The west side of the estuary of the lower reaches of the Min River.

The Min River naturally forms a bend here, and the channel suddenly widens, so that the speed of the river here decreases sharply, but the water surface is very deep.

In addition, the ground on the north shore is hard and flat, and it is very close to Tianxing Mansion, which is simply the best choice for building ports and shipyards.

Two of the original four slipways on the shore have been demolished and are being expanded according to the model of the Nan'an shipyard.

Zhu Linmiao raised her eyes and looked at the slipway in the distance, where a large number of craftsmen were busy working.

When he visited Yongbeili a few days ago, he took a map and compared the surrounding terrain, only to find that there was a place named Mawei on the south side of Yongbeili.

Only then did he understand that it was no wonder that he had never heard of such an excellent port, it turned out to be the famous Mawei Port!

It's just that due to the sea ban in the Ming Dynasty, Mawei is now just a few fishing villages and a small port. However, from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, Mawei was an extremely important military port.

It can be used as a home port for 5,000-ton ships by allowing ships of up and down to 2,000 tons to dock and burn and dig for reconstruction.

In addition, Mawei is located at the bend of the Min River, and the forts on the north and south banks can effectively protect the safety of the military port.

From the mouth of the East China Sea to Mawei Port, there are still sixty or seventy miles of waterway to go, which makes it even more difficult for the enemy to sneak attack here from the sea.

Therefore, Zhu Linmiao immediately decided to use Mawei as the home port of the Daming Sailor. If you go out of the east, you can directly attack Taiwan, and if you retreat into the port, you can also defend the Tianxingfu waterway.

It coincided with his plan to build the Yongbeili shipyard.

"Meet Your Highness." Zheng Chenggong wore a coarse cloth shirt, how could he look like a shipyard craftsman, he came to the front and saluted, "The silver transport car of the Ministry of Housing has arrived, the whole 300,000 taels, and the subordinates have already ordered it with the director and others, and there is no difference." ”

"Okay, then the construction of the Shipping School and the Sailor Camp can begin." Zhu Linmiao nodded and said, "The ship's materials should also be prepared as soon as possible, Yongbeili will consume a lot of wood in the future."

"By the way, send someone to inform the military department and ask them to allocate some coolies, there are too many things to build at the moment."

The coolies he was talking about were former prisoners of war, and he remembered that thousands more were imprisoned in Youxi County. The heavy manual labor of building a dock is exactly what can be used for those people.

"Subordinates obey."

Zhu Linmiao asked again: "Have the sites of the Shipping School and the Sailor School been decided?" ”

"Back to His Royal Highness, I have laid down a mansion connected by four courtyards and more than 30 acres of vacant land behind the house in Yongbeili, with more than 100 houses, which should be usable in a short time.

"It's only half a mile away from the Minjiang River, so it's a good fit."

"That being the case, tomorrow I will let the craftsmen from Nan'an start teaching. First, three or four hundred people were selected from the local craftsmen in Yongbeili to enter the shipping school, and all the expenses were allocated by the imperial court, plus two meals a day. When the renovation of the Yongbeili shipyard is completed, they can participate in shipbuilding while learning. ”

Zhu Linmiao frowned slightly when she said this, "It's just that over there is the Sailor Academy, but it is difficult to find a suitable person to teach sailors." ”

Zheng Chenggong lowered his eyes and hesitated, and finally gave up: "Your Highness, my subordinates do know some available candidates, but they are ......."

"Oh? Who is it? ”

"Zheng Wei has controlled the Daming Naval Division for decades, and there are many officers under him who are familiar with water warfare." Zheng Chenggong said, "Zheng rebelled against the north before, but some people who were unwilling to surrender did not go with him. Or you can re-recruit them to serve in the Water Master Academy.

"It's just that these people were all under Zheng Yi before, and there must be criticism in the court......"

Zhu Linmiao waved his hand indifferently and said, "Zheng Zhilong was also under the banner of the imperial court before, but all the sailors and soldiers were not subject to his dispatch. And these people's reluctance to surrender to them shows that they are still concerned about the Ming Dynasty.

"Now is the time to employ people, when you are not informal, can Da Mu have a way to contact these people?"

He wasn't afraid of any waves caused by these Zheng Zhilong's old departments. When the Sailor Academy began to operate, it was necessary for the Jinyi Guards to secretly monitor it, in order to prevent the construction and the Dutch from making a small work, and to take care of these people.

"Back to His Royal Highness, his subordinates are old acquaintances with several of them, but they have avoided the countryside because of Zheng Rebellious's affairs, and their subordinates will then go to look for them, and they will not miss a major event."

"That's fine," Zhu Linmiao instructed again, "Then leave the matter of recruiting sailors to Shi Lang."

"After the sailors are recruited, they can first go to the Jian'an Bujun Academy to train the basic queue and discipline, and you can find people before they return to Yongbeili."

"Yes!"

Zhu Linmiao asked about the recruitment of sailors.

Most of the coastal people in Fujing lived on boats, and it was extremely easy to recruit some sailors.

During this period, the Mission Office has been carrying out propaganda along the coast of Fujing, such as "good men should join the army to serve the country" and "it is glorious to serve the army", and the social status of soldiers has been greatly improved compared with before.

In addition, Zhu Linmiao's military salary is quite generous, and there are various preferential policies for soldiers, so more than 2,000 recruits have been recruited in just three or four days, and there is still an endless stream of follow-up applicants.

Zheng Chenggong's side is also carefully selected, and the ones left behind are all skilled sailors, who only need to teach them to control the warship, and then practice water warfare for a period of time, basically they can go to sea to fight in a few months.

After Zheng Chenggong had finished reporting the affairs, he bowed down and retired, preparing to find a teacher for the Sailor School.

He took a few steps, suddenly remembered something, turned around and said, "Your Highness, there is still something for your subordinates, consciously or should tell Your Highness." ”

"Oh Mu said it."

"Your Highness, the Nan'an Shipyard has a large number of people, and after your reconstruction, it only takes one year to make a small plywood...... There were six or seven Galen warships, two large ships, and the existing clippers, which were more than enough to deal with the Dutch.

"It is to prevent Zheng Shun's army from going south, and add two slipways, more than half a year is enough."

Zheng Chenggong turned his head to look at the several huge slipways in the Yongbeili shipyard, and continued: "However, the subordinates can look at the scene in Yongbeili, and they can build two thousand materials to go up to the big ship.

"This piece of armor has not yet entered the water, and it has cost 200,000 taels, and when the ship is built, it will need more than a million dollars. subordinates think that it is not necessary......"

Zhu Linmiao smiled and said: "Da Mu is right, five hundred tons, oh, there must be more than a dozen Galen warships of seven or eight thousand stones, and dozens of small boats are lined up in northern Fujian, which is enough to resist Zheng Zhilong's fleet." ”

He changed his words, "In such a battle, my sailors and soldiers will suffer many casualties, but it is not what I want."

"All I want is an overwhelming advantage!

"An advantage that makes Zheng Zhilong daunting. Even if he were to be an enemy, he would have been blown to the ground by our giant ship in a matter of moments, and my sailors would have been unscathed. ”

"But it costs ......"

Zhu Linmiao turned around and pointed to the sea, "Da Mu knows what is on the other side of the sea?" ”