Zhu Cihong knew that the era of sail battleships with artillery as the main combat weapon would last for 200 years, and it was not until the late 19th century after the Second Opium War that ironclad ships with steam engines appeared on the stage of history that they officially withdrew from the stage of history.

According to Zhu Cihong's understanding, in the 18th century, sail battleships were generally standardized into six classes.

The 1st class sail battleship had three decks, a total of more than 100 guns, and a crew of 900 men.

In the ninth year of Chongzhen, King Charles I of England built the first large warship with a three-story long deck, with a displacement of 1,680 tons, more than 800 sailors, equipped with 104 guns, and the largest cannonball net weight of 60 pounds, which was the largest warship in the world at this time.

The 2nd class sail battleship was also a three-deck ship with a total of about ninety guns;

The third class sail battleship, that is, the load ship in the combat fleet, had two decks and was equipped with a total of about seventy guns;

Sail battleships of the fourth rank were armed with fifty guns and were called cruisers.

The fifth-class sail battleships were equipped with thirty to forty guns, all of which were basically set on one deck, and the fifth-class battleships were lighter and faster than the great ships, and the Europeans mainly used them to attack merchant ships at sea and cruise in the oceans.

All class ships, including large ships and cruisers, are three-masted ships in nautical terms.

In the Ming-British naval battle that took place in Guangzhou Bay in the tenth year of Chongzhen, three of the five warships of the British had a displacement of about 800 tons, and two were 414 tons.

Zhu Cihong specially sent intelligence officers to Guangzhou to investigate the information on the firepower of the five British warships, including the Elizabeth with a total of 38 guns, including 7 18-pounder guns, 20 12-pounder guns, and 11 8-pounder guns.

The Mousse had forty-three guns, four eighteen-pounderers, twenty-five twelve-pounderers, and eight eight-pounderers.

There is also a warship whose name cannot be named by the intelligence officers of the Jinyi Guard, which is also 800 tons of displacement and is equipped with forty-two guns, which is similar to that of the Elizabeth and Mousse.

The two smallest ships had a displacement of four hundred and forty tons, and both were armed with twenty guns, of which eight were twelve-pounder, ten eight-pounderers, and two four-pounderers.

The five British merchant ships are equipped according to firepower and belong to the fifth-class sail battleships, (the classification of sail battleships was only proposed in the 18th century, after a hundred years of development, the displacement varies greatly, and here it is only calculated according to the firepower configuration, and the firepower configuration has not changed much.) ）

At that time, most of the Fujian naval divisions led by Zheng Zhilong were warships with a displacement of 100 tons, and the artillery they were equipped with was even weaker and pitiful, and the largest main warships only had eight 12-to-18-pound Hongyi cannons and 40 Fran machine guns, and their firepower was far inferior to that of British warships, so they could only rely on the tactics of wolves to surround and beat them.

Even the Zheng family's warship, which has the strongest naval combat ability, is not as good as the small warships of others, so you can imagine the situation of the Daming Naval Division.

Fortunately, now is the beginning of the era of sail battleships, and Zhu Cihong is fully capable of building a powerful Ming Navy to catch up with the tide of the times.

Zhu Cihong inspected the shipyards in Ningbo Prefecture again, and wanted to ask the professional shipbuilders what difficulties they had in building large ships, so he took advantage of the southern tour to solve them, and after returning to Nanjing, he formally established the Admiralty and reorganized the Ming Naval Division.

"The villain Yang Wanli meets His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Chitose!"

The shipbuilder named Yang Wanli was prostrate on the ground, looking very nervous.

Zhu Cihong said: "Get up and speak." ”

When Yang Wanli got up, Zhu Cihong saw clearly the shipbuilding master in front of him who was highly respected by Shen Shouchong.

Yang Wanli was about forty years old, of medium height, with dark skin, a three-inch-long beard, and a hint of crampedness on his weather-beaten face.

Zhu Cihong asked, "I heard General Shen say that your shipbuilding skills are the best in this area, right?" ”

Yang Wanli said: "Returning to His Royal Highness the Prince, the villain's ancestors have been shipbuilders for eight generations, and the warships of Dinghaiwei are basically built by the villain's ancestors and grandchildren for three generations of supervisors, whether it is a sea ship, a fortune ship, a Guangzhou ship, or a sand boat, the villain can build it, not that the villain boasts, there is no one in Ningbo Mansion who has better shipbuilding skills than the villain." ”

Zhu Cihong was slightly overjoyed and said, "Yes, can you build a warship with more than 2,000 materials?" The kind of three-masted warship of the Red Yi. ”

Seeing that the crown prince was easy-going and amiable, Yang Wanli's nervous mood gradually eased, and he said: "Your Highness, to tell you the truth, the villain's father has been an apprentice in Hongyi's shipyard when he went to sea, and he has also participated in the manufacture of the kind of big ship with 2,000 materials. ”

Zhu Cihong nodded, he knew that in history in 1571, after Spain occupied Manila, Luzon, it opened up a direct route from the United States to Manila, for trade between the United States and Asia, the sailing ships used were made in Manila, and a large number of Chinese laborers in Manila were employed.

The galleons built by the Manila shipyard are equivalent to 2,000 materials in China, with a displacement of about 1,000 tons and a carrying capacity of 300 to 400 tons.

Now the main warship of the Daming Navy Division is the Fu ship, in terms of speed and flexibility, it has fallen far behind, when the cargo ship is no problem, but it is not suitable as an advanced main warship, Zhu Cihong wants to build a large-scale warship, naturally will not choose the Fu ship.

Zhu Cihong looked at him and asked, "If I have a drawing, are you sure you can make it?" ”

Yang Wanli's body shook, revealing a look of disbelief, and said, "Your Highness really has the blueprints of the Hongyi people?" ”

As a shipwright, Yang Wanli knew very well that after the imperial court imposed a sea ban, all shipyards were not allowed to manufacture ships with more than two masts, nor were they allowed to build ships privately, and even the drawings of treasure ships with more than 2,000 materials from the Three Treasure Eunuchs were extinct, how could His Royal Highness the Crown Prince have the drawings of the Hongyi people?

Zhu Cihong smiled: "Yes! The main palace not only has the drawings of the Hongyi people, but also the drawings of Zheng He's big treasure ship, and the palace will send someone to send them tomorrow. ”

The imperial court is not allowed to build ships, it does not mean that there are no drawings, most of the drawings of Zheng He's treasure ships are stored in the palace, as the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, it is very easy to get them, as for the blueprints of the warships of the Hongyi people, Zhu Cihong sent people to spend a lot of money in Guangdong, from the British Weddell.

After Weddell fought a battle with the Ming sailors in Guangzhou Bay in the tenth year of Chongzhen, he had relented and signed a trade treaty with the Ming Dynasty, and traded with the Ming Dynasty every year.

At first, Weddell resolutely refused to sell the drawings, and after the Jinyiwei spy angrily smashed 50,000 taels of silver, he gave the drawings with both hands, and shamelessly asked to continue the transaction and provide the drawings of the larger warship.

Weddell was a British aristocrat, and many members of his family served in the British Royal Navy, so it was easy to get the drawings, and in Asia, he could exchange silver for gold and bring it back to England for a lifetime.