Great Tang Southern Emperor

"Yes."

"By the way, how many merchant ships are there in the shipyard now?" This is Li Zhen's third task, which is to take away all the merchant ships in the shipyard. Now that the third-tier battleship has been built, the age of great navigation is about to begin Now, it's time for Liu Rengui's 'graduation practice' to start. Let him accumulate enough experience before the era of great voyages begins.

"Your Highness, in Yue Shipyard, there are 27 large merchant ships with a displacement of about [-] tons, [-] medium-sized merchant ships with a displacement of [-] tons, and [-] small merchant ships with a displacement of [-] tons. There are several miniature merchant ships under [-] tons. In addition, there are three armed merchant ships, which are specially manufactured to ensure the safety of raw material transportation. If His Highness needs them, his subordinates can transfer them to His Highness." Regarding these data, Zheng Yintao said again It's so familiar, I just opened my mouth.

"I don't need armed merchant ships and miniature merchant ships. I only want medium-sized and large merchant ships, and a few small merchant ships are enough. I don't need any more." Li Zhen rejected Zheng Yintao's proposal.

What are you kidding?A miniature merchant ship with a displacement of less than [-] tons cannot withstand the turbulence at all in the sea. Driving such a ship to the sea is entirely to provide the sea with marine garbage.

The small merchant ships are better, but Li Zhen doesn't plan to use more, the reason why he wants several ships is purely for use as liaison ships, otherwise he wouldn't want any of them.

As for the three armed ships on board, Li Zhen also knew, because the raw materials provided by Yuezhou Shipyard were not in Yuezhou, but Yongzhou Luzhou and other places near the Beibu Gulf, which were still a long way from Yuezhou.Moreover, Yongzhou is located in the [-] mountains. There are many local barbarians. The timber collection points are often attacked by barbarians. Sometimes even the fleet transporting timber may be attacked by barbarian sampans. These three ships Armed merchant ships were specially transferred to protect the fleet transporting timber.

Chapter 560 The Eager Liu Rengui

Chapter 25 The Eager Liu Rengui

The firepower of armed merchant ships is very deterrent to other fleets, but to Li Zhen who has a warship, he doesn't look down on him at all. Even a fifth-tier warship is not something an armed merchant ship can compete with.

Although Tier [-] and Tier [-] battleships are not as powerful against wind and waves as Tier [-] battleships, and cannot sail in the ocean, they are armed to the teeth after all. If they are protected by the fleet, it is no problem to make two laps in the South China Sea.

Back at Yuewang Mansion, Li Zhen saw Liu Rengui waiting in front of the door at first sight.This year, Liu Rengui is over 40 years old, with a full face of tea-pulling beard, probably due to the long time at sea, his skin is particularly rough by the sea breeze, making him look even older.

Liu Rengui came to Yuezhou a few days ago. He has experienced such a long life in Dengzhou. He has learned everything he needs to learn. Zhen transferred him back.

"Regular, why did you come back so soon?" Seeing Liu Rengui, Li Zhen couldn't help but asked with a smile, "Didn't you go to see your fleet? Why did you come back so soon?"

Liu Rengui said anxiously: "Let's not talk about this, Your Highness, how is my warship? Is the launch going smoothly? Have you encountered any difficulties?"

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Can I not be in a hurry?" Liu Rengui said anxiously: "This is my fleet, if I am not in a hurry, who is in a hurry?"

"Since you are anxious about your fleet, why don't you follow me to see it for yourself?" Li Zhen teased, "You didn't refuse to pull you there before, but now you are so anxious, why are you bothering?"

"Warships are important, but the fleet is also very important." Liu Rengui said firmly: "After all, this is the first time for my subordinates to go to such a far place. Everything is prepared for supplies. How can I not personally check it? Let's not talk about this, the battleship What's going on?"

The more anxious Liu Rengui was, the more Li Zhen wanted to tease him. Seeing this, she spread her hands and said, "How do I know about the situation of the battleship? This time I'm going to preside over the launching ceremony. The battleship has just been launched for sea trials. What's the situation? It will take a while for feedback to come back, how can I possibly know now?"

"Ah?" Liu Rengui was immediately disappointed. Although he is over 40 years old, his experience is said to be far higher than that of Li Zhen. According to the situation, it is impossible to be deceived by Li Zhen, but as the saying goes, caring makes chaos. Regarding the matter of the Zonghai-class battleship, who is in the mood to distinguish the truth from Li Zhen's words?

