Smuggling Daming

The Portuguese envoys such as Da Gama were warmly received by Zhengde, and Zhou Zhong also warmly entertained a group of Europeans. These people are European craftsmen headed by Chilawa.

In an open area of ​​the Beigang shipyard, tables of sumptuous banquets were set up. Zhou Zhong pulled Chilawa and several foremen of the shipyard to sit on the head seat. Other ordinary craftsmen sat casually at the surrounding tables, eating big mouthfuls Drinking meat, talking loudly, and even a lot of people were yelling and punching, the scene was very hot.

"Chilawa, I would like to offer you a toast on behalf of the Governor's Mansion of the World. After such a long period of hard work, our first Warren warship is finally about to be launched. As long as it passes the test voyage, the army's order will come down immediately, and it won't take long. In [-], the entire navy of the Ming Dynasty will be replaced by warships, and by then your name will not only be recorded in the annals of our Ming Dynasty, but also become the most dazzling master shipbuilder in the whole of Europe!" Zhou Zhong raised his wine glass at this time , excitedly said to Chilawa beside him.

Last year, Chilawa had designed the Valen ship and started construction. Now many merchant ships of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce have used this better and safer Valen ship, but these The ships are all merchant ships, and there is still a lot of gap with real warships, so Zhou Zhong asked Chilawa to find a way to improve the Warren ship and design a real Warren ship. Today, the warship is finally launched , Zhou Zhong personally participated in the launching ceremony of the warship named "Sihai", and then held a banquet in the shipyard to celebrate Chilawa and the others.

Chilawa heard Zhou Zhong's praise, especially the following few words.His eyes widened, and finally he stood up and said in weird Chinese: "Thank you, Governor, for your praise. The reason why I was able to complete the design and construction of this warship is inseparable from the support of the Governor. Therefore, the successful launch of the Four Seas is also due to the governor!"

After living in Shuangyu Port for nearly two years, Chilawa not only speaks Chinese fluently, but also has a lot of habits of Han people, such as the construction of the Four Seas this time.He very modestly attributed his credit to Zhou Zhong. This kind of change is not good, but it can't be said to be bad, after all, it allows Chilawa and the others to better integrate into Ming Dynasty.

After listening to Chilawa's words, Zhou Zhong laughed, patted him on the shoulder and toasted again, and the other people at the wine table did not let go.Everyone ate the meal happily, and in the end many people passed out, including Chilawa.

However, Zhou Zhong didn't drink too much. After he sent the drunk Chilawa and others back to rest, he came to the side of the Four Seas by himself, after the launching ceremony just now.The ship was not immediately put out to sea for sea trials because it was a warship.The pilots are also selected from the army.

The operation of the Warren battleship is similar to that of the Portuguese battleship, so the personnel for the sea trial are all selected from the Ming soldiers on the Portuguese battleship. It’s just that those soldiers heard that a new ship will be tested, and its performance is better than that of the Portuguese warship. It was rushing to come, but there were too many people who signed up, and they would not be able to be selected for a while.It is estimated that the soldiers for the sea trial will not be selected until tomorrow morning at the latest.

When the guards of the Four Seas saw Zhou Zhong coming, they immediately stood up and saluted.Zhou Zhong returned the gift with a smile.Regarding the army under his command, Zhou Zhong immediately made major reforms after the Battle of Malacca. First of all, the weak were eliminated, the general household system was abolished, and it was changed to a military system. That is to say, soldiers in the army are no longer obligatory. For military service, they use money to serve as soldiers, and they can receive a large amount of military pay every month, which is enough for them to support their whole family. If there is a war, there will also be war bonuses, which can be said to be very generous.

Of course, it’s not enough to just improve the salary. After all, this is the army, so while improving the salary of the sergeants, Zhou Zhong’s training for the soldiers is also stricter. They have to practice every day, and it’s rain or shine. In Zhou Zhong’s own words, Even if there is a knife in the sky, the drill should continue as usual.

Strict or even harsh drills scared off a group of people, but the generous treatment of the Four Seas Navy attracted more people to join. After all, in the era of Daming, too many people could not eat a full meal, and many Instead of watching the whole family go hungry, it is better to fight in the army by yourself. If you are lucky, you will be promoted and your salary will be raised. If you are unlucky, if you die in battle, the Governor's Mansion will also give you a big pension, enough for the whole family to eat for a few years , so it doesn't matter what counts.

Zhou Zhong patted the solid shoulders of the guards, and then stepped onto the Four Seas.The Four Seas is about 50 feet long, that is, more than 88 meters. It has four masts. The entire hull is long and narrow, and it uses the watertight cabin of the Fuchuan. It has five long decks, a high poop, and a draft of six meters. , has excellent battery life.There are forty cannons on both sides of the ship's side, plus eight cannons at the head and tail, a total of [-] cannons. During combat, the hull can be turned horizontally to better utilize the artillery capabilities of the battleship. This is very similar to the battleships of later generations. So Zhou Zhong called this type of warship a battleship.

