I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 136: Shandong Governor Zhang Juzheng

"No problem!" Lu Xiang replied cheerfully, "At the end of the 41st year of Jiajing, Wusong Shipyard, under the secret order of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, began to imitate the Portuguese sea vessels, um, called the Carrick sailboats.

Six 4,000-ton carrickshaws were copied, carrying a dozen veteran shipwrights and more than twenty veteran captains. They sailed from south to north and from north to south for a while, with some good reviews and some bad.

Later, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince gave another blueprint of something called a galleon, saying it was an improvement on the carrick, but everyone called it the Prince's Galleon.

Wusong Shipyard imitated two 6,000-ton sailing ships and set sail as usual. This time, most of the shipbuilders and captains said that this ship was the most suitable for ocean voyages and could easily sail from Guangzhou to Hirado Port in East Japan.

After sailing on the prince's sailboat for a while, the military officers who were good at naval warfare said that this ship was tall, had a solid keel, and had a lot of experience in shipbuilding. It could be built with more than 10,000 tons of material and could be loaded with dozens of heavy guns weighing 24 or 32 kilograms. "

Xue Yi, Chen Keyan and others listened with great interest.

"After discussion among the old shipwrights, the old captains, and the military attachés and old sailors, they finally agreed that the Carrick sailboat was useless. It had advantages, but they were obviously not as good as the prince's sailboat. The prince's sailboat, equipped with heavy artillery, was a national treasure with the power to destroy a country and a city. Using it to suppress the thieves in the sea was a bit of a waste of talent.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty's seas, from the North Sea to the East Sea and then to the South Sea, had complex hydrology and changeable wind direction, which made it difficult for the prince's sailing ship to use. Therefore, the shipwrights of the Wusong Shipyard absorbed the advantages of the prince's sailing ship, the Carrick sailing ship, the Guang ship and the Fu ship, and built this new ship, called the Wusong ship.

Three or two masts, with a hard sail for the main sail, a diagonal mast at the bow, and a triangular sail. It is easy to operate, can sail against the wind, and the triangular sail can be set up when the wind is down to increase the speed.

It adopts the keel and rib structure of the prince's sailing ship, with dense ribs and side plates inside and outside.

The main cabin uses the watertight compartments of Fuzhou. The hull is slender, and the bow is sharp like a prince's sailing ship. The bottom of the ship is rounded to resist wind and waves. The stern structure is the same as that of Fuzhou. The rudder is the rudder frame of the prince's sailing ship, with holes to increase the speed of the ship. Two-masted ships use rudder poles, and three-masted ships or ships with more than 5,000 tons use steering wheels.
Wusong ships are generally of four types: two-masted 4,000-ton ships, three-masted 5,000-ton ships, 6,000-ton ships and 8,000-ton ships. Two-masted 4,000-ton ships can sail smoothly on the waters of the West River of the Pearl River. Three-masted 5,000-ton and 6,000-ton ships can enter the Yangtze River and sail upstream to Nanjing.
Due to these advantages, all the major sea merchants placed orders to build Wusong ships. However, according to the new regulations of the Ming Dynasty, the construction of this kind of sea ship must be reported to the Maritime Customs Bureau and obtain a blue-printed pledge paper. Therefore, this Wusong ship is also called a blue-printed ship.

At present, the Wusong Shipyard in the Ming Dynasty can build 300 Wusong ships a year. Ningbo Shipyard can build more than 180 ships a year. Quanzhou Shipyard can build more than 100 ships a year. Guangzhou Shipyard can build more than 200 ships a year.

Now Dagu and Leting shipyards have also started to build Wusong ships, but the output is not large at the moment.”

Xue Yi suddenly asked, "Where is the prince's sailboat?"

"The prince's sailboat is a national treasure. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has issued an order to gather skilled craftsmen from Ningbo, Quanzhou, Guangzhou and other places to the new shipyards in Wusong and Kaiping Leting. Now, the only two shipyards that can build the prince's sailboat are Wusong and Leting.

I heard that the Navy Bureau is planning to build a new naval port and shipyard in Jinzhou, but it’s too desolate over there, so it’s just a plan for now.”

"I see."

Everyone looked at the busy Weihai Port and the sea and sky in the distance, and their hearts were filled with emotion.

They had a vague premonition that, under the leadership of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the Ming Dynasty was turning its gaze to the east and south, and to places further away, and that they might be the first people in the Ming Dynasty to look further out to sea.

