Shi Lang nodded: "The marshal is right, although the cost of building a naval warship is expensive, it is not without a solution. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info and some of the rest of the questions are even more difficult than that. For example, most of the drawings for the construction of large ships have been lost. With the rise of war, most of the skilled shipbuilders have been lost and difficult to find, and even if a small number can be found, their skills are probably quite limited. It must be known that in order to build a complete warship, the types of craftsmanship required are also innumerable, and the so-called interlaced lines are like mountains, and the complexity of them may be unimaginable to outsiders. But we are starting everything from scratch, not the kind of small repairs, we have to find all the craftsmen of all categories. Nowadays, it is difficult to find all the drawings and craftsmen, and the difficulty of shipbuilding can be imagined. This problem is difficult to solve even if there is money. In addition, the establishment of a naval division and the formation of combat power as soon as possible also required a large number of skilled sailors and officers who were proficient in naval battle command. Among them, it may be less difficult to recruit sailors, but the kind of officers who are proficient in naval warfare and loyal and reliable are just as difficult to find as skilled shipbuilders, and the difficulty of recruiting them is not much less.

After hearing these words, and thinking of what Shi Lang said before, Pang Yue couldn't help but sigh heavily, it seems that no matter when, it is not easy to develop the navy, until later generations have said "ten years of the army, fifty years of the air force, and one hundred years of the navy", let alone in the Ming Dynasty, and it is still in this situation of starting from scratch.

"The subordinates felt that the marshal had to find shipbuilding drawings, recruit craftsmen and sailors, etc. You can rely on the locals, especially the local gentry and maritime families. Shi Lang thought about it and said again. These people are well-connected, well-informed, and even have experience in shipbuilding and navigation. With their assistance, the process of preparing for the formation of a sailor will become relatively easy. In addition, on the issue of silver, his subordinates secretly thought that the marshal could raise a part of the silver first to complete the preliminary construction of the water division. The scale does not need to be very large, as long as it can be safely traveled to and from Luzon and other places for sea trade. After that, when the sea trade earned more silver, the scale of the sailors was gradually expanded. In the end, the sea trade was used to support the various military expenses required by the sailors. Of course. All of this will have to wait until the drawings and craftsmen are found to build a certain number of ships. ”

It's all a bit tricky, but no matter how difficult it is at the beginning, this first step is still to be taken. Otherwise, it's all empty talk. Come to think of it. Pang Yue said to Shi Lang: "Okay, I know all about what you said. Although the establishment of the sea division was difficult at the beginning, we still had to go down this road in the end. If we want to strengthen our army and defeat the Tartars, we cannot do without a naval division of our own. Since this road is difficult, let's not be anxious for the time being, take our time, and solve the existing problems one by one. I believe that as long as I wait to do my best. There will always be a day when the sailor will be established! ”

"The handsome man is reasonable, and his subordinates have been taught! Since the handsome man is so determined. As a member of Huguang Town, that subordinate can't sit idly by. If there is any command in the future, the commander will give the order. The establishment of a sailor is the wish of the marshal, and it is also the wish of the last general. Shi Lang said.

"Good!" Pang Yue nodded approvingly, thought about it, and said, "There is one more thing I want to hear your opinion." In the future, when our Huguang Town Maritime Naval Division is established, the highest official rank may be set as a general. Although the rank of this general is the same as that of Zhou Ming and your current rank, he has greater authority and will definitely shoulder more important responsibilities. In your opinion, at present, among the generals above the guerrilla level in Huguang Town, who are suitable to be the generals of this water division? ”

Shi Lang was secretly shocked when he heard this, and he couldn't calm down for a long time, and after coming back to his senses, he hurriedly excused himself and said: "How can his subordinates be so trusted?" The handsome man is open-minded, but his subordinates dare not talk nonsense. ”

"It's not that serious! Again, this is not a formal agenda. But since you don't want to say it, then I won't force it! Pang Yue smiled and then changed his words again, "Then if I let you take this position, can you pick up this burden?" ”

"This ......" Shi Lang's shock that was originally hidden in his psychology was completely expressed on his face, and he was speechless for a while.

……

After the end of the meeting with Shi Lang, although Pang Yue had a deeper understanding of the difficulty of establishing a sailor, his original belief was not shaken at all. Since there are so many specific matters, he decided to start from the most basic place and do it one by one.

At present, the sailors of Huguang Town are almost starting from scratch, and they have to face many difficulties, first of all, they must find complete drawings of the ship, and find all the shipbuilders who have mastered various types of crafts, so as to put the shipbuilding work on the right track as soon as possible. In addition, it is necessary to recruit skilled sailors and soldiers who are skilled in naval warfare, and conduct a period of training and running-in before they can avoid temporary cramming.

