1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 49

The shipyard outside Victory Harbor has begun to take shape. Several sheds have been built on the beach. People are constantly carrying long wooden boards in and out. It is a busy scene.The logs were lifted onto the workbench, and then pushed under the fast-moving saw blade. After a sharp cutting sound, the pine and nanmu, which seemed to be extremely tough, turned into thick planks. , the whole process is as smooth as destroying the dead.

The cut planks are sent by the workers to the adjacent wood drying room, where they will be dried for 20 to [-] days.The drying method is to use a fan to send the hot air generated by charcoal combustion into the drying room, so that the residual moisture inside the wood can be evaporated quickly.The wood drying room currently built by the crossing people is actually a prefabricated building ordered before the crossing. The material volume at one time can reach [-] cubic meters, which is enough to build two sea ships with [-] materials according to the standard of this time and space-this is It is also the largest ship that the Ming government allowed private construction.However, if we want to build a sea fleet in the future, the size of the wood drying room must be increased several times. For example, a sailing battleship with a displacement of more than [-] tons will require more ship materials than the current drying room can supply. that's it.

The wood after drying has now been sent to the finishing shed. Cai Hongzhan used a tape measure to measure the size, took off the pencil head clipped between his ears and marked the position on the wood board, and then used the wheel saw to easily cut it out. The planks were sawn to the desired size, and these finished planks were then used to mend the broken ribs of the little broad ship.

Luo Shengdong had been standing next to Cai Hongzhan watching him operate. After watching it for about ten minutes, Luo Shengdong sighed: "With such a weapon in the palm of your hand, isn't the speed of shipbuilding several times faster than mine!"

"Envy? This is just a piece of cake." Cai Hongzhan replied without even raising his head.Luo Shengdong has been helping in the shed of the shipyard for the past two days. At first, there were people from the military and police department who took care of him. Everyone knew that this guy was eager to get out now and would not cause trouble, so he didn't pay much attention to him. .

Cai Hongzhan patted the wooden board on the workbench. Luo Shengdong immediately went over and moved the wooden board to the side, and then respectfully asked, "I wonder how many boats Master Cai has built before?"

"Shipbuilding? I've never built it before. To tell you the truth, I used to be a carpenter, specializing in making furniture, such as beds, cabinets, etc..." Cai Hongzhan caught a glimpse of Luo Shengdong's Look: "You think I'm lying to you?"

Luo Shengdong looked disbelieving: "Master Cai is skilled in craftsmanship, better than many craftsmen in my Yazhou Water Village, and he is also supervising the shipyard here. How can I believe this excuse?"

Cai Hongzhan raised his finger and pointed to the two people who were squatting at the door of another shed arguing about something: "Have you seen those two young people? They are the shipbuilders. Those big iron ships parked in the harbor are like them. man-made."

Luo Shengdong was shocked: "With such a talented person, why not serve the imperial court?"

"What's the benefit of joining your court? Can you have money or power? At most, you can be a foreman." Cai Hongzhan sneered: "If nothing else, can the court provide so much iron for them to build ships?"

Luo Shengdong said angrily, "That iron boat consumes tens of thousands of kilograms of iron. Even if you collect all the pig iron in Qiongzhou Prefecture, it will not be enough, so naturally it can't be built."

"Pig iron...it will be available in the future." Regarding mining, the executive committee had already issued a gag order, and the prisoners of the Ming army could not be informed of the news prematurely, especially Luo Shengdong, who was about to be released back to Yazhou. People, so Cai Hongzhan just made a haha ​​and didn't go into details.

Luo Shengdong sadly found that the more he understood these overseas visitors, the more he could not resist. No matter what aspect he saw, the ability displayed by the other party was simply despairing.Whether it's naval or land warfare, or land reclamation, what these people have done far exceeds what Luo Shengdong has experienced in his 30 years of life. They are also good at building roads and building ships. Luo Shengdong can't even imagine There is nothing these people can't do.Although the carpenter surnamed Cai refused to tell the truth, Luo Shengdong guessed that they probably already had some kind of method to obtain a large amount of pig iron.

What scares Luo Shengdong the most is that these people are not pirates who came here to loot, but intend to take root here and gradually expand their sphere of influence.Judging from the current speed of absorbing the people across the crowd, Luo Shengdong didn't even dare to think about whether the Yazhou site could still be kept under the imperial government in a year or two.

"Why is your face so ugly? Let me tell you, as long as you continue to follow us after you go back, don't say anything about the commander in the future, you can choose the commander-in-chief as you like!" Cai Hongzhan saw Luo Shengdong's strange expression and thought he Worrying about the promotion, he casually persuaded a few words.

Luo Shengdong sighed and said, "I came from a poor family, and I'm not the son of a general, so I wouldn't dare to think about being promoted to a high-ranking official."

