Liu Kongzhao has not thought about strengthening the strength of the Ming Navy since he saw the naval strength of the Zheng Group, and at this moment he has only one purpose, that is, to do everything possible to make the Ming Navy catch up with the navy of the Zheng Group, and even surpass the navy of the Zheng Group.

This is not only because Liu Kongzhao has always regarded himself as Zhu Youzhen's courtier, and is unwilling to let the Zheng Group continue to grow, but also because he, as a "shareholder" of the Ming Navy, also hopes that the Ming Navy can rely on armed trade and plunder to gain more benefits like the Zheng Group.

Liu Kongzhao was even willing to use all methods to strengthen the Ming Navy, and he also knew that the Western Ocean was always stronger than the sea, so after meeting Van der Laan and knowing that Van der Laan was a ship manufacturer, he thought of the idea of buying warships directly through the Western Ocean.

Liu Kongzhao followed Van der Laan out of Jiahe Li Qianhu, and under Van der Laan's guidance, he walked to the Dutch warship docking point.

Zheng Zhilong saw that Liu Kongzhao wanted to talk about business with Van der Lan, so naturally it was not easy to stop him.

After all, he and the imperial navy are now well water and do not violate river water, and even he has the obligation to take the initiative to improve the combat power of the Ming navy, so seeing this, he only sent two guards and an interpreter to follow Liu Kongzhao, and he himself left under the pretext of leaving and preparing for the oath.

Vanderland was very active in telling Liu Kongzhao how high his family's shipbuilding level was.

After all, Liu Kongzhao was the first Ming aristocratic official who was willing to take the initiative to contact him for trade, and he subconsciously felt that this was a good opportunity to open the market of the Ming Continent.

Liu Kongzhao was shocked as soon as he came to the Dutch battleship, but he still held on to the shock in his heart, and pretended to indifferently point to the battleship in front of him that was suddenly several times larger than the Fu ship: "What kind of battleship is this?" ”

"Your Excellency, this is our first-class battleship, the Stubborn John, with three gun decks, one hundred and twenty guns, and a crew of nine hundred, which is the strongest warship in the world today, and is now the flagship of His Excellency the Governor of our East India Company, with myself as its commander."

Van der Lan introduced Liu Kongzhao very seriously, Liu Kongzhao couldn't help touching the hull of the black and red paint, and looked up at the mast on the ship, and couldn't help but secretly swear in his heart that the Ming Navy must also have such a battleship, which is not much bigger than the Zheng family's big ship, and only in this way can the battleship show the grandeur of the Ming Navy!

"Take Benjue up to have a look", Liu Kongzhao said, and Vanderland took him into the interior of the "Stubborn John".

Liu Kongzhao saw that the inside was gorgeously laid out, the lights were brilliant, there were carpets and Western oil paintings from the Western Regions, and even a collection of Chinese Western Garden Yaji, and on the artillery deck below was a huge cannon, which was a giant cannon with 20 to 30 catties of shells at a rough glance, and at this time Vanderlander also made an introduction:

"These are huge enough cannons to destroy a battleship thousands of miles away."

Liu Kongzhao was surprised in his heart, thinking that even if this so-called first-class sail battleship was loaded with artillery, it was already worth the artillery of his Ming Navy, if such a warship could make the Ming Navy have hundreds, why worry about the strength of the Zheng Group.

"How many such warships are there, and how many can your country build?"

When Liu Kongzhao asked, Vanderland was also excited: "There are only two such warships in our country at present, one is in the hands of the Royal Navy, and the other is our East Indies, and there are no more than five in the whole world. ”

"Why don't you build a few more, the number of warships that Benjue intends to order is never less than five, and now that you let Benjue come to you, you can't let Benjue not bring any of them back."

Liu Kongzhao is now like a wealthy tyrant, and Vanderland's heart is pounding at the moment, but he has to express his apologies and explain to Liu Kongzhao: "Your Excellency, don't blame, such a warship is expensive, and the country's financial resources are not as strong as your country, and it is the limit to have two." ”

"Well, you just tell the official whether you can build it, and if you can, I will buy five such warships first", Liu Kongzhao didn't even bother to ask for the price, and directly asked for five.

"Your Excellency, there are only five such warships in the world, and our own manpower is limited, so we are not enough to build five such first-class warships," Van der Laan replied helplessly.

"The water flows for a long time, take your time, you can build it slowly one by one, I will give you silver, you will build a ship for me, what are you afraid of not enough manpower, how much does this ship cost?"

Liu Kongzhao asked.

Vanderland didn't expect to meet such a generous buyer, so he thought for a long time and spit out a number: "500,000 silver dollars." ”

Liu Kongzhao almost didn't fall to the ground, he knew that this Van der Laan was only afraid that he was opening his mouth, so he laughed: "500,000 yuan, it's not very expensive, but our Franc Machine also said that we want to sell such a warship, and as long as the price is 250,000 silver dollars, Your Excellency Van der Laan, this lord has decided to make you a friend, and make this long-term deal with you, you have to be lower than the price of 250,000 yuan." ”

"Your Excellency, this class of battleship is indeed difficult to build, just this hundred guns are more than this price, and it is impossible for the Franc machine man to only need 250,000."

Van der Laan didn't expect that this count of the Ming Empire was not so easy to fool, he casually shouted a price, and was directly cut in half, but he was unwilling to compromise on this, so he still gritted his teeth and didn't let go.

"I believe you should have heard of the Yang family of Suzhou Weaving, he is my imperial merchant in China, similar to your East India Company, and he bought a battleship from Franco", Liu Kongzhao said this, Vanderland was also a little uneasy in his heart, thinking that what the count of the Ming Empire said seemed to be true.

However, Vanderland was still unwilling to let go, and vigorously explained how difficult it was to build a warship of his class and how expensive it was.

At the same time, he suggested that Liu Kongzhao might consider buying only second-class and third-class warships, and also took Liu Kongzhao to see the scale of second-class and third-class warships.

Liu Kongzhao did not refuse, nor did he say that he must buy it, but only listened to Van der Lane say on the side, and at the same time secretly thought in his heart how to take advantage of the Zheng group to get this first-class battleship before the war against the Hongmao Fan occupying Dongfan, and now Liu Kongzhao firmly believes that the Ming Navy can be regarded as a real navy as long as it has such a warship.

At that time, Liu Kongzhao followed Van der Laan to this class of warship, that is, the flagship of the governor commanded by Van der Laan, but he did not mention the matter of ordering a war ship at all, and only asked Van der Laan if he could entertain lunch, Liu Kongzhao seemed to want to experience the feeling of dining in such a large warship.

(End of chapter)