Dominate the Country

On the renovated Dagukou fort, Li Xiaomei and Feng Wenwen stood on the fort like two watchmen's stones. Two pairs of eyes looked at the sea with worry, as if they could see the warship sailing on the sea through a distance that was invisible to the naked eye.

Chen Ming himself was on that flying-shearing warship, and he also brought Chen Ding aboard. A group of three warships, one small, two large, and three, sailed out of Dagokou this morning and are expected to arrive around noon tomorrow. return. But Li Xiaomei was not willing to step down from this fort at all. She was worried to death. Feng Wenwen was not willing to do it. On the one hand, she was also worried that the sea was too dangerous for her; on the other hand, didn't you see that the first wife was standing?

At this time, on the Yellow Sea, about fifty or sixty miles away from Dagukou, the sea was calm and the waves were no more than five feet high. A small white clipper warship was sailing toward the southwest at a speed of ten knots.

As the semaphores of the ships ahead and behind were exchanged, the small flying shear bow and stern drew a beautiful arc in the water. The entire ship was like a flexible flying fish, changing direction, and in a very short time it had appeared on the 'rear' side. Further back. Diagonally opposite the warship, a small boat like a large fishing boat floated alone on the water. The Western-style sailboat that had previously towed the fishing boat had run away far away.

"Every gun is ready!"

The gun commanders of the four gun positions facing the boat all raised red flags. In addition to the bow and stern, the clipper bow ship only had four guns in the middle, two on each side, and two guns on each side. The ship has six guns, which is not as many as the bird ship and shuttle ship with the same displacement. The gunnery officer of this small clipper bow sailboat named Swordfish 3 turned back to report to Chen Ming beside him.

"Fire!"

Chen Ming closed the pocket watch in his hand, "It took one minute and twenty seconds!"

"Boom, boom, boom..." Four streams of white gunpowder smoke rose up, and were quickly blown away by the sea breeze.

Two of the four shells fired flew far over the head of the fishing boat, and the other two landed on the left and right sides of the fishing boat, without even damaging a hair on the latter.

"Fire the fire dragon bullet!" Chen Ming was noncommittal about the result. The turbulence in the sea for ships with a flying shear bow is relatively high, so the process of loading cannonballs is relatively more difficult. He understands this very well. But one minute and twenty seconds is also a very bad result. Putting this speed into actual combat, it would be amazing to be able to load a shell in two minutes.

A fire dragon bomb hit the fishing boat about 300 meters away, and the violent explosion caused the entire fishing boat to fall apart in an instant. When the smoke rose, countless wood chips flew across.

Ye Tingyang, who was standing next to Chen Ming, had a cold look on his face. Although the weapon of the small clipper bow sailboat is the fire dragon bomb, the artillery equipped on the warship cannot be ignored at all.

This is the first time that their destroyer fleet has been inspected by His Highness the Crown Prince since its establishment. The small scissor-bowed warship has a very nice name - destroyer. Ye Tingyang is the leader of the fleet and feels embarrassed for him.

"Take your time. You are all newbies." A small flying-shearing warship of this kind can carry fifty or sixty people, and the number of small flying-shearing warships launched by the Fuhan Army totaled twenty. , how did Chen Ming suddenly get more than a thousand trained Western-style sailors? It can only be said that most of the fifty or sixty sailors on this ship are still just half-baked apprentices. Forty or fifty people are working hard under the leadership of a dozen veterans, learning skills and becoming proficient in skills bit by bit.

At the same time as this artillery shooting training was taking place, another group of naval officers and soldiers were conducting training on sail removal under the leadership of the captain.

"Dad, they are so dangerous." Chen Ding watched a group of soldiers climbing hard on the tall masts and crossbars. There were no protective measures between the tall masts, the water surface, and the ship's planks. It was really scary. . What to do if it falls? It's completely beyond his imagination!

Chen Ming followed his gaze and rubbed the back of his son's head with his big hand, "Their danger is for this country, and our Chen family is the king of this country, so their danger is also for us."

