Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 604 Queen 7
Yang Menglong stood on the flat deck, patted the ship's mast vigorously, and praised it.Being able to build such a huge ship of more than 4000 tons in just a few months, he is quite satisfied with this achievement. This proves that the Ming Dynasty still has a wealth of foundation and accumulation in navigation that cannot be underestimated, and there is no lack of proficiency. It is not difficult for excellent shipbuilders and engineers to make dumplings as long as they are given a suitable stage.

In fact, sailing warships are completely different from modern warships made of steel and computers. If a country is determined to go to the ocean, it is not difficult to build a fleet of considerable size in a short period of time.For example, Athens in ancient Greece formed a fleet of [-] warships in just a few years. This fleet defeated the Persian navy in the Second Persian War and saved ancient Greek civilization; Three hundred warships were built within one year. Relying on the device of the Crow Bridge, the ancient Roman navy, which had been in the army for only two years, repeatedly hit the Carthaginian navy, which had dominated the Mediterranean for hundreds of years, and ended Carthage. The sea supremacy of the Christians; not to mention the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman navy was annihilated many times in the battle with the Venetian navy, but the Venetians desperately found that after they annihilated or severely damaged the Ottoman navy, within a few days In [-], a larger Ottoman navy appeared on the Mediterranean sea, launching a more powerful challenge to them!Theoretically, as long as there are enough shipbuilders and timber, sailing warships can be built as much as they like, and no one can stop them—of course, it is hard to say whether they can afford it. Although sailing warships do not need coal Drink oil, but each voyage needs to consume a lot of rigging, canvas, asphalt, tung oil and other materials. Of course, one or two ships will be fine. If there are hundreds or thousands of ships, the consumption will be quite scary.In the eyes of a foreigner from the Netherlands, Yang Menglong took several months to build a warship, which was unbelievably slow. Of course, the tonnage of this warship also opened his eyes.

Shen Tingyang stroked the bow cannon, his eyes were green, and his saliva was about to flow out.

Yang Menglong smiled: "Do you like this battleship?"

Shen Tingyang nodded like a chicken pecking rice: "I like it, I like it!"

Yang Menglong said: "If you like it, make it your flagship."

Shen Tingyang was overjoyed: "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir!"

Yang Menglong waved his hand and said: "You're welcome, this was originally prepared for you. However, Old Shen, this battleship cost a lot of money to build. How do you plan to earn this money back for me?"

Shen Tingyang froze for a moment.

Yang Menglong rolled his eyes: "Why this expression? You old man thought that I had a whim and purposely got a few warships to play with?" He looked towards the few warships that were under construction day and night on the berth not far away. Open your arms and say loudly: "I want to see the warships of Ming Dynasty flying across the seven seas, set sail, my navy, and bring back the wealth of the whole world!"

This guy has a second stroke!
Shen Tingyang curled his lips, not bothering to deal with this secondary disease, and continued to think about his precious battleship.In his opinion, the firepower of this giant ship is still a little weaker, and it should be equipped with a few more cannons...

Numerous berths of Wuhan Shipyard have been lined up. After training, after replacing the units of measurement such as inches and feet with more accurate units of measurement such as centimeters, decimeters and meters, the boatmen from all corners of the country have shown their skills. Timbers that have been stored in various shipyards for decades or hundreds of years are processed into standard boards, and warships and transport ships are quickly formed in this way.At this rate, by the end of the year, Wuhan Shipyard will be able to produce at least fifty warships and fifteen large merchant ships.These large merchant ships have a displacement of an astonishing [-] tons. They are responsible for traveling to Nanyang and bringing back the ore and timber from Nanyang—the foreigner’s ships are a bit smaller, and the phosphate rock and guano they transported can never satisfy Yang Menglong’s appetite. , No way, I had to do it myself.When the navy is strong enough, these merchant ships will enter the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Malacca under the protection of the navy, and follow the footsteps of Zheng He to visit the legendary new world.

Of course, the above only exists in Yang Menglong's fantasy, if it really becomes a reality, I don't know when I will have to wait.

The battleship Hornet hoisted its white sails, sailed out of the port amidst the cheers of the crowd, and slowly sailed downstream along the Yangtze River.The cheers of the common people on both sides of the Yangtze River were earth-shattering. Although they didn't know what a powerful navy meant, they also knew that with such a powerful warship, they would be safe. It was in their vital interests!At the same time, the shipbuilding project also provided them with a large number of employment opportunities and business opportunities. These are real benefits, and of course they support it.

On both sides of the Yangtze River, the rice waves are rolling, and the wheat is fragrant. A harvest season is coming.

