No matter what happened, the Beigang dock was immediately emptied, and two old battleships were put up for renovation. The funds were first misappropriated from the reserve fund of the Southeast Palace bank.

Yan Changwu postponed his plan to send troops to the Guangdong Sea, and went to the Beigang Dockyard to organize engineers to conduct "consultations" and make a plan to modify the large ship.

First draw the structural diagram of the large ship and find out its key stress points. At this time, the drafting skills taught by Phineas Pate came in handy.

Yan Changwu was also a shipbuilding designer and he personally drew each structural drawing.

Just work on the map, brew up the transformation plan, decide on labor and materials, no longer care about the cost, focus on the fastest and best, not the cheapest.

He set an example and did not leave the dock area for ten days. He worked hard for ten days and worked almost all night to come up with a complete transformation plan.

It is nothing more than lowering the height of the forecastle and stern tower of the big ship, and removing unnecessary decorations. I have done some of this before, but now I will more thoroughly remove all unnecessary decorations, strengthen and transform the hull structure, and strengthen the gun ports.

Wall strength, updates and changes to sail gear, etc.

Due to the lack of a large stern and cabin adjustments, the plan decided to subtract a pair of gun positions from the rear of the upper gun deck, but install 18-pound guns (the gun door structure was strengthened), with a total of 24 guns. The original 12-pound guns (

There are 26 doors in total), and the firepower of the entire floor does not decrease but increases.

The lower gun deck still has 26 24-pound guns, and the open deck has 18 6-pound guns.

But after the plan came out, when Yan Changwu was complacent about improving the firepower of the battleship, he piled up heavy cannons there. Shipbuilder Barentsz had already seen something wrong: "...the structural changes you have here are unbalanced.

, the front is heavy and the back is light, making it easy to bury your head. Once the waves surge, no one can stand on your open deck, let alone run!"

"What should we do?"

"Reduce the artillery in front," Barentsz suggested, but Yan Changwu was filled with worry, my cannon!

For Yan Changwu, who was a big artillerist, every loss of a pair of heavy artillery made him feel like a knife.

However, if the number of guns is not reduced, the seaworthiness of the big ship will be very poor, which will be counterproductive.

After discussion, the front of the upper gun deck was reduced by two pairs of 18-pound guns, the front of the lower gun deck was also reduced by a pair of 24-pound guns, and the 18 6-pound deck guns were replaced by six 12-pound deck guns.

All are placed at the rear so that the bow of the ship can be lifted up and move forward through the waves.

Such a new warship has a total of 24-pound guns/24 guns, 18-pounders/20 guns, and 12-pounders/6 guns. It has been greatly changed into 50 guns, with a total poundage of 1008. Compared with the previous 70 guns (24

The total poundage is 1044 (36 pounds less, equal to 1 pair of 18-pound guns), but it is acceptable.

The key is that it has been modified to be streamlined, its seaworthiness is greatly improved, its speed is faster, and it can keep up with the cruiser formation.

In the past, it was as clumsy as a hippopotamus and its steering was extremely slow. Now it is as agile as a lion pounces!

The designers were talking loudly there, and Captain Yan Donglai could only listen attentively. Everyone comforted him that it was nothing to be missing a pair of 18-pounder guns, while Yan Donglai was secretly thinking, yes, it was nothing, but that is not your battleship!

Every captain loves the warships he commands like his wife, and the lack of a pair of heavy guns is simply intolerable.

Well, after the modification is completed and launched into the water, I will "fine-tune" it!

His idea was to install a pair of heavy cannons on his warship. If the logistics department is not willing to do it, then buy it himself! Yan Donglai said harshly.

The so-called person who is close to ink is black, and the one who is close to vermillion is red. Close to a guy like Yan Changwu who shouts: "I want firepower, I want to output", other captains and deputy captains (he is in charge of the gun deck) plus the gunnery commander

Even crazier than him, it is a very normal thing to install larger-caliber artillery on one's warships!

