Bo Jue takes a team to the Tianjin Shipyard every month to inspect the construction of ironclad ships, and goes to Dengzhou every quarter to do the same thing.
Although more than ten years have passed since the first ironclad ship was launched, the construction of ironclad ships has been continuously adjusted and improved, and a set of scientific and reasonable processes have been formed, and industrial workers have been trained.
But the inspection is still very necessary, and it cannot be taken carelessly, because a warship can cost millions of taels of silver, hundreds of sailors, and even the lives of the fleet commander.
As the only country in the world that can build ironclad warships, a certain new emperor has regarded it as a huge foreign exchange-earning project since he allowed the export of ironclad warships.
Therefore, there has never been any relaxation on this project. No matter how tiring the Northern Expedition is, after arriving in Tianjin, he will not return to Beijing immediately, but will always go to the shipyard to have a look.
The subordinates don't dare to be careless. If they do well, they will be rewarded with high rewards. If you do it poorly, you won’t even have the chance to commit treason, and you will have to die...
In order to stabilize people's hearts, a certain new emperor also guaranteed the benefits of all personnel involved in the shipbuilding project.
There will be prizes for making the construction process flawless, prizes for discovering various problems, prizes for pointing out areas that can be improved or simplified, and even greater rewards for reporting those who cheat on others.
For the sake of safety, each construction process is handled by a group of engineers and workers, and they are kept confidential from each other just like the salary they receive.
Each project team can communicate with each other internally and report construction status and discovered problems at any time, while parallel functional groups cannot make blind inquiries.
This will ensure that if someone plans to betray the Ming Dynasty and flee to another country in time, it will be difficult for the other party to produce an ironclad ship unless they get engineers and workers throughout the process.
As a corresponding benefit, a certain new emperor guaranteed that as long as engineers and workers did not make big mistakes, they could work in the shipyard for a lifetime without fear of being fired.
In addition to the high salary, which can support the family, you can get many gifts during the holidays.
In addition to the canteen, there are also many restaurants in the shipyard, and the operators are naturally the factory guards and their relatives.
In order to attract customers, the prices of food and drinks are at least 30% cheaper than outside.
The purpose of setting up is very simple, which is to find out whether these guests will reveal military secrets after dinner...
The canteen of the shipyard is the same as the Academy of Sciences. It usually provides three meals a day and is not for profit. It is basically sold at a low price.
What makes money is when workers pass by the canteen after get off work and buy some cooked food so that they can go home and feed their families.
Furthermore, when workers get married, it is much cheaper to hold banquets in the canteen than outside.
The Tianjin Shipyard alone has tens of thousands of engineers, workers, and other security and other auxiliary personnel stationed here, and behind them are thousands of families.
As long as the work is not busy, the canteen will not be empty every weekend, and red and white orders will continue to flow...
In terms of logistical support, a certain new emperor originally asked Xiong Renlin to copy the Academy of Sciences' system.
In Tianjin, except for the shipyard, everything is copied and pasted, and even the layout of the canteen has not changed.
Since Zheng Zhilong has been performing well, a certain new emperor also decided to help Zhenhai Gong build an ironclad ship at the shipyard in Quanzhou, Fujian, starting next year.
Previously, engineers and workers from Fujian have been stationed in Tianjin Shipyard, and relevant personnel will provide them with theoretical knowledge and full-process learning and training.
Probably before the 39th year of Chongzhen (1665), the local shipyard in Fujian would launch the first Zhiyuan-type ironclad ship.
The scapegoat also made the same request, and a certain new emperor would naturally agree.
However, due to many reasons, the construction time will be delayed by two or three years.
A certain new emperor believed that before the forty-fourth year of Chongzhen (1670), the construction technology of ironclad ships would basically not be leaked out.
As for the future, when France or the Netherlands have saved enough money and the local shipyards have fully mastered Yoshino's construction technology and started building Dingyuan, a certain new emperor will also consider technology export as appropriate.
In fact, the asking price is not expensive, 100 million silver coins!
It's not like a barter deal with the Netherlands, but an actual 100 million in cash!
A certain new king believes that the reason why the price is not high is that there are actually customers coming to negotiate the price, and not one, but two!
The emergence of this situation is largely due to the speeches Ruyter and Putmans gave in parliament after returning to the Netherlands, as well as their private "interactions" with members of the parliament...
Due to the failure of the First Anglo-Dutch War, the Netherlands was forced to recognize the Navigation Regulations formulated by the British, which directly led to the loss of its monopoly on North American trade.
