This time we captured the Dengzhou Navy and gained a lot.
E Honglue and others came back after a round and told Zuo Mengeng some good news.
"General, all the wood stored here is intact. We have the materials to build warships. Maybe it won't be long before you can see a brand new warship."
Dengzhou is both a navy station and a shipyard, so it stores a large amount of high-quality wood.
When deciding to place the naval base in Jiaozhou Bay, raw materials were a headache for Zuo Menggeng.
Shandong is not without trees, but trees cannot be cut down and used for shipbuilding. Not to mention anything else, the desorption of wood alone takes at least three to four years.
Although Zuo Mengeng is fully mentally prepared for the construction of the navy, he would certainly be happier if he could do it faster.
Now that the Dengzhou Navy has been captured, a large amount of wood that can be used directly has been harvested, and the problem of shipbuilding has been solved at once.
But Zuo Mengeng looked at another person.
"Wei Qingzhao, have you thoroughly understood the drawings?"
The young man is the second graduate of Zuozhuang Academy. He is very good at drawing and his calculation ability is also among the best.
Xu Ruolin was originally intended to be retained, but Zuo Mengeng asked her to come over and join E Honglue's team to be responsible for the construction of warships.
The first problem before them was to understand the drawings of the Galen ship given by Zuo Mengeng.
The young man was very hesitant, but he still told the truth.
"Senate, please give us some more time. Some data have not yet been verified. However, we have miniaturized the ship, which has reduced the difficulty of construction a lot, and it will be put into production soon."
The drawing of the Victory that Zuo Menggen took out was a first-class battleship with a displacement of over 3,500 tons.
With the current shipbuilding technology of the Ming Dynasty, it is absolutely impossible to build it.
Therefore, he proposed the concept of miniaturization to reduce the difficulty of construction.
At present, it seems that his idea is feasible, and E Honglue, Wei Qingzhao and others have made progress.
Of course, this is actually due to the fact that the mainstream ship types on the sea today are Galen ships.
Although the Galen ships of various countries are slightly different, they are mostly the same. It is not difficult for the Portuguese such as Ehonglue to understand the British construction technology.
The problem of the boat is solved, the problem of the craftsman is solved, and the problem of materials is also solved.
Before the new army, there is also the problem of naval prisoners of war.
When he saw the prisoners of war, Zuo Mengeng even suspected that there was something wrong with his eyes.
In the huge open space, the prisoners of war were actually divided into three parts while being detained. They were all far away from each other, and there were occasional insults.
"How is this going?"
Qiao Shuangcheng also couldn't laugh or cry.
"What you don't know is that these prisoners originally belonged to three groups. Some were from the Dengzhou Navy, some were from the Dongjiang Rebels, and some were from the former Tianjin Navy."
Zuo Mengeng understood that he had arrested three groups of people in one go.
Except for the Dongjiang rebels, the other two groups are not very satisfied with the current situation.
A general with a crosstalk accent had a loud voice.
"We came from Tianjin, and we are also officers and soldiers. How about you treat us as rebels? Where can you explain this? After I report it to the court, let's see how you behave."
The New Army soldier next to him raised his hand and hit the butt of a rifle, which made him cry for father and mother. He held his head and turned into a quail.
Zuo Mengeng didn't care about these people, no matter where they were from. He just ordered: "Screen them, and absorb those who are skilled, capable, and of good quality. The rest will be escorted to Jiaozhou Bay. Go fix the pier.”
He doesn't care, but someone does.
The mist is swaying and the sky is blue, and the buildings and halls are scattered against the setting sun.
The beautiful scenery cannot stop the passers-by.
At the gate of Dengzhou City, a scribe in his thirties, looking at the heavily guarded appearance, hesitated several times and did not dare to step forward.
He had been staying in Qixia before, but yesterday he heard that the army had recaptured Dengzhou, so he hurried here.
But seeing the soldiers at the city gate checking closely made him very scared. What should I do with my father's instructions if something unexpected happens, such as death or death?
He stood by the roadside and watched for a while, and found that the people were coming in and out as usual. Although the soldiers questioned him one by one, they were not embarrassed.
There were so many people coming in and out, but none of the soldiers even asked for money.
This more or less reassured him, he gritted his teeth and stepped forward.
A young officer stopped in front of him and asked, "Where does this gentleman come from?"
The polite address surprised the scribe, and he replied happily: "Guide Mansion, Henan."
