Chapter 495: The Qingdao Shipyard

Sun Chengzong felt somewhat embarrassed, and somewhat helpless. On one hand, his own people's performance was truly too shabby; on the other hand, His Majesty's imposing pressure was too great, making the ministers very tense.

The people who had followed Zhu Youxiao out this time were also very tense.

"Enough, no need for formalities." Zhu Youxiao waved his hand. "Let the people of Denglai dispense with formalities as well."

This place was not Zhu Youxiao's destination to begin with, nor had he ever thought of doing anything here.

To be honest, this place was not a developed region at all right now. The officials working here were just going through the motions, nothing worthy of praise, nothing worthy of punishment either. He hadn't come here to see them, so it was all irrelevant.

Zhu Youxiao's attitude, however, let the officials of Denglai, great and small, breathe a sigh of relief — His Majesty doesn't see us, wonderful.

After entering Denglai city, Zhu Youxiao's people took over the reception and management of defense affairs as a matter of course.

This had already become the first thing Zhu Youxiao did after entering a city — no matter the circumstances, his own people could always be trusted more.

After settling in, Zhu Youxiao left Denglai city the next day and headed straight for Qingdao.

The name Qingdao was actually coined by Zhu Youxiao. Previously this place had no name, only a military garrison town under Denglai's jurisdiction.

But now it was different — because of a shipyard, this place had a name, and a large number of troops were stationed here.

Besides the original garrison, there was also a considerable naval force. These people had all been transferred here by Zhu Youxiao from various regions.

Those training them were officers drawn from coastal defense forces across the country, sent here to train and operate; among them were also some people supplied by the Imperial Academy.

The man leading them was also quite famous — his name was Zhao Shuaijiao. This man had been recommended to Zhu Youxiao by Sun Chengzong and Yuan Keli.

When Zhu Youxiao arrived at Qingdao, the people there were already waiting for him.

At the head, besides Zhao Shuaijiao and the others, were the people from the shipyard.

Two people were in charge of this shipyard — the Song brothers, elder brother Song Yingsheng and younger brother Song Yingxing.

The Song brothers could be considered outstanding representatives of Imperial Academy graduates. After a period of tempering and training, Zhu Youxiao had sent the two of them here.

In addition, there was also a managing eunuch from the Eastern Depot in the shipyard. The Eastern Depot's managing eunuch was here to supervise these people — of course, that wasn't his main responsibility. His primary duty was to keep the Portuguese well appeased.

As for how to appease them — our great Eastern Depot has its own methods.

Over the years, Zhu Youxiao had spared no effort in recruiting these people. In Macau, Zhu Youxiao was willing to spend big money. High salaries to poach talent had always been the best method — besides, weren't these people running to the Great Ming precisely to get rich?

So there were many Portuguese here — besides those skilled in shipbuilding, there were those skilled in navigation, and some merchants even simply sold their nautical charts. For people like them, there was nothing they dared not do.

This current age of great navigation was a chaotic age. Pirates ran rampant, nations sponsored pirates, even navies turned pirate — for the sake of getting rich, naturally anyone would do anything.

The Portuguese from the Macau cannon foundry had also been poached to the capital in considerable numbers over the years. Previously Zhu Youxiao had cared greatly about these people and spent no small effort on them, but now it no longer mattered — everything needed had already been squeezed dry from them.

What Zhu Youxiao wanted next was either too difficult to obtain, or could only be developed on his own.

Under such circumstances, the Qingdao shipyard had basically come under the management of Great Ming people.

Song Yingsheng and Song Yingxing had done an excellent job here over the past two years.

This time Zhu Youxiao had come, first, to see his shipyard. This had already become unbearable for Zhu Youxiao — after all, the ships built here would serve great purposes in the future.

Besides that, he wanted them to research carefully with the people from the Hundred Crafts Institute to see what areas needed modification.

After all, these warships definitely couldn't be fitted with the original cannons anymore. The original cannons were too outdated — new cannons needed to be installed.

If there were any places on the warships that needed modification, or if new cannons needed to be developed, these matters all required communication.

