Win the Ding 1617

Lin Wenbing, who looks a bit like Ye Qi, has the same face as a scholar, and looks very delicate.However, if you know how fierce and aggressive he is, you will look at this young man with a smile on his face.

She was wearing a black robe with arrow sleeves, and was covered with a beige. The belt on the front of the beanie was loosely tied with a bow on the chest to prevent the sea wind from blowing.When I got off the ship, people from the General's Mansion were there to greet me at the pier, "Mr. Lin, my lord ordered me to wait here to meet you, and said that I don't need to go back to the General's Mansion after seeing you. He is at the shipyard. If your lord's journey is not very tiring , please go to the shipyard to meet the lord."

shipyard?

Lin Wenbing was a little surprised, but immediately understood.The Nanzhong Army now has a large amount of supplies coming in and out every day, which one does not rely on ships?There are also sea-going ships that need to be built to communicate with various places and cruise the sea.

I don't know what kind of ship the lord will see in person, and how much it can transport?How much is the big boat?

In the past few years, working with Ye Qi in the south of the Yangtze River, Lin Wenbing is well aware of the huge profits of sea transportation. He quietly calculated that the cost of sea transportation compared with water transportation is almost outrageously low.And like Hai Rui, Qiu Jun, a senior scholar from Qiongzhou Prefecture, proposed the idea of ​​shipping grain rice many years ago.In his opinion, sea transportation can save [-] to [-] percent of the cost compared with land transportation, and [-] to [-] percent less than river transportation.Therefore, he believes that the country cannot rely solely on river transportation, and should be supplemented by sea transportation for long-term planning. "Nowadays, the Caohe River is open to profit, and the annual fortune is full of accumulation, so there is no capital for sea transportation. However, those who are good at planning the country are always in advance of the event. They are worried about the unexpected. It is better to worry about it than to regret it." He believes Therefore, you should not be paralyzed just because the river transportation is smooth at the moment, you should plan things first, and don't wait until something happens to regret it.If one day the inland river water transportation is blocked, it is because the country's "wealth and wealth come from the southeast. If a river is connected, for example, the throat of the human body will not be able to swallow food for a day, and there will be death."

If you have a big ship, you can transport rice, refined salt, vegetable oil and other things that are almost equivalent to soil in the South and Central China, and sell them from south to north to make a profit.These few years.Since the death of the first emperor, there have been constant plagues of floods, droughts and locusts. Even if there were no such disasters, there would be an earthquake from time to time.Countless people were also displaced.

There is no need to ask for the favor of customs clearance along the way.There is no annual cost of cleaning and dredging the river.Why didn't the princes in the court know to change water transport to sea transport?

When he drank and listened to the music with several leaders of the Cao Gang, he raised these words to these people who were begging for life along the canal through the wine.Unexpectedly, it provoked a lot of banter.

"Mr. Lin. Do you know the sufferings of our Cao Gang? It is said that we blackmailed the prefectures and counties when we received the rice, but they didn't know the blackmail we would receive along the way to the north. First of all, we "crossed the Huaihe River" and submitted papers for interrogation. , as usual, there are all kinds of bad rules and benefits. A group of boats will always cost 600 taels to 1000 taels of silver. Finally, when we arrived in Tongzhou, there were more tricks. We had to vote for papers from four yamen, and someone specially handled them. Each boat was 13 taels of silver, and 50 taels were arranged in four yamen. Thirty taels were the agent’s reward. The number of people asking for money is unclear, and it will always cost three to fifty taels. So what we call blackmailing counties and counties is nothing more than going in and out. Is it impossible for the brothers to fill this hole for the Ming court with their own money?"

"That's not to mention, once there are some troubles along the way, for example, the tank boat is hit by other ships and sinks, the rice on the boat will be compensated by our brothers from the Cao Gang. If it weren't for these years, Li Xianggong, Ye Xianggong and you help the brothers of the Yancao gang and let the brothers earn some copper cash from selling salt. In this long-term famine, I don’t know how many brothers from the Cao gang will be there. If you sell your children and sell your daughters, your family will be ruined."

