Chapter 1755 Fleet Departure
Some of the black technologies these days are completely useless. Even if I give you a blueprint for an atomic bomb, you can’t make one...
This battleship, which is a replica of the historical "Sea Monarch", is already the pinnacle of contemporary technology!
If you want to go further, you must develop electric welding...
It was not difficult to get some "electricity" in the Tang Dynasty. A glass rod and a piece of fur could be rubbed together to generate electricity. However, it was extremely difficult to use it.
At least Fang Jun wouldn't.
Therefore, he often lamented, "Learn mathematics, physics and chemistry well, and you will not be afraid of traveling around the world." It sounded unappreciative before, but when you travel through time, you will find that it is actually the words of gold and stone. If you master these subjects, you will be able to write history. How many human beings The technological giants in history have to step aside...
The construction progress of the "Royal Princess" has been fast enough. The Jiangnan Shipyard has gathered the best craftsmen on the planet right now. After the craftsmen discussed the drawings drawn by Fang Jun in detail, some parameters were adjusted and modified. After all, Fang Jun Jun was just tinkering with his memory. For such a rigorous matter as shipbuilding, one wrong parameter would cause the entire ship to capsize instantly after being launched into the water...
Sufficient manpower, financial and material resources, and rich shipbuilding experience are enough to ensure that the ship will be launched in the spring and summer of next year, and it may be able to catch up with the Eastern Expedition.
Zheng Kunchang looked radiant after coming to Jiangnan Shipyard. Perhaps it was due to the application of what he had learned, or perhaps it was because the climate in Jiangnan was suitable for retirement. This man actually seemed to be rejuvenated, his legs and feet were light and energetic, and even his white hair seemed to have turned black.
Smiling and patting the head of a child next to him, Zheng Kunchang had a doting smile on his face: "Hurry up and say hello to Mr. Hou."
The young man beside him was thirteen or fourteen years old. He looked handsome and smart. He obediently bowed his arms to the ground and said, "Student Zheng Renkai, I have met Mr. Hou."
Fang Jun smiled and asked: "Why don't you go to school?"
Zheng Renkai replied obediently: "I usually go, but today the teacher in the school got sick, so I have a day off."
Zheng Kunchang said: "This child has been interested in shipbuilding since he was a child. He can learn shipbuilding skills faster than the Four Books and Five Classics. Other children will play around after school, but he always likes to dig into the shipyard. There are up and down places here. There is no one he doesn’t know among the hundreds of craftsmen.”
"Haha, that is the origin of family education. Mr. Zheng, you should be happy that you have a successor."
"You can't just be craftsmen from generation to generation, right?" Zheng Kun often said with some worry: "Three generations of craftsmen in our Zheng family, although they are much better than those craftsmen from lowly backgrounds, can still hold an official position. , but in the final analysis, he is still a craftsman with no big future.”
Fang Jun paused and sighed.
This is the consequence of disrespecting craftsmen. No one wants to be a person despised by society, especially when this kind of contempt will continue from generation to generation. So as long as there is a chance, he will work hard to get rid of his identity as a craftsman.
No one pays attention to the inheritance of skills, and no one is willing to work on the improvement and innovation of skills, because this is just a lowly livelihood, and it is enough to make a living.
In such a vicious cycle, excellent skills that occasionally appear are often not passed down and will be lost in the long river of time. When the Western barbarians who have been drinking blood suddenly get the opportunity of the industrial revolution, it will be easy to surpass China in one fell swoop.
Confucianism has dominated the upper class. They are willing to absorb all the outstanding talents in society into their class to ensure the monopoly status of this class. This will inevitably lead to a shortage of talents in all other industries, because outstanding talents all go to be officials. Got it...
Regarding this, even if Fang Jun is a time traveler, there is nothing he can do.
This is a reflection of social values. Even if Fang Jun improves the status of craftsmen, doctors, and blacksmiths, it is impossible to defeat the social values formed over thousands of years in one fell swoop. This will require hundreds of thousands of years of hard work from generation to generation.
In fact, it was not until the 21st century that the concept of rejuvenating the country through science and technology was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and this situation was slightly reversed. However, "learning and excellence leads to officialdom" is still a universal value...
It is absolutely sad when all the best talents in a society become officials.
*****
The next day, the Royal Navy made final preparations, and more than 300 warships sailed out of the military port under the command of Fang Jun. One by one, warships blocked the entire Wusong River waterway, and all merchant ships stopped at the shore to make way for the waterway.
