Chapter 108 666 Planning
Many people gathered on the beach to watch the trial of the new ship, including Bennett Todd and several of his businessman friends.
He asked his friends around him: "Have you seen it clearly? The boat seems to have no oars."
"You read that right, indeed there is one. There are no oars, it’s all driven by wind,” the salt merchant Godwin confirmed to him.
“I wonder if the Lord’s summons to us this time has something to do with this ship.”
"What?"
"Didn't Master Graiman mention the establishment of an ocean-going trading company before? But at that time, there were no ships suitable for ocean navigation, and it has been shelved since then. Now such a ship has been built .”
“I don’t know how it performs yet.”
Businessmen were talking about it on the beach.
……
In the afternoon, the city hall once again summoned merchants from Fulan Port and surrounding areas, and sure enough, Earl Grayman once again mentioned the matter of ocean trade.
"After building the second ship, I will conduct an ocean trial!"
Paul announced to the businessmen.
“The destination is tentatively decided to be the Port of Balmer in the Kingdom. If possible, we will go all the way south to the Bay of Corners.”
The Port of Balmer is located on the Seine, the largest river in the Kingdom. The outlet of the sea, from where you can go upstream to the royal capital Jingyao Castle.
Someone soon asked: "Lord Graiman, will your ship be sold to private merchants like us?"
"Of course, the more you buy, the happier I will be. But it must be satisfied. After the needs of the army, we must have a strong navy to ensure the safety of the route. You don’t want to encounter pirates after going to sea?”
“You can go to the shipyard to place an order now, first come first served! "
"Director Hansel of the Government Affairs Council will set off south to the royal capital soon. You can go south with him yourself or send a representative to inspect the market conditions in the south. "
Hearing this. Finally, the businessmen were excited and gearing up to do something big.
There are now more than a dozen private factories in Alda and Bailding under the rule of the State Council, which have sprung up with Paul's technical support. They are either wholly owned or joint ventures, and their products include paper, porcelain and cans. , and several salt drying fields have been established along the coast, and the price of salt locally and in surrounding territories has begun to decrease.
Of course, the private operators who invested in these industries have made a fortune, and they are eager to expand the market scope.
What surprised Paul was that when he "invented" the can, the information in his memory said that wide-mouth glass bottles were used, so he followed the information. However, private can producers I even replaced the glass bottles with clay pots, which greatly reduced the cost.
This can be considered a good "innovation". As expected, the profit-seeking nature of businessmen is terrifying.
In order to prevent the canning factory he built from being eliminated, he ordered that clay pots be also used to make cans.
...
While Paul was drawing a pie for the businessmen, a military meeting was also taking place in the heavily guarded naval base.
The attendees included Chief of Staff Schroeder, Navy Commander Austin, Equipment Director Kelly, Logistics Director Ron, and the Army 1st Battalion Commander Bryce who had just arrived at Port Fulan.
"Chief of Staff, this is the development outline we have drawn up."
Austin respectfully handed a stack of paper to Schroeder.
Schroeder took it and looked at it carefully.
He frowned and handed the outline to others for circulation. Bryce, who was the first to receive the outline, glanced at it and said with a trembling voice: "Is the Navy's appetite too big?"
"In the next two years Want to expand to 600 people?”
“60 large and small artillery pieces?”
"Equip at least 6 sailing battleships?"
Bryce slapped the table and said angrily: "Austin, are you kidding me? There are only 8 cannons in the entire army now. Door."
Austin pointed out to him: "You have to look carefully. Many of these 60 cannons are gadgets like swivel guns."
Bryce shook his head: "That's too much!"
Austin said: "This is the result of our careful consideration. It is already quite conservative, 600 people, 60 guns, and 6 battleships, referred to as the '666 Plan'. ”
He explained to everyone: "The earl ordered the navy to open the route to the south as soon as possible and ensure the safety of the route. With these few galleys and hundreds of recruits equipped only with swords and a few muskets, how can we eliminate those large ships along the way?" Pirates big and small? ”
“The navy must ensure that there are 4 ships patrolling, 1 ship training, and 1 ship undergoing maintenance at the same time.”
Post. Les asked: "The training is understandable, but the ship needs to be repaired after it is built?"
"Of course it is necessary!"
Austin patiently explained to a group of landlubbers: "Build a ship Qualified warships take a long time, but in order to be equipped as soon as possible, our first batch of warships must be built in a hurry. For example, the current Hope took only more than a month, and many parts of the wood were not passed through. Sufficient drying will cause the hull to corrode quickly, so we need to regularly inspect the warships. Of course, regular inspections are necessary even for those qualified ships.”
"Then what's going on with this 'Marine Corps'? Don't we already have our Army?"
"It is necessary to have a group of personnel who are proficient in land warfare. Pirates will not just float on the sea and do whatever they want. If we use artillery to bombard them, they will probably run to the land when the situation is bad, and their home base is either on the island or at a stronghold along the coast. We must go ashore to clear them out. At this time, it is possible to notify the army again to cooperate. It will delay the fighter plane."
The reasons came out of the navy commander's mouth, making it impossible for everyone to refute. Finally, he added:
"I believe you understand what Alda is now. There is an urgent need for ocean-going trade. Once trade begins, the Government Administration Council will be able to collect more taxes and allocate more military spending to us."
"Not only for the navy, but also for the army. .”
This last sentence is a very good prospect.
Schroeder pondered for a long time and said to Austin: "I agree with this plan in principle, but in the end it still needs the earl's decision. The current resource allocation has been very tilted towards the navy, and the army has more than 1,000 talents and equipment. 8 cannons, but the Navy only has a few hundred people equipped with 10 cannons. Many army officers have great opinions on this."
Austin glanced at the angry Bryce and thought to himself: "In front of me. There is one."
"Even in the face of Emden's threat, this tilt has not changed. Many soldiers of the newly expanded third battalion are even equipped with wooden sticks. Fortunately, God bless Kent. The family has no plans to use force for the time being."
Schroeder stared at Austin and said word by word: "So, the Navy must show convincing results."
Austin stood up, saluted everyone present, and said firmly:
"Please rest assured, Lord, please rest assured, Chief of Staff, please rest assured, everyone here, we are already working with the Intelligence Department to investigate and After sorting out the information on the various pirate groups, we will take action soon. I guarantee that in a year there will be only one armed force of ours in the waters of the Northwest Gulf."
Schroeder stood up and patted him. He said on his shoulder: "Very good. In order to support the navy's operations, the Equipment Department will build a new ordnance factory in Fulan Port to provide the navy with the guns, gunpowder and other types of weapons it needs nearby."
< br>This is really good news. Austin said excitedly: "We will definitely live up to Lord Grayman's high expectations."
Thank you "Destined" for the reward!
(End of this chapter)