I see!This canal has become a way for countless people to get rich, so it is no wonder that they are willing to use sea transportation. Once the sea transportation is implemented, where will they go to extort money? !Knowing all kinds of shady scenes and disadvantages in water transport, but also strengthened Lin Wenbing's determination to ship, without him, the cost of shipping is too low!Among other things, it is also transporting a thousand stones of rice to Beijing, starting from Hangzhou and going northward along the canal. Along the way, it is constantly restricted by many factors such as water level, gates, official documents, government offices, etc., but if you go from Hangzhou You can sail out to Nigu (Tanggu) in Tianjin directly to the north, or use a river-sea dual-purpose ship like the two-masted brig currently in Nanzhong, and go directly from Beitang to the west along the Baihe River. The rice from the sea has already been sold at Chaoyangmen Wharf? !

Just because he is so keen on shipping, when he heard that Shou Han supervised the building of new ships in the shipyard, he handed over the things that could be used at any time to a personal attendant, and he repeatedly urged the two personal attendants of the general's mansion, " Hurry up! Take me to the shipyard!"

Two slipways have been recently built in the shipyard, with huge slides leading into the water.On the berth, two huge new ships are under intense construction there.

Of course, the so-called huge is also a relative term. At most, in the eyes of Lin Wenbing and Chengzheng (factory director?) Wang Quan of the shipyard, it is a huge warship.

The total length of the hull (including the bowsprit) is nearly 60 meters, and if the bowsprit is not included, it is nearly 50 meters long.

The bow is five meters long and the stern is six meters long.

The keel made of wrought iron, ductile iron and some high manganese steel has a width of 12 meters, and the workers are installing various plates and parts of the preset artillery position in an orderly manner.

"Xiao Lin, how about this boat?"

Wang Quan first spotted Lin Wenbing, greeted him loudly, and asked him what his impression of the boat was when he came up, without caring about the small talk.

"Very nice boat! Strong, strong, how much displacement?"

"After calculation, it's about 1000 tons! It can hold 1000 cannons! If it's a long-distance transport, it can carry seven to eight hundred tons of goods, and if it's a short-distance transport, it can transport more than [-] tons!"

"Uncle Wang," Lin Wenbing consciously called Wang Quan his elder. This old man also worked hard for Nanzhong's offshore foundation, so he deserves such a title.

"How do you count long-distance and short-distance? Traveling to Guangzhou is considered long-distance, and traveling to Kyushu and Nagasaki is considered long-distance?"

"Guangzhou? It should be considered a short trip?!"

Wang Quan was a little annoyed.If he regards every ship in the shipyard as his own child, then this large ship modeled after the sailing ship Gothenburg is his youngest child, so he naturally loves it very much.

He didn't care about the guard who was watching the workers nervously working on the hull, and pulled Lin Wenbing to a small room next to the slipway.

The furnishings in the room are very simple, presumably it is for Wang Quan and others to have a short rest and meeting here.There is a painting hanging on the wall, which looks like the ship that is under intense construction after it is completed, commonly known as the rendering.

The picture shows a three-masted sailing ship with square sails hanging from each mast.The main and foremast are equipped with topsail, topsail and mainsail.The mizzen has a mizzen topsail and a big triangle mizzensail.At the bow, is the bowsprit with the jib boom; suspended below that are two other squaresails: the sparsail and the spartopsail.

"Uncle Wang. This boat. How much work will it take?"

Seeing the big ship on the screen and the hull under construction outside the window, Lin Wenbing couldn't help being amazed and surprised.

"How much work did it take? It's just wood, you know what to do? Search everywhere. You can't get it together! In the end, the lord asked the two wives to write a letter home. I found teak wood from Siam. Only then can I make up enough The lumber from which the ship was built!"

