King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

These people have never seen it, so they probably wouldn’t understand even if I told them. Even if they do, there’s no need to tell them.

Zhu Tan touched his chin.

Now that iron plates can be built, warships can be put on the agenda.

Once the warships are built, we will find a group of soldiers who specialize in naval warfare and conduct more intensive training.

Equipped with cannons and other weapons, the first target of attack was the Japanese pirates.

In later wars, he would fight in the Ming Dynasty and directly wipe out the Japanese pirates, leaving only the good-looking women as maids, and the men with better health as slaves, digging the ground, moving heavy objects, etc., and whipping them if they were disobedient.

It’s useless, just send them to see Amaterasu!

Let them know that the whip of the Ming Dynasty is stronger than any whip of God.

God?

How big is God's army?
Zhu Tan thought about it and couldn't help but smile. The scene was so beautiful that he would definitely like it more and more as he looked at it.

“This will change the world!”

Zhu Tan's tone was a little excited.

He forgot when the first battleship was built in later generations.

But it definitely can't be that early, at most it would be the 18th or 19th century.

And he would build the first battleship in history in the 14th century, hundreds of years earlier.

"It's cool, it's cool!"

Zhu Tan's eyes sparkled as he stared at the steel plate and whispered, his heart filled with excitement.

Everyone was somewhat accustomed to this look, as they encountered many such situations when they interacted with the prince on a daily basis.

The same was true for Princess Lu. She was holding Zhu Tan's hand and was very quiet. She watched the scene with a slight smile, her beautiful eyes full of love.

Even if you don’t know who these two people are, when you see this scene, you will definitely think that they are a perfect match.

But no one understood why a piece of steel plate made Zhu Tan so happy.

Cough!

Zhu Tan found himself being stared at by a group of people, and when he thought about how he looked just now, he felt a little embarrassed.

"Okay, nothing to do? Go get some work. Is the best craftsman from the Qingjiang Governor's place here?"

Zhu Tan had a stern face and looked around at everyone.

Everyone couldn't help but shrink their necks and ran quickly to do their own things.

They knew that Zhu Tan was nice to his subordinates, but he had a really bad temper. If they provoked Zhu Tan, they would probably be hit with a hammer or receive some other punishment.

I can't help but shudder just thinking about it.

"Your Highness, here we come!"

Princess Lu nodded and spoke softly, with ripples in her eyes.

Zhu Tan was excited but did not do anything. After all, there was plenty of time at night and he just wanted to get the warship done as soon as possible.

Zhu Tan had already asked the craftsmen to prepare the iron plates and some materials for building the warships.

Now we are just waiting for a good shipbuilder from Qingjiang Governor's side.

If you were to ask where the best place for shipbuilding is in the world right now, it would be Qingjiangdu.

When Zheng He sailed to the West, he relied on the ship built by the Qingjiang Governor, which was arguably the largest ship in the world at that time.

He was curious at first and went to search for it, and he couldn't help but be amazed.

Moreover, building a warship is not difficult, or it is not difficult for the Ming Dynasty.

There may be some differences between wooden boats and warships, but for the most part they are similar, it doesn’t take much time, and the materials are ready.

Zhu Tan took Princess Lu to see them.

Several middle-aged men in cloth clothes were sturdy and waiting with nervous looks on their faces. There was also an old man next to them. Although he was thin, he still looked capable.

Several people were very nervous. They felt that even if they were summoned by the emperor, they would not necessarily be this nervous.

They had heard of Zhu Tan's reputation before they came, which made them worry.

If Zhu Tan was unhappy, or if they answered poorly, their heads might be moved.

With Zhu Tan's arrival, several people swallowed their saliva, their palms sweated, they saluted hurriedly, and lowered their heads to look at the ground.

"I have a pretty good reputation!"

Zhu Tan laughed secretly as he watched. Except for those who were familiar with him, most people looked like this.

"Why are there only a few of you?" Zhu Tan had a stern face and frowned, looking unhappy.

"Prince Lu, Your Highness, we are here only on behalf of the shipbuilders. How big a ship do you want to build?"

the old man asked stutteringly.

Hearing this, Zhu Tan nodded slightly, his expression unchanged, sitting in the main seat and staring at the few people.

Several people held their breath, not daring to breathe, and lowered their heads to look at their toes.

“How big a ship can you build?”

Zhu Tan took a sip of tea and spoke slowly.

The old man moved his lips and said nervously, "Your Highness, the largest ship that the Governor can build is 40 meters long and 15 meters wide!"

"One hundred and thirty meters long and fifty meters wide, that's about right!"

Zhu Tan thought, such a ship is indeed very large, there are very few ships of this size.

