Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 253 The Empress is Pregnant and the World is Free from Illness (Part 1)

The north bank of the Haihe River is undergoing major development and construction, and Zhu Jue can't help but go there to take a look every few days.

This journey is quite long; at the speed of a horse-drawn railcar, it would take more than two hours just to get there.

If he finishes reviewing the memorials around 9:00 AM and then goes there, it will be almost dark when he returns.

However, he still had to go.

This is because the shipyard there is crucial to the future of the Ming Dynasty.

These days, if you want to develop rapidly and stay far ahead, you need an inexhaustible supply of overseas resources.

To compete for overseas resources, one needs a sufficient number of ocean-going warships, which requires powerful ships and cannons.

The European colonial powers understood this principle long ago. Therefore, the European countries took turns building powerful ships and cannons and plundering overseas resources.

When it comes to shipbuilding technology, navigation technology, and even the technology to manufacture firearms and cannons, the Ming Dynasty was far ahead more than two hundred years ago. However, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty did not pay attention to these things, and as a result, the Ming Dynasty regressed by more than two hundred years!
While European colonial powers had tens of thousands of ocean-going warships, the Ming Dynasty had barely managed to equip a few of its thousand-ton Fujian ships!

If he wanted to catch up and surpass others, he had to build shipyards as soon as possible and frantically build ocean-going warships and powerful ships with strong guns.

This is how the Ming Dynasty was able to develop rapidly.

With the Beijing Shipyard operating at full capacity, it could not build many ocean-going warships in a year, and the dock waterways and Tonghui River waterway there were not suitable for the mass production of ocean-going giant ships.

It can be said that their hope of catching up and surpassing others lies in the Haihe Shipyard.

He naturally had to go.

This was the day Zheng Hongkui was to depart for America. Around 1:00 AM, after hastily reviewing the memorials, he led Zheng Zhilong, Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua, and others straight to the Haihe River dock.

At this time, the waterways of the shipyard had been dug to a depth of several meters, and the foundations of the docks on both sides had been dug and concrete had begun to be poured. The foundation of Haihe New City had also been dug and was ready to be poured with concrete.

The north bank of the Haihe River was bustling with activity, and the port was filled with giant ocean-going ships.

This time, they mobilized a full thousand medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships and one hundred small Weiyuan warships. The docks were not only packed with ships, but also more than half of them were moored on the outer side of the docks.

The scene was truly spectacular, blotting out the sky.

Nowadays, only the Netherlands can assemble thousands of ocean-going ships. Spain can no longer do it. Since the Spanish Armada was severely damaged by sea storms several times, this old maritime hegemon has been in decline, and only a few hundred ocean-going ships remain.

The Ming Dynasty was already a maritime power, but it simply didn't have enough strong ships and powerful cannons.

If these thousand medium-sized merchant ships could be replaced with warships, then the Ming Dynasty could embark on its journey to dominate the seas.

This is not difficult for the Ming Dynasty now. As long as the Haihe Shipyard is built, it can build at least two thousand ocean-going giant ships a year. Even if they use half of the dock and waterway to build warships, they can still build over a thousand.

The key is what warships they will build next year. If possible, he would naturally want to build them all as warships and gunboats.

The problem is that warships need to be equipped with too many cannons, and in order not to be at a disadvantage in terms of range, they cannot mainly be equipped with cannons weighing 200 jin. The main warships of the Ming Dynasty should be equipped with cannons weighing 500 jin.

Can they produce so many 500-pound cannons now?

Even a small Zhenyuan warship can be equipped with more than fifty cannons, so a thousand ships would have more than fifty thousand cannons!
Building a 500-pound cannon is no easy feat. With their current production capacity, let alone tens of thousands a year, they would need to frantically acquire more machine tools to produce even a few thousand a year.

As he walked toward the dock, pondering something, Zheng Hongkui hurried up to him, cupped his hands, and bowed, saying, "This humble general greets Your Majesty."

Oh, he's here to see me off.

Zhu Jue then realized what was happening, nodded slightly, and asked, "Is Hong Kui all ready?"

Zheng Hongkui nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, everything is ready and the fleet can set sail at any time."

