Zhao Yan, who had so much money that he had nowhere to spend it, quickly threw another 30 million taels into the shipyard, of which 5 million taels were used to experiment with the manufacture of ironclad ships.

Another five million were used to build the large 'Glory-class' sail warship, with a displacement of 2,300 tons and three decks. The bottom layer is equipped with 36 bilge heavy guns, 32 middle heavy guns, 50 75mm light guns on the upper level, and one heavy gun each at the beginning and tail stages.

The Ordnance Bureau's artillery research has made new progress this year, and a kind of heavy artillery has been developed, the caliber is the same as the current heavy artillery, which is 200mm caliber, but the barrel has become longer, and the shells fired are mainly chain shotguns, which are mainly equipped with the bottom bilge of warships.

This involves the tactics of naval warfare, but when the ship is in the upper wind position, the bilge guns cannot be used, and what is needed at this time is to sink the opponent, so the original heavy artillery can be used.

The bilge heavy cannon can be used when it is downwind, and it is the enemy's sail at this time, so range and destructive power to the sail are key.

The bilge heavy gun lengthened the barrel, which increased the firing range to 4,000 meters, and the chain shotgun used at the same time was very destructive to the sails.

However, the bilge heavy cannon has not been produced, and the Ordnance Bureau is currently experimenting with steel cannons, while nitrocellulose is used as a propellant.

With the new gunpowder, there will be a huge leap in the power and range of the artillery, but the construction of the cannon will also be greatly challenged.

Especially for the open-hearth steel, which is still somewhat brittle, it is necessary to wind the silk thread and add the barrel, otherwise it will not be able to withstand such a huge explosive force.

The firepower of the Glory-class ships is still unknown, but the firepower is certainly overwhelming. At the same time, it also has a high sailing speed, which will reach 10~12 knots per hour.

That is, it has high speed, strong firepower, and strong protection capabilities, which is the concept of the Glory-class warship. The cost of such a warship is more than 200,000 silver dollars, and it is expected that 20 will be built.

Another 20 million silver dollars will be used to build clippers, which are urgently needed at the moment, and it will take only 13 days for a clipper to cross the Atlantic, while it will take only 17 days to travel from Qingdao to northern Australia, 19 days to reach southeastern Australia, 22 days to the Hawaiian Islands, and 32 days to the North American colony of California.

In order to establish a perfect overseas colonial system, ships were indispensable, so Zhao Yan began to build clippers on a large scale.

At present, the largest displacement of the clipper ship is a 2,500-ton one, with a cost of 150,000 silver dollars each, Zhao Yan smashed 20 million silver dollars, plans to build 130 ships, and Denglai Bank has also invested in the construction of 50 ships.

Zhao Yan suddenly thought of the limitations of the current shipyard, and hurriedly drafted a new shipbuilding plan and issued it.

In the new shipbuilding scheme, all kinds of ships will be strictly specified, and then each plank, the length, thickness, strength and other specifications of each part will be measured, and then the parts will be produced inland, and the parts will be transported to the shipyard for assembly after production.

This model of shipbuilding emerged during World War II and greatly increased the shipbuilding capacity of the United States.

At present, the major shipyards in Zhao Yan's hands still use the original way to build ships, that is, to transport logs to the shipyard, and then the shipyard for processing.

There is no division of labor and there are environmental constraints.

And if the logs are processed into hull materials at the place of origin, then the wood from all over the country can be used, and then transported after processing, which is much simpler, not only saving on freight, but also the number of manufacturing will surge.

As soon as Zhao Yan's shipbuilding plan was announced, shrewd businessmen immediately saw the business opportunities, at present, both Shandong political axe and the people have a huge demand for nautical cargo ships, and the shipyard has no time to build, in order to increase the shipbuilding speed of the shipyard will inevitably give up a part of the profits.

Since they can make a profit, they will definitely make a lot of money by opening a sheet metal factory in the timber producing area, and many businessmen are tempted.

Shandong Shangbang quickly raised 3 million taels to set up a "Dasheng Shipyard" with more than 80 shareholders, and also hired a team of business students graduated from Denglai University to operate the timber factory.