It was not yet the time when Zheng He sailed to the West, so the technology might not be that advanced, but it was still extraordinary.

It is estimated that only the Ming Dynasty in the world can build such a large ship.

"Very good, let's build it according to this. You just follow me!" Zhu Tan stood up while humming a little tune, and walked towards the steel plant with Princess Lu and others.

Several people looked at each other, confused and puzzled.

They answered with one sentence, asking why Zhu Tan was suddenly so happy and why he built such a big ship.

Only warships are built this big. Even the largest ship on the canal is only twenty or thirty meters long.

Several people were confused, even Princess Lu and others, they followed closely behind, not understanding what Zhu Tan was going to do.

Zhu Tan pointed at the iron plates in the warehouse and raised his eyebrows, saying, "We will use these to build the hull of the ship!"

"With these?"

Several people were stunned and felt as if they had heard it wrong.

How can we build the hull of the ship with this iron? It's impossible to even connect them together. How can we build it?
Princess Lu and others were equally confused. They didn't understand how to build these iron plates. Even if they could make the shape of a ship and find a way to create the outer shell, the gaps would leak.

"Your Highness, please forgive our ignorance, but how do we build a large ship?"

The old man knelt on the ground and said helplessly.

The other people also felt something was wrong and felt a little pain in their necks. They were worried that they would not be able to forge it and would be beheaded.

"Stand up, my neck is sore from watching you!"

Zhu Tan was a little angry and looked unhappy, and spoke in a bad mood.

Seeing this, several people were about to kowtow, but then they came to their senses and froze in place.

"What? You dare to disobey my order? Come, find some thorny vines to loosen their skin!"

Zhu Tan's face turned stern, and his tone became slightly colder.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Several people were so frightened that they jumped up and couldn't stop thanking him.

If you still don't understand this, wouldn't you be a fool?

Zhu Tan stretched his neck twice, then said slowly: "I am not going to build a steel shell, but to repair the wooden boat.
Line packing! "

“Wooden boat packaging?”

Everyone was confused and even more puzzled.

Zhu Tan first smiled mysteriously, then showed an impatient expression.

"Are all the Qingjiang Governors idiots? They don't understand this? This iron plate is only one finger thick. It is made of wood and the hull is covered with steel. Do you understand, idiot?"

Zhu Tan explained while scolding several people.

Several people were scolded and looked gloomy, but their eyes were shining.

They suddenly realized that this was a feasible approach with many advantages.

Anyone who has fought in a naval battle knows that although wooden ships can be very strong, there are many things that can overcome wood. How can they compare to iron? If a layer of steel is installed on the outside of the ship, it will be like a hard iron armor.

Just like a powerful warrior in iron armor, he can fight against several enemies alone on the battlefield.

Everyone's eyes lit up, and they understood what Zhu Tan meant. They looked at Zhu Tan with admiration.

Such an idea was beyond imagination; they had never thought of equipping the ship with iron armor.

In other words, the technology did not exist before, and even if the idea had been proposed, it could not be achieved due to technical barriers.

However, Zhu Tan broke this barrier and was able to equip large ships with iron armor, making them much more powerful.

Everyone started discussing it and couldn't help but talk about the benefits of wearing armor.

Zhu Tan was very satisfied in his heart, but he still pretended to be annoyed by seeing you bunch of rubbish. He snorted coldly and said, "You are so noisy. Is there a ship like this now?"

The old man was shaking with excitement, his eyes filled with tears, and he knelt down hurriedly, shouting, "Thank you, Your Highness. I am already seventy-three years old this year, and I never thought I could see such a miracle!"

His family has been in the shipbuilding business for generations, starting in the late Song Dynasty. Later in the Yuan Dynasty, they were valued and built ships for decades, relying on the big trees to develop shipbuilding technology.

After Zhu Yuanzhang conquered the world, he paid great attention to this and the shipbuilding technology was improved to a higher level.

Today, half of the people in Qingjiang learned their skills from his family.

He is one of the successors. When the boat was small, he could handle it with a few people. Later, as the boat became bigger and bigger, it required hundreds of people, and many highly skilled shipwrights came.

They discussed technology and thought of many scenarios.

If we had iron ships, we would be extremely powerful at sea, especially against the Japanese pirates.

With such a magical weapon, how dare the Japanese pirates come?
Zhu Tan looked down at Old Man Xu and gritted his teeth and said, "Go, get some brambles to loosen up this old guy's skin!"

Old man Xu was stunned for a moment, wiped his tears and smiled, then thanked him again, and then asked the people he brought with him to help him up.

"Old man, I want to ask you when you can finish building it?"

Zhu Tan asked unhappily.

