In the past, the Dutch people were constantly fighting with the Zheng family for sea power around the southeast sea, but now Fang Yuan's rapid rise has become a more powerful enemy that the Dutch people and the Zheng family face together. Where the interests are, there are no eternal friends, and there are no eternal enemies, and the two can unite against Fang Yuan, which is not beyond Fang Yuan's expectations.

To deal with the Zheng family and the Dutch maritime alliance at the same time, the current naval division of the Xuanjia Army is still unbearable. If it was possible, Fang Yuan still didn't want to turn his face with the Dutch at this time. However, the strategy of dividing Japan has a bearing on the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty, especially the troubles of the Zhejiang provinces, and there is absolutely no room for the slightest concession.

What's more, these Dutch people came to the door to shout in support of Japan, as well as the Zheng family, which was extremely rampant and arrogant. Western shipbuilding technology and artillery technology have been under Fang Yuan's control, anyway, the recovery of Taiwan in the future will turn its face, and the Dutch people will be offended if they are offended, and it will be solved together with the Zheng family.

Fang Yuan pondered for a while, and a gleam flashed in his eyes, "Since Governor Putsman wants to keep warm with the Zheng family and fight the trapped beasts, let's wait and see!" From now on, I will cut off all trade with the Dutch. ”

Fang Yuan made it clear that he would rather go to war with the Dutch than give up the strategy of dividing Japan and fight if he wanted to!

At this point in the negotiation, the two sides completely collapsed, Cohen snorted coldly and left angrily.

After Cohen went angrily, Xiao Yuan looked at the Zimu Jade sent by Kohendai Tokugawa Iemitsu, according to common sense, since the negotiations broke down, this Zimu Jade should be sent back to Japan. But this child and mother jade are treasures of Japan after all, and what is even more rare is that she and her son are tied together, and she is still a little reluctant, and asks tentatively, "Childe, do I still want this son and mother jade?" ”

Fang Yuan saw that she didn't know anything about the story behind this Zimu Jade, and wanted to dominate and not let go, so he couldn't help but smile, and said, "Xiao Yuan, do you know what happened to Toyotomi Hideyori, the male owner of this pair of Zimu Jade, and his mother Yodohime?" ”

The history of Japan is really ignorant.,Busy asking about the story of this son and mother jade.。

"Thirty years ago, when the Toyotomi regime fell, Toyotomi Hideyori and his mother Yodohime committed suicide in a warehouse in Osaka Castle, when Toyotomi Hideyori was in his twenties. ”

When Xiao Yuan heard that the origin of this Zimu Jade was so unlucky, it was like a curse on her and Fang He, and she couldn't help but lose her face, swept the Zimu Jade to the ground, and said angrily, "It's really unlucky!" When the Tokugawa shogunate sent this kind of gift, it was cursing Childe! ”

Fang Yuan didn't have any taboos about these feudal superstitions, if this was also unlucky, how many of those antiques collected before crossing over were not unlucky? He ordered the maid to put away the jade and hide it properly, so that if she dealt with Japan in the future, she might be able to use it.

Since there is a stalemate with the Dutch this time, and the Dutch are now the largest Western naval power east of Malacca, it seems that the maritime frontier of the Ming Dynasty will not be peaceful for a while.

Whether it is to conquer the Zheng family's lair, or to expel the Dutch and recover the island of Taiwan, a strong sailor is indispensable.

At present, although the naval division of the Xuanjia Army is just seeing the climate, the number of them is still too small to fight the combined forces of the Zheng family and the Netherlands at the same time, and the manufacture of warships must be accelerated.

Whether it is building ships or casting artillery, they are all piled up with silver, Fang Yuan Chong Xiaoyuan asked, "How much silver is still in the accounts of the Governor's Palace?" ”

The accounts of the Governor's Mansion had long been kept in Xiao Yuan's heart, and there was no need to take the account books at all, so he said, "The total amount of Gongzi's accounts is five million three hundred and thirty thousand taels of silver, but there are only one hundred and thirty thousand taels in the treasury of the Governor's Palace. ”

She reported the silver in stock to Fang Yuan, and asked tentatively, "Childe, the rest of the silver is not stored in the warehouse, where is it?" ”

Most of Fang Yuan's silver was stored in the Yue Bao account of the Taobao system to eat interest, and a small half was stored in the treasury of the Governor's Mansion in case of emergency.

Of course, this Taobao system is Fang Yuan's biggest secret, and he can't tell Xiao Yuan, so he smiled and said, "Of course the silver can't be put together, what if someone takes it in one pot?" One million taels were allocated from the treasury and handed over to Xi Benzhen to build an official road. In a few days, I will bring some silver to the storehouse. ”

He looked left and right about him, and Xiao Yuan didn't dare to ask any more, so he could only keep silent.

In order to speed up the building of the naval division, it is necessary to cooperate with the naval division battalion, the logistics battalion, the shipyard, and the Changshu arsenal.

Fang Yuan immediately summoned Shi Lang, Shi Fu's uncle and nephew, who were training sailors at the Zhoushan Naval Base, and Tang Ruowang and Bi Maokang from the Changshu Arsenal, and ordered the four of them to meet at the shipyard at the Taihu Base.

