eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 343 Shipbuilding in the South and Suppression in the North!

One month after the Great Court Assembly, even the local officials who were far away from the capital basically returned to the yamen station. Fei Hong, the governor of Sichuan, started to deal with the tea and horse trade. In the past two years, the imperial court has obviously worked hard on local governance. Prosperous commerce makes the transportation of goods more frequent.

As a result, the demand for horses must be strong.

Wang Shouren followed Wang Jia to Hangzhou first, and they were going to drive off the newly built six [-]-material blessing ships at Qingzhengyuan Shipyard to which Meiji belonged.The so-called material is a unit of measurement at that time.
Later generations studied the history of the Ming Dynasty, and there is only an approximate number for the concept of a material, that is, a material should have a displacement of about 0.33 tons.

A warship of four hundred materials is a ship with a displacement of about 130 tons.

Converted into length, it is about 20 meters long and four to five meters wide.

A boat of more than 20 meters is actually not small. Of course, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the great ancestors could also build a large boat of [-] materials, which is the so-called Fengzhou.

According to historical records, after Jiajing, some officers and soldiers traveled to Ryukyu in sealed boats, and went back and forth four or five times without a single accident. It can be seen that such ships are safe enough to sail at sea.

But Fengzhou is at least 47 meters long and 12 meters wide, and the height above the sea is also more than 12 meters. It is as high as a three- or four-story building, which is really a huge monster.

There are "nine masts and twelve sails" on it, but if it breaks down at the shore, it has reached the point where "two or three hundred people can't move", it can be said to be unique in the world.

Also because Fengzhou is too big, it is of course possible to make it as an envoy to other countries, to promote the martial arts of the kingdom of heaven, but it is really inconvenient to operate. It is said that after Fengzhou arrived in Ryukyu, it lost power because of the lack of wind, and finally it was 50 Several rowboats towed it into the harbor.

In this case, the ship is big, but clumsy.

For Wang Shouren, he knew what kind of warship he needed after a little research.

Moreover, four hundred materials are not small, and the height of three to five meters is also as tall as a building, which can accommodate hundreds of people walking on the sea.

Mei Kejia is not an expert in shipbuilding either, he hired experienced boatmen.

Although the ships are currently tight, it is no problem to take the ships in advance with Wang Jia's status as governor of Zhejiang and Fujian and Wang Shouren's qualifications as a celebrity in the imperial court.

"This ship has two sails and masts. There are four floors above and below the cabin. The bottom floor is uninhabitable. It is made of earth and rocks to prevent the danger of lightness. The second and third floors are set above, and there are guard boards beside them, protected by thatch. Bamboo stands upright like a wall; the top floor is a terrace, and you have to go up from the third floor ladder. The board wings on both sides are like railings. People lean on it to attack the enemy. The arrows, stones, and artillery are all fired from a bird's eye view. Small enemy boats meet and the plow sinks. Therefore, it is difficult for the enemy to attack from above, and it is also a sharp weapon in naval warfare."

Under the leadership of the chief shipbuilder, a group of people went up and down listening and talking.

Wang Shouren looked carefully inside and out, and said beside Wang Jia: "This boat can hold a hundred people, which is big enough, but it doesn't have enough firearms. All the court can provide is some Bird guns, gunpowder arrows and crossbow bolts, I still want some powerful artillery."

On the side, Mei Kejia was well-informed, "I heard that the Fran cannons used by barbarians in Nanyang are quite powerful."

Boarding a ship, exercising at sea, even on the surface of the river, one can appreciate the importance of firearms.After all, the water surface is wide, and there is no place for people to set foot. If you don't rely on firearms to shoot each other, who will fight with you with a knife?
"Your Majesty's determination to restore the Shenji Battalion seems to have foreseen this." Wang Jia patted the railing on the deck, "It's a pity that Ming Dynasty doesn't have this kind of Franc cannon, and now we can only do this first. The imperial court has ordered, From now on, whoever makes good firearms will be bought by the imperial court with money, so after waiting for a while, there will always be some.”

