Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 457 Keeping the lead
Wang Zheng was really taken aback by the number of ships Taichang said.

If you don't make it, then it's crazy to make it!

This shipyard will build hundreds of large fishing boats and four to five hundred armed merchant ships a year, which has exceeded the number of ships built by the two shipyards in Wubei City.

You must know that these large fishing boats and armed merchant ships are huge ships with two thousand materials. Although the construction is not very difficult, the manpower required is not ordinary.

Where will he go to gather so many skilled craftsmen at this hour and a half?
You know, at this moment, almost all the artisan households in all parts of Daming have been recruited. It can be said that most of the artisan households have already had jobs.

After all, Daming is not just about building ships, all kinds of things need to be made by craftsmen.

There are already more than [-] super factories in Wubei City, and almost all the artisans of Ming Dynasty have been mobilized there!
Wang Zheng frowned and pondered for a while, then said helplessly: "Your Majesty, this shipyard is big enough, but it may be very difficult to build hundreds of large fishing boats and four to five hundred armed merchant ships a year, because we don't have We can’t recruit so many artisans!”

Taichang didn't think about this question.

Craftsmen are needed for shipbuilding. What if there are not enough craftsmen?

He couldn't help but frown in thought.

Originally, he thought that Daming's hundreds of thousands of craftsmen and two million skilled workers were too many, but now that he thought about it, it was far from enough.

To put it bluntly, there are more than [-] large factories with tens of thousands of people in Wubei City.

This kind of big factory sounds a bit scary in this era, but it is nothing in later generations.

Can the products produced by more than [-] large factories with tens of thousands of people meet the needs of the entire Ming Dynasty and even the entire world?

This is obviously impossible.

That is to say, with the continuous expansion of Daming and the continuous development of the business of Daming Western Firms, the craftsmen in Daming can no longer meet the production needs, and ordinary young adults must be called to work.

Thinking of this, Taichang said decisively: "Let's do this, let's recruit more ordinary young men, whether they are military households or peasant households, as long as they are young and strong with a flexible mind, they can be recruited to work, so let them do the simplest physical work first. , let the craftsmen take them to do it, no problem, right?"

Of course, there is nothing wrong with doing physical work.

After all, shipbuilding is not all technical work, there are also many physical work, such as moving wood, transporting materials, lifting steam engines, boilers, water wheels, armor, etc., are basically physical work, as long as you have the strength and brain. .

The question is, don't steam engines, ships, and machine tools all need to be kept secret?

Can such a random recruitment be kept secret?
Wang Zheng thought for a while, and then said carefully: "Your Majesty, if you recruit people indiscriminately, many things may not be kept secret. After all, if you want to come up with something or do it, you just need a few words to point it out. No one can guarantee that these people will not talk nonsense outside!"

Taichang has been thinking about this issue these days.

There is no need to be too deliberate about keeping secrets. The most important thing is to always maintain a leading edge.

He nodded slightly and said: "Well, doing so may indeed leak some things.

You don't have to be too deliberate about this. If you can keep it a secret, try to keep it a secret, but we can't be tied up for the sake of keeping it secret. We still have to do what we should do.

For example, shipbuilding.

Are our shipbuilding skills poor?

of course not.

Now our shipbuilding technology is much stronger than that of European countries.

Why can the Dutch build five or six hundred ocean-going ships a year, but we can't?

This is because we pay too much attention to secrecy.

Actually it is not necessary.

The most important thing is that we maintain the leading edge in the number of warships and the performance of warships.

It would be absurd if optical technology is better than others, but no one is better at making things. "

Well, it turns out that the emperor has changed his mind.

This can be easily done without too much deliberate secrecy. Naturally, that person can recruit as many as he wants.

The question is, what does it mean to maintain an advantage in battleship performance?

This Wang Zheng really didn't understand.

He thought for a while, and then asked: "Your Majesty, my humble minister is dull, what do you mean by maintaining the leading position in the performance of warships?"

Taichang has also considered this issue.

He introduced in detail: "To put it bluntly, our warships are always better than others.

For example, the Aegis ship. It seems that European countries have not yet built iron-clad warships. However, it does not mean that they will not build them.