Go to the berth and observe the ship up close. The main body of the ship has been roughly completed.The hull is covered with teak planks of different thicknesses.The long strips of supporting timber in the bilge are particularly thick and strong.They are used to stiffen the boat longitudinally, where the hull is especially stressed as it bends upwards from the bottom.The beam support timbers are also thick - they run along the inside of the hull and support more than 100 heavy deck beams (which alternately support the wooden deck).The deck beams weigh 1 metric ton each and are hoisted into the hull by special lifting equipment.The inner cladding of the hull bottom and sidewalls is ornamental and does not belong to any specialized pressure-bearing component.

"My lord, it takes a lot of money to build such a big ship!"

Hearing what Wang Quan said just now, in order to raise wood for building the ship, Shou Han even asked his cheap father-in-law to collect teak wood from Siam.

"How much consumption? Wang Chengzheng will tell you the specific figure!" Shouhan smiled wryly. He thought it would be easy to build a navy, but he didn't expect to spend so much effort to build a Gothenburg!Why can other traversers create a navy that can easily fight across several oceans?

Talent (mainly sailors, gunners and captains), ships, artillery all seem to be out of the question!

"More than 4000 square meters of high-quality teak wood. 50 tons of steel, 10,000 nails, 25 bolts and other materials, 9 tons of ropes, including 2,000 tons of anchor cables, and [-] square meters of cloth sails."

Like telling his child's birth date, Wang Quan fluently told the material consumption of this boat.

If Shouhan hadn't developed a series of unnatural industrial projects such as small blast furnaces and fruit-mounted textile machines before, the two numbers of steel and canvas would have made him look better.

Lin Wenbing clicked his tongue when he heard this, and wanted to say something, but seeing that Shouhan's eyes were only on the construction on the berth, he also turned his attention to the ship construction site.

Currently laying the hull.This link is the outer cladding of the teak longitudinal plank sections of the hull.Install from the bottom of the keel, one row at a time.When installed, the hull planks are laid tightly edge to edge - a laying method that smoothes the exterior surface and is called galley lining.The teak planks forming the external longitudinal reinforcement are called battens.After each plank has been processed, it is hoisted into the predetermined position and fixed with clamps.Holes are also made for wood screws that need to be drilled for embedding.Packs of tarred linen yarn, known as 'badding', have been wrapped around the tips of teak screws and the nail holes, which are plugged with teak plugs glued in here.

After the hull planking and internal equipment were installed, more than 3 80-centimeter-long nails carefully manufactured by the Taipingdong Arsenal were driven into the hull and riveted on the inside.A total of more than 30 tons of steel and iron were used in the shipbuilding project, including keels, tens of thousands of ship nails, and edge strips. In addition to the huge keel weighing more than 250 tons, the heaviest forged parts are 80 ship knees .Each weighs [-] kilograms and is used to fix the deck to the hull. This item consumes a full [-] tons of steel.

As for the more than 30 artillery pieces of the size of the ship, they are not included.

"Wen Bing, how about this boat?"

Boarding the new boat that has been built, blowing the wind from the sea, and smelling the smell of paint that has not dissipated, Shouhan is also in a good mood.These days, he has already talked with Lin Wenbing, planning to send him to the capital to open a branch of Han Yuan Company.certainly.In Beijing, it is called the Longsheng.

"Good boat!"

Lin Wenbing praised loudly.

He praised in his mouth, but his eyes kept staring at the several sailors who were experiencing the rudder wheel of this new ship, and they were slowly experiencing the rudder wheel.Familiarize yourself with the handling of this boat.

