master of the era of sailing warships.

The soul in his mind once visited the UK as a military exchange officer, visited the Victory in person, and received a detailed drawing of the Victory as a gift.

It was already the age of steel warships, and the British did not see any need for secrecy about the construction drawings of an outdated wooden sailing ship.

What's more, the drawings of the Victory can be found scattered on the Internet.

The British never imagined that the soul who obtained the drawing had traveled through time and space in history.

Since Britain has been a maritime hegemon for more than two hundred years, it is the Royal Navy that maintains their hegemony.

Zuo Menggeng wanted to get a battleship, of course, he had to find the best object to imitate.

Although the British navy of this era was still fighting guerrillas at sea with other powers, their Galen ships were too small to withstand the heavy artillery of the Spaniards.

This did not prevent Zuo Menggeng from taking one step at a time, and directly took out the best drawings of the Galen ship.

Of course, Zuo Menggeng was not too ambitious.

After listening to these Portuguese craftsmen say that they can build it, I feel that I can take out a battleship of the size of the Victory all at once.

Since there are drawings of the Victory, it is completely possible to push back and figure out how to build the Galen ship, and then start with the small Galen ship.

For the navy, Zuo Menggeng is far more patient than the army.

After all, the navy is a technical arm, and the process of starting from nothing, even if there is a cheater like him, will take at least decades.

But he is looking forward to the day when the Chinese navy driving the Galen fleet will compete with the British navy at sea.

I believe the face of the British must be very exciting, right?
What kind of treaty would be better to sign then?
By the way, the Victory is kept in Portsmouth Harbour.

Zuo Menggeng secretly made a note of the treaty to be signed in the future, which is called the Treaty of Portsmouth.

(End of this chapter)