Chapter 1201: Inspecting the Navy

After leaving Suqu, Yun Zheng and his party rushed to Mayi.

Then, follow Mayi through Xin'an and Moyang to reach Tianhu.

It took about twenty days to complete this journey.

They brought many personal guards with them, so Yun Zheng’s incognito visit could not be carried out.

He had just encountered an assassination attempt, and Miaoyin and Shen Luoyan would not let him hide his identity and pretend to be a pig to eat the tiger, so he could only simply inspect the people's livelihood and administration in various places.

However, whenever Yun Zheng arrived in a city, he would send his personal guards to inquire around the city and listen to the people's opinions on local officials. If he encountered injustice, he would also redress the grievances for the people.

After resting for a night in Tianhu Lake, they headed directly to Xinjin, southeast of Tianhu Lake.

Xinjin is a port that Yun Zheng built a few years ago.

At present, Xinjin’s main industries are fishery and various sideline businesses.

Shuobei’s navy and shipping department are all in Xinjin.

Upon learning that Yun Zheng and his companions had arrived, Zhao Liuliang, the commander-in-chief of the Shuobei Navy, hurried over to greet them.

"General Zhao Liuliang pays respect to His Highness, Princess, and Madam Miaoyin!"

Zhao Liuliang was a little excited.

After they parted in Dingbei the year before last, he never saw Yun Zheng again.

He thought Yun Zheng had forgotten about the navy.

Unexpectedly, in such a cold weather, Yun Zheng actually brought the princess and Madam Miaoyin to Xinjin.

Your Highness has not forgotten the navy!

"General Zhao, please excuse me!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Let's go, take me to see the dock first!"

Yun Zheng was a little impatient.

To be honest, this is the first time for him, the governor of Shuobei, to come here.

Although he has been paying attention to the situation here, it is better to come here in person.

Zhao Liuliang took the order and took Yun Zheng to the dock more than ten miles away.

On the way, Zhao Liuliang, at Yun Zheng's request, gave him a detailed introduction to the situation of the Shuobei Navy.

Currently, the Shuobei Navy has a total of more than 7,000 people.

However, not all of these 7,000 people are combatants. Many of them are logistics soldiers responsible for warship maintenance and other work.

Those who returned from overseas with him became generals of varying ranks in the navy.

The navy had three treasure ships, two tower ships, three grain ships, and two horse ships.

One of the treasure ships was the one that survived the previous voyage.

These warships are barely enough for routine training.

Zhao Liuliang himself actually had no idea about the navy’s current combat effectiveness, but no one was seasick at all.

As for the combat effectiveness, we can only know it after we encounter the enemy and fight them.

At present, the two shipyards in Xinjin are simultaneously building warships, one of which is a tower ship and the other is a horse ship.

Although the construction of warships was under the jurisdiction of the Ship Administration, Zhao Liuliang was also very concerned about the progress of the construction of the warships.

The main construction of the building ship has been completed and it should be finished by the beginning of spring.

"What are the performances of the warships currently in service?"

Yun Zheng asked Zhao Liuliang again.

"This one……"

Zhao Liuliang laughed dryly, not knowing how to answer for a moment.

Yun Zheng turned his head and looked at Zhao Liuliang, "Just say it directly."

Zhao Liuliang thought for a moment and replied, "It can be used. It should be fine if it runs near the coast. But if it goes to the open sea, it may not be able to withstand the big waves. It is easy to hit a reef near the coast. Once it hits a reef, it will almost certainly sink!"

Depend on!

Even though Yun Zheng was mentally prepared, he still felt a little depressed when he heard Zhao Liuliang's evaluation.

So we can only do defense and other things near the coast?

"How does it compare to the warships sent by the court?"

Yun Zheng asked somewhat unwillingly.

"It's a little bit worse."

Zhao Liuliang answered tactfully: "The warships sent by the court used a lot of iron and wood. If our warships collide with the court's warships, our warships will probably break more easily..."

There is actually nothing we can do about this.

