Li Guo originally planned to build three factories, and the general person in charge of the factories was Song Yingxing. ＊.

First, the Weapons Manufacturing Bureau.

Second, the Glass Manufacturing Bureau.

Thirdly, the shipbuilding bureau.

Among the three factories, the glass manufacturing bureau has started the fastest and made the fastest progress. Because, the glass-making process is too simple for Li Guo, but the technology is advanced. Once the technical problems are overcome, the rest is not a problem. Therefore, the first of the three factories to form a large-scale and efficient glass manufacturing bureau is the glass manufacturing bureau. Although it is still the exploration stage, the big picture is decided, and the time to make money is not far away.

The person in charge was the craftsman nicknamed Zhao Tou, and Li Guo had already ordered him to be in charge. The glass manufacturing bureau is located in a mountain col and is all about secrecy. So, although the craftsmen inside were well paid, they were not allowed to leave that valley. Li Guo specially sent a thousand elite soldiers to guard there and not let anyone enter or leave. Glass is a money-making business, at least for decades to make money, but you can't leak secrets.

The easiest to get started with is the Weapons Manufacturing Bureau, which includes iron-making, smelting, forging and gunpowder making, as well as the research and development of new types of weapons.

There are many things covered by the Weapons Manufacturing Bureau, and the steam forging press that Song Yingxing sent people to build is used by the Weapons Manufacturing Bureau to pound steel. Xu Zheng of the Firearms Division and Lei Zhenzi of the Gunpowder Division, who were kidnapped by Li Guo in Nanjing, are now in charge of the weapons manufacturing and gunpowder of the Weapons Manufacturing Bureau, respectively.

Song Yingxing is also in charge of the work of the Weapons Manufacturing Bureau, and Li Guo also participates in the management from time to time. Despite the large number of projects of the Arms Manufacturing Bureau, there are still quite a few people in this area. Because the firearms of the Ming Dynasty were extremely developed, they were unimagined by modern people. Therefore, the technology including iron-making, forging and so on is quite mature. 一qiē carried out quite smoothly lì. However, it is not an overnight task to carry out industrialized mechanized manufacturing and the research and development of new weapons, at least not for the time being.

The hardest thing to do is the shipbuilding bureau. The policy of closing the country to the outside world in the middle and late Ming Dynasty made the shipbuilding industry stagnate, and even regressed to the extreme. As for the big ship that Li Guo wants to build, there is not one yet. It is rumored that the treasure ship led by Zheng He to the West in the early Ming Dynasty is even more useless.

The most developed place in the shipbuilding industry is Fujian. But that was the territory of Zheng Zhilong, who used to be a pirate and is now a return to the Ming Dynasty. It is possible to build some big ships there, but Zheng Zhilong is a pirate and has always attached importance to ships. Li Guo wanted to get some shipbuilders there. It's a pity that the workers who have mastered the core technology have not gotten their hands on it. Li Guo didn't want to provoke Zheng Zhilong too much, lest this sea overlord come up and bring a ship to Beihai Port. destroyed Li Guo's shipbuilding base. Li Guo's attempt to kidnap Zheng Zhilong's workers was stopped.

"Imitate it! Tiger Master. Let's start with a small boat, it will get better and better! Song Yingxing said to Li Guo.

Li Guo nodded and agreed with Song Yingxing's idea.

Coincidentally, Qi Laohan came to Li Guo here and listened to the difficulties of Li Guo and Song Yingxing. Then he said to the two people, "General Qi Jiguang used to rectify the coastal defense when he resisted the Japanese, and I heard him talk about the Ming Dynasty sailors when I was a child, but General Qi Jiguang was later transferred to Jizhou, and the sailors and warships were not written. But. I vaguely remember that the ships of the Daming Sailors were different. There are large, medium, and small trumpets, so you can build a small boat first. ”

Li Guo heard what Qi Laohan said, and hurriedly asked someone to find out the drawings and proportions of the ships of the Ming Dynasty sailors. Li Guo saw it and was greatly amazed, because the real Ming Dynasty sailors were more like a task force.

