Chapter 240 Ningbo Harbor
May 19
Ningbo Prefecture

Xiangshan County

The Ten Prefectures of Jiangnan are just a common name. There is no Jiangnan Province in Daqian’s administrative planning.

The ten prefectures actually belong to several surrounding provinces.

Xiangshan was originally just a county of Ningbo Prefecture, surrounded by the sea on three sides.

Apart from the many fishermen, it is not very prosperous.

At the beginning of the year, Jia Cong established three large shipyards here and recruited 30,000 workers.

Nearby, there were 60,000 naval forces trained by the royal family and Jia Cong.

As the population increased, merchants from the south of the Yangtze River also moved in.

In just half a year, Xiangshan has changed from its past decline to become the most prosperous place in Ningbo Prefecture.

Jia Cong sailed south along the canal. With Baochai, a real dragon, on the boat, the boat sailed at an extremely fast speed.

If it had not stopped in Jiangnan many times to inspect the Shinto administrative centers in various places.

We could have reached Xiangshan several days ago.

Outside the Xiangshan No. 1 Shipyard, 10,000 troops mobilized from the Jiangnan Camp set up camp here to serve as guards.

It is heavily guarded on weekdays and ordinary people are strictly prohibited from entering or leaving.

Even if shipyard workers wanted to go out, they had to go in groups of at least five.

If one person gets into trouble, five people will be implicated, and even the whole family will be affected.

The rules may seem strict, but with generous pay, the workers are willing to do them.

Today, outside the shipyard, more than twenty well-dressed people are waiting respectfully.

It was led by Gongshu Yu, several elders of the Gongshu family, and generals from the navy camp not far from the shipyard.

“coming!”

Hearing the faint sound of horse hooves in the distance, Gongshu Yu’s expression straightened.

After a while, the sound of horse hooves in the distance gradually became clearer.

Red clothes and red armor, and a murderous aura.

They were none other than the eight hundred Blood-Clothed Guards under Jia Cong’s command.

Jia Cong rode the demon king White Tiger in the front, followed by Baochai, Daiyu and Miaoyu.

There is Huici, the Grand Marshal of Yiling Zhaowu Heavenly Ghosts, and Zhuxie, two other ghost and god masters.

This time when leaving the capital, almost all of Jia Cong’s masters were dispatched.

The well-organized demon-slaying army and other ghosts and gods are all hidden in the Shinto seal.

The only people left in the mansion were the civil and military judges who presided over the battle and the day and night wandering gods who collected intelligence.

It seems empty, but it is not.

The military heroes go out to fight, with spears lined up in front of the gate!
If anyone attacks, it would be a serious crime of treason.

Not to mention Jia Cong, the royal family will definitely do their utmost to protect the Marquis’ Mansion.

It was no exaggeration to say that the spies from the Imperial City Bureau and the Embroidered Uniform Guard could even distinguish the male and female mosquitoes entering and leaving Jia Cong’s mansion.

Not to mention that there are two great scholars, Li Gui of the Legalist School and Gongshu Yuan of the Gongshu family, in the academy outside the city who can take action at any time.

……

“Gongsun Yu greets the Marquis!”

When they came closer, the eight hundred Blood-Clothed Guards stopped at the same time in unison.

Gongsun Yu hurriedly stepped forward and bowed.

She was wearing a scarlet outfit and her jet-black hair was simply tied behind her head.

She is very different from the ordinary girls in Daqian and gives people a heroic feeling.

Gongshu Yu was the most outstanding talent among the younger generation of the Gongshu family, and his talent was even better than that of his father Gongshu Hong.

At such a young age, he has not only reached the third level of cultivation.

He is also proficient in Gongshujia’s domineering mechanical skills.

Otherwise, even as the daughter of the clan leader, she would not be qualified to control one of the four fourth-level puppets of the Gongshu family.

“Get up, no need to be polite!”

“Time is running out. I will go check out the warship first.”

“Gongshu Yu, have the one hundred warships been built?”

Jia Cong dismounted the White Tiger and without any unnecessary greetings, he went straight to the point.

