Before building a ship, a model was made, a practice that began with the British. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoSince entering the Age of Discovery, until now, although the British have not been able to completely defeat other opponents and achieve the same sea power as later generations, the British have begun to show their superiority in seafaring technology. And before building a ship, the argument was made with a model, and it was from the British that it began.

Both Lawrence and Fabio knew that this was the first time that the Zheng group had examined them, and they both knew that the Far Eastern king of the seas was very wealthy, and he had a monopoly on not only all the trade between China and the Netherlands, but also most of the trade between Spain and China, and even charged a fee for the security of passing ships. This has brought huge income to the group, and at the same time, so much business naturally means that they need more combat ships to maintain their position. If they can pass the test of the Zheng Group, it means that they will be able to make a lot of money from the Zheng Group in the future. So the two gangs of people took it seriously.

A single-deck cruiser is not something too complicated, and in Europe there are not too many such ships built by various countries. The difference in the design of the cruisers of various countries is also not too great. So soon, both gangs came up with their own designs and models.

In fact, there is not much difference between the two schemes, both use three masts, sails, and the length to width ratio of the hull is also determined to be about 5:1. If you want to say that the biggest difference is probably the height of the freeboard. The freeboard height of the ship in Lawrence's scheme was significantly higher than that of Fabio.

"Your Excellency, you also know that a higher freeboard reduces the amount of waves that rush onto the deck." Lawrence explained his design as follows, "Our design can ensure that the warship has an upper deck capable of fighting even in the case of strong winds and waves. As you know, General, a fifth-tier ship has only one gun deck, so the guns on the open deck are also very important for the combat effectiveness of the entire battleship. If the waves are severe, it means that the weather conditions are just a little worse, and the guns on the open deck are unusable. The combat effectiveness of the battleship will be greatly reduced. So our design is the most reasonable. The design of this Italian friend of the individual gang fight...... Your Excellency, you are also familiar with our schooners, have you ever seen a European ship with such a low freeboard? ”

Of course, as his opponent, Fabio would not allow him to boast and slander himself in front of Zheng Zhilong, he hurriedly spoke: "Your Excellency, although what Mr. Fabio said has some truth, but when he designed this cruiser, he designed the freeboard so high more to be lazy. Your Excellency, the Dutch cruisers often have to operate in the North Atlantic, especially in the North Sea, where the winds and waves are always high, and the ships operating in that area will indeed be very uncomfortable if the freeboard is too low. And if a ship is going to sail from Europe to Asia, but Your Excellency General, your cruiser doesn't need to run to the North Atlantic, does it? It is true that the freeboard of European ships in the Far East was very high, but this was because all ships from Europe to Asia had to be at Cape Storm, the southernmost point of Africa. This is the windiest sea in the world, and even on the sunniest weather, there are very high waves. So all ships going between Asia and Europe will have a higher freeboard. But, Your Excellency, is it necessary for you to send your cruiser to Cape Storm, tens of thousands of miles away? If not, why such a high freeboard?

And Your Excellency, the higher freeboard will actually bring some drawbacks. You're a veteran of seafaring, and you can certainly tell. The higher the freeboard, the higher the deck height, which means that the center of gravity of the ship will be higher, the guns are located on the top deck, and the heavy guns will further increase the center of gravity of the ship, which will have two serious consequences, the first is that it will make the ship seriously less flexible when sailing. For example, when performing maneuvers such as sharp turns, the deck will tilt significantly, and if the sharp turns are performed in combat conditions, it may even cause the cannon to come out of the gun position. It's a terrible thing. And if it can't make a sharp turn, then the ship is more likely to be grabbed by someone when fighting other ships, that is, it is easy to give the enemy the opportunity to fire in the direction of our bow with the side of the ship. On the side of the ship, almost twenty guns could fire at a time, and in the bow there was only one. Isn't it very clear who wins and who loses?

As for the second one, it is also related to a higher center of gravity, because the center of gravity is too high, so it cannot be loaded with more powerful guns, and in his design, it can only be loaded with some 12-pounder guns at most. ”

"For a cruiser, a 12-pounder gun is enough. Because the corvette is only used to attack merchant ships, and is only responsible for reconnaissance, search, and vigilance and cover. Lawrence glared at Fabio and couldn't help but shout.

"Mr. Lawrence, let me remind you that it's not up to you whether a 12-pounder gun is enough or not. It is up to His Excellency the General to decide. And your Excellency, even if for the time being your cruiser only needs 12-inch guns, wouldn't it be better to keep the possibility of using larger 18-pounder guns on the premise of not spending much money? Fabio first raised his big nose proudly at his rival, and then turned to Zheng Zhilong and said.

