The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 369
The strength of the Qing army on the Qiantang River came from half of the Zhejiang navy that surrendered a few months ago, but after several attacks by Zhang Mingzhen, the remaining warships were less than [-]%.

Zhu Linmei was not too worried about this navy.What he valued the most was the huge fleet that Zheng Zhilong brought to Shandong. This fleet had defeated the Helan people in Liuluo Bay.

Although Zheng Zhilong was burned by Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Guoxuan when he fled Fujing and lost some of his warships, most of his main ships had to escape.

At present, the warship in Zheng Zhilong's hands still retains more than [-]% of its combat effectiveness at its peak.Fortunately, this fleet is still stationed at the port of Shandong, and it will not affect the battle situation on the Qiantang River for the time being, but Zhu Linming knows very well that the Daming Navy will have a decisive battle with it sooner or later.

By the time Zhu Linmi's chariots and horses arrived at Yongbeili, it was Haishi.

He thought that the craftsmen in the shipyard should have rested long ago, but unexpectedly, he saw the bright lights of the shipyard from a distance, and there were loud shouts from time to time.

Guan Xiangyun, the head of the Dushuiqing Bureau of the Ministry of Industry, who is in charge of shipyard affairs, had already been waiting outside the gate. When he saw the car stop, he hurriedly brought his entourage to kneel down, "I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Assistant King."

Zhu Linmi asked the few people to stand up, pointing to the shipyard in doubt: "It's the master's business, why are the craftsmen not allowed to rest at such a late hour?"

Guan Xiangyun hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I have learned from you that I dare not stop the craftsmen from starting their work." He glanced at the slipway surrounded by torches, "Your Majesty, the craftsmen are paid for their performance, and they get more money for the more they do. So the boats Except for eating and sleeping, the craftsmen almost threw themselves on the berth and couldn’t get rid of them, and almost all of them had to work seven or eight hours a day.”

Zhu Linmei frowned and said, "How can I work seven or eight hours a day? This craftsman..."

He wanted to say, "The bodies of the craftsmen will not be able to take it anymore." Unexpectedly, as soon as he said the first half of the sentence, several shipwright foremen who accompanied him, that is, the elders of the nearby village, immediately bowed and turned to his side , one of them bowed anxiously: "Your Highness, you agreed at the beginning that you will be paid if you continue to work after work. You, you can't go back on your word..."

He dared to think that the co-government king was concerned about wages and wanted to stop the performance-based wage system.

Zhu Linmi couldn't help but laugh when she heard the words, and hurriedly said: "I'm just worried that everyone's health will not be able to bear it." Seeing the resolute expressions on the faces of several clan elders, he had to order Guan Xiangyun: "From now on, I will give everyone an extra supper every day at Haishi, and the shipyard will pay for it. By the way , and there should be more meat in the daily meals, these craftsmen are the treasures of Ming Dynasty."

Guan Xiangyun hurriedly said, "I obey the orders."

A group of people continued to walk into the shipyard, and Zhu Linmi looked around. The shipyard was completely different from what it was a few months ago.

There are several flat avenues paved with cement at the foot, connecting more than ten workshops together.Almost all the work sheds are newly built, with unified white lacquered columns, extremely tall and spacious, there are guards standing guard outside the door, and the sound of hammers and saws is endless inside.Others held small flags and torches at the intersection of the road to direct the vehicles transporting timber to avoid each other.

The entire shipyard no longer looks like a small workshop in the countryside, but has a faint taste of a modern factory.

After walking for a while, Zhu Linmi raised her eyes and saw that a huge warship on the nearest slipway had basically been built.Some craftsmen were dismantling the surrounding wooden frames, and dozens of others hung in the air with ropes to paint.

The warship was six to seven feet long and nearly one and a half feet high, and it lay across in front of him like a huge beast.

On both sides of the hull, there are eleven square muzzles lined up, and there are several masts several feet high waiting to be loaded on the side, which shows that its firepower and speed are extremely excellent.

In her previous life, Zhu Linmei had a wooden model that was exactly like this boat. She never thought that she would actually build it one day.

He is very familiar with this ship, it is a five-tier light cruiser of about [-] tons designed by Britain at the end of the seventeenth century.However, when he drew the blueprints, he incorporated a lot of eighteenth-century technology in the design of the hull mechanism and gun emplacement, and the overall performance was much better than its mother board.

Although this ship is only [-] tons, its combat effectiveness is by no means comparable to the Junk-shaped warships commonly used by Ming Dynasty.

Take the former main warship of the Daming Navy as an example. Although its displacement is more than [-] tons, it can only carry one or two heavy guns of about [-] pounds, supplemented by four side guns of [-] to [-] pounds. , a total of no more than six cannons.

Even Zheng Zhilong ordered the Luzon craftsmen to improve the big boat, and at most it could carry one more twelve-pound gun and two or three six-pound guns, and the side plate of the ship was slightly thickened, which is not a big improvement.

The Galen warship in front of Zhu Linmi has a dedicated gun deck, plus an open deck, which can carry 22 guns and has a speed of about [-] knots at full sail.

Moreover, due to the low position of the gun deck, the artillery installed inside has little effect on the stability of the hull when shooting. Therefore, although the hull is much smaller than that of a large boat, it can be equipped with [-]-pound heavy guns!There were also four twelve-pound guns.

In other words, just looking at the firepower of the cannon, this warship is basically equivalent to three large boats of more than 500 tons.However, in actual naval battles, the three large ships are restricted by communication and coordination, and the firepower density should be even worse.

As for the speed, it is difficult for a large boat with hard sails to reach a speed of five knots even with a tailwind, and the Fuchuan is even slower.

However, the Galen warship can reach a speed of more than seven knots under the condition of full sail.In naval battles, whoever has the fastest speed can seize the upper air position and thus gain a great advantage in the battle.

This is also why Zhu Linmi is confident in defeating the Qing fleet when the Daming navy is at a disadvantage in the number of warships.

"Your Highness, the ship has been basically completed, and it can be launched after the paint is completely dry!" Guan Xiangyun pointed to the slipway in the distance, but the light from the torch was not enough, so he couldn't see clearly, "It is the largest warship, according to Nalu According to Song Shipbuilder, the work will be finished in three to five days."

"The biggest? You mean the five-hundred-ton ship?"

According to Zhu Linming's request, all warships of the Ming Dynasty have changed to "displacement" to describe the size, and the units have also been unified to use "tons".

Guan Xiangyun was already familiar with this, and immediately nodded and said: "Return to Your Highness, it is the [-]-ton warship."

Zhu Linmi couldn't help being surprised when she heard the words: "It only took four months to build? How come so fast?"

It has only been about four months since the Yongbeili shipyard started operation. Even if the shipwrights are working overtime, the speed is too scary.

Guan Xiangyun looked a little proud and said: "It only took three and a half months to return to Your Highness.

"Firstly, the craftsmen worked hard day and night. Secondly, the patented method established by His Highness was gradually accepted by the craftsmen, and many useful techniques were reported to the Patent Department, which greatly increased the speed of shipbuilding."

(End of this chapter)