Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Tianjinwei was an important military garrison and port fortress protecting the capital of the Great Wei Dynasty, and originally had several thousand naval officers and soldiers stationed there.

Since Jia Lian was ordered to build the harbor and supervise the construction of warships, he also opened a shipyard here and built a new type of harbor. During this period, he conscripted no less than several thousand laborers to carry out large-scale construction, making Tianjin Wei increasingly bustling and prosperous.

On the newly built embankment, where the spring breeze was blowing, Jia Lian, dressed in a red and black robe, stood gazing at the military port in front of him.

More than a dozen officials of various ranks followed closely behind him.

"Reporting to the Marquis, as per your original instructions, there are seven military camps set up in this port, which are expected to be able to accommodate more than a thousand warships of various sizes."

It is now basically completed; please inspect it, Your Excellency.

"More than a thousand ships..."

Jia Lian smiled casually, knowing that his subordinate was calculating based on the existing size of the Tianjin Wei navy's warships.

He had already seen the existing warships of the Tianjin Wei Navy, most of which were multi-story ships, ten or twenty meters long and seven or eight meters wide. Ships over thirty meters long were considered large.

Such warships might be enough to fight Japanese pirates and suppress river bandits, but they are clearly not enough to set sail and launch expeditions overseas.

In his view, this naval port would be good enough if it could accommodate three hundred of the warships he wanted to build.

But it's enough for now.

Turning to another official, Jia Lian asked, "How's it going at the shipyard?"

"Reporting to Your Excellency, since Your Excellency returned to the capital, we have never forgotten Your Excellency's instructions and have been urging you to work on it every day. We have now built eight small warships and one medium-sized warship."

Among them, the large warship "Zhenyuan," which was built as a key project according to the Marquis's requirements, is also basically completed and is expected to be launched in another half month.

Jia Lian was delighted upon hearing this.

The Zhenyuan was a large warship that he began planning and building last year when he first arrived in Tianjin. It was over 30 zhang long and 12 zhang wide.

It was a warship he designed specifically to match the Zhenyuan cannon.

This size of warship is definitely a behemoth for this era, and I never expected it to be completed so quickly.

So, disregarding the fact that they hadn't even settled into their official residence after arriving in Tianjin, he led his group of officials to the shipyard.

The Tianjin Wei Shipyard was built single-handedly by Jia Lian.

For ease of access to water, Jia Lian chose to build the site directly on the riverbank, just a few miles from the newly built naval port.

The shipyard is not very large and its structure is relatively simple.

Before a cluster of barracks and warehouses lay a vast, open plain, its edges enclosed by newly constructed river embankments.

On the flat ground, several square pits were dug in a neat and orderly manner. At this moment, countless laborers, craftsmen, and soldiers were busy moving back and forth between the flat ground and the square pits.

Each of them performed their duties, and from a high vantage point, it was a magnificent panorama of people working together.

Surrounded by officials and generals, Jia Lian arrived at the largest square pit.

This square pit is about sixty zhang (approximately two hundred meters) long, over forty zhang wide, and more than ten zhang deep. Standing at the edge of the pit gives one the feeling of standing on the edge of an abyss.

At this moment, in the very center of the pit, a huge, brand-new warship stood.

At the bottom and around the warship, there was an endless wooden frame, much like the framework structure used in building construction in later times.

The enormous, nearly completed ship was surrounded and supported within it.

Compared to such a colossal creature that is over a hundred meters long and tens of meters wide and tall, a human being, who is only seven feet tall, appears extremely insignificant.

Jia Lian stood at the edge of the pit, examining this unique ship of his time. He felt a faint sense of awe and pressure emanating from it, and a feeling of relief and joy welled up in his heart.

"The Zhenyuan, which the Marquis has painstakingly built, is so large and exquisitely constructed that among all the warships of the three main naval forces of our Great Wei, there is not a single one that can compare with it."

I can already imagine the scene of my Great Wei's naval soldiers riding it to conquer the seas and be invincible.

This is all thanks to Your Excellency's good fortune. On behalf of the officers and soldiers of the navy, I kowtow in gratitude to Your Excellency.

The officers and generals behind Jia Lian seemed to sense his satisfaction, and a naval commander seized the opportunity to step forward and flatter him.

Those who fell behind secretly felt annoyed, but didn't feel much contempt.

This was because each of them was amazed and impressed that Jia Lian was truly able to build such a massive ship.

After a century of peace, the development of the navy had long since fallen into disrepair. Even the three main naval forces, including the Tianjin Wei Navy, still largely retained the designs from the founding of the dynasty.