The officer frowned and continued to ask: "Where is your guide?"
The scribe hurriedly took it out and handed it over. The officer took it and took a look and discovered something fishy.
"Sir, is he an official?"
It turns out that although everyone has a guide, it is still slightly different. On the road leading to this scribe, there was actually a large seal of the Henan Procuratorate and Inspector, which ordinary people could not touch.
The scribe cupped his hands and said a little.
"My father once served as an official in the court."
The officer returned the lead to him and moved out of the way.
Seeing that everything went smoothly, the scribe let out a sigh of relief. As you enter the city, keep an eye out.
He found that the group of officers and soldiers who had recaptured Dengzhou City were slightly different from those he had seen before.
Although the uniforms of these officers and soldiers are generally similar to those of the Ming army, they are more neat and regular, and there are many differences in tailoring.
In particular, none of these officers and soldiers were wearing combat jackets, and their lower body trousers were exposed. The shoes on his feet are neither cloth boots nor straw sandals, but a strange style of cotton shoes.
The scribe's father was once a high official in the imperial court and had considerable experience in the military. The scribes naturally understood a little bit under the influence of their ears and eyes.
He found that the popularity of firearms in this group of officers and soldiers was very high, and almost every soldier was holding a firearm.
He did not see a medicine pool on the fire gun, and the style of the fire gun was completely different from the bird gun used by the Ming army. The sun shines on it and the barrel of the gun sparkles, which shows how sophisticated it is.
Where did these officers and soldiers come from?
Full of questions, the scribe walked into Dengzhou City.
But everything in the city surprised him even more.
He thought that after the great war, the city must be in ruins and devastated.
As a result, the shops on both sides of the road were already open for business, and the pedestrians on the road walked leisurely, as if nothing had happened.
"Weird, so weird!"
The scribe muttered something, fortunately he remembered the business, and stopped a passerby to ask for advice.
"Second brother invited me, may I ask how to get to Qi Mansion?"
Passersby laughed.
"Is there anyone in Dengzhou City who doesn't know where Qi Mansion is?"
He showed the direction, and the scribe thanked him and went looking for him all the way.
An exquisite courtyard next to Dengzhou Guard is now closed, and the inside and outside are isolated. It seems that everything that happens in this city has nothing to do with the people inside.
An old man in his sixties was sitting under the locust tree in the courtyard. Although he was holding a book in his hand, his eyes were wandering.
There was a sudden knock on the courtyard door, and an old woman and a middle-aged man ran out of the room, both looking miserable.
"master……"
Although the old man looked bleak, he was as steady as a mountain.
"Be calm and don't be impatient. Our Qi family has no disputes with the world. No matter the king's flag changes on the city wall, we can sit back and relax."
After that, he motioned to the middle-aged man to open the door.
The middle-aged man carefully opened the courtyard door and saw several heavily armed soldiers standing outside. The leader has no official title, just a small flag.
The soldiers came to the door, making the middle-aged man extremely nervous.
"I wonder what these military masters are doing?"
The "little flag" was very polite, raising his hands to his eyebrows, as if it was some kind of etiquette.
"We are from the New Army and are responsible for maintaining order in the city. Now that the rebels in the city have been eliminated and the market has recovered, please rest assured. If you need any help, you can report it to the sentry at the street."
The middle-aged man was suspicious, but he didn't expect these soldiers to come to the door and not extort money.
"Thanks for letting me know."
The little flag nodded and went directly with the people.
The middle-aged man stood at the door for a long time, still puzzled. It was the first time in my life that I saw such a polite Qiu Ba, but he didn't bother the people.
He didn't see that Xiaoqi walked a few steps and looked back at the plaque on the door of the mansion with doubts in his eyes.
"Qi Mansion?"
The middle-aged man closed the door, returned to the old man, and reported: "My father is relieved, a few soldiers came to the door. They thought they wanted to extort money, and were about to give away some money. But they asked a few questions and returned He said that the market had calmed down and he could go out without worries, so he left."
The old man was as surprised as he was.
"Those soldiers didn't disturb the people?"
The middle-aged man went back, opened the courtyard door, and lay on the crack of the door to observe.
I saw the little flag official and his people knocking on the door one after another. After the people inside came out, they only said a few words and then left without any move to ask for money.
The family was amazed, and they were even more confused about the officers and soldiers who had recaptured Dengzhou City.
