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Moreover, the most serious thing is that the largest caliber of China's ship cannons are only one-quarter of the cannons of European warships such as Britain and the Netherlands. The "King of the Sea" battleship built by Britain in 1637 AD has 104 cannons of various calibers, weighing a total of 153 tons, with an average of more than 2,000 kilograms per cannon according to the Ming Dynasty. The red cannons bought by Xu Guangqi and others from Macau, as well as the red-clothed cannons currently copied by Zhang Zhun, were salvaged from the British sunken warship.

Although Zhang Zhun was unwilling to admit this cruel reality, he felt that he was too behind and was very uncomfortable. However, after calming down, he had to admit that judging from the cold data, there were huge gaps in the scale, weapons and various technologies of the Chinese and Western maritime warships, which led to a passive situation in dealing with maritime invasions. The maritime armed conflicts between China and the West occurred along the coast of China in the early Ming and Ming dynasties, and the gates of China were already full of smoke.

Zheng Zhilong has no time to pay attention to him for the time being, and should be busy fighting with foreigners. At this moment, the warships of Western powers are constantly appearing in Southeast Asia and East Asia, trying to occupy the entire East. From this perspective, Zheng Zhilong is not a complete bad guy. At least, he is fighting hard, trying not to let foreign forces intervene in China's territorial waters.

"Let's go and see the drawings of the Dragon God Ship!"

Zhang Zhun said with a little excitement.

"OK!"

Xue Zhidie replied with a smile.

She didn't know why Zhang Zhun was so happy and was so interested in the large warships. Xue Zhidie had never understood why Zhang Zhun spared so much effort in the navy. At first, she thought that Zhang Zhun liked her beauty and pleased her. Later, she found that she must have thought wrong. Zhang Zhun really valued the navy, not caring about her. However, as long as Zhang Zhun praised her efforts, she was always happy.

The group returned to Caidiexuan, and Xue Zhidie found the drawings one by one. She described these drawings by herself, and sometimes Yun Pei and Xue Ningying would also help. This is also the reason why Caidiexuan is very cautious. There are indeed too many secrets here.

There are really a lot of drawings about the Dragon God Ship, at least a few hundred. Xue Zhidie has reorganized the original design drawings, absorbed some useful theories of the lucky ship and the treasure ship, and made more appropriate improvements to the original Dragon God Ship design.

The treasure ship is a flat-bottomed ship, while the Dragon God Ship is a pointed-bottomed ship. There are some differences between the draft and water pressure between the two sides. In fact, both the flat-bottomed ship and the pointed-bottomed ship have their own advantages and disadvantages. For this reason, Xue Zhidie designed the bottom of the Dragon God Ship into a U-shaped shape instead of the traditional V-shaped shape. At the same time, the bottom of the ship is greatly widened, while the deck is greatly reduced.

The purpose of this is to make the upper and lower heavy, which is more conducive to the stability of the ship. Because the red cannon has strong recoil after all. Especially when the volley is fired, the recoil is very strong. If the upper and lower light is light, it is easy to overturn. In fierce naval battles, the warships require the rapid maneuvering of the warship, and the hull will often tilt. In this way, the risk of overturning is even higher during the maneuvering process.

There is another huge advantage in reducing the deck area, which is to reduce the chance of hitting the enemy shells. In case of fighting with the enemy, because the deck area is small and the number of enemies coming up is not many, the Hu Ben Army can completely destroy the enemy. It can be said that these designs are entirely for the needs of battle. As for the functions of merchant ships, they have been completely cancelled.

In fact, the Dragon God Ship, with a displacement of only 600 tons, is not considered a behemoth. In Zhang Zhun's eyes, at best, it is a frigate-level existence, and even a battleship cannot be considered a battleship. According to the British classification standards that year, those with displacement of more than 1,000 tons can be called a battleship. Even if the Tiger Army Navy has a Dragon God Ship, it is not considered a real battleship.