"You...... But the freeboard of your ship is so low......" Lawrence couldn't help but retort again.

"Mr. Lawrence, tell the Lord the Honest Commander what you call this ocean of the Far East. Why is there such a name? Fabio said.

Lawrence was stunned for a moment, Fabio turned to Zheng Zhilong and said, "Your Excellency General, we Europeans call this ocean 'Pacific Ocean', which means a calm ocean. Because the Pacific Ocean is indeed calm compared to the treacherous Atlantic Ocean in our homeland, it makes sense that the ships used in the Pacific Ocean should have a lower freeboard, isn't it? Not to mention the fact that the lower center of gravity also allows the ship to be more agile and to use heavier and more powerful guns. I admit that if it were in a rough sea, the warship I designed would probably not be able to defeat the warship designed by Mr. Lawrence, but for more time, the combat capability of the ship I designed would certainly be higher than that of Mr. Lawrence's. ”

"Your Excellency, although the wind and waves in the Pacific Ocean are small, they are not without strong storms. Monsieur Fabio is an Italian, and his homeland does not have the treacherous Atlantic, only the Mediterranean, which is much less stormy than the Pacific. In any case, I still think that the freeboard designed by Mr. Fabio is too low, which will cause a lot ......of problems in the voyage," Lawrence began.

The two of them tore up in front of Zheng Zhilong, at the beginning, although they accused each other, they mainly reasoned with the facts, and they could still maintain a little demeanor, but later, it naturally developed into a complete personal attack, and hats such as "Dutch fool" and "Italian liar" flew all over the sky. Although in the end, Zheng Zhilong, out of prudence, made two plans to build one for each of them a few days later. But the bond between Lawrence and Fabio came to an end. Many years later, when his children and grandchildren looked through his diary, they could often see words such as "that Italian liar", "that disgusting Italian fool", "why didn't this disgusting guy go to hell soon", and even after learning of Fabio's death, Lawrence, who was already over seventy years old and did not live long, left in his diary "Finally waited for this day, thank God" Such words.

Of course, Fabio's performance was not much better. It is said that when he was dying, the priest came to pray for him. Usually at this time, the dying person will express his willingness to forgive all the harm that others have done to him, and hope that others will also forgive him in the same way, and then he can go to Jesus with ease. But when the procedure got to this point, Fabio's prayer changed to "I'm willing to forgive you except that damn Dutch fool." In the suicide note he left behind, he even declared that it was forbidden for family members to talk about marriage with people who met any of these two conditions: 1. They were Dutch; 2. Surname Lawrence.

In addition to reviewing the design of the ship, there are many other things to prepare for the construction of the ship. The first is the new construction and renovation of shipyards. When Zheng Zhilong used to be a pirate, he had some shipyards in Taiwan, and later after becoming an official soldier, he bought several shipyards in Quanzhou, but Zheng Zhilong still bought more ships directly from others or snatched them. Some of the shipyards in Zheng Zhilong's hands only have the ability to repair ships, and some can build sea ships, but whether their facilities are suitable for building Western-style sailing ships is still a question. Therefore, it is naturally necessary to carry out a certain transformation of the shipyard.

Compared with Taiwan, the conditions of those shipyards in Quanzhou are better. However, Zheng Zhilong did not plan to build Western-style sailing ships in Quanzhou, not because Zheng Zhilong was worried that the Manchu Qing Dynasty would attack in the future and the shipyards on the mainland would become unsafe, but because of the following considerations:

The first is that Zheng Zhilong does not intend to directly integrate those Western-style sailing ships into Zheng Jiaming's fleet. Because he felt that there were some things that were not convenient for him to do publicly, and it would be very convenient to use this fleet to do them. Anyway, this fleet is a Western-style sailing ship, as long as he does not fly the flag of Zheng Zhilong, he is hiring some Japanese or Western vagabonds, even if he goes to North Korea to grab one, the imperial court will definitely not find him Zheng Zhilong. Establishing a shipyard in Taiwan can greatly reduce the risk of detection.

The second is the technical considerations. Nowadays, there is not much wood in Chinese mainland suitable for making high-quality warships. For example, the hundred-foot-long giant wood used to build the keel of a sailing ship, such as the wood suitable for the taller masts used for Western-style sailing ships, is now rare on the mainland. But in Taiwan, which is not yet fully developed, the situation is completely different, and there are many towering trees in the forests there that are suitable for shipbuilding. The shipyard was built in Taiwan to facilitate the use of Taiwanese timber nearby. So Zheng Zhilong made such a decision: to expand the original ship repair yard in Beigang into a shipyard capable of building cruisers. At the same time, a city was built in the North Harbor to consolidate this stronghold.