The other courtiers saw that His Majesty had already made a plan, and whether the civil and military officials agreed to strengthen the strength of the naval division, the research and development and design of the new warship at the Dengzhou Shipyard would not be delayed at all.

Zhu Jianji said to Qian: "At present, the warships of the Daming Naval Division, although they can also sail far, but most of them are wooden warships, in the general naval battle, relying on the advantages of the Daming Naval Division, they may be able to defeat all the time, but now they have entered the age of firearms, so our navy must also enter the age of firearms, so it is impossible to deal with firearms with wooden warships, so Dengzhou Shipyard is developing steel warships." ”

Yu Qian thought thoughtfully, "Steel battleship? ”

Can it float on the water?

How much space does this need inside to be buoyant enough?

Yu Qian is not stupid.

Of course, he would not ask the stupid question of how steel could float on the water, the common sense of life: if you put a big iron pot on the water, it will not sink.

Zhu Jianji nodded, "Yes, it is necessary to build a steel battleship, so that it can sail far away, and only then can it form an absolute advantage over the sailors of overseas countries, and it will not cause non-combat downsizing for various reasons." ”

The maintenance of wooden battleships was too laborious.

Yu Qian said: "According to what Li Shunda said just now, a steel battleship has a full strength of nearly 1,500 people, plus all kinds of ordnance and materials, in this case, the steel battleship is actually about the same size as a treasure ship?" ”

Zhu Jianji shook his head, "It may be bigger, I don't know the details at present, we need to wait for the steam engine to test the engine, and then determine the size of the steel battleship according to the power of the steam engine." ”

But in any case, if you can build a big ship, you can't build a small boat.

The advantage of the current naval division of the Ming Dynasty is that on the one hand, the draft of the warships is greater than that of the warships of other countries, and on the other hand, it has an absolute advantage in quantity.

Therefore, in the navy of the new era, quantity is important, but quality is king.

A navy, you don't need a few hundred warships.

There is also not as much steel production to support this demand.

In Zhu Jianji's budget, the South China Sea Fleet has 30 steel armors, which is enough to pull the prelude to the Age of Discovery, and then according to the plundering of the steel resources of the Indochina Peninsula and Japan, as well as the development of the navies of overseas Western countries, the prospects of the Ming Navy are planned to ensure the absolute leading position of the Ming Navy in the Age of Navigation.

Yu Qian thought for a moment, "Then with the current steel production, how many of these new steel warships does Your Majesty think needs to be built?" ”

Zhu Jianji said: "Thirty ships are enough." ”

Yu Qian asked, "Thirty ships, how much steel do you need?" ”

Zhu Jianji shook his head, "It hasn't been designed yet, and it's not sure how much steel is needed, so we can only wait for it to be implemented, and then make additions and deletions according to the situation." ”

If there is enough steel production, then a little more.

Fifty sixty ships, or even a hundred steel warships, are naturally better, anyway, when the time comes, the navy of the Ming Dynasty will sail the ocean and establish colonies in the whole world.

Naturally, Han Xin ordered the soldiers, and the more the merrier.

Of course, the steel output really can't meet the demand, and twenty ships can be used temporarily, step by step, as long as the method is right, the navy will become an invincible fleet step by step sooner or later.

Yu Qian said: "The matter of the warship can be slightly later, does Your Majesty plan to strengthen the navy and transform all the Daming Naval Divisions into a navy, if so, is there too many soldiers?" ”

Zhu Jianji said: "At present, there are 20,000 people in the South China Sea Fleet stationed in Taiwan led by Zhang Bu and Xiang Yu, all of whom are veterans of the naval division who have experienced many wars, and this will be the main force, but according to the plan of 30 steel warships, a battleship has 1,500 people, then it needs 45,000 people, so there is still a gap of 20,000 people, and it needs to be drawn from the naval division." ”

Yu Qian was surprised, "The navy only needs 45,000 people? ”

Zhu Jianji shook his head, "Of course it's more than that, the current South China Sea Fleet only has 45,000 people, and then the East China Sea Fleet will be established, and as long as the steel production goes up, our fleet will be more than these two, so the ultimate goal is to convert all the elites in the naval division into fighters of naval warships, according to my consideration, about 300,000 people are suitable." ”

Two hundred battleships.

This is the scale that Zhu Jianji wants to achieve, but it is a little difficult.

With a force of 300,000 people, it is not difficult.

But the amount of steel, coal, firearms, ordnance, and supplies needed for 200 warships was astronomical.

Because the current economy and finances of the Ming Dynasty should not be able to raise so many warships, but as long as they take the Indochina Peninsula, Japan, Korea, Luzon and other places, and establish many overseas colonies, they should be able to afford it.

And you can raise more.

Use the economy and resources of the colony to feed!

Yu Qian calculated slightly, and felt that 200 warships and 300,000 troops did not seem to be a difficult thing for the Ming Dynasty, you must know that during the Taizong period, when the Ming Navy was at its peak, the battleships were more than that.

Said: "In this case, then the Navy Division will transfer elite troops from the side of the Navy Division according to this scale, and transfer 100,000 troops to Taiwan for training by Zhang Bu and Xiang Yu?" ”

Zhu Jianji said: "Good! ”

He also said: "Passing on my will, the Ministry of War has a Navy Department under its jurisdiction, and there is a Navy General Division, and the second official is under the second rank, which is concurrently served by He Jianquan, the left attendant of the Ministry of War; There are three deputy general directors, and the three officials are in the ranks, Fang Mu, Zhang Bu, and Xiang Yu are appointed; The South China Sea Fleet of the Navy Division has a commander-in-chief, consisting of Zhang Buquan and the third rank of the officer, two deputy commanders-in-chief, and the third rank of the officer. In the South China Sea Fleet, according to the number of warships, another detachment will be set up, and it will be discussed at that time. ”

"In addition, the East China Sea Fleet will be set up first, and Xiang Yuquan will be the commander-in-chief of the fleet, and the non-commissioned officers of the South China Sea Fleet will be temporarily led to train.

In this way, the old can bring the new, so that at the beginning of the establishment of the East China Sea Fleet, it will be all new soldiers.

The ministers hurriedly received the decree.

Zhu Jianji said again: "In this case, the 120,000 people of the South China Sea Fleet, plus the East China Sea Fleet later, the daily maintenance of these 200,000 people is not a simple matter. ”

The voice landed, and on the side of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, a bunch of Governors and Governors came out to ask for their lives.

Everybody is not stupid.

Looking at His Majesty's arrangement, it is obvious that the status of the Navy in the future may still be above the Jinge Group Army, and there will definitely be foreign wars, which are all opportunities to obtain military achievements.

This is better than staying in the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies and getting moldy.

That's why fools don't go.

Moreover, if this situation continues to develop, it is not possible that the governor's offices of the five armed forces will be abolished, and now as long as we seize this opportunity, we will not become marginalized people.