The first batch of talents had almost been trained, and Zhu Cijiu could finally consider the issue of shipbuilding. When it comes to this shipbuilding, the first thing he thought of was Zheng He's voyage to the West. More than two hundred years ago, Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di, forced Western countries to pay tribute to promote the prestige of the Ming Dynasty, to force the Western countries to pay tribute, and sent a large fleet of eunuchs, Zheng He, to lead a huge fleet to voyage to the West seven times. Then how powerful and majestic the Ming Dynasty was at that time.

It is said that the largest treasure ship in Zheng He's fleet is 44 zhang and 18 zhang wide. In the current length, it is 151 meters long and 61 meters wide. What is this concept? Take modern ships to compare it. The largest Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is 333 meters long and 77 meters wide. In other words, the length of Zheng He's treasure ship is half the current largest aircraft carrier, and the width is only about ten meters away. Well, the wooden ship is so big, I don't know if it is not realistic.

Of course, Zhu Cijing didn't have to consider the unrealistic problem of Zheng He's treasure ship, because he didn't have to build such a super giant ship with a displacement of tens of thousands of tons. The warships given by the system were not so huge. The largest first-class sail battleship was only 70 meters long and 20 meters wide, and the displacement was only about 3,000 tons.

In the early Ming Dynasty, shipbuilding technology was indeed the most advanced in the world, but Zhu Cijing did not know whether the shipbuilding technology of the Ming Dynasty had deteriorated after more than two hundred years. The issue of building warships must be clarified. So he summoned Xu Guangqi, the oldest senior, and Bi Maokang, the Minister of Works, to the imperial study room to learn about the situation first.

These two of them are his confidants, so they don’t have to beat around the bush when they talk to them. Zhu Cijiong asked directly: “Mr., I want to build a batch of warships that are twenty-one zhang long and six zhang wide. I wonder if I can build them now in the Ming Dynasty?”

When Xu Guangqi heard this, he looked at Bi Maokang first. Seeing that he was extremely calm and had no embarrassed expression, he replied: "Your Majesty, according to the current shipbuilding ability of the Ming Dynasty, such a large warship can be built, but the investment is quite large and takes a long time. I wonder why the emperor suddenly thought of building a warship?"

Zhu Cijing was naturally very happy when he heard that there was no problem in building a ship. As for the problem of heavy consumption, if you have an invincible fleet, are you still afraid that you can't get it back! In front of your most trusted confidant, you naturally don't have to hide your ambitions. He explained patiently: "Mr., you are familiar with the Western countries. You should know the Netherlands. Now they have thousands of warships and tens of thousands of merchant ships, which are one of the best maritime powers! If you don't build warships quickly, how can you make the four barbarians surrender at that time, and how can you restore the glory of the great Ming Dynasty? "

When Xu Guangqi heard this, he was shocked and said, "Ah, so many, it seems that they have been in the country for less than fifty years. In just over 40 years, they can build so many warships and so many merchant ships!"

Zhu Cijiong sighed: "Yes, they have developed to such a strong point in just over 40 years. If I, the Ming Dynasty, will not catch up, the whole world will be divided up by them, and the Ming Dynasty is likely to become their target. You must know that the Netherlands has occupied our treasure island long ago. If it weren't for Jiannu, I would have wanted to deal with them."

Xu Guangqi nodded solemnly and asked, "I wonder how many warships the emperor wants to build at one time?"

Zhu Cijiong looked at Bi Maokang and hoped to say, "Of course, the more, the better. I wonder how many such warships can I build in the Ming Dynasty in a year?"

When Bi Maokang heard this, he quickly bowed and said, "If you want to build such a large warship, you must rebuilt the dock. I, the Ming Dynasty, have not built such a large warship for a long time. The docks of the Nanzhili Treasure Shipyard have been abandoned. I don't know how many large docks can be used."

Zhu Cijing immediately shook his head and said, "It cannot be built in Nanzhili. New warships must be equipped with many artillery. It is very inconvenient to build cannons here and there. It is very difficult to transport them. Just build a shipyard in Tianjin Weixin City. Just build it on the largest scale. How many warships can be built in a year?"

Bi Maokang replied awkwardly: "Well, this is not a matter of the size of a shipyard. The registered shipbuilding craftsmen in the Ministry of Works Dushuiqing Lishuo has now less than 20,000 shipbuilding households. Even if they are all gathered together, at most ten large docks can start construction of ships at the same time. The dock waterway is usually about one mile, and only five such large ships can be accommodated at the same time. Ten docks will be fifty."

Zhu Cijing said without hesitation: "Then there are fifty ships. I will draw the sketches for you in the next two days. I will gather people immediately and start construction as soon as possible."

When Bi Maokang heard this, he said in a bit embarrassingly: "Master, this shipbuilding cost a lot. It costs at least 300,000 taels to build a dock. If all 20,000 shipbuilders are recruited to work, the food and salary for a month will be nearly 100,000 taels, and various materials and transportation losses will be consumed, which will cost at least 200,000 taels per month. The Ministry of Works cannot bear it."

How could you ask your Ministry of Works to pay? Zhu Cijing said directly: "You don't have to worry about the money issue. Go back and write a memorial. I will pay you three million taels first. It's not enough."

Bi Maokang was finally relieved. The money problem was solved, so there was no problem. So he thanked Xu Guangqi for his gratitude.