Specifically, first-class battleships must include a three-layer gun deck, with more than 100 artillery pieces, with a sailor capacity of more than 875 people, with a displacement of 2,500-3,500 tons. Second-class battleships must include a three-layer gun deck, with a number of 90-98 artillery pieces, with a displacement of about 750 people, with a displacement of more than 2,000 tons. Third-class battleships must include a second- to third-layer gun deck, with a number of 64-80 artillery pieces, with a displacement of about 490-720 people, with a displacement of about 1,300-2,000 tons.

The fourth-class battleship generally has only two layers of gun decks, the number of artillery is only 50-56, the sailors are rated at about 350 people, and the displacement is more than 1,000 tons. Those with displacement are less than 1,000 tons, which can only be called frigates, cruisers, patrol boats, etc. The largest warships in the Ming Dynasty belong to these inequality ranks.

“Our boat is still a little small.”

Zhang Zhun said a little greedy.

"You want something bigger!"

Xue Zhidie asked meaningfully.

“The bigger the better.”

Zhang Zhun said without hesitation.

"Then look at this."

Xue Zhidie took out a brand new drawing.

“Huh?”

After Zhang Zhun saw it, his expression suddenly moved slightly.

It turns out that this is a large-scale warship designed by Xue Zhidie, with a displacement of up to 1,200 tons! According to Xue Zhidie's design, the ship will be fully loaded with red cannons, and its firepower will be more fierce than that of the Dragon God Ship. Although the current drawings are not very complete and some details are still blank, Xue Zhidie has enough time to accumulate more experience on the basis of building the Dragon God Ship, thereby further improving the design of the King God Ship.

In fact, the drawings are fine and the design is fine. The key is money. According to Xue Zhidie's report, the actual cost of each sword-tooth ship has exceeded one thousand taels of silver. The cost of the Dragon God Ship is definitely more than two thousand taels of silver. If it is a larger King Kong ship, the cost may exceed four thousand taels of silver. The larger the size of the warship, the larger the weapons it is equipped, and the higher the requirements for wood, the cost will naturally rise with the water.

The above cost is the cost of the hull, not including the configuration costs of all cannons and other navigational instruments, riggings, sailing tools, and anchors. The cost of cannons is quite high. The more cannons are configured, the higher the cost of the warship. This has not yet calculated the maintenance costs of the warship after the warship is put into service. Otherwise, the navy is piled up with white silver?

I remember that the "Gothenburg" warship made by the Kingdom of Sweden spent one-sixth of the Swedish treasury. It can be seen how expensive the warships were. Even Britain, which once claimed to be the empire of the sun never set, had only a dozen first-class battleships at its peak. In the waters of East Asia, if there were more than a dozen Dragon God Ships, they would have learned to walk. However, there is still a long distance from the world's maritime battle. As the saying goes, there is still a long way to go!

“Try to make money!”

Zhang Zhun waved his hands vigorously.

If you want to make the navy strong, the first task is to earn money. Without money, everything is useless. However, Shandong's resources have basically been developed. If you want to make money, you can only do it from the sea or from other places. Zhang Zhun's gold fingers, fine salt, glass and so on are basically used up.

If there is no extra money, it is impossible to build the Hu Ben Army Navy. The current extra money of the Hu Ben Army is either looting or monopoly. The looting is one-time and it also hurts a lot to its image. The robbery is all its own people. Unless it is a looting of the treasury of the people. Only the monopoly profit is the greatest.

At present, the Hu Ben Army has monopolized the refined salt business. What will it next? Of course, it is maritime trade. The era of great navigation has just begun, and the profits of maritime trade are definitely rich. I won’t talk about traditional porcelain, silk, medicinal materials, tea, etc., if you can get a share of the spices, the income will be even richer.

"Brother Yulin, is it okay for me to go to Yangzhou with Sister Feifei?"

Xue Ningying suddenly said.

"You're going to Yangzhou?"

"good!"

Zhang Zhun pondered for a moment and quickly agreed.

Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce should be a good opportunity.

The legendary Yangzhou's big salt merchants are all rich enough to compete with the country. Even the poorest people have a net worth of more than one million taels of silver. The most fat salt merchants are said to have a net worth of more than three million taels of silver. This value is almost the same as the national treasury. When Zhang Zhun thought of the cost of naval warships, he wanted to go to Yangzhou immediately, confiscate the homes of those big salt merchants, and devote all the white silver to the construction of warships, and produce countless large warships like dumplings.

"Thank you, Brother Yulin!"

Xue Ningying said excitedly.

"Xiaoying..."

Xue Zhidie said questioningly.

"Sister won't go there for me!"

Xue Ningying pouted her mouth and said unhappily.

Now she is in a bad mood and cannot hear other people's advice. In the words of later generations, she is in a rebellious period. She is a little dissatisfied with Xue Zhidie's words. She feels that she has been under control and oppressed before, but now she finally has the opportunity to break through the shackles and become a new person. She doesn't need to continue listening to you anymore.

Xue Zhidie was originally Xue Ningying's aunt, and she usually called her in front and behind her. Once, Zhang Zhun didn't know what kind of nerves she was, so he looked at Xue Zhidie for a while, then looked at Xue Ningying for a while, and then said inexplicably: "Don't call me aunt, it seems that your aunt is so old, so it's better to call her sister."

For the women around him, Zhang Zhun's words were basically an imperial edict. Zhang Zhun said casually, and Shen Lingfei was busy. Anyway, the age difference between the two women was not very big, so Shen Lingfei instigated them to change their words, one was called sister and the other was called sister. Xue Ningying was naturally the best. She didn't have to be shorter and agreed immediately.

Xue Zhidie actually didn't want to be called aunt everywhere at a young age. The word aunt does look a little old. In fact, she is only one year older than Yang Yinghan. Xue Ningying and other women are all sisters, and she is also sisters. It is indeed a bit inappropriate to insert an aunt out in the middle. So Xue Zhidie agreed. So, the aunt became an older sister and the niece became a younger sister.

"It's time to eat!"

Yun Pei came over and said that lunch was ready.

After walking for a long time, Zhang Zhun was indeed hungry. She put down the drawings, returned to the dining table, greeted her casually, and sat down to have a meal. Xue Zhidie was also tired and lowered her head to eat.

Only Xue Ningying stroked her jade necklace and earrings, and she had no intention of eating at all. She had not had the excitement yet. Her dark eyes were rolling, and she didn't know what to do. She suddenly said, "Brother Yulin, Sister Feifei is going to ***, and I want to go too."

Zhang Zhun said casually: "Didn't you go to the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce?"

Xue Ningyingxing said diligently: "Didn't you ask Sister Feifei to go to the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce? Didn't she come back from *** and go again? I will follow her wherever she goes!"

Zhang Zhun said it was indeed the case. He asked Shen Lingfei to go to the ***, mainly to see if he could buy sulfur from there. At the same time, he also touched the bottom of the *** people, indirectly contacted the Zheng Zhilong Pirate Military Group, and at the same time touched the bottom of the Zheng Zhilong Pirate Military Group. The next step of the Tiger Army is very likely to have a conflict with the two.

The market of *** has always been controlled by Zheng Zhilong's pirate military group. If Zhang Zhun wants to get a piece of the pie, he must fight Zheng Zhilong. Zheng Zhilong's current attention should be in Southeast Asia, and he can only take a defensive position against ***. This is an opportunity for the Hu Ben Army Navy. If he missed this opportunity, when Zheng Zhilong reached an agreement with the Western powers and mobilized troops to the north, the Hu Ben Army would face great pressure.

The Dabai Fleet will also follow Shen Lingfei to ***. However, the Dabai Fleet's purpose is not to cause trouble, but to hide in the caravan and take the opportunity to occupy Jeju Island. After the Dabai Fleet occupy Jeju Island, the subsequent transport fleet will unload cement on it, and then use the local stone and other resources of Jeju Island to build a dock and bunker, and firmly control Jeju Island in its own hands.