I saw it when I first conquered Japan, and the people of Japan can actually build iron-clad warships, but the ones they built are not as big as ours and not as good as ours.

This is the leading edge in battleship performance.

Ironclad warships will be built sooner or later by European countries, so how can we maintain the leading edge in the performance of this warship?
There are plenty of leads we can maintain.

For example, build the ship into a larger area, or increase the speed of the ship, or increase the thickness of the armor, or increase the number of artillery, etc.

The ironclad warships built by the Japanese people were not as big as ours, but now European countries can generally build large ships of [-] materials. Therefore, if we want to maintain this large advantage, we have to build larger ships.

There seem to be many kinds of Zheng He's treasure ships, and there should be more than [-] materials, right? "

That's what it means.

Hearing this, Wang Zheng nodded slowly and said: "There are indeed many kinds of Zheng He's treasure ships, and there are also those with more than two thousand materials.

Among them is a kind of five thousand materials. This kind of giant ship is about 22 feet long, five feet wide, and two feet deep.

However, it seems that only one of this kind of giant ship was built, which is the flagship of Zheng He's fleet.

There is another kind that is tens of thousands of materials. This kind of giant ship is 44 Zhang Xu in length, [-] Zhang Xu in width, and [-] Zhang Xu in depth.

Originally, this kind of giant ship was intended to be built for Chengzu to ride, but it seems that it was not built.

Because many officials of the Ministry of Industry found that there were too many problems with this kind of boat. For example, the boat was too big, no matter how big the sails were, it could not be carried, and the boat was too heavy, and the keel was not strong enough.

Therefore, the construction of this kind of giant ship stopped. "

These are no longer a problem now, as long as there is a larger Zheng He treasure ship as a reference.

Taichang nodded slightly and said: "Well, you can try to make five thousand materials first, since this kind has been made before, and Zheng He has also sat down to the west, it proves that there is no problem.

As for tens of thousands of materials, you can think about it.

It's not a problem now that the sail can't move it, the steam engine can definitely move it.

Also, the strength of the keel is not enough, you can consider using the new steel with the best toughness as the keel.

There is no rush to build this one, we can build an iron-clad battleship with [-] materials first.

If you have tens of thousands of materials, you can think about it and rebuild it. "

Hearing this, Wang Zheng couldn't help cupping his hands with great interest and said, "I understand."

Taichang then solemnly said: "The most important thing is the speed of the ship. You can think about filling the bottom of the warship with [-] materials with steam water wheels to see how fast it can go.

At this moment, Daming's sea area is getting wider and wider, and the speed of the ship is too important.

If the speed of the ship can be doubled, it will only take more than ten days for us to go back and forth to Nanyang.

Think about how much time you can save in the middle. "

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng cupped his hands without hesitation and said, "I understand."

Taichang then reckoned: "As for the thickness of the armor and the number of cannons, a warship with [-] materials must be more than twice as important as a battleship with [-] materials, and its shape is not much larger. Try double the thickness.

As far as the number of artillery is concerned, there is no need to deliberately double it. It still depends on the size of the battleship, as many cannons can be installed as many hatches can be opened.

Anyway, this five-thousand-material iron-clad battleship is already terrifying enough for the current European countries, as long as we always maintain the leading edge. "

Hearing this, Wang Zheng cupped his hands impatiently and said, "I understand."

With his posture, I am afraid that he is thinking about developing an iron-clad battleship with five thousand materials.

Seeing this, Taichang couldn't help but shook his head and smiled wryly: "Liangfu, don't be in a hurry to build an iron-clad warship with [-] materials. Let's build this shipyard first. After all, the lead in quantity is also a great advantage. Now our ocean-going There are not as many ships as others in the Netherlands, and this shortcoming must be made up quickly."

Well, then build the shipyard first, and catch up with the speed of shipbuilding first.

This is actually not difficult, as long as there are enough people.

Wang Zheng cupped his hands helplessly and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry, this shipyard will be built very quickly. As long as there are enough people, there is no problem in building hundreds of large fishing boats and four to five hundred armed merchant ships a year."

(End of this chapter)