"You know, cement can only be transported in big trucks. The official roads along the way are very difficult to travel, and in the process of traveling, it is necessary to guard against the local government taking advantage of the fire to rob. What this official means is that if the cement is also transported by big boat to the Yellow River and directly to Laizhou Bay, where we are located, will it be much faster? ”

The little official of the Foreign Trade Department standing in front of him obviously understands some things about the fleet.

Under Wang Daotian's gaze, he only thought about it with a cup of tea, and gave Wang Daotian a very positive answer.

"Lord Wang, your idea is completely feasible......"

"If you take the official road, even if it is very smooth, you can only walk fifty or sixty miles a day. However, taking the waterway is very different. If you go along the way, you can walk three or four hundred miles a day, and there is absolutely no problem. ”

"Starting from Shanxi, it only takes three days at most to take the Yellow River waterway to Laizhou Bay."

After hearing the answer he wanted, Wang Daotian's eyes quickly shot out two rays of light.

With a deep expression, he asked the little official of the Foreign Trade Department in front of him: "I don't know if these big ships docked on the dock can sail on the Yellow River......

"Yes......" The little official didn't think about it, so he gave Wang Daotian an affirmative answer.

At this time, Wang Daotian's face full of meaning was once again covered with a smile......

He Guozhong, who was still puzzled beside him, analyzed: "Head He, I have found a transportation method here that can save us money and a lot of energy, I hope that Head He can support me." After all, you are the one who really calls the shots in Laizhou Bay. ”

Seeing the puzzled expression on He Guozhong's face, Wang Daotian hurriedly explained.

"Captain He, my thoughts are. Whether it's the food we need right now. Or the sea salt that we use to dry in the sea in the future. It requires a lot of manpower and material resources for transportation in order to circulate between Shanxi and Laizhou Bay. ”

"If you follow the old way and use a large cart to walk by land along the official road, a large cart can only transport 1,000 catties of sea salt. More importantly, a cart requires at least two horses, a coachman, and an escort. ”

"If we calculate that it takes 10 days to transport sea salt, food alone. Transporting 1,000 catties of sea salt costs at least two taels of silver. ”

"If you count the consumption in other aspects, there must be three taels of silver."

"A thousand catties of sea salt cost three taels of silver to be sent from under our feet to the Shanxi Salt Refining Workshop. The 2,000 quintals of 200,000 catties of sea salt will cost at least 600 taels of silver. ”

"But what if we take the water to transport all this sea salt?"

"Xia Guan just made a visual inspection, and this kind of big ship docked on the dock can carry at least two thousand loads of cargo."

"In other words, two thousand quintals of sea salt can be transported by one ship."

"It only takes three days for a ship to travel from Laizhou Bay to Shanxi. We calculate it on the basis of ten crew members on one ship. The whole transportation process only costs less than twenty taels of silver. It accounts for only a fraction of the land transport. ”

"What's more, we may also be harassed by local governments and even robbed by local governments when we go by land. However, as long as we take the sea route, this qiē problem will not be a problem......"

At this time, He Guozhong, who was not good at governance, was also taken aback by the huge gap between the two.

Shocked, he asked Wang Daotian directly: "Lord Wang, you are not wrong, there is really such a big gap between water transportation and land transportation......

Wang Daotian nodded in affirmation: "Absolutely, and the more things are transported, the bigger the gap......"

At this time, He Guozhong was already frightened by the set of numbers jù that he had just calculated in his heart.

He Guozhong clearly remembered that before he left Datong, the marshal told him: As long as the salt pan under his feet is fully developed, there will be absolutely no problem in producing two million quintals of sea salt a year.

In this case, I calculated it according to two million quintals of sea salt. According to what Wang Daotian just said, two million quintals of sea salt were transported to Shanxi by boat, which was enough to save nearly 600 taels of silver compared to transporting it to Shanxi by cart.

You know, that's just the silver saved by transporting sea salt.

If you put grain, cement ...... All other supplies are counted. Over the course of a year, the use of the fleet to transport supplies and sea salt can save at least a million taels of silver for the Shanxi Governor's Palace......

By this time, He Guozhong, who was shocked, was already moved.

After taking a deep breath, he asked Wang Daotian rhetorically, "Lord Wang, tell me what you think?" ”

Wang Daotian's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly replied: "Captain He, I just counted that there are at least fifty merchant ships parked at the dock...... We can try to see if we can buy ten ships from them and try to transport them......"

"If it is really cheaper and more convenient than land transportation, we will report to the Governor's Palace, and build a larger fleet of ships to specialize in water transportation between the two places......"

"Just do it......" In the face of huge interests, He Guozhong affirmed loudly without thinking about it.

