As the folk saying goes: "There are no three sunny days in spring." The sky in March is a true reflection of this saying. In recent days, the clouds have been dense, the spring rain has been falling, and the sun has rarely shown its face. When Zhang Can got up this morning and saw the sky clearing, he thought that God would
Good luck... It's true that the sky has cleared up, but in the afternoon, the spring rain began to fall sparsely again. The people who had been sent back came back and said that Huang Chen had arrived at the Yunxiao Inland Sea and was about to enter the Zhangzhou River. Huang Chen's current momentum was so powerful.
As equal to Zheng Zhilong and a major patron of the shipyard, Zhang Shen did not dare to neglect him and immediately led a dozen shipwrights to the dock in the rain to greet him.
Not long after, seven or eight boats came along the Zhangzhou River and stopped at the dock of Zhang's Shipyard. On board were a dozen red-haired men holding large axes and fire guns. A few of them were left behind when Huang Chen left last time.
After half a year of getting along with Hong Mao Fan, the people in the shipyard were already accustomed to Hong Mao Fan, and some brave people even had contact with them. Later, seven or eight black, short and lean Nanyang people came off the ship one after another.
The strange-shaped weapons in the hands of the natives emitted a cold light, making people shudder.
Facing the fierce Nanyang natives, everyone in the shipyard managed to remain calm, but the tattooed Taiwanese barbarians behind them were beyond their acceptance range. In shock, they all took a step back, even Zhang Shen was no exception.
They looked panicked. Fortunately, these ferocious barbarians did not approach them. Like the red-haired and Nanyang natives before, they queued up in the boat. Finally, a dozen Japanese warriors got off the boat. Huang Chen and a group of his men
Followed closely.
Zhang Shen stepped forward cautiously, cupped his fists and said: "Brother Huang, you are so polite. We haven't seen you for half a year, and Brother Huang has become more and more majestic. In the vast South China Sea, everyone who mentions Brother Huang will admire him."
Huang Chen smiled and said: "It's all thanks to everyone's support. Mr. Zhang is well and well."
"I'll be able to work for another ten or twenty years with this old bone." As he said this, Zhang Shen glanced at Pan Yi, who was looking very scary on the left and right. He asked with lingering fear: "Brother Huang, where did you find it?
It's scary to see people like this coming."
Huang Chen had a smile on his face and said to himself, "This is the effect we want." After half a year of training, most of the injured people on the "Houston" have recovered. Unfortunately, several people died during this period. In this
In the era without antibiotics, even the smallest wound was in danger of being fatal. This was the first time he brought out the "Multinational Guards", and judging from the reactions of Zhang Shen and others, the effect was pretty good. Huang Chen turned his gaze not far away.
Two "big bird boats" standing side by side, shaped like shuttles, raised their fingers and said: "Mr. Zhang, that's the boat I ordered."
"That's right." Zhang Shen nodded. "Brother Huang's original request has been fulfilled, exactly. Should Brother Huang go see the ship now, or should we go to the ancestral hall to rest for a while first?"
If you don't take a look, you will feel uneasy after all, so Huang Chen said: "Let's take a look at the boat first."
Zhang Shen seemed to have known Huang Chen's decision for a long time, and immediately said: "Brother Huang, please."
"please."
Walking closer, he saw sixty-two gun windows on the side of the ship. Huang Chen nodded with satisfaction. There were twelve guns on one side and twenty-four on both sides. There could be more placed at the bow, stern, deck, etc.
The entire ship can be equipped with thirty artillery pieces without any problem.
Huang Chen has ordered a total of thirteen gunboats like this, and will receive ten before the end of April. Once formed into an army, they will be extremely powerful. I believe they can defeat enemies two or three times larger. It is a pity that he has it in his hands.
There are not enough Western-style naval guns. Even if they are copper-fired cannons, it is not easy to take out 300 guns at a time. The current situation of having ships but no guns made Huang Chen feel a little depressed, so he became more determined to expand the firearms workshop.
Determined to achieve self-sufficiency in guns and artillery.
Huang Chen was about to board the ship. Suddenly he saw a few Dutch people wearing Chinese shorts running in the distance. He couldn't help but snickered in his heart. It seemed that they were having a good time with Captain Zhang. Those Dutch people
Obviously they didn't agree with Huang Chen's point of view. When they saw William, they were so excited that they shed tears. They were really fed up with this damn place and begged William to take them away.
William turned to look at Huang Chen and said, "Boss, we will take them away together this time, right."
Huang Chen smiled and said: "Of course, I will practice what I say. They have completed the tasks I assigned them very well. They don't need to stay here anymore."
The completely unfamiliar environment forced several Dutch people to learn Chinese, and their proficiency was no worse than William's. After hearing this, they immediately cheered.
Although Huang Chen wanted to know if they had mastered the shipbuilding technology in the past six months, the top priority now was to see the ship. He asked William to accompany them and touch their bottoms. Huang Chen boarded the Big Bird ship accompanied by Zhang Shen.
's deck.
The Big Bird ship has two long and one short three masts. The bow and middle mast are hung with a Chinese-style sail and the top is hung with two Western-style square sails. The short mast is also hung with a Western-style square sail. In addition to the two hard and three soft sails, the bow is extended.
A soft sail can also be hung on the outer part. This is a sailing ship that combines the advantages of the East and the West. Of course, it can also be said that it is different. If there is a chance in the future, he will abandon the Chinese hard sail and build a warship completely according to the European way.
, that is the choice of history after all. Now this project is too huge for him, and he does not have enough skilled sailors, so he can only do it step by step and slowly.