Hundreds of miles away, Xinyang was in a gloomy state. Civil uprisings in Xinyang were in full swing. 20 Xinyang people surrounded Xinyang City. In Zhengyang City, which was only a hundred miles away from Xinyang, more than [-] officers and soldiers attacked [-] people. The rebels defended Zhengyang City and launched waves of fierce attacks, while more than a thousand rebel cavalry cruised around the periphery, violently beating the food-raising team and scouts sent by the officers and soldiers, until the sky was dark and it was difficult to distinguish.The officers and soldiers had a great advantage in terms of strength, but the red lady had the right location and people. Not only was she familiar with the terrain, she also had great prestige in Xinyang. With an order, people from a hundred miles around Zhengyang took away all the pots and pans, and even The wells have all been filled, and the officers and soldiers have nowhere to raise food, let alone recruit civilians. The more they fight, the harder they become, and the more uncomfortable they become. If this continues, it won't be long before they are eaten alive!

In this regard, the prefect of Xinyang could do nothing. He cried all day long, pulled his hair and muttered to himself: "What should I do? What should I do?" He is now a mouse in the bellows. He will let him go; Zuo Liangyu won, and with this old man's temper, I'm afraid he won't be able to keep all the money he earned so hard and the concubines he got after a lot of effort!Anyway, no matter which side wins or loses, it will only be bad for him, and there is no benefit, so why not bother him!
On the contrary, the gentry in Xinyang City looked away. During this period of time, they found out clearly that the female bandit seemed to have a close relationship with Yang Menglong. If they could get Yang Menglong's line through her, wouldn't they be rich?As for the fields and whatnot, how about giving them to those mud legs?So many businessmen who have made a fortune following Yang Menglong, how many of them planed food in the fields?They made up their minds, if the red lady wins, they will negotiate with her, distribute the land to the common people, and then follow Yang Menglong to make a fortune!
As for the magistrate...don't care about him!

Hou Xun didn't know that the Xinyang counter-insurgency campaign he led was doomed to fail from the very beginning.This old man occasionally wakes up from the comfort zone built by wine and beauties, and counts the days with his fingers, huh?Ten days have passed, why hasn't Zhengyang City been captured yet?He was a little annoyed, so he sent someone to find Zuo Liangyu, and immediately asked, "Hasn't Zhengyang City been taken yet?"

Zuo Liangyu's eyes were bloodshot, and he was helpless in exhaustion: "This subordinate is incompetent, so far he has not been able to win Zhengyang City!"

Hou Xun was really angry: "What did you do? Didn't you pat your chest and promise that you can finish it in ten days at most!?"

Zuo Liangyu smiled wryly, and said, "My lord, please go to the front line with your subordinates, and you will understand everything when you get there!"

Hou Xun followed Zuo Liangyu to the front line full of anger, and stood on a dirt hill to watch the battle.Just when he arrived, the officers and soldiers launched an attack on Zhengyang City again. Two to 3000 people armed with swords and shields and carrying ladders approached quickly, with great momentum.However, the crossbow arrows rained down on Zhengyang City, and the bowstrings kept trembling, and the officers and soldiers who attacked the city fell one by one. A hundred steps below Zhengyang City, the crossbow arrows were denser than weeds, and every corpse was stuck like a hedgehog. Similarly, it is not known which ones were injected during life and which ones were inserted after death.Under the shooting of crossbows and arrows, the officers and soldiers had to pay a considerable price for every step forward. It was only because of the rewards issued by the officers that they maintained their vigor. They put the ladder on the city wall, and then climbed up like ants.On the city wall, arrows and rocks rained down, and pot after pot of boiling oil was poured down. Every pot of boiling oil poured down, there would be heart-piercing howls and cries from below.Some elite servants covered their bodies with shields and rushed up on the ladder. Immediately, horizontal knives and long guns came over the city wall. Plasma splattered.It was the first time Hou Xun saw such a bloody fight, his face turned pale with fright, and he stammered, "This...the rebels are so fierce!"

Zuo Liangyu said: "Not only are they fierce, but they are also well-equipped! All the knives, guns, and crossbows they use are made of fine steel. They are extremely sharp, and there are also a large number of powerful firearms. It is really too difficult to deal with!"

Hou Xun was even more shocked: "There are still firearms!?" This completely subverted his concept. In his impression, the rebels were a group of rabble with poor clothes and blunt knives. In this situation, this is not the case at all. The equipment of this group of rebels is much better than that of the Changping Army and the Linqing Army!That's fine, the most excessive thing is that they still have firearms, can they still play happily together!

As if to prove that Zuo Liangyu was not talking big, in a section of the city wall that was about to be breached by officers and soldiers, hundreds of hissing and smoking stuff were suddenly dropped from behind the battlement, followed by a series of violent explosions and loud noises. Big clouds of blood mist erupted in the bushes, and in the gunpowder smoke, officers and soldiers were cut down by clusters of flying shrapnel, and fell into a pool of blood, hissing and screaming, extremely miserable.After a blast, the officers and soldiers were thrown into disarray, but the defenders seemed to think that they hadn't died enough, and more than a dozen explosive packets were thrown down. Being treated as an ant by the explosion shock wave, Lao Gao was thrown up, and the severed limbs flew all over the sky, dripping a shower of blood.

Zuo Liangyu said in a shy voice, "My lord, now you understand why your subordinates haven't captured Zhengyang, right?"

His answer was vomiting.

(End of this chapter)