Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 767 The Giant Ship Rides the Wind
Before we knew it, spring had arrived, and as planned, the giant ships built at shipyards across the country at great expense had been launched and were undergoing sea trials.

However, they didn't have much time to test it, because the six giant ships had to assemble in Ningbo Port before the Cold Food Festival.

Xia Lin didn't know how they tested the ships, but he heard that every shipyard tied the ship inspectors to the mast and took them out to sea together. If any problems arose, the inspectors would be sacrificed to the water god.

Fortunately, they didn't dare to mess around in this kind of project, so although the six inspectors cried and screamed, they all got off safely in the end, and the ship was finally able to form a proper combat capability.

The construction of this giant ship combined the world's most cutting-edge technology, a massive amount of manpower, and an astonishing amount of money. The total number of people involved exceeded 200,000, and many projects had to be suspended as a result. During their construction, many people criticized it as a waste of manpower and resources, and some even criticized Xia Lin as worthless. There were even rumors that Xia Lin's actions were no less harmful to the country than ceding territory and paying reparations.

These things were no big deal to Xia Lin, because when the six ships broke through the sea fog and appeared on the horizon at dawn, all the rumors instantly turned into sea foam and disappeared without a trace when hit by the wind and waves.

The colossal ship, forty zhang long and weighing over six million jin, with a draft of over two zhang, might not give many people a concrete idea of ​​what that means. So let's use a person as a reference point. A person standing on the ship's railing is like a cicada perched on a sycamore tree. When they dock, the sheer size of the ship is like a giant wave crashing against the mountain, making it impossible to see the whole thing at a glance. The sails on top are even taller than the harbor's wind-stabilizing towers. Standing on the third floor of the Zuixianlou restaurant, one can barely see the deck at eye level.

And there were not one, but six such ships.

The colossal ship broke through the waves, shocking everyone present. Regardless of whether they were emperors or feudal lords, their legs went weak when they saw it.

"Salute! Ready!"

As the signal flags on the port gave the order, the six giant ships lined up in the outer harbor. Then, the firing ports on their ships were opened, and the unpainted, metallic-colored cannon barrels were pushed out. The angle of the cannons was then adjusted to face the sky.

"put!"

As the signal flags were given, hundreds of cannons fired simultaneously. But this time, instead of cannonballs, they fired fireworks. The fireworks exploded in the sky over the distant sea, illuminating the dim sky like a rooster crowing at dawn, slowly breaking through the dark fog.

"Good good."

Li Shimin clapped his hands in admiration. When the giant ship swept past him, he even felt his legs go weak. The pressure brought by that behemoth was something even he could not escape.

The sight of the six giant ships neatly moored there now resembled a tamed dragon to Li Shimin. Although they appeared harmless, their menacing plumage was exactly what he wanted.

"If only this were my ship." Li Shimin leaned forward, holding onto the railing, and gazed at it for a long time before sighing softly, "The Tang Dynasty, oh the Tang Dynasty..."

At that moment, flares soared into the harbor, echoing the fireworks from the giant ships outside. Then, the flag bearer waved torches and flags to signal, "Form ranks!"

As the order was given, the naval warships docked in the surrounding shipyards and harbors weighed anchor and began to converge on the giant ship, quickly forming a massive fleet.

Six giant ships of forty feet, fifteen large ships of twenty feet, seven supply cargo ships of twenty feet, and nearly a hundred smaller ships of various sizes, ten feet and seven feet, were lined up and moored on the sea, like soldiers waiting for inspection, quiet but majestic.

The crowd watching the ceremony, whether emperors and envoys from various countries or ordinary onlookers, all let out an unbelievably synchronized gasp of amazement.

Just at that very moment, the first rays of dawn rose from the sea, casting their light upon the ocean and the fleet.

At this moment, art has been created.

No one discussed whether this was a waste of resources or manpower, nor did anyone investigate whether Xia Lin was engaging in reckless militarism. As these massive creatures remained quietly at sea, they knew that words were superfluous; they could simply appreciate the scene in peace.

"Everyone, please."

Emperor Jingtai, dressed in a maroon dragon robe, nodded slightly, exuding the arrogance and demeanor befitting a legitimate emperor, and gestured an invitation to those around him.

Those who came to observe the ceremony boarded small boats and arrived at the only one of the six giant ships with a gilded ram. This ship was forty feet long and seventeen feet wide. Standing on it felt like standing in a square, and people had a more comprehensive experience of its enormous size.

"This is the flagship." Xia Lin patted the ship's side and gazed at the distant sea. "I named it Dingyuan."

"Why use this name? What is its deeper meaning?" the envoy next to him asked curiously.

Xia Lin turned around and gave him a deep look, then chuckled softly, "It doesn't have any profound meaning, but if we're going to fight the Japanese, it has to be called this."

