Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 185 Ah!Warships are so expensive!
The missionaries didn't know that the fishmonger they cursed day and night had stopped playing adventures long ago.That Mr. Rastochkin organized fishing settlements in Alaska and made a big business buying furs from Indians and Eskimos.

Marshal Fu has a deep memory of last year's bombardment and the successive sinking of his own thin-skinned boats.During this year, he often woke up in the middle of the night, and the big white ship turned into a monster that devoured everything in his nightmare.

At this time, the Songhua River had just thawed not long ago, and the ice in the river, which was originally like a hill, had gone down the river.Jilin Wula Street became noisy again.In the shipyard along the river, five berths are lined up, and the "Yaksa warship" is being built here.

Don't get me wrong, the Songhua River doesn't connect to the sea.The warships built here are all used to transport soldiers and food to Ninggu Pagoda.

It is said that in the seventh year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1650), Khabarov, the leader of Tsarist Russia, captured Yaksa in the upper reaches of Heilongjiang with armed forces.In the 15th year of Shunzhi (1658), the Qing court ordered Ningguta Zhangjing Sarhuda to lead 400 people and form a fleet of 47 ships to defeat the Russian army at the mouth of the Songhua River.

In the 21st year of Kangxi, in view of Tsarist Russia's invasion of Heilongjiang again, Kangxi inspected the Jilin shipyard on his eastward tour.With the beginning of the Battle of Yaksa three years later, the Qing army built a large number of warships, opened up a traffic artery running through the Northeast region for the transportation of military supplies, and opened up more than a dozen piers along the Songhua River and Heilongjiang. A large number of Manchu and Han officers and soldiers were left to garrison, which had a profound impact on the development of water transportation in the Heilongjiang River Basin.

The "Yaksa Warship" is 20 meters long, with a deck width of four meters, a molded depth of two meters, a maximum draft of 1.2 meters, and a displacement of 52.8 tons.The shape of the entire warship is flat bottom, square bow, and square tail, both of which are warped to adapt to the wind and waves in the river.The mast is 15 meters high, and the sail area is 65 square meters. There are 6.15 oars on both sides, the oars are 100 meters long, and they are rowed in a standing position; there are two sculls at the stern, 480 meters long.There are two mother and child cannons on the bow.If calculated on the basis of each soldier and 500 kilograms of supplies, each ship can carry 20 to 5000 soldiers and [-] sailors (this ship has a model in the military museum.) A fleet of [-] warships can The transport force is about [-] people.

Although Fukang'an was satisfied with the construction progress of the inland warships, the sea warships he cared about encountered serious setbacks.The officers of the Military Aircraft Department, including Fukang'an, are now in a dilemma, because they have discovered that building an English gunboat is not an easy task at all.

It is said that after Fukang'an sent two servants to Guangzhou last year, he asked Shen Jichuan, the general merchant of the Thirteenth Bank, to help him find a way.

For Shen Jichuan, Marshal Fu is his benefactor!In the first half of Qianlong's 49th year, Fukang'an served as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and tried the case of Juren Tan Dayuan suing Shen Jichuan for sending military supplies.Tan Dayuan, who finally filed a complaint, was sent to Juren and was almost spanked and exiled.

The problem was that Shen Jichuan didn't understand warships either. He happened to be discussing business with a Scottish casual businessman named John Reed the next day, and he accidentally mentioned a few words, and that Mr. Reed immediately seized the opportunity.He said that he was authorized by the East India Company to sell blueprints of warships.

Licensing nonsense!This Mr. Reid has nothing to do with the East India Company at all. What this guy holds in his hand is a consular commission issued by the King of Austria, which he obtained half-heartedly and half-expensively.

From the early [-]th century to the first half of the [-]th century, it was very common for foreign merchants in Guangzhou to spend money to buy commissions.For example, Kirkus, the boss of Kirkus Bill Matheson (the predecessor of Jardine Matheson), took a letter of commission from the Swedish Navy.The later big opium dealer Diandi took the commission of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

In fact, this so-called "diplomatic status" was not recognized by the Qing court customs, not even the East India Company.

John Reed happened to have two sets of blueprints of the third-tier battleship and the fifth-tier battleship obtained from the Hull Shipyard in England.After some bargaining, the two sets of blueprints were bought by Shen Jichuan at a high price of 3 taels of silver, which was regarded as a tribute to Marshal Fu.

