Take the warehouse back to the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 223 The Treasure Ship
After Zhao Wen finished inciting scholars, he led Zhao Daniu and several other guards to Cao Huachun's residence outside the palace.

As for Qi Qingtian, he returned to Xuanzhen with the article Zhao Wen gave him.

A storm is gradually forming, and almost all the scholars in the capital are waiting quietly.

They were waiting for the latest issue of Da Ming Pao to be released.

At this time, Zhao Wen was sitting in Cao Huachun's residence outside the palace, he couldn't help being speechless when he looked at the decorations in the hall.

"Everyone says that eunuchs like to enjoy themselves the most, and it's true when I saw it today."

Zhao Wen looked at the half-person-high blue-and-white porcelain vase in the hall, and couldn't help but slander: "If this thing is left in later generations, it is estimated that it will not be a problem to auction it for several million."

"Hehe, what's the matter? General Zhao likes my pair of bottles? If you like it, just take it."

After Cao Huachun received the notification from the servants in the house, he told Chongzhen that he was lying, and ran back in a hurry.

Zhao Wen turned around, looked at the smiling Cao Huachun, and said with a smile: "Your pair of bottles look very good, should they belong to the palace?"

"Haha, you're right, this is exactly from the palace. It was specially made by the imperial kiln for the palace. My pair of bottles are from the Jiajing period. Originally, they were ornaments in the emperor's study room. Last time Didn't you and I confiscate the Shanxi merchant's house, this is specially rewarded by the emperor."

Cao Huachun looked at Zhao Wen, and said slowly, "Sit down, why are you free to come to my place today? But because of Zhou Yanru?"

Cao Huachun sat on the main seat and waved to the servants beside him.

The servants also walked down knowingly.

"There are some reasons for this, but not all of them. By the way, I'm curious about one thing, how does this Zhou Yanru know that I built a seaport in Dongjiang Town?" Zhao Wen looked at Cao Huachun with a puzzled expression.

Zhao Wen went to Dongjiang Town in secret, and no one else knew about it except Yuan Chonghuan and others.

But where did the news come from?
"Did you really build an outlet in Dongjiang Town? I always thought it was Zhou Yanru's nonsense, but I didn't expect it to be true." Cao Huachun suddenly stood up from his chair, pointed at Zhao Wen, with a look on his face. Unbelievable way.

Zhao Wen said slowly: "My boss, our things will be sent overseas in the future, how can we not build a seaport in advance? Now I am planning to build a sea-going ship in Dongjiang Town, and I am also recruiting sailors. After everything is done, we can sell glass mirrors and other things overseas."

When Cao Huachun heard this, he sat down slowly, "So that's the case, so that's the case, let me just say, this Dongjiang Town is far away from your Xuan Town by a hundred and eight thousand miles, why did you go there? .

Eh, no.According to what you said, you mean that you have already completed the construction of the estuary a long time ago? "

"Eunuch Cao, all things can be established if forewarned, and if not forewarned, it will be abandoned. I am just planning ahead." Zhao Wen waved his hand and said calmly.

"Then why are you looking for me today? Although Zhou Yanru and other Donglin party members have been impeaching you, there are miscellaneous people around, so they don't want to hurt you. Also, did you make the Da Ming Pao that suddenly appeared recently?"

Cao Huachun suddenly remembered the Daming Newspaper that had suddenly appeared in the capital these days, and looked at Zhao Wen suspiciously.

Today, Zhou Yanru is the most talked about in the entire capital.

And as long as it is mentioned, it is almost always one-sided scolding.

All this is brought about by the sudden appearance of Da Ming Pao.

Many people even sneaked out at night to throw dung on the gate of Zhou Yan's Confucianism.

Although the curfew in the capital is very strict, these common people can always find loopholes.

Zhao Wen laughed and said: "I did this indeed, Zhou Yanru has been against me this week, and I was also forced.

That's enough, let's not talk about this, I just want to know how Zhou Yanru knew that I established an outlet in Pidao, Dongjiang Town. "

Cao Huachun looked at Zhao Wen, and said in a deep voice: "How did Zhou Yanru get the news about you, I don't know the details. Anyway, Zhou Yanru's family is also a maritime merchant. , Earned a lot of money.

Miscellaneous experts estimate that when his family members went to Phi Island to do business, they came across the estuary you built by chance. "

In fact, Zhou Yanru knew that Zhao Wen built a seaport in Dongjiang Town, which is really what Cao Huachun said.

