Ming Zuo

Chapter 744 Secret Layout
As a hero, seeing the situation in Qingdao Port, Zheng Zhilong naturally wanted to see what happened.

For several consecutive days, Zheng Zhilong shuttled around the port, and even boarded a warship of the Shandong Navy to experience it for himself.

What shocked him the most here were the warships that were slowly taking shape.

Because these warships are all steamships.

Having dealt with Westerners many times, Zheng Zhilong has long been envious of Westerners' warships.

Although when talking to his own people, he boasted countless times, saying that the boat in his hand was enough to compete with the Westerners.

But the battlefield cannot be fooled.

In the Luowan naval battle, Zheng Zhilong took advantage of the right time, place and people. Although he won the victory in the end, he paid several times the price of the Dutch.

If there were even five Tier [-] battleships in his hands, the Dutch probably would have wiped out their entire army.

"Brother, this Zuo Menggeng doesn't want to fight for the world, but he has always had other ideas about the sea. What does he want to do?"

Following Zheng Zhilong to see a lot inside and out, Zheng Zhibao was really terrified.

Zheng Zhilong frowned tightly, and the turmoil in his heart was overwhelming.

He can already imagine how terrifying it will be when the Shandong Navy's fleet takes shape in the future.

But under such a powerful navy in Shandong, who was the first to encounter its soldiers?

Obviously, it must be Zheng Zhilong.

After thinking about it, Zheng Zhilong decided to try it out.

"Brother Zuo, I didn't expect you to be able to obtain shipbuilding skills from Westerners. To tell you the truth, my younger brother tried many times, but these Westerners were treacherous and guarded against death, so that the success fell short. We are friends, I wonder if we can help younger brother A favor?"

While speaking, Zheng Zhilong kept staring at Zuo Menggeng.Any slight fluctuation in expression will be locked by him.

Zuo Menggeng was very indifferent.

"Does the official want a Western warship?"

Zheng Zhilong has also seen countless big scenes, but he was stunned by this sentence and his heart skipped a beat.

"Brother Zuo, would you like to help me?"

Zuo Menggeng pondered for a while.

"The first official has also seen it. This is the first time I have built such a western warship in Shandong. To be honest, I have no idea whether it will be successful or not. But since the first official has spoken, I will definitely give it to you anyway. How about this? Wait? After the construction of this batch of warships is completed, one of each batch of warships in the future will be sold to the Zheng family."

Zheng Zhilong couldn't help being stunned.

He never expected Zuo Menggeng to agree so happily.

Although there is only one ship per construction period, this is the only way Zheng Zhilong can get the Galen warship.

He asked himself, in his own words, Zuo Menggeng came to ask for help, but he might not agree.

Because of Zuo Menggeng's pleasure, Zheng Zhilong's wariness quickly dissipated.

He didn't know that his actions had aroused the vigilance of Shandong.

Zuo Menggeng called a meeting and put forward his own ideas.

"In the future, Zheng's people will definitely come and go to Shandong frequently. How many warships we have, we can't hide it from Zheng's eyes. If there is a conflict in the future, it will definitely be against us."

As for building a ship for the Zheng family, Zuo Menggeng actually didn't care whether he would threaten himself.

In sea warfare, the quality of the ship is of course important, but the key still depends on the artillery.

Shandong only agreed to build ships for Zheng, but would not provide the most advanced artillery.

Zheng can use the best weapon, but it is only a bronze cannon.When encountering the breech-loading guns and explosive bombs of the Shandong Navy, there must be no wins.

The only thing to discuss now is how to avoid Zheng's eyes and ears and continuously strengthen his own strength.

This time Huang Zongxi provided a new idea.

His finger is on the position of Sakhalin Island.

"We still have a stronghold in the extreme north, which is far away from Daming. Not to mention the Zheng family, no one in the world can spy on it. Moreover, the timber we build the ship is also transported from the extreme north. In this case, we It is absolutely possible to open up a new shipbuilding site here.”

As soon as this remark came out, everyone was in admiration.

It was rare for Liu Yiyuan to agree with Huang Zongxi.

"Zheng's trip to Shandong, although he can spy on how many ships we have built here, he never thought that we would have a force in other places. Once there is a dispute in the future, this hidden force will definitely give Zheng Zhilong a sky. Big surprise."

Everyone agrees, and the resolution is formed immediately.

It just so happened that Zhang Keda was about to lead his troops to set off again to North Korea, Dongying and Sakhalin Island.

This time the fleet was unprecedentedly large, with more than [-] ships.

Among them, more than [-] shipbuilding craftsmen were carried, as well as various important materials such as cement and lathes.

In order to establish a new shipyard in Sakhalin, there must be a thorough development there.

Therefore, there will be a large number of immigrants in the future.

Before leaving, Zuo Menggeng asked Zhang Keda to send a message to everyone in Sakhalin Island.

"Tell Wu Jiang, Liang Fa and others, don't just think about defending isolated islands, but must actively open up to the outside world. Whether it is Nuer Gandusi or the northern seas, you can explore. Any new discovery is a new discovery. kind of fruit."

Zuo Menggeng knew that now is the period when the Tsarist Russian Empire is actively expanding eastward, and the vast Siberia is constantly falling under the iron heel of Tsarist Russia.

There are so many magnificent, beautiful and resource-rich lands, if you don't occupy them at this time, you will be sorry for future generations.

If Tsarist Russia can expand eastward, it can expand westward and northward.

You have to meet the Cossacks head-on and compete for the ownership of these lands.

If Shandong natives were to do this, there would definitely be widespread opposition.

This has nothing to do with everyone's vision, it is only linked to cost.

Using Shandong's local strength to develop these remote and wild lands, the gains and losses are completely out of proportion.

But Sakhalin is different.

This is a non-land in Shandong, no matter what you do, it will not have much impact on the mainland.

Besides, the Cossacks expanding eastward were nothing but stragglers.Even if it happens, it may not be the opponent of Sakhalin Island.

Shandong is too far away to deploy troops for support.

Tsarist Russia is even more distant, and there will be no reinforcements.

Therefore, in the vast land of Siberia, it is completely possible to fight with the Cossacks among skirmishers.

Zhang Keda kept his words firmly in mind, and led his army to set off.

Hundreds of large and small ships left the port one after another, and Zheng Zhilong and Anthony Van Diemen were both shocked by the spectacular scene.

In this era, neither Zheng Zhilong nor the Dutch can make so many ships in one go.

"Brother Zuo, I don't know where these warships will go? According to my younger brother, they are powerful enough to destroy the country."

Zuo Menggeng slapped a haha, and found the reason by the way.

"Nowadays there are continuous natural disasters and food shortages, and eating has become a big problem. Fortunately, there is marine fishing to supplement, so that Shandong does not have the tragedy of starvation. Most of these boats are fishing boats, and they have to go to the deep sea for fishing. Let's go , Zuo will take everyone to taste a different kind of seafood."

That night, Zuo Menggeng arranged a grand seafood dinner.

Seeing novel seafood such as king crab and salmon, Zheng Zhilong's suspicion was dispelled again.

(End of this chapter)