Dark Seventeen stared wide-eyed at the huge creature on the water, and the word "enormous" came to mind.
How should I put it? The largest boat he had ever seen before was a painted barge, three stories high, which could hold five hundred people.
But the behemoth in front of him was about four or five times the size of the pleasure boats he had ever seen. It had two decks and a very wide deck. There were several holes in the cabin, and it was dark inside, so he couldn't see what was inside.
A large ship stood in front of them, and a group of people were standing on the deck. The leader, An Shiqi, recognized him at a glance; it was Lu Yanzheng.
Xiao Rui naturally saw Lu Yanzheng as well. He saw Lu Yanzheng holding up a trumpet-shaped object, and Lu Yanzheng's voice immediately rang in his ears.
"Before you stand our Northwest Army's warship! This ship can accommodate three thousand men and is capable of fighting on its own. What you will learn and train to do is how to use this warship to fight the enemy. Are you all confident?"
Before those who were still reeling from the sight of the massive warship could recover, they were suddenly struck by such a loud noise that no one dared to speak when Lu Yanzheng asked the question.
After a long while, someone cautiously asked, "Isn't this warship so huge that it moves very slowly?"
He didn't know anything else, but he did know that merchant ships that could carry a lot of cargo were not very fast. They were fine when going with the current, but when going against the current, their speed was practically like a tortoise crawling.
Warships are a good thing, but if they're not fast, wouldn't these people just be waiting to be riddled with bullets by the enemy?
Lu Yanzheng chuckled and said, "That's a good question, but it's a military secret. I can't tell you the warship's exact speed right now, but there's something I can say now."
He looked down at the warship beneath his feet, then looked up and said, "This warship is not the main combat vessel; its mission is more about resupply."
There are some things he can't say too clearly at this time. Letting these people visit the warship today is also to boost their confidence. They can't be like the previous groups of people who thought from the beginning that the Northwest Army shouldn't have a navy, which made their training twice as difficult and half as effective.
Xiao Rui didn't know if the others understood, but he did.
To put it simply, this warship is used to bring people into the water and then carry out combat operations.
Lu Yanzheng said it could carry three thousand people, but such a large space in the hold couldn't be wasted. Xiao Rui could think of many things with just a little thought.
"As expected of her." Xiao Rui smiled.
An Seventeen looked at him strangely and asked, "Who?"
“Jiang Qinyu,” Xiao Rui confirmed.
For some reason, he just felt that such a warship must have been made by Jiang Qinyu, not that she built it, but that she designed it.
An Shiqi certainly knew Jiang Qinyu's name, but he was still shocked to hear it now. "How could a woman create something like this?"
"Why not?" Xiao Rui retorted. "Sweet potatoes, the water conservancy design of Yongshan County, the integration of Qinzhou Trading Company—weren't all of these her work?"
He never believed that women couldn't do what men could do; on the contrary, women often could do it better than men, and Jiang Qinyu was a good example.
Upon hearing this, An Shiqi choked for a moment. After thinking about it carefully, it seemed to be true. Moreover, his master had always admired Lu Yanzheng's wife, so it was normal for him to think that she was the one who designed it.
And that was indeed the case. After Lu Yanzheng wrote to reveal his intention to build a navy, Jiang Qinyu sent him a lot of warship blueprints for reference.
Lu Yanzheng was already very interested in aircraft carriers, and after seeing Jiang Qinyu's blueprints, he was even more amazed. He immediately drew up new blueprints based on the features in the blueprints and combined them with existing materials, and found craftsmen to build the current warship.
The time was too short, but because they used the resources and manpower of the entire Northwest Four States, they still managed to build it. However, the warship is still just an empty shell, and many things have not yet been installed.
Of course, Lu Yanzheng couldn't tell these things to the new recruits; he left after giving his instructions.
He had wanted to take a break some time ago to go back to Dingshui Village to visit Jiang Qinyu and the others, but he was tied up with trivial matters and ended up staying here for several more days.
After today's lecture, he can finally go back.
Just as Lu Yanzheng was about to leave, a new recruit suddenly asked loudly, "Your Highness, do we have to fight? The Northwest is already very peaceful under your rule, why do we need to build a navy to fight?"
Lu Yanzheng stopped and precisely located the recruit who had asked the question in the crowd. "What's your name?"
"This humble servant, Shen Yue, greets Your Highness!" Shen Yue knelt on one knee and bowed to Lu Yanzheng from afar.
Lu Yanzheng nodded. "Your question is good, but I must correct your thinking." He glanced at everyone and said, "You don't think I like fighting, do you?"
Before anyone could reply, Lu Yanzheng continued, "No, actually we love peace."
Looking at the newly recruited soldiers, he said, word by word, "I once heard someone say that having no sword in hand and having a sword but not using it are two different things. We train the navy not to fight, but to protect the people and to give all the people of the Northwest confidence!"
He had naturally heard Jiang Qinyu say this, and he deeply agreed with her.
In reality, he didn't necessarily have to fight the imperial court to the death, but he had to be prepared to deal with most situations.
Now that he had accepted the resources left by Xiao Rui, he had to be responsible for the people that Xiao Rui cared about, and also to give himself an explanation.
Most of the people below were stunned when they heard Lu Yanzheng's words, and only a few quickly came to their senses.
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