In the end, Wu Yiheng and the others still did not accompany Zhu Houwei to dinner, after all, more than 1,000 "refugees" came at once, and several people had to settle these people down first. Fortunately, in order to expand the scale of the naval army next year, the water and land battalions have built a lot of barracks, and they can be accommodated.

After Zhu Houwei and the little girl and others had dinner, Wu Yiheng took the three old men to the Zhongjun Mansion to meet Zhu Houwei. The three old men are all nearly 70 years old, and it is estimated that their lives are relatively difficult, and the wrinkles on their faces are ravines and ravines, and they are bottomless. The three of them were dressed in shabby clothes, with many patches on them, but the pulp was fairly clean.

When they arrived in the lobby, the three old men were about to kneel down to give Zhu Houwei a salute, but they were stopped by Zhu Houwei. Let Xiaohuan, Qingmei and Hongling move a chair for the three of them, and then let the three of them sit down and talk. In the lobby, except for Xiaohuan and others, all sat down, and Zhu Houwei arched his hand, "I don't know what the three old men are called, this year's longevity?" The three old men got up and arched their hands, and one of them replied, "Back to the words of the prince, the old decay Li Ruqing, 70 has 2, this is Qiu Run, 60 has 8 this year, this is Yang Tie, just past the sixtieth birthday." ”

Zhu Houwei nodded, "The three of you don't need to be so polite, sit down and talk, let's just talk a few words today." The three old men nodded and sat down. Zhu Houwei said with a smile: "This king is very interested in Longjiang Shipyard, I don't know if the three of you can talk to this king." ”

Speaking of Longjiang Shipyard, the eyes of the three old men suddenly darkened, Li Ruqing still smiled and said slowly, "Since the prince asked, then the old man will talk about it." Speaking of this captain of Longjiang, it has been established since the founding emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang) Chenguang. In order to prepare raw materials such as tung oil and palm cables for shipbuilding, lacquer gardens, tung gardens, palm gardens and other gardens were opened up in Zhongshan, Nanjing, and tens of thousands of trees were planted. At that time, the Longjiang Shipyard was located in the west of the city, and the emperor ordered 400 skilled craftsmen to be transferred from all over the country to be responsible for building marine ships. Our grandfather is the one who came to Longjiang Shipyard from other places. When he arrived at Emperor Chengzu (Zhu Di), he once again ordered 800 craftsmen to move from Nanzhili (Jiangsu, Anhui), Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong and other places, and since then some have been moving over every year. ”

Speaking of this, the eyes of the three old men were a little confused, especially Li Ruqing, whose dark face seemed to be flushed, very excited, and his voice was a little louder, "That Chenguang is the most glorious time of Longjiang Shipyard, there are more than 5,000 craftsmen of all kinds, living in the shipyard, and there are about 20,000 people living on the shipyard. Basically, new docks were dug every month, and because the docks were so large, one was not dug and the other new dock started digging again. The warehouse of all kinds of shipbuilding materials is full, and I have seen it when I was a child, and the wood alone is piled higher than a person, and I can't see the end as far as I can see. The eunuch of the Three Treasures (Zheng He) went to the Western Ocean, and the entire fleet, large and small, hundreds of sea ships were basically built by our shipyard. The most powerful is the treasure ship, the largest treasure ship, 44 zhang 4 feet long (about 120 meters), 18 zhang wide (about 60 meters); The middle, 37 zhang long (about 100 meters), 15 zhang wide (about 45 meters) (the unit data of the Ming Dynasty is not accurate, the larger the data, the greater the error). The old father said to the old man, at that time, hundreds of large and small sea ships covered the sky and the sun, the momentum was huge, the whole fleet was more than 27,000 people, starting from Liujiagang, sailing tens of thousands of miles, visiting more than 30 large and small countries, when he came back, every time the treasure ship was a boatload of gold and silver treasures. ”

At this time, everyone in the lobby was a little stupid, they had only heard Zheng He go to the West before, but they didn't know much about what the situation was. As for Zhu Houwei, who had searched for royal information, he thought that 100 years ago, the navigation technology of the Ming Dynasty was so developed, and the ocean-going fleet was so huge, it can be said that the fleet of the Ming Dynasty was the strongest in the world at that time, and there was no one.

Li Ruqing's tone suddenly dropped, and his voice was sad and heavy, "Not long after the Three Treasure Eunuchs, the imperial court said that the sea would be banned. As a result, the Longjiang Shipyard became respectful and far away, and no one came to the shipyard to build sea ships, and the imperial court only let us build river boats. There were fewer and fewer river boats, and finally such a large Longjiang shipyard became unbuilt, and all kinds of shipbuilding materials that used to be piled up in the warehouse were pulled out of the shipyard one by one, and they did not know where to send them. At that time, Lao Yu was still young and ignorant, and he only knew that when the materials were pulled out, many people were crying around the roadside, hundreds, thousands, and in the end, the entire shipyard was crying. Later, there were fewer and fewer craftsmen around the shipyard, and many of them changed careers, and some left directly with their families, and they didn't know where they went. The more than 20,000 people at that time gradually became about 1,000 of us. Having said this, Li Ruqing was dissatisfied and a little emotional, and there were tears in his eyes, so he had to stop and wipe the corners of his eyes with his sleeves, and the two old men next to him also kept wiping their tears.

