Lord of Ming Dynasty

As the king, of course Zhang Qiang couldn't come alone. He was accompanied by Ruan Jin, director of navy, and Zhao Siyang, director of artillery.

Some things were reported by Ruan Jin, the director of the navy, and some things were learned by Zhang Qiang from the information.

At present, the director of the Navy is eloquently reporting on this new 680-ton warship of [-] tons.

This ship is nearly 55 meters long and about [-] meters wide. It has five masts, three of which are tall. , with some small sails hanging on it.

There are three upper and lower decks. The front forecastle is basically buried in the hull, and a section is moved to the middle of the hull. It is not completely immersed in the bow. The middle deck is not directly connected. The middle deck is empty, and you can directly see the second floor. Deck, although there is a deck at the back, there are warehouses below, and there are warehouses at the bottom, and there is a poop higher than the forecastle at the back. The poop is taller, the lower floor is the warehouse, and the second floor is for the crew. Housing, the uppermost floor is the captain, first mate, and second mate's housing.

The captain's quarters are the most spacious, equal to an office and lounge, and the captain's storeroom, with a small compartment inside.

The rear end is the highest, with a platform on which a [-]-pounder gun is secured, and an [-]-pounder gun is also placed on the vacated upper deck space at the head. The navy of the Huaxia Army has a rule that cannot be avoided. One or at least one cannon should be placed in the capital of the ship to shoot forward and backward. Otherwise, at sea, when there is no angle and the cannons on both sides cannot salvo, Zhang Qiang is worried that the enemy will take the opportunity to turn to the front and rear Form a T-head to your own ship. With a cannon, at least there is the possibility of fighting back. If you don't have a cannon, you can only be beaten, not fight back.

Some European sailing ships actually do not have bow or stern cannons, and some have small cannons of a few pounds, which are mainly used to clean the decks of approaching enemy ships.Zhang Qiang placed a heavy artillery in order to sink the enemy.

Especially now that the Huaxia Army has relatively safe explosive bombs, it becomes possible to clean the enemy's deck or sink the enemy.

After a while, after Ruan Jin finished his introduction, he said to Zhang Qiang: "Your Majesty, this is the situation of this ship."

Chapter 763 Trivial Trouble God 4

After listening to Ruan Jin's report, Zhang Qiang discussed with the shipyard's craftsmen and solved some embarrassing problems for them, mainly when the materials will arrive, whether they need cooperation, how many people are needed, who is in the family, and what are the difficulties .

The craftsmen who can stand here and report to Zhang Qiang are all craftsmen of engineering after the new scientific examination system of the Huaxia Kingdom came out. The examinations for craftsmen are very strict. Their examinations are not for becoming officials, but for advancing to a higher level. They can choose among these exams. For example, after passing the third-level craftsman exam, they can choose to take the management or chief planner exam. They can take the exam at the third-level management level. If they pass the exam, they will be the head of the craftsman.

It is equivalent to the artisans in charge of administration. They have their own skills, and at the same time they know how to make them. A way out for artisans who know that they have no ability and can no longer upgrade.

The system of the Huaxia Kingdom is very humane.

But the chief planning engineer is a bit more difficult. The exam starts from the third level, and after passing the exam, the qualified ones will serve as the team leaders of the fourth-level craftsman apprentices, and mix with the fourth-level craftsmen.

A fourth-level craftsman does not necessarily have a third-level craftsman under his command. It may be a novice or a few novices. He is responsible for the food and accommodation of the fourth-level craftsman and the management of the novices, and at the same time obeys the arrangement of the team leader of the third-level craftsman management team. , It is equivalent to being an administrative assistant first, arranging production tasks, and at the same time joining the ranks of craftsmen, continuing to learn from fourth-level craftsmen.

Why start at level three, because the highest level of craftsmen in the Huaxia Kingdom is level five, there are very few craftsmen at level five, not many craftsmen at level four, and there are generally many craftsmen at level three, but generally speaking, those who can reach level three are all skilled. Some craftsmen are craftsmen who have been engaged in a certain aspect for a long time.

People who have passed the third-level management examination are like officials who have accumulated experience and qualifications and achieved political achievements. These have reached the peak of promotion, and then they will be promoted to administrators of the fourth-level artisan management team. The staff members inside, official civil servants, when he is promoted, he will be an official official from the ninth rank.

Officials who have craftsman experience from the ninth rank to the craftsman level three manage the entire craftsman team.

There are a group of transferred personnel, finance, logistics, and third-level management clerks who have been admitted. Their purpose is to serve craftsmen and engineers. Responsible for designing ships, fifth-level craftsmen are responsible for manufacturing, and managers are responsible for serving them and arranging manpower to help them.

