Chapter 692 Target! Cheju! Quietly!

2）

Moreover, the most terrible thing is that the cannon of the largest caliber of China on board is only a quarter of the weight of the cannon of European warships such as Britain and the Netherlands. In 1637 A.D., the battleship "King of the Sea" built by England had 1o4 cannons of various calibers, weighing a total of 153 tons, and the average gun was more than 2 catties per gun according to the Ming system. The Hongyi cannon that Xu Guangqi and others bought from Macao, as well as the red-coated cannon that Zhang Zhun is currently replicating, were salvaged from the sunken British warship.

Although, Zhang Zhun was unwilling to admit this cruel reality, feeling that he was too far behind, and he was very uncomfortable. However, after calming down, he had to admit that, judging from the cold data, there was a huge gap between the Chinese and Western warships in terms of size, weapons, and various technologies in the Ming Dynasty, and this gap led to a passive situation in China in dealing with maritime invasions. In the early Ming and Qing dynasties, the armed conflicts at sea between the West and the West were all carried out along the coast of China, and China's sea gates were already full of smoke.

Zheng Zhilong didn't have time to pay attention to himself for the time being, and he should be busy fighting with foreigners. At this moment, the warships of the Western powers are constantly appearing in the South Seas and East Asia, trying to occupy the whole East. From this angle, Zheng Zhilong is not a complete bad person. At the very least, he is fighting hard, trying not to let foreign forces interfere in China's territorial waters.

"Let's go and see the drawings of the Dragon God Ship"

Zhang Zhun said with a little excitement.

"Okay"

Xue Zhidie replied with a smile.

She didn't know why Zhang Zhun was so happy and so interested in the large battleship. For a long time, Xue Zhidie didn't understand why Zhang Zhun spared so much effort to the navy. At first, she thought that Zhang Zhun liked her beauty and flattered herself. Later, she must have thought wrong, Zhang Zhun really values the navy, not cares about her. However, as long as Zhang Zhun appreciates her efforts, she is always happy.

The group returned to Caidiexuan, and Xue Zhidie found out the drawings one by one. These drawings were all drawn by her personally, and sometimes Yun Pei and Xue Ningying would also help. This is also the reason why Caidiexuan is heavily guarded, and there are indeed too many secrets in it.

There are really a lot of drawings about the Dragon God Ship, at least a few hundred. Xue Zhidie re-reviewed the original design drawings, absorbed some beneficial theories of the lucky ship and the treasure ship, and made more appropriate improvements to the original design of the dragon god ship.

The treasure ship is a flat-bottomed ship, and the dragon god ship is a sharp-bottomed ship, and there are some differences between the two sides in terms of draft and pressurized water. In fact, both flat-bottomed and pointed-bottomed boats have their own advantages and disadvantages. To this end, Xue Zhidie designed the bottom of the Dragon God Ship into a U-shape, instead of the traditional V-shape. At the same time, the bottom of the ship has been greatly widened, while the deck has been greatly reduced

The purpose of this is to make it easier for the ship to be more stable. Because, the recoil of the redcoat cannon is, after all, very strong. Especially when firing a salvo, the recoil is very strong. If the top is heavy and the bottom is light, it is easy to overturn. In fierce naval battles, which require the rapid maneuvering of the battleship, the hull of the ship is often tilted. In this way, in the process of maneuvering, the danger of capsizing is higher.

Another huge benefit of reducing the deck area is that it reduces the chance of enemy shells hitting. In case of hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, because of the area of the deck, the number of enemies coming up is not very large, and the Tiger Ben Army can completely defeat the enemy. It can be said that these designs are purely for the needs of combat. As for the function of merchant ships, they have been completely canceled.

In fact, the Dragon God Ship, with a displacement of only one ton, is not a behemoth. In Zhang Zhun's eyes, at best, it is a frigate-level existence, not even a battleship. According to the classification standards of the British in those years, only those with a displacement of more than tons could be called battleships. The Tiger Ben Navy, even if it has a dragon god ship, it is not a real battleship.