In addition to using ductile iron as the keel of the ship.There was one other difference with this boat.A rudder wheel and tiller line are used.Improved ship handling performance.The rudder weighed a little over four tons and was mounted on six solid pivots, the rings on the sternpost.Aided by the large twin rudder wheels on the weather deck.The rudder works.The double steering wheel is 4 meters in diameter and consists of two completely parallel steering wheels with spokes, which are normally operated by two helmsmen.In extreme weather conditions such as strong winds and waves at sea, it is necessary to increase to four helmsmen.Between these rudder wheels the drum was fitted, around which the tiller rope was wound and passed through pulleys in the corners to the tiller on the lower deck.The tiller line had to be strong and durable—it was made from the hides of twenty big men's bred buckskins.The tiller consists of two metal parts, 1.7 meters long; the two parts are joined together to form an extremely stable structure.

"The gun positions and sails are in place, please give the ship a name, my lord!"

Wang Quan took the pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and respectfully placed them on the long table in the cabin, which will be used by the captain to consult the chart and write the logbook in the future.

"In the future, such a ship will be named after the provincial capital of the mainland and the city where our Nanzhong administrative offices are located! This is the first ship, so it will be named Guangzhou!"

While talking, Shou Han's really unflattering calligraphy was splashed on the fine rice paper, and two characters as big as a bowl, Guangzhou, appeared vividly on the paper.

"Wen Bing, I have an errand for you."

"Please tell me, my lord!"

"The short-distance and long-distance trials of this ship will be handed over to you. After completing this errand, this ship will send you north."

On the ninth day of November in the third year of Chongzhen, the copycat version of the Gothenburg began its maiden voyage.

Go north to Guangzhou.

The ship didn't carry too many things, except for a thousand tons of rice, it was ten tons of wrought iron.In addition, there are some sundries on board, including twenty Dafolang machines, six eight-pound guns, two Cron guns, and two forty-pound mortar guns.Of course, these are all for self-defense to prevent encountering pirates along the way.

Accompanied by six blessing boats.

"Leave the mooring! Lift the anchor!"

A few days ago, the Guangzhou, which had just slid down the berth slowly, started its sailing career at the voice of this password.

"Raise the mainsail!"

More than 100 sailors on the ship began to get busy, some were operating the rigging, some were throwing the chain rope into the sea, preparing to test the speed of the new ship.The bosun and first mate were on the bow of the Guangzhou, using the sextant in their hands to measure the course.

One of the requirements for this northward trial voyage is that the coastal islands should not be used as reference objects for navigation, and the route and location must be calculated through the sextant.

These people on the ship were arguing fiercely there to determine the location of the ship based on their own calculation results, while Lin Wenbing sat alone in his cabin in a daze.Shou Han said very clearly that the short-distance trial voyage went to Guangzhou, so where is the best place to go for the long-distance voyage?

Going to Fusang?Carry a boatload of rice and exchange it for red copper, gold, silver, sulfur, etc.?Or go to Cotton Island, transport the rough rolling sugar there back to the sugar house, and they will refine it to make snow-like white granulated sugar, and then sell it to the inland or those Fusang dwarfs and red hairy people?

However, it seems impossible to achieve the effect of both testing the ship and training the sailors!These routes, whether going east to Fusang, or going south to Miandao or even Little Luzon, are all sea routes that sailors are familiar with, and cannot fully implement the Lord's intention.Moreover, just exchanging some gold and silver items does not show my means!

Tangled all the way, the ship arrived at Guangzhou Port within a few days. The big and small people of the Shibo Division have long been used by the people of the Hanyuan firm to "approach them with prestige and kindness, and understand them with reason and move them with affection." After seeing the arrival of this new ship, which had never been seen before, and only seeing the flag of the Hanyuan company hanging on the mast, he ordered the Department of Shipping to The soldiers drove the small boats to make way for the big boat.

Li Peiting, who is the general representative here, delivered the goods on board, especially when the Guangzhou ship unloaded a thousand tons of rice and ten tons of steel as ballast, Peiting's eyes were full of silver light In Shining, it is unavoidable to have a big banquet to compete with Lin Wenbing for wine and meat.