Wang Shouren couldn't help it, and he was still a little dissatisfied with the ships, so he asked, "There are only six ships and no more?"

Mei Kejia was helpless, "Wang's participation in politics was mainly due to time constraints. Before the opening of the sea order, every ship had to go to the government to apply for it. It was only a few months after the opening of the sea order. The workers like me worked day and night. It's the limit."

"It seems that this is the only way...well, let's pay the money." Wang Shouren also couldn't see that Mei Kejia was cheating, and getting six ships was enough for him at the moment.

"Okay. Everything is ready, let's go ahead, it's still windy on board."

Anyway, I watched it,

Then receive the goods.

At this time, the cost of the 1000-material ship is about [-] to [-] taels. If other people come to ask for it, Mei Kejia will continue to increase the price on this basis.

But Wang Shouren's purchase of the ship represents the government,
These ships do not belong to individuals, but to the court.

Money tossing and tossing is actually from the left pocket to the open pocket, and it doesn't make sense to calculate it too clearly.After the 35 taels of silver Wang Shouren had spent, he still had to reach out to the court.

Therefore, these ships are priced at the normal price of 1000 taels for a total of 6000 taels.

With the silver, he can also send some rewards to his shipbuilders in Qingzhengyuan.

I don't know why, but the emperor actually allowed the Dongfang Shipyard, which belongs to the Shaofu, to hire his workers at a high price. What is this called?

Everyone is doing things for the court. Isn't this fighting each other and wasting money?
But His Majesty the Emperor allowed it.Not only allowed, but the emperor gave Gu Zuo such an idea!
Mei Kejia was puzzled, Qingzhengyuan has been in business for two years, everything is on the right track, and it coincides with the high demand for ships, just when it is time to make money, as a result, many workers were poached, which somewhat delayed things!
Moreover, the imperial court did not have a ban, which explicitly prohibited private businessmen from setting up shipyards by themselves. Those people had even more shortage of shipbuilders, and in order to start work, the prices they offered were even more attractive.

Therefore, Mei Kejia also bit the bullet and collected money from the governor of Zhejiang and Fujian.

Fortunately, Wang Jia is not a person with a lot of airs, anyway, Wang Shouren received the silver, and the 6000 taels were actually a small amount of money.

Pay, receive receipts, sign and draw a deposit, and the six boats sail away together, and the matter is settled.

But the future is still not right,

Wang Shouren is also polite, 6000 taels of silver is nothing, he doesn't have enough boats now.

"Mr. Mei, Qingzhengyuan's factory must continue to supply ships. Your Majesty wants me to recruit those bandits, sail the boats, and promote the country's prestige. To do so many things, these six ships and six hundred people are not enough. "

Mei Kejia was in a dilemma, "It's not that the ministries and kings participated in politics. It's not that I don't want to help. In fact, after the opening of the sea, the demand of Zhejiang people to go to sea has increased greatly. Not only Meiji's business, but also some princes and wives have also participated in sea trade. Among them, some of them need boats, and those who don’t have boats need to ship by boats. Meiji is short of at least [-] boats now, and the keel needs to be laid to build a boat, so manpower alone is not enough..."

Wang Jia raised his hand, "Let's allow some time, half a year, half a year later, please be sure to provide six more ships with [-] materials."

"Butang, six months..." Wang Shouren was still a little dissatisfied.

"There is also a shipyard in Shaofu. There is really no other way. I can only sell this old face."

What else could it be?

The 'ship' dies before the mission is over,
Going to sea is not a problem nowadays, but they all get stuck on the boat.

After Mei Kejia sent these 'grand lords' away, he turned around and gave the order to the shipyard, "Increase the price!"

The chief shipbuilder who introduced the situation of the ship today is Xu. He was very happy when he heard the price increase, because part of the price of each ship was to be rewarded to them, "The price increase is good! Tell me something , how much do we raise?"

"Double the price! And the one who pays the silver taels first! Those who wait for us to deliver the ship and then pay the silver taels, let them all stay behind!"

