If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

"You haven't heard of the Great Dragon Navy?"

Originally, the Great Dragon Empire had two navies. The first one was the Great Dragon Empire Navy, which was led by Zhou Wu. Then, the fourth prince, Li Zheng, established the Great Dragon Royal Navy to suppress pirates.

However, Li Zheng's Great Dragon Royal Navy suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of pirates during its first expedition to suppress them, leaving the Royal Navy as nothing more than an empty shell. Therefore, now everyone's eyes are only on Zhou Wu's Great Dragon Empire Navy.

What is the Great Dragon Navy?

The young man clearly lived in the mountains and was not very familiar with the changes in the outside world, otherwise he wouldn't have asked that question.

"You silly boy, you don't even know the Great Dragon Navy? They are the elite troops under Lord Zhou Wu. Not only are they well-paid and well-equipped, but it is said that their warships are so tall."

Actually, the old man didn't know either; he had just heard it from others, so he just casually pointed to the height of the city wall. However, it was clear that the young man didn't believe him; he only took in the fact that the treatment was good.

How good can the compensation be?

"It says on the document that once selected, you will immediately receive a settlement allowance of ten taels of silver, and your monthly salary will be 20% higher than that of other troops."

"what!"

Upon hearing this, the young man immediately became agitated. Ten taels of silver as a resettlement allowance—he had never seen so much money in his life, and his monthly salary was 20% higher than that of other troops.

Yes, he was tempted. Why did he live in the mountains? It was because he was poor. His parents had fled to the mountains with him when he was young, and he had settled down there ever since.

Life in the mountains was tough, but manageable. However, he was still young and didn't want to live the same repetitive life as his parents, day after day, year after year.

The young man's eyes grew more determined. He finally thanked the old man and headed towards the recruitment registration area.

. . . . . .

A month has passed just like that, and the southeastern sea has once again returned to its usual bustling scene, and it seems even more lively now.

The people of the Great Dragons made a fortune in maritime trade, and merchants from other countries couldn't resist jumping in to get a piece of the pie.

However, their own shipbuilding capabilities were simply too limited to build a ship of the Bull Demon King's caliber. Smaller ships were acceptable, but when it came to doing business, the money others made on one trip was equivalent to the money you made on five or six trips. Merchants could easily figure out such a simple problem.

Zhou Wu's two shipyards are once again overflowing with direct orders.

Nanhai City

"Sir, should we build another shipyard?"

Shipbuilding is different from other industries. When ordering a ship, you have to pay the full amount upfront. So, in just one month, Deng Yuanliang managed to achieve the annual revenue target for the South China Sea's finances.

"No need, absolutely no need."

Although shipyards are currently booming, shipbuilding is not a fast-moving consumer goods industry, and it will eventually return to normal.

"The current waiting time is too long, and many customers are already taking a wait-and-see approach. We may lose some orders."

Deng Yuanliang said with some heartache, "This is all money, pure silver, just watching it slip away right before my eyes."

"Just have Gong Sheng, the manager of the shipyard, hurry up and open a few more production lines."

"Ok."

Although adding a few production lines doesn't have the same capacity as opening a shipyard, it's better than nothing.

"By the way, tell Gong Sheng about the Azure Dragon-class aircraft carrier. Tell him to arrange for a reliable specialist to manufacture it and to speed up the process."

"Don't worry, sir. I already gave him instructions when I went to Gong Sheng's place last time. He can tell what's important and what's not."

"That's good. Our naval expansion has been too sudden. All the Bull Demon Kings we stockpiled have been sold off. Now we have people but no ships, which is too embarrassing."

Zhou Wu found it amusing to think about it. He had specially stockpiled a lot of Bull Demon Kings to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, but Deng Yuanliang saw that ship prices were soaring and thought it better to sell them and raise more start-up funds for the South China Sea than leave them unused.

These past few days, Deng Yuanliang has felt somewhat embarrassed whenever he thinks about this matter, but Zhou Wu comforts him from the side.

"You don't need to overthink it. There's no point in keeping so many Bull Demon Kings around. The enemy already has ships of similar strength. The Bull Demon Kings can no longer be the main characters. The Azure Dragon will be the king for the next two years."

"The next two years? Sir, aren't you underestimating the Azure Dragon level?"

If the Qinglong-class is second to none among warships, then absolutely no one would dare to claim first place.

If the Bull Demon King is a behemoth, then the Azure Dragon is definitely a sea fortress.

The Azure Dragon class has been around for several years now, and it has been undergoing continuous minor modifications to make it as perfect as possible.

According to the classification of modern sailing ships, the Bull Demon King's ship could at most be considered a fourth-class sailing ship, with two decks and fifty cannons.

The Azure Dragon class directly reached the level of a first-class sailing warship, with a displacement of between 2,500 and 3,500 tons, more than 100 cannons, and a crew of about 850. This is the standard for a first-class sailing battleship.

Zhou Wu had originally planned to equip the navy with only two models: the Azure Dragon and the Bull Demon King.

As a result, a Qinglong-class ship cost only two or three hundred thousand, but after Zhou Wu made all sorts of modifications, the price skyrocketed to nearly a million.

When Deng Yuanliang presented the budget to Zhou Wu, Zhou Wu immediately abandoned the idea.

They summoned Gong Sheng and discussed the design of a second-class sailing ship and a third-class sailing ship, which were named the White Emperor-class and the Mysterious Heaven-class, respectively.

The four classes of warships began to be used in combination, which was not only economical but also allowed for reasonable deployment according to different campaigns and situations.

. . . . . . .

"Sir, the naval recruitment is complete."

"Oh, it's much faster than I expected."

"It's all because our navy has a good reputation, and the treatment is the best among the navy."

Niu Er, standing to the side, felt a little jealous. Before the navy was established, the Qingyang Army received similar treatment to the navy now, but since the navy was established, the Qingyang Army felt like it had no presence.

That makes sense. Although three thousand cavalrymen were elite, in this era, battles often involved tens or hundreds of thousands of troops, so three thousand men were indeed insufficient.

“Niu Er, don’t be upset. You just feel that three thousand men are not enough, right? Don’t worry, it won’t be long before three thousand men are used as thirty thousand, or even three hundred thousand is not impossible.”

With steam engines and artillery already developed, it's safe to assume that land-based armored forces won't be too far off.

"Sir, you're not just trying to fool me, are you?"

"Forget it if you don't believe it."

"Hehe, believe it, believe it, believe it."

Niu Er had complete faith in Zhou Wu. Both of them were poor boys who couldn't even afford to eat. Wasn't this miracle today all thanks to Zhou Wu?