This time we captured the Dengzhou Navy and gained a lot.
E Honglue and others came back after a round and told Zuo Mengeng some good news.
"General, all the wood stored here is intact. We have the materials to build warships. Maybe it won't be long before you can see a brand new warship."
Dengzhou is both a navy station and a shipyard, so it stores a large amount of high-quality wood.
When deciding to place the naval base in Jiaozhou Bay, raw materials were a big headache for Zuo Menggeng.
It is not that there are no trees in Shandong, but trees cannot be cut down and used for shipbuilding. Among other things, it takes at least three to four years to desorb the wood.
Although Zuo Menggeng is fully mentally prepared for the construction of the navy, he would certainly be happier if he could do it faster.
Now that the Dengzhou Navy has been captured, a large amount of wood that can be used directly has been harvested, and the problem of shipbuilding has been solved at once.
But Zuo Mengeng looked at another person.
"Wei Qingzhao, have you thoroughly understood the drawings?"
The young man is the second graduate of Zuozhuang Academy. He is very good at drawing and his calculation ability is also among the best.
Xu Ruolin was originally intended to be retained, but Zuo Mengeng asked her to come over and join E Honglue's team to be responsible for the construction of warships.
The first problem before them was to understand the drawings of the Galen ship given by Zuo Mengeng.
The young man was very hesitant, but he still told the truth.
"Come on, please give us some more time. Some data have not yet been verified. However, we have miniaturized the ship, which has reduced the difficulty of construction a lot, and it will be put into production soon."
The drawing of the Victory that Zuo Menggen took out was a first-class battleship with a displacement of over 3,500 tons.
With the current shipbuilding technology of the Ming Dynasty, it is absolutely impossible to build it.
Therefore, he proposed the concept of miniaturization to reduce the difficulty of construction.
At present, it seems that his idea is feasible, and E Honglue, Wei Qingzhao and others have made progress.
Of course, this is actually due to the fact that the mainstream ship types on the sea today are Galen ships.
Although the galenic ships of various countries are slightly different, they are mostly the same. It is not difficult for the Portuguese such as Ehonglue to understand the British construction technology.
The problem of the boat is solved, the problem of the craftsmen is solved, and the problem of materials is also solved.
Also facing the new army is the issue of naval prisoners of war.
When he saw the prisoners of war, Zuo Mengeng even suspected that there was something wrong with his eyes.
I saw that in the huge open space, the prisoners of war were actually divided into three parts while being detained. They were all far away from each other, and there were occasional insults.
"How is this going?"
Qiao Shuangcheng also couldn't laugh or cry.
"What you don't know is that these prisoners originally belonged to three groups. Some were from the Dengzhou Navy, some were from the Dongjiang Rebels, and some were from the former Tianjin Navy."
Zuo Mengeng understood that he had arrested three groups of people in one go.
Except for the Dongjiang rebels, the other two groups are not very satisfied with the current situation.
A general with a crosstalk accent had a loud voice.
"We came from Tianjin, and we are also officers and soldiers. How about treating us as rebels? How can we reason with this? After I report it to the court, let's see how you behave."
The New Army soldier next to him raised his hand and hit the butt of a rifle, which made him cry for father and mother. He held his head and turned into a quail.
Zuo Mengeng didn't care about these people, no matter where they were originally from. He just ordered: "Screen them. Those who are skilled, capable, and of good quality will be absorbed. The rest will be escorted to Jiaozhou Bay.
Go fix the pier."
He doesn't care, but someone does.
The waves of smoke shake the blue sky, and the buildings and halls are scattered against the setting sun.
The beautiful scenery cannot stop passers-by.
At the gate of Dengzhou City, a scribe in his thirties, looking at the heavily guarded appearance, hesitated several times and did not dare to step forward.
He had been staying in Qixia before, but yesterday he heard that the army had recaptured Dengzhou, so he hurried here.
But seeing the soldiers at the city gate checking closely made him very scared. What should he do with his father's instructions if something unexpected happened, such as death or death?
He stood by the roadside and watched for a while, and found that the people were going in and out as usual. Although the soldiers questioned them one by one, they were not embarrassed.
There were so many people coming in and out, but none of the soldiers even asked for money.
This more or less reassured him, he gritted his teeth and stepped forward.
A young officer stopped in front of him and asked: "Where does this gentleman come from?"
The polite address surprised the scribe, and he replied cheerfully: "Henan, Guide Mansion."
