I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 152: The Prince's Galleon That Destroyed a Country and a City

Zhang Juzheng rushed to Qingdao Water Fort and saw a speedboat cutting through the water and heading towards the dock. On the bow stood an old general in military uniform and a big hat, looking weathered and heroic.

It was Lu Tong.

Lu Tong went to Beijing to report on his work several times, and Zhang Juzheng followed Zhu Yijun and met him twice.

After not seeing him for a year, he seems to be still the same.

The dark face seemed to be as dark as it could get. It was just that way.

The speedboat was docked steadily at the pier. Lu Tong jumped onto the pier with one step, walked forward quickly, clasped his hands and said in a loud voice: "Uncle, we meet again."

"Brother Beishan, yes, I didn't expect to meet you here, what a pleasant surprise."

"Haha, I just happened to be at the Wusong Shipyard, receiving six of the prince's large sailing ships, setting sail northwards to Weihaiwei and stopping in Qingdao. I heard from the pilot boat that Uncle Da was here, so I came ashore to meet Uncle Da."

"Zhang couldn't ask for more!"

Zhang Juzheng and Lu Tong returned to the Shuizhai Posthouse, which was rather simple, consisting of just a few wooden houses with windows on all four sides supported by wooden poles, making the place bright and ventilated.

There was no fine wine or delicious food, so they just ordered some mutton soup and noodles. Lu Tong said something politely and started eating with the bowl in his hand.

Looking at the way Lu Tong was eating, Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but feel a little envious.

Eating like this will give you a good appetite.

Zhang Juzheng had a bad stomach (Note 1) and was particular about light and delicate food.

He finally drank a bowl of millet porridge and ate some vegetables.

After Lu Tong finished eating, he wiped his mouth.

"Is Uncle Da's matter in the west settled?"

"Brother Beishan, are you referring to the Shandong horse administration reform?"

"Yes."

"It's over. But Zhang went to Shandong and found that the local area was full of problems. He abolished the horse policy, the cattle policy, the sheep policy, and the human policy, and I don't know how many more."

Lu Tong waved his hand nonchalantly, "Uncle Da takes the world as his responsibility, has a broad mind, is full of courage and determination, and will not be frightened by these things."

Zhang Juzheng laughed, "Brother Beishan, what you said makes me feel guilty. Yes, although there are many bad policies in the world, we should eliminate them one by one. If we eliminate more, the world will naturally be clear and bright."

Lu Tong nodded approvingly, "Uncle, you have finished your work in the west, and the things in the east are nothing more than coastal defense and shipping. You have seen Qingdao, and the next stop is Weihai. If you are not afraid of wind and waves, I invite you to board the ship and follow my navy to sail through the waves and go straight to Weihai."

"Take a boat to Weihai?"

"Yes, take a look at the magnificent scenery of the vast sea borders of our Ming Dynasty!"

Zhang Juzheng remembered that Zhu Yijun attached great importance to maritime affairs, and his heart moved. He said happily: "Okay! Last time we went straight from Dagu to Dengzhou, although there were some rough waves, but Zhang could withstand it. I am used to it and am not afraid of wind and waves."

"Okay. Uncle, please get ready. Tomorrow morning, we will take a speedboat to the outer harbor, board the prince's large sailing ship, and go straight to Weihai."

The next morning, just as the morning sun jumped out from the sky, Zhang Juzheng and Lu Tong were waiting at the dock.

When dawn came, the two men boarded the ship with their entourage.

The speedboat paddled and hoisted sails, heading for the outer harbor.

After turning a corner of the mountain, Zhang Juzheng's eyes lit up and he couldn't help but open them wide.

Six huge ships were anchored in a row on the vast sea.

They are as tall as city walls and dozens of feet long, like a castle, floating on the sea, bathing in the morning sun, shining with golden light.

"This is the prince's sailboat! It is very different from the boat you saw before." Zhang Juzheng turned his head and asked in surprise.

"Yes, these ships are very different from the Wusong ships you have seen before. Those Wusong ships can build hundreds of them a year. It is very difficult for the prince's sailing ships to build more than a dozen a year." Lu Tong looked at these ships with infatuation in his eyes. "These are the latest 6,000-ton (Note 2) prince's sailing ships built by the Wusong Shipyard. They have two gun decks and 68 large and small guns."

Zhang Juzheng was stunned for a moment, then blurted out, "How many gates?"

"Sixty-eight guns, twenty-eight 24-jin guns, twenty-eight 18-jin guns, and twelve 9-jin guns. Equipped with the latest four-wheeled rope-reset gun carriage, the firing speed has more than doubled, and it is also more accurate.

We will conduct routine naval bombardment training when we pass Chengshanjiao and the green sea. You can watch and see what it means to have thousands of cannons fired at the same time and destroy a country and a city!"

The speedboat sailed near the six princes' large sailing ships, where more than a dozen sand ships were parked, and they were hoisting things onto the large sailing ships.

