Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 422 Feeding Pigs with Seafood
After reaching a consensus on shipbuilding, Zhu Youjian immediately ordered:

"The Navy should formulate a 10-year shipbuilding plan as soon as possible and make all preparations."

"I asked the Ship Research Institute of the Ocean Research Institute to design a standard ship type. How is the progress now?"

The Ocean Research Institute is located in the Naval Academy and was previously managed by Naval Guard Envoy Yu Anying.

Hearing the emperor's question, Yu Anxing said:

"I have had people sort out the types of ships, including treasure ships, warships, horse ships, grain ships, and water ships, and select the best ships as the standard."

"It's just that there's still a lot of controversy, so it hasn't been decided yet."

The Ming Dynasty's ships, like its artillery, had the problem of too many types.

This was not considered a big problem by people at that time. They even thought that different ships and artillery could be adapted to more scenarios.

But to Zhu Youjian, who had experienced the industrial age, it was too chaotic.

Therefore, he would rather abandon many types of artillery, reduce the adaptability of artillery to various scenarios, and only choose a few types as standard artillery to facilitate manufacturing and training.

Now facing the ships, he also planned:

"In the future, the navy's ships should not be divided into such small categories."

"They can be divided into warships and transport ships according to their purpose. Based on transport ships, there are cargo ships, military ships, horse ships, grain ships, water ships and other types."

"The navy's transport ships must be able to serve as armed merchant ships and, if necessary, be equipped with artillery for use in maritime combat."

"This type of ship can also be sold to foreign countries, and weapons such as cannons and muskets can be sold to licensed sea merchants."

Yu Anxing heard this and said hurriedly:
"I think this is inappropriate!"

"If sea merchants could be armed, they would be more difficult to discipline."

"I am afraid that some people may cause trouble and become pirates on the sea."

Zhu Youjian waved his hand and said:
"It's not that serious!"

"The Navy Department can just strengthen its management."

“Licenses could be issued every three to five years, allowing only licensed merchant ships to be armed.”

"Moreover, these ships must dock at designated ports and are not allowed to move around at will."

"My plan is to use these armed merchant ships as reserve forces, and collect exemption fees when they are not in service."

"If the court is at war with the enemy and there are not enough ships, merchant ships can be requisitioned for transportation or even for use in battle."

"Sailors on armed merchant ships are also assigned to the reserve force and are responsible for serving in the event of war."

"When the sailors and soldiers of the navy retire in the future, the Navy Department will also introduce them to join the armed merchant ships and strengthen the management of these merchant ships."

This is a move to integrate the military with the people. After hearing this, Yuan Keli agreed:
"This strategy is brilliant!"

"The navy doesn't have to maintain many transport ships during normal times."

Yu Zigao and others also agreed with this move.

In this way, the Admiralty was given the additional responsibility of managing armed merchant ships.

Zhu Youjian established the Mobilization Department in the Navy Ministry, which was specifically responsible for the training and mobilization of naval reserve personnel.

For reserve ships, he intends to set up a classification society to manage:

"The Naval Ship Research Institute is to develop standards for various types of ships and classify seagoing vessels over 100 tons."

"All seagoing vessels over 100 tons must comply with certain specifications when they are manufactured, so that they can be managed uniformly when the navy requisitions them."

"The classification society will send surveyors to supervise the construction of seagoing vessels, and after completion, they will rate the condition of the hull, the sails and anchors, etc."

"For ships that meet the standards, we will issue classification certificates. At the same time, we will also collect statistics on the damage of various ships to facilitate insurance companies to determine insurance premiums."

"Ordinary seagoing vessel models can be relaxed appropriately, with only standard parts such as sails and anchors being specified to determine basic operating standards."

"But armed merchant ships must be modified according to the design drawings provided by the Ship Research Institute."

“During the use of maritime merchants, suggestions for armed merchant ships can be made for the improvement of naval transport ships and vessels.”

This is to use maritime merchants as guinea pigs and use their usage experience to promote the improvement of naval ships.

At the same time, we will connect with insurance companies so that after the insurance companies' tax collection responsibilities are abolished in the future, they can truly carry out insurance business.

Most of the ministers didn't quite understand what they heard, but now they have experience. For things they don't understand, they just need to write them down carefully. The current emperor will not think they are too stupid because of this.

It can be said that Zhu Youjian and his ministers were adapting to each other and had more patience with each other.

After Zhu Youjian talked about armed merchant ships, he talked about warships. He first identified offshore ships, which are the various warships currently used by the Ming Dynasty:
"We need to continue to manufacture galleys like the Centipede Boat. They should be convenient for offshore sailing and can also be used on inland rivers."

"When the Daling River, Liao River, Tumen River, Heilongjiang River and other rivers are navigable in the summer, the navy can only enter if it has ships."

"The grain and troop transport ships built based on galleys must also have self-protection capabilities to facilitate the transportation of supplies."

"This type of ship is mainly built by shipyards in Tianjin and Nanjing."