Specifically, a first-class battleship should include three decks of guns, with a crew of more than 875 sailors and a displacement of 2535oo tons. A battleship of the second class, including three gun decks, the number of guns is 8, the crew capacity is about 75o, and the displacement is more than 2 tons. A three-pole battleship should include two to three gun decks, the number of guns is 64-8o, the crew is about 472o, and the displacement is about 132 tons.

Fourth-class battleships, generally only have two gun decks, the number of guns is only 5o-56, the number of sailors is about 35o, and the displacement is more than tons. Those with a displacement of less than tons can only be called frigates, cruisers, patrol boats, etc. The largest warship of the Ming Kingdom belongs to these ranks.

"Our boat is still a little"

Zhang Zhun said a little greedily.

"You're going to be bigger."

Xue Zhidie asked meaningfully.

"The bigger, the better."

Zhang Zhun said without hesitation.

"Look at this, then."

Xue Zhidie took out a brand new drawing.

"Huh?"

After Zhang Zhun saw it, his expression suddenly moved slightly.

It turned out that this was a large King Kong-class battleship designed by Xue Zhidie, with a displacement of up to 12oo tons According to Xue Zhidie's design, the King Kong ship will be fully loaded with red-coated cannons, and the firepower will be more ferocious than that of the Dragon God Ship. Although the current drawings are not very perfect, and some details are still blank, Xue Zhidie has enough time to accumulate more experience on the basis of building the Dragon God Ship, so as to further improve the design of the King Kong-class battleship.

Actually, there is no problem with the drawings, there is no problem with the design, the key is money. According to Xue Zhidie's report, the actual cost of each sword tooth ship has been more than 1,000 taels of silver. The cost of the Dragon God Ship must have exceeded two thousand taels of silver. If it is a larger King Kong ship, the cost may exceed four thousand taels of silver. The larger the size of the warship, the larger the weapons it is equipped with, and the higher the requirements for wood, the cost will naturally rise with the tide.

The above cost is the cost of the hull, excluding all the cost of the configuration of cannons and other nautical instruments, rigging, sailing gear, and anchors. The cost of the cannon is quite high. The greater the number of cannons configured, the higher the cost of the battleship. And that's not even counting the cost of maintenance after the ship enters service. How else to say that the navy is piled up of silver for nothing?

Back then, the battleship "Gothenburg" built by the Kingdom of Sweden cost one-sixth of the Swedish treasury. It can be seen how expensive the cost of warships is. Even Britain, which was once known as the empire on which the sun never sets, at its peak, the number of first-class battleships was only a dozen. In the waters of East Asia, if there are more than a dozen dragon god ships, they should be able to learn to walk as crabs. However, there is still a long way to go before the world ocean hegemony is achieved. It's still the same sentence, there is still a long way to go

"Work hard to make money"

Zhang Zhun waved his hands vigorously.

If you want to make the navy strong, the task is to earn money for nothing. Without money, everything is for nothing. It's just that Shandong's resources have basically been opened. If you want to make money, you can only start from the sea, from other places. Zhang Zhun's gold fingers, refined salt, glass or something, have also run out.

If there is no extra money, it is completely impossible to build the Tiger Ben Navy. The current extra money of the Tiger Ben Army is either looting or monopoly. Looting is a one-off, and it also hurts one's own image a lot. It's all your own people who grab it. Unless it was the looting of the treasury of the Japanese. Only monopoly profits are maximum.

At present, the Tiger Benjun has monopolized the refined salt business, what will be the next monopoly? Maritime trade, of course. The Age of Discovery had just begun, and the profits of maritime trade were definitely lucrative. Not to mention traditional porcelain, silk, medicinal herbs, tea, etc., if you can get a piece of the spice pie, the income will be even more lucrative.

"Brother Yulin, is it okay for me to go to Yangzhou with Sister Feifei?"

Xue Ningying said suddenly.

"You're going to Yangzhou?"

"Good"

Zhang Zhun pondered for a moment and quickly agreed.

