That is, with clippers for maritime trade, the efficiency of transportation will become extremely terrifying. At the same distance, the ordinary Galen cargo ship had only traveled a third or even less, and the cargo transported by the clipper had already arrived.

High-speed and efficient means of shipping can also greatly reduce costs - sailors have to pay a lot of money for food, clothing, and even illness and death.

In this way, for buyers, the goods shipped by clippers can be at least more than 20% cheaper than before!

Another great advantage of clippers is that they are not afraid of pirates. Nowadays, the pirate ship that is moving in the oceans is as slow as a turtle than taking off the scissors, and before the pirates get close, the scissors have already run away without a trace, what do you take to rob?

It is conceivable that after the Daming ocean-going caravan is equipped with a large number of clippers, no matter where the business is, as long as they do it, they will quickly rely on the cost advantage to defeat all competitors.

What the old Spanish golden fleet, what the Lanhai coachman, what the emerging maritime power England, will all become "backward production capacity", and watch the Eastern Empire earn the majority of maritime trade.

Of course, Zhu Linmiao also knows very well that if this day comes, Western countries will definitely unite to threaten the Ming Dynasty with force.

Therefore, it is necessary to establish a strong naval division that can make other countries dare not act rashly, in order to effectively protect the maritime trade routes of the Ming Dynasty. However, with the lucrative support of overseas trade in the future, and the large number of advanced warship designs in his mind, the sailor was certainly not afraid of any challenge from his opponents.

However, although clippers are good, they are only limited to commercial shipping. Because its hull is too narrow and its lateral stability is very poor, a single shot from the side can almost overturn itself. Therefore, the Galen warship was still the main force of naval warfare, and throughout history, until the second half of the nineteenth century, the sail Galen firmly dominated the world's seas.

Zhu Linmiao, under the guidance of Pan Mingzhong, saw the clipper under construction on an inconspicuous slipway on the westernmost side of the shipyard.

The slender hull and slightly upturned bow are exactly the same as the model of the clipper ship he collected in his previous life.

He nodded with satisfaction and instructed Shao Zhizhang: "When the trial production of this ship is successful, five of the same will be built immediately, and the silver will be allocated from the ocean-going caravan." ”

He turned to Pan Mingzhong again, "Master Pan, it's just that the size of this ship is too small, can it be enlarged to about 300 tons?" "The bigger the boat, the more resistant it is to wind and waves. When it reaches 300 tons, it can be regarded as barely having the ability to go to the sea, otherwise it can only run the routes of Southeast Asia and Japan.

"Back to the emperor, as soon as the first ship is built, the lower officials will immediately start to enlarge the size. The craftsmen have been able to skillfully build 800-ton warships, and the 300-ton clippers should be 90% sure. ”

"Okay." Zhu Linmiao instructed again, "In addition, the 1,000-ton second-class battleship must also start trial production as soon as possible, but these things will have to be presided over by Lord Pan." ”

He had already handed over the drawings of the 1,000-ton Galen warship to the shipyard, but from 800 tons to 1,000 tons, it didn't seem to be much improved, but it was about to touch the ceiling of the shipbuilding industry in this era.

The strength of the keel, the thickness of the hull, the structure of the mast, etc., are all new topics for the Ming Dynasty, which has a weak foundation in shipbuilding. You must know that looking at the whole world today, there are no more than ten shipyards that can build warships of more than 1,000 tons.

However, Zhu Linmiao firmly believes that the Ming Dynasty has never lacked talents, as long as the imperial court supports, it will not be long before the craftsmen will be able to master the construction technology of a thousand-ton or even a 1,500-ton giant like the British "Sea Monarch".

Pan Mingzhong hurriedly bowed down and said: "The lower officials obey the order, and they will do their best to live up to the expectations of the saints!" ”

Subsequently, under the guidance of Shao Zhizhang, Zhu Linmiao inspected the construction of several warships of 300 to 500 tons.

At present, Longjiang Shipyard has nearly 4,000 craftsmen at all levels, as well as tens of thousands of strong laborers who do miscellaneous work, and eight large and small slipways, and has become the largest shipbuilding base in Asia, and cruisers and frigates of less than 500 tons can be easily mass-produced.

However, the artillery casting speed of the Ordnance Bureau began to be unable to keep up with the speed of the launching of the warships, so that the military department had to spend more money to order from the Macao Bugarao Artillery Factory.

Zhu Linmiao is already planning, and after the preparations for the Northern Expedition are over, he will have to allocate some money to expand the Ordnance Bureau. Now that several new iron yards have been built in Foshan, it may be possible to build an additional cannon foundry there......

He looked at a three-hundred-ton frigate on the slipway that was nearly completed, and was thinking in his heart, but Shi Lin quickly came up and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, Gu Yanwu Gu Commander said that there is an urgent military situation. ”

What's the matter that can't wait to go back to the palace? Zhu Linmiao couldn't help but have a bad premonition, and said to Shi Lin: "Bring him over." He turned around and motioned for Shao Zhizhang, Pan Mingzhong and others to retreat.

Gu Yanwu almost trotted forward, first made a big salute, and then looked at Zhang Jiayu, Ying Tianxiang and others next to him.

Zhu Linmiao said: "But it doesn't hurt to say it. ”

"Yes." Gu Yanwu said with an anxious look on his face at this time, "Your Majesty, Beijing just sent a five-hundred-mile urgent report, saying that the puppet emperor has left Beijing and fled to Shenyang. The captive general Tan Bai stayed in Beijing, and the grass and trees in the city were all soldiers, and they were in chaos......"

Zhu Linmiao stood with his hands in his hands and waited for the following, he knew that if there was only good news such as Shunzhi's flight to the north, Gu Yanwu would not have this expression, and he would not be in such a hurry.

Sure enough, Gu Yanwu continued: "A few days ago, my subordinates heard that General Li of the Swift Battalion was desperately resisting by thieves on the front line of Yangzhou and Dujiang, and it was rumored that the captive chief Dolgon had arrived in Yangzhou to command the troops. The subordinates felt that something was wrong, so they sent people to the north of Yangzhou to investigate, but they were all like stones sinking into the sea.

"It wasn't until Fang Cai that some spies returned with serious injuries, and reported that the thieves drove all the population north of Yangzhou to the other side of the Huai River, and those who did not obey were slaughtered, and more than a dozen spies in Beizhen were also entrapped.

After that, the thieves set fire to the roads everywhere and destroyed them. At present, large areas of land in Yangzhou, Gaoyou and other state capitals have been burned to white ground by thieves, and there are no people for hundreds of miles, and the disaster is spreading to Huai'an Mansion......"

"It's not good," Zhu Linmiao's pupils shrank when she heard this, "Jianyu is going to give up Yangzhou and other places, shrink and defend the Huai River!"

"Yangzhou and Huai'an are both prosperous places, and under such atrocities as Jianyu, I am afraid that millions of people will be in trouble......"

Gu Yanwu hurriedly knelt down and said, "It's all because the subordinates are not able to probe, and they also ask the saint to surrender." ”

Zhu Linmiao quickly calmed down, raised his hand and said, "Lord Gu, please get up." Jiannu is cunning and tyrannical, and the incident happened suddenly, it is not your fault.

"Besides, at present, the thieves in Nanzhili have not been appeased, and the army lacks repair, even if you get the news in advance, I am afraid that it will be difficult to immediately wave the army north."

Zhang Jiayu also pondered on the side: "Your Majesty, maybe the thieves are deliberately making a big killing, leading our army to rush north to rescue, in order to ambush me halfway!" ”

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(End of chapter)