Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 982 Preparations before going to Britain (three more)
"You return to Xiamen City with this letter from home, and bring my mother to the capital, and we will settle in the capital from now on." Li Jinde handed a letter from home to an apprentice.

"I will bring the old lady here safely!" After receiving Li Jinde's order, the apprentice went to Tianjin Wei Wharf.

"I didn't expect that I, Li Jinde, would stay here when I came to the capital." Li Jinde had the idea of ​​settling down in the capital after helping Chu Yun.

Xiamen City is too far from here, if Chu Yun has anything to ask him, he would have to come all the way by sailing boat from Xiamen City.

"Is Aunt Li coming?" Selina became Li Jinde's wife, her complexion was rosy, and it was obvious that this period of time was going well.

"Afraid to get along with mother-in-law?" Li Jinde asked.

"Of course not. Aunt Li taught me chopsticks, changed my clothes, and combed my hair. I was just afraid that she would not accept me. After all, I might not be the kind of wife she wanted." Selina said in her tone I'm a little worried.

"As long as we have a baby soon, my mother won't say anything. What she wants most is to hold a grandson. For this goal, we need to work harder." Li Jinde said.

"I didn't know you were so bad before..." Selina whispered.

"There are three ways to be unfilial, and having no offspring is the greatest. The construction of the country needs someone to add bricks and tiles. I am responding to the call of the military leader and trying to have children." Li Jinde said.

While the two of Li Jinde were chatting at the door, an employee from a Western company came over.

"Master Li, the shipyard in Dalian has already accepted the company's galleon order. This is the design drawing of an armed merchant ship they gave. There are two models in total. One model has six cannons, and the other model has six guns. Ten cannons, all of which are 12-pound front-loading smoothbore guns, with long and short cannons, have certain self-protection capabilities. In addition, according to the decision of 14 directors arranged by the government, Western companies invested in the construction of a warship as a Pilot the ship, and enjoy the free escort right of the warship for ten years." The employee handed over the brief drawing sent by the shipyard to Li Jinde.

These are simple drawings of two types of armed merchant ships, and the drawings of "experimental level" steam ironclad ships will not be handed over to him.

"Armed merchant ships... and warships..." Li Jinde looked at the two proposals submitted by the shipyard. Basically, the size of an armed merchant ship is directly proportional to the cost.

"In order to load as much cargo as possible, it is impossible for an armed merchant ship to have several decks like a battleship, with artillery installed on each deck." The employee conveyed the meaning of the shipyard.

"Since it is the government's intention to invest in the construction of military ships, let's do it this way. With a military ship leading our armed merchant fleet, we will be more deterrent to pirates." Li Jinde knows that the government has absolute control over Western companies If the 14 directors sent by the government unanimously decide to do something, the other 10 directors cannot veto it at all.

He also didn't know that this warship built with the funds of a western company was not a sailing battleship in the traditional sense, but the most advanced steam iron armored warship of this era, or a new type of warship coveted by the Ministry of the Navy.

Most of the one million taels of silver raised by Western companies was used to hire employees and build ships.And a considerable part of the funds for building ships was spent on "experimental" steam iron-hulled ships.

The vast majority of people who have invested in Western companies do not know that the purpose of the establishment of Western companies is to develop new warships for the Navy.At the same time, the growth of the navy is also conducive to opening up the sea lanes to the west to a certain extent.With this steam warship leading a group of armed merchant ships to sea, even the navies of many countries dare not come out to challenge.

"It's a pity that the warship we invested in will not be launched until next year. I don't know what kind of warship it is, but the shipyard actually proposed a three-year construction date. Dalian's shipyard is the best and most mature shipyard, especially in shipbuilding. Factory One, the steamships Yongchang and Dongfang are their masterpieces, and it will take three years to build a military warship..." Li Jinde regrets that this ship, which was invested and built by a Western company, will not be available for next year's voyage warship.

The first shipyard, the steamship, and the three-year manufacturing period, Li Jinde seems to have grasped some important points.The No. 14 Shipbuilding Factory has become a famous "steam iron-hull ship" factory because of the construction of two steam ships, the Yongchang and Dongfang. The [-] directors sent by the government unanimously commissioned the No. [-] Shipbuilding Factory to build a warship. Could it be that this warship Or a steamship?
Thinking of this, Li Jinde felt that it was not impossible. Even the steamship Dongfang with a displacement of [-] tons was built, so is it difficult to load cannons on the steamship?
"You're going to Britain next year. Can you take me back then? I didn't say goodbye to my father, Sir Greenville, when he left the capital, and he couldn't attend our wedding either." Selina begged.

"Of course there is no problem. I will lead the fleet to the city of London this time. In addition to selling goods, I also need to establish factories and warehouses in the local area as our permanent business station. We will come back when the time comes. Your family also has Who else?" Li Jinde asked.

"Besides my parents, there is only my daughter in our family, and there is no one else." Sarina replied.

"Only you?" Li Jinde exclaimed in his heart. No wonder Sir Greenville has always been hostile to him. There is only one child in their family, and he left him in the east.

"Hey, our family is a hereditary nobleman, and I will be able to inherit my father's land in the future. Many knights proposed to me for the land." Selina said a little proudly.

"It turns out that you are still a small landlord. Tell me about the customs and customs there, so that I won't make a joke when I go to Britain to do business next year." Li Jinde happened to have a European contact by his side, and he understood why Chu Yun supported their couple. .

"In addition to the royal family, we have various nobles. Except for the relatively powerful nobles, there are squires in every village. They own land, hire servants, and have great autonomy. They enclose the land and raise sheep. They made huge profits by providing wool. They formed upstarts with some factory owners and big businessmen in the city, and even had a large number of their representatives in the parliament. But they had irreconcilable conflicts with His Majesty the King, which caused His Majesty to often dissolve the Parliament ..."

(End of this chapter)