More than half a month later, the first voyage test of the new treasure ship came back with good news, and all aspects were relatively smooth, and some even exceeded it.

The excess is mainly reflected in speed and stability.

After several tests by Wei Zhanjun and them, the sail speed of the new treasure ship has approached the inherent fast boat, and if it is added to the manual operation, it can exceed the speed boat and manual labor by 20% or even 30%.

It's a pity that Daming has not yet accurately calculated the speed at this time, otherwise if it is reflected by more intuitive numbers, the sense of diligence will be more obvious.

As for the improvement of stability, it is mainly reflected in the design of the hull width and the bottom of the ship.

Originally, the standard warship of the Ming Dynasty, the width was mostly about seven or eight meters, and it was about ten meters at most, even though it learned a lot of valuable experience from its predecessors, it was also scientific, but it was not too close to scientific design, and it was more of a summary of the lessons and lessons of the predecessors, and the principles and standards were still poor.

Especially the design of the bottom of the boat.

Because of the depth of the seabed, ocean currents, weather, draft and many other reasons, our Shenzhou can almost take the Yangtze River as the dividing line, and the sea area in the north of the Yangtze River is mostly flat-bottomed boats, and the fleet in the south of the Yangtze River, including deep-sea sailing, is mostly pointed bottom boats.

The new treasure ship developed by the Model Army at this time deliberately added a small amount of pointed bottom, which is somewhat similar to the aerodynamics of a car.

Moreover, because the main cabin is covered with a large amount of iron sheets, the weight of the hull itself has increased a lot.

The combination of various reasons has made the stability of the treasure ship intuitively improved.

It can be regarded as a compromise method, that is, it can sail in the Liaohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, and has the ability to go to the South China Sea without suffering a big loss.

Of course, it has not yet been tested in actual combat, and now these things cannot be counted directly, whether it is a mule or a horse, or to pull it out to know, it needs to pass the test of time.

Xu Changqing is more concerned about the coordination and flexibility of the hull, and Wei Zhanjun has also tested it, and the effect in this regard is a bit not too ideal.

Too much mass load means that it is doomed to lose some flexibility, which is a law of physics that cannot be avoided even in future generations.

At this stage, it is only the people who adapt to the ship, not the ship that adapts to the people.

Fortunately, even if the Ming Dynasty is declining at this time, there is still no shortage of valuable human resources that Europe is particularly lacking, and Xu Changqing also has abundant financial resources, as long as he continues to debug, improve, and run in, it may not take a year and a half for the combat effectiveness of the fleet to take shape.

At that time, it will be at least 100 large ships, 20,000 people, or even more than 30,000 people.

……

These days, while Xu Changqing pacified and cultivated the back house, he was not idle in government and military affairs.

As Xu Changqing predicted before, because of the marriage with Dong Gu and Kong Sizhen, the autumn harvest in Haicheng and the surrounding areas was very smooth.

Especially sweet potatoes, after this year's hard work, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a bumper harvest, but all the families in the surrounding areas who grow sweet potatoes, even if they are worse, can have five or six taels, seven or eight taels of silver.

This is not counting at least 1,000 catties of rice and flour at home.

The hoarding of military rations is even more gratifying.

Haicheng, Kenli Island, Caofeidian, Baisha Island, Yangma Island, Zhifu Island, and other dozens of important storage centers for model military rations, the accumulated accumulation of military rations is enough to support the model army for more than two years.

This is not counting Li Youwei's flour mill and distillery, and several official warehouses of the Political Affairs Bureau, including the stocks of major grain merchants in Haicheng and the surrounding areas.

This also proves with facts that even if the Xiaoice River period is terrible, it is not that manpower cannot be defeated.

As long as there are no military disasters, no terrible exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and the government guides and supports them, the market is guaranteed to be stable, and the creativity of the Han people is simply endless.

However, things are always relative.

Where there is joy, there will be sorrow.

Shortly after the bumper harvest in Haicheng, when Xu Changqing was in full swing preparing for the war, news came from Jiangnan that this year, there was trouble in the annual revenue of the national treasury, and it was very likely that the Jiangnan region would be in trouble

There is a food shortage.

