The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

The largest ship has more than 3,000 materials, chasing the "Fengzhou" of the Qianming Dynasty!
According to Liu Sheng’s understanding.

Material, a unit of measurement for ships, had many meanings in the Ming Dynasty. It initially referred to the amount of materials used to build the ship, and later generally referred to the approximate volume of the ship.

If you have to convert it with the displacement concept of later generations of ships.

At this time, the ship's weight was approximately equal to 0.33 tons of displacement.

Therefore, the actual displacement of the thousand-material warship is 330 tons.

The displacement of the warship with more than 1000 materials is as high as tons!
It should be noted that among the huge ships of the Ming Dynasty, the treasure ships of Zheng He's voyages to the West were the most famous.

But it was only more than 5,000 materials, with a displacement of about 2,000 tons (the volume represented by the materials at that time was somewhat different from that in the late Ming Dynasty).

In the former Ming Dynasty, the Feng Zhou was used by the imperial court to send envoys to Korea, Japan, Ryukyu and other overseas vassal countries. It needed to show the majesty of the Celestial Dynasty, so it was also very large.

However, according to the records of Yousi, the largest Fengzhou in the Jiajing and Wanli dynasties was only four thousand materials.

As for the various large-scale ships in Europe during the same period, mainly Galen ships, their displacement was only between 300 tons and 1000 tons.

At present, that is, in the seventeenth century in history, there are indeed warships exceeding one thousand tons, and there are even giant ships with a displacement of more than two thousand tons, but they are very few.

And mostly appeared in the late seventeenth century.

Therefore, the warships built by Longshou Shipyard are not much weaker than the European warships of the same period in terms of size.

As for the style of the warship, it is naturally based on the Galen ship, and incorporates the advantages of some Chinese warships, with some improvements made according to Liu Sheng's instructions.

Therefore, these warships should surpass European sailing warships of the same period in terms of performance and firepower.

"Your Majesty, please see, these warships were built by us using the wood we stored in the past few years."

"One flagship with 3,300 materials, two main battleships with more than 2,000 materials, and four frigates with more than 1,000 materials..."

When Yang Minghe introduced these warships.

The guards sent people to board the flagship to conduct a careful inspection to eliminate possible dangers.

Liu Sheng then led his entourage aboard the flagship.

The ship has a relatively long and narrow hull, two layers of Class A, and two rows of gun ports.

Twenty-four cannons can be installed on each side, plus a main gun at the front and end, for a total of fifty cannons!

Historically, the British Navy would be divided into six classes according to the size and function of the ships ten years later, which were later borrowed by various countries.

First- and second-level battleships are difficult to build and are rare in number. Most of them are important weapons for powerful maritime nations.

The main battleships of various countries are actually third-level battleships, which generally have two decks and more than 54 cannons.

Next is the fourth-level battleship, also called a heavy frigate, with one deck and more than 38 cannons.

Then there are fifth-level battleships, also called light frigates, with one deck and more than 18 cannons.

It can be said that the number of artillery guns on this flagship built by Longshou Shipyard should be equivalent to that of the main warships of various European countries at this time.

However, Da'ei's current cannon-casting level and the power of cannonballs have surpassed those of European countries.

Therefore, the actual combat effectiveness of this flagship is probably much stronger than the main battleships of several European naval powers!

After visiting the flagship, Liu Sheng said he was quite satisfied.

In fact, the Longjiang Shipyard in Nanjing has built nine of these 3,000-material warships.

The largest warship built by Longjiang Shipyard has 66 materials. Although it is still a double deck, it is equipped with cannons!
The ship was named Jinghai by Liu Sheng.

It is currently the flagship of the 1st Hailongwei Brigade.

Therefore, the warship of Longshou Shipyard, which is made of more than 3,000 materials, can only rank second in Da'ei in terms of tonnage.

In the future, when Damei builds larger warships and even armored ships, its ranking will be even lower.

