Late Tang Dynasty: I

Chapter 265
Li Ye came to the ferry of the Yellow River in person, and not long after, he saw those boats.

It is not as big as imagined, only ten feet long and two feet wide, with only one mast and eight oars on both sides.

It seems that the displacement is only sixty or seventy tons, can it sail?
However, since these people can drive here from Hangzhou all the way along the coastline, it has already explained the problem.

"The last general Wu Sheng pays his respects to His Majesty!"

Wu Sheng never expected that His Majesty the Emperor would personally greet him at the ferry, and this courtesy...

"General Wu, you have suffered a lot along the way!"

Wu Sheng clasped his fists and said, "Thank you for your concern. In the end, the journey went smoothly. Only one ship hit a rock and sank along the way, and everyone was rescued."

"As long as you are fine, General Wu, show me your fleet?"

"promise!"

As soon as Li Ye boarded the boat, he felt that the boat was very stable, and dozens of people on it didn't see any shaking.

This must be due to the ballast stones being placed to lower the center of gravity of the ship, so that the partition can be opened so securely.

Hey, what surprised Li Ye was that these seagoing ships were all designed with watertight cabins. There are seven watertight cabins on average on the hull of the tens of feet long. Although there are no ballast stones in the bottom of the bilges, they are still fully loaded with cargo. Acts as a ballast stone.

The shipbuilding skills of the Tang Dynasty were really amazing.

"General Wu, do you have a bigger ship than this one?"

"Yes, but I haven't seen it before. I heard from the old man that Yangzhou used to build a boat with a length of [-] feet. There were three floors of tents on it, and it could carry thousands of soldiers."

"How big have you seen?"

"It's only twenty or thirty feet long. The bigger the boat, the harder it is to sail in the sea. Sometimes a gust of wind can blow it over!"

Li Ye shook his head, probably driving the riverboat into the sea!
Li Ye also asked about the timber used for shipbuilding, craftsmen, etc., but Wu Sheng didn't know much about it.

"Your Majesty, the imperial court ordered the whole world to crusade against Xuanwu, and the defense envoy Qian sent the last general with [-] infantry to come to help."

Li Ye said with a smile: "Qian Miao's heart of loyalty and loyalty is very comforting. Come here, give me wine and meat to entertain the Hangzhou army."

"promise!"

"Military envoy Wu, follow me back to Bianliang!"

"Your Majesty, at the end you will also bring 1000 taels of silver, [-] guan coins, [-] bolts of Hangzhou silk cloth, and soil of various colors for three boats!"

It is much better to be able to show merit in front of His Majesty the Emperor, and it is much better to have a shriveled gift list. Wu Sheng is unwilling to give up this opportunity, but His Majesty the Emperor seems to have no interest in it.

"Mr. Wu, how many soldiers can a ship of yours carry?"

"This kind of boat has a lemon layer on the top and two compartments on the bottom. It is filled with drinking water and food, and it can only take seven to eighty people at most."

Seventy or eighty counts as eighty, multiplied by seventeen ships, and it can carry more than [-] people. Excluding the more than [-] people who brought it, there are only more than [-] people, which is a bit small.

"How long will it take to go to Hangzhou?"

"If there is a favorable wind for a month or two, if it is against the wind, I don't know!"

"Is there a chart? Is there a forecast for the wind direction along the way?"

"Your Majesty, the general has never seen any charts before. The wind direction in the sea is unpredictable, and the general does not know what the wind direction is?"

"The sea is vast, how to judge the direction of the wind? Can you use a compass?"

"The last general doesn't know the compass, so he just walks north by land, turns to the Yellow River at the mouth of the Yellow River, and goes up the river to get here!"

Li Ye didn't speak, and made a judgment in his heart. At this time, sailing depends entirely on experience.

Back in Bianliang, Li Ye immediately summoned Jingxiang and Du Rangneng to discuss matters.

"I want to rebuild the Datang Navy in Mizhou, but now there are many difficulties. First, there is a lack of generals to command the army, and second, there is a shortage of naval ships, craftsmen for shipbuilding, ship styles, shipbuilding timber, etc. What advice do you have? mine?"

Du Rangneng said: "Your Majesty, in the past Taizong practiced sailing in Qujiang Pond, I have never heard of training sailing in the sea."

Li Ye said: "Mizhou Bay is quite different from other places, where the wind and waves are calm and you can train soldiers."

Du Rangneng said again: "The style of the ship will be used as the prison library or the style of the ship in Taizong's time. There are also shipbuilders in Chang'an. As for the wood, you can check which states have wood and what kind of wood they use according to the topography. I'll find out later."

Li Ye said: "This matter should be urgently prepared."

Du Rangneng said: "In spite of this, Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that the navy spends a lot of money. During wartime, it is mostly used to supervise the transportation of food and grass and transfer troops. With the same money, you can train ten times as many infantry, but the navy is not as good as the infantry." Your Majesty, please think twice!"

Jing Xiang also said: "Your Majesty wants to build a navy for the purpose of pacifying the south of the Yangtze River? I think it is not necessary to build a navy in Mizhou. I can order Guizhou defense envoy Cheng Rui and Zuo Shenwei army commander An Fujiang to supervise the ships in Jiangling Mansion. , Train sailors.

The Jingnan water system is abundant. At the end of the Han Dynasty, Liu Biao of Jingzhou built a water army of 20. Then, the resources and food can be called to the Erchuan River for his distribution. They flow into Jiangling Mansion along the way, and the court does not need to pay. This minister is also for your majesty. "

Li Ye nodded and said, "Jingzhou trains inland river navy divisions, and I still want navy navy divisions!"

"Navy sailor?"

Du Rangneng and Jingxiang's brains were spinning rapidly, trying to keep up with the rhythm of His Majesty the Emperor.

What's the use of a naval officer?

Youzhou Lulong?
Your Majesty wants to use troops against Youzhou?
Li Ye let out a long breath, His Majesty's thoughts are stars and seas, which you can't imagine!
"I don't need to train a lot of sailors. If I have a dozen ships, I can train a few thousand navies!"

This ship, shipping technology, charts, and geography are not accomplished overnight. Historically, explorers of the sea have sailed for hundreds of years based on experience.

Even if you succeed this time, you will still fail next time, because the exploration of experience requires a lot of failures to sum up.

Li Ye plans to train more than a dozen ships first, and get familiar with the inland sea, monsoon, climate, shipping technology, how to draw charts, how to confirm the route, just one direction, and now I don't know how to confirm it.

Jing Xiang smiled and said: "Your Majesty, if you only need a dozen sea ships, I have a plan, and you don't need a penny from the court."

"What's the plan?"

"Didn't the Qian Defense Envoy just donate seventeen ships?"

"..."

Du Rangneng hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, no, money defense envoys serve His Majesty with a sincere heart, and now they are detaining their seagoing ships. I am afraid that the hearts of loyal ministers will be disturbed. Your Majesty, please think twice."

Jing Xiang said: "Mr. Du, since Defense Envoy Qian is loyal to the king's teacher, he should first relieve the king's worries. Now that the court uses him, it's time for him to serve His Majesty. How can you say that he has cooled the hearts of loyal ministers?"

Li Ye looked at Jing Xiang, and found that he had changed a little now. He was very low-key at the beginning. At that time, Sun Jun insulted him so much in Ting Yi, and he endured it. But now he is not so polite to Du Rangneng. It can be described as tit for tat.

But it suits you!
"Just do what Jing Xiang said. The Mizhou army is the main soldier. As for the general, I want Wang Yanzhang to try!"

(End of this chapter)