"From now on, you must keep their danger in mind forever and never forget it." What Chen Ming said to Chen Ding made Ye Tingyang's eyes become moist. But Chen Ming is not specifically trying to win people's hearts. He is really afraid that he will raise a son who is not like his father like "Zhu Gaochi is the second". This is not to say that Zhu Gaochi is not very good, but that he is very different from his father, Zhu Di. Compared with Emperor Yongle, who was decisive and powerful in killing and attacking, Zhu Gaochi, a 'benevolent emperor' in the traditional Chinese sense, was obviously very different. In the future world, if Chen Ding can really take over, he cannot imitate Zhu Gaochi. The times have decided that the traditional Chinese benevolence is not suitable for the 19th century world.

"More than ten miles to the east, a fleet of at least five ships has been spotted! Speeding at four knots!" Suddenly, the lookout in the mast ring sounded the alarm, then waved the flag in his hand and shouted while waving it.

The sea breeze blew, and Chen Ming sounded unfriendly. But there are semaphores!

A fleet of more than five ships?

After listening to Ye Tingyang's report, Chen Ming ordered to go forward without thinking. It is impossible for Qing warships to appear in this sea area, and the latter is still hiding in the Yalu River. These ships are either merchant ships from Tianjin to North Korea, or transport ships from the Logistics Department to North Korea. But I still have to go up and have a look.

Chen Ming, who controlled the extremely high speed of the flying scissor warship, didn't even care about the five enemy ships.

Ye Tingyang still maintained absolute vigilance and quickly turned around, "All first-level combat preparations! Head to the northeast."

"Send a flag signal to tell the other two ships to follow immediately." Chen Han's prince and future prince are both on his ship. If there is a problem, Ye Tingyang can't solve it even if he dies.

All the sailors on the ship were busy and nervous, and the four cannons that had just fired were also nervous to reload the shells. Pairs of eyes stared at the northeast direction, and sweat had already seeped out of the palms of many sailors. Although they had done countless training and fired countless training shells before, the soldiers were all very nervous. This was not only the tension brought by the first battle, but also the heavy responsibility they shouldered - Chen Ming and his son.

Swordfish No. 3 drew a small arc on the sea and accelerated towards the northeast.

Eight large Fu ships maintained a straight formation, one mile apart from each other, and advanced towards Tianjin Port against the wind and waves. The ship was loaded with full of North Koreans. These people are "cargo", the most sought-after goods in North Korea and China now.

The military cooperatives in the south have begun to introduce Korean slave labor to replace the former tenants. Public and private mines have also begun to introduce Korean slave labor on a large scale, because the latter are too "cheap".

Compared with the wages of Han people, the price of a strong Korean laborer can be recovered in less than a year. And their expenses, except for food and clothing, there is nothing else. Even if these Korean slaves have families, it is still very cost-effective.

Nanjing is preparing to introduce a new law-the slave labor law. It is rumored that there are certain protection provisions in it, but it is better than the Han people, right? After all, they are slaves, and the Han people cannot have slaves. Otherwise, you are breaking the law!

Even Chen Ming himself did not expect that China's first wave of slave trade would actually start with North Korea. It's really something.

As for how those "unemployed" landless farmers live, Chen Ming does not have to worry too much. A very important task of local township officials now is to "mobilize" people to work. These landless farmers are the best targets. And in the future, we will develop the Northeast and Xinjiang!

As for the stubborn people among these landless poor, they would rather starve to death than go out to work or leave their homes. Maybe there are, but Chen Ming has not received any news about this. It can be seen that even if there are such people, they must be rare and cannot cause any trouble.

Zhu Zhiwei stayed in the room and fiddled with a beautiful vase. The vase was quite heavy because it had a metal base like cloisonné. It was a gift from Yi Zhen, the King of Yeonryeong of Korea, a fine Cloisonné from Japan.

Zhu Zhiwei did not take Cloisonné seriously and did not cherish it. He took Cloisonné in his hand and played with it. This thing looked very much like Cloisonné. He asked someone and found out that the Cloisonné of this little Japan was really imitated from Cloisonné. As a result, Cloisonné was not made, but Cloisonné was made, which was considered an extension of Cloisonné.