"Okay, let's build a boat first!"

At this time, Song Yingxing also invited a lot of ship-making workers from all over the country, although these people did not have the ability to build large ships, but it was not a problem to build some small boats. As a result, the variety of Li Guo's fleet increased.

There are ultra-small net shuttle boats that can only sit three or four people, shaped like shuttles, with bamboo masts and wooden sails, and a draft of seven or eight inches, and the people in the boat hold bird guns to shoot at the enemy. This boat is good, this boat is very convenient in the harbor or inland river, if you can build a huge ship in the future, you can carry a net shuttle boat to sea.

There were also light eagle boats, enlarged versions similar to net shuttle boats, which were also fought with birds, except that they could seat more than twenty people.

There are also serial ships and sub-mother ships that carry out fire attacks on the enemy's warships, and their functions are similar, that is, they carry fireballs, divine smoke, sacred sand, poisonous fire, or firewood, oil, and gunpowder on the front ship, and after ordering the enemy's warship, they ignite all kinds of firearms and igniters on the front ship, and then the person who lit the fire returns by the rear ship.

The Cangshan ship and the Haicang ship have begun to assemble the Franco cannon. It's just that these two ships are small and medium-sized, and there are not many Francophone cannons on board, one is equipped with two, and the other is equipped with four, and there are still more small rotary guns and firearms in close combat, and there are also a lot of crossbow arrows and rockets.

The most interesting thing is the wheel boat, which is a kind of medium and large warship, and the combat equipment is mainly firearms, crossbow arrows, and rockets, and there are many people on board. Although this type of ship is more like a troop carrier, it is a warship with a wheel striking the water on the outside, and four wheels with paddles are installed in the frame on both sides of the warship, and the head of the wheel enters the water about a foot. When it started, the wheels spun fast, and the boat went much faster than the oars.

Li Guo pointed to the drawings of the wheel boat and said to Song Yingxing, "Yingxing, you see this kind of ship is very interesting. Rowing on wheels is very fast, but unfortunately it is manpower, you build some first, and later, try to use a steam engine to drive it. ”

Song Yingxing had been holding a paper next to him to record, and when he heard Li Guo say this, he hurriedly wrote it down again.

The drawings of the large fortune ship and centipede ship were also obtained. Among them, the centipede boat imitates the Portuguese multi-oared boat, with a sharp and wide bottom, fast sailing, and is feasible against the wind, not afraid of wind and waves. There are thousands of pounds of Franc machine guns, fireballs, rockets, and rockets. The three-masted gunboats were similar to the Portuguese warships.

Li Guo did not plan to manufacture these kinds of warships, and he could directly copy and improve the Portuguese warships in the future.

Therefore, although the shipbuilding bureau has not built large ships, its shipbuilding experience is increasing, and its technology has improved little by little, and many small ships of all kinds have been built.

After a period of time, with the improvement of the proficiency and technology of the shipbuilders, Li Guo and Song Yingxing decided to build a really large warship! But it is not easy to build a big ship like Portugal, because there are a lot of involved in building such a big ship, the project is huge, the difficulty is greater, and it is easy to fail, but how can it be done without giving it a try?

So, Li Guo and Song Yingxing worked hard to make a big move. Song Yingxing had already led the craftsmen to measure the Portuguese ship left in Beihai Port, and the size and specifications of the planks were as uniform as possible. Referring to the drawings left by the Portuguese, the appearance of the warship appeared in the minds of Li Guo and Song Yingxing.

However, at this critical moment, timber was not available.

In addition to logging in Guangxi, the most important timber for shipbuilding was the supply of the Mo Dynasty and the Later Li Dynasty in the area of Annam. The Mo Dynasty continues to supply now, but the Later Li Dynasty not only does not supply timber, but even the silver does not pay tribute. (To be continued......)