Zhou Zhong strolled around the deck, and then went down to the decks on each floor to pat the dark and sturdy cannons. The entire battleship had an unprecedented 88 cannons. This astonishing number has far surpassed those of the Portuguese warships. Yes, and according to Chilawa, in fact, the entire battleship can carry more artillery, even reaching more than 100 guns. It’s just because this is the first Warren battleship, and all performance is speculative, so the ship’s Only then did the number of artillery pieces be reduced as much as possible.

Although the Four Seas has not yet passed the real sea trial, Zhou Zhong has full confidence in it. After all, this warship is originally an improved Valen ship. The businessmen are very jealous, but unfortunately the shipyard's shipbuilding capacity is limited. Although Zhou Zhong has opened several branch factories, he still cannot solve the production problem in a short period of time, so it will take several years for this kind of ship to be widely promoted.

With those civilian Warren ships as examples, there is no reason why this improved Warren warship will not work. At most, there will be some minor problems in some aspects. This is unavoidable, but as long as there are people like Chilawa, plus Skilled craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty will always come up with ways to improve it, so Zhou Zhong is also very optimistic about the prospects of the Warren warship. He has even seen the scene of the Daming Navy sailing across the sea on this kind of warship.

Zhou Zhong stayed on the Four Seas for a long time by himself. He didn't get off the ship until dusk, and then ordered the guards to take good care of it. No one was allowed to board the ship without his warrant. After all, this is a warship, not a merchant ship, and he can't be careless at any time. .

Back home, I had dinner with Jinxuan, Lingyun and the others. At this time, Tiantian had just darkened, and it seemed too early to go to bed. This was the only thing that Zhou Zhong was not used to, and that was that there were too few means of entertainment. There was nothing to do after dinner, so in the end he had to come up with some entertainment facilities of later generations, such as mahjong and playing cards, which are already the most popular toys in the family, and I don’t know how it got out, and now it has spread to the whole Shuangyu In Hong Kong, there is even a tendency to spread outwards. It is estimated that within two years, the sound of rubbing hemp and throwing cards will be heard throughout Daming.

Today is no exception. Everyone sat together after dinner. Among them, Jinxuan played mahjong with Lingyun, Mengwan, and Zhuoer, while Zhou Zhong played cards with two little girls, Duoer and Qingqing. The girl is always playing tricks, but this does not prevent them from having a good time.

"Uncle, can I sleep with my aunt tonight?" Qingqing who was playing cards suddenly asked Zhou Zhong.

"Uh? Why, don't you always sleep with Duo'er?" Zhou Zhong asked a little strangely. Qingqing's mother, Jun Wan, has been helping Zhou Zhong with the affairs of the chamber of commerce, and now she has become the second only to Sanniang in the chamber of commerce. Character, some time ago there was a problem with North Korea's business, Junwan asked for orders to deal with it in person, so Qingqing was handed over to Mengwan to take care of her, but Qingqing and Duo'er had the best relationship, so the two slept together at night Together.

"I don't sleep with Duo'er, she kept telling ghost stories last night, I'm scared!" Qingqing glared at Duo'er and said.

"It's because you are timid. You see, I'm not afraid!" Duo'er smiled and puffed up her small chest. The five or six-year-old girl is just when she is mischievous, and it is possible to scare the timid Qingqing with ghost stories. Let Duoer feel a sense of accomplishment, that's why she is so proud.

"Hmph, big villain Duo'er, I won't sleep with you tonight, maybe that female ghost with green hair will run to you." Qingqing counterattacked not to be outdone, it seems that the ghost with green hair The female ghost is the protagonist in the ghost story of the two little girls.

Zhou Zhong laughed when he heard this, stopped the bickering between the two little girls, and also agreed to Qingqing's small request.But Zhou Zhong soon regretted it, because after the evening entertainment, he could not go to sleep with Mengwan, but could only go to Jinxuan or Lingyun, but both women said that it was inconvenient for them to be pregnant, and they also Worried that Zhou Zhong would hurt the child by disturbing his sleep at night, they finally drove Zhou Zhong out of the room by coincidence.

In desperation, Zhou Zhong had no choice but to go back to the study alone. It seems that he will sleep alone again today. If he had known this before, he should mediate the conflict between Qingqing and Duo'er.

However, not long after Zhou Zhong fell asleep, he was suddenly awakened by a rapid knock on the door, which made him a little strange. When he walked to the side and opened the door, he found a maid standing outside the door, and said to him with a face full of panic. : "Master, Mrs. Bai is injured, please go to the front hall to have a look!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation. )