The warship made of century-old oak has been officially launched in the autumn.
The first batch of warships consisted of two ships, both of Galenic type. One was 650 tons and the other was 500 tons, with four masts and a square sail.
Galenic sailing ships hung square sails. This operation began thirty years ago, and they were also called "Fogate sailing ships." Later sail frigates were also named "Fogate sailing ships," but the two are not the same.
Something's going on.
In addition, the deck superstructure was deliberately reduced during the design, and the forecastle became shorter than that of ordinary Galen ships.
This change is all to make the hull lighter and lower the center of gravity of the hull. Not only is it more flexible when sailing, but it is also less likely to be capsized by storms. However, from the appearance point of view, it is not as tall, majestic and good-looking as before the improvement.
It is a deduction item.
Europe is also making this kind of improvement, and even moved the fore and aft masts directly above the forecastle, so that the mast distribution is more reasonable and efficient.
“Nice ship!”
Before Kuang Hong even boarded the ship, he couldn't help but admire him.
Kuang Hong is Kuang Lu's eldest son. His father previously served as the Zuo Bu's envoy to Guizhou and has now been transferred back to Nanjing to serve as the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Kuang Hong himself joined the Datong court early and was good at poetry, music, horsemanship, and swordsmanship. In history, he recruited troops to fight against the Qing Dynasty and died in the battle on the eastern outskirts of Guangzhou.
After Zhang Dai and Liu Xiangke were promoted, it was impossible for them to go to foreign countries in person. Kuang Hong was appointed as the negotiator this time and went to Batavia with the heads of Dutch prisoners of war.
"These two ships were designed and built together by Dutch shipbuilders and Han shipbuilders," Hong Xu introduced with a smile. "The two groups almost came to a fight. The Han shipbuilders had to use hard sails for life and death. It was later decided by His Majesty.
Soft sails were used. The Han shipbuilders had to add waterwood to the bottom of the ship. The Dutch shipbuilders didn't know this. After going to His Majesty, the Han shipbuilders won this time. "
Gangshuimu is the anti-rolling keel, which relies on the hydrodynamic effect of the ship when it rolls to generate a stable moment to reduce the ship's swing. It can work wonders when encountering a storm, and it can also make the ship more stable during normal navigation.
China's ship anti-rolling device was at least seven hundred years earlier than Europe's (subject to the actual objects unearthed), and was used from the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. In Europe, it was not invented until the end of the 18th century.
The two new ships of the Datong Navy combine the advantages of Eastern and Western ships, and not everything is left to the Dutch shipbuilders.
Kuang Hong led people aboard the battleship, and the heads of Dutch prisoners of war were all placed in wooden boxes.
Hong Xu introduced as he walked: "The Spanish ship captured before was named 'Datong', and now it is changed to 'Taiwan'. This largest new ship is called 'Guangzhou'. The smaller ship next to it is
The new ship is called 'Fuzhou.' The Guangzhou has more than 40 large and small artillery pieces, the largest of which is a six-thousand-pound cannon."
Kuang Hong was full of pride when he heard this: "With this huge ship, we can sail all over the world!"
Kuang Hong is from Nanhai, Guangdong, and has been accustomed to sea-going ships since he was a child. Now that he is sitting on the 650-ton Guangzhou, he suddenly no longer wants to be a civilian official, but wants to become a naval admiral and sail the oceans.
The naval fleet departed from Taicang Port.
There were several small boats ahead, towing and guiding the large navy ship, avoiding shoals and rocks along the way, and smoothly entering the sea from the Yangtze River.
The navigator holds a navigation compass in his hand, which can be used in conjunction with the "Haido Needle Sutra".
"Sea Dao Zhen Jing" gathers the efforts of countless Chinese navigators and has been accumulated since the Song Dynasty. At the beginning, it only recorded the waters near China, until Zheng He's voyage to the West and the Indian Ocean was also recorded.
Although most of Zheng He's navigation materials have been lost, his "Sea Dao Zhen Jing" has been circulated. The "Sail from the Bao Shipyard and the Water from Longjiang Pass to Foreign Countries" published during the Wanli Period is a set of Zheng He's voyages to the West.
Needlebook.
The "Haido Acupuncture" used by the Datong Navy collected and organized a large number of needle charts, and also asked maritime merchants from each province to contribute their own nautical charts. After the collection, the "Datong Haido Acupuncture" was engraved, and private maritime merchants could also buy it at a high price.
Tianqian, earthly branches, and eight trigrams divide the navigation compass into 24 equal parts.
Follow the needle route of Zheng He's voyages to the West: sail from Taicang Port, use Danyi needle, first watch, level the Wusong River. Use Yimao needle, first watch, to Nanhuizui.
Translated into human language: Set sail from Taicang Port and drive along the 105-degree direction, passing ten miles (some say twelve miles) to Wusong River. Then drive along the 97.5-degree direction, passing ten miles, to Nanhuizui.
All routes of Zheng He's voyages are accurately located, such as in the Nanyang Sea
"The ship sailed from Sumatra, using Qianxu needle. At the 12th watch, the ship leveled at Ambergris Island. At the 40th watch, the ship used Xinyou needle again. At the 50th watch, the ship sighted Mount Ceylon." (Departing from the Port of Sumatra, along 307.5
Sailing in the direction of degrees, after passing 120 miles, you can reach Ambergris Caye. Continue going 400 miles and turn to
Sailing in the direction of 277.5 degrees, Mount Ceylon will be visible after 500 miles.)
Such needle positioning can be called the ancient version of fool's navigation.