While the capital is covered in ice and snow, it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and it must be unbearably hot there.

Zhu Jue looked around at the vast expanse of white snow and ice, then asked, "It must be very hot in the Viceroyalty of Peru right now, right?"

It's not just hot there now, it's hot all year round. Zheng Hongkui nodded slowly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, it's a scorching place. There are only a few cool days a year. When I was on my way back, it started to get hotter there again. I estimate it's even hotter there than in the capital during the height of summer right now."

Could Xu Guangqi, at his age, have endured such heat?
Zhu Jue then asked, "Have you sent ships to search for ice in the southern Americas?"

Uh, I don't think we need to do that.

Zheng Hongkui explained in detail: "Your Majesty, Lord Xu said that there is no need for such trouble. He said that when saltpeter is used to make fertilizer, it must first be dissolved, and when the saltpeter is dissolved, water must be continuously poured around the iron pot to maintain the temperature."

Lord Xu had already tried it. He placed the iron pot directly on a large wooden trough, and then connected the trough to river water, which flowed continuously under the iron pot. The saltpeter above dissolved, and the water flowing below turned into ice water, which was extremely cold.

The air blown out of this ice water-filled air cooler is icy cold, perfect for cooling off in the summer.

Therefore, Lord Xu told us not to look for ice anymore. As long as enough saltpeter is mined over there to make fertilizer, there will be plenty of ice water. All the soldiers, artisans, and even the local natives can use this ice water to cool off in the summer heat.

Yes, saltpeter can be used to make ice!

Xu Guang found this method even better than making ice.

When they mass-produce fertilizer from saltpeter over there, they can produce a huge amount of ice water, which is perfect for cooling off in the summer.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue nodded with satisfaction and said, "Yes, it's good that they can produce enough ice water over there."

You should tell Zixian to quickly build the fertilizer plant, so that not only will there be enough ice water over there, but the Ming Dynasty will also have enough fertilizer.”

Once fertilizer production increases there, the Ming Dynasty's grain production will surely rise steadily.

They already had enough food at this point. Not to mention rice and flour, at least sweet potatoes and potatoes were enough to keep the disaster victims from going hungry.

The key issue is that Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong, along with those rebels, are causing trouble and disrupting peace in the Northwest.

It looks like he'll be using a feint attack next spring.

He directly ordered Pan Yunteng to attack Shanxi, seize the grain and goods of the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants in Puzhou, and burn their shops. In desperation, these guys would definitely ask Huang Taiji for help.

When Huang Taiji leads his cavalry to Shanxi, Sun Chuanting will be able to easily take over the south bank of the Hun River.

Once Sun Chuanting captures the south bank of the Hun River, Huang Taiji will surely rush back to reinforce it.

In this way, the three powerful clans, the eight imperial merchants, and Huang Taiji of Puzhou will surely be completely outmaneuvered by him, and the Jurchen cavalry will be forced to run back and forth endlessly, just like the Ming army in history, until they run to their deaths!
As he was pondering this, Zheng Hongkui couldn't help but call out softly, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, is there anything else you wish to instruct?"

Oh, I forgot again that I came to see you off.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then solemnly said, "There are a lot of steam engines being transported this time. Tell Lai Pin to make sure that the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison are on guard over all the steam engines and that no unrelated people are allowed to get close."

Furthermore, you don't need to whip the Jurchen prisoners to work; you can control them to work with food.

If they don't mine a thousand catties of ore a day, they won't be fed; if they don't mine two thousand catties, they won't be fed enough. If they don't work hard, they deserve to starve.

Zheng Hongkui nodded repeatedly and said, "This subordinate understands."

There's no need to go into the rest; Xu Guangqi has a wealth of development experience.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Alright, let's go, have a safe trip."

Zheng Hongkui quickly bowed and took his leave.

Soon, thousands of ships gradually converged into a long dragon and sped eastward.

The long dragon stretched for over a hundred miles, and from a distance, it truly looked like a giant dragon swimming on the sea.

Seeing this, Zhu Jue couldn't help but feel gratified.

The mighty dragon of the Ming Dynasty is about to take flight!
(End of this chapter)