Leaning on the flagship, Lu Tong's men grabbed the rope net hanging from the side of the ship and climbed up quickly. Zhang Juzheng was embarrassed because he didn't know how to climb.

When he got here, Lu Tong's temperament changed, as if he had become a different person. He looked up at the side of the boat and shouted, "Damn it, are you all blind? How could Zhang Futai climb this rope net? Hurry up and get a hanging basket over here and lift Zhang Futai up."

A hanging basket was lowered, and Lu Tong said to Zhang Juzheng, "Uncle, sit on it. Don't worry, it's very stable."

At this point, there was no time to retreat. Zhang Juzheng gritted his teeth, lifted his clothes, sat on the hanging basket, and grabbed the rope with both hands.

Lu Tong waved his hands upwards and shouted, "Get up!"

Zhang Juzheng felt his body tremble, and he was suddenly lifted up and slowly suspended in the air.

His heart trembled and he held the rope tighter with both hands.

Looking around, he found himself hanging in the air, neither up nor down. He was rising along the hull, and soon he was level with the side of the ship. However, the higher he looked, the more frightened he became. He quickly turned his head and saw a hanging basket with two goats hanging in it, bleating at him.

Zhang Juzheng landed on the deck safely. Lu Tong flipped over, jumped over the side of the ship from the rope net, and stood on the deck.

"Adjutant!" Lu Tong shouted loudly.

"exist!"

"Order all ships to weigh anchor in half an hour. Sail in the sequence of A1, A2, A3, A5, A6, A4."

"Yes."

Lu Tong took Zhang Juzheng to visit the large sailing ship.

There are five floors of cabins inside. Lu Tong did not take Zhang Juzheng to see the bottom floor. He started directly from the second to last floor.

This is the cargo hold, which is full of food and sundries, including rice and noodles that have just been hoisted up, vegetables and fruits, all of which are tightly tied up with nets. There are also a few living sheep.

Another section was the ammunition bay, which was heavily guarded and contained barrels of gunpowder and baskets of shot.

The third floor is where the sailors live. More than 300 people are crowded in cabins separated by grids, sleeping in hammocks.

One part is the armory, which contains muskets, swords, spears, bows and crossbows, and is locked with an iron gate.

The second layer was the artillery layer, filled with what Lu Tong called 24-jin artillery.

Zhang Juzheng was stunned.

At first, he thought that the 24-jin cannon meant that the whole cannon weighed only 24 jin. He never imagined that it meant that the shell it fired weighed 24 jin, while the entire cannon weighed more than a thousand jin.

He could no longer imagine what the scene would be like if twenty-eight such cannons fired at the same time.

The first floor was the artillery floor, which was filled with 28 18-jin cannons. At the stern was Lu Tong's spacious and comfortable command room. Lu Tong took Zhang Juzheng inside for a tour.

"Uncle, I'll give this place to you. It's comfortable here and you won't get seasick."

Zhang Juzheng thanked him first and looked around the place.

A narrow bed, a desk, a row of bookcases, a screen, a coffee table, a scroll of "Laozi Huahu" hanging on the wall, and an erhu hanging next to it.

"Come on, Uncle, let's continue. You come back and rest later, and I'll let you see enough." Lu Tong pulled Zhang Juzheng to continue.

They walked up the stairs to the main deck, which was unusually busy.

The sailors lined up with muskets on their shoulders, and the officers were giving speeches.

A dozen sailors were standing side by side with their buttocks sticking out, wiping the deck.

Three masts reached up into the sky, with dozens of crossbars on top, huge sails were gathered and tied to the crossbars, and the dense ropes looked like a spider web.

Dozens of sailors climbed up the mast along the rope ladder and stood on the crossbars at different heights, carefully untying the ropes that tied the canvas.

Zhang Juzheng discovered that there were also cannons on this open deck, but they were more sparsely populated and smaller than those on the two lower decks. They should be the nine-jin cannons that Lu Tong mentioned.

At the bow, there were a dozen sailors pushing a wooden pole to turn the capstan, and with a loud noise, they pulled up the anchor.

Beep beep!

The adjutant blew the trumpet, and the sailors on the mast began to let down the sails, layer after layer, which were blown by the wind like blooming petals. When half of the sails were let go, Zhang Juzheng suddenly found that the hull moved and began to speed up.

He couldn't help but grab the handrail beside him. He turned his head and saw Lu Tan standing steadily on the stern building, holding a monocular telescope and looking into the distance, like a lighthouse.

Note 1: According to historical records, Zhang Juzheng had severe hemorrhoids, and the final cause of death may have been severe hemorrhoid bleeding or rectal cancer caused by hemorrhoids.

Note 0.325: According to relevant data, one material is equal to 6000 tons of displacement, and 1950 materials is equal to tons of displacement.

(End of this chapter)