It can be said that warships and combat equipment did not have an absolute advantage over sea pirates and piracy.

This is one of the reasons why Japanese pirates were able to run rampant along the coast.

Jia Lian's arrival brought the Tianjin naval forces at least the attention and financial support of the imperial court, and also gave officers and soldiers hope for a "replacement of muskets and cannons".

Although everyone still had doubts about the combat power of the new warships such as the "Zhenyuan" built by Jia Lian, they all admitted that the warships built by Jia Lian were far superior to their original "old and dilapidated" ships in terms of size and imposing presence.

Since Jia Lian is serving under the Tianjin Wei Navy, if they were to build a large number of new warships in the future, the first to benefit would naturally be the Tianjin Wei Navy.

Therefore, the Admiral had already instructed that this young marquis from the capital must be treated like an ancestor, and that no one should be offended.

Jia Lian smiled slightly. This "Zhenyuan" was actually just an experimental ship. If it succeeded, he would naturally be able to build more warships of this size, or even larger, in the future, becoming a guarantee of strength for the great Eastern power to compete for maritime hegemony.

This giant square pit, which is 200 meters long, is actually a construction method to facilitate the launching of giant ships, and is called a "dock".

For a massive ship like the Zhenyuan, if the issue of launching it into the water is not considered beforehand, even if it is built, it would be impossible to launch it using the manpower available in this era.

With such a dock, once a large ship is built in the dock, water is drawn into the dock to make the hull float, making it easy to sail into the waterway.

"This old servant, Zhao Xiuyuan, greets Second Master."

Old Zhao, a servant of the Jia family who had spent his life building ships, hurriedly disembarked from the ship with several craftsmen and came to pay his respects to Jia Lian.

Judging from his demeanor, Jia Lian knew that while he was away from Tianjin, this old Zhao had certainly not been slacking off; he might have been coming to the ship every day to supervise the work.

Satisfied, he asked him to lead them onto the ship for inspection.

"Replying to Second Master, the 'Zhenyuan' was designed to have six decks, and could carry more than a thousand officers and soldiers."

The main structure is now complete, with only the upper three decks to be laid and the hull to be painted.

As instructed by the Marquis, the ship was equipped with twenty-four Zhenyuan cannons, six other cannons, and hundreds of muskets and crossbows.

Furthermore, the entire exterior of the ship's hull is covered and wrapped with thick copper plates... Hehehe, in all my years of building ships, I have never seen anything so sturdy. I imagine that any enemy facing the Zhenyuan in the future will be filled with fear and despair.

Zhao Xiuyuan said excitedly.

Jia Lian also stood on the edge of the deck, leaning against the parapet of the ship's railing, glancing sideways at the outer side of the ship's hull, which shone with a golden luster under the sunlight.

Because of the low productivity and quality of steel production in the Great Wei Dynasty, even Jia Lian could not build such a large steel behemoth immediately.

This is not just a problem with materials, but also with substandard structural technology.

Therefore, the main body of the Zhenyuan was also made of wood. However, to enhance its defensive capabilities, all areas of the hull that needed protection were covered with copper plates of varying thicknesses.

In this way, the defensive capabilities were improved. However, the cost of building the Zhenyuan was also considerable. If Jia Lian hadn't successfully aroused Emperor Ningkang's ambitions and gained his strong support, he wouldn't have been able to afford it.

Even so, Jia Lian could still detect the subtle pain in Emperor Ningkang's eyes when he saw the "bill" he had submitted.

Therefore, expensive items like the Zhenyuan can not be mass-produced.

In Jia Lian's plan, he would first build a batch of medium or small-sized new warships for use. In the future, he would devote some attention to upgrading the steel industry of the Great Wei, and then use this as a foundation to build a large number of strong ships and powerful cannons.

After inspecting the ship, Jia Lian stood on the spacious deck, turned to look at the many officials, generals, and craftsmen who had followed him, and said solemnly, "You have all worked hard. After the Zhenyuan is successfully launched, I will personally reward all of you who have contributed to the war effort before His Majesty!"

The craftsmen all knelt down to express their gratitude.

All the officers bowed in unison, saying, "We are willing to be loyal to His Majesty and serve the Marquis!"

Their voices, however, were much more steady and powerful than those of the craftsmen.

As Jia Lian looked down at the civil and military officials bowing in worship, their eyes filled with surging emotions, he felt a surge of excitement within himself.

This place, from then on, became one of his foundations.