The Soul of the Han Dynasty in the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 406 Mao Chenglu

This story is of course the Legend of the Condor Shooting Heroes for later generations. After a few lectures, Huang Han saw that the soldiers liked to hear it, so he had an idea in his heart.

Why doesn't the "Red Banner Army" publish a newspaper belonging to its own system?Newspapers can convey information, broaden the horizons of soldiers, promote positive energy, and serialize novels such as Legend of the Condor Heroes to entertain and teach.

When he had time, Huang Han picked up the pen and began to write The Legend of the Condor Heroes from memory. Basically, he was faithful to the original work, but he emphasized the national integrity, belittled the Mongol Tartars, and exposed the cruelty of the Tartars and their hostility to Han civilization. destructive power.

The combination of Chinese hard sails and Western soft sails of the old lock ship has been widely praised by the shipbuilders of the "Red Banner Army" system. Practice has proved that this design makes better use of wind power while ensuring safety.

Therefore, the No. [-] Fuchuan and No. [-] Fuchuan seized and embezzled, including the Zhuyin Ship of the Japanese Kingdom, were also modified one after another, adding soft sails. These ships were all faster than before the modification when there was a suitable wind direction and wind force. About ten percent.

When renovating some of the seized ships, some of the too old ships were judged to be scrapped, because the investment in maintenance was too large, and also because the speed of these ships could not meet the requirements.

Huang's large-scale construction of old lock ships with simple structure, high cost performance and superior seaworthiness.

This kind of ship has traditional Chinese hard sails and a streamlined western hull. It is faster than traditional Chinese sailboats and requires less manpower than Western sailboats. The speed of warships is unparalleled after adding wheels and oars.

Due to the adoption of all-steel keels to save the need for giant wood, standardized production has become possible. Now the drawings with a displacement of [-] to [-] tons have been completed. It is believed that larger old lock ships will be successfully designed in the near future.

The forging of steel into keels and ribs only reduces the demand for hard giant wood, but at this time the main structure of seagoing ships is still wood, so the demand for shipbuilding wood is still inexhaustible.

The use of steel solves the keel and ribs on large ships that have the highest requirements for wood components, and other components such as decks, decks, masts, etc. are relatively easy to prepare materials.

Huang’s shipyards are all purchased ready-made government-run and private docks for expansion. The craftsmen are actively preparing materials when the production is just started, because the wood needs to be dried in the shade for one or two years before it can be used.

Originally, all major shipyards in Liaohai had stock materials, but now they are basically bought by the Huang family. These ready-made timbers can meet the production of Huang's initial warships and merchant ships.

With the increase in the tonnage of ships under construction, the ready-made timber nearby is unsustainable. Merchants who purchase and ship timber for ships have already stocked up in Nanzhili.

Last autumn, driven by Wang Yuqi, a senior master craftsman of the former Longjiang Shipyard, and lured by the new large-scale ship that can be built, with the support of Xu Guangqi, the old man of the court, Longjiang Shipyard has more than a dozen master craftsmen to join the Huang family. shipbuilding.

They bought new materials and used a large number of old materials from dismantling and obsolete ships to operate skillfully, and they were basically able to maintain the production of Huang's shipbuilding industry.

A year later, a large amount of timber felled from the deep mountains and old forests and transported to the dock to be dried in the shade will be put into use. Foresighted Wang Yuqi has already prepared materials in advance on a large scale. Next, timber resources will not become an obstacle to the development of the "Red Banner Army" Naval University.

After all, the Ming Dynasty has a vast land and rich resources, and there are too many deep mountains and old forests. As long as there is food, there are so many Han people who are willing to work hard to cut wood. It is not comparable to European countries such as Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands.

The soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town had been cutting wood in the Yalu River basin and selling it down the river to the Huang family in exchange for grain and cloth.

It is precisely because of the rise of the "Red Banner Army" that Dongjiang Town's life is much easier, so the island generals scrambled to defect to Li Jiuzheng to participate in the rebellion did not appear.

Mao Chenglu, the main leader who participated in the rebel army, is now stationed at Zhenjiang Fort at the mouth of the Yalu River. This kid has won the honor of beheading a hundred people and a fine steel pulley bow as a prize. Ten steel arrows.

He has now received a lot more money and food, and has three thousand soldiers under his command. He trains soldiers every day to fight for the Jin army to repay the kindness of the holy emperor for rehabilitating his righteous father Mao Wenlong who died unjustly.

Mao Chenglu's main way of making money is to organize people to go into the deep mountains and old forests to dig ginseng, beat black bears, and grow bear paws. It has become the norm to cut down big trees and sell them to Tiger Cave City.

Building a new ship out of old ship's wood is not a quick fix, but the instinct of the master shipbuilder.

Because the official shipyard of the Ming Dynasty clearly stipulates that a new ship under construction must use no less than [-]% of old materials, and this must be the case regardless of whether the shipyard has a surplus of new wood.

Therefore, as long as the craftsmen who have built ships for the imperial court have developed the habit of using some old materials, besides, as long as the old ship materials are properly selected, the quality of the new ship will not be affected at all, and it will be easier to shape.

Another advantage of the Huang family is that they don't need the keel of the old ship. These giant logs are often the best wood on the old ship. Now they are used as ordinary wood for the mast and deck of the new ship, which makes the masters headed by Wang Yuqi feel that they are wasteful.

After the improvement, the Fuchuan sail with a certain proportion of soft sails has a wind receiving area of ​​[-]-[-]% more, and it can also sail along the zigzag in the case of strong headwinds. After all, the large sailing ships of this era are completely Relying on wind power, it is rarely driven by manpower.

This is because the supplies of the sea are very important. If there are too many sailors on the ship for human propulsion, the sea ship will no longer have the need for long-distance trafficking.

After all, the water and food consumed by a person in a day is about one-fifteenth of the body weight. If one person’s supplies are sailed for a month, the weight of two people will be needed, and the space required for activities must not be small. It takes 100 people. How much space is left in the hold for cargo?

After feeding and drinking for 100 people, and paying remuneration for 100 people, how much profit is there for this long-distance trafficking?
Therefore, it is too extravagant to drive a large merchant ship by human power. There is no such possibility. Although the wheel and paddle designed by Huang has tripled the efficiency of manpower, it cannot be used on merchant ships, but for passenger ships and warships.

Because there are idle passengers on passenger ships who provide free labor, as long as the tickets are discounted appropriately, the gunners and marines on the warship can take turns to provide manpower to drive the speed of the warship.

Huang Han often encouraged the master craftsmen in the system to continue research and exploration. Master shipbuilders such as Wang Yuqi often went to sea with warships and merchant ships. They wanted to improve the design of ships through practice.

This time the Patriarch went to sea in person, of course Wang Yuqi had to treat it with more care. He not only boarded the flagship in person, but also brought a few masters and more than [-] disciples and grandchildren with him.

(End of this chapter)