Officials, craftsmen, engineers, master planners, management, apprentices, and helpers formed a technical team to design and build ships.There are other officials in the shipyard who are responsible for other things, but these officials don't have to be craftsmen.

Each shipyard has at least one of these. It is managed by an official from a ninth-rank craftsman, a chief planner is a designer, a fifth-level craftsman is in charge of general manufacturing, and a large group of fourth-level and third-level craftsmen are responsible for specific manufacturing. , a large group of managers are responsible for preparing materials, helping hands, and serving these craftsmen.

Of course, sometimes the fifth-level craftsman is not alone, there may be a fifth-level carpenter, a fifth-level painter, a fifth-level sailboat wood picker, a fifth-level canvas maker, a fifth-level cable maker, etc., a large group.

Sometimes there may not be so many fifth-level craftsmen, but there may be a group of third-level craftsmen, and the personnel may not all be of the same craftsman level for each type of work. Some are first-level, some are second-level, and some may be third-level.

They are busy with a group of apprentices, and may be responsible for multiple processes, but when they want to take the exam, they can only take the one they are best at, and become a first-level craftsman or a higher-level craftsman of that one.

When Zhang Qiang proposed to the only team in the shipyard that he wanted to replace a new type of warship, they were very happy, because if they made it first, they would be rewarded, as well as political achievements and honors. It is very important for the craftsmen of the kingdom, it is related to their income and the treatment of their families, and the improvement will be faster in the future. They can be the first to have the experience of building this kind of ship. This is technology.

Because of the news brought by Zhang Qiang, they were very excited, so the discussion on the modification of the sailboat was also very active. Dozens of people talked to each other. The Spaniards, as well as the British, are mostly Portuguese.

They had seen the sailboats back home, so their advice was good.

Zhang Qiang asked the managers recorded next to them to summarize all these opinions.

A day later, they were called again, several fourth-level craftsmen, two fifth-level craftsmen, a chief planner, and three low-status foreign craftsmen, Portuguese, British, and Spaniards, as for the Dutch, they were A group of businessmen who only know how to use money to smash other kingdoms. Since the Netherlands lost to the British, their warship construction is not as good as the Spaniards and the British. The Portuguese are most familiar with the Ming Dynasty before the Chinese Kingdom. Therefore, they are also called to participate.

After some discussion, Zhang Qiang summed up some characteristics. In order to improve, the structure of the ship must be more reasonable, the aspect ratio is reasonable, it is conducive to resisting wind and waves, and the superstructure must be reduced. To make the ship run fast, the hull must be light. Some.

The mast must be high, so that the area of ​​the sail can be increased, and the larger the area of ​​the sail, the higher the natural wind force, which improves the power level.

The height of the mast must be increased, a taller mast is needed, and a taller tree is needed, but there are no such tall masts in the shipyard at present, the mast must be a whole, or what should I do if it is blown apart and broken from the connection?

However, a craftsman suggested that iron hoops could be added to wrap the joints with iron to increase the strength of the mast joints, so that there is no need to look for tall logs in the deep mountains, and the Huaxia Kingdom does not have so many deep mountains. Because of the large population in Liaodong, many places have been invaded by humans and small trees have been cut down, making it rare for them to see a century-old piece of wood suitable for building taller masts.

There are in Europe, but Zhang Qiang vetoed it without thinking about it. You have to deal with these Thai and Western people, and you have to wait a year or two before you can use it once you get it back. Isn’t this torture?

The hull must continue to be elongated, and it cannot be too wide. The solution is to have a reasonable aspect ratio. This is not too difficult. The chief planner of the Huaxia Army who has been trained for more than ten years can calculate and design, and can come up with the best plan. Anyway Zhang Qiang knew that a new ship model was not a short-term experimental success.

Zhang Qiang, as a traveler, also proposed the concept of flying shear boats that he has seen in many places. He changed the shape at the connection between the upper and lower waterlines, and then made it into a sharp shape where the sides of the hull extend, and the bow floated upwards. , the waterline is lowered and then extended forward to form an acute angle, which is equivalent to an L-shaped bow. Instead of the previous vertical or oblique bow shape directly below the waterline, a scissors-like bow is formed.

At the same time, the bow part is made into a watertight compartment to form an empty compartment to increase the buoyancy of the ship, especially the buoyancy of the bow. At the same time, multiple watertight compartments are built along the side cabins on both sides of the waterline to form a buoyancy device like a buoy. Inside the cabin The cabin above the cabin is also turned into a watertight cabin without putting anything in it, but it is used as a warehouse for counterweights on both sides of the hull to prevent the hull from swaying sideways.

