Please ask me to be the emperor

"What, Feng Zhou has arrived?"

"Fengzhou has arrived!"

"This...how is this possible?" Zhang Shun thought this was incredible.

Such a big "giant ship" just drove all the way along the coast?

"After questioning the sailors who were operating the ship, I heard that after the ship was sent to Ryukyu, it was severely damaged and the court did not have special funds to repair it, so it has been moored in Changle Port." Gao Qiqian couldn't help but reply.

"Based on the slave plan, this ship must be of great importance. People in Fujian dare not use it easily, and there is no money for repairs, so it has been delayed until now."

"It just so happened that His Majesty issued an edict, so they threw this 'hot potato' over."

"Is this a hot potato?" Zhang Shun couldn't laugh or cry when he heard this. At the same time, he also had some understanding of the bureaucracy in the late Ming Dynasty.

To put it bluntly, although this ship is very precious, repairing it requires money. Where does the money come from?

Secondly, once it is repaired, what will happen if the court transfers it?

Even if the court doesn't transfer him, if he thinks of it one day and asks about it, wouldn't it be worth the loss to pursue him for the crime of misuse?

Now that it has been repaired, it will only do harm to itself, but no good. Naturally, this giant ship can only stay in the port.

It happened that "Your Majesty" came to issue an order, and everyone was eager to sail the ship away as soon as possible to avoid spending a fortune on annual maintenance.

In fact, the real situation of this matter is quite different from Gao Qiqian's guess.

It turned out that when Du Sance, Yang Lun and others who were envoys to Ryukyu were returning home, they encountered a "hurricane" and the mainmast was broken and drifted in the wind. Fortunately, they returned to Fujian.

After everyone completed their mission, they naturally returned to Beijing to resume their duties, but Fengzhou was stranded in Fujian.

At that time, the coastal waters of Fujian were in serious trouble and faced threats from the bandits Liu Xiang and Zheng Zhilong as well as the Dutch colonists who occupied Taiwan.

The two governors of Fujian inspected this ship and had the idea of ​​transforming it into a warship.

However, on the one hand, this sealing boat is extremely huge, which is not conducive to offshore maneuvers, and on the other hand, the main mast is broken and it is difficult to repair.

The reason why it is difficult to repair is that the mainmast is made of extraordinary material. It is made of golden nanmu produced in Shaanxi.

This golden nanmu is a large tree, "more than ten feet tall and dozens of weeks thick". It has the characteristics of "not soaked in water, not eaten by insects", not easy to crack and not easy to deform, so it is an ideal building material.

Key structures such as palace columns and beams in the Ming Dynasty were often made of this material.

It is precisely because of the great advantages of golden nanmu that when Zhang Zizhou built the boat, he recruited more than 10,000 people and transported it from the Qinling area of ​​Shaanxi to Fujian for shipbuilding.

Now that the mission to Ryukyu has been completed, the governor of Fujian has no ability to recruit young men and transport wood all the way again. Therefore, he can only sit in front of such a big boat and sigh, and then he has to sail back north.

"Your Majesty, Zhang Zizhou, director of the Tianjin Shipyard, wants to see you!" Just as Zhang Shun and Gao Qiqian were analyzing the matter of Feng Zhou's return to the north, there had been reports from Eunuch Hui.

"Oh? Hurry, please come quickly!" Of course Zhang Shun knew why he asked for a meeting at this time, so he couldn't help but ordered quickly.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, this is such a happy event!" Zhang Zizhou said excitedly as soon as he entered the palace, regardless of saluting.

"Since it is a happy event, we also need to rely on the help of your beloved!" Zhang Shun also smiled.

It is certainly a happy event to get a big ship for no reason.

"Your Highness, I have personally inspected the boat. This boat is extremely well preserved. Except for the broken mast and many broken riggings, there is almost no damage!" At this point, Zhang Zizhou, who had been the supervisor of the construction, said: This is also quite proud.

"Okay, it's all made by Aiqing's supervision!" Upon seeing this, Zhang Shun praised Zhang Zizhou instead of following the trend.

After Zhang Zizhou declined, he was resigned to it.

Then he smiled and said: "There was one thing that was the most difficult to deal with, and that was the big mast. This big mast is ten feet long and made of golden nanmu."