While Liu Sheng was thinking about this, Yang Minghe finished introducing everything on this battleship and said, "Your Majesty, please name this ship."

Liu Sheng did have this intention, and did not refuse. He pondered for a moment and said, "Let's call it the 'Guanhai' over there - I hope our navy can use this ship to survey the vast oceans west of North America!"

···
On the night of rest in Longshou County.

Liu Sheng recruited Chen Bo, the leader of the third Hailongwei regiment, Shi Lang, the deputy regiment, and Zhang Shuiqing, the military and political officer, who were accompanying him this time.

After the three people saluted.

Liu Sheng asked, "Do you know why I brought you to North America?"

During the day, the three of them followed Liu Sheng to visit the Longshou Shipyard, as well as the Guanhai and other warships.

Perhaps the three of them were confused about what was going on, but now they have speculations.

Chen Bo, who was born in the Wei tribe, first handed over his hand and said, "The general will make a bold guess that it should be for the coastal defense of North America."

"You got half of your answer right." Liu Sheng said, "In North America, the coast of Longshou County and Weichu County can also be reached through the Xinluo River. The western sea frontier really needs a capable navy to patrol."

"But if that's the case, I don't need to transfer a regiment of your Hailong Guard. Just use one battalion as the basis and form an independent navy here."

"The reason why we brought the third group here is that while patrolling the sea areas, we hope that you will separate two fleets to explore the south and north along the western coast to record the hydrology and coastal geography."

"The fleet exploring south needs to be especially careful and beware of encountering the Western Yi fleet."

To be honest, Liu Sheng still can't be sure whether the North American side and the Da'ei side are in the same time and space.

But it is always right to have the Sea Dragon Guards wary of European colonists.

After listening to Liu Sheng's words, the three of them immediately took the order.

Later, Liu Sheng gave some instructions about other matters related to exploring the western coast of North America before letting the three of them retreat.

After the three people left, Liu Sheng couldn't help but touch the short beard on his chin, and was silent for a while.

The main reason why he chose the third group was to bring Shi Lang over.

After Zheng Zhilong surrendered to Wei, his generals with foreign surnames, such as Shi Lang's uncle Shi Tianfu, and even his cousin Zheng Cai and others, were transferred to other naval forces by Liu Sheng to divide and win over.

Speaking of which, Shi Lang was not originally in the army that the Zheng family handed over to the Da'ei court for reorganization, but was probably in the Zheng family's private army hidden overseas.

It was Liu Sheng who asked Shi Lang to come over by name and assigned him to the Hailong Guard.

At first Shi Lang was just a battalion deputy.

Later, he accumulated merit and was promoted to battalion commander and regimental deputy.

This time I brought Shi Lang here, hoping to use the Fangshan villa and his "supernatural power" to make Shi completely return to Dawei and be loyal to Liu Sheng.

···
After inspecting Yanchang Town.

Liu Sheng did not go to the grassland.

The road there is too far, and it is in the rainy season and winter. There is only one camp, and there are less than 10,000 immigrants, so it is not important in the overall situation.

Of course, Liu Sheng's refusal to inspect does not mean that he is leaving the camp on the grassland alone.

This camp is under the jurisdiction of Longshou County.

Yang Minghe would regularly send people to inspect, and sometimes even go in person.

If something really went wrong in this camp on the grassland, it would be Yang Minghe's fault.

After Liu Sheng returned to Laichu County, he began to immigrate.

Since the immigration in early April of the second year of Qianyuan, there have been as many as 500,000 immigrants in North America!
This time, nearly 100,000 more immigrants will be immigrated, which will bring the population to 600,000.

Over in Da'ei, some remote state capitals may not have such a large population.

However, Liu Sheng was not in a hurry to set up a government in North America.

Counting the newly added camps this time, Laichu County currently has nine towns and 20 camps under its jurisdiction.

Longshou County has two towns and 13 camps under its jurisdiction.

