Start Being a Vassal King Today - Chapter 273

[Chapter 273 Attacking Zhou Yi]

The willow trees on both sides of the river bank are only low-hanging branches.

The wind blowing from the river was still a little bit cold.

The officials of the Naval Department recorded the pictures on the river beach.

Zhao Xu explained it again in detail, down to every detail.

“The king will send a group of masons and some cement to build twelve dry docks on this river beach, six on each side of the river.” Zhao Xu said.

Chen Shou was overjoyed again.

Now he felt relieved. With a craftsman familiar with the use of cement, the construction of the dry dock would not be a big problem.

After ordering the dry dock, Zhao Xu inspected the shipyard again.

When Chen Shou first arrived, everything here was still in its infancy.

Including the very simple temporary wooden shed where the craftsmen lived.

This is in the eyes.

He understood Chen Shou’s thoughts, and now he only wanted to build warships, and he didn’t have too much energy to take care of the craftsmen’s daily life.

Perhaps this is a common problem of ancient officials.

They are used to making craftsmen work with majesty and punishment, rather than their own efforts to work hard.

I thought that the construction of Chengdefang was basically over.

There are many masons in his free time, so he decided to go back and transfer Dong Jianan here, just like building Chengde Fang.

Build a formal boat dock on this land.

Even though large shipbuilding workshops will eventually be moved to the seaside in the future, merchant ships can still be manufactured here.

After the inspection was over, Zhao Xu got up and wanted to go back.

Despite the many dissatisfaction, these shortcomings can only be corrected little by little.

After all, starting from scratch, it is always necessary to accumulate experience a little bit.

The officials cannot be blamed for this either, they are used to everything around them.

Naturally, it is based on the old way of thinking.

Along the river, Zhao Xu arrived at Pingcheng Wharf.

He smiled as he watched crates of goods from Yanzhou being shipped to the south.

While he was watching all this, a merchant ship was gradually approaching the shore.

A young man jumped off the boat, saw Zhao Xu on the pier, and the young man trotted over.

“See Your Highness Zhou Yi.” The young man was none other than Zhou Yi.

Zhao Xu was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Zhou Yi.

I saw the excitement on Zhou Yi’s face, as if he thought he came here specially to see him.

Zhao Xu felt guilty for a while, this time he completely forgot about Zhou Yi.

However, as the King of Yan, he naturally had to learn to act sometimes, so as not to chill the hearts of his subordinates.

No matter how you say it, Zhou Yi also took the important task of training the crew.

“This king is about to send someone to look for you, and it’s just in time.” Zhao Xu smiled.

Zhou Yi couldn’t help but smile even more when he heard this, “Thank you for your concern.”

Zhao Xu coughed twice and changed the subject, “You said you have trained the crew, how are you doing now?”

Mentioning this, Zhou Yi became even more excited When he got up, he pointed to the merchant ship behind him and said, “I just came back from Jinghai County. These were all recruited by Jinghai County. Most of them come from fishermen and are familiar with water. At the same time, the lower officials sent people to all the counties in Yanzhou. A notice was posted that anyone with good water skills can come to Pingcheng.”

Zhao Xu looked at the merchant boats on the river, and saw hundreds of men of all ages sitting or standing on the boats.

They seemed to be full of curiosity about Pingcheng Wharf, looking at it and discussing it at the same time.

Zhao Xu nodded slightly, his expression became serious.

It seems that Zhou Yi came here for real this time, not messing around with him.

The way he picks people is satisfying to him.

People with good water skills tend to become qualified crew members faster.

Zhou Yi was right to choose this way.

“The candidate has been selected, how will you train next?” Zhao Xu asked tentatively.

He wanted to see what skills Zhou Yi had.

“I have chosen a lake in Pingcheng. This lake is connected to the canal. When the crew is almost recruited, I will buy a few boats and go to that lake. I will train them to steer the boats with the wind every day, and then train them to maneuver the boats on the water. Formation.”

“Of course they have to train their artillery, His Highness said that the artillery can go on board.” Zhou Yi said like a cannonball.

Zhao Xu looked at Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi’s eyes were very serious, he was definitely not messing around.

He nodded secretly.

As the saying goes, since ancient times heroes come out of youth.

Maybe he should pay attention to Zhou Yi and give him this chance.

“You are right, the crew trained in this way is enough to defeat any navy in Dasong.” Zhao Xu said.

Zhou Yi thought Zhao Xu was praising him, and looked excited, “Your Highness should believe it now.”

“It’s just not enough.” Zhou Yi’s expression was stunned by Zhao Xu’s words.

As long as the warship is equipped with artillery, it will naturally defeat most of the warships in Dasong.

However, his fleet is going to sea to compete with an even-matched opponent.

This requires the crew to be more professional.

He said: “The things you understand are just superficial. You should first recruit the crew and train them to control the sails. After a while, the king will give you a book. You can take it back and study it. Write down what you don’t understand. Come and ask me.”

Zhou Yi was excited when he heard this.

Although he didn’t understand, he knew that these things must be very powerful.

Now that King Yan said that he would give him a book, he naturally felt as if he had been beaten with chicken blood.

Perhaps with this book, he can really train the best crew in the world.

After talking about this, Zhao Xu remembered that Zhou Yi hadn’t been given a formal official position and title yet.

So he said: “Also, starting from today, the king will make you the admiral of Yanzhou.”

Zhou Yi was stunned for a while after saying this.

When he came to his senses, he almost jumped up.

King Yan officially gave him an official position, which is tantamount to agreeing with him.

From then on, he was able to serve the palace like other generals and officials.

“Thank you Your Highness, I will definitely live up to His Highness’s entrustment and create the strongest fleet in the Great Song Dynasty.” Zhou Yi spoke incoherently.

When Chen Shou and other ship officials saw this, they all smiled.

Zhao Xu smiled, and whispered to Zhou Yi at this time: “Although you have official positions and government offices, you still have to keep a low profile and keep a low profile, and declare to the outside world that you will train boatmen for Yanzhou Commercial Bank. When the time comes, the king will officially reward you.” You.”

At present, the number of soldiers given to him by the imperial court is only 120,000.

But the guards needed by the business, the boatmen, are not among the restrictions.

He will tell the outside world that they are only protecting the firm and not belonging to the royal family.

Such an armed fleet named Shanghang, secretly the fleet of the Yanzhou Navy, can justifiably exist in Yanzhou.

(end of this chapter)