In a nameless shipyard in Huangzhou, Bakou, craftsmen are building ships. The ship is just starting to be built and it is impossible to see what it looks like, but in terms of its structure alone, it is obviously different from common ships.

The shipbuilding craftsmen talked to each other from time to time. Many people said no local accents in Huangzhou or the accents in Jingchu, Shannan. Zhang Yu, lieutenant of the Xiyang Prince's Mansion, watched from time to time, and talked with these craftsmen with special accents through "common news".

These craftsmen are shipwrights from Panyu, Lingbiao, Guangzhou. They have inherited their shipbuilding skills and have great experience in building sea ships. Now they are here in Xiyang, Huangzhou, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and want to offer suggestions for the construction of new ships.

Pure sea ships and river ships have ready-made styles that can be copied, but they are also suitable for sailing on the river, and ships that sail on the deep sea are rare.

For hundreds of years, most ships that travel from the Yangtze River to the coastal areas along the Lingbiao have sailed along the coastline, and the ships that sail in shallow seas are also different from those that sail in the deep seas.

Ships suitable for deep-sea navigation are not necessarily suitable for navigation in the Yangtze River. The specific manifestations are manipulation, flexibility, and poor stability, and vice versa. Zhang Yu hopes to find a new type of ship that can take into account both waters at the same time.

This is related to the needs of the Xiyang Prince Mansion. The ships loaded with cargo set off from Bakou and entered the sea along the Yangtze River. This section of the voyage is relatively calm and the water flow is relatively stable. Therefore, the bottom of the ship can be a flat bottom, which is convenient for passing through various shallows without stranding. It doesn’t matter if the center of gravity of the ship is higher.

After entering the sea, the ship only needs to cross the Black Water Ocean and reach Hakata, Japan on the other side of the sea. This voyage must break through the stormy waves, so the bottom of the ship must be sharp, and the center of gravity of the ship must be lowered.

Ships sailing between rivers and seas need to adapt to two waters at the same time with one ship type. It is a bit difficult to "set" in order. The ships built before Xiyang Prince Mansion only took into account both needs and the results were considered "passed", but they are still far from "excellent".

In fact, this problem is easy to solve, that is, to transport cargo to Guangling, Jiankang and other places in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and then transfer the goods to the sea ship to the sea, which is nothing more than a loading and unloading cost and a delay of time.

But the problem is that Guangling or Jiankang are not the territory of Zhou. Once someone sees the valuables in it on the way to transfer goods, it is easy to cause trouble.

Especially the ships returning from Japan must be full of silver. Once they are moved from sea to river ships in a foreign country, who will let go of this fortune?

So based on various considerations, the royal mansion still wanted to create a "general ship model" with excellent performance. He specially invited Guangzhou ship craftsmen who were good at making sea ships, and together with Huangzhou ship craftsmen who were good at making river ships, they wanted to figure out a new ship model and put it into trial as soon as possible.

In view of this, Zhang Yu, who was originally fighting in Guangzhou with the King of Xiyang, was sent back by the mansion to "see the progress" and sent a letter to the royal palace to report safety. At the same time, he saw off to the fleet heading to Japan.

Zhang Yu and his companions have opened a new route, crossing the Black Water Ocean directly from the mouth of the Yangtze River to reach Hakata Port in Japan. This route is not easy to come by and brings wealth to the King of Xiyang and must not be idle.

However, the Yangtze River route was cut off before. Last year, Zhang Yu and his party returned from Japan and ventured to Guangzhou on the verge of Lingbiao. They happened to meet the army of Xiyang King who captured Guangzhou, so they transported the goods back to Xiyang, allowing Xiyang King to earn a considerable income.

Now, Chen and Chen have a good relationship. Taking advantage of the smooth sailing of the Yangtze River and the southeast wind blows, the fleet of Xiyang Prince's Mansion sails again, but Zhang Yu does not follow the fleet eastward because the Langzhu has something else to do.

Supervising the construction of new ships is one thing, and the second is to guard the home.

Yuwen Shiwu is now leading troops to fight outside. Sima Zhang Dingfa, the royal palace that had returned to Xiyang, had rested for a while, and then took the "rotating" guards to the Xiyang tent to obey the orders. Therefore, Zhang Yu, who had not returned home for more than half a year, had to "rotating off" and return to Xiyang to rest and be responsible for the protection of the royal palace.

Although Huangzhou Chief Secretary Hao Wu Bo has now been promoted to Huangzhou Chief Secretary General, the other party is busy and it is impossible to pay attention to the safety of the Xiyang Prince's Mansion at all times. Therefore, the escort team of the Prince's Mansion itself must be able to deal with any emergencies and ensure the safety of the Prince's family, so someone needs to be fully responsible.

Zhang Yu dared not take this lightly, but he was worried about another problem.

Last year, he transported a large amount of silver back from Japan, which was of great value, but it was quickly spent. Not only that, the profits of various industries in the Xiyang Palace, except for the expenses of the palace, were mostly invested in wars, and there was not much left.

Outsiders say that the Xiyang Palace has many industries and makes money every day, but they don’t know that while making money every day, it is a sunrise to make money. It is more costly to fight war than to do anything. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is spending money like a flood.

The Huangzhou army was fighting abroad. In order to ensure the supply of food and grass and ensure that the soldiers eat well and dress well, the government had to mobilize a large amount of supplies to the front line. However, the Huangzhou General Administration is different from the governments elsewhere. It is not to requisition private materials for free, but to spend money to purchase them.

But even if you buy it at a preferential price, it is a huge monthly expense. The so-called "huge" means that it is not enough to fill in the taxes of the Huangzhou General Administration for a year.

The normal expenditure of the government depends on tax support, with both physical tax and money tax (mainly commercial tax). The rewards of the officers and soldiers after making meritorious service and pensions after death or disability all rely on the government tax revenue. Even if the commercial tax revenue of the Huangzhou General Administration is very generous, it cannot withstand the huge war expenses.

The war has lasted for more than a year, and the Huangzhou government is unable to bear the expenses for purchasing military supplies. The gap is naturally caused by the King of Xiyang to fill in the money, and it will take more than a year to fill in it.

Now, as the front line spreads, military spending is getting bigger and bigger, and the money in Xiyang King's pocket is becoming increasingly tense.

Zhang Yu couldn't understand why the man-master had to pay for the war out of his own pocket. Sometimes he would see the man-master holding a thick stack of bills in a daze and sighing, so he was also anxious.

He didn't know how to make money, he only knew that the fleet could bring back a lot of silver by going to Japan. Only by doing this well can he share the worries of the man.

However, if the fleet goes back and forth to Japan, it is possible to travel for several months if it is fast, or if it is slow, it is possible to return for half a year or even a year. In this way, the profits of the sea trade are as far away as water, so where can we save the near fire?

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu looked sad. When he recalled the strange smile of the Lord, he suddenly remembered a sentence that the other party said, which was "making money for nothing."

It seems like a saying that it is a common saying, but Zhang Yu has never heard of it before. In terms of doing business, it is probably to do business without capital. If you don’t pay the deposit, you will use other people’s goods to buy and pay the money for the goods with the money you sold.

It's a bit like laying eggs by borrowing chickens.
Chapter completed!