Just when Li Huan was distracted, Zhu Houzhao, who was walking around suddenly, paused, with a smile on his face, and said with some certainty: "Yes, I will definitely come up with a name after I think of it."
It couldn’t be more appropriate.”
When Li Huan heard this, he couldn't help but get excited. He looked at Zhu Houzhao with some curiosity and said, "Oh, I wonder what the name is that your Majesty wants!"
Zhu Houzhao's eyes flashed with a strange look, and he looked at Li Huan and slowly said: "Hongwu, I named that treasure ship Hongwu. It not only commemorates Emperor Taizu, but also is mighty and domineering, showing the supremacy of our Ming Dynasty.
What does the mighty Li Qing think of this title?"
To be honest, Li Huan really didn't expect that Zhu Houzhao would choose Hongwu as the name of the Ming Dynasty treasure ship, but if he thought about it carefully, even Li Huan had to admit that the name Hongwu was really suitable.
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The reign name of Emperor Taizu, the founding father of the Ming Dynasty, was the name of this treasure ship. Only the emperor today could figure it out.
Taking a deep breath, Li Huan bowed to Zhu Houzhao with a serious face and said: "Your Majesty is so wise and powerful that you can think of using the reign of Emperor Taizu as your title. Even if I try hard to think of it, I can't think of this."
Seeing Li Huan's admiring look, Zhu Houzhao's vanity was infinitely satisfied and he couldn't help laughing.
Soon Zhu Houzhao walked back to the imperial desk, spread out a piece of rice paper with his own hands, then picked up the brush on the side and dipped it in ink, and immediately wrote the word "Hongwu" on the rice paper in one go.
I have to say that Zhu Houzhao is worthy of being an emperor who has received a perfect royal education. Although his handwriting cannot be compared with that of other calligraphers, there is a brilliant imperial spirit in his movements.
Zhu Houzhao took out the seal he carried with him and stamped it. He handed it to Li Huan with great satisfaction and said, "Li Qing, go ahead!"
Li Huan took a boat southward, followed the Grand Canal, and successfully arrived in Nanjing in less than ten days.
This is the second time Li Huan went south to Nanjing in the sixth year of Zhengde. The last time he came, the treasure ship named Hongwu was still under construction. Now that he is in Nanjing again, the Hongwu has been built and will be launched soon.
Navy.
After taking a short rest at the Nanjing Left-behind Mansion, Li Huan went to the Longjiang Shipyard in person, accompanied by Xu Pu, Feng Tai and other Nanjing officials early the next morning.
On this day, Longjiang Shipbuilding was covered with red silk everywhere, and it looked like a happy scene.
Following Li Huan, Su Wang, who was obviously much more capable than before, explained to Li Huan: "Thanks to my father-in-law, today all the craftsmen in the shipyard have a day off. This can be said to be the last few months.
A rare day off for them."
Li Huan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows when he heard this. He looked at the Longjiang Shipyard, which had obviously expanded in a circle. Looking around, he could see many more shipyards around him. Li Huan even saw many large ships being built in large shipyards.
If there are no surprises, what was built in those shipyards should be the Ming Dynasty treasure ships.
Listening to Su Wang's words, Li Huan withdrew his gaze, glanced at Su Wang and said, "Although I ask you to build as big a ship as possible, this doesn't mean that the craftsmen don't even have time to rest.
, Only by combining work and rest can we better stimulate the passion of the craftsmen." Su Wang heard this and said hurriedly: "What the father-in-law said is true, but it's not that I won't give these craftsmen time to rest. In fact, each of these craftsmen is
It's too hard. After all, according to the reward standard of the father-in-law, for every treasure ship built, the shipbuilder can get a thousand taels of silver according to their respective contributions. If you do the math, even the person who gets the least will get at least
You can earn one tael of silver, and as a master craftsman in charge of shipbuilding, you can get dozens of taels."
Because of the supervision of Jin Yiwei, Li Huan knew the Longjiang Shipyard very well and knew that what Su Wang said was true, otherwise he would not have spoken to the other party so nicely.
While talking, Li Huan and the others had arrived at a shipyard.
And in this closed dock, a large ship several feet high was seen docked steadily in the dock. Just from the newly painted varnish, it can be seen that this is a newly built new ship.
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The closer you get to this treasure ship, the more you can feel the hugeness of this treasure ship. People are really like ants in front of it.
Li Huan looked up and could clearly see the cannons flashing with cold light protruding from the muzzles around the cabin. There were as many as fifteen cannons on one side of the ship alone.
