A month later, Keelung Harbor, rainy night.

The name of Rain Harbor is not in vain, the rain in Keelung seems to never stop, and it will be drizzling again.

The area of Peace Island is no longer sufficient, and the dockyard on the island is now used only for ship repairs. The shipyard for the frigate and the notification ship was in Keelung Inner Harbor, and the construction of the Junk transport ship was handed over to the joint venture shipyard of Tamsui and Taichung.

Taipei Prefecture chose Keelung Port to build a new shipyard on the east coast of the port, which is surrounded by mountains on three sides, shielding it from typhoons and cold waves. The largest amount of earthwork came from the drainage ditch that surrounded the shipyard, which was a small moat. The excavated earthwork was used to raise the slipway foundation. The first phase of the yard has a circumference of nearly 2 kilometers, and there are two large slipways.

Through the fine rain curtain, a corner of the shipyard was brightly lit, and the keels of the two trial ships had been laid.

Maiden brought Shou a glass of spirit, a golden yellow liquor of pure color. When you shake the glass, the thick liquor hangs on the wall like satin and slowly flows back to the bottom of the glass.

The wine was fragrant, and he took a sip lightly.

"It's a good wine."

"Chinese craftsmen have a strong learning ability, and this is true for winemaking, and this is also true for shipbuilding."

"Speaking of shipbuilding, are you sure you want to start construction of two trial ships at the same time?"

"You brought me 40 Filipino shipwrights, and I also have workers from the Nanjing Longjiang Shipyard, and last year in Fujian, Zhejiang, and Taipei, we accepted a lot of people. There is plenty of timber and enough manpower, so why not start work? ”

"Well, you're the chief executive, you decide."

"I'm curious now what kind of ship Mr. Phoenix can build me."

Shou Xiang glanced down at the somewhat simple shipbuilding drawings.

"The hull is 129 inches (39 m) long, the keel is 108 inches (33 m) long, the width is 31.8 inches (9.7 m), and the draft is 14 inches (4.3 m). Displacement 640 long tons (650 metric tons). There were 32 guns, including 24 9-pounder guns on the gun deck and 8 4-pounder guns on the open deck. The whole ship is designed with the gun deck as the core, with no stern and flat deck. ”

"The Native Navy will certainly not accept this plan. Mr. Administrator, it is because you are from the Army that you will accept it without hesitation. ”

Maiden shrugged, "If these two ships are not successful, it will be nothing more than a waste of some wood and manpower." You know, in terms of building battleships, I don't have too much manpower here. ”

"As for the wood, you've chosen a good place for us." Maiden stretched out his arm and waved around the mountains around Keelung Harbor, "Those mountains are full of good ship materials. ”

Shou Zhi smiled, "Yes, we have nothing to lose. ”

Maiden put down his wine glass, his expression was slightly regretful, "It's just a pity that the largest keel material that can be found in Taipei is a 30-meter level Taiwan beech, and the battleship can't be built bigger." ”

Of course, it is feasible to splice the keel, but when there are still a lot of large wood resources, the navy still decided to use only the whole large wood as the keel. For safety, but also for redundancy.

"From a 250-ton frigate to a 650-ton full-sail cruiser, we are already growing by leaps and bounds. Don't be in a hurry, things can't happen overnight. ”

"Without big ships, we are forever under the threat of the Spaniards."

"Don't be discouraged, my friend. When we can't compete with the Spaniards at sea, we can try some of the old ways of the New World. ”

Maiden was silent for a while, "I don't know about naval warfare. But according to you, peace is on the horizon in Europe. ”

"War doesn't go on forever, and you know better than I that your country has had enough of the trauma of war."

"Yes." A wry smile tugged at the corner of Maiden's mouth, "Of course I hope that there will be peace in Europe and that the German people will no longer suffer the pain of war." But that also meant that the Confederation would not be able to hide behind the Dutch, and that we would be on the front lines of the war with the Spaniards. The enemy in front of us is the Viceroyalty of the Philippines, but behind them there is the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the Viceroyalty of Peru, and the entire Kingdom of Spain. ”

"My friend, please believe that all my work since 6 years ago has been in preparation for this day. ”

"Of course I believe it, but not many people in the Senate can understand this."

