Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 184 Pirates Strike Again, Chaos Reigns Across the Land (Part 1)

Zhu Jue's reason for sending another fleet to the Spanish American colonies in November was not only because there was not much cargo to be transported there at that time.

They have no shortage of merchant ships; the two hundred assembled merchant ships are already built. Right now, the cargo there certainly won't be enough to fill two hundred 1,600-ton merchant ships; it probably won't even fill twenty.

Therefore, they really don't lack these merchant ships.

The key issue is that they don't have any gunboats yet.

If it were just a merchant ship sailing by, it would only be able to get beaten up if it encountered a gunboat.

Although Zheng Zhilong had a bunch of messy gunboats under his command, they were all sailboats and couldn't keep up with the speed of steamships.

The North Pacific Gyre they're taking this time doesn't just pass through the Americas; on the way there, they'll also pass through the waters off Japan, and on the way back, they'll pass through the South China Sea. Who knows if they'll encounter the Dutch or British and French ocean-going fleets along the way?

These colonial robbers were incredibly greedy. They would turn into pirates the moment they encountered a merchant ship on the vast ocean. At this time, Britain was even issuing letters of marque to private ship owners, encouraging their own people to become pirates and plunder merchant ships!
Therefore, a large fleet of merchant ships cannot function without the escort of gunboats, especially since this is the first long-distance voyage of the Ming Dynasty fleet in nearly two hundred years. He cannot allow the merchant ships to be robbed by others, as that would have a huge impact on the prestige of the Ming Empire and even the morale of its army.

For nearly two hundred years, the Ming Dynasty did not travel far from home. If it did, it would be robbed. If this got out, people would laugh their heads off.

Therefore, he still needed to urge Wang Zheng to build some gunboats as soon as possible.

No sooner had Zheng Zhilong led Valdes away than he hastily changed into the attire of an Imperial Guard officer. He then ordered several 800-ton wheeled boats to be brought over, and headed straight for the shipyard with Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua, and others.

The shipyard's more than two hundred new dock waterways are almost finished, and Wang Zheng is preparing to make a big splash.

Who knew that Zhu Jue would suddenly come to the shipyard where he specialized in researching and developing ships.

He hurriedly stepped forward, cupped his hands, and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Liangfu, how's the gunboat blueprint coming along?"

Uh, didn't you say we should build the assembled merchant ships first?
Wang Zheng was taken aback for a moment before nodding repeatedly and saying, "I have been drawing these past few days, and it is almost finished."

That's good.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then asked, "Last time you seemed to have ordered someone to process a batch of ship planks that were over ten zhang long, right? You didn't cut them into shorter pieces to use, did you?"

That kind of thing isn't something you can have as much of as you want; you can't just cut it short to use it.

Wang Zheng shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, no, Your Majesty, I have ordered them to be stored in the warehouse."

Hmm, it seems like there shouldn't be any problem building a batch of gunboats in November.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then solemnly said, "I plan to send a fleet to the Americas in November. This fleet certainly can't consist entirely of merchant ships; it also needs gunboats for escort. You can use that batch of processed timber to directly build gunboats. How many can you build?"

Oh, that's what happened.

Wang Zheng estimated, "Last time, I ordered people to saw planks for two hundred ships. If all of them were sawn, it would take about half a month. But that time it only took five days to saw them. If we put them together, we should be able to build about sixty gunboats."

Sixty ships should be enough.

At this time, the Dutch and British and French fleets usually consist of only a dozen or so ships sailing overseas. Unless they are deliberately targeted, those guys should not be able to gather hundreds of warships to rob their fleets.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Then let's build sixty ships. Let's start building them quickly, and they must be completed before the ice freezes in November."

These sixty ships, each costing 1,600 tons, can only occupy thirty dock channels. There are still about three hundred dock channels left. They can build about six hundred more merchant ships by piecing them together. How should the materials, labor, and even the sawing machines be allocated?
Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng fell into deep thought.

Seeing this, Zhu Jue asked, somewhat puzzled, "Liangfu, what's wrong? Is there a problem?"

Uh, His Majesty is still here!
Wang Zheng realized what was happening and shook his head repeatedly, saying, "No problem. Your humble servant will immediately order people to take out the ship planks from the inventory, finalize the design, and prepare to build gunboats."

The shipyard was bustling with activity again. At Wang Zheng's command, tens of thousands of craftsmen gathered at the thirty dock waterways. Then, like ants, these craftsmen moved the processed planks from the warehouse and began shaping them.