Yangzhou Business Association should be a good opportunity.

The legendary salt merchants in Yangzhou are all rich and rival the country, even the poorest people, and their net worth is more than one million taels of silver. The fattest salt merchant is said to be worth more than three million taels of silver. This value is almost the same as the treasury. As soon as he thought of the cost of the navy warships, Zhang Zhun couldn't wait to kill Yangzhou immediately, raided the homes of those big salt merchants, and invested all the silver in the construction of the battleships, and countless large warships came out like dumplings.

"Thank you, Brother Yulin"

Xue Ningying said excitedly.

"Shadow ......"

Xue Zhidie said questioningly.

"My sister won't let me go."

Xue Ningying pouted and said unhappily.

Now she is a little emotionally wrong, she can't listen to the advice of others, and in the words of later generations, she is just in a rebellious period. She was a little unimpressed by Xue Zhidie's words. I feel that I have been controlled and oppressed before, and now I finally have the opportunity to break through the shackles and become a new person, and I don't need to continue to listen to you.

Xue Zhidie was originally Xue Ningying's aunt, and she was usually called by her aunt and aunt. Once Zhang Zhun didn't know what nerves he was, he looked at Xue Zhidie for a long time, and then at Xue Ningying for a long time, and then said inexplicably: "Don't call me aunt, it seems that your aunt is so old, it's better to call me sister." ”

For the women around him, Zhang Zhun's words are basically holy decrees. Zhang Zhun said this casually, Shen Lingfei was busy, anyway, the age difference between the two girls was not very big, Shen Lingfei instigated the two of them to change their words, one is called sister, the other is called sister, Xue Ningying is naturally the best, no need to be a generation shorter, and immediately agreed.

Xue Zhidie actually didn't want to be called aunt everywhere at a young age. The word aunt is indeed a bit old. In fact, she is just one year older than Yang Yinghan. Xue Ningying and the other women are all commensurate with sisters, and they are also commensurate with sisters, and inserting an aunt in the middle is indeed a bit nondescript. So, Xue Zhidie also agreed. So, the aunt became the older sister, and the niece became the younger sister.

"It's time to eat"

Yun Pei came over and said that lunch was ready.

After walking for a long time, Zhang Zhun was indeed hungry, put down the drawings, returned to the dining table, greeted him casually, and sat down to eat. Xue Zhidie was also tired and bowed his head to eat.

Only Xue Ningying stroked her jade necklace and earrings, and she didn't have the heart to eat at all. Her excitement wasn't over yet. Her dark eyes were rolling slightly, and she didn't know what she was thinking, so she suddenly said, "Brother Yulin, Sister Feifei is going to Japan, and I am going too." ”

Zhang Zhun said casually: "Didn't you go to the Yangzhou Business Association?" ”

Xue Ningying said diligently: "Didn't you let Sister Fei Fei go to the Yangzhou Business Association?" Didn't she come back from Japan and go again? Wherever she goes, I follow."

Zhang Zhun paused for a moment and said that this was indeed the case. He asked Shen Lingfei to go to Japan, mainly to see if he could buy sulfur from there, and at the same time, he also wanted to touch the bottom of the Japanese, indirectly contact with Zheng Zhilong's pirate military group, and at the same time touch the bottom of Zheng Zhilong's pirate military group. The next step of the Tiger Ben Army is very likely to be in conflict with these two.

The Japanese market has always been controlled by Zheng Zhilong's pirate military group, and if Zhang Zhun wants to get a piece of the pie, he must fight with Zheng Zhilongsheng. Zheng Zhilong's current attention should be in the South Seas, and he can only take a defensive position against Japan. This is an opportunity for the Tiger Army Navy. If this opportunity is missed, when Zheng Zhilong and the Western powers reach an agreement and transfer troops north, the pressure on the Tiger Ben army will be great.