Five days later, Fang Yuan, Jing Jie, Shi Lang's uncle and nephew, Hou Chengzu, the commander of the logistics battalion, Tang Ruowang of the Changshu Arsenal, and Shen Mao, the supreme officer of the Taihu Shipyard, stood on the 2,000-ton giant warship that had just been completed, which was the fifth giant warship launched by the Xuanjia Army.

Shen Mao is the descendant of Shen Qi who wrote the "Southern Ship Chronicle", the Shen family has specialized in the study of warship casting for generations, and when Fang Yuan established the shipyard, he invited Shen Mao out to preside over the work of the shipyard.

Fang Yuan stood on the deck, staring at the beautiful scenery of Taihu Lake, and first asked, "Commander Shi, you have been fighting the Dutch people in Kinmen all year round, tell me about the strength of the Netherlands' naval warfare?" ”

"Governor Fang, the fleet of the Dutch is not very large, only forty or fifty warships, but their warships are of great tonnage, at least more than 800 tons; The sail is different from my Ming, not only is it extremely fast, but it can also sail against the wind; The number of guns on the battleship is large, powerful, and long-range, and five guns can sink a Zheng family battleship. If there is a naval battle head-on, it is enough to take one as ten. ”

Fang Yuan sighed secretly, this is the evil result of the Ming Dynasty's hundreds of years of sea ban, and the piece armor could not go into the water. It's a real headache for the two-hundred-year-old technology tree to catch up in a few years.

Fang Yuan asked again, "Commander Shi, tell me, can the fleet of the Xuanjia Army now start a war with the Zheng family and the Dutch sailors at the same time?" ”

Shi Lang frowned and said, "Governor Fang, the Xuanjia Army now has only more than twenty warships of similar tonnage and artillery numbers to the Dutch. The Zheng fleet won several victories, and the Dutch warships won with speed and strong artillery, if the two combined, they could not be underestimated! If you can restrain the powerful artillery of the Netherlands, the odds will be a few points better. ”

Fang Yuan frowned slightly, with the continuous increase in the power of artillery, the wooden battleships of this era are unbearable, if they can build ironclad ships, they can not be afraid of the artillery of the Netherlands.

The so-called ironclad ship is not a warship in the modern sense, the kind of ironclad warship cannot be driven by manpower and wind power, and must be powered by a steam engine. During this period, there were already prototypes of steam engines in the West, and the research on modern industry could be followed, but to make a huge breakthrough in the short term, the ironclad ships that generated steam power were still out of reach.

The ironclad ship that Fang Yuan could think of was an ironclad ship with a wooden structure and an outer layer covered with iron plates. This ironclad ship Orient was pioneered by Oda Nobunaga of Japan. However, this kind of ironclad ship is too heavy to be suitable for ocean-going naval warfare, so the ironclad ship did not participate in the naval battle of aggression against Korea.

The ironclad ships had to be significantly improved before they could be truly used in naval warfare.

He told the three of them about his idea of an ironclad ship, and then asked Shen Mao, "Mr. Shen, is this kind of ironclad ship feasible?" ”

Shen Mao groaned and said, "If it is in the hull, it is easy to cover the deck with iron plates, but in this way, it will increase the weight of the battleship, and if you want to float on the water, you must increase the airtight cabin of the battleship." ”

Shi Lang was worried that Fang Yuan would not understand the meaning of enlarging the battleship's airtight cabin, and explained, "Boss, if the airtight cabin increases, it means that the sailor's cabin will be reduced, and the number of sailors that can be carried on the battleship will be reduced. ”

John Tang, who was familiar with Western naval warfare, added, "The naval battles of the Ming Dynasty and the Zheng family were mainly based on melee combat, supplemented by artillery; Western naval warfare, on the other hand, is dominated by artillery, supplemented by melee combat. The tactics of the two sides are completely different, and they are also two completely different routes, so the Governor Fang must first make it clear that it is heavy artillery, and he pursues more fierce artillery and a stronger deck; It is still a heavy and short battle, and the pursuit of loading more sailors. ”

Fang Yuan understood the key to the explanation of the crowd, which was actually the choice of two naval battle routes.

One of them is the inherent method of engagement warfare of the Ming Dynasty and even the entire Orient, which is mainly based on close combat of sailors. In this way of warfare, it is necessary to increase the sailor's cabin and reduce the closed cabin, and the iron armor cannot be installed. The advantage is that there are many sailors, and there is a great advantage in melee combat; The disadvantage is that the style of play is relatively simple and rough, and the fight is that there are many people and great strength.

Historically, Zheng Chenggong relied on hard work to drive the Dutch out of Taiwan.

The second is to adopt the Western method of naval warfare, focusing on long-range artillery attacks, equipping battleships with iron armor, increasing the airtight cabins, and reducing the sailors' cabins. The advantage is that the firepower of long-range battles is strengthened, as well as the defense of battleships; The disadvantage is that there are fewer sailors, and once they are boarded by other ships, they will suffer a big loss in hand-to-hand combat.

Historically, the Manchu Qing Dynasty was stubbornly adhered to the bloody tactics of war and was beaten by the Western powers.

Fang Yuan was silent, and everyone was calmly waiting for his choice.