The officer frowned and continued to ask: "Where is your guide?"
The scribe hurriedly took it out and handed it over. The officer took it and took a look and discovered something fishy.
"Sir, is he an official?"
It turns out that although everyone has a road guide, it is still slightly different. On this scribe's road guide, there is actually a large seal of the Henan Inspectorate and Inspector, which is beyond the reach of ordinary people.
The scribe cupped his hands and said a little.
"My father once served as an official in the court."
The officer returned the road to him and moved out of the way.
Seeing that everything went smoothly, the scribe breathed a sigh of relief. While entering the city, he observed carefully.
He found that the group of officers and soldiers who had recaptured Dengzhou City were slightly different from those he had seen before.
Although the military uniforms of these officers and soldiers are generally similar to those of the Ming army, they are more neat and regular, and there are many differences in tailoring.
In particular, none of these officers and soldiers were wearing combat jackets, and the trousers on their lower bodies were exposed. The shoes they wore were neither cloth boots nor straw sandals, but strange-style cotton shoes.
The scribe's father was once a high official in the imperial court, and he had a lot of experience in the military. The scribe was influenced by his ears and eyes, and naturally he also knew something about it.
He found that the popularity of firearms in this group of officers and soldiers was very high, and almost every soldier was holding a firearm.
He did not see a medicine pool on the fire gun, and the style of the fire gun was completely different from the bird gun used by the Ming army. The sunlight shone on it and the barrel shone, which showed that it was sophisticated.
Where did these officers and soldiers come from?
Full of questions, the scribe walked into Dengzhou City.
But everything in the city surprised him even more.
He thought that after the great war, the city must be in dilapidated condition and all life would be devastated.
As a result, the shops on both sides of the road were already open for business, and pedestrians on the road walked leisurely, as if nothing had happened.
"Weird, really weird!"
The scribe muttered something, but fortunately he remembered the business and stopped a passerby to ask for advice.
"Second brother invited me, may I ask how to get to Qi Mansion?"
Passersby laughed.
"Is there anyone in Dengzhou City who doesn't know where Qi Mansion is?"
He pointed out the direction, and the scribe thanked him and went looking for him all the way.
An exquisite compound next to Dengzhou Guard is now closed, and the inside and outside are isolated. It seems that everything that happens in this city has nothing to do with the people inside.
An old man in his sixties was sitting under the locust tree in the courtyard. Although he was holding a book in his hand, his eyes were wandering.
There was a sudden knock on the courtyard door, and an old woman and a middle-aged man ran out of the room, both looking miserable.
"master……"
Although the old man looked bleak, he was as steady as Mount Tai.
"Be calm and don't be impatient. Our Qi family has no disputes with the world. No matter the king's flag changes on the city wall, we can sit back and relax."
After that, he motioned to the middle-aged man to open the door.
The middle-aged man carefully opened the courtyard door and saw several fully armed soldiers standing outside. The leader could not tell his official title, but he was probably a small flag.
The soldiers came to the door, making the middle-aged man extremely nervous.
"I wonder what these military masters are doing?"
But the "little flag" was very polite, raising his hand to his eyebrows, as if it was some kind of etiquette.
"We are from the New Army and are responsible for maintaining order in the city. Now that the rebels in the city have been eliminated and the market has recovered, please rest assured. If you need any help, you can report it to the sentry at the street."
The middle-aged man was suspicious, but he didn't expect these soldiers to come to his door and not extort money.
"Thanks for letting me know."
The little flag nodded and went directly with the people.
The middle-aged man stood stunned at the door for a long time, still puzzled. It was the first time in his life that he saw such a polite Qiu Ba, but he did not disturb the people.
He didn't see that Xiaoqi walked a few steps and looked back at the plaque on the door of the mansion, his eyes full of confusion.
"Qi Mansion?"
The middle-aged man closed the door, returned to the old man, and reported: "My father is relieved, a few soldiers came to the door. They thought they wanted to extort money, and were about to give away some money. But they asked a few questions, and still
He said that the market had calmed down and he could go out without worries, and left."
The old man was as surprised as he was.
"Those soldiers didn't disturb the people?"
The middle-aged man went back, opened the courtyard door, and lay on the crack of the door to observe.
I saw the little flag officer and his people knocking on the door one after another. After the people inside came out, they only said a few words and then left without any move to ask for money.
The family was amazed, and they were even more confused about the officers and soldiers who had recaptured Dengzhou City.