After that Mr. Reed took the money, he was afraid that he would have long nights and dreams and be discovered by the Supervisory Committee of the East India Company in Guangzhou.So I didn't even buy the goods, got on the boat and slipped back to Bangladesh quickly.

Shen Jichuan heard that Reed had left, worried about being cheated, so he took the blueprints and went to the East India Company's supervisory committee in Guangzhou to ask.Unexpectedly, after reading the drawings, he was shocked and told Shen Jichuan that the drawings were real.Only then did Shen Jichuan feel relieved.

Afterwards, the "Guangzhou Office" of the East India Company realized that it was the Qing court who wanted to build warships after some insinuations.So I was extremely enthusiastic and helped to make two warship cost lists according to the drawings.After Shen Jichuan got it, he saw that the cost figures above were all in British pounds, and he asked his staff to convert the above pounds into silver units.

(The exchange rate between sterling and silver at the end of the eighteenth century needs to be converted by gold. Since 1774, Britain has implemented the gold standard system. The gold content of one pound is 7.68 grams of gold, which is almost 0.18 taels; according to the Qianlong period, one tael of gold was exchanged for ten The official price of taels of silver, one tael is the standard of 37.5 grams, so one pound is 1.78 taels of silver.)
In this way, the two slaves of Fukang'an returned to Beijing with two sets of drawings and cost lists.

In November last year, when Yong Yan, He Shen, Qing Gui and others saw the cost list of the two British warships, they all gasped!At that time, Yong Yan's eyes were dark, and he almost recited it without taking a breath.

"It's too fucking expensive!" Even He Shen couldn't help being stunned on the spot.

The overall cost of a 3000-ton Tier 1 battleship is 4 taels of silver.And a [-]-ton Tier [-] battleship costs [-] taels of silver for the hull alone. If the sail rigging, spare parts, and on-board guns are added, the overall cost will exceed [-] taels!

It is said that at the end of the seventeenth century, the British Royal Dockyard spent £2 and £3 to build a level 9176 warship and level 6844 warship, respectively, and these costs did not even include sailing rigging, spare parts and guns.It costs 600 pounds to build a 4800-ton warship, but if it is actually launched, it will cost a total of 13000 pounds including other costs on the ship.

Yong Yan immediately called the minister of the Ministry of Industry to inquire about the cost of the current navy ships.

The minister of the Ministry of Industry reported that, taking the Guangdong "rice boat" with the largest load in our navy as an example (this kind of boat is called "Tonganshuo boat" in Fujian), the cost of the new boat is 4378 taels of silver; the cost of the Chinese rice boat is 3620 taels.As for the big boat that Fukang'an used before, the cost was 1115 taels.

At that time, Yong Yan handed over the cost list of the English gunboat to the Ministry of Industry for calculation. A group of officials worked hard for four or five days before reporting that considering the need for overseas procurement of wood and the number of artillery pieces, the total price on the quotation list The cost is still less.

When Yong Yan and He Shen heard this, their hearts skipped a beat. Why do they even have to go overseas to buy wood?What happened to the cost of artillery?

The minister of the Ministry of Industry is a Mongolian, he is quite honest, and he is a person who works hard.He said a few points, meaning that it is not because the slaves do not work hard, it is really impossible, impossible!

The first is the keel used by the English warships, which are all solid hardwoods, and the joints are fixed with large copper nails.

However, because of the "shipbuilding competition" between the Qing Dynasty and the Zheng family of Taiwan, the resources of giant trees in the southeast were exhausted.At present, if you want to buy large-scale timber, you only have the mountains in the southwest and the northeast.However, considering the transportation conditions, it is more cost-effective to purchase in Siam.

It is said that the Zheng family used the abundant materials and profits obtained from the maritime trade to purchase timber in Fujian and Zhejiang to build ships.Since the 18th year of Kangxi, the vigorous shipbuilding competition has reached its climax. The Fuzhou shipyard of the Qing court built [-] large ships in one place, Chaozhou built [-] ships, and Zhejiang built another [-] ships.Under such circumstances, after the Qing government announced the "Maritime Expansion Order", shipbuilding materials were in short supply, and ship prices rose year by year.