"They don't need to understand, loneliness is like this glass of wine, it is worth savoring."

"You should know that there are many people in the Senate who want to sit in the position of consul, and they have a tendency to be in tandem."

Politics is the representation of interests, and there are always too many interests. Good brothers may also become enemies in the face of competing interests.

"Of course I do." Shou Xuan smiled, "My goal is different from theirs, and knowing their plan doesn't mean I want to fight them." ”

Cognition is not at the same level, and the order never traps itself in the struggle of the local faction.

Seeing that Maiden was still a little unwilling, Shou Xiang smiled and added: "As a leader, our decisions should be based on realistic conditions. A lot of people don't understand the potential pressure, but we don't need to convince them, just use some methods to keep them on the same pace as us, and that's enough. ”

"You mean, money?"

"Money is an indispensable part, but it's not enough. I think our country needs a written charter. ”

"Charter, law?"

"Yes, a law that embodies our spirit and that establishes the greatest identity among different peoples. A common program for maintaining national unity, the goal for which we are striving. ”

Economics and law, ties beyond blood, are the beginning of a new order in the Pacific.

Maiden was a little intrigued, "What kind of law would that be?" ”

Shou Xuan shook his head, "The law cannot be determined by me, but must be discussed by the various nationalities and strata that make up this country. ”

"All nationalities and classes, you mean something like the Estates-General in France?"

"More or less. The French do have a lot to learn from us. ”

"When is this conference going to take place?"

"I will give each borough a year to prepare, and you will decide on your own representatives first. During the northerly wind period next year, the meeting will be held in the local area, and the specific time will be notified separately. ”

The reason for this is to use decisions, not elections. The observance of order fully takes into account the different social habits of various ethnic groups, and some places may be customary to vote, some places will be hereditary, and some places will be virtuous and virtuous. The way in which the reps are generated, there is no need to interfere too much now.

Maiden solemnly stretched out his right hand, "What I want to say to you is that we have built a nation and we have also carried obligations. No matter how hard it is, I'll walk with you. ”

Shou Xian laughed, "I'm a little unaccustomed to you being so serious." ”

"Your Excellency, the prefects of the Council have arrived." The orderly's report interrupted their discussion.

Shou and Maiden turned and walked towards the venue.

"What do you think of Mr. Phoenix's names for the two ships?"

"Battleship Brenshire, battleship Hyperion." Maiden's voice was smiling, "I'm satisfied with the mythology of Northern Europe and Greece. We said okay, Brenshire is mine, and you can only take Huberion. ”

"Hah, no problem......"

……

Taipei Chief Executive's Residence, small conference room.

Maiden, Philhoff, Allemman, Boggs, and Order, Collingwood, six people sat around the round table.

Collingwood was the commander of this year's Taipei Escort Ship Regiment, which he led to Taipei during the fleet's raiding of the Philippine coast. This is the largest escort ship group since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Guangdong fell, and the immigration ships that were supposed to go to the Pearl River Delta also came to Taipei, and the huge ship group included the transport ships that originally belonged to Taipei and 200 Nanyang Guangzhou ships and Fu ships. Collingwood joined Thomas Mello in Sanya, and barely managed to put together a convoy that could be seen from the past.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this year is the last time that a large-scale grain shipment will come from the mainland. From next year onwards, you will be on your own. The orderly speech shook the room slightly.

Maiden footed in the orderly's remarks, "Gentlemen, we have a year's worth of food. Competent officials appointed by the Taipei Prefecture have encouraged immigrants to plant, and Taipei's food production has steadily increased. I hope that with this batch of grain reserves, Taipei can tide over the difficulties in the next three years. ”

Boggs said, "Your Excellency the Consul, Your Excellency the Governor. If nothing else, food is enough. My fear is a typhoon, a devastating typhoon that could destroy our efforts. ”

Maiden responded: "Mr. Boggs's fears are justified, but due to some practical difficulties, it is indeed difficult to organize a large group of ships to support us. This does not mean that we will no longer buy from outside, Taipei will still buy grain. We always welcome grain ships from Nanyang, Batavia and Japan. It's just that that it would be purely a business practice. ”

Seeing that there was not much controversy, the Orderer ordered, "Colonel Collingwood." ”

"Archon."

