The scorching autumn sun gradually turns westward, and the endless sea is full of cascading waves that seem to never stop, and the seven sailing wooden ships moving forward in the shape of "man" seem incomparably small in the boundless sea.

On the 450-class battleship at the front, 130 officers and men of the Daming Naval Division skillfully changed course under the command of 25 Spanish naval instructors, skillfully avoiding the oncoming southeast wind and zigzagically advancing, and the six warships and transport ships behind them, with the assistance of more than 200 hired instructors from European countries, maintained a good formation and followed closely.

The instructors and sailors on each ship were extremely busy, but the 1,300 officers and men of the freshwater battalion and 3,721 male and female immigrants on board were vomiting profusely, and even the two medical officers on each ship were vomiting in a mess.

More than 30 tons of various tools, 2 tons of medicinal herbs and 60 tons of grain replaced the ballast stones on the ship, evenly distributed on each ship, thanks to the flexible and stable performance of the advanced steering wheel system and improved sails, the entire fleet maintained a good formation during the seven-and-a-half-hour voyage, not a single ship broke down, and not a single ship was left behind.

On the towering mast of the vanguard warship, young signal soldiers are waving red and yellow signal flags to communicate with the ships behind, three sailor officers wearing sunglasses are observing, locating and recording with sophisticated sextants, and dozens of sailors on the deck are pulling dozens of ropes according to the instructions of the Spanish instructors, and methodically adjusting the sail angle on the mast.

In the captain's room at the stern, Zhu Daolin, according to the latest survey and mapping data, used charcoal to continue a course on the brand-new nautical chart. Bagas, 25-year-old first mate Kwong Yongjian, and Yang Dading, the first commander of the newly formed Tamsui Battalion, surrounded the surroundings, staring at Shengshan Island marked on the right front of the route on the desktop chart, silently calculating the position of the fleet at this time and the mileage sailed.

Acting Captain Bagas, who has never spoken much, admired Zhu Daolin's profound maritime knowledge, and Zhu Daolin not only drew an accurate "map of the East China Sea of the Ming Empire" and detailed routes. He also marked the latitude and longitude of the series on high-quality drawing paper, and his performance was better than all the Spanish captains that Vargas knew, without the slightest jerkiness and panic that a novice who was on a voyage for the first time could not hide.

After months of hard work, Vargas has been able to communicate proficiently in Jiangnan Mandarin, and when he heard Zhu Daolin's report of "a seven-and-a-half-hour voyage of 145 kilometers", he was very satisfied with the speed achieved under headwind sailing conditions:

"The general's calculations are very accurate. Three minutes ago, I saw through the telescope that the wind and waves were getting smaller, and the wave height had dropped from 1.8 to 2 meters in the morning to about 1.3 meters now, and the sea conditions were expected to be better tonight and during the day tomorrow. ”

"It's been a day and a half since the typhoon, and the sea conditions should gradually improve."

Zhu Daolin put down the charcoal and straightened his waist, turning his slightly stiff waist after working on the map for a long time.

Bargas handed Zhu Daolin a flat wine jug made of silver, and when he saw Zhu Daolin take it, he opened it and took a sip. He laughed happily: "How does it taste?" ”

"In contrast, I prefer Scotch whisky, and I always feel that the rum made in Manila has a burnt taste, probably because it is not clear enough after brewing, or the sugar cane is not selected properly."

After Zhu Daolin finished speaking, he closed the lid and returned the simple silver flat wine jug with no decorative pattern to Bagas:

"This is just the beginning, and the task down is very difficult, after 40 days of continuous sailing. I'll give you a more beautiful carved silver flask, and I'll just make a beautiful batch of flat flasks. Each Navy and Army officer and soldier who participated in the mission sent one as a souvenir. ”

The crowd was very happy to hear this, and Vargas smiled and asked tentatively, "General, when will our battleship have a name?" ”

"Yes, General, Longjiangwei's warships have a name, and our ships are more than them, better than them. It should be more famous. In another month, two new 500-ton warships in the dockyard of the shipbuilding workshop will be launched for sea trials, and it is easy to cause confusion if the existing warships are not named. ”

The sturdy and swarthy Kwong Yongjian also boldly put forward his opinions.

Zhu Daolin explained: "Don't worry, there will be soon...... The reason why the battleship has not been named before. It is because we did not take the freshwater port, and after we took the freshwater port, our sailors can be regarded as initially capable of navigation, and only then can they be called the navy. ”

"With a navy, there will naturally be a fleet, and with a fleet, there will naturally be the name of a battleship."

Bagas was very excited when he heard this: "General, how are our warships classified?" How will it be named? ”

Zhu Daolin briefly informed the navy building plan that had been considered for several months: "At present, there is no unified standard for distinguishing the class of warships in the navies of various European countries, and I can only divide the navy into two parts according to the actual situation of the Ming Empire. ”

"General, the existing naval divisions have thousands of households, will they only need to undertake the defense of the Yangtze River in the future?" Kwong Yongjian asked with a concerned expression.

"That's right!"

Zhu Daolin nodded: "We will set up two naval detachments in Baoshan Port and Tamsui Port, give priority to the formation of Tamsui Fleet, two new 500-ton three-masted warships that are about to be launched, two 500-ton three-masted warships converted by Galen armed merchant ships, and two existing 450-ton two-masted warships, the above six warships will form a Freshwater Port sub-fleet together with the 800-ton Galen cargo ship that transports immigrants and the two 700-ton Galen cargo ships that the Portuguese are about to send, and continue to undertake the task of transporting migrants." ”

"The four 150-ton sailing and paddle clippers in Shangyuan Port will join in next time as patrol ships stationed at Tamsui Port for a long time."

