Global colonization began with Ming Dynasty pirates.

"Hao'er, why are we going to the shipyard now? Nothing's started there yet, and they can't build ships right now," Lin Chengzong said to Lin Hao as they walked.

"I'll go check on the preparations and also have Guo, the shipwright, take a look at my design for the ship and see if it can be built."

The artillery test was conducted on the back mountain, but the shipyard was chosen on the east side of Dongluo Island. The two walked around the side of the village and talked as they went.

With the completion of the entire village, workers are now digging a moat around it. Though small, it is fully functional.

The main force of labor was the more than three hundred captured government troops.

Some of them who knew artillery had just been accepted into the Four Seas Gang by Lin Hao, and Lin Hao was also sending people to keep a close eye on the rest.

Those who perform well in the transformation will be selected to join the Four Seas Gang's soldiers and sailors.

As for those stubborn ones, well, sorry, they'll have to do hard labor honestly.

"Hao'er, you even know how to build ships?" Lin Chengzong found himself increasingly unable to understand his son. It seemed like there was nothing he couldn't do. Was studying really that useful? He should have known better than to be so playful when he was young.

"Ahem, I know a little bit," Lin Hao said awkwardly. He didn't know how to build ships, but the ships he knew were all historically proven and could be used with confidence.

The father and son walked quickly, and in no time they arrived at the shipyard.

It was called a shipyard, but it was really just three wooden huts and a few thatched-roof sheds. Various large pieces of timber were placed in the sheds, quietly waiting for the shipwrights to turn them into sailing ships.

In front of the house, near the bay, a makeshift slipway was being built. Guo Kai, the shipwright whom Lin Hao had "invited," was directing the construction.

"Mr. Guo, are you busy?" Lin Hao greeted him from afar.

Guo Kai turned around upon hearing this and saw Lin Hao and the others. He quickly came over to greet them.

"Young Master, Master, what brings you here? Please forgive us for not being able to greet you in time." Guo Kai bowed and clasped his hands in greeting.

"No need to be so polite. How is it, Mr. Guo? Are you getting used to it?" Lin Hao asked with a smile.

"I'm used to it, very used to it. I have fish, meat, and white rice every day. I never dared to dream of such a life before. To be honest, I've gained several pounds." Guo Kai's eyes were narrowed with laughter, and he no longer had any resentment about being captured.

Even if he were asked to leave now, he wouldn't want to go; his family is even more reluctant to leave.

Lin Chengzong smiled and nodded at the other party, but didn't say much. He just stood quietly beside Lin Hao, watching as usual.

Guo Kai was not surprised by this; everyone knew that Lin Hao was the one making the decisions on Dongluo Island.

"Young Master, Master, what brings you here this time?" Guo Kai invited the two into the only reasonably spacious wooden house and carefully served them tea.

"It's alright, no need to wait on me. Come and sit down, I have something to ask you all."

After Lin Hao sat down, he took out a piece of Xuan paper from his pocket and carefully unfolded it.

This paper was much larger than the two artillery vehicle drawings given to Peng Chunlin before, and it was densely covered with various drawings and data.

Guo Kai led several of his apprentices and some carpenters forward, where they saw a strangely designed sailboat design drawn on the canvas.

The ship was extremely long and slender, completely different from the bulky appearance of the current Fujian ships. It looked more like the ships of the foreigners, but even the foreign ships were not this slender.

With a length-to-width ratio of 4.5, the ship appears exceptionally agile.

With its sharply pointed bow and clean, flowing lines, the ship resembles a spear pointing towards the sea, seemingly designed to cleave the waves. The hull retains its V-shaped structure, reducing water resistance while enhancing stability at high speeds. Even from a distance, one can sense that this is a vessel designed with speed at its core.

Guo Kai quickly noticed that this ship not only had a very different appearance, but its internal structure had also completely broken away from the Fujian shipbuilding system. The hull was no longer made of single-layer thin plates, but rather layered with dense, multi-ribbed framework, a typical method of shipbuilding used by foreigners. This structure could greatly increase the strength of the hull, allowing it to withstand stronger artillery fire; smaller cannons couldn't even penetrate its defenses.