According to estimates by the Dutch Chamber of Commerce engaged in this route, at least 10 to 15 percent of trade volume will be lost.
But it will not hurt the Netherlands' total trade volume, and the European shipbuilding center is still in the Netherlands.
What the Dutch Parliament and Chamber of Commerce are worried about is that if the British are not satisfied with this, they will take action again. Can the Netherlands turn defeat into victory in the second Anglo-Dutch War?
Secondly, if France, its eager neighbor, is not appeased, the Netherlands, whose homeland may be invaded at any time, will not be able to deal with Britain with all its strength.
Regarding the former, the parliament agreed to purchase four ironclad ships at a price of 100 million silver coins over four years in exchange for goods produced by the company under the Emperor of the Ming Empire.
Later, after tasting the sweetness, four more ironclad ships were purchased and New Guinea Island was exchanged for two, for a total of ten ships.
Together with the original wooden warships, a fleet of hundreds of warships can be formed, which is basically conducive to an invincible position.
For the latter, Parliament could only choose to make peace with Mazarin, at the cost of paying France 20 million silver coins at a time.
The condition is that the Netherlands and France sign a permanent non-aggression treaty, with Sweden and Rome as the notary parties of the treaty.
The price of 20 million silver coins was not cheap, but after all, it freed me from worries and could focus on dealing with my old enemy Britain.
This move also shows that the Netherlands has no intention to participate in France's struggle for European hegemony, nor will it oppose France on land.
After watching the war, Tromp gave a speech in Parliament. The theme was the development of Britain and the British navy.
Cromwell obtained astonishing wealth in one fell swoop by sending Blake to plunder the Ming Empire in the east.
More than 60% of the debt was almost paid off, and the remainder was paid off through Dutch reparations received after the Anglo-Dutch War.
After becoming the winner both times, it undoubtedly greatly stimulated Cromwell's ambitions and also brought huge benefits to the British Navy.
By the time Cromwell became seriously ill, the British Navy had already ranked first in Europe in terms of the number and tonnage of battleships if France had not blocked it.
Because France used naval funds to purchase ironclads and reduced the number of wooden battleships built, it was inferior to the United Kingdom in terms of the number of battleships.
Disregarding ironclads, neither the French Navy nor the Dutch Navy were rivals of the British Navy.
Compared with the Dutch Navy, the British Navy has another advantage, and that is in commanding operations.
Dutch warships were owned by the provinces and were not under the direct control of the navy. They were only assembled before war.
Whether in the era of Charles I or Cromwell, the British navy was a navy in the standard sense, or a high-level pirate...
This directly led to the fact that even if the generals commanding the Dutch fleet were not inferior to their British counterparts, the entire fleet would become blind and stubborn due to their own problems.
In order to gain as much benefit as possible in a naval battle, some captains may even attack rashly without obeying the fleet commander's orders, just to capture the opponent's warship and then buy it at a good price...
Such an action may seem ridiculous, but it is real and gives Tromp a headache.
After seeing Ruyter's coming and coming Ming Emperor's suggestions for the Dutch Navy, and considering his own problems, Tromp came up with this idea.
The solution is to have each province send 20 warships to form a standing fleet, ready to be ready at any time. If something happens, they can attack quickly.
Other departments temporarily recruit warships or armed merchant ships based on the scale of the war.
All trophies must be handed over first, and then rewards and compensation will be given based on each warship's performance and losses.
Then there is the need to introduce ironclad ship construction technology from the Ming Empire, so that the British can be eliminated once and for all.
Because the British plundered the richest areas of the Ming Empire, the two sides had become enemies.
It was impossible for the Ming Empire to sell ironclad ships to Britain, which was extremely beneficial to the Netherlands.
On the other hand, the Ming Empire has signed a contract with France and is a potential and huge threat to the Netherlands.
If the Netherlands does not take the lead, France will most likely become the second country in the world to master ironclad ship construction technology.
Once France acquires such technology, the Netherlands as the European shipbuilding center will be a big joke.
There is no doubt that ironclad ships require much higher technology than wooden battleships.
Ironclad ships are also the future development direction of the navy and naval warfare and must not be ignored.
Those congressmen who had previously dismissed the idea changed their attitude greatly after boarding an ironclad ship equipped by the Dutch Navy and sailing with the warship.
Perhaps the MPs cannot use this as a reason to convince the business group behind the Parliament, because nearly 60% of Dutch tax revenue is provided by businessmen.