Of course, the sea is changing rapidly, and a gust of wind can blow the course off course, so the "star-crossing technique" must be used in conjunction.
There are documented records that Ma Huaide collected a set of star boards in Suzhou in the late Ming Dynasty. This set of star boards was often praised by later generations as an ancient Chinese navigation navigator. But in fact, Ma Huaide's set of star boards could not detect anything at all.
Height of stars in Zheng He's navigation chart.
In Zheng He's nautical charts, stars are often fourteen or fifteen fingers high. However, Ma Huaide's star board can measure twelve fingers at most, and the number of star boards must continue to be increased.
What Zheng He used may be a sky-measuring ruler, or a star-pulling ruler, or it may be an extra-measured star-pulling board.
The Datong Navy directly adopted the European right angle meter. In fact, the principles are similar. Moreover, the method of using the right angle meter appeared in China very early, but Shen Kuo used a crossbow at that time.
Following the cold current and monsoon, Kuang Hong quickly arrived in Guangzhou. After some supplies there, he joined five more warships from the Guangzhou fleet.
A total of twenty warships, in addition to logistical supplies, also carried some cargo. The navy received 30% of the profits from the trade, 40% went to the treasury, and the remaining 30% went to the royal family.
Although the navy's trade activities are allowed, they must be reported every time and must pay taxes to the customs.
Moreover, the number of trades and trade quotas each year are strictly controlled. Even the officials who preside over the transactions are sent by the Ministry of Commerce, and Datong Bank sends people to supervise the finances. Such trouble is to prevent the Navy from completely
Loss of control also prevents the navy from competing with private maritime merchants for business.
In December, the fleet arrived near Batavia, but did not dock directly. Instead, it continued sailing to Banten Port.
"The Chinese fleet is coming?" Fandelin is still the governor, but because the sea route is far away, the order to remove him has not yet arrived.
Vander Laan said: "There are a total of twenty warships, two of which are large ships exceeding 500 tons."
Vanderlin worried: "Do the Chinese want to occupy Batavia?"
Vander Laan said: "Probably not. They continue to go west, and they should be going to Bandan Port."
"Are they going to form an alliance with Britain?" Vanderlin frowned.
The Netherlands is in Batavia and the British are in Banten. The two port cities are very close to each other.
At the beginning, the Netherlands was unable to capture Batavia because the Banten Kingdom itself was very powerful and had allied with the British to deal with the Netherlands.
As a result, the Netherlands resorted to alienation tactics, saying that the prince guarding Jakarta (Batavia) was going to rebel, and the Sultan actually recalled the prince. The Netherlands also resorted to alienation tactics, causing the Sultan of Banten to force the British to sign a special relationship contract
, the alliance between Banten and Britain collapsed.
As a result, the Dutch captured Jakarta in one fell swoop and changed its name to Batavia.
The Sultan of Banten was filled with remorse, and quickly repaired relations with the British, and joined forces with the local natives to attack the Netherlands. The Dutch could not resist and requested peace talks several times, but in the end reinforcements arrived.
Now, the relationship between Banten and Britain has become very close because they have a common enemy.
Kuang Hong arrived at Wandan Port by ship and found that the place was unprecedentedly prosperous.
Unlike Batavia next door, where there are only Dutch and Chinese people, Banten Port has all the nationalities except the Dutch. This is a free port, especially the green merchants, many of whom are from the Arab region.
The Datong navy approached, and merchant ships from various countries fled to avoid it.
As for the Banten Navy, there are only a few small sampans, all of which were defeated by the Dutch fleet.
Kuang Hong landed ashore under the escort of navy soldiers and said loudly: "Kuang Hong, envoy of Datong China, comes to visit Wandan!"
The translator quickly followed and shouted several times, and finally the tax collector from Banten's port came over.
"I am the Chinese envoy, go and report to your king." Kuang Hong said.
The tax collector had a constipated expression on his face: "The old Sultan has died of illness, and the new Sultan has not yet succeeded to the throne."
Kuang Hong was stunned: "What a coincidence?"
What was even more coincidental was that while he was talking, gunshots suddenly came from the city, followed by bursts of shouts.
Not long after, a large number of nobles and merchants fled from the city in panic.
Kuang Hong didn't know what happened and immediately returned to the warship.
After about an hour, a Banten official finally came to invite him to the city to meet the Sultan.
Accompanied by navy soldiers, Kuang Hong headed all the way to the city. There was no city wall here, just a residential area. The royal palace was in the castle in the center of the city.
After entering the city, Kuang Hong found blood stains everywhere and some Bandan soldiers were cleaning up the corpses.
All the way to the castle, there are more blood stains in the castle.
Finally, Kuang Hong met the new Sultan of Banten, Ageng.
This Sultan Agung had just killed his brothers and seized the throne of the king by force. Next, he would work hard to build an elite navy and set up caravans to sail to the Philippines and India.
Unfortunately, after the death of Sultan Agung, his sons competed for the throne, and the Netherlands took the opportunity to support one of them and controlled Banten's national affairs from then on.
Standing among the blood on the ground, Sultan Ageng smiled and saluted Kuang Hong: "Welcome the envoy from China, you are the most distinguished guest of Banten. The hateful Dutch are the enemies of Banten, and the Netherlands is also the enemy of China.
.We have the same enemies, so we are destined friends.
Kuang Hong looked at Ageng standing in the blood, and listened to the translator relay the words, and immediately made a judgment: the person in front of him must be a foreign hero!
(The easter egg chapter in the previous chapter was reviewed by the card.)