In fact, the bottom plates and side plates of gunboats and merchant ships are the same; only the keel frame and deck need to be reinforced.

The parts that needed to be shaped were the bottom planks and the hull planks. The craftsmen were extremely familiar with these and were very efficient at shaping them. In just a few days, the dock and waterway were filled with layers of ship planks stacked up like the spring steel plates under a modern truck.

Next came the fabrication of the keel frame and the new deck. To be on the safe side, Wang Zheng made the keel frame as thick as possible, and the deck where the cannons were mounted was also made with the thickest possible planks.

Anyway, the gunboat was never intended to be used for hauling cargo. In terms of loading capacity, it could easily carry hundreds of thousands of kilograms of timber.

Immediately afterwards, he began to lead a team to test-produce artillery vehicles.

The gun carriages on these gunboats are different from those pulled by horses. Horse-drawn gun carriages are somewhat like horse-drawn carriages, but they need to be fitted with a few supports. The gun carriages on these gunboats, however, are like low-lying tigers, with wheels that have to be driven back and forth on tracks, and many ropes need to be tied around them to cushion the recoil.

Wang Zheng was leading his men to test-produce artillery vehicles when the newly built docks and waterways were completed shortly afterward.

Now he has to arrange for people to unload materials for more than 600 assembled cargo ships, and at the same time prepare sealing rubber rings, rubber belts, and so on.

He was extremely busy.

Zhu Juena would go to the shipyard whenever he had free time.

Around 9 a.m. that day, he had just finished reviewing the memorials when he hurriedly led Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua, and others to the shipyard by ship.

By this time, Wang Zheng had already developed the artillery carriage and even installed cannons on it.

Zheng Zhilong was still pointing and telling people how to tie ropes.

Wang Zheng, however, was holding up binoculars, looking at the south bank of the Tonghui River, seemingly lost in thought.

Seeing this, Zhu Jue leaned closer and asked curiously, "Liangfu, what are you looking at? Is there something over there?"

Wang Zheng muttered, "If there's nothing on the other side, I'd like to fire a few shots at them. The problem is, the other side is the city wall of Tongzhou, and there are Jingying soldiers guarding it. If I accidentally hit someone, there'll be no saving them."

Uh, you want to fire directly at the other side!
Zhu Jue was taken aback upon hearing this.

After thinking for a moment, he ordered Wang Chengen to fetch a small telescope and raise it to scan the opposite bank.

The city wall of Tongzhou is about two miles away on the other side. It shouldn't be a problem if the city wall takes a few cannon shots. At worst, someone can repair it with lime, glutinous rice paste, and bricks.

He looked back at the cannon carriage, which was less than half a meter tall and lying on the ground, and then decisively said, "Cheng'en, order someone to inform the soldiers on the opposite city wall to spread out to both sides. Also, send two wheeled boats to intercept the passing ships and make them wait on both sides. We need to fire a few shots to test this side."

Ah!
Are you really going to fire cannons at the city walls?

Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen was taken aback for a moment before rushing off to make arrangements.

At this moment, Wang Zheng also realized what was happening and quickly turned around to bow.

Zhu Jue waved his hand slightly, then decisively said, "Liangfu, once both sides are ready, just fire directly at the opposite city wall. It's fine."

It wasn't that he was excessively lenient with Wang Zheng.

The key issue is that Wang Zheng is genuinely busy and doesn't have the time.

If the artillery vehicles and cannons were taken to the testing grounds of the artillery factory across the street, Wang Zheng would definitely go along to take a closer look.

Moving this cannon carriage is no easy task, because it is supported by ship planks and rails, and there are also frames on both sides of the carriage to secure the ropes. If it is to be moved there for testing, it will take at least half a day.

He didn't want Wang Zheng to waste half a day, so he indulged Wang Zheng this time and let him fire a few cannons at the city wall of Tongzhou.

Wang Zheng had already intended to fire cannons at the opposite city wall, and now that the emperor had agreed, he naturally had no more reservations.

Seeing that the defenders on the opposite city wall had spread out to both sides and that the artillery was ready, he gave the order without hesitation to fire a cannon at the opposite city wall.

Coincidentally.

At this moment, in the southernmost part of the Ming Dynasty, in the sea south of Yazhou City in Qiongzhou Prefecture, someone was also firing cannons at the city wall.

(End of this chapter)