Shanxi Datong Governor's Mansion, since Sun Chengzong already knew that Wei Zheng was pretending to be sick, there was no need for Wei Zheng to continue pretending.

Therefore, when the documents sent by He Guozhong arrived at the Governor's Palace, Wei Zheng had already returned to the Governor's Palace.

After reading the urgent document sent by He Guozhong, Wei Zheng's first thought was not to form a fleet dedicated to transportation, but to form a naval army that could not only be used for transportation, but also for water warfare......

For a long time, Wei Zheng's imaginary target was the Houjin Tartar, so there were few, and even never considered the water army.

However, as his strength became stronger and stronger, he gradually gained the strength to fight against the imperial court. Wei Zheng had to consider the navy, a branch of the military that he had never come into contact with.

In the face of the imperial court having a fairly powerful naval army, if you don't develop a naval army, you will have no way to confront the imperial court naval army when you reach the Jiangnan area where the water network is dense.

Therefore, the development of the water army, as early as when the Tiger and Leopard Army forcibly crossed the Yellow River, was like a seed that was about to germinate, buried in Wei Zheng's heart.

It's just that, because of the sudden troubles, Wei Zheng didn't have the energy or the opportunity to mention this matter.

Now, He Guozhong's letter just gave Wei Zheng the opportunity to develop the navy and the fleet.

Soon, the military advisor Zhou Shuyuan, the prefect of Datong Wang Peng and others were called to the Governor's Mansion by Wei Zheng.

After reading the document, he didn't know what Zhou Shuyuan was thinking about Wei Zheng, so he replied on the matter: "Dashuai, judging from the series of numbers listed in the document, Xia Guan fully supports the mention of Head He. ”

"In Xiaguan's view, although the one million taels of silver saved every year by forming a fleet is very important, it is not what Xiaguan values the most."

"What makes Xia Guan most excited is: the convenience and ...... brought to us by this waterway transportation"

"Once we really turn against the imperial court in the future, the land route to Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces will definitely be blocked by the imperial court."

"At that time, even if we don't need to worry about food, the blockade of the imperial court will still have an impact on our other aspects."

"But if we have a waterway to connect with the outside world, we have a fleet of water transport vessels that are entirely our own. In the face of the blockade of the imperial court, we have an extra guarantee in disguise. ”

"Besides, if you can really save millions of taels of silver in freight a year. This silver alone will allow us to assemble a large fleet......"

Wang Peng, the prefect of Datong, nodded in agreement after that: "Marshal, the lower officials fully support what the military advisor said...... According to the cost of an ordinary transport ship, one million taels of silver, it will definitely allow us to form a fleet with hundreds of transport ships. ”

Under the gaze of Zhou Shuyuan and the two pairs of eyes, Wei Zheng shook his head very unexpectedly.

In the end, he replied under the gaze of two pairs of puzzled eyes......

"Strategist, if it's really as simple as forming a merchant fleet, Ben Shuai can just hand over this document to you for processing, where would it take so much effort to call both of you. Ben Shuai will tell you the truth, what Ben Shuai wants to form is not a merchant fleet, but in the name of forming a fleet, to form our own naval army......"

"Sailor ......" The two of them stared at each other and asked with an incredulous expression.

In the eyes of the two, only a complete country is qualified to form a navy, army, cavalry....multiple arms. Once the Haw Par Army formed a water army, it was to sue the imperial court, and the Haw Par Army was no longer willing to be subordinate, and sooner or later they would rebel.

Besides, sailors are not musketeers, and warships are not muskets that can be built casually. Without a long period of accumulation and production, it is absolutely impossible to form a naval army.

Therefore, as soon as a trace of incredulity flashed on the faces of the two people, they were solemnized like never before.

Under Wei Zheng's gaze, Zhou Shuyuan, the military advisor, did not hesitate to express his worries in his heart.

Faced with a series of problems that may arise from the formation of a water army, Wei Zheng was not discouraged, and the expression on his face did not show even the slightest disappointment because of this.

After taking a deep breath, he analyzed to the two of them: "Ben Shuai also said just now that he plans to secretly form a naval army in the name of forming a fleet. In other words, before we and the imperial court really turn their faces, this naval army will be our secret army. ”

"As for the worries of the warships and sailors, this commander believes that this is not a problem at all...."

"Don't forget, today's Ming Dynasty is no longer the Ming Dynasty of hundreds of years ago. As long as we have the money in our hands, there is nothing we can't do...."

"There are no sailors, so we will use our generous salaries to go to the imperial court sailors to dig people. There were no warships, so we went to the shipyard in Jiangnan to buy them. As for the weapons on the ship, we can build them ourselves...."

"So, do you think there is still a problem for us to form a water army?" (To be continued......)