The softest-hearted Xiaohuan is also crying, and the others have heavy expressions, and the history of the rise and fall of Longjiang Shipyard has touched everyone deeply. Zhu Houwei felt the deepest in his heart, from the history of the rise and fall of the shipyard to the history of the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty, and the history of the rise and fall of the Chinese nation, he couldn't speak for a long time.

After a long time, the mood of the three old men basically calmed down, and Li Ruqing was a little embarrassed and said, "The old decay is rude, which makes you laugh." Zhu Houwei came back to his senses and hurriedly waved his hand, "Elder Li doesn't have to care, we can all understand human nature." I wonder how many craftsmen in the village can build ships now? Li Ruqing immediately said, "Don't worry, there are 406 men in the village, basically all know some shipbuilding skills, all of which are family heirlooms, although they have not been used, but give us some Chenguang, we will definitely be able to build sea boats, as for the old generation, they have basically built river boats, even if they directly build rich boats, it should not be a problem." When Zhu Houwei heard this, he immediately asked with some excitement, "What about the treasure ship, can the treasure ship be built?" The three old men's faces suddenly darkened, and then Yang Tie said, "Lord Wang, the hundreds of men in the village are responsible for different shipbuilding, but they all retain some pictures of various parts of the treasure ship, but these add up to not complete, and at least a small half is missing, after all, there are many fewer people in the village over the years. If you want to build a treasure ship, it is estimated that it will take at least 5 or even 10 years. ”

Zhu Houwei was suddenly a little deflated, and later generations had a lot of arguments about how big the treasure ship was. The size of the ship cannot be determined, and the size of each component cannot be determined, after all, no one has rebuilt it, and if it is based on some speculative information from later generations, it is a question whether it can be built, so Zhu Houzhao can't give much help. Objectively speaking, the treasure ship is not suitable for future naval warfare, but because of the huge size of the treasure ship and good wave resistance, it is definitely a supply ship with excellent performance, a hospital ship, and most importantly, this is a milestone in the history of ancient Chinese shipbuilding, if it is lost, it would be a pity.

Zhu Houwei thought for a while and said, "Nowadays, the level of craftsmen in the shipyard here is not very high, and the management of the shipyard is also a little chaotic. Why don't you three be in charge of the shipyard, start from the Daifuku ship, and slowly restore the treasure ship, this king has some other ship types here, these will be the ships of the future sailors. As for the money, manpower, and supplies, the king will ensure that there will be enough if you can build a ship that satisfies the king. ”

The three old men looked at each other, then nodded slightly. Only then did Li Ruqing speak: "The prince values us people, and the old man feels very honored, but it seems a little inappropriate for the old man and the others to be in charge of the entire shipyard when they first arrive. Zhu Houwei frowned, and then smiled, "What Elder Li said is reasonable, but now you are also considered to be from Huangzhuang, Huangzhuang does not value qualifications, only ability, the capable are up, and the mediocre are down, so there is no need to worry about a few people." In this way, there are now two shipyards in the shipyard comparison, the local shipwright is responsible for one, and the three of you are responsible for one. As for those who are outstanding, they will hold higher positions and be rewarded. ”

Li Ruqing and the three of them stood up, bowed, and said with a smile: "The prince's plan is very good, if it doesn't succeed, you have to talk about the boat, and the three of us have no objection." ”

"Then let's do it, you just came, settle down first, and the shipyard will also redivide some labor, so that the two groups of you will have the same number of people, and start building ships in 3 days. Each of the men you come will be given 3 taels of silver for settling down, and as for the monthly money, it will be the same as that of the local shipwright, and then increase it as appropriate when the Daifuku ship is completed. It's not too early, so let's go and rest. ”

The three old men took their leave, and an army battalion officer led them back to the barracks they had just been distributed. Everyone was also tired for a day, Wu Yiheng and the little girl went to the back house of the Zhongjun Mansion to rest. Zhu Houwei's heart was a little hot, so he walked to the gate. The night breeze was blowing, and the cold made people feel excited, and their heads were much lighter. Some salty sea breezes made Zhu Houwei feel very good. The moon was bright in the sky, and the stars around him looked much dimmer. If you listen closely, you can still hear the faint tide and the sound of talking. Zhu Houwei's heart slowly became quiet.

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