At that time, a cargo ship of the Zhou family was going to Dongjiang Town to sell some Korean ginseng, but they hadn't been there for a long time and found the outlet built by Zhao Wen.

They looked at the estuary and were very puzzled for a while.

In the past, this estuary was just a very small and dilapidated pier. It has only been a few years since I saw it, and it has become like this?Could it be that Mao Wenlong has developed?

However, if Mao Wenlong is really developed, shouldn't he raise soldiers?How could such a waste of money and pointless be built.

As the saying goes, there must be demons when things happen, so when they landed on Phi Island, they spent some money to get specific news from an officer in Dongjiang Town.

When Zhao Wen was in Dongjiang Town, many soldiers knew about it.It's just that Mao Wenlong had issued a death order, so it never got out.

The officer who was bribed may have been crazy because of poverty. When Zhou's family took out 100 taels of silver, he told the whole thing about the estuary.

Although the Zhou family didn't know why Zhao Wen traveled thousands of miles to Phi Island to build an outlet, they also heard a lot of inside information from it.

After they got the news, they quickly passed the news to Zhou Yanru.

After Zhou Yanru got the news, he impatiently wrote to Chongzhen to impeach Zhao Wen.

As for the officer who revealed the news, Mao Wenlong was executed for leaking the military plane.

"Hehe, this Zhou Yanru is quite capable." Zhao Wen narrowed his eyes and sneered again and again.

After a while, Zhao Wen let out a long breath, and said slowly: "Okay, let's not talk about this. Anyway, this Zhou Yanru won't be around for a few days. I came to you today because I have more important matters."

"I came here today mainly to ask you about the Longjiang Shipyard. I want to know if there is anything left in the Longjiang Treasure Shipyard back then. For example, the design drawings of the Treasure Ship."

Although the blueprints of the treasure ship design drawings had been lost by the time of Chongzhen, Zhao Wen still wanted to try.After all, it is the Ming Dynasty now, and the time is much closer. What if I miss it?After all, Zhao Wen doesn't know how to design sea ships.

As the largest ship in the world at that time, the treasure ship was the largest sea ship in Zheng He's fleet. It was the shipbuilding craftsman at that time combined with the shipbuilding achievements of previous dynasties.Its status in the fleet is equivalent to the flagship of the large fleet of later generations, and it is the main ship of the entire fleet.

According to Ming history records, the largest treasure ship was 44 feet long and 37 feet wide; the middle one was 139 feet long and 56 feet wide.In conversion, the length of the ship is [-] meters and the width is about [-] meters.

In later generations, countless scholars and experts have speculated on the displacement and load of the treasure ship.

As a result, the inferred data is unbelievable. After the treasure ship is restored according to the shipbuilding principle and the Chinese wooden sailboat construction method, the largest treasure ship is calculated to have a full-load displacement of about 22848 tons and a load capacity of 9824 tons.

Such a large displacement and load capacity are simply the killers of this era.Compared with the treasure ships, the ships of Western countries in the same period are like toys.

If Zhao Wen got the design drawings of the treasure ship, he would build it and equip the treasure ship with weapons from the warehouse.

Until then, who can stop it on the entire sea?

Cao Huachun looked at Zhao Wen's expectant face, sighed, and said slowly: "The Longjiang Treasure Shipyard has been in decline since the Xuande period. Nautical charts drawn while sailing.

Since then, Longjiang Treasure Shipyard has become the place where blessing ships and sand ships are built.When it came to Zhengde, Longjiang Bao Shipyard was completely in decline. "

"So, the design of the treasure ship is really gone, was it really burned by that guy Liu Daxia? Nothing left?" Zhao Wen asked unwillingly.

In history, whether Liu Daxia burned the treasure ship or not has been debated in later generations.

"It can't be said that way. The time when Liu Daxia burned the drawings was too far away from today. As for the real situation, Zajia doesn't know very well.

It's just that Wan Biao's "Zhao Ai Yu Ji" and Yan Congjian's "Zhou Zhi Lu of Special Regions" record that Liu Daxia, a car driver, hid the archives of Zheng He's voyages to the West, while Gu Qiyuan's "Guo Zuo Yu Yu" said that Liu Daxia burned the files of Zheng He's voyages to the West.

Whether it was hidden or burned is still a mystery.But in the eyes of miscellaneous experts, this Wanbiao is more reliable. After all, when Wanbiao was born, Liu Daxia was still alive.