"Your Highness, to cover a wooden boat with iron sheets, you need huge wooden nails, and you need to drill holes. It should be large on the outside and small on the inside, and the inside should be connected with mortise and tenon joints to prevent it from falling off!"

Old man Xu explained.

They also experimented with wrapping the ships with heavy iron, but found that the iron was too heavy and the ships had a heavy draft, so they could only be empty unless they were polished.

But if the boat is small, it can be polished, but if the boat is big, I don’t know how long it will take to polish it, so I finally gave up the idea.

Now Zhu Tan has created an iron sheet that is only as thick as a finger, or even thinner, so it is entirely possible to succeed.

Moreover, this will not be time-consuming or labor-intensive, and it is entirely possible to provide sufficient armor for large ships.

"If it's possible, have your people come from Huai'an Prefecture as soon as possible. We have everything here. Build the ship as soon as possible. As for the transfer order, I will ask my father to take care of it!"

After saying that, Zhu Tan waved his hand and left with Princess Lu and others.

Only the officials in charge of this matter were left to watch the few people who were still excited.

"His Royal Highness the Prince of Lu is like this. He is actually a very nice person. You just need to get used to it!" The official smiled helplessly and turned around to see if Zhu Tan had heard it.

Seeing Zhu Tan getting farther and farther away, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

If Zhu Tan heard this, he would definitely be spanked with a whip.

That hurts much more than being beaten with a stick.

After all, when Zhu Tan ordered people to beat with sticks, the soldiers would not really hit hard. They were just pretending to hit. It sounded loud, but it actually did not hurt much.

Of course, the prisoners were beaten differently when they were hit with a stick. It was definitely dipped in cold water, and a few hits were enough to break the bones and almost kill the person.

Old man Xu took a few people to ask for a few horses and hurried back to Qingjiang Governor to report.

After all, this is a big deal, and they dare not delay at all. They want to bring people to build the warship themselves and witness the first armored warship in history.

On the other side, after Zhu Tan returned, he enjoyed the service, ate grapes, listened to tunes, and wrote memorials very comfortably.

"Father, I have made a new discovery. Only by covering the warships with iron armor can we... Father, please issue an imperial decree as soon as possible to give me the command of the Qingjiang Governor. I must do it as soon as possible..."

After Zhu Tan finished writing the memorial, he ordered someone to deliver the letter.

"Old Zhu, look how dedicated I am?"

Zhu Tan clicked his tongue twice, took Princess Lu's slender waist, and prepared to relax.

If you have a beautiful concubine at home, you naturally need to relax more.

The ancients said: Only by harmonizing yin and yang, relaxing more, and maintaining good health can you live a long and healthy life!
Zhu Tan naturally understood this well.

Yanzhou in Shandong is not far from Nanjing, the two are separated, and Qingjiang Governor is in Huai'an Prefecture, the two are actually next to each other.

It's just that the territory is wider, and the large ships are also in Qingjiangdu, so it's a straight-line distance by water, so there's no need to ask those shipbuilders to come over to build warships.

Old man Xu here rode as fast as he could, and Zhu Tan sent someone to rush him eight hundred miles away.

Even though Zhu Tan started later, he quickly caught up and even surpassed them.

Generally speaking, unless it is an extremely urgent matter, the message will be sent at an expedited rate of 800 miles. However, who is Zhu Tan? He is the King of Lu. How can he play by the rules?

The game is to take the enemy by surprise!
Yingtian!

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the 800-mile express and frowned, feeling very unhappy.

"This old man is getting more and more crazy. How can we use this 800-mile express so casually? If the military intelligence is delayed, he will be responsible for it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang glared at the soldier who came to deliver the letter.

The soldier was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat and didn't dare to say much. He was just following orders. If he didn't obey, he would be spanked with cold water.

Not to mention dozens of lashes, even if he got ten lashes, he would have to lie at home and cry for a month.

Rather than being beaten with a stick, it is better to come and deliver the letter. There is no guarantee that anything will go wrong.

Zhu Biao smiled helplessly.

Zhu Yuanzhang has been very busy recently, and as the eldest son, he naturally has to help.

"Father, maybe the Tenth Prince has something important to tell us. Let's take a look first!" Zhu Biao advised, bringing the letter to the stage.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs, snorted coldly before taking it, opening it quickly and reading it carefully.

Zhu Biao was standing by and could not see the contents of the letter, but he saw that Zhu Yuanzhang's face was becoming more and more solemn, and his heart could not help but skip a beat.

"Could it be that Old Ten has really gotten into trouble?"

Zhu Biao was thinking, no matter what the disaster was, as long as it was not a rebellion, he would make his old father calm down.

boom!
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly took a deep breath, slammed the table, stood up abruptly, his face full of excitement.

(End of this chapter)