Suddenly, there was a hurried knock on the door, "Mr. Zhu, a Western sailing ship was found ahead." Zhu Zhiwei was the executive vice president of Jiangnan Trading Company, so he was called "Mr. Zhu", but he always felt that these two words were not right.

"How many ships?" Zhu Zhiwei did not remember that Chen Han had allowed foreigners to trade in North Korea.

"Just one. But the ship is very fast, at least 10 knots." With the return of the navy seeds, the measurement term "knot" has entered the navy team, and Chen Ming also acquiesced to this fact, so soon this measurement unit was extended from the army to the people.

The captain's expression was a little nervous, "Although we have eight ships, but..., the other side is too fast."

Zhu Zhiwei was not a person who did not understand ships, and he was also shocked when he heard that the speed was at least ten knots. But he quickly thought of something, "Haha, it should not be the enemy." Zhu Zhiwei still ordered all ships to be ready, but with a smile on his face, he was not worried or afraid.

Half an hour later, everyone on the ship could see the white, slender-lined clipper warship with their naked eyes. It was coming in a crosswind and its speed had dropped to less than eight knots.

The combat alerts on both sides were all lifted. Both sides hoisted red flags to indicate each other's identities.

"This ship is so fast..." Zhu Zhiwei stared at the warship that approached slightly and then turned away, as if he saw a beautiful woman with half-dressed clothes.

As a veteran on the sea, the attraction of a high-speed sailing ship is unquestionable.

At noon the next day, when the three ships led by Swordfish III slowly approached the dock, the dock area suddenly became a sea of ​​joy. Everyone was nervous, fearing that something really happened to the father and son of the Chen family. Now seeing that they were back safely, everyone was relieved.

After getting off the ship, Chen Ming rewarded all the navy of Tianjin Port and had a drink. When he woke up, it was already five o'clock. The setting sun was in the sky, and the red clouds were like brocade, covering most of the western sky.

When Chen Ming came out of the room, he saw Li Xiaomei half-hugging and half-carrying the little girl to ride on the horse under the fruit tree. Her little hands were holding the reins, and she was still saying "jiajia..." in her mouth.

"Hello, Your Highness."

Li Xiaomei turned around after hearing the voice of the maid, and saw Chen Ming standing under the eaves with his hands behind his back. He looked at her with a warm smile.

Li Xiaomei was in a very embarrassed state now. The hairpins on her head had fallen off, and some were tilted, and her hair was scattered. There was sweat on her face, and a few strands of hair stuck to her forehead.

"I'll hold her." The little girl, who was over one year old, was chubby, and her white and rosy little face was as round as a ball. She weighed more than 20 kilograms.

"Then you hold her and play with her." Li Xiaomei was really tired. After several years of living in wealth and luxury, she no longer had the energy to take care of her nephew. "My arms are sore."

Chen Ming smiled but said nothing.

The little girl fell asleep at around eight o'clock in the evening. Her eyebrows were like two crescent moons, and her little mouth moved frequently, as if she was sucking milk.

"Do you know? My father sent me a letter saying that he was not going to ascend the throne."

"What does that mean?" Li Xiaomei's eyes widened in shock.

"It means that I will be the emperor, and he will be the emperor emeritus, and take care of the elderly."

Chen Ming did not reveal this to the outside world at all. Liu Wu, Xiong Bingzhang, Liu Dezhao, etc., did not know.

Li Xiaomei was completely numb. Being a crown princess and being a queen are two different things. She did not think that Chen Hui had the ability to manipulate Chen Ming as a puppet. If Chen Ming succeeded to the throne, he would definitely have all the power in his hands.

"I didn't hear anything." Li Xiaomei blinked, a burst of excitement burst out from her almond eyes, "How are you going to answer?"

"No matter what, this must be rejected first. Don't be discouraged, the throne will be ours sooner or later, why rush at this moment."

...

