The Great Bandit in Kangxi Year

Chapter 236 Treasure Ship
At the end of the first year of Huaxing, the Mongolian Expeditionary Army finally couldn't hold on and withdrew.

According to statistics, the Mongolian Expeditionary Army suffered more than 30 casualties, but it defeated the Kazakh Khanate and killed nearly [-] soldiers and horses from other small countries, which aroused the hatred of the countries in the Western Regions.

However, the Mongolian ministries were very satisfied, because they seized a large amount of materials and slaves, and all of them made a fortune.

Jiang Tao is also very satisfied, at least the Mongolian ministries will not have any thoughts about the Dahua Empire for the time being.

Chengzhang didn't want to, but came to report with a sad face: "Your Majesty, the treasury is empty again, and now there are only 2 million silver dollars left in the reserves of more than 4000 million silver dollars."

Jiang Tao took a deep breath, this matter is indeed very troublesome, but he said calmly: "Hehe, third uncle, calm down, although the business with the Dutch has been cut off, the American fleet has handed over at least [-] million silver dollars in gold and silver every year. , and the Japanese poll tax, which is enough to spend, have you noticed that the prices in the empire have risen a lot?"

"That's true, but it shouldn't be a big problem." Cheng Zhang replied indifferently.

"No, this matter is very serious. Now the gap between the rich and the poor in the country is gradually widening. It's nothing now. In the future, the people will not be satisfied. This is mainly because foreign gold and silver continue to flow into the empire, and there will be problems one day. , so for the time being, don’t wantonly mint silver dollars, but issue some thousand-yuan and ten-thousand-yuan banknotes with large denominations and anti-counterfeit marks to make it easier for merchants to do business, and second, to control the input of silver dollars.” Jiang Tao didn’t study finance before. , but knowing that more and more money is not a good thing. The more money, the less purchasing power money has. This is also the purpose of Jiang Tao's opening of the bank. The state collects all gold and silver, and eventually replaces silver dollars with banknotes. This is the future trend. However, it will take a long time for the ancient empire, and it can only change subtly.

"Isn't the more gold and silver the better?" Cheng Zhang was still puzzled.

"If you have too much gold and silver, you can't eat it. The main thing is to circulate it. Fortunately, there are abundant domestic materials. The prices of civilian materials such as grain, salt and iron are set by the empire. Merchants are not allowed to raise prices at will. Otherwise, the country would have been in chaos, so It is still the right way to buy a large amount of grain, cattle and sheep from abroad, and then sell industrial products to them." Jiang Tao explained in a low voice.

"What the emperor said is very true, but now the Dutch Far East Fleet is bombarding the Spanish port in the Philippines. I heard that the Spaniards suffered heavy casualties. The governor of Manila came to ask us for help. We don't care, should we take the opportunity to dispatch the Black Dragon Fleet?" Cheng Zhang's meaning is very clear, he wants Jiang Tao to intervene in Southeast Asian affairs.

"Hehe, did the Ministry of the Navy come to urge third uncle? Leave him alone. If it wasn't for the need to trade with Mexico, I would have attacked Manila long ago. It is a treasure land of gold and copper mines, and it is still a very good colony. Now Spain There are almost no warships in Southeast Asia. Of course, their ports are as weak as possible. When I seize the Strait of Malacca and close the door to fight dogs, it will be the end of the Spaniards. I heard that these guys have slaughtered the locals three times in recent decades. The Chinese really don't know how to live or die, I want blood for blood."

In the past, Jiang Tao would have dispatched troops long ago without being urged by others, but today, he figured it out, no one can take away the fat at the door of his house, and the Black Dragon Fleet will take action when they are fighting to the death and their strength is greatly damaged When you have to laugh, you have to laugh at the end, otherwise it is a waste of expression.

"Your majesty is really far-sighted, but he always wants to offend the Spaniards. Will Daming's goods not be sold?"

"Hehe, it doesn't matter. One is to colonize the countries in Southeast Asia. Then one year's colonial income will be enough for the empire's military expenditure for several years. As for the trade of goods, isn't there the Strait of Malacca?"

Jiang Tao was very clear in his heart that the income of the empire could not be reduced one by one.

"Your Majesty's martial arts, hey, that's not all. The Admiralty asked to build a treasure ship. It's hard to be the chief assistant." Cheng Zhang sighed deliberately, looking very pitiful.

"Well, isn't the national treasury empty? For the time being." Jiang Tao was greatly surprised, he laughed and said, how dare the Ministry of the Navy put pressure on the cabinet?