This is indispensable to investigate a large number of raw material origins, what ships need what strength of wood, these wood origins must first be figured out.

Then they chose the most suitable location to open a processing plant, and chose to manufacture more profitable gauge sheets, while actively experimenting with the use of steam engines to reduce production costs.

This news was reported in the newspapers, and other merchant gangs also set up similar shipyards, with a capital of more than one million taels, and the factories were not limited to one place, but were distributed all over the place.

In addition to such large-scale ones, there are many shipyards with few shareholders and small scale, and only one place has been opened.

Most of these factories are concentrated in the northeast and Nurkandus, but there are also some in the south, and for areas that do not have administrative control, Zhao Yan asked the provincial armed police force to protect the normal production of the factories.

After those shipyards got the specifications issued by Longkou Shipyard, they immediately put them into formation.

The specifications of all ships will be formulated by Longkou Shipyard, such as the specifications of clippers, which are divided into 7 classes of 50 tons, 100 tons, 200 tons, 500 tons, 1000 tons, 1500 tons, and 2000 tons, and all shipyards can only produce these 7 grades, so as to reduce the market risk of the shipyard.

After all, if the tonnage is too fine, the types of ship material specifications are very large, and the shipyard is likely to make a mistake in judgment and produce ship materials that no one wants.

At the same time, it is stipulated that other shipyards can only produce these grades of a certain type of ship, in order to improve the common surname, if different shipyards use different ship material specifications, then for the shipyard, the risk surname is very large, once a shipyard has a problem, it will have a negative impact on them.

This classification is not only clippers, but also fishing boats and warships, which is not immutable, and other shipyards can also apply for additional classification.

The Longkou Shipyard will also increase the classification as ships of larger tonnage appear, and new types of ships will be added after the emergence of new ships.

Which kind of timber for ships to produce, it depends on the choice of each shipyard, the market for ships with good sales is large, and the market for ships with bad sales is small.

"20 million silver dollars have been spent on water conservancy, 30 million silver dollars have been spent on shipbuilding, and there are still 86 million silver dollars left, which is still very rich, and the railways can increase investment, and some prosperous railway lines may be able to recover their investment in a few years." Zhao Quan suggested.

The first train has been built, and the comfort level is average, reaching a speed of 30 kilometers per hour, and Zhao Quan no longer feels that the railway is an impractical thing.

With the advantage of the train, it is completely possible to make money, and the money invested can be completely recovered, it is only a matter of time, and the profit will be considerable.

Zhao Yan thought for a while and shook his head and said: "We don't have to involve those money-making railways, let private capital repair them, and then let them sell tickets at a low price when they recover their costs, and we will build strategic railways next year." ”

Zhao Yan will make this decision, naturally there is so much money that there is no place to spend it, but it is not so much money that it can be spent indiscriminately.

To build railways, you can use private capital to make use of private capital, and private capital will participate in it because there are profits.

And those strategic railways with slow returns, private capital will naturally not be so active in throwing money into them, so at this time, the political axe needs to pay for repair.

"Strategic Railway?" Zhao Quan couldn't understand, and Zhao Yan explained: "There are two kinds of strategic railways, one is economic and the other is expansion. ”

"Strategic railways of the economic type, e.g. those used to transport minerals. The expansion of the strategic railway is to build the railway in the direction of our expansion, so that we can quickly transport troops and materials to the front line, as well as facilitate immigration. Zhao Yan said.

This kind of profit margin does not mean that you can get back how much money you invest in, and the money has to calculate interest, if it can't even compare with the bank's interest, then it is not called the existence of profit margins.

The so-called private capital is divided into two kinds, one is the Denglai Bank opened by Zhao Yan, which is also equivalent to repairing it by itself, and other banks have also appeared now, and they can also participate, and the other is that businessmen raise funds to build railways.

"In terms of building railways, we have to set up a railway bureau, otherwise there will be chaos." Zhao Quan said, Zhao Yan nodded and agreed: "The Railway Bureau will be established immediately." ”

A week later, the railway bureau was officially established.

At the same time as the establishment of the railway bureau, railway majors also appeared in colleges and universities.