"The end of the year is approaching, and there will be a spring famine soon, which is a good opportunity for rice prices to rise. News from various places. In Guangdong, Fujian, and Guangxi, the treasury is not full, and there is a shortage of military supplies and food for the people. Some people will make trouble. In the past few years, there have been a lot of troubles like this in Guangdong and Fujian!"

As a guest invited by Li Peiting to accompany him.Eunuch Qian Yaoming has gained a lot of weight.While talking, the little eunuch serving beside him kept wiping the oil stains from the corners of his mouth and the sweat from his forehead with a silk towel.

"Thanks to the fact that Mr. Li is here to take care of this provincial capital, otherwise, I'm afraid there will be thieves!"

What Qian Yaoming said was not a lie. Ever since Chongzhen came to the throne, his fate was really bad. It just happened to catch up with the Little Ice Age, which happened once in a century, and various natural disasters continued to be refurbished.

The crops in the field are gone, and the houses in the village have collapsed, but the people are still there.When people are alive, they need to eat every day when they open their eyes, but where does the food come from?Where does the money to buy food come from?

Then, the grass-headed king came out!

Small groups blocked roads, robbed roads, beat sap sticks, and carried dead dogs; large groups gathered in the mountains and forests, robbed houses, and even ransacked villages.Such incidents are not uncommon in neighboring Fujian, Jiangxi and other places. Even in northern Guangdong, it is common to hear bandits looting good people.

Now, a total of about [-] tons of rice transported by Lin Wenbing's fleet is put into the market around the end of the new year. Not only can the bigwigs in Guangdong's official circles earn money for the new year, but it also plays a role in the stability and stability of the Pearl River Delta region. The decisive role is that the price of rice is low, and it is easy to survive. If people can survive, who will put their head on the waistband of their trousers?

Officials have also made money on the trade.It is no longer enough to describe the profits made by the officials. Not to mention, Qian Yaoming, who is indistinguishable from Li Peiting, has taken the oiran sisters Da Xia and Xi Xia from the Pearl River into his house as concubines. concubine.

Hearing that Mr. Lin in front of him will go north to the capital soon, Eunuch Qian immediately patted his chest and assured, "Lin Xianer, you are a good brother who came from the same school as Mr. Li's second son. Our family also burned yellow paper with the Li family brother. Jitou's friendship, you just need to rest assured and take care of your business first. When will you go north to the capital? Our family also has a few god-brothers in the capital. I will write to you and bring them with you. When you arrive in the capital, hand them over to them. They will naturally take care of you. you!"

Hearing this, Lin Wenbing naturally raised his glass to toast, and thanked Eunuch Qian well. As a last resort, a few precious stones from India slipped into Eunuch Qian's pocket on his waist.

After sending away the drunk Eunuch Qian, Li Peiting and Lin Wenbing sat down and ordered someone to make a new pot of tea. They sat opposite each other under the lamp, drinking tea and talking.

Li Peiting couldn't help but be fascinated by the exciting introduction to the new ship Guangzhou.

"Damn it! My lord spent so much money to build this boat. It's a godsend to transport rice to Guangdong! You should go to Tianzhu! Go there and grab these," he played with his fate Lin Wenbing brought him a thumb-sized gem, "grab these gems, and then go to the capital and Nanjing. I will also help you in Guangzhou. After one trip, the cost of your boat is also [-]% Just come out!"

"Go to Tianzhu?"

Lin Wenbing's mind skipped a beat. It seemed that Li Peiting's suggestion was correct. The journey to Tianzhu was relatively long, which met the requirements for long-distance trial voyages; everyone was not familiar with the route to Tianzhu, so it was good to practice sailors. Moreover, this Along the way, there are strongholds of troops from the South China Army.Thinking about it, even if there is something to do, it will be much easier to handle.

"Second son, thank you for your advice. I will get up in three days and go back to Nanzhong to report this matter to the lord. After that, I will raise supplies and go to Tianzhu Telugu!" (To be continued...)

ps: Continue to ask for collections and monthly tickets!