To be honest, Zheng Zhilong very much wanted to command this kind of warship to cross the sea, so he kept aiming at Emperor Chongzhen, thinking about when to play a book of war recitals.

Unexpectedly, his small action was seen by Emperor Chongzhen.

In fact, Emperor Chongzhen had actually been paying attention to Zheng Zhilong for a long time. Because among all the people here, others may be more lively, but Zheng Zhilong, the pirate king of the year, is definitely an expert.

Therefore, when Emperor Chongzhen saw Zheng Zhilong constantly touching all parts of the boat, while peeking at himself from time to time, he turned around and asked with a smile: "What, Zheng Qing has something to play?" ”

Hearing this, the prince and the others naturally all looked at him.

Thanks to Zheng Zhilong, he is also an old Jianghu, what kind of situation has he never experienced, and he was suddenly named by Emperor Chongzhen, so he hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty, this ironclad battleship looks too powerful, Weichen is thinking, if you can command such a battleship to be a foreign land, I don't know how magnificent it will be?" ”

After praising the ironclad battleship, he quietly went with the flow and vaguely said what he meant. He believed that with the emperor's power, he must know what he was thinking?

Emperor Chongzhen listened, but said with a faint smile: "This warship is ordinary, purely experimental in nature. I have decreed that this ship will join the navy that will be on its way to the Americas. The main purpose is not to kill the enemy and destroy the ship, but to obtain the experimental data of the voyage. The shipyard then corrects the parameters based on the experimental data to build a better ironclad warship. You want to command the ironclad warship to kill the enemy, it's too early! ”

When Zheng Zhilong heard this, he couldn't help but say with a little regret: "Ah, that Weichen doesn't know if he can wait until that time!" ”

Emperor Chongzhen listened, stretched out his hand to summon him, walked slowly, and walked to the bow of the warship. When Zheng Zhilong saw it, he hurriedly followed. And everyone else, knowing that the emperor had something to say to Zheng Zhilong alone, chatted separately, and then followed.

Only the crown prince didn't seem to understand anything, and he also wanted to follow, as if he wanted to introduce Emperor Chongzhen to the craftsmanship on the bow of the ship.

However, when he wanted to take a step, he didn't know when, but Li Ruolian, the commander of the Jinyi Guard, had already blocked his way.

Zhu Cihong was stunned for a moment, there had never been a time before that someone would block him, and when he was about to speak, Cao Huachun, the eunuch who was in charge of the celebrant palm seal, said behind him: "Your Royal Highness the Prince, what's going on with the iron armor here?" Rivets? ”

When Zhu Cihong heard this, he turned his head to look at him, and saw Cao Huachun looking at him with a look that was very eager to know, and a smile immediately appeared on his face, and he hurriedly walked over to explain to Cao Huachun.

At this time, at the bow of the ship, Emperor Chongzhen looked at the direction of the sea and said calmly: "In the past, the Ming Navy has always been fighting along the coast, and it can use its numerical superiority to offset the disadvantages of warships and artillery. In the Battle of Liaoluo Bay, you are a person who experienced it firsthand, and you must know better than anyone else. ”

In the Battle of Liuluo Bay that year, Zheng Zhilong personally commanded and defeated the combined fleet of Hongyi and the pirate Liu Xiang, establishing Zheng Zhilong's supremacy at sea. Of course, he couldn't forget this kind of thing.

Therefore, without Zheng Zhilong's answer, Emperor Chongzhen continued: "Now that my Ming Navy is going to fight in a foreign land, the logistics line is very far. Just like when Xiyi went to the Far East. I am not boasting, now that the prestige of my Ming Dynasty is far and wide, it is estimated that it will not be long before all the Xiyi in Europe will feel the threat from the Ming Dynasty. I dare to assert that although my Ming Dynasty continues to expand its territory, most of the Western Yi in Europe will unite against my Ming Dynasty! ”

Zheng Zhilong listened, but remained silent. Because with his vision, even if he had learned about the situation in Xiyi, it was impossible for Emperor Chongzhen to have a deeper understanding of those countries in Europe. His gaze has not yet reached that height.

"I don't want to give Xiyi a chance to gather their European forces to fight my Ming Expeditionary Force like you did when you were in Luowan." When Emperor Chongzhen said this, he turned his head to look at him before continuing: "In the war on land, I am here, and I can let them come and go with them many times as many times as many people!" However, on the navy's side, I'm a little worried! ”

When he was talking about land, he was full of confidence, so that Zheng Zhilong, who lowered his head, couldn't help but look up, but immediately lowered his head again.

He knew very well in his heart that Emperor Chongzhen was right! However, as far as the navy was concerned, as soon as he thought about it, he wanted to immediately say that "the naval battle has me."

But Emperor Chongzhen had already spoken first: "The warships are being renewed, and the large-scale naval battles in Xiyi, I am referring to the naval battles of the same size in the whole of Europe, thousands of large warships, and it is far from enough to rely on the current Ming Navy." After all, the fishermen turned into naval officers were not adapted to this kind of warfare. ”

When Zheng Zhilong heard this, he probably understood what the emperor meant by these words.

