Kangning stood up nonchalantly, walked slowly to Honda Masamune, and said with a chuckle, "Didn't you look at the ships in the harbor when you came here?" ”

Honda Masamune was stunned for a moment, and then remembered that he had not received information about the Kangning Navy from Tokugawa Ieyasu. In the war machine of the Japanese state, the navy is not a necessary branch of the army. In the past Warring States Period, only the subordinates of Nine Ghost Jialong had a naval army with considerable combat power.

The other princes, although they also had some ships, most of them were used to transport supplies and did not have a high combat capability. Although there was even a design similar to an ironclad ship, later experts and scholars generally believed that it was only a formal similarity to an ironclad ship, but in fact, it was an imitation of the warship design of the Song Dynasty in the Central Plains.

This type of ship was eventually named an ataka ship. At that time, Oda Nobunaga, who worked for Yoshitaka Kuki, had high hopes for this kind of ship. However, the later performance of the Japanese navy in the Imjin Rebellion fully proved the difference between the combat effectiveness and practicality of the ship.

Since then, Japan has tended to be more closed off from the rest of the world, and as a result, shipbuilding technology has been further neglected, and the size of the navy has shrunk to almost none.

Therefore, Honda Masasa-juncai seriously lacks attention to the affairs of the water army. On his way to the negotiations, he never imagined that Corning would show off his strength with his navy.

At this moment, Honda Masapure had no bottom in his heart, of course he didn't want to lose his prestige in front of Kangning, so he wasn't going to go to see those ships at all, and just as he was about to say his carefully prepared excuse, a loud noise came from outside.

Ah Cha Bureau and Chang Gao Yuan were both screaming in fright. They have been through many years of war. Of course, I heard the sound of this big tube. Of course, they would not have imagined that the sound of war could be heard next to the negotiating table.

Fortunately, the big tube just thought about it for a while, and then, the surroundings had already returned to calm.

Tsunekoin also regained its calm. It made his mind spin quickly. I'm going to make a big fuss about this. That is, Corning heard his accusations again. In her view, Corning's choice of place for negotiations was not peaceful at all. He is now asking that negotiations continue in a different place, and that Corning cannot get involved for any reason.

However, Corning's reply to the ignorant woman was only a faint sneer.

"Ma'am. If you stick to your point of view. I think that such a voice will appear on the front battlefield, and I am very unhappy that Tokugawa Shogun has taken the lead in tearing up the agreement with me. As the saying goes, the lord is humiliated and the lord is humiliated, and my subordinates have been dissatisfied with the behavior of the Tokugawa shogun for a long time. I believe that warships equipped with large barrels. If in the coming year, when the youth is not successful, the whole situation of the war will be changed. ”

The Standing High Court did not have a clear judgment on the situation of the war. He could only stick to his initial assertion now, continuing to emphasize that he was an envoy sent by Toyotomi Hideyori and had nothing to do with Tokugawa Ieyasu, and he was indifferent to whether or not Kangning would go to war with Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Corning snorted coldly. He set a tentative gaze on Honda Masamun. Honda Masashi was no one who had no qualities for the battle situation, and he immediately realized how dangerous Corning's threat was. So he slowly stood up and said to Kangning with a smile: "Tokugawa Shogun, he has never been ready to tear up the contract with Mr. We wish you a promise to trade in the Kanto region. It will be unblocked after the end of the war. ”

Kangning knew very well in his heart that the other party was just a delaying tactic, and once Toyotomi Hideyori was finished, there was no doubt that Tokugawa Ieyasu would be the next to deal with.

Today, if he didn't let this guy see how powerful he was, he wouldn't be able to deter Tokugawa Ieyasu.

So, Honda saw a fox with a sly smile, showing his enthusiasm for hospitality.

"Since General Tokugawa Ieyasu is still willing to maintain peace and friendship with me, then I will naturally abide by the agreement with General Tokugawa Ieyasu, but, in order to prevent some villains from sowing discord, I also ask Mr. Honda Masasumi to go with me to see my ship. After you go back, you can tell those villains about the appearance of my warship, so that they can save their worries and be princes all the way. ”

Honda Masamune shouted that it was not good, he didn't want to be embarrassed from the beginning. But Corning is now threatening the peace and friendship of both sides, forcing him to go and see.

As a result, the two envoy groups, including the Ah Tea Bureau and the Changgao Yuan, came to the port that had just been built. Cha Yongzhang and Sun Yuanhua were still busy here, and they didn't even have time to receive Kangning. Fortunately, Corning and the people behind him only need to look at each other from a distance.

Kangning pointed to the huge harbor and introduced to the two groups of people behind him: "I borrowed a lot of famous shipbuilders and timber and iron nails from my boss. And then there were these ships. ”

Kangning's fingers slowly drew a semicircle in the horizontal direction, and the eyes of Honda Masamune and the others also followed his fingers, looking at the dense ships in the distance.

Just looking at the size of the ship's hull was enough to surprise them. What's more, there is also a numerical advantage. The entire sea near the port was crowded with large ships of this type. Honda Masamune could not have imagined how Corning was able to build nearly 80 European-style warships in just a few months.

In fact, the construction of these warships has basically nothing to do with Corning. They were built by Boss Huang in the Ryukyu Kingdom, but they just drove here. Boss Huang is a bad imitation of the walled castle built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi overnight during the Battle of Odawara.

Many people in later generations already knew about Toyotomi Hideyoshi's trick, the dead monkey, first under the cover of the woods, built the entire walled city, and then developed the surrounding trees, creating the illusion that the castle was built overnight.