Everyone talked to each other, discussed for a few days, and came up with a plan, and then with the help of the fifth-level craftsman, the chief planner drew the blueprint.

Chapter 764 Trivial Trouble God 5

The management officer prepares the material.

The ship is scheduled to be around [-] tons, and the plan is to be in the early [-]s. This will not be known until the ship is built and the various upper configurations are finally determined.

Zhang Qiang ate and lived in the shipyard. Watching them build, the manpower and material resources of the Huaxia Kingdom were quickly mobilized, and the materials that were not available were transported through the already convenient water and land channels. In less than a month, the ship that had been suspended for a month was restarted. Start building.

But it is no longer the original 680-ton warship of the Navy of the Huaxia Kingdom.

It is 56 meters long and 5.98 meters wide, with four masts, plus a stern mast and a crossbar at the bow, equal to six masts.

The height of the mast has also increased from the usual ten meters to 24 meters, which is not too high, so the prepared materials were mobilized and shipped quickly.

The Huaxia Kingdom is not generally rich in terms of materials and supplies, but very rich, especially in shipbuilding. The previous crazy reserves, even after fighting two wars, had a long period of trade with the Spaniards among the Thais and Westerners. There was also a short-term trade with the Dutch, and a year-long trade with the British. At that time, Zhang Qiang made a deal to obtain shipbuilding materials from them, and made a lot of preparations for building better ships.

The ships built in the early stage were all wood from the deep mountains of Baodao Prefecture, Yunnan Guizhou, and Guangxi Prefecture. Later, some wood was bought from Liaodong. These local woods built nearly a thousand warships of more than [-] tons. The warships in the early stage used some merchant ships, so the thousand ships in the early stage did not use much wood, they were all rebuilt. The second generation used some foreign wood, plus captured enemies. Dai used a lot of external wood, but there are still many remaining reserves.

Zhang Qiang planned to replace all the ships in the six fleets of the fleet, reducing the tonnage to [-] tons. The remaining timber reserves were still enough, not enough to dismantle the original large ships.

The shipyard is building ships, and Zhang Qiang is dealing with official business. You can't delay the time for handling official business because you are here. Although internal affairs can be completely left to the cabinet, the department Zhang Qiang manages happens to be to monitor the cabinet, to defend the country, and to defend his own. Department, so you can't slack off, if you slack off, it's easy to be emptied.

What a king fears most is losing his power.

Zhang Qiang does not want to be a rubber stamp, a symbolic king, or a national mascot.

Therefore, the four departments of the military, intelligence, surveillance, and diplomacy must always be aware of it.

The latest information is that the militias in the core area of ​​the Huaxia Kingdom have been completely transferred to account militias, that is, to assemble when there is something to do, what to do when you have nothing to go home, why go, basically belong to half of the common people, but in some villages, the militiamen still serve as local security The maintenance task, assist the Yamen servants to catch the bandits quickly.

The number of this part of the militia is increasing, and it has gradually become a financial burden for the local government. The cabinet has proposed to help some militiamen establish some small workshops, and then let them be self-reliant, but it does not give up completely, just let them earn some money. Government subsidy is less.

In addition, the cabinet passed a resolution to merge Yunnan Prefecture into the core area to improve the economic level and road travel level there. Those roads originally built by Li Dingguo could not meet the development of the Huaxia Kingdom at all. They must be widened and rebuilt, and more roads should be built. County roads, village roads, to support more poor people to improve their living standards and get out of the mountains.

At the same time, frontier states such as Yunnan-Guizhou, Henan, and Shandong were also incorporated. Because they border the enemy, they will inevitably be threatened and harassed by the enemy. Therefore, according to the practice of the Huaxia Kingdom, they are not accepted by the core states. , where many militia troops and garrison troops will be deployed to prevent enemy war invasion.

The decision of the cabinet is because if they are not merged to improve their economic level as soon as possible, they will drag down the development speed of the entire Huaxia Kingdom. Only by improving their economic level can the kingdom's finances get rid of them and build the kingdom as soon as possible with very little subsidies and military expenditures .

Another proposal from the cabinet is that the second and third generations of Han people can go out in the future, but they must come back after a period of time. The places where they come back and resettle are those areas that were originally vacated by the immigrant minority population. Some of these minority groups It has been more than ten years, basically sinicized, but the second and third generations still have some problems of not accepting the thoughts and living habits of the Han people, so the cabinet suggested that emigrate out, for example to fill the population vacancies in Shikokufu.