Hey, the Nanhai class is still better! Its firepower is (24-pounder/26 guns, 18-pounder/26 guns, 12-pounder/6 guns, 12 6-pounder guns). The side cannon fires a salvo and can be thrown

The 618-pound metal cannon shells add up to 1,236 pounds on both sides. Compared with the Southeast, there are ten more 18-pound cannons on one side. Thinking about it makes people feel itchy!

But think about it, the latest selection of captains for the two Nanhai-class battleships will definitely not be his turn. After all, he can't let him take advantage of any good things.

But as long as the latter batch of Nanhai-class battleships perform better in assault, hey, it’s not mine or someone else’s!

Yan Donglai secretly made up his mind!

…

After the designers finished their work, Yan Changwu asked Barentsz to monitor the progress and prepare to lead the team on the expedition.

As the chief designer, Barentsz had to work both at Beigang (refitted ship) and Kaohsiung (battleship under construction), which was very difficult.

The shipyard workers in Beigang have been mobilized and entered the period of "big war". This is also the characteristic of the country brought by Yan Changwu. Once the big war happens, the workers will work in three shifts, working all day and night, fighting to the death.

, without taking a vacation, the first pair of battleship modifications must be completed within three months.

The required materials are all available, which is also the benefit of paying attention to collecting and storing materials.

…

Before leaving for the expedition, Yan Changwu asked the financial officer Chen Hebin about the status of their million-dollar bond issuance. Chen Hebin said relaxedly: "Sold out!"

"ah!"

Yan Changwu was very nervous, so he couldn't help but be shocked.

When they decided to issue bonds to the public, they wanted to do it without stopping. They issued a total of one million silver dollars (Spanish silver dollars) of bonds with an interest of 10%. They would repay 200,000 yuan every other year and 300,000 yuan the next year.

, 500,000 yuan will be repaid in the third year.

They just sent out invitations to wealthy businessmen from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian provinces. As a result, all of them were sold out within ten days!

Even 900,000 yuan was not enough to sell. It could be said that they were all sold out in an instant (100,000 yuan was subscribed by Dongnan Mansion himself). Most people did not buy it. The belated buyers even asked them if they still wanted to buy.

It seemed that they were not serious about taking another three million or even five million silver dollars, because there were at least twenty guys who came one after another, and they got nothing.

The buyers were all mainlanders. Among them, Wang Gongzi, the representative of Quanzhou shipping boss Wang Zhidong, bought 300,000 silver dollars in one go! There was also a pair of Chen brothers from Nanjing, who were not astonishing in appearance, and they also bought 300,000 silver dollars.

Including three people from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, who each ate 100,000 silver dollars, just six people swallowed all the 900,000 silver dollar bonds.

According to Chen Hebin, those guys should be representatives of officials and businessmen in the southeast region.

Yan Changwu was really amazed at the wealth of the people in the Ming Dynasty!

The people of Ming Dynasty are indeed rich!

Because silk, porcelain, and other commodities of the Ming Dynasty, Japanese silver, and Spanish silver poured in like a rising tide. Almost two-thirds of the world's silver went to China's Ming Dynasty, and there was no commercial tax. Most of the silver was taken by the private sector.

, the imperial court collected only a little silver from taxes.

Divergent thinking, poor Ming Emperor, poor Ming court!

I shed a tear for him!

Think about it, Emperor Chongzhen, because he was short of money, put down his face and dignity as emperor, and begged ministers and relatives to donate money to pay the soldiers guarding Beijing.

As a result, Wei Zaode, the chief minister of the cabinet, donated 500 taels; Wang Zhixin, the richest eunuch, donated 10,000 taels; and Zhou Kui, the head of the country, donated 13,000 taels (this was Zhou Kui himself who donated 10,000 taels. He

The queen gave him 5,000 taels of silver and asked him to donate it to his daughter. He donated 3,000 taels and kept 2,000 taels for himself. When Li Zicheng came, he tortured him to get 530,000 taels of silver!)

It is said that Li Zicheng plundered 60 million taels of silver in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and how rich the areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian, the home base of the Donglin Party, were!

…

Seeing that Yan Changwu was not happy but angry, Chen Hebin felt strange. He complimented Yan Changwu: "... They all said they believed in the character of the warlord!"
Chapter completed!