The most direct manifestation of this is that soon after the autumn harvest, grain prices in Jiangnan began to rise sharply, and now they have risen by more than 50%.

The main reason is not complicated, speaking of which, it has a lot to do with Xu Changqing.

Because of Xu Changqing's conspiracy with Zheng Chagu when he was in Nanjing, many keen Jiangnan wealthy businessmen and big landowners caught it, and Xu Changqing seemed to support the opening of the sea.

Therefore, since this spring, they have been running for each other, continuing to increase the cultivation of cash crops and abandoning the cultivation of staple foods.

"I'm @#¥%!!"

As soon as he heard the news, Xu Changqing smashed a set of official kiln tea sets that he liked very much, and he couldn't wait to eat people alive.

But they did this, even Xu Changqing didn't do anything to them for a while.

The land is theirs, and what they want to plant in their land, Xu Changqing and the imperial court can't control too much.

It's no wonder that Jiajing Ye had to shrink his neck back then, and everything he talked about to these big landowners in Jiangnan was nonsense, and if he wanted to change, there was only one way, to hold their noses.

This time, it is inevitable for Haicheng to release grain to Jiangnan, even though it can earn a lot of silver, but Xu Changqing really doesn't want to earn this silver.

The only fortunate thing is that in the southern part of Huguang, Guangdong, including some areas in Guangxi, this year's harvest is not bad, and Xu Changqing does not need to use too much of Haicheng's grain reserves.

Moreover, the eldest brother of the first official is still very powerful.

He has already released the news in Nanyang, Daming is short of grain, and he thinks that within a month or two, there will be a lot of grain in Nanyang to Daming, and he himself has sent people to Nanyang to collect grain.

Of course, the eldest brother of the first official also has his conditions and wants to reopen Quanzhou.

For these complications, Xu Changqing couldn't stop being tired, so he simply handed them over to the imperial court.

It's okay for the big brother of an official to open the market, but he can't let him occupy too much dominance, otherwise, Xu Changqing and the imperial court will not be stable.

Let them fight for the quota themselves.

With so many pairs of eyes watching, Xu Changqing also wanted to take a good look, who, who would dare to commit a crime against the wind at such a time!

……

After dealing with these complications, Xu Changqing's attention began to focus on military affairs.

At this time, the combat strength of the 'White Wolf Regiment' on Jeju Island had taken shape, with a scale of almost six or seven thousand people, and it was certainly not enough to go head-on with the Great Qing Kingdom, but they had already been labeled as 'pirates' and engaged in some small actions, and the conditions were ripe.

On the side of Sichuan and Shu, although Xian Thief and Wu Sangui have maintained strong restraint, both Zhang Xianzhong and Wu Sangui must have understood that a battle between them is inevitable, and they only need to wait for an opportunity to appear.

The reason is simple.

Wu Sangui is ambitious, he wants to really stand up, Qinchuan, including Hejian, obviously can't, can only be used as a support, not a foundation.

It's okay to develop to the northwest, but how can the northwest be compared with the fertile Shu land?

Therefore, only by laying down the land of Shu, destroying Zhang Xianzhong, occupying the fat of Bashu, and sitting on the natural danger, can Wu Sangui's waist board really stand up.

Zhang Xianzhong also understands this, he will only be more vigilant than Wu Sangui in the Great Qing Kingdom.

As for the side of the Great Qing Kingdom, Dolgon and the others also knew very well that holding each other was the most beneficial result for them, and the Great Qing Kingdom could no longer withstand any major twists and turns at the moment.

This also led to the fact that many cores converged on the model army and Xu Changqing.

Once Xu Changqing and the Model Army make another move, against the Great Qing Kingdom, the war will start again, and it will inevitably pry the entire balance of the whole world.

Of course, there are mixed results.

If the Qing Dynasty could destroy Xu Changqing and the Model Army, all these troubles would no longer exist.

But on the contrary, if the Great Qing Kingdom has big losses in the battle with the model army, then many things are difficult to say.