But Tromp explained a reason that was completely unacceptable to the funders, that is, the Sudan Canal would be navigable before 1665!
Most Dutch businessmen know what this means...
With luck and routes, the voyage can be shortened by a quarter, and the cost will fall as well.
It is said that for huge benefits, Rome has reached an agreement with Ottoman under the instigation of the royal merchants-Venetian merchants.
The two sides will not attack each other's ships. Roman merchant ships will pay fees according to regulations when traveling through the canal. Ming goods transported by Ottoman merchant ships can be sold by Rome on consignment!
For Dutch businessmen, this news came as a bolt from the blue!
Because I heard that many Venetian businessmen are proud to say that this is a commercial revival, which is as proud as the Renaissance!
The vast majority of Dutch businessmen believe that this is a shameful act at the expense of their own interests!
But the Netherlands was unable to prevent this from happening. It is said that the empire also provided a large amount of construction machinery to the Ottomans.
This move accelerated the excavation progress of the canal and gave Sudan hope of a return on investment.
Tromp believes that there are no solutions, one of which is to regain the shipping rights to North America.
The second is to allow Dutch merchant ships to also take the canal route, and the third is to move to North America as a whole.
But there is a prerequisite, that is, the Dutch Navy must have enough capital ships, and it is best to have as many ironclads as possible.
Because the British navy had begun to dispatch frequently again, it detained Dutch merchant ships on the grounds that they violated navigation regulations, deliberately provoking the second Anglo-Dutch War.
Parliament was forced to agree to Tromp's request to form a standing fleet, and also agreed to recruit 60 more capital ships to join the fleet before the war.
This puts the size of the Dutch main fleet at about 120 ships, excluding the newly commissioned ironclads.
But Cromwell seemed to realize that he did not have much time, and learned that the Netherlands had purchased four more ironclads.
Before all the ironclads purchased by the Dutch Navy were put into service, Blake kicked off the second Anglo-Dutch War.
The British navy was almost in full force, with the main fleet including one hundred and sixty-six warships.
The target was not the Dutch fleet, but the Dutch fleet that planned to return to the mainland via the English Channel.
These merchant ships are filled with various goods purchased from the Ming Empire. As long as they are unloaded at local ports, they can be sold for more than three times the price.
Black is not a reckless man, and he knows that neither Tromp nor Ruyter will be easy to deal with.
In order to get a good start and make Cromwell happy, he picked a bunch of sheep to start with.
As a result, no one of the eighty-five Dutch merchant ships was spared. They were captured by Blake's fleet in the waters north of Normandy...
When the news reached the Netherlands, people were furious. Parliament immediately ordered Tromp to lead the fleet to dispatch, waiting for an opportunity to engage in a decisive battle with the British fleet.
If the other party avoids fighting, Putmans, who has been authorized, can let the fleet carry out reciprocal retaliation against British merchant ships!
But the cunning Black disappeared for half a month after he succeeded, not wanting to have a decisive battle with Tromp at all.
While wearing down the opponent's will, he continued to attack Dutch merchant ships to make himself famous and gain some benefits from the fleet.
Cromwell was not averse to this approach. As long as Blake could win, everything would be fine.
What's more, he brought himself eighty-five ships of Eastern goods in the early stage. After the cash was realized, it was difficult for those with ulterior motives in the parliament to open their mouths.
Before the main fleets of both sides encountered each other, the Netherlands had lost nearly 200 merchant ships.
There is no doubt that these will become Cromwell's capital to continue launching war against the Netherlands.
The fleets of both sides encountered each other north of the Bay of Biscay on July 20.
Blackburn wanted to continue robbing for a while and then choose an opportunity to deal with Tromp.
As a result, bad luck came and they ran into the Dutch main fleet with four ironclad ships and hundreds of wooden warships.
Even so, Blake did not want to fight head-on. Instead, he ordered the fleet to fight and retreat at the same time, and not to be reluctant to fight.
Although we were still at a disadvantage in terms of numbers and firepower, Tromp decided to pursue this large British fleet with the advantage of four ironclads.
Blake fled with the fleet all the way, and finally fled into the Thames River, hoping to use artillery fire along the river and the fleet in his hands to eliminate his old rival.
Due to the existence of ironclad ships, the Dutch fleet pursued its old enemy fiercely. Even if it entered the inland river to fight, it faced double firepower from the shore and the water.
After sinking and damaging more than thirty enemy ships, Putmans chose to retreat because his own losses were not small.
Interestingly, after the war, both sides declared victory in the naval battle...