Boss Huang, on the other hand, used the same way, he just drove the built ship next to the newly built port.

However, the treacherous and cunning Honda is pure, and now he is not in the mood to analyze whether Boss Huang has used tricks. He just wanted to know, what exactly is the difference between these warships?

As the content to be shown off. Of course, Corning didn't mind letting him know, what were the characteristics of these warships?

These of his warships were built on the basis of the Galen ship. And the carpenters who built these ships were all kidnapped from the West.

The construction of ships in the 16th century is still based on the know-how and proven experience of the family. This. It's the same in both the West and the East.

Some opinionated people may still think that Western shipbuilding technology has entered the scientific system, but in fact, the faithful and reliable old carpenters who do not know how to read are still in the industry they are engaged in. Exceptional talent. Their family members, in the same workshop, may have been working for 300 years.

The relatively early school, which was able to systematically introduce shipbuilding knowledge, was not established until 1811. The school at the Portsmouth Shipyard was headed by the very good mathematician Inman. He started by using his mathematical knowledge to explain the shipbuilding skills that had emerged in a mathematical way. And use the mathematical way to make new designs.

His ideas are undoubtedly good, and they are also under the general trend of history. The inevitable behavior, however, is that he ultimately ends up being a failure.

The school's design of ships was mediocre and did not attract a sufficient number of buyers, and eventually, the school had to close in 1832.

Other words. In the 19th century, empiricism still dominated the shipbuilding industry. In the 17th century, where Corning lived, the situation was naturally even more serious.

Although Corning also has the idea of building a shipbuilding school, it now looks like it can directly recruit applied talents. It is possible to reduce the cost and cycle time of cultivation to the greatest extent. It seemed like a wise decision.

Boss Huang's thoughts at that time were obviously the same as Kangning's, and he decisively abducted and even directly sold a considerable number of shipbuilders from all major regions of Europe. A large number of them died on the voyage, just as the triangular trade with their countrymen at this time also cost many black lives.

Boss Huang took a blind attitude towards their deaths, and he only blindly increased the salaries of the craftsmen, but never offered any comfort to their spiritual world.

The shipbuilders who were empty in their hearts could only enrich their lives with constant labor, so Boss Huang finally saw the work efficiency he wanted to see.

This is where these ships came from.

Of course, it is impossible for Boss Huang not to make some improvements for them.

For example, Boss Huang is very tyrant and uses copper to wrap the bottom of the boat. This is done to prevent barnacles and weeds from attaching to the hull and affecting the speed and maneuverability of the boat. Of course, mollusks known as ship maggots in the tropics are also the focus of prevention.

For example, iron anchor chains and rigging have also become widespread in this fleet. In the original history, something similar did not happen until 1808. At the time, Sir Samuel Brown made almost the same suggestion. And it was quickly adopted widely.

Other minor improvements, such as boom chains, mid-mast ropes and knotted rope chains, bow mast chains, and bow mast chain chains, have all been found in the fleet. In the original history, these things would not have been universally applied until around 1840.

Of course, Corning's current shipbuilding capacity is not yet at the level of 200 years from now, but some practical tips and designs can still be used directly.

These things were all introduced to Honda Masamune by Corning. Honda Masamachi didn't understand the meaning of these terms, and he didn't even know where they were on the ship. But Corning's words gave him a sense of incomprehension, he only knew that Corning had a mysterious fleet, and the combat ability of this fleet was unfathomable because of this mystery.

Honda didn't like it very much, but what happened next made him even more disliked.

Another loud bang was heard. This time, Honda saw black smoke rising in the distance. It was a battleship practicing firing guns. Although the battleship was armed with 4-pounder guns and 2-pounder guns, lead balls and iron balls were still used as the main projectiles. But when he saw the rock shattering and the sea churning, Honda and the two women behind him were so frightened that they couldn't keep their mouths shut.

Corning pouted inwardly, in his impression. It will take more than 200 years for the sail warship to come to an end. At that time, the Queen and Victoria, which were launched, did not have a three-digit cannon and did not have the face to come out to meet people.

Battle-experienced, the Queen, armed with 110 guns, was launched in Portsmouth in 1839 with a gun deck of 204 feet, a hull length of 166 feet, a hull width of 60 feet, and a mainmast tip of 240 feet from the waterline. And the tonnage has reached a terrible 3104 tons.

These numbers are out of reach for Corning today. The warships of his fleet generally have a displacement of only 200 tons. Although in this day and age? It is already very good to have a ship of this displacement, and only the Dutch and British East India Companies will be equipped with ships of 300 tons, 600 tons, or larger tonnage.

But Corning was clearly not ready to be satisfied, and he hoped to build a ship like the Empress or the Victoria as soon as possible. It can deter his enemies by virtue of its size alone, rather than having to fire.

At the same time, the era of sail warships is destined to end. The advent of the steam age will make the mast and sail retire from the stage of history. But the current Kang Ning and Boss Huang, even if they know the trend of history, they can't arbitrarily turn the wheel of productivity and let their sphere of influence enter the steam age as soon as possible.

They had to quietly press their mood and wait slowly.

But an ambitious shipbuilding program was also brewing in their hearts long ago. An exaggerated design drawing has appeared in front of Che Yongzhang. Maybe it won't take too long for this engineering male traverser discovered by Corning to use his wisdom to push the era of sail battleships to the peak in advance.

On that drawing, an ambitious name has already been written.

Design drawings of the Wanli-class cruiser. (To be continued.) )