You must know that these artillery pieces are the latest developed artillery pieces newly cast by the Foundry Bureau. Compared with previous artillery pieces, they are at least twice as powerful, both in terms of range and firing speed.
According to the information obtained by Li Huan, the Hongwu treasure ship carried a total of forty cannons, fifteen on each side of the ship, five on the bow and stern, plus some small cannons such as the squatting tiger cannon.
There are almost a hundred artillery pieces of various sizes.
It can be imagined that such a behemoth ship is sailing on the sea. Once it encounters an enemy, it will definitely have few opponents in terms of its firepower.
Li Huan stood in front of the Hongwu, a little lost in thought, but the officials around him seemed to have seen Li Huan lost in thought, and no one came forward to disturb Li Huan.
After a few breaths, Li Huan came back to his senses and couldn't help but admired: "Okay, okay, it's really an invincible treasure ship."
Listening to Li Huan's voice of admiration, the faces of the officials around him also showed smiles. They were afraid that Li Huan would be dissatisfied with the treasure ship. Now that Li Huan was so satisfied, everyone was naturally relieved.
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At this moment, Li Huan said to Li Hu behind him: "Get the plaque given by His Majesty!"
After listening to Li Huan's words, many officials were stunned, as if they didn't quite understand what Li Huan meant by his words, and what was the meaning of the plaque given by the emperor.
In the eyes of these officials and the shipyard staff, things like the launching of a treasure ship would definitely not alarm the emperor. After all, the emperor had so many things to do, how could he have the time to take care of these things.
For example, Li Huan personally came to preside over the launch of the treasure ship, which was already beyond the expectations of many people. After all, Li Huan's previous visit to the shipyard had already shown that the court attached great importance to shipbuilding, but it was difficult for Li Huan to have such a high-ranking position.
The noble man rushes around again and again, which is a bit unrealistic no matter how you look at it.
However, Li Huan really came, and from what Li Huan said, it seemed that even the emperor knew about the launch of the treasure ship.
Just when some people were secretly guessing, after listening to Li Huan's words, Li Hu and others immediately took over a plaque carved by a skilled craftsman.
What is engraved on this plaque is the word "Hongwu" written by the emperor's royal pen. The pen moves like a dragon and a snake, showing the imperial atmosphere.
Everyone's eyes fell on the plaque. When they saw clearly the word "Hongwu" on the plaque, many people showed surprise and confusion.
At this moment, Li Huan looked at the crowd and said solemnly: "Your Majesty was very pleased to hear that the Longjiang Shipyard had built Zheng He's treasure ship again after nearly a hundred years, and specially gave the first treasure ship launched into the water the title of Hongwu.
Name, in order to demonstrate the power of our great Ming navy master."
While speaking, Li Huan said to Su Wang and several master craftsmen who were in charge of building the Hongwu: "This is your Majesty's personal letter and it should be embedded in the ship!"
At this time, the master craftsmen were already extremely excited. After listening to Li Huan's words, they took the plaque from Li Hu with almost trembling hands. Then the master craftsmen took it upon themselves to carefully embed the plaque in the specially left position.
above.
As the word "Hongwu" was embedded on the big ship, the surrounding officials who saw this scene and the nearly a thousand navy elites waiting to receive the "Hongwu" didn't know who was the first to shout "Hongwu".
Immediately afterwards, everyone shouted in unison, Hongwu, Hongwu, and the roars echoed through the sky.
"Let's get into the water!"
Following the boatman's loud call, Li Huan cut the cable, opened the sluice, and water quickly poured into the dock. Under the tug of the boatman, the Hongwu's hull shook slightly, the sails rose, and soon it was driven by the wind.
Slowly drive out of the dock.
The Hongwu sailed slowly along the deep waterway into the river. At first glance, it looked like a walking hill compared to the boats on the river.
At the mouth of the river, countless people who had received the news early gathered here. From a distance, they saw a large ship like a mountain slowly approaching and entering the river through the mouth of the river.
The closest point is only a few feet away from the Hongwu. As the Hongwu moves forward slowly, the water on both sides of the waterway
Facing the Hongwu, the common people felt as if a huge mountain was rushing toward them. The timid ones were so frightened that they even backed away and exclaimed repeatedly.
"It's such a big ship, it feels like a hill."
"Is this the legendary Zheng He's treasure ship? It is really as majestic and terrifying as the legend!"
Watching the Hongwu No. 1 being successfully launched into the water, and the people watching the Hongwu No. 1 sighing one after another, I felt that today was an eye-opener.
