Ming Dynasty: Tanks blocked the door and you said to me, "Long live Ming Dynasty"

Zhu Youxiao and others followed Zhang Tiegu into the gate.

Prince Xin saw a vast expanse, and everything there was could only be described as big.

The factory is huge!

The factory is huge!

The ship in the dock in the distance is also very big!

He couldn't help but sigh: "Brother, this place is too big!"

Although Zhang Tiegu had never met Prince Xin, he was able to judge his identity from his age and the way he addressed Zhu Youxiao.

So he said at the right time: "Your Majesty, Prince, our Tianjin Baochuan Factory covers a total area of ​​2000 acres, with 5000 shipbuilders and servants."

Zhang Tiegu said as he led them forward.

There would often be busy shipwrights or handymen carrying things walking past them and greeting Zhang Tiegu, the factory director.

Zhang Tiegu, Ximen Cang and Huang Gouzi are the three persons in charge of the shipyard.

Zhang Tiegu is the factory director, and the other two are deputy directors.

He was quite diplomatic and was well respected by the shipwrights and handymen in the factory. It was common for them to greet each other when they met.

However, they had never seen Zhu Youxiao and others before, and did not know their identities, so they greeted Zhang Tiegu and left.

This made Zhang Tiegu feel embarrassed and awkward.

Zhu Youxiao noticed his embarrassment and said to him, "Don't bother with the formalities. Just continue with your introduction."

Prince Xin suddenly pointed to a large factory and asked, "What is that place? There are so many huge trees! And there are also shiny things?"

Zhu Youxiao took a look and said, "It should be the temporary storage area for materials."

Zhang Tiegu: "Your Majesty is wise and will know it at a glance. Our shipyard has four dry docks in total, and there is such a material storage area near each dry dock."

"It contains huge logs such as keels, beams, and masts, as well as some gold and iron items."

Zhu Youxiao nodded as he listened.

Prince Xin's little head was turning around, and he found everything new and interesting.

Wen Tiren and Xu Guangqi followed behind.

Although both of them were listening silently, their feelings were different.

Wen Tiren was shocked, but his mind was working frantically, secretly writing down every piece of data and information about the shipyard that Zhang Tiegu mentioned.

This is his habit. He is super sensitive to calculations and numerical memory and will write down everything he hears.

Without this ability and habit, he would not have been able to defeat the six ministers, gain Zhu Youxiao's favor, and be promoted to the cabinet.

As for Xu Guangqi, he actually didn't listen very seriously.

This was not his first visit to the shipyard.

He also knew the basic information about the shipyard.

Just because of this Ming treasure ship, he was also involved in it.

Of the six craftsmen who built the treasure ship, the Liu, Wang and Qian families have no successors.

The three companies were responsible for the artillery, mast and beam respectively.

The mast and the crossbeam were made by craftsmen transferred from the Longjiang Shipyard.

As for artillery, who in the world today is more suitable than Xu Guangqi?

After all, he had participated in the construction of this amazing treasure ship, and he was extremely excited and looking forward to the treasure ship being launched tomorrow.

Everyone had been walking in the materials area, their view blocked by the factory buildings, and they could only see the unfinished treasure ships in several dry docks in the distance.

At this moment, walk out of the materials area.

The view on the other side suddenly became clear.

A huge monster suddenly appeared.

It is the treasure ship that has been completed and is ready to be launched. The visual effect of standing in front and looking at the unfinished treasure ship in the distance is incomparable.

Prince Xin was shocked.

"Fuck you, my king!"

"This, this, this... this is too big!"

Wen Tiren couldn't help but widen his eyes.

Zhu Youxiao's face was full of smiles, but he was also extremely shocked in his heart.

Although I was mentally prepared, the visual impact of suddenly standing in front of the treasure ship was indescribable.

He couldn't help but sigh: "This treasure ship must be forty feet long!"

Zhang Tiegu smiled and said, "Your Majesty, to be precise, it should be 49 zhang long, 20 zhang wide, 11 zhang high, and seven stories high."

When Zhu Youxiao heard it, he exclaimed, "Wow!" It was 147 meters long, 60 meters wide, and 34 meters high!

“Forty-nine feet! Seven floors!!!” Prince Xin widened his eyes and exclaimed in surprise.

"Is this the treasure ship that the eunuch Sanbao used to sail to the West?"

"It's really spectacular! I heard that there were sixty-three such ocean-going treasure ships at that time."

When Zhu Youxiao heard this, a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.

"Yes! The supreme fleet of our Ming Dynasty was destroyed by those damned thieves!"

Wen Tiren immediately stepped forward and said, "Although it is a pity, now our Great Ming has such a wise and enlightened ruler as Your Majesty, and we can see the treasure ship has been restored. I believe that the day when our Great Ming will be able to show its power overseas is not far away!"

Zhu Youxiao and others came to the front of the treasure ship, which also attracted the attention of many people.

Several people hurried over.

"Your Majesty, I, Wang Zheng, come to see you!"

It was Wang Zheng, the Left Vice Minister of Works.

The Imperial Observatory adjourned court that day and had already calculated an auspicious day for the treasure ship to be launched when they returned. They first reported it to the Ministry of Works and then submitted a memorial the next day.

The ocean-going treasure ship was a major project of the Ministry of Industry, and since he was a steam engine expert, he naturally participated in the power design and construction of the treasure ship.