Sure enough, I heard Emperor Chongzhen continue: "Qing is one of the people who know most about naval warfare in my Ming Dynasty, so Qing will teach his skills to more naval officers, and then more naval officers and soldiers will pass on to more naval officers, which is the top priority of my Ming Navy." By the time the officers and men of our Ming Navy have grown up, the new generation of warships must be about the same. When that time comes, he will fight Xiyi again. I want to fight naval battles and land battles, and all of them have lost Xiyi's confidence at once. On this earth, only the Ming Dynasty is the only one to benefit future generations! ”

Hearing the back, Zheng Zhilong was a little enthusiastic when he heard it: Only the Ming Dynasty is the only one to benefit the future generations!

But he is here after all, and he already understands in his heart that the emperor still wants him to teach with peace of mind!

Thinking like this, on the surface, Zheng Zhilong immediately clasped his fists and saluted, and said firmly: "The last general is willing to do whatever it takes for future generations, for the Ming Dynasty, and for His Majesty's liver and brain!" ”

His voice was a bit loud, and basically the entire battleship heard it. They looked over curiously, thinking that they didn't know what the emperor said again, and let Zheng Zhilong say such generous words.

But after all, they just thought about it, and they didn't mean to gossip. It's just that they think, with the Jinyi Guard commander in the way, no one can walk through.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he didn't care about the others, and said to Zheng Zhilong with a smile: "I will reward the wood carving and bring it over, so that the various experimental parameters of the ironclad battleship do not need to be returned to report, and here you can know at any time how the parameters are effecting, and the construction of this new warship will definitely be faster than you imagined!" ”

Zheng Zhilong listened, his face showed joy, and he nodded vigorously.

Emperor Chongzhen looked at him, walked over, reached out and patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "We are about the same age, usually remember to exercise, he will eventually have the opportunity to be in a foreign land!" ”

When Zheng Zhilong heard this, he patted his chest and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, Weichen's body eats three bowls a day!" ”

In ancient times, most of the long-lived people were wealthy, or literate, people in their forties and fifties, who were in the prime of life, and even when they could just become high-ranking officials.

The reason why the average life expectancy of the ancients is low is that the poor did not live long, and many died young, which lowered the average life expectancy.

Emperor Chongzhen brought a group of courtiers over, first, to show his attention, to affirm the work of the shipyard, so that their work was more energetic.

The second is to let them, the important ministers of the court, know that if the knowledge outside of Confucianism is used well, the power brought by it is very huge, and it can be stopped by non-flesh and blood.

The third is that Emperor Chongzhen heard that this time the Ming Dynasty was about to go on an expedition to the Americas, and many soldiers of the Beijing Navy Armament Academy were like Zheng Zhilong, so they thought about running to make meritorious contributions. Therefore, this time I also brought them here, let them all see the new warships of the Ming Dynasty first, appease their hearts, let them study hard in the academy, with expectations for the future, and then go to the place to bring out more qualified naval officers. Wait until someday in the future, it will definitely come in handy.

After that, Emperor Chongzhen inspected the entire shipyard, and he had to admit that the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty were actually very smart, and in order to build ironclad warships, they came up with a lot of fantastic ideas to solve the practical difficulties encountered. If you have to talk about their shortcomings, it is that the theoretical knowledge system is a little worse.

For example, when designing a battleship, calculating the parameters of all aspects, these craftsmen are obviously weak. However, with the help of a group of newly learned elites brought by the crown prince, among them, there is even a European, that is, that Kircher, in terms of physics, he is indeed a little more powerful.

The next day, Emperor Chongzhen inspected the military port in Tianjin. At this time, there were already many transport ships gathered here, most of them large fortune ships. It undertook the task of transporting supplies to the Japanese kingdom and building stops along the way. As for the naval warships, they are basically in Denlai.

Because the kind of warship with Fubune as a warship, as well as the imitation of a Western-style sailing ship, are all made at the Denglai Shipyard. When Lu Xiangsheng was in power, it was to build ships and train sailors.

In addition, some of the warships participating in this expedition, all imitation Western-style sailing ships, had already sailed out of the Yingtianfu shipyard and headed for Fuso Province first.

Three days later, under the send-off of Emperor Chongzhen and his civil and military officials, the fleet of the expedition to the Americas was assembled and set off.

In this team, in addition to the conspicuous ironclad battleships, there are also five Portuguese battleships, Anders pressed the formation. Before leaving, he secretly told Catherine again that she must treat herself as a Ming person and live well, which is the greatest support for Portugal!

This time, the emperor did not have a big farewell ceremony, after all, this is not all of the navy. In addition, today's Ming Dynasty no longer needs to use special ceremonies to boost morale. The soldiers rushed to fight, because then they could have military merit!