On this point, Zhu Youxiao had never been stingy with money.

You should know, in his past life, Zhu Youxiao had been a follower of the Dota cult.

The Dota cult, also called the Cult of the Many-Turreted God, advocated that more is good, big is beautiful, range is truth, caliber is justice.

If you failed, then your turrets weren't numerous enough, your caliber wasn't large enough, your range wasn't far enough.

And in this era of the Great Ming, the fleet Zhu Youxiao wanted to build must have sufficiently large warships, sufficiently numerous warships, and at the same time sufficiently many cannons — cannons with sufficient power and sufficient range.

The cannons were already prepared now; all that remained was to see the ships.

Upon meeting Zhu Youxiao, the Song brothers felt a complex mix of emotions.

Since arriving at this place called Qingdao, they hadn't seen His Majesty for several years.

Speaking of it, their connection with His Majesty ran fairly deep. After all, they had known His Majesty even before they became officials. And His Majesty's impression on them back then had been excellent — and over these years, that impression had only grown better.

Now that they had met the Emperor, they naturally wanted to show off their achievements to Zhu Youxiao.

After they performed their formalities, Zhu Youxiao walked over with a smile and reached out to help the Song brothers up.

Zhu Youxiao looked them up and down before saying with a smile: "You've gotten darker, but you look much sturdier. You've been working here for several years now, and I've heard quite a bit about you. I must say, you've done well."

"This time when I left the capital, the first place I thought of visiting was here — to see the results of your years of work, to hear your thoughts. After all, many things can't be raised or clearly explained in routine memorials. If there's anything, you can tell me directly — besides the bond between sovereign and subject, we still share a personal friendship."

Zhu Youxiao said these words very graciously, and his tone was also very relaxed.

Of course, everyone knew that the Emperor was displaying his magnanimity, displaying his care for his ministers, displaying his approachability.

But if a minister had no self-awareness and truly treated the Emperor as a friend, that would be disastrous.

The Song brothers hurriedly said with grateful reverence: "To receive Your Majesty's concern is our fortune."

The Song brothers had been rolling in officialdom for several years now. Over these years, the two of them could be considered old hands at the game. Though they still fell somewhat short of people like Xu Guangqi, among the younger generation, no one in the court could surpass the Song brothers.

After a round of reminiscing, the atmosphere gradually became harmonious.

Zhu Youxiao said: "Take me to see the ships you've built. You should know, while in the capital, I thought of these ships every moment, and waited every moment for them to set sail for the open sea."

Set sail to fight whom?

Zhu Youxiao had long since decided — the Dutch, no second choice.

Those Dutch were still occupying the Penghu islands, and even the northern part of Taiwan.

The southern part of Taiwan now belonged to the Spanish — neither of these two groups were good people.

Once the Great Ming fleet was completed, they would naturally be the first targets. First, to take back our own territory; second, it would be a perfect opportunity to drill the troops.

Beating up noobs wasn't any fun — only crossing swords with these experts could truly test one's real level. If they could knock these fellows flat, then the Great Ming navy would truly possess the strength to go abroad and do the things they wanted to do.

After hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, the Song brothers exchanged a glance and hurriedly said excitedly: "Very well, Your Majesty, this way please."

What was the most painful thing about being an official? It was when you had worked day and night to produce good things and good results, yet received no commendation from the Emperor and no recognition from the court — that was the most painful thing.

The Song brothers had worked here for several years, and could be said to have been diligent and devoted. Although the Emperor's letters had often contained words of praise, that kind of thing was ultimately not enough — as long as they could let His Majesty see their contributions with his own eyes, rewards would certainly not be lacking, and it would greatly benefit their future prospects.

So this was an excellent opportunity, and the two Song brothers naturally had to seize it firmly.

After the group entered Qingdao, they quickly made their way to the harbor.

The place was bustling with activity—some warships had already been built and were docked at the port, others were undergoing testing, and still more were being constructed in the shipyards nearby.

Originally, building ships required very large timbers; a single long piece of wood had to serve as the main keel beam, which was a troublesome matter.

