"The King of Shu must have had a bad sleep last night." In the early morning, Chen Que was the first to come over, and his face was startled when he saw Xu Mu's appearance.
"Nothing." Xu Mu's voice was dry and hoarse. "I'd like to trouble you again, sir. No matter what kind of elixir and floor materials you need, we must give it to General Yu Wen so that he can live a good life."
"This is natural. Please rest assured, King Shu. King Shu seems to have something on his mind..."
"Last night an old friend visited me and we had a very pleasant conversation."
It's a pity that those old friends can only walk into dreams and cannot return to him.
After staying at the front line for more than half a month, Xu Mucai gave some instructions and left Chuzhou to go south. In the future, he will be involved in the war with Beiyu for a long time, but he will eventually need to investigate the matters in Xishu.
At the moment, Lu Xiong's shipping matters are the most important.
You must know that the plan he and the young military advisor Dongfang Jing made was to build a sea-going ship and then go around the Ji River from the sea. Therefore, Lu Xiong's side is the top priority. Earlier, even Wei Chun rushed over.
Riding on the horse, Xu Mu turned his head and glanced in the direction of Xiangui. He only hoped that Yu Wen could wake up soon, even if he could not march and fight in the future, but no matter what, the entire Western Shu would ensure his wealth for the rest of his life.
"Set off!"
This time, Yin Hu, who was accompanying him, spoke loudly in the early morning light.
A total of more than 3,000 guards followed Xu Mu and began to march towards the southeast side of the South China Sea.
…
"Sea coachman?" Wei Chun asked in confusion at an inconspicuous reef camp in Cangwu Prefecture, South China Sea.
It was obvious that this time he did not understand what Xu Mu meant.
"The general meaning is that we not only want to invade Jijiang, but also, like the Silk Road, do overseas business and even conquer."
Wei Chun nodded, "My lord and I are convinced that there are many big islands and islanders overseas. My lord, you should know that when I was young, I liked to think and asked my father similar questions, but at that time he His appearance seems a bit unreasonable to me."
"Wei Chun, you are indeed a great talent."
Only someone like Wei Chun who is good at thinking can become a famous craftsman in Xishu.
"My lord, we have a long way to go, why don't we rest for a day?"
"That's not necessary. You will take me with you later to take a look at the harbor first, otherwise I will keep thinking about it and I won't be able to sleep. By the way, where is Lu Xiong?"
"I just went to the sea two days ago and found a desert island nearby. He wanted to check it out to see if it could be used as a transit point for the sea trip."
Xu Mu looked satisfied. It seems that the cooperation between Lu Xiong and Wei Chun is very good.
"My Lord, and Commander Yin, please come with me."
The three of them walked together, and after passing several checkpoints, they walked along a rocky road before entering the ship harbor.
To be honest, the secret construction of the ship port did not take long. Up to now, it has only been more than half a year.
But the scene in front of him was beyond Xu Mu's expectation. On the edge of a secluded beach, a towering boat harbor has begun to take shape.
There are sea houses for soldiers and craftsmen, and an extended pier paved with trees. Even the ship under construction had a huge keel laid out according to Wei Chun's instructions and was ready to be nailed to the ship's planks.
"The sea voyage will encounter hurricanes, so it is not advisable to build a ship that is too high. I mean, three floors is enough. In order to carry more soldiers, the deck and cabin can be made larger."
"Wei Chun, if the ship is built, how many people can it bring?"
This is what Xu Mu is concerned about. Compared with river ships, sea ships are larger and logically speaking, they will carry more soldiers.
You must know that the first purpose of these ships will be to go around the Jijiang River and make a surprise attack on the hinterland of Beiyu.
Wei Chun thought about it seriously, "There are more than two thousand people. If there is no wind and no waves, three thousand will be fine."
Xu Mu clenched his fists excitedly. As long as there were five such ships, there would be more than ten thousand Shu soldiers who could carry them into battle.
But there is another problem. For the same reason, compared to river ships, it is more difficult to build sea-going ships, not only in terms of materials, but also manpower and time.
"Wei Chun, how long will it take to build such a ship?"
"Based on the manpower of this ship port, it will take at least four or five months to build one. This progress is due to the fact that there are many forests nearby and it is convenient to obtain materials."
"What about doubling the number of craftsmen?"
"About March." Wei Chun continued to answer, "But my lord, please know that haste makes waste. If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools."
"I understand." Xu Mu nodded. He is not a person who acts too hastily. In fact, the war in Dingzhou has reached a stalemate recently. Not only him, but also Dongfang Jing needed a way to open Beiyu's mouth.
Of course, Chang Sheng and Lao Si also had the same idea.
"Wei Chun, how about I summon craftsmen from Western Shu on the pretext of building a grand palace for the King of Shu, and then secretly send them to you?"
"This method is feasible. But you need to be careful. After all, the people of Beiyu must not know about the construction of sea-going ships. If you follow my suggestion, you can send more confidants to guard the area near the ship port to prevent spies from mixing in and bringing the information with them. Go to Beiyu.”
"Good idea." Xu Mu smiled.
The ship port is already on track. When the time comes, a few sea ships are actually built, which will be the time to tear apart Beiyu's defense.
"By the way, Wei Chun, what kind of ship is this?" Xu Mu turned his gaze sideways and looked at several large ships next to him that were similar to river ships.
"My lord, take a closer look. These are the small sea-going ships I built first. General Lu Xiong often goes to sea on these small sea-going ships."
Xu Mu looked carefully and suddenly realized. Sea-going ships are different from river ships. The anchor holes of sea-going ships are arranged on both sides of the bow. When river boats sail on inland rivers, they usually only have one anchor hole, which is in the middle of the bow, very close to the boat plow.
"Don't worry, my lord, General Lu Xiong has inspected the nearby sea area, and there are no problems. It is very suitable for sailing."
"In addition." Wei Chun paused, "General Lu Xiong said a strange thing. Not far from here, in the sea area about dozens of miles southwest, there is oil rust spread on the sea surface, and the oil is shining. I guess, that Under this sea area, there is likely to be a large area of iron ore.”
"Wei Chun, this is serious!"
"Of course it is true...but considering the depth of the sea, it is not necessarily easy to dig into the sea now."
After hearing this sentence, Xu Mu fell silent again.
The heritage and supplies of Western Shu were far inferior to those of Beiyu, so even when he went to the Western Regions, he was still thinking about minerals such as iron and iron. Even if the merchant ships from Xishu are outside, they mostly purchase salt and iron.
If there was ore ore in the nearby sea, he would definitely not want to let it go. The iron ore storage in Xishu is running out due to the day and night consumption in the iron workshop.
There is really an unexpected piece of iron ore. It is impossible to say that it can increase the armor coverage rate of Xishu soldiers by one layer and reduce the proportion of battle losses.
Of course, there are cotton armors, but Xu Mu wants to imitate Beiyu. With the excess ore and iron, he can build a heavy force and let Yan Yong, who is preparing to return to Chengdu, lead it. I can't believe it will be of great use.