Cai Hongzhan said in disapproval: "What if you were born in poverty? Zhu Chongba, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, wasn't a cow herder when you were young?"

"This……"

Cai Hongzhan ignored Luo Shengdong's astonished expression, and continued: "What does it say... By the way, princes and generals, I'd rather be kind! Whoever said that a cow can't be an emperor, the librarian will Can't go against the sky?"

Although Luo Shengdong doesn't know what a "librarian" is, but listening to Cai Hongzhan's tone, there must be someone who started from a humble position and achieved great things.Luo Shengdong was terrified when he heard it, but a thought involuntarily came out of a corner - maybe I can become a general one day?

April 1627, 4, March 26, the seventh year of the Ming Dynasty.

Luo Shengdong finally waited until the moment of departure. As soon as possible, he wanted to open his mouth and shout a few times to vent his excitement, but when he saw Tao Donglai and others who came to see him off at the pier, he still tried his best to express his feelings. Desires are restrained - any foolish behavior at this time may lead to the failure of all previous efforts.

The pirates' heads and captured weapons have now been loaded onto the ship, and the uniforms, leather armor and weapons of Luo Shengdong and his subordinates have also been returned to them.After more than half a month of reeducation through labor, Luo Shengdong and others put on the red shirt again, and it seemed that they lacked the chilling atmosphere unique to soldiers.

Tao Donglai walked in front of Luo Shengdong and said in a deep voice, "I hope that after letting you go back this time, both of us will be able to turn our battles into jade and silk, and forget all the unpleasant misunderstandings in the past. At the same time, I also hope that you will not forget what you promised. , and if you don't, then we will remind you in our own way."

Luo Shengdong responded quickly: "Don't worry, Chief Tao, I will do my best to accomplish what I promised earlier. But there is one more thing I want to ask your Excellency."

"You said."

"If your department is going to trade with merchants in Yazhou, how should I introduce the origins of your customers?" Luo Shengdong asked a rather important question before leaving.

How to establish the external image of this group is also a topic that has been discussed by the executive committee for many times, and a relatively clear plan has been made for this.Tao Donglai nodded and replied, "If you don't ask about this, I'm going to tell you. Our unified name to the outside world is Haihan."

"Haihan..." Luo Shengdong pondered for a while and asked, "Is it the meaning of overseas Chinese?"

"This is one." Tao Donglai continued to explain: "The other meaning is that the Han people who value sea power."

"Dare to ask what Haiquan means?" Luo Shengdong continued to ask.

"Sea power is the right to control and utilize the ocean. Only nations that fully value sea power can win the competition in this era... You probably won't understand when I say this, your court always believes that the prohibition of the sea is the only way to win. Wang Dao, but in the end, the coastline was given up to pirates and Western barbarians in vain." Tao Donglai ignored Luo Shengdong, who wanted to argue, and continued: "It is pros or cons, right or wrong, there is no need to argue now, It won't take a few years to see the difference, let's wait and see together!"

In later generations, China suffered a lot on the issue of sea power. The enthusiastic keyboardists used to rant about the inaction of the relevant departments in front of the late-night computer countless times. The power is gradually going downhill, slowly losing control over the surrounding waters, and the suffering of later generations begins at this time.Many of the Transmigrators are fanatical cannons and giant ships. They have a great interest in conquering the world by controlling the ocean. Now that they have come to this time and space, they will never let sea power fall into the hands of others.The Executive Committee will collectively refer to the outside world as "Haihan", which is also to remind ourselves from time to time not to forget the original intention.

Luo Shengdong got on the boat with mixed feelings and ordered his subordinates to lift the anchor and raise the sails.The small ship sailed slowly away from the pier, and the large repaired scar on the rib was still clearly visible, but there was no obstacle to the boat.

The cross-travelers responsible for this trip also began to board the "Flying Speed" one by one. Various supplies had already been loaded onto the ship early in the morning. The food and drinking water alone were enough for the 20-odd people in the action team. days of consumption.In fact, bringing so much food is just in case. The sea route between Yazhou and Shengli Port is less than [-] nautical miles. Without supplies, people will not starve to death.

After getting on the ship, most of the people rushed into the cabin to visit the internal facilities. After all, few of these people have boarded a real luxury yacht, which is a bit of a spectator.But soon everyone's attention was attracted by the two boxes of bright silver ingots in the cabin. The 100 taels of silver weighing more than 3000 kilograms will serve as the treasure of the ship during the operation.

After Yan Chujie and Tao Donglai shook hands and said goodbye, they were the last to board the ship.The crew untied the cables and raised the sails, and soon the "Speedy" left the dock with a light attitude, and sailed fast towards the southern port exit.

(End of this chapter)