Five years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of National Defense completed several ship types at the beginning of the shipbuilding charter.

There are not many parts involving purely civilian ships, except for the provision that the rudder is changed from swinging and lifting to European-style rudder, and other causes the owner of the ship to arbitrarily what kind of shipowner.

Transport ships that received part of the shipbuilding costs sponsored by the Navy, in addition to changing the rudder, generally set up mast front and rear support cables and several side support cables. The first mast and forestay sail were added, the third mast was equipped with a jister sail, and a soft sail was added to the main hard sail. The hull of the ship is all made of the broad boat style.

It's not a big innovation. This was already the case with Japan's 20-year-old vermilion ships.

Officially, Japan had deeper contact with the European powers than China, and built its own Galen ships. In the early days of the seals, Japan generally purchased the ships directly. Japan has been using Canton ships for more than ten years, and they have their own experience. By the later period, the Araki ship and the last ship in the vermilion ship were already the three heads of the three families of Japan and Europe.

Some of the seals were built in Siam, and the shipwrights of the South Seas were familiar with this type of ship. The Kaneshiro Navy's request was for the merchant ships it sponsored to use three masts, and to abandon the two-masted system of the Junk ships, and to replace the spinnakers on the rear masts of the seals with diagonal sails.

The size of the civilian ship covers a wide area. The transport ships sponsored by the Navy are concentrated in medium-sized and large ships with a length of 7 and a half to 11 zhang (excluding the nose sprit), with a displacement of about 120 to 500 tons.

For the time being, the navy has not yet built a transport ship that is completely self-contained, and Taiwan intends to do it on its own. There are many kinds of timber in Taiwan, from the tropical rainforest in the south to the coniferous forest at an altitude of 3,000 meters, and some ship timber with a quality between junk ships and warships can be used to build armed merchant ships.

Merchant ships must first control costs, Maiden plans to control the keel length at 20 meters, and Taiwan has more beech keel aggregates below 25 meters.

The planks are made of secondary oak, with three vertical masts with stern, two sails each on the foremast and mainmast, 6 light guns, and the speed of the ship is acceptable. The ship's high side is designed to withstand lightly armed pirates, and the aft cabin is designed to accommodate important guests.

At first glance at his plan, the Dutch style was slightly modified in the sails.

The Dutchman's Yahat successfully combined cost, speed, and was equipped with a certain amount of armament, and the simple sail surface saved manpower, making it a reasonable choice for light and medium-sized sailboats of this era. The famous Mayflower in the United States is a 20-meter-long Yahat.

Orderly was a little curious, "Have you found a shipwright who can build Ahhat's ship?" ”

A smile tugged at the corner of Maiden's mouth, "François, the current Dutch administrator of Geranza. Caron was about to be transferred to Batavia, and if nothing else, he would be able to enter the East India Council this time. There was a group of German shipwrights in the Batavia dockyard who were nearing the end of their service, and I asked him to hire a few for me to come to Taiwan. ”

The Dutch company's double-hulled East India galleon, with a flat tail at the rear of the bottom and a large beak protruding from the bow, was similar to that of today's battleships, and could also be pulled up to the battle line to participate in decisive battles at sea when necessary in Europe.

This kind of ship will certainly not be built in Taiwan, and the Yahat ship that Maiden wants to build is generally called a clipper by the Dutch, with a keel of more than 20 meters long, which is similar to a brig frigate, and as long as an experienced shipwright is in place, it is not difficult to get started.

Maiden: "I'm going to make a slight change, do away with the top stern, lower the center of gravity. The waterline tilted hull was changed to a wall type to reduce the rib bending and facilitate processing. “

"Okay, don't let the boat you build capsize as soon as you hit the water."

"20 meters, I'll try it, maybe it can be done, I don't lack wood. In Asia, there is no need to think too much about deck area tax. “

"Okay", I'm too lazy to care about the order, it's good to try and accumulate experience.

"How did you get on the line with Caron?"

"In gold, of course," Maiden snapped his fingers, "in the United East India Company, if you want to be promoted, you can't do it without spending money." I helped Caron out some of the difficult accounts. Just asking him to find a few craftsmen who could build the ships of Ahat was a trivial matter for a senior executive who was about to enter the East India Council. ”

Shou Zhi once met the Dutch Taiwanese chief executive Paulus. Trodenius was transferred back to Batavia three years ago, and the China expert failed to make it to the East India Commission. One of the supplies purchased by the Dutch from China was gold, and Trodenius, perhaps blind, or for some other reason, mixed half of the gold that was brought to Ba Cheng was mixed with silver. He was lucky not to be imprisoned by Van Dimen, but soon died of a tropical disease in Ba Cheng.

Succeeded him by Maximilian . Pull. Maier presided over the work for one year as a deputy, but failed to correct it, and returned to Holland in the second half of 1644 with the Great East India fleet.

The current prefect, François. Cuarón is a somewhat legendary figure, having first joined the company as a chef's assistant. While cooking at a merchant in Japan, he learned Japanese, and went from chef to translator, then to salesman, and finally to senior management. Cuarón was the kind of person in the United East India Company's promotional materials for recruiting black workers in Europe.

"Have you inquired about the candidate to succeed Caron?"

"According to the roadside agency, Weatherine of the Tamsui Merchant House told me that the most likely candidate is the resident officer of the Japan Merchant House, Pete. Antonis. Owatt Watt. ”

"Do you have a connection with this person?"

"A little familiar, not familiar."

Orderly paced back and forth in the room twice, "I've been thinking about one thing. ”

"What's the matter?"

