Tianqi was talking to Sun Chengzong, Ni Yuanlu and Yuan Keli, the overseer of the Southeast Military Region, came over, Yuan Keli first bowed to Tianqi, and then sat down and asked: "The emperor came here quietly, and the ministers don't know, please forgive the emperor for failing to meet the contract master." ”

Seeing that Yuan Keli's eyes were red, Tianqi knew that he was busy doing things, so he said, "What is Lord Yuan busy with?" ”

Yuan Keli said: "In the past few days, the minister has been pondering with Sun Yuanhua and Lord Sun about how to perfectly combine the cannon and the ship, and it is very sad that he has not found a suitable way to install the cannon on the ship. ”

Tianqi said: "Before the new cannon with great power and light weight is built, it is indeed difficult to put the bulky cannon on a small wooden boat, you slowly find a way not to be in a hurry, anyway, the red-haired foreigners who occupy Taiwan have no intention of attacking." Specifically, what problems have you encountered? Is the cannon too heavy or the ship too small? Just waited for Ni Yuanlu and them to build the new cannon, and then talked about getting on the ship. ”

Yuan Keli said: "The current cannon needs to be improved, and the power of the small tiger squat cannon is too poor, not to mention that the firing range is still close, and the ships of the red-haired foreigners are covered with iron armor and cannot be used at all." The Hongyi cannon we bought back and the cannon we imitated ourselves were too bulky, and we might be able to fire the cannon when we put it on the ship, but no one dared to guarantee that they would not overturn their ship first when they opened the cannon, and the recoil of that thing would be very strong and it would shock people to death if we didn't pay attention. There are also many problems with the ships themselves, the ships of our sailors are too small, not even bigger than the ships of some pirates, and if we want to rebuild a big ship, we have no technology and no funds. ”

Tianqi thought for a while and asked, "I have heard the story of the Three Treasure Eunuchs going to the West back then, saying that the treasure ship built by Zheng He at that time was taller than the main hall, and now it can't be built?" ”

Sun Chengzong said: "Two hundred years have passed, and the craftsmen who have mastered the technology of building big treasure ships have long been gone, and those skills are probably lost. ”

Tianqi nodded and said: "Many of our ancestors' craftsmanship have been lost by us, it's really ashamed to say it, now I don't have money or technology, I just look at it with dry eyes, it's really annoying, but there is no way but to wait." Those red-haired foreigners' ships can come from Taixi to Daming, and their shipbuilding skills should be able to be learned, I also asked Longhuamin a few months ago about the Taixi people, they shook their heads and said that they didn't know anything about shipbuilding, and they didn't know if they really didn't know or wanted to hide it, do you have a way to learn the shipbuilding technology of Taiwan's red-haired foreigners? ”

Yuan Keli hesitated and said: "The minister's overseer's office is located in Fuzhou, Fujian, but after the minister arrived in Fuzhou, he began to form a sailor and fought with the red-haired foreigners, it can be said that the two sides are now in a hostile position, and now they want to learn their shipbuilding technology, I am afraid there will be a problem, the king of the holy soul read the full text." ”

Tianqi nodded and said: "Yes, I just fought with someone else and now I have to learn technology again, I really can't open my mouth, it is estimated that other red-haired foreigners are not lacking in heart and eye to teach, do you say that you have fought with them in a small battle, and the loss is not big?" ”

Yuan Keli said: "It's not very big, a few small boats were smashed and sunk, and the soldiers who fell into the water were also rescued, and a few were injured but fortunately no one died." Seeing that we had retreated, the red-haired foreigners did not pursue, and their ships were much larger than ours, but fortunately they did not have many ships. ”

Tianqi asked again: "A while ago, I heard that Xiong Wencan, the governor of Fujian, said that he wanted to recruit Zheng Zhilong, a giant thief who has been rampant on the seaside, and I heard Lord Yuan say that many of our warships are not as big as the pirates' ships. You have been in Fuzhou for a few months, although it is impossible to have a comprehensive understanding, but at least you have an intuitive impression, what do you think about this? ”

Yuan Keli said: "The matter of appeasing Zheng Zhilong is just an idea on our side, I don't know if Zheng Zhilong himself is willing, the minister will stay in Fujian for a while, and this time he came back because there are several things to obtain the emperor's consent, among which the twists and turns in the report are not clear and must be explained in detail in person." The emperor was busy with Mongolia and Jurchen affairs for a while, so it was not easy to disturb, anyway, he was not in a hurry to go and busy the cannon on the ship first, who knows that he was busy for many days and still had no clue, and now the emperor said that Zheng Zhilong is the emperor wants to use the pirate's ship? As long as someone appeases the ship, it will naturally follow, I don't know if the minister is right? ”

Tianqi nodded and said, "Yes, your Southeast Sailor's current equipment is like a shy poor boy in his pocket, what should I do if I don't have money?" Just marry a rich girl, as long as the rich girl is satisfied, she will naturally bring a lot of dowry. You said that it was just an idea at first, but now that Fujian Governor Xiong Wencan mentioned it in the recital, it means that Zheng Zhilong, a rich girl, has taken a fancy to you poor boy, and Xiong Wencan does not dare to play it so surely. Then again, no matter how rich he Zheng Zhilong is, he is also a pirate, where is it like the Fujian Navy is famous in the imperial army, just like a rich girl from an improper background After marrying a poor noble, it is also the latest chapter of her beautiful wife. ”