"Originally, I wanted to ask His Highness for an order to go to southern Shaanxi for logging. Unexpectedly, in order to ask His Highness to send troops yesterday, Dongjiang Town actually sent a shuttle boat and delivered more than ten black birch roots in one go."

"The length of them ranges from seven to ten feet, and the largest one is ten or nine feet long. It is suitable for use as a mast."

"Okay, this relationship is good, God is really helping me!" Zhang Shun couldn't help but said with joy after hearing this.

"I just don't know how you plan to modify this ship. Do you have any idea of ​​the cost?"

"Your Highness, this is what Wei Chen thinks!" After hearing this, Zhang Zizhou quickly presented the drawings and said, "I want to strengthen these three layers of plywood first, and then open gun holes on the left and right sides of the ship."

"I plan to open 16 gun holes on the bottom floor, 18 gun holes on the middle layer, and 28 gun holes on the upper layer, for a total of 62 guns."

"There are ten more Hongyi cannons on the bow, twelve more on the stern, fourteen more gun holes on the poop, and ten more cannons on the plywood."

"A total of one hundred and eight cannons are placed together. The firepower is so powerful that it has never been seen since ancient times. Everything in the way will be smashed!"

"One hundred and eight gates? Okay, let's do it like this!" Zhang Shun perked up after hearing this, and suddenly found that this Fengzhou-modified battleship seemed to have touched the threshold of a sailing battleship.

In fact, this is because Zhang Shun is ignorant.

If modified according to Zhang Zizhou's plan, such a sailing battleship would have surpassed the large sailing battleship "Sea Monarch" just built in the UK.

Not only is the hull much larger than it, but the cannons also exceed the 104 it was designed for.

Of course, Zhang Shun doesn't know this yet, but this does not prevent him from continuing to make some effective suggestions.

"By the way, is there any additional armor on this ship?" As Zhang Shun, who has played the game "Voyage 4 Power Enhanced Edition", he naturally has some experience in modifying ships.

"Armor? What are you doing with this?" Zhang Zizhou was stunned when he heard this, and couldn't help but explain quickly, "The hull of this boat has two layers. Each layer is three inches and a half thick. It cannot be broken easily."

"Even if it is damaged, there is a watertight cabin underneath to prevent it from sinking."

"Although it is not sinkable, it will eventually affect the speed of the ship and thus the victory of the naval battle!" Unexpectedly, Zhang Shun shook his head after hearing this.

"If iron armor is added to these two sides, I'm afraid it will be extremely heavy and difficult for the ship to carry." Zhang Zizhou pondered for a moment after hearing the words and couldn't help but remind him.

Zhang Shun thought about it carefully, and it made the same sense.

After all, this ship is a wooden ship powered by sails, not a steel behemoth powered by steam or fuel. Naturally, it cannot be designed according to the standards of later warships.

Thinking of this, Zhang Shun still shook his head and said: "In that case, it doesn't have to be like this,"

"It's just that the key parts of the ship still need to be reinforced with iron parts and thick hardwood boards. Otherwise, if it is damaged, all the officers and men on the ship will be buried in the sea!"

"This minister encourages me to do it!" Zhang Zizhou was stunned when he heard this, and then he realized that fighting at sea and sending envoys to vassal countries were two different things.

The latter only needs the ship to be strong and able to successfully cross the sea, while the latter not only needs to meet the above requirements, but also has to fight enemy ships, so the requirements of the two are quite different.

As soon as he thought about it, he couldn't help but said quickly: "In this case, I am going to thicken the hull by another three inches to make it one foot thick. Then strengthen the ribs, just in case."

"Okay, let's do it like this!" Zhang Shun nodded with satisfaction after hearing this, and then added, "By the way, if those sailors who sailed the ship back north are willing to stay, they will also be paid generously. Of."

Although they were going north along the coast, it was a good skill for these people to be able to drive a big ship with a broken mainmast to go north.

Now is the time to employ people, so we should try our best to recruit them.

However, neither Zhang Shun nor Zhang Zizhou expected that starting from this modified "giant ship", China would also have its first sailing battleship, which would also become a symbol of China's entry into the Age of Discovery in this world. event.

Although this battleship still had many shortcomings, it verified the technology and explored the direction for the newly built sail battleships. It also took the opportunity to train a navy capable of operating large surface battleships, and established a strong naval force for the new dynasty. Teacher, laid a solid foundation.