"Also, when sea merchants are allowed to pass through customs, they can pay customs duties with timber."

“The Navy Department should set a minimum purchase price for timber, just like it does for food, so that merchants can feel at ease shipping timber from overseas.”

The Central Plains had been developed for thousands of years, and after so many years of use, wood was already in short supply. Zhu Youjian planned to encourage the Northeast and Southeast Asia to bring in more wood for shipbuilding.

Even if there was too much wood collected, it could be transported to the inland areas to build houses. After the remaining wood from the bamboo and wood factories was used up, the palaces of the kings and the university towns needed new sources of wood.

With the availability of wood, and the fact that many shipbuilding craftsmen were in the military and only needed very little subsidy, the cost of shipbuilding in the Ming Dynasty was very low compared to that in the West.

This is also the reason why the Ming Dynasty often built hundreds or even thousands of ships in the past.

Compared with the West, the shipbuilding cost of the Ming Dynasty was really too low. Coupled with factors such as prices, the cost of ships of the same tonnage in the Ming Dynasty was only one-fifth or even one-tenth of that in the West.

It can be said that the Ming Dynasty had a great advantage in shipbuilding, but it lagged behind in warship design. Zhu Youjian thought of the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding organization and ordered:

"Based on the shipyard in Tianjin, we will integrate the shipbuilding institutions such as the customs clearance department to form the Northern Shipbuilding Group."

"The shipyard in Nanjing integrated Longjiang Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, Qingjiang Shipbuilding Industry Corporation and other institutions to form the Southern Shipbuilding Industry Corporation."

“The shipyards in Dongning and Nanyang will be integrated with those in Fujian and Guangdong to form the Southeast Shipbuilding Group.”

"These three major shipbuilding groups are all directly under the Navy Department. When the Navy needs to purchase ships in the future, it will bid for them and choose the one with the strongest capabilities as the main contractor, with the other two as assistants."

"Shipyards under the three major shipbuilding groups are allowed to be operated by private individuals."

"If there are engineers who are good at design, the shipbuilding group can also invest money to help them set up a ship design institute."

"After a designer's ship is adopted, the design fee will be charged according to tonnage."

"Every year, a selection will be held to reward the best design of this type of ship."

Zhu Youjian still felt that this was not enough, and gave another order:

"I see that among the fleet of the navy there are about 650 fast ships, and they are built once every 30 years, so about 20 ships are built every year."

"These twenty ships will adopt the winning clipper ship design from the competition."

"A clipper boat race can be held between Tianjin and Lushun to select the winner."

"The same goes for other ships. The Navy Department should integrate civilian forces and form the Ming Ship Association to set up various competitions."

All the officials could understand this, because the martial arts associations and pigeon associations established by the emperor all had the task of organizing competitions, which played an important role in mobilizing the power of the people.

The emperor gave the clipper order as an award to the winner, which would surely inspire some craftsmen to design the clippers more carefully.

Then Zhu Youjian said:

"The fire and communications vessels could be based on the clipper design."

"The anti-smuggling teams of the navy and the coast guard also need fast ships to arrest smugglers." "Small ships of this type can be called patrol ships, which are mainly used in coastal waters."

"The big ones can be called frigates, and they can follow the capital ships on long voyages."

"At the same time, because the capital ship is inconvenient to start and expensive to build, the frigates also have to play the role of escort and take over when necessary."

“When merchant ships need escort, frigates can also be used.”

This idea is good, but somewhat difficult to implement. Yu Zigao said:

"The boat is not resistant to wind and waves, and it has little stuff on it, so I'm afraid it won't be able to sail far."

"I think that ocean-going vessels should still be built in large sizes."

Zhu Youjian frowned and thought for a moment, then said:

"Storms about wind and waves can help experienced sailors improve their predictions and allow designers to design better boats."

"As for the supply, we can add a slide to the ship. When the two ships are close, we can use the slide and the hanging net to supply some supplies."

“The Ship Research Institute needs to develop standard cargo boxes and packages to facilitate transportation by slideways and for dock workers to load and unload.”

This was the requirement he put forward based on the containers of later generations.

Although there is no mechanical loading and unloading equipment at present, we should try to use standard cargo boxes and packages to facilitate loading, unloading and storage when conditions permit.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian also remembered the trolley bags he had designed for Ming Dynasty students and the trolley cases he had designed for travelers. He thought that wheels could be added to some very heavy cargo boxes.

Or manufacture two-wheeled and four-wheeled trolleys and carts for cargo transportation.

He drew up sketches for all these things and planned to have the craftsmen in the inner palace build them after the meeting.

He even planned to establish the Royal Shipping Group to promote these things and set an example for the three major shipping groups to teach them how to do it.

The ministers were helpless when they saw that the emperor was meddling in more and more matters.

Although they have adapted to the current emperor's style, they still feel uncomfortable with the emperor's hands-on teaching.

