"Is the paddle steamer that the new shipyard in Baguazhou is trying to sail as fast and terrifying as rumored?"

Zheng Cai, who was born in a literati, is lacking, this person has always been thoughtful, very concerned about details, and can often deduce extremely important information from inadvertent clues, but he still can't jump out of the ideological shackles of thousands of years, and all the pretentious literati under the great tomorrow despise all kinds of work, extremely lack of scientific spirit and creativity, ignorant of industrial civilization and naturally resistant, so it is not surprising that he does not understand the importance of paddle steamships, and now he is only forced by the situation to ask.

Zheng Zhilong's expression was extremely solemn: "On the ninth day of the first month of last month, at noon on the day of the public trial voyage of the Baguazhou Shipyard, the bank of the Yangtze River outside Jinling City was crowded with more than 300,000 soldiers and civilians, and the secret report said that the paddle steamer with a length of more than 20 zhang and a width of about 5 zhang set off from Baguazhou, and went upriver along the waterway on the south bank with black smoke, and drove straight to the Jiangnan Naval Division Wharf more than ten miles upstream at an incredible speed. It was not until the paddle steamer arrived at the upstream sailor wharf that it turned around and returned to Bagua Island at a faster speed, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians returned to their places, and the exclamations and cheers were earth-shattering, and the sound spread for dozens of miles, alas, ......"

Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but sigh, swallowed his dry throat, and sighed with emotion: "Since the Baguazhou Shipyard dares to release the news in advance, and dares to display the powerful paddle steamship in the presence of hundreds of thousands of Jinling soldiers and civilians, it is undoubtedly to show their strong strength to the people of the world. ”

"Before that, they secretly conducted more than a dozen sea trials, built three types of ships, and it took more than half a year to succeed after all kinds of hardships......

"There are two people in the Baguazhou shipyard that I installed in advance. The secret report sent by them said that as early as a year ago, several directors of the shipyard and dozens of senior craftsmen recruited by Zhu Daolin had begun to quietly conduct experiments according to the shipbuilding drawings and machines presented by the Tianshu Pavilion, and it was not until the ninth day of the first month of last month that they were publicly displayed, which became a sensation. It shook the world and scared us. ”

"Is this paddle steamer really as divine as it is rumored? I'm afraid it can only be used on the Yangtze River, not for sea voyages, right? Zheng Cai asked curiously.

Zheng Zhilong explained worriedly: "Even if you can't sail on the sea now, you may not be able to do it in the future!" The steamship was equipped with two coal-burning machines, and the steam generated in the so-called high-pressure boiler was constantly generated to propel the iron arms, gears and axles, and the mechanism was so ingenious that it could travel 500 miles a day without the need for manpower and sail drive......

"The Baguazhou Shipyard has now identified two large and small ship types for the Yangtze River and canal freight, and has now begun to build them in large quantities. It is said that another larger type of ship for sea ships or warships is still being studied. The power is stronger, the speed is more amazing, and it is estimated that it will be completed in half a year. ”

"Just imagine, if the East China Sea Division under Zhu Daolin had a few steam warships with such an astonishing speed, loaded with dozens of powerful Tianshu Pavilion giant cannons with a range of ten miles, or equipped with a few large rockets that could destroy the two Dutch fighters in a few salvos, and traveled back and forth to Yingzhou and even all parts of the South China Sea, how would our warships resist?"

Zheng Cai completely understood the fundamental reason why Zheng Zhilong surrendered his identity and came to see Zhu Daolin in person. The beard on his lips moved a few times, and finally asked fiercely: "If we form an alliance with Zhu Daolin." How to explain to those family gate valves in Jiangnan? ”

"To whom do we need to explain? For so many years, who has treated us sincerely for those self-proclaimed and high-ranking family gates? If it weren't for the fact that we finally succeeded in occupying the waters of the East China Sea after nine deaths, who would want to look at us squarely if those Jiangnan Gate lords were full of civil and military forces and the current emperor? If you have to keep the huge profits of maritime trade that you have occupied for more than 100 years, and keep the hundred-year-old foundation of your own dominance over the world. Who wants to watch us grow stronger? For more than 10 years, they have controlled the government, incited public opinion, tried to exterminate us again and again, and had to accept us in the last failure. ”

"Now forced by the situation, we have formed an alliance with the rapidly rising Zhu Daolin. And then get the full support of the northern and southern nobles and the inner court forces behind him, who can do anything to us? As long as Zhu Daolin is not so greedy, accepts our interests after ceding Yingzhou, is willing to jointly develop Nanyang maritime trade with us, and does not interfere with our control of the Penghu waterway, what else can we not bear? You don't have to lose more than you gain! ”

Zheng Zhilong said magnanimously, but after finishing speaking, there was still a faint pain in his heart.

If it weren't for the fact that the situation was compelling, Zhu Daolin's strength and strong combat power in the face of the Dutch shocked most of the Zheng family, Zheng Zhilong was never willing to be accompanied by a fierce tiger under the persuasion of the elders of the family, and he would definitely be the same as he had dealt with the Li family, the former boss Yan Siqi and the former brother Liu Xiang.

In the four-wheeled carriage in front of the convoy, Zhu Daolin and his confidant Guo Zhongjun and others were also discussing the problems encountered in front of them in a low voice, everyone knew what it meant for Zheng Zhilong to come in a hurry on the first day of the Lunar New Year, but no one knew why Zhu Daolin gave Zheng Zhilong such a high-level reception, and why he planned to cooperate with the notorious Zheng family from pirates.

After listening to Guo Zhongjun and Xu Wentao's unhappy discussions, and then looking at the contempt on the face of the hard-working veteran Li Yiliang when he talked about Zheng Zhilong, Zhu Daolin had to patiently explain:

"Don't say it, even if you can't figure it out for a while, you can't show it! Don't think that our warships are now like clouds, and the soldiers are strong, and anyone can ignore them, such an idea is unacceptable, and they will fall into a big fight! ”

"Let's not talk about it far away, let's talk about the present, Shandong Zhu Dadian has been continuously increasing troops in the past six months, and the Chinese military of the DPRK regards us as a thorn in the flesh in the eye, and the Liaodong Tartars, who do not share the sky with us, are still surrounding Jinzhou at this moment, and it is possible to turn the horse's head at any time to attack the DPRK where we have just gained foothold, and the Dutch who were successfully attacked by our sailors will soon make a comeback, in such a bad situation, we are surrounded by enemies and no friends, and if one is not good, I am afraid that we will abandon the achievements and fight the chickens and eggs, what is there to be proud of?"

The henchmen knew that this was the case, but they were still dead-headed, and although they did not continue to raise objections, they were still unhappy in their hearts.

In the end, Li Yiliang couldn't help but ask: "Dashuai, can you tell me the truth from Lao Li, do you really plan to form an alliance with Zheng Zhilong, or wait for the next day?" ”

Zhu Daolin smiled slightly: "As long as we can achieve our goal, is there a difference in how to do it?" ”

Li Yiliang finally breathed a sigh of relief, and leaned against the wall of the carriage with a smile: "Understood, don't worry, Dashuai, we can definitely be hospitable, and I will be responsible for intoxicating the two brothers around Zheng Zhilong later, and I can't take care of the rest, haha......" (To be continued.) )