The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Tianjin Guard was an important military garrison in the Wei Dynasty and a port fortress that protected the capital. Thousands of naval officers and soldiers were originally stationed there.

Since Jia Lian was ordered to build a seaport and supervise the construction of warships, he also opened a shipyard here to build a new type of seaport. During this period, no less than thousands of people were recruited to carry out construction, making Tianjin Wei increasingly lively and prosperous.

On top of the newly built embankment blown by the spring breeze, Jia Lian, dressed in red and black robes, stood, looking at the military port in front of him.

Behind him, more than a dozen officials, big and small, followed.

"Master Marquis, according to the original order of the Marquis, there are seven military strongholds in the port here, which are expected to be able to berth more than a thousand large and small warships.

Now that it has been basically completed, please review it. "

"More than a thousand ships..."

Jia Lian smiled casually and knew that this subordinate was based on the size of the existing warships of Tianjin Wei Navy.

He has already seen the existing large and small warships of the Tianjin Guard Navy. Most of them are more than ten to twenty meters long and seven to eight meters wide. Those over thirty meters are considered large.

Such warships may be enough to fight Japanese pirates and suppress water bandits, but it is obviously not enough to set sail and conduct overseas expeditions.

In his opinion, it would be good if this military port could accommodate the three hundred warships he wanted to build.

But it's enough for now.

Turning to look at another official, Jia Lian asked, "How's the situation at the shipyard?"

"Reporting to the Marquis, since the Marquis returned to Beijing, I and others have not dared to forget the Marquis' instructions. They have been supervising and supervising every day. Now they have built eight small warships and one medium-sized warship.

Among them, the large warship Zhenyuan, which was built in accordance with the requirements of the Marquis, has been basically completed. It is estimated that it will be completed and launched in another half month. "

Jia Lian was delighted when he heard this.

The Zhenyuan was a large warship with a length of more than thirty feet and a width of twelve feet, which he had started planning and building when he first arrived in Tianjin Wei last year.

It was a warship that he specially designed to match the Zhenyuan Cannon.

A warship of this size can definitely be called a giant ship in this era. I didn't expect it to be completed so soon.

So regardless of the fact that the Queen of Tianjin had not yet arrived at the camp, she led the officials to the shipyard.

Tianjin Wei Shipyard was built by Jia Lian.

In order to facilitate launching into the water, Jia Lian originally chose to build it directly on the river bank, only a few miles away from the new military port.

The entire shipyard is not too big and the structure is relatively simple.

In front of a group of barracks and warehouses, there is a huge open flat land, the edge of which is surrounded by a newly built embankment.

On the flat ground, some square pits were dug neatly and orderly. At this time, there were countless civilians, craftsmen, officers and soldiers, busy going back and forth between the flat ground and the square pit.

They each performed their duties, and when viewed from a high place, it turned out to be a grand picture of the work of all peoples.

Jia Lian, surrounded by officials and generals, came to the largest square pit.

This square pit is about sixty feet long (about two hundred meters), more than forty feet wide, and more than ten feet deep. Standing at the edge of the pit, one feels as if one is facing an abyss.

At this time, in the middle of the square pit, a huge new warship stood in it.

At the bottom and around the warship, there is a frame made of endless wood, just like the frame structure of buildings built in later generations.

The huge, almost completed ship was surrounded and arched among them.

In front of such a behemoth that is more than a hundred meters long and tens of meters wide and high, a human being who is only seven feet in size seems very insignificant.

Jia Lian stood on the edge of the square pit, inspecting this large ship that was unique in the contemporary era, feeling the faint sense of pressure it brought to him, and the emotions of relief and joy could not help but fill his heart.

"The 'Zhenyuan' that the Marquis built with all his efforts, in terms of size and exquisite and complete structure, even among the warships of the three main naval forces of the Wei Dynasty, there is no one that can compare with it. of.

The lower official can already imagine that in the future, the naval officers and soldiers of the Wei Dynasty will ride on it and fight on the sea, and they will be invincible.

This is all thanks to the Marquis. On behalf of the officers and men of the Navy, I would like to thank the Marquis. "

After Jia Lian's death, the officers and generals seemed to sense Jia Lian's satisfaction. A naval general saw the opportunity and stepped forward to flatter him.

Others who were one step behind were secretly annoyed, but didn't have much contempt. Just because every one of them was surprised and admired that Jia Lian could actually build such a huge ship.

