In the Dinghai Acropolis, Zhu Cihong simply rested for a while, and then summoned Shen Shouchong again.

Zhu Cihong asked: "Shen Shouchong, you are in charge of the Zhejiang Navy Division and take care of coastal defense, how many warships are there now?" ”

Shen Shouchong didn't dare to hide it, and replied truthfully: "Back to Your Highness, there are two naval camps in Dinghaiwei, plus a total of seventy large and small warships, but they have been short of money for maintenance for many years, so now only forty can be used, including eight Fu ships, six Haicang ships, twelve Cangshan ships, twelve Jiaojiao boats, and four eight-oared boats, all of which are now moored in Haixiang. ”

Zhu Cihong also nodded, he knew that according to Qi Jiguang's "New Book of Ji Xiao", a naval camp has two outposts, and each outpost has four blessed ships, two Haicang ships, and four Cangshan ships, and then equipped with auxiliary warships such as wave boats, eight pulp boats, and Jiaojiao boats.

Dinghaiwei has two naval battalions, that is, there are forty main warships, but there are a total of seventy warships, and only forty can be used, which is a little too high.

Next, Zhu Cihong immediately set off to the harbor to inspect the warships of the Zhejiang Navy Division.

Zhu Cihong didn't have much hope for the Zhejiang sailors, but after actually seeing these warships, he was far more disappointed than he imagined.

These dozens of warships are too small! Basically, the head is narrow, the tail is wide, the two heads are upturned, the head and tail are high, only the foremast and the middle mast are provided, and the two or three storey high ship buildings are also standing in the stern, which is a typical Fu ship structure, the largest Fu ship is only more than 30 meters, and there are only two to four guns ranging from two to four on the warship.

The Fu ship was regarded as the main warship in the Daming Naval Division, and it was also one of the four major ship types at that time, because of its deep draft, large carrying capacity, and good wind and wave resistance, so it was suitable for sea navigation and could be used as an ocean-going transport ship and warship.

Most of the treasure ships used by Zheng He on his voyage to the West were the type of Fu ships, and at that time, the Fu ships were also the most advanced ship types in the world.

Zheng He's main ship type in the Western Ocean was a medium-sized treasure ship of 2,000 materials, about 20 zhang long, about 56 zhang wide, and a displacement of more than 1,000 tons.

Zheng He's flagship ship, Dabao, was 44 zhang 4 feet long and 18 zhang wide (146.67 meters long and 50.94 meters wide), with nine masts and 12 sails, which was estimated to be more than 10,000 tons, making it the largest wooden sailing ship in the world at that time.

The Columbus fleet, which appeared in the Atlantic Ocean more than 80 years later, consisted of only three sailing ships, the largest of which was only 100 tons, and the tonnage was only one percent of that of Zheng He's treasure ship.

Now more than 200 years have passed since the era when Zheng He went to the West, and in this 200 years, it is the period when the technology of galleons has advanced by leaps and bounds.

The most important thing is that there is a huge difference in the number of artillery equipped between the warships of the Daming Naval Division and the European warships at this time, at least ten times more.

According to Shen Shouchong's introduction, the fortune ship of the Zhejiang Navy Division is 400 materials, and it is the main large ship used in the Ming Army's Navy Division.

"Material" is the general name of the ship unit in ancient China, which is both a weight and an area unit, and a displacement unit, which is very complicated to convert, if calculated according to the displacement, a material is roughly equal to about 0.5 tons, and the ship of 400 materials, that is, the displacement of more than 200 tons, the carrying capacity is about 100 tons.

Zhu Cihong shook his head in disappointment, these broken ships are too small, I heard that when the Three Treasure Eunuchs went to the Western Ocean, they used 5,000 treasure ships.

Zhu Cihong lived in the Acropolis of Hyde next to the ruins of Zheng He's Treasure Boat Park in Nanjing for a period of time, during which time the Nanjing Museum happened to excavate the tomb of the Ming Dynasty eunuch Hong Bao, who was the deputy envoy of Zheng He's fleet to the West, and his tomb has a very complete epitaph, which is full of inscriptions, introducing the situation when Zheng He went to the West.

The inscription mentions: "In the Yongle era, he was awarded the deputy envoy of the internal transport library, was given the former name, served as the deputy envoy, commanded the soldiers, took the great fortune and other 5,000 material giant ships, and praised the edict to envoy all the countries of the West and the distant people." ”

As the second-in-command of Zheng He's fleet, Hong Bao took the treasure ship called "Dafu", which can hold 5,000 materials, equivalent to the current displacement of more than 2,500 tons, I have to say that this is a shipbuilding myth in ancient times.

At that time, the shipbuilding technology of the Ming Dynasty was very good, and there was a strong shipbuilding industry, which made the majestic appearance of Zheng He's treasure ship at that time able to amaze overseas countries.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, large government-run shipyards spread all over the southeastern provinces, all kinds of large shipyards gathered skilled craftsmen, Nanjing Bao Shipyard has left a large dock of more than 400 meters long and 50 meters wide, and also excavated various shipbuilding tools at that time.

However, after Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, large treasure ships have been useless since the Xuande period, and the government-run shipyards of the Ming Dynasty have declined from generation to generation, and a large number of craftsmen have fled, and the quality of shipbuilding has deteriorated since then.

In the middle of the 15th century, during the Jingtai period, the Ming court had to merge and abolish a large number of government-run shipyards, except for the construction of large sealed boats dedicated to the Ryukyu Island, the big ships were basically not built, and the people were not allowed to build large ships for the ocean, and the crew had to work as hired laborers on the small boats of the Grand Canal, and Zheng He's big war ships were rotten due to shelving.

Since the 16th century, Europe has carried out great voyages, built ocean-going ships, and colonized the world.

Although the use of artillery in naval warfare appeared in the 14th century to the beginning of the 15th century, due to the low power of artillery at that time and the concept of naval warfare, until the middle of the 16th century, every naval battle was basically a "sea and land battle", with ships rammed, burned with fire, so that the enemy ships were incapacitated, and then infantry was sent to board the enemy ships to fight hand-to-hand combat.

However, since the Battle of Graflin in 1588, which wiped out the Spanish Armada, naval warfare has been dominated by sail warships, and the sail-oar hybrid warships have largely withdrawn from the mainstream, and the mode of naval warfare has ended the hand-to-hand combat of the past, and has begun to rely on the mobility of artillery and battleships.

Since the thirteenth year of Chongzhen (1640), Europe has officially entered the era of sail battleships and heavy artillery, with sails as the power, all combat warships are lined up in a line to bombard, weapons are breech-loading guns, and a series of tactics.

Zhu Cihong frowned, and said: "There is no other naval battle, only the big ship is better than the small boat, the big gun is better than the small gun, now the Dutch are seizing Penghu in Taiwan, the Spaniards dominate Manila, surrounded by strong coastal enemies, all of them are eyeing me Daming, in case there is really that day, invade the coast, rely on such a small boat, how to win." ”

Although Shen Shouchong didn't know why the prince called the Hongyi people Dutch and Spaniards, he also knew which countries the prince was talking about, which made him sigh secretly, his father Shen Yourong had been stationed on the southeast coast for more than 20 years, and he had a deep understanding of the defense of the southeast coast and the disadvantages of the Ming Dynasty's sailors.

Shen Shouchong has been in charge of the Zhejiang Navy for nearly two years, although he has not experienced any large-scale naval battles, but he has also seen several Dutch galleons, and every time he sees it, he is shocked, and at the same time sighs in his heart, when will the Ming Dynasty have such a big warship galloping on the sea?