After the two left, Zhu Cijiu immediately began to draw a drawing. If you want to disassemble a 70-meter-long warship and draw it into parts, you probably won’t be able to draw it for a year or two. Fortunately, the shipbuilding technology of the Ming Dynasty was very developed, so he just had to draw an approximate appearance size. How much sheets are used to connect it? It is estimated that the shipbuilding craftsmen are more familiar than him and don’t need him to draw it at all.

Although he only draws simple sketches, there are many parts of a warship. He can't just draw a shell, and there are still things inside. Zhu Cijiu drew one after another, which was a ghost drawing talisman. As he was drawing, he suddenly thought of a problem and fainted. The cannon had not been arranged for someone to do it yet!

A first-class sail battleship can have 102 naval guns, and fifty ones are 5,100 naval guns. With the current production capacity of Wang Gong Factory, it can't make so many naval guns in a year. What's more, these naval guns are breech-type and are equipped with flintlock machines. They are different from field guns and need to be redeveloped. Zhu Cijiong quickly asked Cao Huachun to summon Sun Yuanhua and Song Yingxing to discuss.

Soon, Sun Yuanhua and Song Yingxing came together. They changed their hurried appearance in the past and seemed quite leisurely and contented. Zhu Cijiu couldn't help but ask curiously: "Hey, aren't you always very busy? Why are you so relaxed today?"

Sun Yuanhua immediately bowed and said, "The emperor is wise and asked the students of the Firearms Academy to study on site. They are worthy of being scholars and learn very quickly. Now they are familiar with the principles and manufacturing of muskets and cannons. Just leave them with anything, so Weichen finally became a little more leisurely."

Zhu Cijing said with relief: "Yeah, it's right. It seems that they are more talented in Western learning, but the development of firearms cannot be roughly classified into one category. You must teach according to their respective strengths. For example, if some people have a lot of experience in production and manufacturing, you will train them to manage craftsmen; if some people are very enthusiastic about the principles of muskets and cannons, you will train them to develop new firearms; if some people have a rigorous attitude and are serious about doing things, you will train them to be responsible for acceptance. You cannot expect these students to become omnipotent. It is beneficial to their development in detail. You should pay more attention to this in the future."

When the two heard this, they felt a little, and couldn't help but look at each other with admiration, and praised in unison: "The Emperor is wise."

Zhu Cijing waved his hand and smiled and said, "These are all trivial matters. You will gradually understand them as you teach them. I asked you to come this time to discuss the issue of naval cannon production with you."

Sun Yuanhua couldn't help but ask curiously: "Your Majesty, what kind of cannon is a naval gun?"

Zhu Cijing explained patiently: "Naval cannons are artillery equipped on warships. There are many warships equipped with dozens or even hundreds of artillery in the West. They call them battleships, and I am also preparing to produce such battleships. I have asked Bi Maokang before that the Ministry of Works Dushuiqing Lishu can produce about 50 first-class battleships a year. This class battleship gate requires 102 various types of artillery. Wang Gong Factory must not be able to make so many, so I want to build a new factory to specialize in the production of naval guns."

Song Sun Yuanhua was shocked when he heard this: "A warship requires 102 artillery pieces, and fifty ones would cost more than 5,000 artillery pieces!"

Zhu Cijiu nodded, then pulled out a piece of white paper, drew a sketch, pointed to the drawing and introduced to them: "This ship gun is different from the field gun used by infantry. In order to facilitate loading, it must be made into breech-loading, just like this, it is a bit like the Folang machine gun, but this sub-cannon barrel is stuffed from the back, and the front main gun barrel is directly cast into a small and large front pipe. After the inner wall is bright, a back cover is added, and two latches are used to fix the back cover. Unplug the latch to remove the sub-cannon barrel inside. Also, the ship is constantly moving at sea, so you cannot use a fuse rope to ignite it, otherwise the enemy ship will not be in its original position when the fuse is burned. This hit rate is too low, and it must be made into a fuse-lock type, which is similar to the new fuse-lock rifle."

The two of them nodded frequently at the sketch. The breeze loading and flintlock machine were nothing. The Flang machine cannon was just a strap tube. They were all very familiar with it. As for flintlock guns, they were more familiar with it. This flintlock machine was just a little bigger, and it was basically not difficult.

Seeing that they had no questions, Zhu Cijing took out the map of Tianjin Weixin City, pointed to a small square in the middle and said, "The new artillery factory is going to be built here. It mainly produces the mother tubes of naval guns, the child tubes and shells. As for the flintlock machine, there are too many machine tools needed, so I will put them in Wanggong Factory. What do you think?"

The two looked at each other in embarrassment, and finally Song Yingxing spoke: "Master, it's not difficult to make a naval gun. The key is that there is no one. What should I do with Wang Gongchang when I leave?"

Zhu Cijiu thought for a while and stared at Sun Yuanhua and said, "Chuyang, I can only let you work hard. Take 300 students and 1,000 skilled craftsmen over and recruit another 10,000 craftsmen. If there are not enough craftsmen, recruit from the military households. How many people are needed? Your Ministry of War will issue a transfer order and I will approve you."

The staff were all settled, and the two of them had no problems, so they both took back and went back to prepare for the personnel and the machine tool.

Everything was arranged, Zhu Cijiu let out a sigh of relief, sat down and continued to draw sketches of the warships. As the sketches were born in his pen, he seemed to see the first batch of sail battleships of the Ming Dynasty jumping out of paper, heading towards the sea, and heading far away.
Chapter completed!