After a hundred years of peace in the Wei Dynasty, the construction of the navy was already in a state of failure. Even among the three main naval divisions, including the Tianjin Guard Navy, most warships still follow the style of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

It can be said that warships and combat armaments have no absolute advantage over water pirates and pirates.

This is also one of the reasons why Japanese pirates are so rampant along the coast.

The arrival of Jia Lian at least brought the court's attention and finances to the Tianjin Guards Navy, and also gave the officers and soldiers the hope of "exchanging a shotgun with a cannon."

Although everyone still hesitates about the combat power of the new warships such as the "Zhenyuan" built by Jia Lian, at least they all admit that the size and power of these warships built by Jia Lian are far superior to their original "old warships". Broken small”.

And Jia Lian is working under their Tianjin Navy. If a large number of new warships are really built in the future, the first one to benefit will of course be the Tianjin Navy.

Therefore, the Admiral has already told me that this young marquis from Beijing must be coaxed and worshiped as an ancestor, and he must not be offended.

Jia Lian smiled slightly. This "Zhenyuan" was actually just an experimental ship. If he can succeed, he will naturally be able to build more warships of this magnitude or even more than this magnitude in the future, becoming a strength guarantee for the great Eastern powers in their struggle for maritime hegemony.

This giant square pit with a length of 200 meters is actually a construction method to facilitate the launching of giant ships, which is called a "dock".

If a huge ship like the Zhenyuan is not considered in advance, even if it is built, it will not be able to enter the water just by relying on the manpower of this era.

With such a dock, after the large ship is completed in the dock, water is introduced into the dock to float the ship, and it is naturally easy to sail into the waterway.

"Old slave Zhao Xiuyuan, pay your respects to the second master."

Old man Zhao, a slave of the Jia family, who had been building boats all his life, hurriedly got off the boat with a few craftsmen and came to Jia Lian to pay homage.

Looking at his behavior, Jia Lian knew that when he was away from Tianjin Wei, this old Zhaotou must not be slacking off. He must have come to the ship to supervise the work every day.

Satisfied, he asked him to take him and others aboard the ship for inspection.

"To answer your question, the 'Zhenyuan' was originally designed to have six floors, and could carry more than a thousand officers and soldiers.

Now the main structure has been completed, leaving only the laying of the upper three decks and the painting of the entire hull.

According to the order of the Marquis, a total of twenty-four Zhenyuan cannons were reserved on the ship, as well as six other artillery positions, as well as hundreds of muskets and firing ports for crossbows.

And the outside of the main body of the ship is all covered with thick copper plates... Hahaha, I have been building a ship all my life, and I have never seen such a strong ship. I think any enemy who faces the Zhenyuan in the future will be fearful and desperate. . "

Zhao Xiuyuan said happily.

Jia Lian also stood on the edge of the deck, leaning against the parapet on the ship's railing, looking sideways at the outside of the ship's hull, which was shining with golden light under the sunlight.

Because of the low productivity and quality of Wei's steel, even Jia Lian couldn't build a steel behemoth of this size right away.

This is not only a problem of materials, but also of substandard structural technology.

Therefore, the main body of the Zhenyuan is also made of wood. Just to improve its defense, all parts of the hull that need protection are covered with copper plates of varying thicknesses.

In this way, the defense capability was improved. But the cost of the Zhenyuan was imaginable. If Jia Lian had not successfully aroused the ambition of Emperor Ning Kang and obtained his strong support, he would not have been able to afford it.

Even so, Jia Lian could see Emperor Ning Kang's expression of pain when he saw the "bill" he reported.

Therefore, something as expensive as the Zhenyuan cannot be mass-produced.

In Jia Lian's plan, it is better to build a batch of medium-sized or small-sized new warships for use first. In the future, some thought must be devoted to upgrading the iron and steel industry of the Wei Dynasty, and then based on this, a large number of new warships can be built. Strong ships and sharp guns.

After patrolling around the ship, Jia Lian stood on the wide deck, turned around and looked at the many officers, generals and craftsmen following behind him, and said seriously: "You have all worked hard. After the Zhenyuan is successfully launched, I will decide. In front of Your Majesty, please reward all of you who have made meritorious deeds!”

The craftsmen knelt down to express their gratitude.

All the generals also paid homage together: "I am willing to be loyal to His Majesty and serve the Marquis!"

The voice is much calmer and more powerful than the craftsmen.

Jia Lian looked down at the civil and military officers in front of him who were bowing their heads to worship, with more or less surging colors in their eyes, and there was also some excitement in his heart.

This place has been his foundation from now on. (End of chapter)