"We already have specialized warships in our fleet today. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info" Zheng Cai said puzzled.

"Daddy, Uncle Cai, this is different. Our so-called specialized warships are actually nothing more than taking merchant ships and adding two guns to the bow and stern. Although these ships no longer do the work of merchant ships, they are still merchant ships in essence, like a farmer, you give him a weapon. Scholar. sword, he will not become a samurai all at once. This was not the case with the real specialized warships, like the plywood boats used by the Dutch this time. Daddy, as you mentioned in your letter to me, these Dutch plywood boats were a little more slender than the average ship. Generally speaking, the ratio of length to width of an ordinary merchant ship is only a little more than three, right? But according to your letter, the ratio of length to width of these plywood boats is more than four. Daddy, Uncle Cai, why do you think there is such a difference? ”

"Because when this kind of ship was built from the beginning, it was not thought of using it for loading." Zheng Zhilong replied.

With a fixed surface area, the sphere is the largest, while the cube is much smaller, and the cuboid is smaller, and the more elongated it is, the smaller it is. The same is true of a ship, although the demands of navigation make it impossible to make it a sphere, and it is impossible to have exactly the same length and width, but with the same amount of material, the greater the length-to-width ratio of a ship, the less volume can be used. Of course, a slimmer shape can also reduce the resistance of the sea to the ship and help to increase the speed, but in the age of sails, the speed of the ship was not much faster, but the aspect ratio changed from three to four, and the transportation capacity was quite large. The sea is all about the speed of the cargo, so for the merchant ship, it is definitely worth losing a little speed in exchange for a larger carrying capacity. However, this is not the case for warships, where speed is much more important than for merchant ships.

When the Age of Discovery, or the Age of Discovery, came in the 15th century, the ships used by the Europeans were all merchant ships with a length-to-width ratio of more than 3.00 points, and even the European navies at that time, or the legendary Caribbean pirates, their warships were converted from ordinary merchant ships with a length-to-width ratio of more than 3.00 points. But by the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth century, as the maritime struggles between Spain and England, the Netherlands and Spain, and Britain and the Netherlands intensified, the construction of specialized warships that no longer considered cargo-carrying had become a trend in Europe.

"Yes, Dad. You see, these more slender warships are able to provide more speed. In this way, with such a warship to engage the enemy, when the advantage is occupied, the enemy cannot escape; Conversely, when the enemy has the upper hand, it is easy to run away. And the more slender warships have longer broadsides, and along the broadside, more artillery can be placed. The sturdy internal bracing structure of the plywood boat allowed him to put dozens of cannons, and his combat effectiveness was naturally stronger. Since the advent of these new, specialized warships, the old merchant ships have become obsolete. So, the child felt that we also needed to build our own professional warships, like the plywood boats used by the Dutch this time. Zheng Sen continued to sell his ideas.

"But the deck warships of the Dutch and Spaniards are expensive. Not to mention the dozens of guns on a warship, the ship itself alone is very, very expensive. It's much more expensive than our boat. Zheng Zhilong said with a frown.

"Daddy, I'm afraid our ship is more expensive." Zheng Sen waved to Zheng Zhilong. Because the latter words are, in a sense, a refutation of one's own father, so before speaking, relevant etiquette is essential.

"Oh? What do you mean by that? Zheng Zhilong knew that his prodigy son never liked to talk about bluffing, so he attached great importance to his statement, and even unconsciously left the back of the chair.

"Daddy, how many warships do we need to use to deal with these eleven plywood ships this time?" Zheng Sen asked.

"Counting the big and small, we need to use more than 400 warships." Zheng Zhilong replied.

"What's the big one?" Zheng Sen asked again.

"More than half." Zheng Zhilong replied.

"I'm afraid to build these ships and raise these boats is many times more expensive than the eleven plywood boats of the Dutch, right?" "And, if these Dutch are cunning and don't try to attack the port or anything, but keep the open sea to intercept our merchant ships, our warships may not really catch them, even if they are numerous." For the same amount of money as more than 400 ships, we could equip at least a few dozen plywood boats, and this was still calculated at the price that the Spaniards sold us. If we can make our own, it can be a lot cheaper. In addition, as far as I know from my conversation with Father Mu Tiande, because of the shipping cost and the necessary profits, in fact, the price of the artillery they sell us is also several times higher than the manufacturing cost. I've heard that the imperial court often buys red-coated cannons from the Tessians to deal with Jianxin, and the cost is the same as running water. If we can make our own cannons, and then find a Spaniard or a Portuguese to use them as a front and sell them to the imperial court, it will open up another way of wealth for our family, and the money for the construction of plywood ships, and the money for equipping them with cannons, we can get back a lot from this. Daddy, if we had twenty plywood boats about the same size as the Dutch, we would definitely be able to deal with the Dutch here, and even the Spaniards. And his ships can be changed back to be merchant ships, which can make more money, so that in the long run, it is more efficient and cheaper to use a sailor with fewer ships, but indeed composed of specialized warships. Of course, daddy, the child just thinks about it casually, whether the situation is like this or not, and it has to be carefully calculated. ”

Zheng Zhilong nodded and said, "I know, that's what you said in your letter, you must have digital support to make decisions." Ah Cai, when we are done with this battle, you can find a few bookkeepers and calculate how much money it will cost, and then calculate how much it will cost if we build our own plywood boats, and hire Western sailors to train Chinese sailors. See if it's possible. ”

"Big brother, I see." Zheng Cai replied.