On the tenth day of the tenth month of the 145th year of Chongzhen. Ten days ago, on the first day of September, the Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard was established, with the Zhoushan Shipyard "managed" by Chen Jigong as the main body, absorbing 2 million silver yuan of official funds, and this Jiangnan Shipyard became a public-private partnership. After a few more "financing" like this, Chen Jigong can pat his butt and leave this shipyard that has been on the right track.

Today is a rest day, the shipyard rests every ten days, Chen Han has not introduced the concept of "a week" of foreigners, and the seven-day week popular in Japan and Korea is unknown in China, where it originated. Although Chen Ming insisted on taking a rest every seven days, he could come up with countless reasons, such as the "Book of Changes" has the saying "return every seven days", and the "Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic" even proposed the saying "the seven stars circulate".

Moreover, Chen Ming also knew that the two words "week" and "week" that he was familiar with originated in China and were only used in China. There was no such saying in Japan and South Korea in his previous life.

Chen Ming did not learn any new skills in this regard, but today's Jiangnan Shipyard is still in full swing. A group of Chinese and foreign technicians are busy around the No. 5 slipway, and the keel that has been processed is slowly being hoisted and hung in the air.

The 250-ton small clipper sailing ship built on the No. 2 slipway was launched a week ago, which marked that the manufacturing of the first batch of 20 small clipper sailing ships has been completely completed. Now the No. 5 slipway is carrying out the manufacturing of 500-ton small and medium-sized clipper sailing ships, and the keel is currently being laid. On the No. 1 dock in the distance, the largest transport ship of the Fu Han Army was being manufactured intensively. This was a Chinese sailing ship with a maximum designed load of 30,000 shi, or about 1,500 metric tons. This number was not rare for Western sailing ships of the same era, but it was definitely a historic moment for China, which had no giant ships after the disappearance of the treasure ships.

This large Fu ship named "Oriental" had completed most of the main construction work, and the launch schedule was also scheduled for late November.

Outside the port of Shanghai.

A British ship fully loaded with cargo had its sails fully spread, and was heading south under the push of the monsoon. It still had a batch of cargo to be loaded in Guangzhou, so that the entire ship would have no more empty cabins.

At this moment, a group of British sailors were pointing at a small sailing ship that was gliding quickly on the sea not far away and exclaiming.

"God, it's really fast."

"I swear to my father in heaven, this ship is definitely the fastest ship I have ever seen."

"Its speed is definitely more than ten knots!"

"I bet it should be more than twelve knots!"

The crowd includes the most ordinary sailors, gunners, and boatswains with a certain status. These people shouted and shouted at the small sailboat not far away, just like they found a new toy.

The captain and the chief steward of this ship are now staying in their comfortable rooms, admiring the porcelain in front of them with obsessed eyes. The captain is admiring a set of exquisite high white porcelain, and the skin of the most beautiful woman cannot compare to the operation of porcelain. And the chief steward is admiring a set of exquisite porcelain that he has never seen before.

This kind of porcelain, which is as exquisite as a work of art, was difficult for them to buy from the Chinese in the past. But in this year's porcelain market, not only the exquisite porcelain appeared, but also the thin-bodied porcelain that the Chinese themselves regard as a treasure. Unfortunately, he found out too late. When he arrived in Nanjing after completing the formalities in Shanghai, the thin-bodied porcelain had already been bought by Pierre, the French commercial representative in Nanjing, who had spent all his money on it. He only saw the beautiful treasure in the French trading house when Pierre, who was very proud of himself, hosted a dinner party.

Fortunately, he also grabbed a group of exquisite porcelain bottles. It can be said that it was a blessing in disguise!

Ye Tingyang stood at the bow, holding a telescope and looking at the British on the opposite side. The clipper ship sailed through the waves like a flexible flying fish. The ship was bumpy, and Ye Tingyang's legs were like two nails, firmly fixed on the bow.

"Bang..."

The blade-like bow split a wave, and countless water splashed in an instant, wetting Ye Tingyang's shirt, and the dense mist left a gorgeous rainbow in the sun.