Please ask me to be the emperor

"Uh" Zhang Zizhou was stunned when he heard this. He was not happy but worried, and instead said.

"Your Highness, it is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice. I have only served as a supervisor. I have no shipbuilding skills, no shipbuilding craftsmen, and no shipyard. How can I do this?"

"There are shipyards in Tianjin, Tongzhou and Linqing. I can order the craftsmen and materials to be moved there!" Zhang Shun thought for a while and put forward his own opinion.

"After you go to inspect it, you can write down an expansion plan and then rebuild it."

"As for the three-layer plywood warships, we can postpone it for the time being and help me build and transform a batch of warships and troop carriers first."

"Linqing, that's a good feeling!" Zhang Zizhou, who was originally frowning, couldn't help but feel happy when he heard this.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Shun couldn't help but wonder when he saw that he was worried and happy for a while.

"Your Highness is unaware that Linqing is one of the three major shipyards of the imperial court!" Zhang Zizhou couldn't help but explain.

"Which are the three major ones? Nanjing Longjiang, Huai'an Qingjiang and Linqing Weihe!"

"Among them, Nanjing's Longjiang is good at building sea-going ships, Huai'an's Qingjiang is good at supervising the construction of inland canal ships, and Linqing is good at both, and can build both canal ships and ocean-covering ships!"

The so-called ocean-covering ship is a style of maritime transport ship in the Ming Dynasty.

Its system is "six feet long at the base, one foot long at the tip; one foot long at the head, one foot wide at the bottom, seven feet eight inches wide at the bottom", and can carry thousands of stones of grain.

Although Linqing Weihe Shipyard is not as good as Longjiang Shipyard, it still has experience in manufacturing sea-going ships.

"However, starting from the third year of Jiajing, the Linqing Weihe Shipyard was abolished and merged into Linqing, Huai'an. Now only the Yiweihe Branch Factory remains." Zhang Zizhou said again.

"Ah?" Zhang Shun was startled when he heard this, "Then, is this branch factory enough?"

"What kind of warship does Your Highness want to build?" Zhang Zizhou frowned when he heard this and asked without answering.

"The Weihe Branch Factory has 18 factories under it. Due to chaotic management, it only builds more than a hundred watercrafts every year."

"If Your Highness wants to rebuild the shipyard, he will have to recruit its craftsmen, collect its ship materials, and start a new one, so as not to suffer its ills!"

Zhang Shun couldn't help but feel pleased when he saw that he was quite organized.

Hearing this, he smiled and said: "I also know that this is a big deal, so I will build small boats first, and when my skills are familiar, I will build medium boats, and then build big boats!"

"To tell you the truth, I may need to use troops at sea in the near future, so I plan to build thirty bird ships first, and other fire ships and exploration ships as needed."

The bird boat mentioned by Zhang Shun was popular in the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the early years.

It got its name because of its "small head and swollen belly, long body and straight body, two sides of the tail, and two oars. When the wind blows, the sails can be raised, and when there is no wind, the oars can be swayed. It can be turned easily. The canopy is long and the oars are as fast as a bird flying."

This boat was originally developed from the wave-riding boat of the Jiajing period.

Although its hull is huge, its speed is on par with sand ships and bluff ships. It is suitable for offshore combat, so it has become one of the standard equipment of the Ming army.

Its structure is "seven feet five feet long, one foot long at the tip, nine feet deep in the cabin, and two inches and nine minutes thick in planks." Except for the cabin being one foot deeper, the other dimensions are almost the same as the No. 4 Fu Ship Haicang Ship.

However, although the two sides are similar in size, the Bird Ship has actually eliminated the Fuchuan warships in the Ming army's sequence and has become the first choice for the new generation of warships.

And in addition to this kind of "small bird boat", it also developed a "big bird boat" that is more than ten feet long.

Originally this "big bird ship" was a merchant ship at sea. Later, after it was captured by pirate Liu Xiang and others, more than ten cannons were installed and used as a warship, making it difficult for the Ming army to resist.

The Ming army did not dare to show weakness. They also built big bird ships to resist, and even absorbed the structure of the "Far West Plywood Ship" and developed a double-deck warship.

In the original historical line, this kind of ship eventually developed into the main sailing warship of the Manchu and Ming Dynasties Zheng Navy, which could carry twenty-four cannons.

Of course, Zhang Shun did not know at this time that this "big bird ship" would eventually develop into a typical Chinese sail warship, but he also discovered this new appearance from various Ming court documents and atlases. The "Big Bird Warship".

Zhang Shun's idea is very simple, that is, he is preparing to adopt a "three-step strategy."

The first step is to initially establish a sea shipyard to manufacture this kind of "bird ship" suitable for coastal operations.

The second step is to develop a series of double-deck "big bird ship" warships suitable for offshore use based on the "little bird ship" warships.

The third step is to design a three-deck ocean-going warship based on the Ming Dynasty Fengzhou after the technology matures.

Three types of warships, one goal, from near to far, deep into the ocean!

"This" Zhang Zizhou pondered for a moment after hearing the words, and then nodded and said, "Okay, in that case, Wei Chen's life will be sold to His Highness!"

From tank boats to warships, from river boats to sea ships, there were many difficulties and obstacles in the way, but he agreed without saying a word.

It's just that he was happy to agree, but Zhang Shun was a little unable to sit still.

This is a serious matter, so don’t let me get in trouble!

Thinking of this, Zhang Shun couldn't help but ask: "This matter is not trivial. If it delays my official business, beheading is a small matter, but ruining my grand plan is a big deal."

"I wonder if you have a plan in mind. Tell me and let me know the details!"

"There are many difficulties, but everything is difficult at the beginning!" Zhang Zizhou said after hearing this, "I think that if you want to accomplish this, the first step is to go to the vicinity of Dagukou to inspect the factory site."

"If the old factory is available, we will build ships while expanding the old factory; if the old factory is unavailable, we will first make the old factory prepare materials and choose another location to build the factory."

"Among them, paint, jute, tung oil, and iron parts can be purchased from Tongzhou, Linqing and other places. As for other common auxiliary materials, they can be repurchased."

"There is only one thing, it is extremely important, and no one but Your Highness can do it!"

"What's the matter?" Zhang Shun suddenly had some suspicion in his heart and couldn't help but ask.

"Mu Zhi!" Zhang Zizhou said decisively, "When building a ship, you must use big wood, not hard wood."

“Pine and fir are the lowest, followed by camphor, elm, teak, chicken wing, huanghuali, ironwood and even nanmu.”

"The ships in Guangzhou are all made of iron wood, so they are as hard as iron. If they collide with it, they will be shattered!"

"As usual, pine and fir are used in building canals, and they only need to be repaired every three to five years. It's really too late to wait."

"Today, even if we use pine and fir to build seagoing ships and warships, we still need solid wood for the keels, rudders, masts, etc."

"I see that the bird boats mentioned by His Highness are roughly made of about 500 pieces of wood, and should use about 250 pieces of wood. If thirty boats are built, a total of 7,500 pieces of wood will be needed."

"There is no forest or big trees near Tianjin. I don't know what to do?"

"Seven thousand five hundred roots?" Zhang Shun couldn't help but take a breath of cold air after hearing this, and then said truthfully, "I want to import it from Liaodong, do you know?"

"Liaodong?" Zhang Zizhou was stunned when he heard this, and thought to himself: Now that Hou Jin has seized Liaodong, how will you input it, Your Highness?

However, this matter was too big for him, a small head of the Ministry of Industry, to comment on, so he responded: "That's fine. It's bitter cold in Liaodong and the trees are harder. If there is any use for the wood, you should use it!"