As soon as an auspicious day came out, he set out for inspection one day earlier than Zhu Youxiao and others.

At this time, also joining him were the two deputy factory directors Ximen Cang and Huang Gouzi, as well as the two old craftsmen Ren Liang and Wei Gao who were responsible for the beams and masts.

Zhu Youxiao also conferred the title of Yuwenlang of the Ministry of Works on the latter two.

They never dared to imagine that they, as craftsmen, would have the opportunity to become an official and even meet the emperor.

At this time, the two were very excited and couldn't help but burst into tears.

The craftsmen who were inspecting the treasure ship around them realized that the emperor had arrived. They stopped their work and knelt down and cheered.

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

Zhu Youxiao felt deeply moved that each of these skilled craftsmen was a treasure of the Ming Dynasty!

The treasure ship in front of us cannot be compared with the Liaoning, and it is not even as good as the toes of the 055.

But now, in the Ming Dynasty, this is the invincible existence on the sea!

"Everyone, get up! You've worked hard this year!"

"Once the treasure ship is successfully launched, I will definitely reward everyone!"

Everyone was delighted when they heard this and shouted in unison.

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Long live the emperor!"

Chapter 458 Behemoth

After letting the shipwrights get back to their work, Zhu Youxiao continued to visit the shipyard with Wang Zheng, Zhang Tiegu and others.

"Director Zhang, please continue."

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, Zhang Tiegu looked embarrassed and said to Wang Zheng, "Your Majesty, the Left Assistant Minister knows more about the Treasure Shipyard than I do. He should be more suitable to explain it to you than I."

When Zhu Youxiao saw what this guy did, he couldn't help but look at him differently.

What a smart guy!

At this time, I still knew not to steal my boss's limelight.

This alone was enough to make Wang Zheng like him even more.

Anyway, it doesn't matter who of them says it, so I just did as he said.

"In that case, I'll have to trouble you, Minister Wang."

Wang Zheng immediately cupped his hands and said, "This is my duty."

Pointing to the dock in front of him, he said, "We have four dry docks like this in our Baochuan shipyard."

"Each one is sixty feet long, thirty feet wide, and seven feet deep, and can accommodate four treasure ships. Construction will begin at the same time."

Zhu Youxiao showed a delighted look on his face: "So, we can produce four treasure ships in one year?"

"Your Majesty is right. We are currently building four treasure ships per year."

"Four ships a year...How many soldiers can the current treasure ships carry?" This was the first question Zhu Youxiao wanted to know.

Wang Zheng replied seriously: "There are 300 cabins on the ship, which can accommodate 1,200 soldiers at the same time."

"If the sailing distance is not too far, we can vacate some of the cargo hold to load soldiers. It should be possible to barely reach 2,500 soldiers."

Zhu Youxiao murmured, "Even if we use the largest one with 2,500 soldiers, four ships would mean 10,000 soldiers, so 100,000 soldiers would require 40 ships."

"One hundred thousand elite Ming soldiers, equipped with mortars and the Way, are enough to sweep away everything."

However, it is a bit exaggerated to say that it takes ten years to build forty ships.

He can't wait for ten years. Ten years is too long. He has to seize the day.

It seems that after the production line here is stabilized, we still have to consider setting up a few more Baochuan factories.

Well, building another Dallion Shipyard sounds great.

Zhu Youxiao muttered to himself while thinking in his mind.

Prince Xin was shocked again: "One hundred thousand soldiers and horses going out to sea!"

"The fleet of the eunuch Sanbao at that time only had 30,000 soldiers. What a spectacular scene it would be if 100,000 soldiers went out to sea!"

Wen Tiren immediately heard a hidden meaning and was filled with amazement and respect.

Your Majesty's ambition is not only for the Ming Dynasty, but to make the whole world part of the Ming territory, with no distinction between Chinese and barbarians anymore!

Wang Zheng, who was standing by, couldn't help but twitch his lips when he heard Zhu Youxiao's words.

"Uh... Your Majesty, Your Majesty, ahem, if it is equipped with mortars and weapons, and with war horses, I'm afraid it will take up part of the cargo hold, and a treasure ship may not be able to carry 2,500 soldiers."

He continued, "Treasure ships are expensive to build, with complex craftsmanship and high material requirements. If they are used exclusively to transport troops, I don't think it is cost-effective."

"Then we can use the power and structure of the treasure ship to transform it into a special transport ship. This will not only save costs, but also increase the total number of troops transported."

"Also, the construction time is shorter than that of a treasure ship."

He thought for a moment and said, "It's just that the total number of troops transported has increased, and feeding these thousands of people has become a problem."

Zhu Youxiao didn't think this was a problem.

"No problem. I will ask Song Yingxing to develop military rations that are easy to carry and don't take up too much space as soon as possible."

As for war horses, he actually believed that there was no need to bring too many cavalry on a long voyage.

Cavalry should be used in land expeditions, just like Genghis Khan's Mongol cavalry that marched across the Eurasian continent.

Zhu Youxiao asked questions here and there, interrupting Wang Zheng's train of thought from time to time.

This made him so uncomfortable that his obsessive-compulsive disorder finally kicked in.

"Your Majesty, let's get back to talking about this treasure ship."

"Let me explain the structure of the treasure ship to you from bottom to top, so that you can have a comprehensive understanding of its quality and various functions."