The Railway Bureau has determined the source of funds for railway construction, one is the central government to fund the construction of strategic railways, the second is the local government axe to build local railway branch lines, and the third is to build railways with private capital.

Some people invest in the construction of private capital first, and private capital can build railway trunk lines or railway branch lines.

The main railway lines that no one built were trimmed by the central political axe, the local trunk lines that no one built were built by the local political axe, and the central political axe paid for the construction of the railway lines that no one had the money to build.

After the completion of the railway, the fare of private capital is determined by the railway bureau, and the normal price is charged during the period when the cost is not recovered, and when the cost is recovered, an evaluation ticket is issued to give the investor 10% of the profit, which will be recovered after a number of years. The specific operation is operated by the railway bureau.

After the establishment of the Railway Bureau, according to Zhao Yan's instructions, five railway trunk lines were first demarcated.

The first is from Shenyang to the northwest to southern Siberia, and then to the west, and theoretically this railway can be built to Western Europe. This is the Shenyang-Siberian strategic railway, named 'Shenyang-West Railway', Shen is the starting point in Shenyang, the west is the direction, there is no specific end station, where the Nuergan Dusi hits, the railway will be built.

The second is from Beijing to the west, connecting Zhangjiakou, Hohhot, Baotou has always been repaired to the Hetao, and then from the edge of the Hetao to Gansu, passing through Yinchuan and Lanzhou, and then all the way to Tingzhou Luntai County in Moxi (Urumqi, the administrative name of the Tang Dynasty, the west of the garrison looks at the smoke and dust, the Han Bingtun is in Luntaipei, and was once a military town of the Tang Dynasty), this trunk line is named 'Jinglun Railway', which is connected with the 'Taibei Railway' trunk line.

The third is the 'Jinglun Railway' from Yanzhou to the west of Yuezhao County, passing through Jining, Kaifeng, Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Xi'an, and then connecting from Xi'an to Lanzhou, named 'Yulan Railway'.

The fourth is from the capital to Wuhan, and is connected with the Zhaojiabao-Taiyuan 'Zhao-Taiyuan Railway', named 'Jinghan Railway'.

The fifth is from Wuhan to Guangzhou, named the 'Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway'.

The most unpromising of these railways is the Shenxi Railway, after all, Siberia has not been developed at all, so this road is to be repaired by Zhao Yan, but some sections of the road are more prosperous, and they are built by private capital, such as a section through Zhangjiakou.

At the same time, the rate of return of the Taibei Railway is also relatively low, and it also needs Zhao Yan to fund the construction.

The rate of return of the three trunk lines of the Yulan Railway, the Jinghan Railway, and the Guangdong-Hankou Railway is relatively good, and it will be built by private capital.

In addition to the main line, two feeder railways were identified.

The first is from the main railway line of the Zhaotai Railway to Datong and Mobei, and then merges into the 'Baikal' section of the Shenxi Railway. Named 'Taibei Railway', Tai is Taiyuan Province, North is 'North Sea', and Lake Baikal was called Beihai in ancient times.

The second is from the Hetao south to Xi'an, connecting to the Yulan Railway, named the 'Anhe Railway'.

The rate of return of these two railway branch lines is average, not too high and not too low, if someone is willing to repair it, if no one is willing to repair it, then Zhao Yan will fund it.

The strategic significance of the Shenxi Railway is the westward expansion of the Siberian side, and the Beijing-Wheel Railway is also the westward expansion, the difference is that one is in the north and the other is in the south.

The Jinghan Railway and the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway are connected to the Zhaotai Railway, and the economic strategy is very strong, after the two railways are connected, Shandong's goods can directly go south to Guangzhou, and then be transported to Nanyang by sea, and at the same time, there are also preparations for the expansion of the Indochina Peninsula.

As for the other railways with economic returns, there are so many railways, the railways in the Jiangnan area are basically not planned, and their economic strategic significance is also very strong, but this is left to the railway bureau to plan one after another, and I believe that many people are willing to invest.

In order to repair the Shenxi Railway and the Beijing-Wheel Railway, Zhao Yan planned to invest 20 million silver dollars first, and planned to complete the repair within five years.

