Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 88 Repeatedly Defeating Enemies and Advancing Ranks (Part 2)

Zheng Zhilong was full of energy at that moment.

All because the allure of being granted titles and ranks was too great.

In this life, anyone with a bit of ability will pursue fame and fortune.

He has no shortage of altruism these days, and he has made a lot of money from overseas trade. What he lacks is this reputation.

How awful is the word "pirate"?
To put it bluntly, he would have no face to face his ancestors in the afterlife with the name of a pirate.

Therefore, he wanted to be ennobled and granted titles, and he wanted to bring glory to his ancestors.

Zhu Jue took advantage of this and directly set the conditions for him to be granted a title and a noble rank.

With this opportunity right in front of him, he would naturally do everything in his power to wipe out the pirates.

Of course, he also had his own selfish motives. Suppressing other pirates would also benefit him. If all the pirates along the southeast coast were wiped out, then all the benefits of the Ming Dynasty's overseas trade would belong to him.

Historically, he truly dominated the overseas trade of the entire Ming Dynasty and even Southeast Asia, earning tens of millions of taels of silver a year. He also maintained more than 200,000 pirates and more than 3,000 ships of various sizes.

However, things are uncertain now. If he is tricked into going to the capital by Xiong Wencan, he can forget about the more than 200,000 pirates, and it is unknown how much money he can make each year.

Let's leave that aside for now.

Zhu Jue's focus at this moment was not on the pirates; he was mainly concerned with the industrial development of the Ming Dynasty.

Early that morning, around 7 a.m., he had just arrived at the main hall of Yuxi Palace and sat down. Before he could even warm his seat, Wang Zheng hurried over, cupped his hands, and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

You've actually developed a ship?
The problem is, your expression doesn't seem to match.

Zhu Jue asked bluntly, "Liangfu, is the prototype of the steamship finished?"

Shipbuilding can't be done that fast.

Wang Zheng said somewhat awkwardly, "Your Majesty, the prototype of this ship will not be completed so quickly. At this moment, only the keel frame and the planks for the hull and bottom have been finalized, and we are just preparing to assemble them."

After assembling this, we have to wait for the sealant to dry before we can test it for leaks in the water, and only then can we proceed with installing the boiler, steam engine, water turbine, cabin, rudder, etc.

Well, shipbuilding is really complicated these days.

There's no way around it; the wooden planks are straight to begin with, and they'll spring back if you bend them. To completely shape them into the curved shape of the bottom and sides of a boat, you have to clamp them in a mold and let them be exposed to the wind and sun for at least one or two months.

The development of ships can be considered one of the foundations of industrial development, because at that time, only by developing water transportation could sufficient raw materials, products, and even food and daily necessities be transported in large quantities.

For industry to develop, transportation must keep up. If transportation is inadequate, raw materials cannot be transported in, products cannot be shipped out, and even workers' daily necessities cannot be transported. In that case, concentrating human and material resources to develop industry would be a joke.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, then put down the memorial and stood up, saying, "Let's go, I'll go take a look."

After saying that, he walked towards the dock south of the Longevity Palace.

Seeing this, Wang Zheng quickly followed.

Outside, it was a world of ice and snow, and Taiye Pond was frozen over, but inside the dock, it was still as warm as spring.

Zhu Jue glanced at the glass and wooden wall by the pond and nodded slightly, saying, "Hmm, it's well insulated."

You have to keep warm.

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng couldn't help but sigh, "So the reason there are no large shipyards in the north is because it's too cold. In winter, the docks are like iceboxes, making it impossible to work."

Now things are much better. With heating and windows, the dock is warm and cozy even in the dead of winter, making shipbuilding much easier. Otherwise, the shipyard would have to shut down every winter.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then examined the layout of the dock more closely.

The trough-shaped support structure in the middle of the dock had been built long ago, and now all sorts of oddly shaped pieces of wood were piled up around it, which he couldn't quite understand.

He doesn't need to know much about this.

He examined it carefully, then waved his hand and said, "Let's start assembling."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng immediately summoned several foremen to the large wooden table covered with blueprints and gave them detailed instructions. Only then did he order the foremen to take their respective blueprints and direct the craftsmen to move materials onto the supports for assembly.

The craftsmen initially moved only the planks for the hull. These planks, each seven or eight zhang long, were neatly arranged on the supports, and a huge hull appeared to take shape. However, this was only the outline. Next, the keel frame had to be placed in the middle, holes had to be drilled and riveted by hand, and sealant had to be applied. The process was extremely complicated.

Zhu Jue looked at it for a while before asking, "Liangfu, how much is this ship made of? How long and wide is it approximately? How much cargo can it carry?"