……

Zheng Sen's birthday is in August, in fact, there are still some days, but Zheng Zhilong is really going to sea soon this time, and it is estimated that he will not be able to come back by then. Therefore, Zheng Zhilong originally planned to celebrate Zheng Sen's birthday in advance. It's just that Zheng Sen's mother-in-law, Zhuang, said this to Zheng Zhilong:

"It's a big deal for a child to be ten years old. Now if you celebrate in advance, there will be a war soon, and it will not be easy to do a big deal, otherwise outsiders are afraid that there will be some gossip, and it will not be good for the reputation of the master. Last time, when Ah Sen was at home, he told Ah Raid the story of the ancient famous generals, which was very interesting. The concubine happened to have nothing to do, so she was also listening. Hear Assen tell the story of the famous general Zhao Hao in ancient times. mentioned that General Zhao Hao no longer cared about private affairs at home from the day he received the order to go out; and when they received the king's reward, they gave it to the soldiers, so that they could overcome the enemy. Later, his son Zhao Kuo became a general, and he no longer distributed the money and silk given by the king to the soldiers, but collected them all, and looked for suitable fields and houses to buy every day. All he was thinking about was his own family's affairs, so he fought in Changping and died. If the lord is now holding Asen's birthday, the concubine is worried that someone will accuse the lord of not having the demeanor of an ancient famous general. ”

"And what do you mean?" Zheng Zhilong stared into Zhuang's eyes and asked. He knew that because Zheng Sen's mother was Japanese, and he didn't have a great background. So one by one, his concubines will inevitably have the idea of fighting that Japanese woman in the palace and becoming a wife herself. Moreover, once successful, the benefits that can be brought are not just the status of a big woman. The mother is more precious than the son, and the son is more precious than the mother. If the Tagawa clan is no longer the main wife, then it is very questionable whether her son can be regarded as the eldest son, and the Zhuang clan also has a son. So now that Zhuang suddenly mentioned this, Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but be a little suspicious.

"Master, you also know that Ah Sen is the eldest son and the leader of the Zheng family in the future. It's also a big deal to be ten years old, and if it's a mess, it's over, and people know that it's as if something really happened in our family. My lord also knows that there have been rumors in the past that some of our sisters think that Sister Tagawa is Japanese. If the master casually made this ten-year-old for Asen, I'm afraid that those villains will chew their tongues more and more. Therefore, the concubine feels that Asen's ten-year-old must be a little grander to stop these people's mouths! Zhuang raised his eyebrows, as if he really defended the status of "Sister Tagawa" very much, and hated those tongue-chewing villains.

"It's you who says you can't do it, and it's you who says you want to do it." Zheng Zhilong said, "What are you going to do?" ”

Zhuang Shijiao replied with a smile: "Master, I mean, can you wait until after this battle is over?" At that time, the old man came back victorious, no matter how big he did, no one could chew his tongue, right? Besides, grandpa, you know, the concubine loves to be lively, and there are no good things at home for a long time to make everyone lively, so it's easy to have this opportunity, but you can't just pass it casually. ”

This statement surprised Zheng Zhilong a little, because he knew that the Zhuang family did not necessarily have no covetousness for the status of the wife of the Tian Chuan family. Now this suggestion seems to be really thinking about Zheng Sen. Indeed, when Zheng Sen was ten years old, a big birthday was to a large extent equivalent to showing the stability of Zheng Sen's status as the eldest son.

Zheng Zhilong kept staring at Zhuang's eyes until she had to lower her eyes and smiled: "What is the old man staring at me, is the rouge on my face smashed?" ”

"Not bad." Zheng Zhilong nodded and said, "You are a really smart person. Very good, your whole suggestion is very good. ”

Zheng Zhilong has already figured everything out. Zhuang is indeed a very smart person. Zheng Zhilong felt that she was not without covetousness for the status of her wife, but she also knew very well that whether she wanted it and whether she could be were two different things. If you think about it, Zheng Zhilong still wants to be an immortal, but if you can't do it, what's the use of just thinking about it? Some things, if you can't do them, but you don't do them reluctantly, then you are looking for death. Zheng Zhilong knew that in the past, the Zhuang family felt that the Tagawa family did not have much background, and he was a Japanese (in the Ming Dynasty, foreigners were discriminated against), and the reason why he had the status of a wife was that he met Zheng Zhilong early and had shared hardships, and secondly, he was married and had a lot of feelings. But these two articles are not unchangeable. So at that time, he estimated that Zhuang really had ideas. But now it's different, because the son of the Tagawa clan, Zheng Sen, has returned, and he has behaved so well. In comparison, it is estimated that the Zhuang family has to admit that compared with Zheng Sen, the gap between his son and Zheng Sen is desperate. Therefore, unless Zheng Zhilong is stupid and crazy, Zheng Sen's eldest son and heir's status is absolutely unshakable. Mother is more precious than son, and with such a son, any means of palace fighting will have no effect. Even if early tomorrow morning, news comes that the Tagawa clan is sick and has become a fool, even if Zheng Zhilong suddenly doesn't like the Tagawa clan at all, even to the point where he is annoyed to see her, for the sake of this genius son, for the sake of the family's future, he will never allow anyone to covet the status of Tagawa's wife. Whoever still wants to play Gong Dou at this time is looking for death. Therefore, Zhuang quickly turned around at this time and expressed his resolute support for Sister Tian Chuan, which is called knowing the current affairs for Junjie.