"Also, there are many steam paddle-wheel warships in our navy!" Zhang Mingwei continued with a smile, "For us, these warships are actually lagging behind. Not only are the performance of the steam engines not as good as the existing steam engines, And whether it is a paddle wheel or a wooden warship, it will be gradually phased out. We can also take the opportunity to sell it to Portugal and have it resold to Spain."
The propeller-propelled steam warships that the Ming Dynasty Shipyard has been experimenting with are almost ready, they just need to be replaced by real iron-clad warships. Among them, the most critical thing is the technology that can weld iron armor.
When Zhang Mingwei was writing history in his previous life, he looked up this technological point and knew that there are at least two types of electric welding, resistance welding and arc welding.
After searching for information at that time, he knew more about arc welding because he felt that arc welding was easier to achieve in the late Ming Dynasty.
The so-called arc welding is to bring two charged copper wires close to a certain extent, and an electric arc will jump in the middle. When the current is strong enough, the temperature of the arc can reach extremely high levels of thousands of degrees, enough to melt steel.
Zhang Mingwei has been pointing out the technological point of electricity for a long time, and there are already many scientific and technological talents in Daming who are familiar with electricity. Under the guidance of Zhang Mingwei, I tried to master arc welding technology. It took a long time and I basically mastered it.
To put it simply, the entire process of arc welding can be divided into two parts.
The first is to use two electric rods to generate an arc in close proximity, which is used to dissolve the welding material and fill it into the target weld seam.
The second step is because the steel to be welded is also a conductor, so simply let the target be regarded as one end of the current, use only one electric rod to approach it, and the other one is attached to the back of the steel plate weld, using this This method allows the arc to fall directly into the weld, thereby melting the welding material filling it.
Once you master this technology, it is no longer difficult to build a real giant steel ship. For the weight configuration of the hull and various parts of the ship, it is just a matter of careful verification and multiple experiments. If that doesn't work, build small warships first, and then build larger warships when you have experience.
No matter what the real iron-clad battleships are, they will absolutely crush those wooden battleships covered with iron sheets. Not to mention crushing the sail warship.
However, these achievements are still kept secret. The only people who know about these technological advances are probably the people in the Wenhua Palace. The same goes for smokeless gunpowder. It has not been equipped with the army on a large scale. It is only used in military campaigns, and very few people know about it.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen listened to Zhang Mingwei's explanation and thought about the whole thing in his mind. He sold the leftover things from the Ming Dynasty to Portugal and transferred them to Spain. Then Spain used the leftover things from the Ming Dynasty to fight in Europe. , while Daming counted his money silently, continued to update the things he used, and watched the snipe and the clam fight...
Thinking of this, he grinned silently.
With Zhang Mingwei's description, it seems that Ming's strategy for Europe has become extremely simple. When the Ming Dynasty comes to Europe again, what will the Europeans use to fight the Ming Dynasty? He was beaten almost to death!
However, Emperor Chongzhen happily had no idea, but Du Yinxi put forward his opinion: "The Duke has mentioned before that Europe also has a certain level of new learning. Our previous rifled guns were also Well, it’s still a steam engine. As long as they see it, they will definitely be able to imitate it. In this case, the method of making money mentioned by the Duke will not work, right? "
Upon hearing this, the others came back to their senses and couldn't help but nod. But they didn't say anything, because they knew that Duke Xingguo was generally not wrong, but he didn't give any other reasons.
Sure enough, Zhang Mingwei turned to look at Du Yinxi and said with a smile: "It is because of this that we have to sell these arms to them quickly and on a large scale. Otherwise, when the war in Europe starts again, these arms will be They can all be imitated.”
At this point, he turned to look at Emperor Chongzhen and continued: "However, the Europeans do not have lathes or steam engines. It is not easy for them to imitate rifled guns and steam paddle-wheel warships on a large scale. It takes time to accumulate the corresponding technology. It’s the right time for us to sell now. If we delay it for a longer time, I’m afraid we won’t be able to sell it at a high price!”
Emperor Chongzhen nodded repeatedly when he heard this, and said hurriedly: "Sir, what you said makes sense, we must sell it quickly. But..."
After a little longer, he seemed to have thought about something, and then continued to say to Zhang Mingwei: "Spain seems to be only as big as a province of the Ming Dynasty at most, and it is probably difficult for it to use these rifled guns left by the Ming Dynasty. Have you bought the cannon and the steam paddle-wheel warship?"
If it was before, he would never know how big Spain is. However, with Zhang Mingwei as a popular science teacher, Emperor Chongzhen's understanding of Europe was not comparable to that in history.