As for the Longjiang Shipyard, it seems that there are still descendants of the craftsmen who built the treasure ships at that time.Last year, a group of people were recruited by the emperor to the capital to repair the palace. "Cao Huachun looked at Zhao Wen and said slowly.

Cao Huachun can be said to be one of the most learned people among the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, so he is familiar with these anthologies.

Zhao Wen let out a long breath, and said slowly: "I still don't quite believe that the treasure ship design is lost like this. No matter how much Liu Daxia can burn, it is impossible to burn all the treasure ship design? After all, this design cannot be just one or two portion?"

"I'm not quite sure about this. It stands to reason that there are many such design drawings, and the Longjiang Treasure Shipyard is located in Jinling, so it is very likely that there is a copy of this design drawing in the six parts of Jinling. And did Liu Daxia burn it? Burning blueprints, miscellaneous experts really don't know much about it." Cao Huachun said slowly.

Zhao Wen frowned and thought about it carefully. In fact, Zhao Wen didn't really believe that Liu Daxia could burn all the blueprints of the treasure ship.

You know, the blueprints for this treasure ship belong to the royal family. If Liu Daxia burned the blueprints, can Ming Xianzong spare him?At that time, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty established the West Factory, and the factory guard organization had all the power. If Liu Daxia really burned the blueprints, would Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty easily let him go?

Cao Huachun looked at Zhao Wen who was lost in thought, and asked slowly: "Is this treasure ship blueprint important to you?"

"It's very important. I want to build treasure ships and sell goods overseas. Ordinary blessing ships and sand ships can only sail in the coastal waters, and cannot go to the ocean. I want to get out of the treasure ships and sell goods in the West.

In the distant continent of Europa, the people there are very obsessed with our Ming things.If we get our glass mirrors there, and all kinds of china and silks, we will surely make a lot of money. "

Zhao Wen looked at Cao Huachun, and slowly expressed his thoughts.

Zhao Wen told him before that he wanted to sell glass mirrors and other things overseas.

But for Cao Huachun, overseas is the generation of Lu Song, and he never thought about it at all.

In this Luzon area, ordinary ships can also run there, and there is no need for treasure ships at all, so Cao Huachun looked at Zhao Wen and was very puzzled for a while.

"Besides, I have also inquired about a lot of things before. That is, in the easternmost part of the sea, there is a continent called America. There are countless gold and silver madmen on this America, so I want to get some treasure ships and go to America to mine. "

"Gold and silver mines? Are you right? Are there really gold and silver mines?"

When Cao Huachun heard that there were gold and silver mines, he stood up from his chair and looked at Zhao Wen excitedly.

"Aren't you cheating miscellaneous people?"

"Can I lie to you? When did I lie to you? There are not only gold and silver mines in this America, but also copper mines and other precious minerals. On the other side of Luzon, Europa businessmen opened mines in America and smelted gold All the silver was brought to Luzon and traded with merchant ships smuggled out along the southeast coast.

I think Eunuch Cao is not ignorant of the family background of these southeast businessmen, right?To put it bluntly, these Southeast merchants may have even stronger family backgrounds than Shanxi merchants.We can't just sit and watch such a big piece of fat. "

Zhao Wen looked at the excited Cao Huachun, and his words were full of temptation.

"So you just want to build a treasure ship, go to America, to mine?" Cao Huachun walked back and forth in the hall, with a look of surprise on his face.

"But the sea is turbulent, so you are not afraid that you will not come back? And there are so many pirates in the sea, can you really get the money back?"

Cao Huachun's face suddenly darkened, and he said hesitantly.

People in this era, especially those who often live in the north, have an inexplicable fear of the sea.

Although the scene Zhao Wen said was very beautiful, Cao Huachun was still a little worried.

Zhao Wen laughed, and said: "As the saying goes, the bold are starved to death, and the timid are starved to death. You don't know what my subordinates are capable of, do you? I'll just ask you a question, will you do it?"

"But, what should the emperor do if he finds out? This matter is not small, and the commotion is not small." Cao Huachun said with a worried face.

"Otherwise, what do you think I mean by creating a seaport on Phi Island? Let's start directly from Phi Island and bypass the coastline. Then add the treasure ship we built, where can we go?"

Cao Huachun carefully chewed Zhao Wen's words, and after a while, he slapped the table, "Since this is the case, the miscellaneous family has done it. Tomorrow, I will go to the emperor to ask for an imperial decree, and go to Jinling to check to see if there are any blueprints of the treasure ship." .”

(End of this chapter)