At this time, the world seems to be quite calm, but in fact, the undercurrent has already been turbulent, and it affects the whole body!

slightly

If you are not careful, the fragile balance will be broken directly!

And the core of all this is the model army!

……

Haicheng, the study in the Hou Mansion.

Xu Changqing had been thinking about it in the inner study for several days, but he had not made a decision.

The model army seems to be strong at this time, and the time is ripe for war in all aspects, but it is precisely because of this that Xu Changqing is more cautious.

If this war is not opened, it will be overcome, and once it starts, that kind of influence will be unparalleled.

In case there is a mistake in the model army, even if Xu Changqing is a traverser, even if Xu Changqing has a very solid foundation, it is very likely that it will be irretrievable.

This also made Xu Changqing have to be cautious.

It must be known that whether it is Wu Sangui, Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng, or Luo Rucai, He Yilong, including Bai Guangen, Kong Youde and others, they are all fucking hungry wolves.

Not to mention the ancestral family and other forces hidden under the water.

Don't look at the ancestral family now hitting the streets, it seems that there is no foundation, but the core children of the ancestral family have important positions in the Qing Dynasty, and most of them have real power.

Coupled with the influence they have formed over several generations, and there are many tenants under their hands, they are still a powerful and powerful first-class military group with a wave of their arms.

This also caused Xu Changqing to be unsure where to start the war.

According to Xu Changqing's deployment before, the battlefield is naturally more suitable in Goryeo.

If a war breaks out in Goryeo, even if it increases some transportation and labor costs, it is completely negligible.

Take 10,000 steps back and say that even if the model army loses in Goryeo in the end, it will still not hurt the core, and it will be able to make a comeback with a little slowness.

But Xu Changqing can understand this thing, how can Dolgon and the others not understand it?

The most feared thing is that if the model army is deployed in Goryeo in advance, but the Qing army does not play it, the consequences will be a bit severe.

So this 'best policy' is just the ideal state.

Whether this is the battle of Zhiguan Guozuo, no matter how careful you are, you can't be too careful.

There are only two lines left.

One is to take the Dagukou side, using the huge fleet of the model army, which can not only ensure transportation capacity, but also withstand confrontation and attrition, which is the middle policy.

But the most embarrassing part of this strategy is that for the time being, 'the teacher is unknown'.

And even if the model army defeated Dagukou and even Tianjin Wei, it would be difficult to pose a threat to the Beijing division in the current state.

The next strategy is to approach the front line of the Central Plains.

The advantage is that it can plough the chaotic status quo of the Central Plains in recent years, and increase the influence and deterrence of the Ming Dynasty on the Central Plains.

The downside is obvious.

I am afraid that this is exactly the situation that the Qing army wants to see the most.

Once the model army came to the Central Plains, even if the model army had no worries about food and logistics, the enemy would no longer be the real Manchuria, but Kong Youde, Bai Guangen, Tang Tong, Liu Liangzuo, including Wu Sangui and other Han military slaves.

"How do you choose?"

Xu Changqing lit a bag of cigarettes, letting the smoke cover him, his eyes looked at the huge map and sand table with a slightly confused look, and he still hesitated to make a decision.

Ultimately.

The model army, including the Ming Dynasty, even if it has been the harbinger of a reversal, its control is not strong enough, it is not enough to form a crushing situation, and it cannot go to the high ground of the Great Qing Kingdom.

In particular, the core of the Manchu and Mongolian royal clans such as Dolgon, Duoduo, and Zilharang also realized that they were already in a state of being suppressed by the Ming Dynasty, and they would only be careful and careful, and it would be difficult to give the model army a chance to annihilate their main force of the Manchurian Eight Banners.

And Xu Changqing's layout in Sichuan, Shu and Goryeo is still too immature at this time, and he still needs a lot of room for growth, so he can't pick up this big beam.

Just as Xu Changqing was pacing back and forth irritably, there was a sudden urgent report from the soldiers outside: "Report - Goryeo 800 miles urgent!" The king of Goryeo, Yi Liang, had died violently the night before......"

"Huh?"

Xu Changqing was clever and caught something at once.