At this time, Li Huan and other officials were standing on a lookout, looking at the Hongwu on the river in the distance.
Hundreds of naval officers and soldiers have now boarded the Hongwu and are beginning to become familiar with everything on the Hongwu.
The launch of the Hongwu is just the beginning. The next step is not only a trial period to ensure that there are no problems with the ship, but as a warship, the Hongwu also needs to test the condition of the artillery and other weapons on board.
Looking at the signal flag raised on the Hongwu from a distance, a naval general saw this and immediately said to Li Huan: "Sir, the officers and soldiers of the Hongwu are ready and ready for testing at any time."
Li Huan nodded slightly when he heard this, and immediately nodded and ordered: "Send the order, order the Hongwu to test the cannon!"
When the general heard the words, he immediately waved the flags and flags to convey the order. Soon the Hongwu received the signal and saw that the cannons on the side of the Hongwu that were originally sailing were pushed out, revealing the ferocious cannons.
Along with the rumbling sound of shelling, gunpowder smoke filled the air, and a fire broke out among the piles of rocks on the distant shore, and pieces of rubble flew up.
Under the salvo of more than a dozen artillery pieces, the area was directly covered. The fire of the shells was everywhere, and the power looked quite amazing. Wei Guogong Xu, who was watching from the side, couldn't help but said with a little surprise when he saw this situation:
"Hey, this is actually a blooming bullet. When did Ming Dynasty have such a powerful blooming bullet?"
The use of firearms in the Ming Dynasty definitely reached its historical peak. At that time, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang relied on firearms to a certain extent to expel Meng Yuan from the Central Plains.
It can be said that both artillery and muskets accounted for a very high proportion in the Ming army. It can be said that the research and application of firearms in the first hundred years of the Ming Dynasty were definitely at the forefront of the same era.
As for artillery, which is a weapon for siege, it has naturally been studied to a certain extent. It not only has solid bullets, but also exploded bullets.
It's just that the artillery in the early Ming Dynasty was mainly based on solid bullets. The impact of the solid bullets was used to kill or injure the enemy. To a certain extent, the existence of artillery was more about damaging the enemy's morale.
In terms of lethality, to be honest, it's really not that big.
Similarly, the Ming army also had explosive ammunition, but the power of the explosive ammunition used by the Ming army was actually quite impressive. It used the method of projecting solid bullets to shoot out a secondary explosion of a hollow iron ball filled with gunpowder connected with a fuse to kill the enemy.
It is conceivable that given the power of gunpowder in this era, the power of explosive bullets can also be imagined.
Normally speaking, the power of the Hongwu's cannon test and the explosive shells it fired would never reach such a level, otherwise Xu wouldn't be so surprised.
After all, Xu is well-informed and can be considered somewhat experienced in the military, and he also understands the power of explosive bullets.
However, what he saw now clearly did not match the power of the explosive bullets in his impression.
Xu couldn't help but look at Li Huan. After all, the artillery on the Hongwu was sent by Li Huan, so Li Huan must know what was going on.
After listening to Xu's words, Li Huan showed a smile and said: "I knew I couldn't hide it from Wei Guogong. This is the explosive bomb recently developed by the Gunpowder Bureau. Because of the improved gunpowder, the power of the gunpowder explosion is greater than before.
Several times as many times, so the power of the explosive bullets has also been greatly increased."
Hearing what Li Huan said, Xu couldn't help but his eyes lit up, and he said with some surprise: "What, Duke Guo of Qin, you said that our Gunpowder Bureau actually developed a new type of gunpowder that is more powerful than before?"
Looking at the Ming Dynasty, few people knew better than Xu what significance the increased power of gunpowder had for the Ming Dynasty, so Xu Cai seemed even more excited.
Jiang Xu
Seeing the reaction in his eyes, Li Huan raised the corner of his mouth slightly. He just told the craftsmen of the Gunpowder Bureau who had been dealing with gunpowder all year round some of the introductions about gunpowder ratios he had seen in his memory, and then these people actually relied on
His few words created a new type of gunpowder that was far more powerful than before.
To be honest, when Li Huan saw the power of the experimental gunpowder with his own eyes at the Gunpowder Bureau, even Li Huan felt a little unbelievable. Just as Xu thought, with the emergence of powerful gunpowder, the Ming Dynasty
Generally speaking, whether it is artillery or firecrackers, it can be said that all firearms categories will usher in earth-shaking changes.