The rows of sails covered the sky and the sun, and the slender hulls cut through the river water, causing layers of spray. Hundreds of ships galloped forward with majestic momentum, which made the people and merchants on both sides of the river burst into tears.
Everyone knows that this invincible armada across the seven seas will sail down the river and into the vast sea, cutting through the waves all the way with its sword pointed to the north, going to crush the Goguryeo navy and contribute to His Majesty the Emperor's great cause of the Eastern Expedition. Sound the first horn and blast the first artillery fire for the Tang Dynasty’s hegemony around the world!
A sense of pride surged from my heart!
In the past few years, countless people and merchants have tasted the benefits of a strong country to the people. When the warships of the Tang Dynasty escorted merchant ships across the ocean, dumping goods one by one at high prices to surrounding countries, they gained The huge profits not only enriched the pockets of merchants, but also benefited all industries.
With the influx of wealth, everyone can share in the dividends of business...
The stronger the country, the more prosperous the business.
This is a truth that even the old people in the countryside understand. But how to prove the strength of a country?
Only through continuous conquest!
Even though the vast majority of people in the Tang Dynasty did not understand the stimulation and leap-forward development that foreign wars brought to the national economy and people's livelihood, people still fully supported the invincible Tang army to expand territories and fight bravely under the banner of His Majesty the Emperor!
Of course, the prerequisite for launching a war is that the war must be victorious...
The main fleet of the Royal Navy set out with a majestic and heroic momentum. When the white sails of the fleet disappeared at the mouth of Wusong River, the news still swept through the entire Jiangnan like a hurricane.
There are too many people waiting for this moment to happen...
That night, at the mouth of the Qiantang River.
Countless merchant ships have loaded their cargo and are docked at the shore for routine final inspections and ready for departure. The storms on the sea are dangerous, and no detail can be ignored. It must be handled in place. This is the experience that everyone has accumulated through countless trips to sea.
When the ship sails on the sea, you will find that no safety issue is superfluous...
In a hut by the river, just one candle was burning to avoid attracting attention.
The light in the hut was dim. Xiao Cuo was dressed in a short shirt and dressed in a smart outfit. He was sitting in the main hall with a big horse and a golden sword. On the left and right were two young people and one middle-aged man.
One of the young men is Wang Qi. Although this man is young, he has the status of the Wang family of Langya, and Xiao Cuo's mother was transferred from him. Only then can he overpower all the nobles and become one of the persons in charge of this sea trade. .
No matter how decadent the Langya Wang family has become, they are still the prominent family that once ruled the Jiangnan gentry for hundreds of years. "Wang Xie Fengliu" is still the most gorgeous family in the minds of Jiangnan people...
The other middle-aged man was Bao Xi, a descendant of the Yanling Bao family who had appeared at the banquet to welcome Fang Jun yesterday.
The Bao family in Yanling is not a prominent family. As a second-rate member of the Wu family in Jiangdong, they are not qualified to sit here and be responsible for this sea trade together with the Xiao family and the Wang family. However, the Bao family in Yanling has continuously married with the Lu family, Zhang family, and Zhu family in recent years, and has almost single-handedly connected several major families with the Wu surname in Jiangdong. Their influence is extraordinary and their status has risen rapidly.
As for the other young man, he is a descendant of the Xie family, Xie Wenhua.
This time, the super smuggling operation included half of the Jiangnan noble clans such as Xiao, Wang, Xie, Bao, Zhang, Zhu, etc., but only sent some young people from the clan to take on important tasks. On the one hand, they were very confident in their own power and believed that even if It can still resist pirates without the escort of a naval fleet. On the other hand, it hopes to be as low-key as possible and not attract attention from all walks of life, whether it is the shipping company or the pirates.
With a few young people taking the lead, who would think that the scale of smuggling this time would be too big?
However, in fact, the smuggled goods this time almost emptied the cargo holds of various major families, and the total price was no less than one million yuan. This is only the value in Datang. Once it is successfully sold overseas to Southeast Asian countries, this value can increase five or ten times at any time...
There were hurried footsteps outside the house, and not long after, Xiao's private soldiers quickly stepped inside and said loudly: "Master Qi, there is news from the Yangtze River Estuary. The navy has all set out to sea, heading north along the route. It will take about three days." After that, you can reach the sea area of Goguryeo” (End of this chapter)