Jiang Tao never believed it. As for the treasure ship, he had mixed feelings, but it would take too much national power to build it.

Cheng Zhang couldn't wait to slap his mouth, and smiled wryly: "Although this cost a lot of silver dollars, it has great economic and military value, and it will also help the majesty of the empire."

"how to say?"

Cheng Zhang replied: "The previous dynasty was able to manufacture a large number of treasure ships, and the Dahua Empire must also do it. Based on the shipbuilding technology learned abroad, the Longjiang Shipyard and the blueprints on the Yongle Ceremony mutually demonstrated that the treasure ships are now It can be built, because the treasure ship is very large and has a strong transportation capacity. Once completed, the displacement will exceed [-] tons, and the cargo will be as high as [-] tons. Such a large ship will be able to support dozens of [-]-ton merchant ships. For the empire Overseas trade will be of great benefit."

Jiang Tao nodded, but he also saw that not only the Ministry of the Navy wanted to build a treasure ship, but after the completion of the treasure ship, the ability to transport goods would be very impressive. This is true, but at the moment he was thinking about the construction cost of the treasure ship.

"It is also of great strategic and tactical value in the military!" Cheng Zhang continued: "The largest ship in the imperial navy to transport supplies is no more than 1000 tons. In a war, hundreds of transport ships have to be mobilized to assist. There are quite a lot, and it will be a serious hidden danger when sending troops to America in the future. Once the enemy hits our supplies, there will be heavy casualties. Also, once we have treasure ships, these problems will be solved. At the same time, treasure ships can be used to transport Soldiers, a treasure ship can deliver tens of thousands of people."

Jiang Tao believed in what Cheng Zhang said.As a future man, he knows that the bigger the ship, the more time and money it saves, so the transport ships of later generations will be hundreds of thousands of tons, or millions of tons.

Of course, Jiang Tao knew that there was water in his words. It is estimated that the treasure ship could not hold 1 people, but it could hold 5000 people.Because in Jiang Tao's impression, this treasure ship is almost equivalent to a small aircraft carrier of later generations, which can hold about 5000 people.However, it depends on how it is installed.If people are packed as cargo, it can hold 1 people, and even 2 people.

However, the cost of this treasure ship really made Jiang Tao feel distressed.

According to the treasure ship construction plan submitted in the regulations, the cost of a treasure ship (including workers' salaries) is as high as 400 million silver dollars, and a treasure ship requires a large area of ​​woods, which is not environmentally friendly.

Jiang Tao closed his eyes and thought about it for a long time, before he said: "Well, it's just that the blueprint of the treasure ship must be kept secret, and no information should be leaked out, especially foreigners, and they must not know! There is also the issue of protection. Such a large ship is a living target. .”

"Your Majesty is thoughtful, and the old minister admires it. It must be done well. I wonder how many ships the Majesty wants to build?"

Jiang Tao smiled wryly, and said, "Build two ships first, and then talk about it later."

Cheng Zhang also knew that he would not be able to eat hot tofu in a hurry. If such a big treasure ship really helped to enhance the prestige of the empire, he would not have deliberately reported to the emperor, saying: "Please ask the emperor to name the treasure ship!"

Jiang Tao thought for a moment, then smiled directly: "Then call it a Gonggong-class transport ship."

It was designed and built according to the detailed records about the treasure ships in the Yongle Grand Ceremony.Two Gonggong-class transport carriers are scheduled to be built at the Longjiang Shipyard, but it will take three years to complete.

The Gonggong-class transport ship has a design displacement of 18000 tons to 21800 tons, a square coefficient of 0,41 to 0.43, a load of 8000 tons to 9800 tons, a transport ship length of 44 feet and 151.5 feet (61.5 meters long), and a width of 8.5 feet (400 meters wide). The draft is [-] meters.The ship is equipped with nine masts and twelve sails, using oriental hard sails.There are seven decks, including four lower decks for carrying cargo, and three upper decks, which are building buildings.The cruising speed is six knots, the battery life is two years, and the initial estimated cost is [-] million silver dollars.

It can be said that this treasure ship looks as tall as a building, with a broad top, like an aircraft carrier, and it can accommodate thousands of people without any problem.

Jiang Tao also wants to see the majesty of this ship with his own eyes. I am afraid that foreigners will be scared to death when they see this ship, but this is not the most important thing. More advanced battleships are already in the planning. It is estimated that the battleships and the first-class black dragon-class battleships will not be built in batches until three years after Huaxing. By then, the empire's navy will be considered to have truly risen.

(End of this chapter)