If the laborers can catch it, the cost will be greatly reduced, and the biggest cost of building the railway is the labor force, which depends on the laborers and the Siberian 'national brothers'.

At this time, it is already the fourth quarter, and the tax situation in various places has begun to be reported one after another, and the fiscal revenue of this year's formal channels is estimated to be 780 million taels of last year's average.

Especially when the gold troops are mining everywhere.

…… Nanyang, thanks to the efforts of Su Buheng and the Nanyang Infantry Brigade, by the end of September, they had completely gained a firm foothold in Nanyang.

In addition to the 18 warships in Su Buheng's hands, the number of frigates has increased to 30 one after another, and the powerful sea power makes the warships of the Spaniards and Portuguese cower and dare not mess around.

Su Buheng, who had absolute maritime authority in this weak region of Asia, set out from Jakarta and went to India to continue to eliminate the Dutch power.

The Dutch were soon completely expelled from the captive area.

The Dutch were driven away, the Spaniards and the Portuguese were even more panicked, especially after the occupation of Java by the Nanyang Infantry Brigade, and the Spanish governor was worried about whether the Philippines could be saved.

The situation is indeed worrying, that huge empire suddenly sprouted a powerful expansion**, and even extended its claws to the Americas.

And the Philippines is simply close to them, if this huge empire suddenly captures the Philippines, the mainland will not have enough time to react, and even if the mainland sends reinforcements, the chance of victory is extremely low.

After expelling the Dutch from Asia, Su Buheng began to set up bases in various shipping lanes and intercept passing ships to collect tolls.

Of the various shipping lanes in the South Seas, only one Malacca is still under the control of the Portuguese.

Therefore, the Strait of Malacca has become Su Buheng's next target, in this era when the truth is within the range of artillery, as long as there is enough force, seizing a strategic base is just a very simple process, and there is basically no need to think too much about what diplomatic aspects.

And the situation on the island of Java has also made great progress.

In July, more than 30,000 new muskets were brought to the mainland, as well as tens of thousands of swords and plates, which the Nanyang Infantry Brigade used to equip the Chinese on the island of Java.

The governor of Java has arrived, but the number of Chinese is not so large at present, so the king of East Java has been retained for the time being, and when the number of immigrants increases, a complete purge will begin.

Han Sheng, on the other hand, led the Nanyang Infantry Brigade to attack the Islamic state in West Java.

Islam spread rapidly in Asia, and by this time it had become the dominant religion in the Nanyang region, but this religion was not allowed to exist under the laws of Shandong at present.

But what does it matter? The future is to be fully cleaned.

The attack went well, and it took only a month to sweep away the resistance of West Java, and the king of West Java quickly surrendered, and the entire island of Java was under control.

There were many strongholds in West Java, and the Javanese governor sent defenders in every town, many of these soldiers were recruited from the local Chinese, and only a small number of regular troops were leading them.

The status of the Chinese on Java changed rapidly, and within a few months they became the most authoritative group on the island, and the repression of the indigenous Javanese was carried out on a daily basis.

The activities of the Chinese on the island of Java were protected by soldiers, and there was no need to pay a mess of taxes, and every Chinese family had access to land. The natives had to pay more taxes than the Dutch before.

Indigenous resistance to taxes and land expropriation will be brutally suppressed.

It would not have been possible to do it with the strength of the Nanyang Infantry Brigade, after all, they were combat troops rather than defensive troops, but after arming tens of thousands of Chinese, the situation was different.

The governor of Java ordered the confiscation of all the weapons of the natives of the South Seas, and the soldiers in each place had a task every day, either to suppress or search, or to requisition land and assist the officials of the king of Java in collecting taxes, and the taxes collected were naturally from the government, and the king of Java was now eating sweet potatoes! It's just that it's not convenient to rule directly, so I'm just keeping him.

For the governor of Java, this tax was too little.

The Nanyang monkey is lazy and has few skills. Hard labor is not hard labor, and the service industry is not very good, which makes him and the officials at the top and bottom very disgusted.

Whenever an indigenous uprising is dealt with, it is simply three words - suppression.

(To be continued)