According to Liu Mang's idea, if they can make cannons, then they should make more cannons. If they have a thousand cannons, then they can use them to bombard the enemy. He doesn't believe that any city can withstand the bombardment of three thousand cannons.
However, it was clear that Liu Mang's idea was good, but the reality was very harsh. Even Liu Mang's father-in-law, who had plundered most of Yangzhou's wealth, could not withstand Liu Mang's expenditure.
It had to be known that a single cannon with three thousand cannons would cost nine hundred gold coins. Just the production cost alone was 900 gold. Adding in the other aspects, such as the gunpowder, the carriage frame, and the bullets, the total price was even higher.
If you were to build a thousand gates, not to mention a thousand gates, then Yangzhou would go bankrupt.
Who could afford a million gold coins? Fortunately, Mi Zhu and the others had dissuaded Liu Mang. Otherwise, Liu Mang would have really made such a move.
In the end, they compromised. Although they did not get a thousand cannons, they still got 150 of the three thousand cannons. Even if it was only an extra 50, Mi Zhu still cried and left. Fifty cannons meant 50,000 gold coins. This was not a small number. Back then, Jiangdong's Second Young Master, Sun Quan, only got 10,000 gold coins. It was not even a fifth of the price.
Naturally, these three thousand cannons could not be used as cannons for the army because they were too heavy. It would take at least two or three warhorses to pull them. Thus, they were replaced with a thousand smaller cannons. A thousand smaller cannons, five hundred smaller cannons. For these thousand smaller cannons, a single warhorse would be enough to pull a cannon. Finally, a carriage would be built. This speed did not need to be high as long as it could keep up with the army.
Liu Mang left eight cannons on Shouchun's walls and two on each side. Naturally, their deterrence was stronger than their practicality. If an enemy attacked the city, as long as the cannons fired, the enemy would be terrified. The other important cities such as Wancheng City, Jiang Xia, Jiujiang, and even Hao Shao's Yangtze River Stronghold were the same.
Out of the thousand small cannons, Liu Mang took out two hundred cannons to form an artillery unit. This artillery unit can be said to be very luxurious. From top to bottom, it was made of gold. Each cannon cost three hundred and fifty gold. Each cannon cost thirty gold. Each cannon required one gunner, three gunners, and one cleaner. Two hundred small cannons meant eight hundred men. In addition to the heavy armored infantry, Liu Mang mobilized two thousand men. Thus, the world's first artillery unit was formed.
"Milord, what about the rest of the cannons?" Xu Shu thought that these cannons would be used for city defense. The three thousand cannons were difficult to move. Therefore, fixing them on the city walls would be very useful. One shot from a higher position would increase the range. However, he did not expect that Liu Mang did not equip all three thousand cannons for Yangzhou City. He did not even give all the cannons to the army.
"The remaining three hundred small cannons and one hundred three thousand large cannons will be given to the navy." Liu Mang said to Xu Shu and the others.
"What?" Xu Shu was stunned. One hundred three thousand large cannons and three hundred thousand small cannons will be given to the navy? Did Xu Shu hear wrongly? Why would the navy need these cannons? Didn't they have ballistae?
"Yuanzhi, you did not hear wrongly. These cannons were originally designed for warships!" Liu Mang said to Liu Ye. "Ziyang, take out your blueprints and give them to our Internal Minister. Let our Internal Minister give you the budget so that you can build the warships!"
Whether it was building warships or cannons, Liu Mang could not decide on his own. Therefore, Xu Shu needed to look at them. This way, Xu Shu could deduce how much money Yangzhou City could fork out. Liu Mang did not want to be in charge alone. It was not because he wanted his subordinates to have more freedom. It was because he did not want to tire himself out.
"These warships?" Xu Shu looked at the blueprints and felt a little dizzy. This was because the information on the warship in front of him was too shocking.
"These are 11 masts?" Xu Shu looked at the 11 masts on the ship. Comparing the size of the ship, the size of this warship should be about 1500 tons. That is about 5 times bigger than the main warship that Liu Mang is currently using.
"How can a warship of this size travel in the river?" Xu Shu asked Liu Mang in surprise.
"This ship is not meant to travel in the river. It is a real ship!" Liu Mang's Gailun Ship was not a real ship. It was more practical to travel in the river. When they went out to sea, they would only travel slowly along the coastline. How would they dare to go out to sea?
"Ship?" Xu Shu was even more confused. Why would you want to build a ship? "Milord, we already have enough ships!" To the people of this era, outside the sea were barbarians. It was a barren land. They should focus on conquering the Central Plains and the North instead of going out to sea.
"The small boats in Gan Ning's hands are at most kayaks. How can they be considered ships? This is the kind of ship that I want. " Liu Mang asked Gan Ning to send people out to explore the undiscovered Taiwan and Hainan. However, when the ships went out, a few of them sank. One of the Yangzhou Navy was lucky and was pushed back by the tide. Only then did they know that their boats were sunk by the waves. None of them survived and were fed to the sharks.
That was why Liu Mang wanted to build a ship. The blueprints that Liu Mang gave Xu Shu were the blueprints of the Marine Military Authority. This warship was an outstanding sail warship used by the Europeans to conquer the sea. It had a displacement of 1,500 tons, a length of 70 meters, a draft of 5 to 6 meters, and a speed of about 10 knots.
Liu Mang could not completely copy the Marine Military Authority warship. After all, it was a work of art. The Marine Military Authority warship was supposed to be equipped with 100 cannons. 20 60-pound cannons, 8 30-pound cannons, 32 18-pound cannons, and 44 9-pound cannons.
Liu Mang's warship did not meet this requirement. He only had 3,000 cannons, 100 cannons, and 300 smaller cannons. The 3,000 cannons were only 18-pound cannons, while the 1,000 smaller cannons were only 9-pound cannons.