As far as the administrative organizational structure is concerned, there is no need to set up a government.

After two years, the population will further increase and the reclamation area will become larger. It will not be too late to add counties and establish prefectures...

By the time Liu Sheng completed his immigration, it was already mid-December.

The weather turned very cold, but there was no snow. However, the Huaihe River was frozen.

After Liu Shengcheng's train arrived at Minggang, he could only take a carriage and horse.

a few days later.

The imperial chariot arrived at Jiangpu opposite Nanjing.

It was discovered that the Yangtze River was also frozen.

Fortunately, the ice is not thick and does not hinder the boat's navigation.

When Liu Sheng crossed the Yangtze River and returned to Nanjing, he found that the city already had a strong New Year flavor.

But there are only a few days left before the Chinese New Year.

As the emperor of Damei, Liu Sheng could not rest.

Taking advantage of the last few days of the year, he continued to convene meetings with the chief officials of various departments, asking these departments to make year-end summaries and report to him.

Of all the departments, Liu Sheng's final position was naturally the Military Affairs Council, and then the Ministry of Finance of the Government Affairs Council.

The twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Liu was promoted to Wuying Hall.

Listen to the year-end reports on military affairs from Li Banghua, Ma Shimin, Zhu Dadian and others.

"Currently, we have eight divisions of the standing army in Dalian, with each division rated at 40458 men, so the total number of standing troops is 32."

"In addition, there are the four major naval divisions of the East China Sea, Nanhai, Yangtze River, and Yellow River. Their order is the same as that of the standing army, with a total of ten brigades and 13 people."

Having said this, Li Banghua paused and glanced at Liu Sheng.

Then he changed the book and continued: "Currently, the lowest monthly salary for our standing soldiers in Da'ei is four yuan."

"The highest monthly salary is the division commander's salary of 300 yuan, and for military ranks, the salary is at least 100 yuan."

"So this year, the standing army will receive a total of 1813 yuan in military pay!"

"The monthly salary for ordinary soldiers of our Da'ei Navy is as low as five yuan; the highest is the monthly salary of a division commander, which is 360 yuan, and there is an additional salary of at least 100 yuan."

"It is estimated that 856 yuan in military pay will be required next year!"

"As for this year, because the three major naval divisions of the Yellow River, East China Sea and Nanhai have been established for less than a year, the actual military pay is 620 million yuan, 1225 yuan."

When Li Banghua read the general report on military pay, he was filled with emotion.

Speaking of which, the Ming Dynasty's total military salary is at the level of tens of millions of taels a year.

Take the Liaodong and Liaoxi frontier armies during the Tianqi and Chongzhen years as an example.

An ordinary soldier needs twenty or thirty taels of pay per year according to the system (the Ming army's pay is different when it is idle, marching, and in war, so it is calculated on an annual basis).

During the Wanli period, there were nearly 90 soldiers and horses in the important nine-border town in the north.

By the Chongzhen period, the northern frontier army had been greatly reduced, with 60 frontier troops on paper.

Even if the military pay of other border towns is not as high as that of several border towns in Liao, taking into account only the lowest of 1200 taels per year for ordinary soldiers, the annual expenditure on military pay for the Nine Borders during the Chongzhen period was as high as million taels!

If we include post-war pensions and silver rewards, we also include the border troops in the southwest and other places, as well as the salaries of soldiers recruited from various places.

Ming Dynasty's normal military expenditure for a year must be more than 2000 million taels!

Moreover, this is only the total military pay, not the total military expenditure.

If you include preparing weapons, armor, guns, etc. for the soldiers, there are also expenses such as food.

The total military expenditure that Ming Dynasty should spend every year is likely to be as high as 30 million taels!

However, according to Li Banghua's understanding, during the Chongzhen period, the total annual military expenditure of the Ming Dynasty was estimated to be more than 10 million taels, which may not reach 20 million taels.