The imperial court's warships made extensive use of iron and wood, making the hull stronger, more stable, and more resistant to seawater corrosion. The only drawback was that the hull was heavier, not suitable for large-scale loading, and slightly inferior in speed.

The warships of Shuobei were made of a large amount of fir and pine wood. The stability of the hull was actually quite good, although it was not very strong and corrosion-resistant. However, it was suitable for loading and had a slightly faster speed.

Of course, it is precisely because Shuobei’s warships are built with a large amount of fir and pine wood that the speed of warship construction is so fast.

After all, the time it takes to saw through an ironwood tree is completely different from the time it takes to saw through a fir tree.

Listening to Zhao Liuliang's explanation, Yun Zheng felt helpless.

He also wants to use ironwood to build warships!

But there is no Tiemu in Shuobei!

Forget it, just make do with it for now!

Didn’t the fourth brother say that the third brother was building warships in Hujin and Youjin in Yuanzhou?

If we really want to attack Yu Kingdom, we will instigate rebellion!

There is no way to fight against the Yu Kingdom without suitable warships!

Yun Zheng made up his mind and asked Zhao Liuliang, "I heard that you led your troops to sea last May and re-determined the route?"

"Yes!"

Zhao Liuliang replied, "I mainly wanted to test whether the new warships are stable. I only determined the route from Xinjin to the central part of Zhenhe. The navigation chart is in the navy camp. When Your Highness arrives at the navy camp, I will show it to Your Highness."

"it is good!"

Yunzheng nodded and smiled.

They chatted all the way and finally arrived at the shipyard where the tower ship was built.

Yun Zheng and others dismounted, and under the guidance of the ship's commander Si Tisi and others, they walked into the dock and boarded the main body of the ship which had been completed.

This building ship is divided into two floors, and it looks spectacular.

However, Yun Zheng was a little skeptical about the stability of this thing.

"Dong dong..."

Shen Luoyan and Miaoyin, who were boarding the warship for the first time, stamped their feet on the deck curiously, looked here and there, and felt that every place was full of novelty.

"This building ship is so high above the water, can it be stable?"

Yun Zheng frowned and asked Zhao Liuliang.

"It's pretty stable."

Zhao Liuliang replied: "There will definitely be no problem sailing in the near sea."

Tisi also took over the conversation: "Your Highness, this ship originally had three floors, but it was reduced by one floor because of the stability of the hull..."

As he spoke, the instructor began to introduce the building ship to Yun Zheng and the others.

Their tower ship had one less floor and its size was correspondingly smaller than that of the standard tower ship of the imperial court.

The standard length of the imperial court's tower ship was eighteen zhang, while their tower ship was sixteen and a half zhang long.

Including their treasure ships, which were three meters shorter than the standard treasure ships of the imperial court.

However, the treasure ship was reduced in size mainly due to material problems.

"How many soldiers can this ship carry?"

Yunzheng asked again.

"It can carry about 400 people at most."

Tis answered.

Only four hundred people?

To transport tens of thousands of troops to land in Yu State, plus food and horses, a large fleet must have hundreds of warships, right?

Yun Zheng walked around on the ship, secretly wondering whether he should move the tiger squat cannon onto the warship.

However, Yun Zheng quickly gave up this idea temporarily.

It is easy to move the tiger squat cannon onto a warship.

But without saltpeter mines, what’s the point!

After looking for a while, Yun Zheng turned back to look at the chief, "We must ensure speed as well as quality! There are hundreds of lives on this ship! If anything goes wrong with the ship, your entire family will be killed!"

Tisi's heart tightened, and he quickly assured: "Your Highness, don't worry, I will personally monitor each of these warships! If there is a problem with a warship, your Highness will ask for your head, and I will have no complaints!"

"Okay! As long as you have this confidence!"

Yun Zheng nodded, "Let's go and show this prince the accounts of the Shipping Department."

Now that you are here, you must check the accounts.

He would rather the shipping company provide the shipbuilding workers with better food than have anyone embezzle money.

"Yes!"

Tisi obeyed the order, but a trace of panic flashed in his eyes...