"What about the other ships? Do they all have names?" Li Shimin took off his gloves and stroked the hull, feeling that the ship's workmanship was extremely exquisite, far surpassing the hastily constructed giant ship from before. He was actually excited at this moment, because this was the first time in his life that he had touched such exquisite, meticulous, and majestic weapons. The cannons gleamed coldly in the morning light, and the giant ship swayed slightly with the waves. This was precisely the romance of a man, and no one who had come from the battlefield could resist such temptation.

"Zhenyuan, Laiyuan, Jingyuan, Zhiyuan, Jingyuan." Xia Lin smiled, took out his binoculars, and looked at the massive fleet before him. "What do you think?"

“The names are all very good. Then I will become an apprentice on the Dingyuan.” Li Shimin looked up and saw that the thick cloth sails were embroidered with dragon patterns. This was the only ship with dragon patterns, and he felt that this ship matched his temperament.

"It's all right."

After Xia Lin finished speaking, he waved to the side and said, "I will give you all a detailed tour."

The young captain immediately stepped forward and invited the dignitaries and envoys from various countries to begin their tour of the giant ship.

Meanwhile, Li Zhi and Dugu Jiaye, who had been brought aboard by Li Shimin, played with the cannons for a while before running over and grabbing Xia Lin's hand, saying, "Father, I want to go to the bow of the ship!"

Some of the envoys nearby hadn't left yet. They glanced back, then immediately turned away, pretending they hadn't seen anything. After all, everyone in the world knew that the head of the Dugu family didn't look like someone capable of practicing human morality. There were many rumors about where Her Majesty the Empress's children came from, but the most reliable one was Xia Lin and Xia Daosheng, who had been the subject of numerous rumors with Her Majesty the Empress.

Everyone had already accepted this answer, and now that the two children had called him "Daddy," it basically confirmed the matter. But in the royal family, nothing is too small to be true. If anyone were to gossip now, they would really be punished, perhaps by both families. If you can't afford to offend them, you might as well avoid them. Pretending not to see anything is the best course of action.

"Alright, Daddy will help you climb over there."

Holding one child in each arm, Xia Lin didn't shy away from anyone and led them directly to the lookout point at the bow of the ship. From there, the entire Ningbo Port was laid out before them, offering an excellent view. The two children were having a great time, while Xia Lin stood there carefully watching over their safety.

At this moment, Li Shimin also climbed up and, disregarding the danger, sat down on the side with his legs dangling outside the suspended cabin, which was more than ten feet high.

"If you're not going to act anymore, isn't that the same as announcing it to the whole world?"

"So what?" Xia Lin rubbed the child's head. "Even if I really announced it to the world, what could they do to me?"

"Arrogant!" Li Shimin laughed heartily. "But that's more like it, that's more like that impetuous young man."

Xia Lin turned around and pulled Li Zhi down as he tried to climb higher: "You'll really die if you fall."

At this moment, seagulls cry, waves surge, and the vast expanse of blue water stretches out. It's a pity that those talented scholars are not here; otherwise, who knows what timeless poems they would have left behind.

"By the way, I'll organize an open house regularly so that people from all over the world can come and see it. Let them know that the humiliations of the past will never happen again." Xia Lin chuckled, "You know what, the navy really does give people courage."

"This isn't a navy, it's a mobile town... Can it even get into the Yangtze River? If it can, that would be terrifying."

“Yes,” Xia Lin said softly. “A single ship can cut across the two banks of the Yangtze River; you can’t break through.”

"Damn it..." Li Shimin cursed under his breath and then fell silent, but he was already thinking of a way to break the deadlock.

However, he didn't understand this thing very well, so he couldn't think deeply about how to deal with such a monster.

The tour took about an hour and a half. Almost all the foreign envoys remained silent after seeing the ship, because they felt that it should not exist in this era. How many ingenious ideas must have been put together to build those exquisite designs and complex concepts that made their scalps tingle?

With such technological capabilities, one can imagine the terrifying attacks they would face if they were to fight against them.

In particular, the envoys from Northern Han have been diligently studying gun and cannon techniques these days, after suffering great losses in this area. Now, Northern Han's cannons are quite impressive, even giving the soldiers of Northern Han the illusion that they can fight against the Central Plains.

But today, when they saw the cannons on that giant ship, their dazzling design, their exquisite craftsmanship, and their incredibly fast firing rate, they instantly sank these smug envoys.

If the cannons of Northern Han are like newborn children, then the cannons of Great Wei are already fully armed warriors.

However, it is said that this is the limit of the ship's hull, not the limit of the gun...

It's truly disheartening. What should we do next? When will we be able to conquer the Central Plains? Or is it even possible to conquer the Central Plains at all?
(End of this chapter)