"Yes, Duke, what should we do?" Shangshu of the Ministry of Finance was obviously most concerned about making money. After hearing what Emperor Chongzhen said, he quickly echoed.
When Zhang Mingwei heard this, he immediately smiled and said: "Spain has not formed an alliance with us. We don't need to care how they fight! After the war begins, I believe that with the strength of the Spanish army, rifled guns and steam paddle-wheel warships, other The country will definitely suffer unexpected defeats during the initial period of time. This will also let them know how powerful rifled guns and steam paddle-wheel warships are, and there will be a very big need to equip them with these weapons. However, , even if they can imitate it, how can they have a large amount of arms in the short term? However, if we in Ming Dynasty have it, we can just sell it to them!"
At this point, he was silent for a moment and then added: "But we can't sell directly to European countries. We still have to go through Portugal. We can just hint Portugal to do this and put economic pressure on it."
Hearing this, everyone in the Wenhua Palace laughed silently again. Duke Xingguo's move simply counted all the countries in Europe and gave Ming Dynasty all the advantages.
But after a while, Du Yinxi suddenly raised another question: "My lord, if we sell rifled guns and steam paddle-wheel battleships to other countries through Portugal, in this way, they can also sell them in the short term." What should we do if we fight against Spain and defeat Spain directly? Our goal is to keep Europe in chaos!"
Upon hearing this, everyone else, including Emperor Chongzhen, came to their senses and immediately felt that this was reasonable.
Emperor Chongzhen was not only thinking about the money issue, he said: "If this is the case, then it is better to sell less rifled guns and steam paddle-wheel warships to European countries, so that they can continue to consume internally!"
Although the Minister of Hubu felt sorry for money, he also knew that what Emperor Chongzhen said was more beneficial to the Ming Dynasty, so he felt a little regretful.
If the Ming Dynasty's arms are updated and replaced, the rifled guns and cannons will have no choice but to become scrap metal and be re-melted, which is really a pity.
However, after hearing this, Zhang Mingwei said confidently: "Why don't you sell it? Selling less will not work, just sell them all to Europeans. As for what Your Majesty is worried about, it will not happen..."
Emperor Chongzhen was surprised when he heard what he said. Because he remembers that there are many European countries. If they unite, how can Spain fight other countries with the power of Spain alone, when the level of firearms and warships is about the same?
When he was surprised, he heard Zhang Mingwei say with a smile: "After selling out all those rifled guns, we can also sell smokeless gunpowder to Spain. The power is three times that of black gunpowder, which is enough for Spain to continue to beat other countries." European countries. As for smokeless gunpowder, they cannot imitate it. Only if our Ming Dynasty wants to sell it to them can they have it. If we don’t want to sell it to them, they can’t have it. When my Ming Dynasty goes west to Europe, we will be able to counterfeit it. They maintain their advantage in weapons. And maybe, by then, we will have better weapons!"
Smokeless gunpowder will bring a series of improvements in munitions. Zhang Mingwei is currently testing it, and he is certain. After all, we all know what future generations of guns will be like.
At the end of Zhang Mingwei's words, he looked at the Minister of Revenue and said: "In this way, just from the income from the arms transaction, we can take off the pants of all European countries!"
History has proven that arms are one of the most profitable industries. In later generations, a mere immigrant country was able to become the world's most powerful country simply by selling arms.
Moreover, after the end of the world war, troubles were still being caused around the world, and it was very likely that arms dealers from this immigrant country were driving it.
The funny thing is that because of this benefit, guns are banned in immigration countries, and shootings occur every year.
At this time, the Minister of Hubu couldn't help laughing when he heard what Duke Xingguo said. Of course he likes this kind of money-making thing the most.
There is really no way. Although the revenue of the national treasury is reaching new highs every year, the money spent is also reaching new highs. It's as if the national treasury is leaking and there is no way to save money.
If this money was known to Chongzhen in his early years, whether it was money coming in or money spent, it would scare people to death at that time.
Times are really different!
Emperor Chongzhen was also happy to hear this. It seemed that the layout of Portugal as a chess piece was really a wonderful move!
With this in mind, he said to Zhang Mingwei: "My husband is the best at these issues involving the European situation, so how about leaving it to him to handle?"
When Zhang Mingwei heard this, he nodded and replied: "Okay, let me tell you about Portugal!"
After the general situation was communicated, the discussion in the Wenhua Palace was over.
Portugal, on the other hand, was just paying attention to this meeting and was waiting for the results of the meeting with some anxiety.