But regarding these things, Pang Yue didn't want to do it with great fanfare for the time being, after all, the last time Emperor Longwu only allowed Huguang Town to establish an inland water division, and had not explicitly approved the establishment of the Huguang Town Maritime Water Division. Pang Yue knew very well that his impression in the hearts of some scholars and doctors in the court was not very good, and it would be somewhat uneconomical to wear the hat of "domineering" and "bullying the king" because of this matter. Although he is not very afraid of this, at least for the time being, he is still working for the Ming Dynasty and is still a courtier of Emperor Longwu, and factors like this in terms of public opinion cannot but be taken into account. Therefore, Pang Yue did not seek the help of Chen Zizhuang, Zhang Jiayu and others on the establishment of a sea sailor, but only sent Xing Biao and Xing Biao to secretly search for the drawings of the fortune ship and skilled shipbuilders, and do some preliminary preparations, and other things will be discussed after the official edict of Emperor Longwu comes down. So, after receiving the order, Hawkeye and the Intelligence Department started a new round of competition.

In addition to the sea sailors, an inland river sailor is also what Pang Yue wants. Because the Huguang area is crisscrossed by large and small rivers, if there can be an elite inland water division, Huguang Town's mobility ability will be improved to a certain extent, which will be conducive to the internal line operation in the face of the Qing army's southward invasion again in the future. If before the Battle of Changsha Wanshou Bridge this year, Huguang Town already had a naval division, how could the Qing army use the naval division to bypass the frontal defense line of Huguang Town and approach the city of Changsha? If this is the case, then Huguang Town does not have to passively abandon the favorable terrain and fortifications to the south, the battle of Wanshou Bridge will last longer, and the Qing army will inevitably suffer greater losses.

Moreover, compared with the establishment of the offshore water division, Pang Yue also had much less concerns when building the inland water division. Because when he met Emperor Longwu before he led his army to Guangdong, Emperor Longwu had personally promised Huguang Town to establish an inland water division. With the emperor's permission, the lethality of those gossips is naturally much smaller. On the other hand, the capital and technical requirements required to build an inland water division are much smaller than that of an offshore water division, and if it is done well, it can even provide some experience for future construction of an offshore water division.

Therefore, Pang Yue had no worries about this matter, and took some time to find Chen Zizhuang and Zhang Jiayu, hoping that they could provide some valuable experience for the establishment of the inland river division in Huguang Town. Because after getting along with each other some time ago, he found that although the rebel army under the command of Chen and Zhang was not very good at land warfare, it was indeed remarkable in water warfare, and even had a few draws with the Qing army's naval divisions with superior equipment. If this is the case, then there must be many experts in this field under their command.

After listening to Pang Yue's request for experience support, they were polite to Dingwubo, and not only happily sent some craftsmen who were good at shipbuilding and officers and soldiers who were good at water warfare to provide assistance to the soon-to-be-established Huguang Town Naval Division, but also generously presented twenty or thirty warships each as training for the newly recruited officers and men of the Naval Division.

In this way, with the help of Chen Zizhuang and others, the preparatory work for the establishment of the inland water division in Huguang Town was on the right track as soon as possible, and thanks to the assistance of these local people, the recruitment of the inland water division in Huguang Town went smoothly. Most of the people who came to apply were the children of the local Tanhu family, and even the soldiers of the Righteous Army who originally belonged to Chen and Zhang, after what they had seen and heard before, they were all attracted by the outstanding achievements of Huguang Town, and they felt that they could join such a strong team. And the quality of this group of soldiers also made Pang Yue very satisfied, these recruits are all familiar with water nature, have a talent for water warfare, if they are given strict training to give them good discipline, they can definitely become an elite division on the water. Although there are many good seedlings of this kind of water in Huguang, the loss is relatively serious, and many of them have been recruited by the Qing army.

In addition, the warships used by the river sailors were much simpler to manufacture than the seagoing ships, and the production of drawings was no secret. In the city of Guangzhou alone, there were a number of workshops that made civilian ships, and most of the old craftsmen knew how to make warships for inland sailors, and they only needed to integrate these workshops a little to start shipbuilding.

However, Pang Yue's current focus is not on shipbuilding. Because after the warship is built, it will still have to be transported back to Huguang after all, if it is built too much, it will be very inconvenient to transport, and it will not be used for a while. At present, Pang Yue is mainly focusing on recruiting shipbuilders and training newly recruited sailor officers and soldiers, while training the newly established inland river division, while waiting for news from Ma Yuancheng and Xing Biao and others.

On such calm and busy days, time flies like a white horse, and before you know it, it will be the end of June. (To be continued.) )