As the date appointed by the emperor approached, the craftsmen in Zheng He's house became more and more nervous. Of course, they were not nervous about not being able to complete it. Even the current steam engines and paddle steamers were enough for the emperor to deliver the work.
What everyone is worried about is that they have participated in an incredible invention, and their names may also have the opportunity to stay in the history books.
Nervous about how the emperor and prince would view them.
The autumn air was crisp and clear. Zhu Zhanzhen left the palace today and did not go to Zheng He's mansion. Instead, he followed Zheng He and headed towards the Yangtze River.
"Your Highness, the paddle steamer has been officially tested on the Yangtze River and is currently running well. We have a shipyard on the edge of the Yangtze River, and the next steam engine factory will be placed nearby."
Now Zheng He's house can no longer meet the demand for steam engines and paddle boats. After trying small boats on the lake, it is now necessary to try big boats. After all, steam boats are not driven on a calm small lake, but have to withstand big rivers and big rivers.
There is the test of the waves of the vast sea.
The carriage stopped at the river bank, where a huge treasure ship was leaning against. Zheng He said proudly: "This is the treasure ship that sailed to the West. It is 44 feet long and 18 feet wide." In the Ming Dynasty, one foot was about 3.33 meters.
, this boat is more than 140 meters long and 60 meters wide.
How much manpower and material resources would be required to build such a huge ship in this era, and how much would it cost to maintain it in the future?
Zheng He's fleet had 62 ships. Although they were not as huge as this treasure ship, they were still much larger than ordinary ships. After all, they had to withstand the wind and waves of the sea, which was too much for small ships.
The moment Zhu Zhanzhen saw the treasure ship, he understood why Zhu Gaochi felt that the voyage to the West was too expensive. It was too expensive to build a treasure ship like this. The voyage to the West was an activity calculated on an annual basis, which was indeed time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Moreover, the sea is unstable, and the loss of any ship is huge. It is impossible for all ships to sink.
Zheng He took about 27,000 people with him on each of his voyages to the West. Twenty-seven thousand people was equivalent to nearly three divisions of troops. The food, clothing and life of these people were all expensive.
The cost of drifting at sea may be calculated in months, and the casualties and casualties are not directly plundered and property after arriving, but also fought a few battles on the Western Ocean, and even lost one. These are all consumption.
The first time took two years, the second time took two years, the third time took two years, and the fourth and most recent time took three years. It took an extremely long time, but I have to say that the voyage to the West made the Ming Empire famous overseas.
The emergence of steam engines can greatly shorten this time. If the time is short, the consumption of personnel supply will be greatly reduced.
In this era, there are only two ways to make money from maritime activities like the voyage to the West.
The first type of killing and plundering is to seize massive amounts of gold and silver as ballast to return home. Relying solely on the amount of tribute from the local country and local specialties is not enough to support such a fleet's journey.
After all, the tribute is limited, and the request exceeds the local limits. I am not a fool. I will give you the entire property. As for spices and specialties, these things are indeed valuable in the Ming Dynasty.
But the essential reason why it is so valuable is that I don’t have it at home. It is a rare item. Once you bring too much, it will depreciate. If you take too little, you won’t make much money. The total value is also limited.
The second is to establish colonies and obtain cheap labor through power slavery. Establish colonies overseas and squeeze cheap labor to obtain sufficient returns.
From another perspective, if one can really make a lot of money by sailing to the West, some people say that it infringes on the interests of wealthy merchants, but infringement also means that these wealthy merchants and nobles have to have the strength to carry out maritime trade or maritime plunder.
There should have been the Ming Dynasty's Age of Discovery, but the Age of Discovery did not appear in history.
From the prosperous age of Yongle to the rule of Renxuan and then to the Ming Dynasty War God Tumubao Revolution, there were at least 20 to 30 years of prosperity. Why did Renzong stop going to the West when he came to power? Except for the first time, it was basically difficult to make other voyages to the West.
Get adequate returns.
With Renzong's talent, could he really control the high-ranking officials and clans of the imperial court? Renzong stopped the Western trade after only ten months in power, and Xuanzong started it again when he came to power.
Because Xuanzong hoped to be as powerful as his grandfather.
Zhu Zhanzhen was so excited when he saw Zheng He's treasure ship. To propel such a treasure ship, the steam engine would have to be very huge, and the requirements for craftsmanship would be even higher.
Zheng He was keen on steam engines because they valued the ability of steam engines to greatly shorten the voyage time. As long as the voyage time was shortened, trade between the Ming Dynasty and Western countries would become possible, and such voyages to the Western Ocean would have the opportunity to obtain full rewards.
Zhang San and others trotted over and led Zhu Zhanxi to the already built boat. It was the size of an ordinary boat and about ten meters in length. The steam engine started and the paddle wheel rotated. The boat started to move easily.
stand up.
"Your Highness, we have tested it. Even if such a ship is fully loaded, the steam engine can easily drive the ship to sail, which is more than twice as fast as a normal ship." Zhang San and others were very excited.
The small boat can do it, and this small boat can give tasks to Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi. Zhu Zhanchen raised his head again and looked at the treasure ship, with the ultimate goal of getting this big ship to sail.
"Sir Zheng, the steam engine will inevitably be continuously improved by the emperor's requirements. I think we have to treat steam engines and ships more formally from now on."
Zheng He knew that Zhu Zhan was about to start talking about solutions, so he hurriedly asked someone to take a piece of paper nearby and write it down.
"This shipyard is very good, and there is an official road leading here, but according to the scale of the treasure ship, it should not have been built here."
"Yes, His Highness's treasure ship is temporarily docked. This shipyard cannot build treasure ships."
"Keep the original scale and plan a place nearby to build a steam engine factory and an ironworks. At the same time, we need to network talents from all over the country, whether they are smelters or have research on machinery. Their brains must be smart and intelligent.
Dare to think.”
At this point, Zhu Zhanzhen branched off and said: "After I return to the palace this time, I will report to my father and the emperor's grandfather to apply for a grant to reward all those with innovative spirit. The reward may be hundreds of taels or even more."
One thousand taels."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone was in an uproar.
Zhu Zhanzhen firmly believes that our land in China is capable of producing numerous people, but he must try his best to find these people. What is the best way? There will be brave men under the heavy reward.
If there is any Nobel Prize in modern times, in the Ming Dynasty I would have created the Zhu Zhanzhen Prize.
No, naming it after yourself won’t work. It’s too strange. In order for the emperor to allocate money, the emperor must be included in the calculation. He was happy to allocate money and wished he could allocate more.
In view of the character of Emperor Yongle of Zhu Di who loved to fight and wanted to be famous, Zhu Zhanzhen had an idea.
"For the Yongle Award and the Yongle Science and Technology Medal, please apply for it first according to this name."
After hearing his idea of spending money to find capable people, Zheng He said: "Your Highness, I know a very thoughtful person here, but his brain is not very easy to use sometimes. If you don't mind, you can meet him."
.”
"who?"
"He himself is not famous, but his grandfather is more famous. His original name was Tao Chengdao, and he was known as Wanhu."