"How much does this warship cost?" Xu Shu looked at Liu Mang and asked. He did not believe that this lord would not estimate the cost before taking out such a thing.
"Yuanzhi, our Ministry of Works has already estimated the cost. The cost of the wood is around 80,000 gold." Liu Ye estimated it this way because Yangzhou had never built such a large warship before. Therefore, the shipyard had to be dismantled and rebuilt. That was why it was so expensive. If the first warship was built with experience, then it would cost around 50,000 gold.
"80,000 gold?" Xu Shu wanted to kill Liu Mang and Liu Ye. Fortunately, Mi Zhu was not here. If Mi Zhu was here, he would have fainted from fright.
"Yuanzhi, Yuanzhi, I can tell you that once this warship is built, it will only be profitable. Yuanzhi, do you know what kind of place the Jiao Province is?"
"Southern Yue!" Xu Shu said. When the Qin Dynasty was about to be destroyed, Nanhai Prefecture's Zhao Tuo annexed Guilin Prefecture and Xiang Prefecture. Later, 203 BC, he established the Southern Yue Kingdom. 196 BC, Zhao Tuo submitted to the Western Han Emperor Liu Bang. The Southern Yue Kingdom became a foreign subject of the Western Han Dynasty. 183 BC, the Southern Yue Kingdom and the Western Han Dynasty became enemies. Zhao Tuo began to proclaim himself as the Emperor. After that, Minyue, Yelang, Tongshi, and other countries all became subjects of the Southern Yue Kingdom. The influence of the Southern Yue Kingdom reached its peak. 179 BC, the Southern Yue Kingdom and the Western Han Dynasty repaired their relationship. Zhao Tuo submitted to the Western Han Emperor again. 113 BC, the fourth Emperor of the Southern Yue Kingdom, Zhao Xing, asked the Western Han Dynasty to be an internal subject. Lu Jia killed Zhao Xing and appointed his brother Zhao Jiande as the new Emperor. 112 BC, the Western Han Dynasty's Emperor Wu sent 100,000 troops to wage war against the Southern Yue Kingdom. 111 BC, he destroyed the Southern Yue Kingdom and established nine prefectures. The Southern Yue Kingdom coexisted for 93 years and had five generations of Emperors.
Xu Shu knew about the Southern Yue Kingdom because it was destroyed by the Great Han Dynasty. It could be said that a lot of the Southern Yue Kingdom's territory was part of the Southern Yue Kingdom. A portion of the Southern Yue Kingdom's people merged with the Han Dynasty and became the Hundred Yue Kingdom.
A portion of them continued south.
"To the south of Nanyue, there are some small countries like the Western Regions. Once we open this passage, we will be able to open up the Silk Road. With these ships, we will be able to make hundreds of countries surrender and pay tribute to us. At that time, we will not need to worry about money!" Liu Mang's words have already moved Xu Shu's heart.
If you told Xu Shu that the Southern Yue Kingdom had endless gold, silver and jewels, Xu Shu might think that you were lying to him. But if you told Xu Shu about the Silk Road, Xu Shu's eyes would shine.
After the Jade Gate Pass, one would arrive at the Western Regions. Before the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who knew that there were so many small countries in the Western Regions. Like Yelang, Yue, Da Yue, Lou Lan, these were all small countries in the Western Regions. Although these small countries were small, they were rich. If one traded with them, as long as one brought silk, one could exchange it for endless treasures.
"Does the Lord know about these countries?" Xu Shu asked doubtfully.
"Never!" Liu Mang also didn't know much about Southeast Asia. After all, at this time, the Han people who recorded history were busy fighting. They didn't have time to pay attention to you. Those who knew martial arts were basically monkeys. They didn't even have words. So, this section was simply a blank.
However, Liu Mang wasn't discouraged. Although he didn't know the extent of the culture in Southeast Asia, he knew that going south was definitely beneficial. The location of the gold and silver mines shouldn't change. Not to mention, there was still India there.
"How many warships can be built?" Xu Shu knew that he couldn't stop the appearance of these ships. He could only see if he could build a few fewer ships. He was really afraid that Liu Mang's cheap master would randomly order a thousand or eight hundred ships. That would be the end.
"Even if we want to build more, we don't have the money!" Liu Mang smiled bitterly and shook his head. "He knows that the warships and cannons have almost emptied Yangzhou's savings. Let's build three ships first!"
Liu Mang said to Xu Shu. His original plan was to build three ships. It just so happened that a warship had a thousand cannons and a hundred cannons. Three thousand cannons each had thirty-three cannons. In other words, a military-class warship had a total of one hundred and thirty-three cannons. Although it couldn't be compared to the military-class warships in history, it was enough for the park to use for more than two hundred years.
"Okay! Three ships, only three ships! "Xu Shu clenched his teeth and said.
"Naturally, this military-class warship will be tested first. We can build more if we want. As for the others."
"Yes." Xu Shu was a little flustered when he heard the other two words. He was afraid that his lord was going to build another warship.
"Yuanzhi, don't panic. What we are going to build next isn't a warship, but a merchant ship!" Liu Mang let Xu Shu look at the blueprint. Xu Shu's heart calmed down a little when he saw the blueprint. On the blueprint, there was also a thousand-ton ship. However, this ship was much simpler than the military-class warship. Its specialty was that it was fat. It was no wonder. It was a merchant ship. It would be strange if it was loaded with goods.
"This type of merchant ship, two thousand tons. The cost is about twenty thousand gold. Let's build three ships for the first batch!" There was an additional sixty thousand gold.
Xu Shu carefully counted. Their Yangzhou's treasury couldn't even take out fifty thousand gold. Fortunately, they had Jiangling to support them. Otherwise, they would have been finished.
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