To be honest, Zheng Zhilong really wanted to command this kind of warship to sail across the sea. Therefore, he kept looking at Emperor Chongzhen, thinking about when to submit a memorial to invite him to fight.
Unexpectedly, his little move was seen by Emperor Chongzhen.
In fact, Emperor Chongzhen had been paying attention to Zheng Zhilong for a long time. Because among all the people here, others may be more interested in watching the fun, but Zheng Zhilong, the pirate king back then, is definitely an expert.
Therefore, when Emperor Chongzhen saw Zheng Zhilong constantly touching various places on the ship while peeking at himself from time to time, he turned around and asked with a smile: "What, does Zheng Qing have something to report?"
Upon hearing this, the prince and others naturally looked at him.
Fortunately, Zheng Zhilong is also a veteran. He has never experienced any kind of situation. He was suddenly called upon by Emperor Chongzhen, and he quickly responded: "Your Majesty, this armored battleship looks really powerful. Wei Chen was thinking, if he could command I wonder how magnificent these warships will be to bring glory to foreign lands for the Ming Dynasty?"
After praising the armored battleship, he calmly let things take its course and vaguely explained what he meant. He believed that with the emperor's power, he must know what he was thinking?
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen smiled faintly and said: "This warship is ordinary and purely experimental. I have decreed that this warship will join the navy that is about to go to America. The main purpose is not Instead of killing enemies and destroying ships, we obtain various experimental data on long voyages. Then the shipyard will correct various parameters based on the experimental data to build better armored warships. If you want to command an armored warship to kill enemies, it's still early! "
After hearing this, Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but feel a little regretful and said: "Ah, I don't know if I can wait until that time!"
Emperor Chongzhen heard this, stretched out his hand to call him, and walked forward slowly to the bow of the warship. When Zheng Zhilong saw it, he quickly followed. Everyone else knew that the emperor had something to say to Zheng Zhilong alone, so they all chatted separately and followed him.
Only the prince seemed to understand nothing and wanted to follow him, as if he wanted to introduce the craftsmanship on the bow of the ship to Emperor Chongzhen.
But just when he was about to take a step forward, Li Ruolian, the commander of the Jin Yiwei, had already blocked his way.
Zhu Cixiang was stunned. It had never happened before that someone would block his way. When he was about to speak, Cao Huachun, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, said from behind him: "Your Highness, what's going on with the armor here? Are there rivets?"
When Zhu Cixiang heard this, he turned around and saw Cao Huachun looking at him with a very eager to know expression. A smile immediately appeared on his face and he quickly walked over to explain to Cao Huachun.
At this time, at the bow of the ship, Emperor Chongzhen looked towards the sea and said calmly: "In the past, the Ming Navy had always fought along the coast, and could use its numerical advantage to offset its disadvantages in warships and sharp guns. Back then, You have personally experienced the Battle of Liaoluo Bay, so you must know it better than anyone else."
In the naval battle of Liaoluo Bay that year, Zheng Zhilong personally commanded and defeated the combined fleet of Hongyi and pirate Liu Xiang, establishing Zheng Zhilong's dominance at sea. Of course he couldn't forget this kind of thing.
Therefore, without Zheng Zhilong answering, Emperor Chongzhen continued: "Now our Ming navy goes to fight in other places, and the logistics line is far away. Just like when the Western barbarians went to the Far East. I am not boasting, but now our Ming Dynasty's prestige is far-reaching I guess it won’t be long before all the Western Barbarians in Europe will feel threatened by the Ming Dynasty. I dare to say that even though the Ming Dynasty continues to expand its territory, most of the Western Barbarians in Europe will unite to deal with the Ming Dynasty!”
Zheng Zhilong just remained silent after hearing this. Because from his perspective, even if he had understood the situation of the Western Yi, it was impossible for Emperor Chongzhen to have a deeper understanding of those European countries. His sight has not yet reached that height.
"I don't want to give the Western Yi a chance to do what you did at Liaoluowan, gathering their European forces to attack our Ming expeditionary force." Emperor Chongzhen said this, turned to look at him, and then continued: "Lu In the war above, with me here, no matter how many times the number of men and horses they bring, I can make them never come back! However, I am a little worried about the navy! "
When he talked about land, he was full of confidence. Zheng Zhilong, who had his head lowered, couldn't help but look up when he heard it, but immediately lowered his head again.
He knew very well in his heart that Emperor Chongzhen was right! However, as for the navy, as soon as he thought about it, he immediately wanted to express his position that "I am responsible for naval battles."
But Emperor Chongzhen had already spoken first: "Warships are being updated, and the large-scale naval battle with Xiyi. I am referring to the naval battle with thousands of large battleships of the same scale throughout Europe. Today's Ming Navy alone is far away." It’s not enough. The navy officers transformed from fishermen are ultimately not suitable for this kind of war.”