It seemed as if the emperor felt that they were incapable of doing a good job and could only arrange every detail.

Zhu Youjian was actually helpless about this. If conditions allowed, he didn't want to get involved in these trivial matters.

Unfortunately, the experience of more than a year has shown that the more detailed his arrangements are, the faster things will progress and the better he will achieve his requirements.

So he could only bear the hardship himself and instruct these ministers as if they were elementary school students.

After arranging all these, Zhu Youjian finally mentioned the most important warships and ordered:
"The ocean-going warship designed based on the galleon will be called a cruiser from now on."

"It can be divided into three levels based on tonnage and artillery."

"My suggestion is that warships of about 1 tons and equipped with to guns can be called first-class cruisers, with a three-digit number starting with the number ."

"A warship of 2 to tons and to guns can be called a second-class cruiser. It is numbered with three digits starting with the number ."

"A warship of about 3 tons and to guns can be called a third-class cruiser, with a three-digit number starting with the number ."

"Frigates and patrol ships smaller than third-class cruisers are numbered with four digits starting with the number 4."

"Armed merchant ships are numbered with a prefix of 5, while auxiliary ships such as troop transports, horse ships, and supply ships are numbered with a prefix of 6, 7, or 8."

"Battleships larger than first-class cruisers that can form a battle line are numbered with a two- or three-digit number starting with the number 0."

This is a type of ship that has not yet appeared. The earliest battleship appeared in the Anglo-Dutch naval battle more than 20 years later, along with the battle line tactics.

Zhu Youjian was therefore eager to improve the Ming navy's strength, lest the gap between the Ming navy and England, the Netherlands and other countries widen after the emergence of sailing battleships.

Now, he asked the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty to imitate the galleon as quickly as possible, build several every year, and gradually improve it with the principle of small steps and fast progress, combining the advantages of the original warships to develop the Ming Dynasty's own cruiser.

Then, based on the cruisers, they experimented with battle line tactics and, in accordance with the requirements of this tactic, were the first to build battleships.

For this purpose, Zhu Youjian told all he knew about the sailing era, which made the ministers dizzy and he himself felt very confused.

However, some of the views still inspired the ministers.

Yu Zigao felt that what the emperor said about wrapping ships with copper to prevent them from being corroded by marine parasites such as barnacles and shipworms was very practical.

It is believed that after wrapping the ship in this way, a lot of damage can be reduced and maintenance costs can be lowered.

This is because the cost of doing so is very high. After all, a warship several tens of meters long is covered with copper, which consumes a lot of copper. For the Ming Dynasty, copper can be used to cast coins.

Regarding this, Zhu Youjian thought about it and said:
“We can try to make copper-clad steel and see if it can be used in the sea.”

"You can also try painting, tinning or galvanizing the steel plate."

"The price of steel is lower than that of copper."

Everyone can understand how to paint on steel plates, and the ministers also know about tin, after all, it is used more frequently in daily life.

But what zinc is, no one knows.

Xu Guangqi asked:

“What is zinc?”

"How come I have never heard of it?"

Zhu Youjian didn't know when zinc was discovered, but he knew one thing: lead and zinc are usually found together, so he said:

"Zinc is a metal that occurs with lead."

"When you mine lead ore to make lead bullets in the future, you must pay attention to refining zinc."

Xu Guangqi understood now and said:
"Your Majesty, are you talking about Japanese lead?"

"This substance is associated with lead, and is similar to lead but fierce in nature, so it is named Woyun."

"It needs to be tamed with copper, and it will turn into smoke and fly away when it enters the fire."

“This is something that was discovered in modern times.”

Zhu Youjian was very happy to hear this and said:

"Most of the lead is associated with zinc, and many lead mines are lead-zinc mines."

"From now on, Japanese lead will be renamed as metallic zinc."

"Some children's diseases are caused by zinc deficiency."

"You can arrange for someone to refine it and try to make medicine."

He doesn't know much about zinc, but he has heard a lot of advertisements for zinc supplements.

Zhu Youjian planned to let the Imperial Hospital try to treat the disease.

In addition, he also thought of a use for tinplate, which was to make cans.

This metal has another name in later generations, which is tinplate commonly used in the food industry.

If tinplate could be invented, the canning industry of the Ming Dynasty would be able to develop.

Now you can also try to make cans with other materials, such as glass and porcelain, to make sealed cans.

Zhu Youjian planned to vigorously develop the fishing industry and transport the catch from the coastal areas to the inland areas in canned form.

However, the prices of glass and porcelain are still relatively high, and it will take some time for the canning method to mature. If we want to utilize food from the ocean, we need more means.

Zhu Youjian planned to develop aquaculture along the coast, use fish meal to make feed, or even directly feed pigs with seafood, and transport live pigs to the inland.

In this way, the proteins in the ocean that are difficult to preserve can be transformed into proteins that are easier to preserve, and the population that the ocean can feed will increase dramatically.

(End of this chapter)