The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 245: The Battle of Canal Transport
How much of the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding technology remains?
Wanli came to the Wei Zi No. 1 Shipyard and took a closer look at the thousand-ton giant ship that was about to be completed. He couldn't help but look shocked.

The ship was built with incredible precision. The wooden boards on the bottom were all in graceful arcs and neatly arranged, as if they had been soaked in oil. No one knew what was filling the joints between the boards, and there was not a single gap.

And those rows of rivets are so neat and regular, just like they were made by a machine.

He took a closer look and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Danyang, why does this 1,000-ton Fu ship look so much bigger than the 800-ton centipede ship? The centipede ship seems to be only half a zhang high, and this Fu ship is probably more than 10 zhang high."

How do you say this?

Peng Zungu thought for a moment before explaining in detail, "Your Majesty, the centipede boat is mainly powered by human power, so the hull is relatively long and narrow.

This boat is narrow and long, so it is easy to capsize. Therefore, although the bottom of the centipede boat is pointed in the middle, the two sides must be flat and the center of gravity must be slightly tilted to the bottom, which wastes a lot of wood.

The oars also consume a lot of wood. Most of the wood of the centipede boat is consumed in the oars at the bottom and on both sides of the boat.

This Fu ship is different. A ship this wide is not easy to capsize. The bottom of the ship does not need too much wood. Moreover, the Fu ship does not have oars, so the sides of the ship do not need much wood. Therefore, it looks much taller and larger than the centipede ship.

Well, the structures of the two ships are indeed different.

Wanli wanted to climb onto the boat to take a look, but he didn't know whether it was safe. While he was hesitating, Peng Shugu had already come over with several old craftsmen.

When the old craftsmen heard that this was the current emperor, they all fell to the ground and kowtowed.

The status of craftsmen is still a bit low these days.

Wanli quickly raised his hand and said, "No need for formalities, no need for such grand formalities in the future."

Several old craftsmen quickly stood up and stood respectfully, as if waiting to be scolded.

Wanli was rather amused and said, "Zhongyang, they are all foremen, right?"

Peng Shugu nodded repeatedly and then introduced them: "Your Majesty, this one is Mu Tou, this one is Tie Tou, this one is Peng Tou, this one is You Tou, and this one is Qi Tou."

Disheveled hair?

Upon hearing this, Wanli couldn't help but ask curiously, "What's the purpose of a disheveled head?"

Peng Shugu said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, the pentou is used to make awnings and sails."

Oh, it turns out to be the "peng" in boat awning, which sounds like the "peng" in disheveled and dirty appearance.

There are so many foremen, which one should I ask?

Wanli thought for a moment and simply asked, "Who is the leader among you?"

The five foremen looked at each other, and the wooden one took a small step forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, I am in charge of the carpentry work and have more people under me, so most of the things that Lord Pan and the others do should be handed over to me."

This shipbuilding company does have the most carpenters.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "What's your name, old man?"

How dare I call myself old in front of you? Long live you.

The wooden man said in a panic, "Your Majesty, I am Yang Wu. They all call me Old Yangtou."

Well, calling him Old Yangtou is better than calling him Mu Tou.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Old Yang, how many craftsmen do you have now? How many ships can you build every year?"

Old Yang said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, the Baochuan Factory employed 500 craftsmen, but dozens of them had scholars or even juren, and they moved away. Now there are only about 400 households.

We build one hundred 400-ton canal boats and fifty 800-ton canal boats every year according to the Ministry of Works' quota. In addition, we need to repair a number of canal boats."

Don't tell me the quantity stipulated by the Ministry of Works.

Wanli simply pointed at the giant ship in front of him and said, "What about this one? How many can you build in a year?"

this!

Old Yang said with horror: "Your Majesty, this is not what we wanted to build. The people above ordered us to build it, and there is nothing we can do."

Don't be afraid.

Wanli nodded slightly and said gently, "I know this is not what you want to build. I want to ask you, how many of these giant ships can you build in a year?"

This one.

Old Yang said cautiously, "Your Majesty, the materials used in these 1,000-ton ships are different from those used in ships weighing less than 1,000 tons. It's OK if we build a few of them piecemeal, but if we build them in large quantities, we probably won't have enough materials."

No materials?
Upon hearing this, Wanli asked in surprise, "What are the differences between the materials used in a 1,000-ton Fuzhou ship and ships of less than 1,000 tons?" Old Yang quickly pointed to a 1,000-ton Fuzhou ship nearing completion and explained, "Your Majesty, look, the planking on the bottom of this ship, including the keel, must be made of a single piece. Only in this way can the ship be strong and durable. These days, wood over 10 meters long is hard to find."