Due to Huang Chen's request, the Big Bird Ship gave up the stranglehold and switched to the Yizhen, which greatly improved the performance of the ship. Huang Chen walked around the Big Bird Ship inside and outside, and he was familiar with the surroundings.
Zhang Shen smiled and said: "Zhang's shipyard is indeed the best among all the companies in Yunxiao. The craftsmanship is beyond praise. I am very satisfied with the ship."
Zhang Shen sighed: "Brother Huang's words are enough. To be honest, in order to comply with Brother Huang's wishes, the old man often couldn't sleep at night, thinking over and over in his mind how to build the ship. Now he has finally lived up to his trust.
.”
When Huang Chen heard how good he was, he couldn't help but joked: "Mr. Zhang has suffered a lot for me. It seems I have to pay more for the ship."
Zhang Shen knew that Huang Chen was joking, so he took advantage of the situation and said, "Brother Huang, are you telling the truth or a lie?"
The two looked at each other and laughed.
Then Huang Chen boarded another big bird boat, and the result was exactly the same as the previous boat, as if carved from the same mold. It took countless generations of hard work for Zhang's Shipyard to climb to the throne of "No. 1 in the sky", and it would definitely not do that.
After destroying his own sign, Huang Chen was too lazy to look at the horse boats and eight-oared boats. He was invited by Zhang Shen to visit Zhang's ancestral hall.
Next, Huang Chen stayed as a guest at Zhang's Shipyard for three days. When he left, he took away three big bird boats, two horse boats, and four eight-oared boats. He also agreed with Zhang Shen to send someone to pick up the boats every ten days to save time.
Trouble, before he left, he directly gave the boat money to Zhang Shen. Zhang Shen once again saw Huang Chen's cheerfulness. He had never seen anyone who still owed money after the boat was handed over, but never seen someone who was eager to give money before the boat was handed over.
Returning to Lieyu Island, Huang Chen immediately asked his men to sail the big bird ship out to sea to familiarize themselves with the new ship as soon as possible and form combat effectiveness. In the following days, several batches of new ships were received one after another, and this was the case.
In mid-to-late April, Zheng Zhilong began to have contact with Xiong Wencan. In addition, the Zhang and Quan coasts became unprofitable. Many people left the pirate alliance. At first, they were just some small figures and had little impact on the alliance. However, the maritime tycoon Chen Zhongji
He took all the ships with him to break away from the alliance and return to Taiwan, which immediately caused a great shock in the alliance, and people's hearts were shaken for a while. Zheng Zhilong, who had always been "unchanging even when Mount Tai collapsed", was furious this time. Although Chen Zhongji was not
One of the Eighteen Zhizhi, but one of his best friends, how could he not be angry when his sworn brother was torn apart.
It was May 10th when Huang Chen received the last batch of ships, a few days later than expected. This month, the impact of Chen Zhongji's departure continued to ferment, and more and more people chose to leave the alliance, including Chen Shengyu,
Li Meiyu and other maritime tycoons, the alliance's strength has suffered a lot. Fortunately, Huang Chen, Li Kuiqi, Zhong Bin and others, as well as Shiba Zhi, have not made any moves. As long as they are here, Zheng Zhilong will have full confidence to negotiate terms with the Fujian government.
.As for Mr. Zhou Zhou, Zheng Zhilong wishes he could get out of the league immediately. This guy will not do anything else except destroy his good deeds.
It was already very hot in Lieyu in May, and there was also humidity in the heat. Huang Chen stood on the general platform. Although he had an umbrella above his head, his clothes were still soaked with sweat, which stuck to his body and was extremely uncomfortable. The strange feeling in his body made him emotional.
He was a little confused, looking at the Army soldiers performing drills on the school field, his brows slowly furrowed.
Zhao Hongyi, who was standing aside, was always paying attention to Huang Chen. When he saw this, he immediately asked: "What is the big leader dissatisfied with?"
Huang Chen nodded. Recently, William asked him for "military uniforms" for his subordinates. The reason is that his subordinates' current attire is not impressive at all.
The European "standard military uniforms" of this era were still in their infancy. For example, in the Netherlands, soldiers would choose to wear the national color orange when fighting. The Dutch East India Company issued orange jackets, khaki trousers, black shoes, and a pair of uniforms to the musketeers.
What a gorgeous hat. The image of Huang Chen's army soldiers is a headband, a shirt with small sleeves on the upper body, cloth trousers on the lower body, leggings, and straw sandals, and the colors are khaki, brown, blue, and red. They really don't look imposing. And
They were dressed similarly to officers and soldiers, and had to wear a cloth band on their arms to distinguish them when going into battle.
Huang Chen has long been interested in issuing uniform military uniforms to his soldiers. When he was playing strategy games in his previous life, he was once fascinated by the gorgeous and exquisite military uniforms of various European countries in the 18th and 19th centuries. However, if he copied them on his soldiers, it would obviously be the same.
It was a very stupid act. He felt that the simple military uniforms from the 20th century onwards were more in line with the requirements.
"I intend to issue military uniforms to Lu Yingbing." Huang Chen said slowly.
"Military uniform?" Zhao Hongyi was stunned when he heard this. "Isn't it nice to be like this now?"
"Very good? It's very frustrating." Huang Chen couldn't help complaining in his heart and said: "I will issue one or two sets of simple and impressive clothing to the soldiers."
Zhao Hongyi said nothing more. Since Huang Chen had this intention, of course he would not object. (To be continued...)