And of the more than 10 million taels of silver, it is likely that nearly half was intercepted by officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War, and misappropriated by mid- to high-level generals.

What was actually given to and used on the soldiers was estimated to be only a few million taels.

Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, when soldiers were recruited from the border army to the local camps, it was normal for the soldiers to be owed wages.

It was also normal for the Ming army to have poor armor and poor quality and insufficient weapons such as guns and gunpowder.

From the military expenditure alone, we can know:
In the Ming Dynasty for one or two decades, it was difficult to pacify the slaves, but instead made them bigger; in more than ten years, they could not eliminate the bandits, but they suppressed more and more.

It's all deserved.

On the other hand, Damei.

The annual expenditure on the standing army and naval pay alone is as high as 267 million yuan (at market price, one dollar is almost equal to one tael of silver).

If you include post-war pensions, silver rewards, and expenditures on armor, guns, and other weapons and equipment, the annual military expenditures of Da'ei's standing army and navy are likely to be as high as more than 50 million yuan!
Moreover, this does not include the warships equipped for the navy and the cost of maintaining the warships.

If you do that, you will need to add at least another 20 million taels!

On the throne.

Although Liu Sheng already knew these military expenditure data, he couldn't help but feel emotional when he heard Li Banghua's face-to-face report.

Speaking of which, Da'ei's standing army and navy were not the first order of battle in Da'ei.

The most elite troops in Da'ei and the ones that cost the most for a single soldier were actually the Guards.

now.

The monthly salary for ordinary soldiers of the Guards is 6 yuan.

The Huben Guards, Shengjie Guards, Xiaoqi Guards, and Hailong Guards, these four combat units, have a total of ten brigades and nearly 12 people!

Therefore, the ten brigades of the Guards alone spend nearly 9 million yuan on military salaries every year!
Also.

These four guards all use Dawei's best weapons and equipment, and their daily food, clothing and other treatment are also the highest.

In addition, each brigade has replaced flintlocks, mortars, new grenades, artillery shells and other equipment this year, and the expenditure on equipment and other equipment in addition to military salary is as high as 5 million yuan!

Finally, counting the various warships needed by the Shanghai Dragon Guard, the total military expenditure for these four guards last year was as high as more than 15 million yuan!

As for the Xunfeng Guard and Xiuyi Guard, as intelligence agencies, they are even more gold-eating beasts.

According to the financial report handed over by Xunfengwei yesterday.

Last year, Xunfengwei alone spent more than three million taels!
The embroidered clothing also cost nearly two million taels!

This is because the current Xiuyiwei and Xunfengwei have been established just a few years ago, and the internal atmosphere is good, there is very little corruption, and the efficiency of fund utilization is high.

In a few years, even if there is no corruption and the efficiency of fund utilization is lower, it is possible that the annual fund will increase by another million taels...
After Li Banghua paused for a moment.

He continued:

"In addition to the Guards, the standing army and the navy, we also have a large number of garrison and civilian troops."

"Although since the year before last, the Military Academy has begun to streamline the garrison in some places."

"But so far, the total number of our Da'ei garrison is still as high as 850,000!"

"According to the latest regulations of the Military Affairs Council, the minimum monthly salary for guard sergeants is 3 yuan; the highest monthly salary for division commanders is 280 yuan, and the military rank bonus is at least 100 yuan."

"Therefore, our country paid a total of 3156 yuan in military pay to the garrison last year..."

Listen to Li Banghua say this.

In Wuying Palace.

Some of the ministers who learned about Dawei's military situation for the first time could not help but look solemn.

Others secretly observed Liu Sheng, trying to see something from Liu Sheng's expression.

After all, judging from Li Banghua's current report, Da'ei's annual military expenditure alone has reached as high as 50 to 60 million silver dollars!
This is truly a shocking, even frightening, huge number.

Such high military spending.

Can Da'ei's finances really support it? (End of chapter)