“My Lord, I have worked tirelessly with my clansmen day and night to build 109 new warships in accordance with your orders.” “I guarantee that the combat power of each ship is superior to that of mainstream Western warships!”

Gongshu Yu’s tone was sonorous, and his decisive attitude made Jia Cong look at him with higher regard.

“That’s good. How is the training of the 50,000 navy officers and soldiers going?”

“Reporting to the commander, I am Song Kaijiang, the former commander of the Dengzhou navy!”

“Since I was ordered to train the navy, I have not dared to neglect it!”

“We have organized eight sea trials and war drills, and the 50,000 naval forces are basically able to operate the new warships skillfully!”

“only……”

As Song Kaijiang spoke, he thought of Jia Cong’s reputation for evil, and his tone became a little uneasy.

“Just what?”

“It’s just that it takes time to practice the martial arts in the army, and the training time for the navy is too short.”

“Now, there are only more than 8,000 people who have broken through to the Body Forging Realm, and most of them are at the first or second level of Body Forging.”

“It’s not your fault. Naval warfare is different from land warfare. A qualified sailor is one who can skillfully operate a warship. We don’t need so many people for this voyage!”

After hearing this, Jia Cong’s expression relaxed and he nodded slightly.

“You go back and recruit 10,000 men, 5,000 each from the naval forces of various places and 5,000 new recruits.”

“Be on standby at all times. I will set sail the day after tomorrow at the latest!”

“The last general takes command!”

After hearing what Jia Cong said, Song Kaijiang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

……

After asking about the general situation, Hou Jingyun and Ma Ruyue led the Blood-Clothed Guards to the military camp to set up camp.

Jia Cong and his companions walked into the shipyard under the leadership of Gongshu Yu.

The Gongshu family is indeed a family with a long history of mechanical engineering. Even from Jia Cong’s perspective, this shipyard can be considered advanced.

Various large and small mechanical tools are everywhere.

The largest one is even comparable to the gantry crane in Jia Cong’s previous life.

The main force is composed of core members of the Gongshu family, supplemented by external vassal members, and a large number of ordinary craftsmen helping out.

It is a completely assembly line method, divided into three shifts, and the efficiency is extremely high.

At this moment, more than a dozen warships are being built at the same time.

In addition, there are related warship weapons workshops.

After passing through the shipyard, we arrived at a dock.

Hundreds of new warships stood.

“My Lord, according to your instructions, the new warships will mainly be of the Zhenyuan class.”

“The ship is sixty feet long and twenty-one feet wide!”

“There is a midship deck in the middle of the main deck, and a three-story poop deck at the stern!”

“There are twenty cannons on each side of the ship, and ten Gongshujia’s secret Tianji Eight Ox Crossbows!”

“During its construction, the hull was mixed with a large amount of spiritual wood, which can withstand the bombardment of the Westerners’ Franco-Japanese cannons.”

“There is also a Gongshu family mechanism at the stern, which is controlled by the Gongshu family. The speed is at least twice that of the Western ships!”

Gongshu Yu briefly reported on the situation of the new warship Zhenyuan class.

In this world, the bigger the warships are in naval battles, the better.

If it were made of pure wood, with Gongshujia’s mechanical technology, he could have built a ship as big as Jia Cong’s aircraft carrier in his previous life.

But if it is not mixed with spiritual wood, it will be a huge living target facing the Franco-machine cannon made by Western alchemists.

It is more than 180 meters long and more than 60 meters wide.

This was the result of discussions among the skilled craftsmen of Gongshujia.

It is an option that can both exert great combat power and balance the cost.

Moreover, any warship taken out can surpass the Western warships in combat power.

“In addition, Gongshu Yu also built a Dingyuan-class flagship specifically for the Marquis.”

“It’s a hundred feet long and thirty feet wide!”

“There are four decks in total, and we have invited Taoist Ling Chengzi from the Gexian Sect to build two small formations!”

Regarding the warships, the author looked up a lot of information about Zheng He’s treasure ships, and then changed them into a high-level version…

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(End of this chapter)