The geographical location of Jeju Island is very important. Jeju Island, which lies across the Pacific Ocean, has an area of ​​more than 1,800 square kilometers, which is equivalent to a county under Zhang Jun's rule. The island has a lot of stone resources, which is conducive to the construction of various sturdy military buildings. Cement, stone, mortar, mixed with each other, is extremely solid concrete.

Zhang Jun has agreed with the North Korean side to temporarily borrow Jeju Island. In fact, Jeju Island is not considered a territory of North Korea. In name, Jeju Island does belong to the Kingdom of Korea. In fact, the North Koreans do not have effective jurisdiction here. Jeju Island has always been the place where North Korean exiled prisoners and has no permanent residents. In essence, this Jeju Island is a bit like Dongfan Island (Taiwan), and it feels that it is optional for people on the mainland.

However, from a military strategic perspective, Jeju Island is very important. Geographically speaking, Jeju Island is less than 2,000 miles away from Osaka, the highest distance (989 kilometers), less than 2,000 miles away from the Ryukyu Islands, and less than 1,000 miles away from Songjiang Prefecture (i.e., Shanghai) (499 kilometers).

If the Hu Ben Army built a supply port, or a military fortress, and established a remote pigeon communication system here, Jeju Island would become a never-sinking sea fortress. This would be very beneficial for the Hu Ben Army to develop towards the future, towards Dongfan Island, to Jiangnan, and to directly occupy the Ryukyu Islands.

For the people of the ***, the Hu Ben Army controlled Jeju Island, which was equivalent to placing cannons at their doorstep. The people of the *** may not feel the pressure that Jeju Island has brought to them for the time being, but as the number of Navy warships of the Hu Ben Army continued to increase, they would slowly taste the feeling of being pushed by the sharp blades on their throats.

*** After experiencing the Warring States Period, it has just been pacified and entered the so-called Tokugawa Shogunate era. In fact, the current Tokugawa Shogunate rule is not very stable, and there are still many forces opposing the Tokugawa Shogunate in various places. It is just that they cannot fight against the increasingly powerful Tokugawa family and finally surrender. If the Tiger Army had a kick at this time, it would have been possible to put the *** people in a *** situation again.

A stable political situation has never been beneficial to China. The best way is to let them break themselves apart, then kill each other, and then continue to sell arms to them. If the Warring States Period will never end, they will never be able to pose a real threat to China. Of course, it would be even better if it was possible to dismember *** into several small countries that were hostile to each other.

For Zhang Zhun, there is another direct benefit to controlling the ***, that is, the famous Shijian Yinshan Mountain. Shijian Yinshan Mountain is the largest silver mine. The annual mining volume is more than one million taels, and it has been mined for more than 400 years. A large amount of pure silver flowed into Zheng Zhilong's pocket, and some of it fell into the hands of Western powers. However, the Ming Dynasty's own people didn't get much. Of course, this is not enough. There is such a silver mountain placed at the door of his house, and I'm really sorry for not snatching it.

However, at present, the power of the Hu Ben Navy cannot be too ostentatious, cannot occupy Jeju Island in a mighty way, and cannot go directly to *** and rob Shi Jian Yinshan. Once Zheng Zhilong's attention is attracted and he is prompted to mobilize troops north, it will be more than worth the loss. Therefore, it is enough to achieve the goal of controlling Jeju Island in a low-key manner. Other actions will be discussed later. He is not strong enough now, and he has to hold his tail and be a human being.

"OK!"

"You go to *** with Feifei!"

Zhang Zhun thought for a moment and said cheerfully.

The little girl couldn't wait to grow up, she couldn't wait to see the outside world, and she couldn't wait to leave her sister (aunt). This feeling was completely understandable. He was also very rebellious when he was a teenager. There should be no danger in going to ****, just treat it as **** travel.
Chapter completed!