At that time, ships were priced by weight, with one weight roughly equivalent to a hundred catties (approximately 50 kg). The exact amount of cargo a ship could carry depended on its structure and crew.

Wang Zheng explained in detail: "Your Majesty, this boat is a combination of a 400-ton wheeled boat and an 800-ton grain transport boat, which I modified by combining them."

The original 400-ton wheeled boat looked similar to the steamship His Majesty described. However, the 400-ton boat was too small, and the boiler and steam engine could not be properly placed in the cabin.

Furthermore, the boiler needs to be heated on the ship to generate steam, so we also need to consider the issues of fire insulation and heat insulation.

Therefore, I have combined the dimensions of a 400-liao wheeled boat with those of an 800-liao grain transport ship, and determined that the steamship will be approximately 800 liao in length and 20 zhang in width. As for its carrying capacity, after deducting the cost of the boiler, steam engine, water, coal, and the crew, it can still carry approximately 600 shi of grain, equivalent to 80,000 to 90,000 jin of cargo.”

This amount of 80,000 to 90,000 jin is less than 50 tons.

Later cargo ships were often tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of tons. A few thousand tons was considered small, and even the smallest ones were several hundred tons.

Okay, whatever, we need to have some, even if it's less than fifty tons.

Zhu Jue examined it more closely, then pointed to the brown, viscous substance the craftsman was applying and asked, "Is this stuff for sealing?"

Wang Zheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, this stuff is called 'Yanliao,' which is made by mixing tung oil, lime, and glutinous rice juice."

In later generations, glutinous rice was mainly used for food, such as glutinous rice, glutinous rice flour, shumai, and zongzi.

These days, glutinous rice isn't grown for eating, but rather used as an adhesive.

For example, when building city walls, bridges, or even decent houses, glutinous rice juice is added to enhance the adhesion between lime and sand.

Zhu Jue has seen this kind of person quite often.

He nodded slightly, then asked, "This stuff isn't easy to dry, is it?"

Wang Zheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, this stuff takes at least several days to dry, and some areas need to be coated multiple times to ensure a seal. Therefore, the ship is built very slowly. It takes at least three or four months for the wood to be shaped and the hull material to dry."

In fact, the seal of this wooden boat could have been completely replaced with rubber.

Rubber, on the other hand, doesn't have the problem of drying out. If rubber were used for sealing, the shipbuilding speed could probably double.

Did the colonial bandits actually bring rubber to the Far East to sell at this time?
As Zhu Jue was pondering this, Fang Zhenghua strode in carrying another memorial, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, the Governor-General of Zhejiang, Zhili and Fujian, Xiong Wencan, has sent an urgent report from eight hundred li away."

Is there any news about rubber this time?
He took the memorial, opened it, and was speechless.

Zheng Zhilong actually wiped out the pirate Liu Liubu again.

This guy is only thinking about clearing out the pirates; he doesn't even bother to ask me where he can buy rubber.

However, at Zheng Zhilong's pace, he'll probably be granted a marquisate soon. When he gets to the capital, he'll have a lot more options for buying things.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Ruoyu, draft an imperial edict to promote Zheng Zhilong to the position of Left Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies Commandery."

As Xiong Wencan stated in his memorial, Zheng Zhilong had no objection whatsoever to being granted the title of Right Vice Commander of the Five Military Commands in Fuzhou. In fact, he even brought all his brothers to Fuzhou for a grand display.

With this latest promotion to Left Commander-in-Chief in Fuzhou, Zheng Zhilong will surely become even more arrogant. He probably won't be wary of anything when he goes to Nanjing next time.

He never expected that Zheng Zhilong's speed in suppressing the pirates was so fast, it was almost absurd.

A few days later, Xiong Wencan's memorial arrived again. After Zheng Zhilong was appointed as the Left Commander of the Five Military Commissions in Fuzhou, he immediately led his troops to wipe out the pirate Liu Qi's gang!

Liu Liu and Liu Qi are clearly brothers. Should they be counted as one share or two shares?
If it were Emperor Chongzhen, that stingy fellow, he probably wouldn't even give them this much military merit.

Zhu Jue, however, did not hesitate to issue an imperial edict, bestowing upon Zheng Zhilong the title of Earl of Nan'an!

The count was just one step away from becoming a marquis.

He even gave Xiong Wencan a secret decree: next time, regardless of whether Zheng Zhilong wiped out all the pirates, if he wiped out another group, Zheng Zhilong would be granted the title of Marquis. He wanted to lure the guy to the capital first.

As for the other pirates who haven't been wiped out yet, that doesn't matter much. He can use the title of Duke to motivate this guy to wipe out the other pirates.

(End of this chapter)