"It's a good thing!" But Chief Engineer Xu suddenly thought again, "Is it the same at the Ministry Hall? They only paid for six ships."

Mei Kejia had no choice but to pat this person on the shoulder, "You, hurry up and study how to build a better boat. Without this skill, I don't know what kind of rice you can serve."

It's all nonsense, this rule applies to other people, can it apply to the governor of Zhejiang and Fujian? !

All right,

Now the Qingzhengyuan Shipyard in Hangzhou is a hit. It is true that Maritime Trade is making money. Many people go to sea without ships!
As a result, tens of thousands of silver rushed to the shipyard, and Mei Kejia was willing to spend money even if he had the silver. He searched for the monthly salary of shipbuilders in other shipyards, and he all looked up to them.

For a while, the shipbuilders became a favorite!

The news was sent back to the capital. It turned out that the Shaofu had been guiding strong workers of the right age to learn shipbuilding skills, but no one cared about it. As a result, it became difficult to find a place overnight.

This is the power of silver.

The power of silver is also at work in Datong.

After the court meeting, Zhou Shangwen also rushed back to Datong.

According to the court meeting on re-trapping at the Great Court Conference, from Datong to Gansu, they must unite to carry out counter-trapping operations.

In fact, it is mainly Datong, because the Tatars outside the Great Wall of Gansu suffered a lot due to the battle of Huamachi, and now they tend to move north, but Zhou Shangwen's main force against Dayan Khan was not damaged.

But the beginning of April is the season for the grassland warbler to fly.

The grassland is warm, and the cattle and sheep are grazing.

It's a good time to make meritorious deeds.

Back then, the eight of them swore an oath before the king.

And as the first eight first-class guard commanders, they are also one of the few generals in the emperor's direct line who have real combat experience.

Therefore, the emperor's reuse of them is even more different from ordinary people.

Zhou Shangwen is also the fastest promoted. He is now the commander of the Datong Army and the Daming Cavalry.

The post of Chief Soldier was just adjusted after the Great Court Meeting.At that time, civil officials were intensively adjusted, so it was not possible to only allow civil officials to be promoted and not military generals to be promoted, right?

The reason for his promotion was that in the 18th year of Hongzhi, he took the initiative to lead troops to patrol the border and went out to meet the enemy. Although he killed hundreds of enemies in one year, there were still civil servants in the court who made irresponsible remarks, saying that his leadership was unstable.

But it is the emperor who speaks well, and if the emperor likes it, he will be promoted.

And the eight people at the beginning also agreed to be rewarded, but Tan Wenyi and Shi Dahuai were in Zhejiang, and Yu Zichu was in Fujian. Those who followed Zhou Shangwen to Datong were Sun Xilie, Chang Dacheng, Liu Jiangjie, and Xu Zhenan. four people.

The four of them, Chang Dacheng, had the most stable personality, so Zhou Shangwen didn't put him among the Daming cavalry, but asked him to lead Liu Jiangjie to guard Datong.

Sun Xilie and Xu Zhenan each led a cavalry guard.

The other two commanders were Ma Yihuai and Yan Xingkui, both of whom were employed by Yang Shangyi back then.When Zhou Shangwen first came, the two of them were of course a little strange,

However, Zhou Shangwen's style is more radical than Yang Shangyi's, and the general's prestige is established through victories on the battlefield.

By April of the first year of Zhengde, Zhou Shangwen ordered them to have no problems.

And the first thing he did after he returned to Datong was to convene all the commanders to raise their accounts for discussion.

Because none of them went to the Great Court Meeting, Zhou Shangwen wanted to bring the imperial court's decree. He was dressed in military uniform, and his tiger eyes swept over the generals, "After your Majesty ascends the throne, he will propose the main government affairs of the court for a year in the form of the Great Court Meeting. In the Great Court Assembly, re-trapping is the first day's topic, and for re-trapping, His Majesty has agreed that our army will carry out the strategy of suppressing tatami in the spring."

Everyone was surprised, "Spring? Isn't it the moment?"

(End of this chapter)