When Zheng Zhilong heard this, he roughly understood what the emperor meant by these words.
Sure enough, I heard Emperor Chongzhen continue to say: "You are one of the people who know best about naval warfare in our Ming Dynasty. Therefore, you will teach your skills to more naval officers, and then more naval officers will pass them on to more naval officers." Navy officers, this is the top priority of our Ming Navy. When the officers of our Ming Navy have grown up, a new generation of warships will be almost ready. By then, we will have a decisive battle with the Western Yi. I want all naval and land battles to be fought at once. Without the confidence of Xiyi. On this earth, only the Ming Dynasty is the only one to benefit future generations!"
When he heard what happened next, Zheng Zhilong's blood boiled with excitement: Only the Ming Dynasty can benefit future generations!
But after all, he was old enough, and he already understood in his heart that the emperor still wanted him to teach with peace of mind!
Thinking of this, on the surface, Zheng Zhilong immediately clasped his fists and saluted, and said firmly: "I will do my best for future generations, for the Ming Dynasty, and for the sake of Your Majesty, no matter what!"
His voice was a bit loud, and almost everyone on the battleship heard it. They looked over curiously, wondering what the emperor had said to make Zheng Zhilong say such generous words.
But after all, they were just thinking about it and had no intention of gossiping. Even if they thought about it, no one would be able to get through even if the commander of the Imperial Guards was blocking them.
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen didn't care about the others. He smiled and said to Zheng Zhilong: "I will reward the wooden carvings with them. In this way, there is no need to come back to report the various experimental parameters of the armored battleship. The parameters can be known at any time here. How effective is it? The construction of this new warship will definitely be faster than you think!"
After hearing this, Zheng Zhilong looked happy and nodded vigorously.
Emperor Chongzhen looked at him, walked over, reached out and patted his shoulder, and said with a smile: "We are about the same age. Remember to exercise regularly. He will eventually have the opportunity to show off in foreign lands!"
After hearing this, Zheng Zhilong hurriedly patted his chest and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry, Wei Chen's body can handle three big bowls a day!"
In ancient times, most of the long-lived people were wealthy or educated people. They were in their prime of life in their forties or fifties, and were even just old enough to be senior officials.
The reason why the average life expectancy of ancient people is low is because poor people do not live long and die young, which lowers the average life span.
Emperor Chongzhen brought a group of ministers over. First, he expressed his importance and affirmed the work of the shipyard, so that they would be more motivated to work.
The second is to let them, the important officials of the imperial court, know that the power brought by knowledge other than Confucianism is very huge and cannot be stopped by flesh and blood.
Third, Emperor Chongzhen heard that the Ming Dynasty was about to launch an expedition to the Americas. Many soldiers from the Naval Armament School in the capital, like Zheng Zhilong, wanted to go and perform meritorious service. People were moved and asked for battle. Therefore, we brought them here this time to let them all see the Ming Dynasty's new warships first, to appease their hearts, and let them study hard in the school, with expectations for the future, and then go to places to bring out more qualified people. Navy officer. It will definitely come in handy someday in the future.
After that, Emperor Chongzhen inspected the entire shipyard. He had to admit that the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty were actually very smart. In order to build iron-clad battleships, they came up with many fantastic ideas to solve the practical difficulties they encountered. If we have to talk about their shortcomings, it is that their theoretical knowledge system is a bit poor.
For example, when designing battleships and calculating various parameters, these craftsmen are obviously weak. However, there was a group of newly learned elites brought by the prince to help. Among them, there was even a European, that is Kircher. In terms of physics, he was indeed a bit more powerful.
The next day, Emperor Chongzhen inspected the military port in Tianjin again. At this time, many transport ships have gathered here, most of them are large blessing ships. Undertaken the tasks of transporting supplies to the Japanese country and building stopping points along the way. As for the naval warships, they are basically in Denglai.
Because the warships based on Fu Chuan and the imitations of Western-style sailing ships were all made at the Denglai Shipyard. When Lu Xiangsheng was in power, ships were built and sailors were trained here.
There are also some warships participating in this expedition, all of which are imitations of Western-style sailing ships. They have sailed from Yingtianfu Shipyard and headed to Fuso Province first.
Three days later, under the farewell of Emperor Chongzhen and his civil and military officials, the fleet for the expedition to America assembled and set off.
In this team, in addition to the very conspicuous iron-clad warships, there are also five Portuguese warships, with Anders leading the formation. Before leaving, he secretly told Catherine again that she must treat herself as a Ming Dynasty person and live well, which is the greatest support for Portugal!
During this expedition, the emperor did not hold a big farewell ceremony. After all, this is not the entire navy. In addition, today's Ming Dynasty no longer needs to use particularly grand ceremonies to boost morale. The soldiers all rush to fight, because only in this way can they gain military merit!