"By this time next year, the number of 500-ton warships and 12 transport ships of 500 tons and above must reach 12,000 officers and men, and it must have a special naval dock, a group of defensive fortifications, well-equipped barracks, sufficient warehouses for food supplies and a naval school."

Bagas was very shocked, he never dreamed that Zhu Daolin would invest such a huge force in the small freshwater port, and if this grand goal was really achieved within a year, the entire situation in the Far East would probably change dramatically because of it.

Kwong Yongjian and Yang Dading were overjoyed. They did not have as much experience and insight as Bagas, but they knew that their ranks would grow rapidly, their soldiers would increase exponentially, and their official positions and salaries would definitely increase rapidly.

Zhu Daolin continued the topic just now: "Now to tell you about the classification standards for warships, I have decided to divide naval warships into one to five classes, the first class: the main warship with a displacement of more than 3,000 tons. The main battleships are named after the major seas and oceans, and the transport ships are named after the major lakes in the Ming Dynasty.

Second class: 2,000 to 3,000 tons of displacement warships, the main battleship is named after the Ming Gaoshan, and the transport ship is named after the Ming Dynasty's political envoys.

Third class: warships with a displacement of 1,000 tons to 2,000 tons, the main battleship is named after the Daming River, and the transport ship is named after the state capitals of the Daming Dynasty.

Fourth class: warships with a displacement of 500 tons to 1,000 tons, the main battleships are named after spring, summer, autumn and winter, and the transport ships are named after the counties of Daming.

Fifth class: warships with a displacement of 300 tons to 500 tons, the lead battleship is named after a tree. The transport ship is named after the flowers and plants. ”

"Will there be super-large warships of more than 3,000 tons?" Yang Dading asked in astonishment.

Zhu Daolin nodded: "Yes, if you don't believe it, ask Bagas, many European countries already have warships of more than 1,500 tons, and the warships will be built bigger and bigger, and the navies of all countries in the world will compete to build super battleships with larger tonnage and more and more artillery." ”

Vargas nodded honestly: "As early as eight years ago, we in Spain built 1,200-ton galleons, and the East India Company had four or six armed cargo ships of 1,200 tons between the American colonies and Spain. ”

"Five years ago, the Port of Manila Shipyard began manufacturing ocean-going cargo ships ranging from 800 tons to 1,200 tons. The two 500-ton improved three-masted armed merchant ships that are being converted in the dockyard of Shangyuan Port were built by the Port of Manila shipyard. The construction of large-tonnage cargo ships was also begun at the shipyards of the Dutch on the island of Java. ”

"It is reported that the French built more than 2,000-ton ocean-going cargo ships three years ago, and the British began to build powerful warships of 1,500 tons two years ago. I am confident that I can build an excellent warship of more than 1,200 tons! ”

Zhu Daolin knew that Bagas's words did not have much water, but he was not as optimistic about the shipyard under his command as Bagas.

Shipbuilding is not a simple imitation production, no matter how hard the craftsmen work, there are more advanced technical materials and construction tools. It also takes time to explore, learn, digest and consolidate, and no one is in a hurry.

There is another important reason, Zhu Daolin did not say to anyone:

Especially in the past two years, the friction between the two sides has become more and more frequent, and the Dutch who are in the strongest period in history have lost patience, and the relationship between the Zheng family in Fujian is becoming more and more stiff, if nothing else, the two sides will break out in the spring and summer of next year to determine the fate of the sea battle.

Zhu Daolin must seize this rare opportunity, after occupying the Tamsui port, before the Dutch and the Zheng family divide the winners and losers, quickly establish the perfect defense of the Tamsui port, and then take advantage of the chaos to go south, occupy the Tamsui estuary to the Hsinchu area in the south, and take the first step to occupy the 70-kilometer coastline and the 1,400-square-kilometer barren land in the depth of the area, and then can one after another immigrate for development.

Otherwise, once the Zheng family frees up their hands and turns north to occupy Hsinchu, the freshwater port that has lost its southern barrier will be exposed under the noses of the Zheng family.

In order to achieve the above goals, Zhu Daolin must have sufficient force as a guarantee, and vigorously expand the number of warships and land garrisons while trying to avoid provoking the Dutch and Zheng families who are fighting each other.

Only in this way can the port of Tamsui and the Hsinchu area, 70 kilometers to the south, which need to be continuously built, be secured, and to expand the number of seas, it is necessary to have enough warships and well-trained naval officers and sailors, otherwise it will not be able to withstand the powerful Zheng family and the Dutch, who have dozens of advanced warships.

Today, Zhu Daolin not only lacks well-trained naval officers and men, but also lacks warships, and naval officers and men can be tempered in the process of sailing back and forth to transport immigrants, and use artillery that is several generations more advanced than their opponents to make up for the gap.

Therefore, Zhu Daolin not only continued to urge the Spaniards and the Portuguese to sell him all kinds of old and new armed cargo ships, but also urged his shipbuilding workshops to work overtime to manufacture a large number of new 500-ton fast warships, which must be manufactured in the next two years to meet the needs.

Because of this, in the next two years, the Hushan Shipbuilding Workshop will not have the capacity to build warships of more than 800 tons, and at most it will only be able to achieve certain results in design.

This is Zhu Daolin's helplessness, and it is also the only way for the ancient eastern powers to go to the ocean, and there is no shortcut to anything else.

***********

PS: It's a new week, Xiaohuo asks for subscription, reward, recommendation ticket and monthly pass support! (To be continued......)