"Okay, I'm just joking with you." Seeing Liu Rengui's disappointed look, Li Zhen laughed even more: "I won't tease you anymore, don't worry about the situation of the battleship, the current situation is not bad, although there may be some problems in the future. Minor issues, but overall it's pretty good and shouldn't be a major issue."

"Huh! Then I'm relieved." Liu Rengui breathed a sigh of relief immediately, and said with a wry smile, "Your Highness, please don't be so tempting in the future. Do you know? At that moment just now, I really wanted to hit you Ton."

"Uh...forget it, let's not talk about this." Li Zhen smiled coyly, and changed the subject: "Didn't you just say that you went to see the fleet's supplies? Why are you back now?"

"At first, my subordinates were worried, but I saw Mr. Luo at the pier. He has much more experience than me, so I came back."

"Is Luo Hansheng?" Li Zhen suddenly remembered that after she came to Lingnan, such a person did join her. He is an old sailor and a navigator with rich sailing experience. He has spent his whole life struggling in the waves. Fighting, the farthest place even led the fleet to the country of lions. In the South China Sea, he should be regarded as one of the most outstanding navigators.

At that time, because he didn't have enough ships, he opened a marine academy for him, and asked him to select talents from Wentian Shuyuan to help him train pilots.

Unexpectedly, just after he got the fleet, the old man ran over on his own initiative, which shows his eagerness to go to sea.

"That's right, with him here, there's really nothing to do with you." Li Zhen smiled. Luo Hansheng is an old sailor. Although he may be far inferior to Liu Rengui in tactical command of the fleet, after all, he has been on the sea all his life. He is much better than Liu Rengui in dealing with activities on the sea. He knows exactly what should be loaded on the ship and what should be needed.

"So, when will your warship arrive?" Liu Rengui asked.

"Are you still expecting to bring the Zonghai class this time?" Li Zhen squinted at him and said, "The Zonghai class has just been launched, and it will take at least three months for the sea trial to be completed. , is when the Zonghai-class really starts work, but you have seven days at most to go on your first voyage, and when you come back, the Zonghai-class should have just completed sea trials, so don't think about it in a short time. "

The reason for saying this is because Li Zhen is so unkind. Liu Rengui sent him to sea not long after he came to Yuezhou.It's that time waits for no one. He has been waiting for more than ten years, and now that the big ship in his mind has been successfully built, he can't wait for a moment.

Especially now that it is November, the hot summer and autumn have just passed. Although the sea is not calm, there are no typhoons that come every three to five days like in summer. It is undoubtedly a very important condition. Whether it is a long-distance voyage or a return trip, typhoon weather can be avoided very reasonably, and there is no doubt that there is a greater guarantee in terms of safety.

If you leave too late, it will last more than half a year, so you don't have to worry about it when you go, but the return trip of the fleet is likely to catch up with summer, and summer is the peak season of typhoons.

In the face of a typhoon, no matter how large your fleet is, it will disappear in an instant, and you will be lucky if you can leave one or two small sampans—especially in ancient times, there were no satellites, and there was no effective means of prediction. It is said that it is a typhoon of the level of Hurricane Katrina, even if it encounters the smallest typhoon level, the ship of the age of sail... Hehe...

Therefore, whether it is for your own urgent mood or for safety, going to sea in winter is the best choice.

"...The subordinate didn't ask Zonghai class."

Liu Rengui smiled wryly and said: "Of course, my subordinates know that it is impossible to equip the navy with three-tier battleships in a short period of time, so I asked about four-tier battleships. Didn't you say that, Your Highness? I want to equip my subordinates with ten four-tier battleships, but The subordinate looked around the seaside just now, and it seems that they only saw merchant ships, not a warship."

Chapter 561 Set Sail (Second Change)

Chapter 26 sets sail (second update)

Li Zhen smiled and said: "Well, the war in Yuezhou has not subsided yet, all the warships have missions, and none of them is free... But you don't have to worry about my promise, I have already come from Minzhou and Quanzhou urgently. Ten Tier [-] warships and fifteen Tier [-] warships have been dispatched, and they will arrive in three days at most, so they will definitely be able to catch up in time.