The second is the issue of artillery.At present, among the rice boats of the Guangdong Navy, the largest tonnage is only more than 2000 catties, and it is equipped with eight guns; the gun positions are all set on the deck, and there is no place for the artillery to hide.Not to mention the big rush, at most there are two guns on the bow.

而一艘英吉利三级战列舰拥有两层炮甲板，火炮64~80门，其中包括26门24磅炮，26门12磅炮，12门6磅炮。即便是六百吨的战船也是两层炮甲板，火炮26~54门。

At present, even if the whole country's Wucheng Yonggu General Cannon (3600-7000 catties, 27-pound gun) is added together, it is enough to build two ships.

The third thing. The third Mongolian servant didn't dare to say it. If he said this, he would lose his head. He made up his mind to rot in his stomach.That is the 40-year sea ban from Shunzhi to Kangxi, which made the shipbuilding technology of coastal shipyards extremely backward. Even if silver, wood, and artillery were enough, they would never be able to build them!
Moreover, with such a large sum of money for the project, I don't know how many people worked on it during the construction period.Not to mention others, just the one in front of him, He Zhongtang, is going to grab a big chunk of it.

So Yong Yan and He Shen got stuck
He Shen said to Yong Yan at the time: "Fifth Lord, the money is easy to talk about, and the time alone is too late. Let alone buying wood, the time for casting cannons is not rushed. It takes a lot of time from the start of construction to the launch of the water." Seven months! And the servant heard that the operation method of this English gunboat is completely different from that of my Daqingshui Division warship. It is covered with soft sails. A boat needs at least several hundred sailors and gunners. Training these people to cooperate with skilled and It will take at least one or two years. Hurry up!"

The other bachelors in the Military Aircraft Department also rolled their eyes.It's not that we don't cooperate, we really don't understand this!In desperation, Yong Yan had no choice but to report to Qianlong for instructions.

Qianlong was taken aback by the cost when he first heard it.But then he figured it out, this time it wasn't to wipe out the Oros people, but to make them "not only fear the might of the heavenly soldiers, but also obey the morality of the heavenly dynasty." The goal was achieved by driving them away.

Besides, what are the third-level, first-level, two-level, and third-level, it's just the Westerners' strange skills and ingenuity.I have millions of troops on land in the Qing Dynasty. No matter how powerful the battleship is, can it still sail to land?

After clarifying this idea, Qianlong issued an edict to Agui and Fukang'an who had just arrived in Ula, Jilin.It said that the British gunboats were expensive, and it was unnecessary to build barbarians.However, you are allowed to build more artillery and troop carriers in Jilin to make up for the lack of firepower at sea.

Agui and Fukang'an, who received the imperial decree, saw that the warship could not be built, so they could only revise their marching strategy.

The original plan of the two of them was to assemble the sea fleet in the Niuzhuang area, and cooperate with the land army to wipe out the enemies at the mouth of the Xila River in June and July.

Now that the sea has moved (RUA), we can only build more artillery and strengthen land power.First, the army was transported from Ula City, Jilin Province to Ningguta via the Songhua River waterway, and then stationed in Fuldan City eastward from Ningguta.Afterwards, the army started from Fuldan City and divided into two groups, attacking eastward from the Fuljaha River all the way, crossing the Sihet Mountains all the way, attacking southward, and must drive the "Eros" out of the country.

Looking at it this way, 5000 people is still not enough.Fukang'an was Han Xin's order of troops, and the more the better, he sent three memorials to Qianlong in April, asking for another [-] to [-] soldiers.

And Ah Gui is an old military officer. He went to Jinchuan to work under Zhang Guangsi's tent since the 13th year of Qianlong's reign. He is very familiar with the affairs on the battlefield.Now the roads are icy and snowy, which is good for traffic.He decided to take a two-pronged approach. One is to send envoys to the mouth of the Xila River with that Anthony as a cover to persuade the Hubei people to leave on their own, so as to paralyze the enemy; The scouts scouted the mountains and rivers along the road and prepared for the army's eastward and southward advances.

At the beginning of May, as dozens of laborers headed by Shu Haili joined the demolition and reconstruction army of Fuldan City, Fuldan City was finally occupied by Beihai Town without bloodshed.