The Great White Fleet will also follow Shen Lingfei to Japan. However, the purpose of the Great White Fleet was not to cause trouble in Japan, but to hide in the caravan and take the opportunity to occupy Jeju Island. After the Great White Fleet occupied Jeju Island, the transport fleet that followed it would unload cement on it, and then use the local stone and other resources of Jeju Island to build docks and pillboxes, and firmly control Jeju Island in its own hands.

The geographical location of Jeju Island is important. Jeju Island, which lies across the Pacific Ocean, covers an area of more than 18oo square kilometers, which is equivalent to a county under the rule of Jang Joon. The stone resources on the island are also very abundant, which is conducive to the construction of various solid military buildings. Cement, stone, and mortar are mixed together to create a solid concrete.

Jang Joon has already agreed with the North Korean side to temporarily borrow Jeju Island. In fact, Jeju Island is not considered North Korean territory. Nominally, Jeju Island does belong to the Kingdom of Korea, but in reality, the Koreans do not have effective jurisdiction over it. Jeju Island has long been a place where North Korean prisoners were exiled, and there are no permanent residents. In nature, this Jeju Island is a bit like Dongfan Island (Taiwan), and it feels like it is dispensable for the Big 6 people.

However, from a military and strategic point of view, Jeju Island is very important. Geographically, Jeju Island is less than 2,000 miles from Osaka (989 kilometers to be exact), less than 2,000 miles from the Ryukyu Islands, and less than 1,000 miles from Matsue (i.e., Shanghai) (499 kilometers to be exact).

If the Tiger Army were to build a supply port here, or a military fortress and establish a long-range carrier pigeon communication system, Jeju Island would become an unsinkable sea fortress. This will be very beneficial for the Tiger Army's future expansion to Japan, to Dongfan Island, to Jiangnan, and to the direct occupation of the Ryukyu Islands.

For the Japanese, the Tiger Army's control of Jeju Island was tantamount to putting artillery on their doorstep. The Japanese may not feel the pressure of Jeju Island for a while, but as the number of Tiger Warrior naval warships continues to increase, they will slowly taste the taste of being held to the throat by a sharp blade.

After the Warring States Turmoil, Japan has just been pacified and entered the so-called Tokugawa shogunate period. In fact, the current rule of the Tokugawa shogunate is not very stable, and there are still many forces opposing the Tokugawa shogunate in various places. It's just that they couldn't fight against the increasingly powerful Tokugawa family, so they finally surrendered. If the Tiger Army had intervened at this time, it should have plunged the Japanese back into turmoil.

A stable Japanese political situation has always been not beneficial to China, and the best way is to let them fall apart, then kill each other, and then continue to sell arms to them. If Japan's Warring States period never ends, they will never be able to pose a real threat to China. Of course, it would be better if it were possible to dismember Japan into several hostile states.

For Zhang Zhun, there is also a direct benefit to controlling Japan, that is, the famous Iwami Silver Mountain. Iwami Ginzan is the largest silver mine in Japan, and has been mined for more than 400 years with an annual mining volume of more than one million taels. A large amount of pure silver flowed into Zheng Zhilong's pocket, and some of it fell into the hands of the Western powers, but the Ming Kingdom itself did not get much. Of course not. There is such a silver mountain in front of the house, and if you don't grab it, I'm really sorry for myself.

However, at present, the strength of the Tiger Ben Army Navy cannot be too public, and it cannot occupy Jeju Island in a grand manner, let alone go directly to Japan to snatch Iwami Ginzan. Once it attracted Zheng Zhilong's attention and prompted him to transfer troops north, it would be worth the loss. Therefore, it is enough to achieve the goal of controlling Jeju Island in a low-key manner, and other actions will be discussed later. He's not strong enough now, and he has to be a man with his tail between his legs.

"Row"

"You go to Japan with Fei Fei"

Zhang Zhun thought for a moment and said briskly.

The girl can't wait to grow up, can't wait to see the outside world, can't wait to leave his sister's (aunt's) side, he can understand this feeling. When he was a teenager, he was also very rebellious. There shouldn't be much danger in going to Japan, so it's a free tour.

[Today's second shift was sent to Khan, and my aunt became my sister, it's all my fault......]