"Leave 100 junk ships for Taipei, and we will take the rest of the ships with us."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Filhoff suddenly laughed, "Maybe we can do more than just buy grain, the Tatars can't hold on to Fujian and southern Zhejiang provinces on the other side of the strait." During the autumn harvest, we made a few trips, and we should be able to bring back a lot of grain. ”

Shou Order: "Fujian and southern Zhejiang are not the main grain producing areas, I am afraid the harvest will not be too big." ”

Allemman: "Then there is the Li Dynasty, our frigate is in the water, while the local support fleet is still there, I think we can restart the voyage north to the Li Dynasty this year." ”

Collingwood: "We're only going to stay for another three months at most. ”

Allemand: "Three months is enough. ”

"You can't just go to Jeju Island to grab grain, Jeolla Province in the south of the Lee Dynasty is their main grain producing area."

Filhoff pouted: "With the defensive strength of the Li Dynasty, it will not be difficult. ”

Collingwood's eyes looked over and Orderly nodded, "That's it." ”

Allemand: "I'll make arrangements after the meeting." ”

The next topic is China's war situation.

Philhoff and Allermont made a division of labor, Allermont was responsible for reporting on Zhejiang and Jiangnan, and Filchoff was responsible for Fujian.

Allemand: "On May 20 of this year (April 16 of the first year of the Yongli calendar), our ally in Zhoushan instigated a rebellion of a Tatar general surnamed Wu, who took control of 5,000 troops in Jiangnan Province. Unfortunately, the fleet at sea encountered a hurricane at the mouth of the Yangtze River and was completely annihilated. Governor Shen Tingyang and two generals, Huang Binqing and Zhang Mingzhen, lost nearly half of their fleet and several relatives. General Wu's uprising also failed. ”

Wu Shengzhao uprising case, Shou Xuan sighed, the storm at the mouth of the Yangtze River is too pitted.

"The Tatars launched a province-wide manhunt in Jiangnan, and the underground resistance of the Chinese on the mainland was uprooted. As far as I know, many people committed suicide before they were captured by the Tatars, but the Tatars still captured their families and sold them into slavery. ”

Xie Yaowen's Tonghai case, the anti-Qing forces in the southeast suffered a heavy blow. Xia Wanchun was arrested because of his involvement in this case. The Tatars took advantage of Xie Yao's case to arrest many of the rebellious gentry who had no evidence but were suspected. Many of them were family members of fallen Ming generals, whose wives and daughters often committed suicide before the Tatars stormed their homes.

Collingwood: "How much has our trading power on the mainland been affected?" ”

Alemand: "The situation in Jiangnan Province is very chaotic right now, we have no definite information, only that the Tatar manhunt continues. It wouldn't be surprising if we were also affected. ”

"Suspend active trade with Jiangnan, I will go to Zhoushan later, and I will see it then."

Allemand put away the briefing, "Okay, Ludwigsi, it's your turn. ”

Filhoff then reported to Fujian, "Your Excellency, after you left Fujian, we continued to occupy the coast of Fuzhou for a period of time to complete the transfer of local immigrants. The Tatars brought in large reinforcements from Jiangnan Province and Zhejiang, and they re-attacked the provincial capital of Fujian. At the beginning of the year, the Chinese troops who fought with us fled into the mountains. Elsewhere in Fujian, government and rebel forces controlled most of the area, and troops loyal to Beijing were huddled in a few key areas in northern Fujian, unable to move south. ”

"But according to our intelligence, the Tatars have appointed Chen Tai as the general of Jingnan, and nearly 10,000 reinforcements from Beijing are on their way south. We assess that the arrival of this army will upset the current balance in Fujian Province. ”

Shou Xiang compared the map, "Southern Fujian is the remnants of the Zheng Domain, and Northern Fujian is the Tatars, and they have gathered a lot of troops. This year, we will not interfere in Fujian on a large scale. ”

Maiden: "We have some maneuverable forces, can we disperse the sorties to the coastal towns?" ”

Orderly thought about it for a moment, "Yes, you can control the resources you put in. ”

Today's meeting is mainly to discuss the overall planning, not controlling decision-making, and the topics are basically point-to-point, without in-depth discussion on a specific item.

After the intermission, it was the report that everyone was most looking forward to.

From an Australian expedition.