Early the next morning, the East Japanese waters survey and mapping fleet set sail from Weihaiwei Port and quickly blended into the sea and sky under the shining sun.

Zhang Juzheng, Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Right Vice-Censor-in-Chief, and Governor of Shandong, sat in an eight-person sedan chair, frowning as he looked at the document in his hands, his thoughts wandering.

Taking a boat is not a good thing.

Zhang Juzheng was so overwhelmed and dizzy that he rested for a day in Dengzhou before he came to his senses.

He knew the hardships of sailing across the sea, but he insisted on taking the unprecedented opportunity to take a sea cruise to take office as governor, shocking the court and the public. He actually had a purpose.

After a deep conversation with his teacher Xu Jie, he knew where his trump card lay.

If he wants to realize his ambition and revive the Ming Dynasty, he must be closely bound to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

On the side of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, there is Gao Gong, so he cannot rely on him. He can only advance and retreat together with the Crown Prince to succeed in governance.

Zhang Juzheng was appointed governor of Shandong because he wanted to help Zhu Yijun solve the long-standing problems in the nine borders, which even gave Hu Zongxian a headache and which had always been helpless for him.

After being a "teacher and student" for several years, Zhang Juzheng knew that Zhu Yijun was not so easy to fool. If you want to be valued by him, you must first prove your worth - can you fight a war or manage government?
In addition to Ma Zheng, Zhang Juzheng had another more important purpose for sailing across the sea to take up the post.

As Zhu Yijun's teacher and lecturer, he knew that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince now attached great importance to sea transportation.

Zhang Juzheng also thought about it privately and found that Zhu Yijun's secret development of maritime transportation actually had profound significance.

The two thousand miles of canal transport was the lifeline of the northern Ming Dynasty.

It is complicated and firmly controlled by the civil servants.

This means that the lifeline of the capital and the nine border areas is controlled by the civil servants.

If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince secretly develops maritime transportation, he can quietly get rid of his dependence on grain transport and get rid of the constraints of civil servants.

He advanced one step at a time, first to the food and wages of the new army camp, then to the food and wages of the Four Guards Camp and the Warriors Camp, and then to the food and wages of the two towns of Jizhou and Liaodong, and he moved forward step by step.

Once most of the food and salaries for the capital and the nine border areas are borne by sea transportation, it will be impossible for civil servants to threaten the central government by causing trouble through the grain transport.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was secretly planning things in this way, taking one step at a time, quietly gaining more power every day. By the time the civil officials realized what was happening, the power in His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's hands was enough for him to change the situation dramatically and carry out reforms and eliminate abuses.

Zhang Juzheng lifted the curtain and looked at the scenery on both sides of the Dengzhou official road.

The continuous fields, sparse houses, bare hilltops and clusters of woods seem a bit desolate.

The glorious Ming Dynasty is plagued by numerous diseases. If no treatment is provided, it will be terminally ill and will be doomed!
I was worried, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was also worried.

It is precisely because of the shared concern for the country and the people that the Crown Prince's Party is closely united and that he and the Crown Prince are getting closer and closer.

Sea shipping!

A brilliant move indeed!
Shandong is located in a key position for sea transportation.

The success of sea transportation depends on the cooperation of Shandong local government.

The construction of Weihaiwei military port, the construction of Dengzhou and Jiaozhou civilian ports, and the establishment of coastal lighthouses are all keys to the success of maritime transportation.

All of these require the strong support of the Shandong local government, which is also one of his important responsibilities as Governor of Shandong.

Fortunately, except for a few people like Taisun and Mr. Wenchang, most people believed that they came to Shandong for Ma Zheng.

Even his teacher Xu Jie didn't know that he also had to improve coastal defense and inspect Jiaozhou, Weihai, Dengzhou and other places.

Zhang Juzheng had already made up his mind that he could inherit his teacher's mantle and take over his network of contacts and make good use of them, but he would never become the leader of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Party.

That position will get struck by lightning!

"Master!" Zhang Lan, the personal attendant, reported from outside the sedan window, "Laizhou prefect Ding Wu and Denglai military deputy envoy Liang Chuyong are waiting for you and your party at the Wangxuzhai post station ahead."

Zhang Juzheng opened the curtains, looked at the sky, and ordered: "It's getting late. Send down the order to rest at Wangxuzhai Posthouse today. After settling in, invite Governor Ding and Deputy Envoy Liang to dinner together."

"Yes."

(End of this chapter)