When the Donghu War entered a stalemate stage, the Jiangnan of the Ming Dynasty continued to prosper and develop.Zhao Ming made a big effort in the country, engaged in infrastructure construction, gave the people job opportunities, increased the people's income, and led to the development of the domestic market in the Ming Dynasty.At the same time, the Ming Dynasty invested heavily in the Nanyang vassals, and transferred people from the Nanyang to build military ports and purchase materials, so that the Nanyang vassal states obtained a large amount of silver dollars and foreign exchange.The vassals had foreign exchange, and the princes and nobles had money, so they naturally had to consume, and it was inevitable to purchase goods in Jiangnan on a large scale, which to a certain extent alleviated the overproduction in Jiangnan in the Ming Dynasty.In addition, due to the defeat of the Tokugawa family in Japan, the Tokugawa shogunate's national policy of retreat became invalid, and Japan returned to the Warring States period.In order to gain support, the feudal lords gradually became agents of the Ming Dynasty, and a large number of Ming goods and ordnance poured into the Japanese market, which alleviated the economic crisis of the Ming Dynasty.1663, Summer, Nanjing, Longjiang Shipyard.This shipyard, which once built a huge fleet for Zheng He's voyage to the West, once again ushered in its great moment.It has been more than half a year since the last steam paddle steamer failed in sea trials, and the first steam steamer, after being towed back to the shipyard for overhaul, was finally launched again for sea trials.At this time, Zhao Mingyuan was in Donghu and could not participate, but the Ming Dynasty government still attached great importance to this sea trial.Not only the university scholar Chen Ming met the scene, the China Merchants Shipping Company supervised the scene, but also the maritime businessmen of Jiangsu and Zhejiang came to Nanjing to watch the sea trial."
Ge Lao, it is said that this ship has a sail with wind and sails without wind and burns carbon to sail, but is it true?"
Chen Yonghua, the superintendent of China Merchants Shipping Company, asked.Chen Mingyu bowed slightly, "According to the documents given by the Ministry of Industry, this ship can indeed sail on the sea without wind and headwinds." ”Chen Yonghua's face showed excitement, "Maritime trade, ship traffic, limited by the monsoon, within a year, the number of ship transportation is limited, sometimes in order to wait for the wind, a wait is months.If this ship can not rely on the monsoon, the ship can sail in any season, and it can sail to Japan and the South Seas several times a year. ”After listening to the conversation between the two, a group of maritime merchants from Jiangsu and Zhejiang could not help but discuss a lot, realizing that once this kind of steamship was successfully manufactured, it would inevitably replace the existing sailing ships and become the main force of maritime trade.However, this is a new thing after all, and maritime merchants are still more cautious and dare not rashly give up the now mature sail shipping.From what they knew, the ship had not traveled a few miles last time before the cabin became flooded and could not sail, and was finally towed back to the shipyard by a wooden boat.If you sail on the sea and there is such an accident, in the vast sea, you can't find anyone, and you can't rescue it, I'm afraid you can only sink to the bottom of the sea.Therefore, businessmen still don't trust this new thing."
It's time for sea trials!"
Chen Mingyu stopped talking to everyone, pointed to the river, began to heat the boiler, and gradually raised the speed of the steamer.Unlike the last time when the boat was launched, tens of thousands of craftsmen in the Longjiang Shipyard gave a shocking cheer, this time there were more craftsmen on the riverside than last time, but they were silent, and the craftsmen were nervous, afraid that the ship would have problems again.The steamer, under the gaze of the people on both sides of the strait, emitted black smoke, turned the paddle wheel, slowly went west, and gradually disappeared from everyone's field of vision, and tens of thousands of craftsmen happily threw up their towels and let out a burst of cheers.At this time, Chen Mingyu explained: "This trial voyage will sail from Nanjing to Huguang Jingzhou, and then return.If there is no problem with the ship, it will conduct a sea trial, departing from Shanghai at the same time as a sailing ship, to see who will arrive at Dongzhou first and then return to Shanghai. ”If the ship can sail against the current to Jingzhou in the inland river, and can cross the Pacific Ocean to reach Dongzhou at sea, then the value of the ship is undoubtedly very huge.When Chen Yonghua heard this, he said excitedly: "If the sea trial is successful, my China Merchants Shipping Company is willing to purchase 100 such steam ships from Longjiang Shipyard." ”When Chen Ming heard this, a smile appeared on his face, and he said to the shipyard supervisor on the side: "Do you hear, a hundred steamships, do you have the confidence to eat them?"
”The superintendent's face was flushed, with the current manufacturing level of Longjiang Shipyard, it is estimated that it will not be able to build five ships in a year, but the superintendent still patted his chest and said: "Rest assured, as long as there is an order, no matter how many ships, we can build them." ”In the past two years, the Ming Dynasty has engaged in infrastructure construction, investment, and foreign wars, and the imperial court has a large deficit and has owed a lot of money.Zhao Ming felt that this was nothing, it was relatively normal, and later many countries borrowed money to live, but the Chinese have always been debt-free and light, building high walls and accumulating grain, and many officials in the cabinet and the imperial court are more worried about the current finances of the imperial court.After all, it has only been less than twenty years since the fall of the Chongzhen court, and the shadow of the financial collapse of the imperial court at the end of the Ming Dynasty is still in the hearts of hundreds of officials, and everyone is very vigilant, hoping to avoid repeating the mistakes of the old Ming Dynasty.Therefore, while Zhao Ming spent a lot of money, the cabinet was desperately trying to make money to pay off debts.Several projects such as steam ships and steam trains smashed more than a million silver dollars back and forth, and they didn't even see a splash.Now that the steamship has finally succeeded, the shipyard will get the shipbuilding order, and it will finally be able to earn back some silver dollars.The Yangtze River is the east-west artery of southern China, and it is a shipping artery.Bashu, Huguang grain, materials, through the Yangtze River waterway, down the river, very easy to reach the south of the Yangtze River.However, it is easy to go downstream, but it is more difficult to go upstream, and most of the time, cargo ships in the south of the Yangtze River can only rely on manpower to pull the fiber upstream.Therefore, when a steamer emitting black smoke, no sails, and no slender man towed, appeared on the wharves of various cities along the Yangtze River, it immediately caused a sensation and onlookers.Of course, in addition to this, it also brought some turmoil along the coast, and many people who made a living by pulling fiber felt very hesitant, and even gathered to prevent steamships from approaching the docks.The steamer sailed all the way, and it took only one month to arrive in Jingzhou from Nanjing, and then it took half a month to return to Longjiang Shipyard for overhaul and maintenance, and found that the ship was fine.This made the entire shipyard boil, and Song Yingxing and others cried with joy.A month later, the ship, which had completed replenishment and overhaul, arrived in Shanghai, and together with a sail warship, with dozens of students from the Imperial University, left the Ming Dynasty to cross the Pacific Ocean and go to Dongzhou, opening the second half of the Age of Discovery.Of course, in order to prevent accidents on the ship, the Ministry of Industry still sent a supply fleet to accompany it to rescue at a critical moment.()