Because of the cold weather and Zhao Xin's special instructions, migrant workers and soldiers usually wear cotton hats when they go out.So those people like Shu Haili didn't notice that the people in Beihai Town didn't have braids on their heads.

By mid-May, the city of Fuldan, which had completed the demolition work, took on a completely new look.The original east and west gates of the fort were enlarged to accommodate four carriages passing side by side; the two small north and south gates were also enlarged to accommodate two carriages in parallel.The inner and outer walls of the castle were reinforced with wooden piles, and the top of the uneven fortress walls were also leveled.

Inside the castle, several huge wooden structures rose from the ground. The construction platform for laying the outer walls and roofs has been erected, and the workers are painting fire paint on the wooden structures; after that, the colored steel walls and roofs will be laid .This will be used as a warehouse for combat readiness materials to store food, feed, medical supplies and other materials.

Liu Siting's medical station has been built, and the three large woodcut rooms will be used as operating rooms, and the surrounding area will be tents for wounded soldiers.

The other woodcut suite will be used as the logistics headquarters, and Chen Qingsong will be here to direct the logistics.

The old city of Juergen, two kilometers west of the city of Fuldan, has begun to dig trench defenses.The entire defensive position is laid out from northwest to southeast, divided into two sections, with a total length of three kilometers.

Digging trenches is a very learned thing.First of all, the selection of the position must meet three conditions: the first is that the soil is not poured, and it is relatively soft, so that it is convenient for soldiers to dig and transform; second, the water level should be low, so that there will be no water when digging deep.Once there is water, in addition to affecting the defense line, it will also affect the morale of the soldiers; the last one is that there should not be too many rocks. In addition to being conducive to digging, when the enemy shells, if these rocks are blown, the gravel will become into lethal weapons.

The area around the Old City of Jurgen belongs to the Sanjiang Plain, where the soil is very soft and there are almost no rocks.However, because there are many swamps nearby and the soil water content is very high, a large amount of water often seeps out during excavator construction.At this time, it is necessary to arrange for pumping and laying anti-seepage materials.

Zhao Xin was completely a stickler for the construction of fortifications. He could only dig trenches based on the information at hand and the height of the soldiers in Beihai Town.The depth of all defense lines and traffic trenches is 1.8 meters, the upper width is [-] centimeters, and the lower width is [-] centimeters.Shooting platforms are dug out every [-] centimeters on the trenches for use by riflemen and machine gunners.The firepower of the machine gun is divided into two layers, one is to go out on the flanks, and the other is to be on the flanks of the first-line trenches.

In addition, he also set up ten "ZU-23" flat firing positions on the flanks of the two fortifications.Thick dirt walls will be built around the preset anti-aircraft gun positions.

In the middle area between the old city of Juergen and the city of Fuldan, there is an artillery position composed of five D30s.This thing Zhao Xin can only copy the deployment method of the German army during World War II.

The diameter of each artillery firing position is 10 meters, and in the middle is a circular launching platform with a pit depth of 0.5 meters and a diameter of about 6.4 meters; the ground and pit walls of the platform are laid with logs.A 0.5-meter-high protective wall is surrounded by three layers of logs around the launch pad, and the outside of the wooden wall is reinforced with soil.

There are two shell storage points, one is the shell storage point in the front pit of the artillery, and the other is the shell storage point in the V-shaped pit on the rear wall of the firing position.The corner pit is to prevent being hit by enemy artillery and weaken the damage caused by the explosion of ammunition.Directly behind the artillery position is a sloped passage for the artillery to enter and exit.Each artillery position will be connected by the traffic trench at the rear. After the artillery is stationed, a company will be arranged here to defend against the enemy's sneak attack.

On May [-]th, Liu Sheng ordered Serdan and Erlu to lead a reconnaissance team each.Carry out reconnaissance along the two sides of the post road to the front line of Hunchun, and eliminate or drive away the Qing soldiers at Karen outposts along the way.

After Zhao Xin set off in Seldan, he immediately returned to Beihai Town through the jade pendant.He ordered Deng Fei to go to Yezo and lead the two companies of Pan Xiucheng and Li Ji and the Shachuan people to attack Songqian City; A team of 3000 migrant workers followed Wang Yuanfang and the others to the north.The worthless Wu Siyu asked to stay and be stationed in Beihai Town.

(End of this chapter)