Your opponents this time are just some overseas aborigines, not even Nanyang people, and they are still in the tribal era, let alone warships, I am afraid you have never seen even porcelain.Tier [-] battleships are enough for you to sweep there. "

The reason why Li Zhen develops battleships so crazily is not to conquer Southeast Asia at all. As he said, Southeast Asia at this time is full of indigenous people, especially some island countries. Civilized savages live a life of bare hair and drinking blood.Facing such an enemy, Datang didn't even need regular battleships. He only needed to use armed merchant ships to fire a few shots to ensure that all resisters would definitely scatter in the first place.

Li Zhen's goal of developing warships is actually Western countries, especially Dashi, because according to Li Zhen's memory, it will not take long, about 100 years later, around the time of the Anshi Rebellion, the Abbasid Dynasty of the Arab Empire will rise.At this time, the Tang Dynasty lost control of Central Asia due to the war, and its national strength declined.However, the Abbas Dynasty had just begun to expand the war and colluded with Tubo to attack the sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty. The Silk Road was blocked for the first time, and the income of the Tang Dynasty was immediately greatly reduced, which provided a prerequisite for the weakening of the Tang Dynasty.

Therefore, although the Anshi Rebellion is unlikely to happen, Li Zhen will never let the Dashi Empire go, whether it is to plan ahead, to wipe out the enemy in the bud, or to make up for his own regrets.Moreover, Li Zhen heard that the cannibal fleet was very powerful and beat the Sasanian Dynasty and the Byzantine Empire like dogs, so Li Zhen decided to wrestle with them.

In addition, there are the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Dynasty. The Sassanian Dynasty is nothing more than the Sasanian Dynasty. Now it is being rubbed on the ground by the Dashi. In a few years (651), it will be time to fart. If the development speed is fast enough If so, he should be able to go to the Middle East before the demise of the Sasanian Dynasty, and meet Yisiai III (the last Sasanian king), and maybe save his life.

The problem is Byzantium. Although Byzantium in the seventh century has been beaten into a dog by Dashi and lost land and land, after all, a lean camel is bigger than a horse.After all, this is a country that has turned the Mediterranean Sea into its own inner lake many times. Especially in the early seventh century, the Byzantine Empire still occupied most of the Mediterranean coast, but it was later defeated by the big cannibal.

But even so, they did not perish. In the end, he insisted on killing the Dashi Empire. He still held his breath and lived until the fifteenth century. He is one of the few empires in the world that have been established for more than 1000 years. .Such a profound heritage, a country with an ocean as its inner lake, if it is said that their navy is underdeveloped, Li Zhen would not believe what he said.

And this is one of the reasons why he develops the battleship so frantically - he wants to use absolute combat power to smash the pride of all aliens in one fell swoop, forcefully occupy the most fertile land, and firmly grasp the pulse of the entire world in his hands.

……

Three days later, all the 25 large and small warships Li Zhen needed had arrived.

Seven days later, all preparations were completed. The entire fleet consisted of more than 70.00 ships of various sizes, of which 30.00% were cargo ships, and only [-]% were warships and supply ships. Everything was ready.

"Regular, be careful all the way here." Li Zhen was seeing Liu Rengui farewell at the Yuezhou Wharf.

Different from Li Zhen's concern and worry, Liu Rengui seemed high-spirited: "Your Highness, don't worry, your subordinate will have a half-year period. With the left hand of the chart given by His Highness, I guarantee that at most half a year, you will be able to find the treasured land that His Highness said, and bring it back for His Highness." Shiploads of gold and silver."

"Very good." Li Zhen walked over with a vermilion lacquer tray with a glass of wine on it, and handed it to Liu Rengui: "Zheng Zheng, this trip is far away, I have nothing but a glass of water Wine is the color of a strong man, may Zheng Ze return safely!"

Liu Rengui bowed to thank him, and said: "Your Highness, rest assured, I have been preparing for this day for a long time. As long as I am not in a desperate situation, I promise that I will be able to return safely."

After saying that, he picked up the wine and drank it all in one gulp, gestured to the surrounding Quanzhou people for the empty cup, then turned around and left, stepping on the bridge to his flagship.

The flag officer who had been waiting for a long time immediately raised the command flag and shouted: "Set sail~~"

"Crash~"

With this order, more than 200 large and small ships mobilized their anchor chains and sailed out of Yuezhou Port in an orderly manner.