"When is it more appropriate for us to do something about the potbelly kingdom in Taichung."

"Didn't you say that you were going to keep the Potbelly Kingdom as a buffer between us and the Dutch?"

Shouxu said: "The actual control area of the Dutch is about to extend to the Muddy Water Creek, so we will drive the big belly fan to the south of the big belly creek and continue to keep them." ”

Maiden frowned, "Wouldn't it be better to wait another year or two for immigrants to settle down and do it?" ”

Shou Xiang disagreed, "Everything is waiting for you to be ready, and the enemy will not be unresponsive." What if the Potbelly Kingdom sees that you are going to make a move and preemptively surrenders to the Dutch? When you want to do it, you're going to turn against the Dutch. Now, while everyone is not paying attention, we will do the work and make raw rice into mature rice. ”

Taichung is another treasure in Taiwan, the Taichung Basin has a slightly higher altitude and a lower incidence of malaria, so it has formed the largest indigenous regime on the island of Taiwan. The mountainous hills near Taichung are another part of Taiwan that produces top-quality marine feed.

Seeing that Maiden was still hesitating, Shou Xuan said: "Aren't you going to build a ship?" To build a ship, we have to send people into the mountains to cut wood, and the population obtained in Yilan has to be put into the mines, and only the Potbelly Kingdom near us can provide enough slaves. ”

Shipbuilding was Maiden's dream, and keeping the order tickled him, but there was another problem, "We don't have enough soldiers." Filhoff and Yuan Anjie had just gone through a grueling mountain battle, and they needed to rest. The Potbelly Kingdom is even stronger than Magalan.

Orderhood smiled, "Maybe you don't need to use our people." We brought back a group of experts who do this kind of thing, and they are very expert. ”

Maiden: "You're the Clarifier?" ”

"Yes, we have more than 5,000 Ming troops, and in some ways, they are very professional." In the entire East Asian land, I am afraid it is difficult to find a more professional raiding team than the rest of Gao Jie.

Maiden: "When are you going to do it?" ”

Orderly: "If you decide, you will do it immediately." ”

Maiden: "Completely destroy the Potbelly Kingdom?" ”

Maiden: "Alright, I'll contact Caron, hopefully not too much of an annoyance." ”

"Money or something, don't be afraid to spend a little more," Shou Xuan said, "The opportunity is rare." ”

In the eyes of Batavia, who rules the seas of Asia, the potbelly is just a small Tufan tribe that is not worth mentioning, with no economic interests and no threat. As long as Taiwan's chief executive makes a slight move, Batavia will not pay attention to the border changes caused by a small river in Taiwan.

During handovers, work is most likely to come to a standstill. The officials who took over had not yet arrived, and the minds of the incumbent officials had already flown to the chairs of the East India Council. It is hard to find a Taiwanese governor who combines flexibility and principle like Cuarón with such a good combination of work flexibility and principle. It's a waste to just recruit a few shipwrights.

There are more than 5,000 Ming troops gathered on the island, and such an opportunity is rare again. The original plan was to place the Ming army in Shanghai in Taiwan, and Mrs. Xing to settle in the area where Houjiang Province and Zhenla Guangnan bordered the country. The rest of Gao Jie's troops were still on the ship in Keelung Harbor, and they were put in Taichung, which was also a relaxation for them, which was conducive to relieving the tension of the soldiers.

The two colonists inadvertently decided the fate of tens of thousands of people. The specific plan of attack was to be carried out by the army and the Ming army, and the topic of order and Maiden returned to shipbuilding.

In this part of the Navy's shipbuilding charter, the last type of battleship is the Brig, which Kaneshiro calls frigates.

The Pirates of the Caribbean had the best knowledge of schooners, so the first two brigs were all schooners. After several years of experience in use, the Navy was not too satisfied with the performance of the brig. The belly was too full, and the maximum speed did not exceed 10 knots. Although none of Manila's ships were faster than them, the Navy still modified the ship's shape.

In the new regulations, only sloops will be used in the schooner type. All the brigs under construction and under construction have been refitted, with the original brig upper edge jig and the trail mast top sail retained, and the foremast frontal arrangement of the upper, middle and lower sails. The warships built before Jincheng were still old European habits, and the stern draft was too deep. The design has redundancy in the foremast and crosssail.

The new frigate has a slightly higher length-to-width ratio, and the underwater ship is slightly thinner. It is a light warship that combines a longitudinal sail with a crosssail, and when the wind is unfavorable or when hiding from a strong enemy, the sail is folded and the crosssail is sailed into the headwind. When downwind, the sail is spread and the speed is faster than the original model.

The two schooners, the USS Xijiao and the USS Luofu, are the first batch of warships in Taiwan to be renovated and are undergoing sea trials. Therefore, he did not participate in the previous northbound reinforcement fleet.

With the current level of shipbuilding in Jincheng, it can only end here, there is not a single full-sail battleship, cruiser and empress of the sea, battleline gunboats.

If you don't want to be brutal, the designers and shipwrights of large warships can only solve the problem by relying on Europe. Shou ordered to meet with the envoy of the British East India Company at the beginning of the year, and he should have arrived in Jincheng by this time.

Notes: 1. François Cuarón is the Dutch East India Company mentioned in the previous chapters of this book, and he joined the French East India Company as a member of the Dutch East India Council, where he became the head of the French Company's Asia. During the Franco-Dutch War, he led a French fleet to threaten Ceylon. This person's evaluation in the Netherlands at that time was probably similar to Wu Sangui's in China.

2. The wiki says that the Mayflower is a flute-shaped ship, which should not be correct.