Wanli took a closer look at the bottom of the boat and understood.

The board used for the bottom of the ship is a single piece from beginning to end, and has a special curvature. If it were not a whole piece, problems would probably easily occur at the joints.

He nodded slightly, then asked, "What kind of wood is used for the planks and the keel inside?"

Old Yang said without hesitation, "Both the Fu Ship and the Treasure Ship have cypress for their frames and pine for their planks. Cypress is strong and resilient, while pine is light and durable."

It turned out to be pine and cypress trees.

These two trees seem to be very common.

Wanli asked again: "Do you know where to find these two kinds of wood?"

How do you say this?

Old Yang pondered, "Pine is the most common. It seems to be found in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty. Cypress is mainly found south of the Qinling Mountains. It can be found in Bashu, Huguang, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong and Guangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, and other places."

Is it so widely distributed?

That's no problem.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "I will go find enough materials for you. How many of these thousand-ton ships can you build in a year?"

This one.

Old Yang estimated, "Your Majesty, a Fuzhou ship usually takes half a year to build. Each 1,000-ton Fuzhou ship requires about a hundred workers. We will build it in two batches, so we can build about ten ships a year."

This is too little.

It seems that now is the period of the rise of the Dutch, the coachman of the sea. That country, with a place as small as a prefecture in the Ming Dynasty, seems to have built more than 10,000 ocean-going sailing ships in more than 20 years.

In other words, they can build five or six hundred ocean-going sailing ships a year with the power of a state!
Is the power of the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty not as great as that of the tiny Netherlands?
Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "If the docks and waterways of the Treasure Shipyard were all repaired, and I could recruit enough craftsmen for you, how many thousand-ton ships could you build in a year?"

This one.

Old Yang estimated, "Your Majesty, there are twelve docks and shipyards in the Treasure Shipyard. The four docks and shipyards in Zi, Chou, Yin, and Mao are used to build treasure ships of more than 2,000 tons. The four docks and shipyards in the middle, Chen, Si, Wu, and Wei, are used to build Fu ships of 1,000 tons and large Fu ships of 2,000 tons. The four docks and shipyards in the north, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai, can only build small boats of more than 1,000 tons.

If we repair all four of the Chen, Si, Wu, and Wei ponds, we can build forty thousand-ton ships in one batch, and two batches a year means eighty ships."

Upon hearing this, Wanli was quite disappointed and said, "We can only build eighty thousand-ton Fu ships this year?"

Do you think it's not enough?

Old Yang quickly explained, "The four Zuotangs in Shen, You, Xu, and Hai can also build Fuchuan, and they can accommodate more Fuchuan. That batch can build 60 Fuchuan. If all eight Zuotangs are working together, we can build 200 1,000-ton Fuchuan in a year."

Well, two hundred ships a year is barely acceptable. After all, the navy also has centipede ships and octopus ships.

Upon hearing this, Wanli said decisively, "Alright, I'll recruit 20,000 craftsmen for you. You should quickly repair the remaining seven docks and waterways. This year, we'll strive to produce 100 thousand-ton Fu ships, and next year, 200."

what?
Old Yang said cautiously, "Your Majesty, we still need to build canal boats. If we don't build canal boats, there will be problems with canal transportation."

Canal transportation is indeed a big problem.

Wanli actually already understood the problem of grain transport.

Although there were only more than 300 million mu of land left in the Ming Dynasty's "Yellow Book of Taxes and Services", based on the calculation of two dan per mu, the annual land tax should be more than 30 million dan.

Now, the rice salary from the royal family and the land tax from the court together amount to only more than 12 million dan. Why are more than 20 million dan missing?
The reason is very simple, that is because of the loss of water transport.

Most of the farmland in the north of the Ming Dynasty was annexed by the vassal states, so the country could not be self-sufficient and could only transport crops from the south to the north.

This is the so-called grain transport. The losses in grain transport were quite large. The Ming Dynasty had more than 10,000 grain transport ships and more than 100,000 grain transport soldiers. They all needed to eat and receive food and wages. There were also the maintenance and replacement of grain transport ships, the maintenance of the canal, the embezzlement of corrupt officials, and so on. In a year, more than 20 million shi of grain were consumed in this way.

In fact, this canal transportation was very controversial, including the debate over whether to use river transportation or sea transportation, which lasted for decades or even hundreds of years.

He will have to solve this problem sooner or later.

Wanli thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Don't build or repair the canal boats anymore. Focus all your efforts on building navy ships."

what?
Old Yang was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then he bowed and said, "I obey your command."

(End of this chapter)