But with the new techniques, there was no need for such things at all—the keel could be assembled through a splicing method. Even if difficulties arose, the craftsmen of the Great Ming could solve the problem.

For the sake of this shipyard, Zhu Youxiao had originally transferred in a great many craftsmen.

As they walked forward, Song Yingsheng introduced things to Zhu Youxiao along the way.

Song Yingsheng said directly: "Our warships come in three designated models. The smallest is a swift, nimble vessel that turns easily, fitted with twenty cannons and carrying two hundred soldiers."

"The medium warships are fitted with sixty cannons and carry two thousand soldiers. The large warships are fitted with one hundred and ten cannons and carry five thousand soldiers."

"A single fleet consists of two large warships, six medium warships, and twelve small warships, with the remainder being transport and supply vessels. The entire fleet carries thirty thousand soldiers."

"Judging by the current pace of construction, by the end of the year the first fleet should be able to begin formal training."

"More than half of the warships are already complete, and the rest have had their keels laid. All that remains is waiting for the court's cannons. Once the cannons arrive, they can be mounted on the ships. At that point, our warships will be able to set sail for the open sea."

After hearing Song Yingsheng's introduction, Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction and said: "Then take Us aboard for a look."

Having said this, Zhu Youxiao turned and walked forward.

Aboard the Great Ming's warships, besides cannons, other equipment naturally had to be fitted as well—such as hand-cranked machine guns, intended for use during landing operations or when two warships were close enough to each other.

However, Zhu Youxiao felt that this weapon would probably be most useful on the small warships. He wondered whether this hand-cranked machine gun could be made larger—he would ask about it when he returned.

In addition, there were rocket projectiles. These had seen fairly heavy use in the military over the past two years and were deeply favored by the New Army's commanders. They had come to look down on the old cannons, preferring rocket projectiles instead.

In truth, in this era, rocket projectiles did have something of an unfair advantage.

When the British army attacked India, they had suffered losses against the Indian city-states, getting bombarded by rockets until they nearly couldn't tell which way was up.

The British army's cannons were simply no match for the rockets. Later they learned the technique themselves and developed even more advanced rockets of their own. But as time passed, gunpowder improved, and cannon technology also advanced by leaps and bounds.

Cannons gained greater range and more power, and gradually the rockets were phased out. Of course, they weren't completely eliminated—later they evolved into the Katyusha, and then into missiles.

But transforming them into Katyushas or missiles would still require considerable effort. If new gunpowder were available, many problems could be solved—their power would be greater, their range longer, and they could even be made into underwater mines that launch from beneath the surface to directly bombard the underside of enemy warships.

With the wooden warships of the present day, one hit would blow a hole straight through—a single shot, a single kill. The enemy's ships would certainly be sunk, without a shred of doubt.

So Zhu Youxiao wasn't worried—the rocket projectiles hadn't yet reached the time for retirement.

After boarding the warship, Zhu Youxiao reached out and patted the hull, then looked carefully around in all directions.

Examining the positions they had reserved for the cannons, Zhu Youxiao was very satisfied.

Though some areas would need modification, Zhu Youxiao believed it wouldn't take too much effort. After all, the new-style cannons required less space, had much less recoil than before, and boasted greater range and power.

Even though there were no steam-powered ironclads yet, even a wooden ship fitted with such cannons would be formidable enough.

After making a full circuit, Zhu Youxiao was extremely satisfied and did not order anyone to take the ship out to sea for a trial run.

Originally, Zhu Youxiao had very much wanted to do so, but he suppressed the urge in his heart.

The reason was simple—the ship wasn't stable yet. Who knew whether he might fall into the water once he sailed out?

One had to remember, this was the open sea. If one fell into the ocean, one's chances of survival would likely be slim.

After making his circuit, Zhu Youxiao returned to shore with his entourage, satisfied.

The group arrived at the shipyard's workshop, where Zhu Youxiao had food and rewards distributed.

These were all for the shipyard's craftsmen. The Emperor bestowing rewards wherever he went had become a custom—the rules could not be broken.

How could one pass up such a fine opportunity to win people's hearts?