"Eliminating evil is a matter of perseverance. You cannot slack off at all. I will continue to do it after I leave." After Hou Xuanyan boarded the ship, he said to the officials who saw him off.

After seeing the newly built warship, he couldn't wait to take a test ride, so Zhang Mingzhen had to summon the best skilled boatman and start the first time the new ship entered the water.

Everyone bid farewell to each other, Hou Xuanyan returned to the ship. This was a new type of warship, covered with iron sheets, and all twelve sails were supported, so they could rush into the sea.

Starting from the mouth of Wusong River, he went up the river to Yangzhou, and Zhang Mingzhen accompanied him to experiment with the performance of the new ship.

Sure enough, the boat was fast and smooth. Put a pot of tea on the deck and poured it into a bowl. Slight ripples appeared in the center.

Zhang Mingzhen laughed and said, "Duke, this is the best emperor's sword, and it is baked by the best tea master in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province. The salary of the subordinates can drink this time in a year. You can taste it."

Hou Xuanyan picked up the tea bowl, gudong and drank it all in one go. Zhang Mingzhen's face turned green and he looked at him with a dark face.

"What kind of tea is broken? It doesn't quench your thirst. I'm asking me to tell you that this ship is really good." After saying that, he stood up, stroked the mast, and exclaimed: "This ship should be able to go out to sea and ocean, right?"

Zhang Mingzhen cheered up and suppressed his heartache, saying, "This ship was built by Hongmao Fan, which was invited to a lot of money. According to them, it can sail to the other end of the ocean."

"Did you make the cannons on the ship yourself or buy them from foreigners?"

When Zhang Mingzhen heard this, he complained: "The quality of the cannons we made ourselves is almost the same as that of the other people, but we can make a red cannon ourselves, which costs more than twice the silver we bought directly. Therefore, most of the cannons on the warships were bought, and half were survived by Zheng Zhilong before, and only one or two were made by ourselves."

Hou Xuan Yanqi said: "Why do we have to spend more silver?"

Zhang Minzhen's limited understanding is mostly what Yao Yiyao told him. After thinking for a while, he said, "It seems that our steel is not qualified. Deputy General Yao is not satisfied. He always says it is easy to use by other people. But he has already started to improve the smelting process."

Hou Xuanyan probably understood that it was a problem of incomplete basic industrial facilities, which led to the fact that he wanted to produce military industry directly, but he wanted to run away without learning to leave. In this way, Yao Yiyao did it right, but military industry cannot rely entirely on outbound purchases. Now the navy is not involved in the battle. Once the fight starts, the number of people relying on outbound purchases will definitely increase the price. And no matter which country it is, it is a minority who can be transported here. After all, it is a minority. If you really have to buy military industry, you can't fight hard battles at all.

"You go back and tell him not to be afraid of spending money. First create what you can use, and then slowly improve it." Hou Xuanyan calculated that the silver spent by the Songjiang navy was not very expensive. Zhang Mingzhen was fine. Gong Zifang was born as a merchant, so he looked at everything from making money. This kind of thing was not saved. As long as it could develop, there would be endless wealth rewards.

Zhang Mingzhen is not a businessman or an expert like Yao Yiyao. Naturally, the more requirements he has for warships, the better. What he wants is a powerful navy who can do his part to the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains. Hearing Hou Xuanyan's words, he suddenly felt like he could meet a soulmate in his heart, and he smiled and said, "With this words from the Duke of China, our Songjiang Navy will feel at ease."

Hou Xuanyan exclaimed happily: "What a good boat! If we had such a warship in Jingxiang, Wu Sangui and Haoge would not have been able to escape."

Zhang Mingzhen's face was shining and said proudly: "This ship is actually the hard work of our navy. Duke, look at the iron armor covered in front of him. Even if it hits the enemy ship at close range, it will be knocked into debris."

As soon as he finished speaking, a small boat rushed from the upstream. Both boats were too fast to avoid it.

A chubby figure on the boat stood at the bow and kept shouting back: "Hurry up, hurry up, be caught up with them."

The boat was hit and broke up on the spot, and the people on the boat fell into the water one after another.

Zhang Mingzhen looked stunned. Unexpectedly, he blew the warship and someone else sacrificed his life to cooperate.

Hou Xuanyan frowned and looked down, and vaguely saw that the people who fell into the water were all his own people, and they seemed to be wearing public uniforms from the yamen.

The personal soldiers on the boat were able to dive and dived, and the ones on it threw a rope and pulled people up one by one.

Hou Xuanyan approached and saw that a little fat man on the ground who did not obey the spray of water in his mouth turned out to be his brother Xu Yuanbao.

He was wearing the official uniform of the Salt Supervision Commission and had obvious scars on his face. Just looking at the color of the scar, it should not be the one he had just injured.

Hou Xuanyan stepped forward and squatted down and pressed his chest. The fat man's stomach was almost vomiting. His eyes slowly opened and his mouth was already cursing: "The unlucky people, the whole of Yangzhou is a unlucky people."

Hou Xuanyan patted his cheek, and Xu Yuanbao woke up leisurely and asked blankly: "Brother, why is it you?"

Hou Xuanyan saw them being knocked over with his own eyes. The speed of this small boat was faster than his twelve sails. He couldn't help but ask: "I want to ask you, this river surface is so tortuous, do you want to die at such a fast speed?"

Xiaopang suddenly woke up, struggled to stand up, and said angrily: "Brother, Yangzhou troublemakers are backfiring."

Hou Xuanyan was frightened by his stupid words and asked, "What's going on? Let's start from scratch."

Xu Yuanbao found a wooden barrel, sat down casually, held his knees and said, "Brother, we arrived in Yangzhou, took back the old salt turf and announced the new policy of the eldest brother. It was still smooth before. Who knew that when he arrived in Dingyan Town, Huang Lianxiang, the salt merchant in the town, first happily entertained me. Then he said that they were not grain merchants, and they were selling salt for generations, and could not transport grain to Sichuan. He also took out a box of treasures and found a few handsome young ladies." Speaking of this, Xu Yuanbao swallowed and continued, "I, Xu Yuanbao, are not that kind of person, so he naturally refused to betray my eldest brother for these things, so he told him righteously, 'If you want salt turf, you must transport grain.' Then the old thief was angry and sent his subordinates to drive us out. The old thief was too ruthless. If I hadn't run fast, I wouldn't have seen the eldest brother."

When Zhang Mingzhen heard this, his face turned pale and said, "General, do you want to send troops?"

Hou Xuanyan heard it strangely and waved his hand and asked, "The whole Yangzhou has two battalions of people stationed in my house. This man named Huang has eaten Xiong Xin and Leopard's courage. How could he dare to openly resist? Even if he refuses to hand over the salt and offends us, how can he transport salt in Jiangnan again? Then will he have nothing?"
Chapter completed!