Tianqi's words made everyone laugh, and seeing Tianqi, Yuan Keli was very happy and said: "The minister will tell the emperor all the things that need to be reported, and the emperor will decide as soon as possible when he sees what to do, although it is not as urgent as burning his eyebrows, but don't delay." The first thing is to build a big ship for the Southeast Naval Division, and the minister estimates that he may not be able to build it with the current military expenditure and existing technology, and the minister means that private funds can be introduced. But Taizu had a ban on the marquis when he was there, and there was a 'piece of board must not go to the sea', although the ban was loosened later, but during the Jiajing period, because of the matter of the Japanese and the stricter, the emperor saw if the ban could be lifted? ”

Tianqi thought for a while and said: "This matter is very important, I don't want to reply rashly now, except for the pirates, who are rampant in the Ming Dynasty, in fact, they are all the people of the Ming Dynasty, like that Zheng Zhilong, who is also the son ♀ of the treasurer of Quanzhou Prefecture, and some people became pirates, and the reason is that the execution of the ban was wrong, and they did not distinguish between normal business and banditry and the enemy, and as a result, the giant merchant became a giant thief." Wang Zhi, a giant thief during the Jiajing period, was also a giant businessman, and later colluded with the Japanese to invade the Ming Dynasty, and attacked the city of Nanjing at its worst. ”

Yuan Keli sighed and said: "Then we can only wait to find a way to allow normal business and avoid the behavior of bandits and bandits, and the second thing is the matter of the cannon on the ship, and our ship has no way to attack the red-haired foreigners." Their ships are very strong, and our cannonballs hit their ships like tickling them, and their cannons are so sharp that they can't afford to smash them, can the emperor consider urging the process of miniaturization of cannons? As long as we have small but undiminished cannons, 10,000 ships and 10,000 cannons, the red-haired foreigners will sink to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish even if they have a large ship with strong armor. ”

Tianqi said: "I can't control this matter, Ni Yuanlu is asking him to say when he can build a miniaturized cannon." ”

Ni Yuanlu said with a sad face: "Your Majesty, don't be joking, the minister is just an organizer and has limited understanding, and those skilled craftsmen need to have the final say in technical matters, even if the minister takes a whip and whips them every day, they can't pull it out, I'm afraid they have to wait." In fact, it is not that our cannons are not sharp enough, but because our ships are too weak to be covered with strong armor like the red-haired foreigners, if our ships are also covered with iron armor, their cannonballs will not be broken, and they can climb them all down if they rush to the front, not to mention the cannons, even with muskets, they can climb them all down, after all, they come from thousands of miles away, there are not so many ships, and if they sink one, there will be one less. ”

Yuan Keli nodded and said, "Lord Yuanlu's words are reasonable, and I can't eat hot tofu in a hurry." ”

Ni Yuanlu hurriedly said: "The teacher has killed me, don't call the student Lord Yuanlu, just call the student Yuanlu." ”

Tianqi said: "It's also a coincidence, today a few of us are really fateful, Mr. Sun and Master Yuan have taught me, and at the same time, you are both Ni Yuanlu's examiner room master, I and Ni Yuanlu are still brothers, speaking of which are family behind closed doors, don't be polite if you have anything to say." ”

Yuan Keli said: "The emperor said that the minister is not welcome, this third thing is related to the ship, we also found that our wooden boat is too fragile after a small battle with the red-haired foreigners, and we also want to install a layer of iron armor to resist shells, but the small boat is easy to sink and sail not fast when loaded with iron armor, and the big ship must be equipped with iron armor to work." The big ship couldn't be built for a while, so we wondered if we could chain several small boats together, just like Cao Cao did during the Battle of Chibi in the Three Kingdoms, so that we could not only be covered with a layer of iron armor to prevent shells from smashing, but also make the boat move more smoothly to avoid seasickness and vomiting of soldiers. ”

Ni Yuanlu said suspiciously: "Our wooden ships do not have ironclad, and we have indeed suffered a great loss in the battle with the enemy's ironclad ships, in fact, the cannons of the red-haired foreigners are not necessarily much better than ours, mainly because their ships are too strong so they take advantage." Just like a person who has nothing to wear on his body and a person who is full of armor, the naked person will definitely feel that the opponent's weapon is sharperc If you want to use a chain of ships to load iron armor to fight the enemy, it is equivalent to using several boats to bear the weight of iron armor, but aren't we afraid that the red-haired foreigners will also attack with fire like Zhou Yu? ”

Yuan Keli said: "The Hefeng fire may not be able to burn, and besides, the red-haired foreigners probably haven't read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and even if they have read it, no one among them has come to deceive and borrow the east wind." ”

Apocalypse laughed dumbly and said, "What are you talking about?" "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is just one, and many of the above things can't be taken seriously, how can you take the above things seriously? In this way, leave this matter to the Bo Academy to consider, and let Xu Guangqi, Mao Yuanyi, and Sun Yuanhua think about how to avoid the soldiers from vomiting and seasickness. Even if they can't think of a way to stop seasickness, they ask them if they are afraid of the fire of the chain boat, and let them think of a way not to be afraid of the enemy burning the ship, and it is the right way to leave professional affairs to professional people. ”