I don't know if Li Yan asked the soldiers to talk to the Kang family and other salt merchants worked, or if these salt merchants had no plan to squeeze the lending bank, and half a month later, no reports of any changes in the salt merchants were received from all over the country. As for the Kang family in Pingyang Mansion, they no longer exchange gold arhats for silver yuan.

However, these salt merchants were very slippery, and each of them exchanged their silver deposits for a small amount of silver yuan while the exchange was still cheap. They all know that they can't resist the emerging regime of Daliang head-on, and they have to make a few more turns in everything. Many of them began to secretly search for craftsmen, preparing to mint money quietly by themselves. Won't it be possible to circulate only silver yuan in the future? It is also a good business to make money by making money. Although minting coins privately is also a major crime to kill the head, as long as you stop before the government reacts, you can make a lot of money.

Li Yan didn't care about these, after all, there were no counterfeit coins in circulation. He was concerned about the news from Fujian, although Zheng Zhilong still showed no signs of surrendering, but there was news that Li Zicheng seemed to have been killed by Fujian's regimental training. However, this is from the people, it is quite absurd, it is said that Li Zicheng escaped the Min River with not many people and worshiped the Buddha in a small temple, but he was treated as a bandit by the local regiment and exterminated on the spot.

Although the news was not accurate, Li Yan still sent an order to Huang Desheng, asking Huang Desheng to spread the news to Li Zicheng's subordinates as much as possible, and to let the front line strengthen the propaganda of recruiting and surrendering. Most of Li Zicheng's men and horses are still in the mountains of northern Fujian, as long as this part of the people is dismantled, he will be able to free up his hands to deal with Zheng Zhilong.

Half a month later, Luo Miaohyun was finally taken to Kaifeng. It took so long because according to Li Yan's orders, the Dengzhou Mansion sent Luo Miaohyun, who was originally in prison, to the port to participate in the construction of the coastal defense fort. The cannon foundry has just cast two six-inch giant cannons, with a gun mount weighing more than 10,000 catties, and the firing range has reached an astonishing eight miles. However, the shells were too heavy, nearly sixty pounds, and the firing speed was also very slow.

The difference is that this time the gun carriage is no longer made of wood, but is made entirely of iron. Moreover, the gun mount is divided into two layers, which can be sliding, and six thick springs are installed on the front and rear sides to absorb shocks. The gun carriage is slightly inclined, and after the recoil of the cannon is fired, the recoil raises the cannon of 10,000 catties a little, and the recoil can be offset by a short distance. The base of the gun carriage is a grinding disc and can be turned three hundred and sixty degrees.

The fort is built with huge stones, Luo Miaohyun went this time, the fort has been built, and the giant cannon has been placed, he just rushed to pile sandbags inside and outside the fort to prevent the enemy's shelling from causing secondary damage. Although it was only a small project, with the instruction of Shangfeng, Luo Miaoxun was tired to death in only three days. Therefore, he was able to be taken to meet Emperor Daliang, and he made up his mind that he must not waste this good opportunity to free him from the bitterness of hard labor.

After waiting for a while, they were finally led to the Dragon Pavilion in the garden. Li Yan was sitting in the gazebo, looking at the scenery in the distance. Kaifeng has been away from the war for three or four years, and finally restored the prosperity of the past, the streets are full of traffic, the suburbs are full of fertile fields and workshops, a prosperous scene.

After everyone finished saluting, Li Yan just waved his hand casually to make them flat. Said: "Sit down, this is a place to rest, don't be restrained." ”

Zhang Han naturally thanked him and sat down, but Luo Miaohyun didn't dare to make a mistake, and stood honestly.

Li Yan said with a smile: "Luo Miaohyun, you should stand first." I heard that you know something about the gunboats in Xiyi, so let's hear about it. If you don't know anything about it, or even make it up, then you will go back to the labor camp. If you really know a lot, you might as well be hired as a sailor. ”

"The sinners must know everything, and they must say everything." Luo Miao-hyun immediately assured.

Li Yan nodded and motioned for Luo Miaohyun to start.

Luo Miaohyun sorted out his thoughts before he spoke: "The villain has been to Little Luzon, and there happened to be a big Luzon battleship that was damaged and repaired in the shipyard, so the villain spent some silver money and went in to take a closer look. Outwardly, Hongyi's battleship is slender, larger, and has a much taller mast than our Fu ship. But inside, there are many differences. ”

He glanced at Emperor Daliang and saw that there was no impatience, so he continued: "The Taixi Battleship is different from our Fu Ship, there are no watertight compartments, and all decks inside are directly connected. However, their sturdiness is far better than that of the Fu ship, because they use ribs, which stick out from the keel one by one, like the rib bones, and are very dense, so they are much stronger than the seventeen or eighteen watertight compartments that support the hull of the ship. ”

"Oh? Ribs? Zhang Han asked with a frown.

"Yes, it's ribs." Luo Miaohyun gestured with his hand and explained: "It's like our ribs, which are somewhat similar to our watertight compartments, but there are many more partitions than our watertight compartments, so the hull is stronger." However, there are also bad ones, in case there is a hole, if the leak is not plugged in time, the whole ship may sink. This is not as practical as our watertight compartment. ”

Zhang Han nodded and said, "Well, you go on." ”

"Okay." Luo Miaohyun continued: "The villain remembers that the warships of the Westerners are wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. So the cannons they mounted on the battleship were bigger and bigger the lower they were. The boat that the villain looked at was equipped with nearly twenty Hongyi cannons of more than four inches at the bottom, and it was said that within three hundred paces, any Oriental ship would be smashed to pieces. However, some gunners revealed that they generally fired within 100 paces to ensure the hit rate. The upper decks were equipped with three-and-a-half-inch and three-inch Hongyi cannons, and only on the uppermost deck, there were some three-inch Frankie guns. ”

Li Yan said with some envy: "Cannons above four inches can be put on the ship, and the firepower is indeed powerful." ”

"It does seem that it is not easy to deal with." Zhang Han frowned and said.

Luo Miaohyun immediately reminded: "By the way, Western warships use cloth sails, although their sails cannot be rotated at will, and the sailors they need are several times that of Fu ships, but their sails are much larger than ours, so the speed of the ship is much faster when the wind is downwind." Even if the sailor's ship is equipped with wheel pulp, it may not be able to match it. Therefore, once the war starts, several Western warships will seize the upper hand, go head to tail, and sail past our fleet, and our sailors will surely suffer heavy losses. Moreover, the side chords of their battleships were nearly two feet thick, and it was difficult to inflict damage on them with the three-inch Franky guns of the sailors. ”

"In this case," Zhang Han said reluctantly: "Even if you attack with a clipper, with the firepower of dozens of cannons of Western warships, the baffle on the clipper ship is difficult to resist, and it will definitely suffer huge losses." However, since they do not have watertight compartments, as long as a clipper ship successfully detonates, then the Western warship will be more than lucky. ”

Luo Miaohyun also immediately proposed: "The naval division battleship is equipped with wheel slurry, which can not be affected by the wind direction. In this case, it is enough to find a way to sail to the rear of the enemy's fleet. There were only one or two cannons in the bow and stern, and the threat was much smaller. Throwing fire canisters at enemy ships, as soon as their cloth sails burn, there is no advantage in speed. At that time, it will be easier for the sailor to seize the advantageous position. ”

Zhang Han nodded and praised: "Well, yes, this is also a way." ”