Iron Dynasty

Only a hot sun remained on the azure blue sky, and a layer of golden scales rippled on the infinite sea. ≥ＣＯ

"Goodbye everyone!"

Facing Claire, Xiao Ming also waved goodbye. Perhaps he will not come to Ryukyu for a long time. After all, the strategy for him here is only a small part. The existence of Ryukyu in the next few years is only to provide some raw materials for Qingzhou.

After all, the population on Ryukyu Island is too small.

The battleship kept heading north under the blowing of the sea breeze, and gradually the city of Relanzhe shrank into a faint skyline.

Lu Fei said at this time: "His Royal Highness, is Ryukyu ours now?"

"It goes without saying that our troops are all stationed on Ryukyu Island, but your Highness, is it too little to leave four thousand troops here? The twenty-four field guns are all left on the island." Luo Xin was a little reluctant to bear it. .

Xiao Ming shook his head. He understood that many generals, like the two of them, did not understand why they had to invest so much on a remote island. He said: "I don't understand what I told you now, and you will understand that Ryukyu is in the ocean. An important position in trade, this is a battleship that will never sink!"

Yue Yun nodded lightly. He understood the value of Ryukyu better than Lu Fei and Luo Xin. After all, he had led the fleet to go south and understood the importance of Ryukyu.

Seven days later, Xiao Ming and others who wandered at sea and wanted to vomit finally returned to Dengzhou. This expedition was the first time that Xiao Ming led the soldiers of the Great Yu country to fight overseas. Although they took back their own territory, But the significance of this move will be remembered in history.

After all, this is the first time Da Yuguo has extended its tentacles overseas.

It was properly anchored in the military port. At this time, Xiao Ming said to Yue Yun: "The cruising of warships cannot be stopped. From now on, you must completely control the maritime trade routes and prevent Japanese pirates from attacking merchant ships on the routes."

"Yes, Your Highness, but what if we discover the merchant ships of King Chu and King Wei? Should we also escort?" Yue Yun asked.

Xiao Ming glared at Yue Yun, "Are you stupid? This king spent so much money to build the Qingzhou navy. The soldiers shed blood and sacrifices to capture Ryukyu. Are they ultimately serving them? Tell those merchant ships that if they want to conduct maritime trade Go to Qingzhou to get the approval, otherwise they will roll back wherever they go. If they dare not, they can use force as a deterrent."

Yue Yun looked embarrassed and said, "His Royal Highness is right. We took this route back from the Dutch. It should be ours now, and the profits generated by the route should also be ours."

"It's almost the same." Xiao Ming nodded.

After getting off the battleship, Xiao Ming and his party did not immediately go to Dengzhou City, but went to the shipyard of the military port to find Zhang Liang to ask about the construction of the battleship.

At this time, twelve three-tier sailing warships were being built on the beach of the military port, six of which were basically in embryonic form, and they saw Zhang Liang on the beach.

"Your Highness."

Seeing Xiao Ming and his party coming over, Zhang Liang immediately put down his work and came over.

"Well, when can these six warships be delivered?" Xiao Ming said with a smile. He is currently short of warships, and the current 15 warships simply cannot meet the current requirements for use.

Moreover, in the battle of Ryukyu, he had a complete showdown with the Japanese country. There will only be more and more battles on the sea, and the long coastline of the great Yu country requires a large number of warships to enter service even for escort.

"If nothing happens, these six warships can be launched in three months, and there are eight warships in the other two shipyards that can also be launched, which means that there will be a total of 14 warships launched by then. "Zhang Liang was triumphant.

Because of Xiao Ming's trade with the king of Chu and the imperial court, the shipbuilding workshop in Dengzhou has many craftsmen with exquisite shipbuilding skills. These people greatly accelerated the speed of shipbuilding.

The three shipyards also increased the number of warships launched in the same batch.

"Fourteen ships, um, at least this year should be enough." Xiao Ming looked at Yue Yun, "Do you have so many crew members on the fourteen ships?"

Yue Yun was in trouble immediately. He said: "His Royal Highness, the speed of this battleship launching is too fast, it can catch up with our training speed. Three months is really difficult."

Xiao Ming frowned. This incident was in his expectation. According to Claire, the crew of their merchant ships could be transformed into seamen of battleships at any time, and they had accumulated a navy team invisibly over the years.

The Qingzhou Navy developed too late. If you can’t keep up with it, he said: “We can’t just recruit seafarers in Dengzhou. After all, the fishing villages in Dengzhou are also limited. You can try to attract other places with generous treatment. Many fishermen came to settle in Dengzhou. In addition, coastal pirates are rampant. These pirates are natural crew members, and they can absorb some crew members when they are captured."

"His Royal Highness, this is a good way. There are many pirates held in the Dengzhou prison. Many of these pirates are homeless and forced to join the pirates. The general will pick it up later." Yue Yun said.

When Zhang Liang heard this, his face was even more proud. It was Yue Yun who urged them to speed up before, but now it was finally his turn to be short of manpower.

After inspecting the shipyard in the military port, Xiao Ming led Zhang Liang to the second and third shipyards at the north gate of Dengzhou~www.wuxiaspot.com~ and now these shipyards are under the unified management of him.

In the past, he just ran a small Qingzhou shipyard, which is quite different from what he is now, because he is now very comfortable and contented.

The second shipyard and the third shipyard are not far away from the military port. This is also for unified dispatch. As Zhang Liang said, there are four battleships nearing completion in both shipyards.

After inspecting the shipyard, Xiao Mingcai, Lu Fei and others headed to Dengzhou City. On the way, they could see the carriages of the Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce passing salt from time to time. There were even some carriages transporting dried sea fish. The state’s main profitable cargo.

In Dengzhou City, Xiao Ming met Yang Chengye. He originally wanted to go back to Qingzhou directly, but thinking of the importance of maritime trade, he decided to urge him and remind him to pay attention to the construction of the commercial hall and the foreign affairs office.

"The most important thing is the construction of the port. In the future, the port of Dengzhou will become the port with the largest throughput. From now on, you will build a large number of warehouses near the port to store goods." Xiao Ming ordered: "And also to produce wooden boxes. At that time, these wooden boxes can be sold to merchants, and warehouses can be leased to maritime merchants. In addition, there is a delivery fee for berthing at the port, but this port is enough to make you rich in Dengzhou."