At the mouth of the Qinhuai River northwest of Nanjing City, there is a stone camp close to the Yangtze River, which is the famous Longjiang Treasure Ship Factory.

It is the oldest shipyard in the Ming Dynasty and is also the largest and most glorious shipyard in the world to date.

Its scope extends to the city in the east, Qinhuai River in the west, and the Right Guard Camp in the south. It is one mile wide from east to west and more than two miles long from north to south, which is about the same size as an ordinary county town.

One hundred and seventy years ago, most of the ships that the eunuch Zheng He took on his seven voyages to the West passed through the locks of this shipyard, slowly sailed into the Yangtze River and headed for the vast ocean.

Zhao Hao came to the shipyard with the intention of making a pilgrimage. If the weather had not allowed it, he would have come wearing a straw hat and shorts.

Although he was mentally prepared, when he climbed up the water gate tower and looked at the mottled and weathered stone walls, the incomplete watchtower, and the ponds with dense cattails and fluttering white reeds, he couldn't help but sigh, "The good old days are gone."

"I can't imagine how the 5,000-ton Zheng He treasure ship was built here." Zhao Hao patted the bricks that were about to fall apart and sighed with great regret:

"Looking back, I can only look at the archives of the shipyard to commemorate the glory of the past."

"My dear nephew, I'm afraid you will be disappointed." Wu Shilai, who was accompanying him on the tour, smiled apologetically and said, "I know you like big ships, so I had someone search the archives last time, but they didn't find a single word about treasure ships. They were all burned by Liu Daxia's gang back then."

"Fuck Liu Daxia!" Upon hearing this, Master Zhao rarely burst into swearing and kept cursing for a full cup of tea before he stopped.

Uncle Wu was stunned when he heard this. He thought Zhao Hao was a civilized and good boy.

The shipyard supervisor who was receiving the visit not far away, as well as General Cao Jiang who was accompanying the visit, were all stunned. They wondered who this young man was, and how dare he be so presumptuous in front of the hot-tempered Zhong Cheng?

Aren’t you afraid that Zhongcheng will get angry?

Young Master Zhao was tired of scolding, so he took the cup of water from Xiwa to moisten his throat, and then he said with some anger: "In the future, I will definitely restore a big treasure ship and name it 'Liu Daxia, the Eternal Sinner'!"

"Uh..." Uncle Wu thought to himself, what kind of hatred is this? He couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "This is difficult. It's hard to say whether there is such a big treasure ship. A treasure ship of 5,000 tons is too exaggerated, right?"

"No, there is..." The shipyard not far away raised a silent protest.

"No, there is!" But the hot-tempered young man's tone suddenly became higher.

"Nephew, why are you so sure?" Wu Shilai asked curiously.

"Because...so, scientific reason..." Young Master Zhao pursed his lips. He couldn't tell Uncle Wu that he made the decision based on archaeological discoveries.

Thinking that his own history had been emasculated by his own people, Master Zhao was furious again. He pointed at the shipyard and said, "I saw you were very excited just now. Do you know something?"

"No, no, I don't know anything." The official shrank his neck and waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "I feel ashamed of our ancestors when I think about how hard it is to build a ship of 1,000 tons."

"This shipyard is indeed in a state of disrepair." Uncle Wu, who was wearing the robes of a third-rank official, nodded and said depressedly:

"But it's not their fault. The Treasure Shipyard is mainly used to build ocean-going ships. Since the voyages to the West were abandoned, the court no longer needs those large and useless ships. They have all been used to build grain ships!"

"Building a canal ship does not require such a large pond, such good materials, and such good craftsmanship." The official replied angrily:

"But if we were asked to build the canal boats, it would be easy. Unfortunately, the Canal Transport Office only let the Qingjiang Shipyard build the canal boats. Only when they can't finish the work will they give us a little bit from their fingers. If we rely on their leftovers, I'm afraid our craftsmen will all starve to death."

"Stop being so sarcastic. If you dislike Caojiang Yamen, just say so!" Wu Shilai pulled his face, glared at him and said, "Qingjiang Shipyard is in Huai'an, and Caodu Yamen is also in Huai'an. How can you compete with them? Move the shipyard there too!"

"That's not what I meant." The man was so scared that he quickly knelt on the ground and shrank back, saying, "I was just jealous of Qingjiang Factory. I won't dare to do that again."

"Get out of the way." Wu Shilai snorted, and the supervisor rolled aside smoothly as if he had been pardoned.

Zhao Hao took a deep look at the person who was holding the ladder, and walked down the stairs of the water gate with Wu Shilai side by side and said:

"Isn't Caojiang Yamen very plump? Why is the boatyard below so thin?"

"My dear nephew, this is just talking without any pain in the waist." Wu Shilai rolled his eyes at him and said:

"I have three generals under me, with 20,000 soldiers on land and sea. Which one of them doesn't need to eat? Isn't it enough to support the more than 2,000 craftsmen in his shipyard? The river defense doesn't need big ships. It's a waste of money for me to support them, don't you know?"

When Zhao Hao heard that there were more than 2,000 craftsmen, he swallowed hard and almost blurted out, "If you don't want them, I will."

Fortunately, the remaining rationality overcame greed. This is the imperial court's treasure shipyard, the supervisors are all of the eighth rank, and the craftsmen are all registered craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry. If we dig a small number of them back, we can still operate them. If we take them all away, is it a rebellion?

The two men walked a long way along the overgrown embankment before they saw craftsmen building several 400-ton sand boats.

A 400-ton sand ship is already a giant in the inland river, but in this huge pond, it is like a small fishing boat, and the highest mast does not even exceed the depth of the pond.

Zhao Hao looked down at the 'small' boat under his feet and sighed deeply: "It's such a waste to use a butcher knife to kill a chicken."

"I'm still turning a blind eye to this." Wu Shilai said calmly: "Our Yangtze River Navy doesn't need such a big ship."

What he meant was that it was a private job secretly outsourced by the shipyard, and two thousand craftsmen couldn't really live on nothing, right?

"In that case, how about helping me build a few boats?" Young Master Zhao said with a smile.

"How difficult is that? How many? How big? What model?" Wu Shilai asked with a smile.

"Four hundred and one thousand materials, a sand ship will do." Zhao Hao replied calmly.

"A lot, how many?" Wu Shilai was so frightened that he almost fell into the dry pond.

"Four hundred." Zhao Hao repeated.

"Xian, nephew, you are not making fun of your uncle, are you?" Wu Shilai asked in astonishment.

"I dare not." Zhao Hao said softly: "I am serious."

"That's an even bigger problem!" Wu Shilai was not happy but surprised. He pulled him aside and said anxiously, "Do you know that a ship with a toll of 1,000 tons can only sail on the Yangtze River and not on the Grand Canal?"

"I don't plan to go to the canal." Zhao Hao remained calm, as if the violent boy just now was someone else.

"I'm going to sea."

ps. Chapter 3, please give me a monthly ticket! I will write another chapter...