This method of shipbuilding by foreigners allows the ship to withstand stronger artillery fire; smaller cannons may not even be able to penetrate its defenses.

The ship's interior is divided into two levels. The upper level is a continuous structure without fine watertight compartments, primarily designed to accommodate more artillery; while the lower deck contains several large watertight compartments for ballast and anti-sinking purposes. This design is clearly a compromise and fusion of Chinese and Western shipbuilding philosophies.

Compared to traditional ship types, this ship makes particularly bold choices in its superstructure.

Whether it was the Fujian-style ships of the East or the early sailing ships of the West, most of them had towering superstructures—the forecourt and stern decks stacked one on top of each other, resembling a mobile fortress. However, while this design was advantageous for boarding and high-altitude deck warfare, it also raised the center of gravity and increased wind resistance.

The same is true for Fujian ships, as well as Western sailing ships. Even some of the earlier sailing ships have tall superstructures at the bow and stern, making them look like dilapidated buildings.

The West did not completely remove the foregrips until the galleons began to be built, while gradually reducing the height of the sterncastle.

It wasn't until the age of galleons that the West gradually eliminated the forecourt and continuously reduced the height of the sterncastle in exchange for better speed and stability.

Only the Spanish still preferred tall superstructures on their ships, as they made it easier to suppress enemy decks and board the ships. The tall sterncastles of Fujian ships were actually based on the same idea.

However, this ship completely abandoned the high sterncastle, retaining only a low and simple stern operating platform. This means that its combat methods may be completely different from those of traditional Fujian ships.

But the changes don't stop there; what really catches the eye is its sails.

The ship has only one mast, which is located about one-third of the way down the hull and is tilted slightly backward at a 15-degree angle.

The sail on the mast was neither a traditional Chinese hard sail nor the dense horizontal sails commonly seen on foreigners, but rather a set of extremely simple yet efficient composite sails.

A large, angled mainsail is suspended below the mainmast, its surface parallel to the keel, and mounted aft of the mast. By adjusting the angle of the mainsail, the wind direction can be quickly changed, allowing the ship to maintain high efficiency even when sailing in crosswinds or headwinds.

Above the main sail, a top sail is added to increase the wind catchment area when sailing downwind, thereby achieving higher speeds on long-distance downwind routes.

Two triangular foresails are mounted at the bow, flanking the bow mast. Their angle is controlled by rigging, aiding in steering and enhancing upwind propulsion. The combination of fore and square sails gives the ship excellent headwind performance while maintaining its speed advantage when sailing downwind.

If a knowledgeable person were present, they would immediately recognize that this is a type of high-speed, single-masted armed sailing ship commonly seen in later generations; more precisely, it is a Bermuda single-masted schooner.

This type of sailing ship was widely used by Caribbean pirates in the 18th century, possessing unparalleled speed and maneuverability. Whether chasing merchant ships or evading naval pursuit, the sloop was adept at maneuvering.

They often sail against the wind, and larger sailing ships are simply no match for them in a chase.

This composite sail system allows the ship to turn flexibly in various wind directions. While large sailing ships can only deviate from the wind direction by 70 degrees, this type of sailing ship has an additional 35 degrees of usable wind angle at 45 degrees.

Compared to traditional square-sail sailing ships, single-masted schooners are faster, averaging 11 knots (about 20 km/h), and are easy to operate, requiring only 5 to 10 crew members.

As for the shortcomings of this single-masted schooner, such as its narrow cabin and lack of stability due to design flaws, don't worry about those for now. Just tell me how fast it is.

However, the Bermuda schooner is still a bit more complicated than the schooners used in modern sailing competitions. Lin Hao wanted to use those simpler sails, but the canvas material was not up to standard and without modern technology, the racing sails would be torn apart by the strong winds. So he had to settle for the second best and use the ready-made answer from the 18th century.

"How about it, can Mr. Guo build this ship?" Lin Hao asked proudly. In order to draw the ship design completely, Lin Hao really used the highest brainpower efficiency he had ever had, digging out the details from his mind bit by bit, and then combining them with the shipbuilding technology of this era to improve it as much as possible.