Chapter 492: Battleships Launched Like Dumplings

The azure sky was clear, with only a scorching sun remaining, and the infinite sea shimmered with a layer of golden scales.

“Farewell, everyone!”

Facing Claire, Xiao Ming also waved goodbye. Perhaps he wouldn’t come to Ryukyu for a long time, as it was only a small part of his strategy. In the next few years, Ryukyu’s existence would only be to provide some raw materials for Qingzhou. After all, the population on Ryukyu Island was too small.

The battleship, propelled by the sea breeze, continuously headed north, and gradually Zeelandia narrowed into a vague skyline.

Lu Fei then said, “Your Highness, is Ryukyu ours now?”

“That goes without saying, our army is stationed on Ryukyu Island, but Your Highness, is leaving four thousand troops here too few? All twenty-four field guns are left on the island.” Luo Xin felt a bit reluctant.

Xiao Ming shook his head. He understood that many generals, like the two of them, didn’t understand why so much was invested in a remote small island. He said, “You won’t understand if I tell you now. You will understand the important position of Ryukyu in ocean trade in the future. This is a battleship that will never sink!”

Yue Yun nodded slightly. He understood the value of Ryukyu better than Lu Fei and Luo Xin, as he had led a fleet south and understood Ryukyu’s importance.

Seven days later, Xiao Ming and others, who were seasick from drifting on the sea, finally returned to Dengzhou. This expedition was the first overseas combat for Xiao Ming leading the soldiers of the Great Yu Empire. Although it was about reclaiming territory that was originally theirs, the great significance of this act would surely be recorded in history.

After all, this was the first time the Great Yu Empire extended its reach overseas.

After docking properly in the military port, Xiao Ming then said to Yue Yun, “The patrolling of battleships cannot stop. From now on, you must completely control the sea trade routes and not let the Japanese pirates attack merchant ships on the routes.”

“Yes, Your Highness, but what if we discover the merchant ships of Prince Chu and Prince Wei? Do we also need to escort them?” Yue Yun asked.

Xiao Ming glared at Yue Yun, “Are you stupid? I spent so much silver to build the Qingzhou Navy, and the soldiers bled and sacrificed to capture Ryukyu. Is it ultimately to serve them? Tell those merchant ships that if they want to engage in sea trade, they should come to Qingzhou to get permits, otherwise, they should go back where they came from. If they dare to disobey, force can be used for deterrence.”

Yue Yun looked embarrassed. He said, “Your Highness is right to scold me. This route was snatched back from the Dutch by us, and now it should be ours. The profits generated by the route should also be ours.”

“That’s more like it.” Xiao Ming nodded.

After disembarking from the battleship, Xiao Ming and his entourage did not immediately go to Dengzhou city, but went to the shipyard at the military port to find Zhang Liang and inquire about the construction of battleships.

At this time, on the beach of the military port, twelve third-class sailing battleships were under construction, six of which had basically taken shape. They met Zhang Liang on the beach.

“Your Highness.”

Seeing Xiao Ming and his entourage approaching, Zhang Liang immediately put down his work and came over.

“Not bad, when can these six battleships be delivered?” Xiao Ming said with a smile. He was very short of battleships now, and the current fifteen battleships could not meet the current operational requirements at all.

Moreover, in this battle of Ryukyu, he had completely laid his cards on the table with Japan. The conflicts at sea would only increase, and the coastline of the Great Yu Empire was long. Even for escorting, a large number of battleships would need to be commissioned.

“If there are no surprises, these six battleships can be launched in another three months, and there are eight more battleships in the other two shipyards that can also be launched. That is to say, a total of fourteen battleships will be launched by then.” Zhang Liang was triumphant.

Because of Xiao Ming’s trade with Prince Chu and the imperial court, the shipyards in Dengzhou suddenly had many skilled craftsmen, and these people greatly accelerated the speed of shipbuilding.

And the three shipyards also increased the number of battleships launched in the same batch.

“Fourteen ships, well, that should be enough for at least this year.” Xiao Ming looked at Yue Yun, “Do you have enough crew members to operate fourteen ships?”

Yue Yun immediately ran into difficulty. He said, “Your Highness, the speed of battleship launching is too fast, it’s catching up with our training speed. Three months is really difficult.”

Xiao Ming frowned. This was within his expectation. According to Claire, their merchant ship crew could be transformed into battleship sailors at any time. Over the years, they had unknowingly accumulated the backbone of a navy.

However, the Qingzhou Navy developed too late. If they proceeded step by step like this, they would not be able to keep up. He said, “We can’t just recruit sailors in Dengzhou. After all, the fishing villages in Dengzhou are limited. You can try to attract fishermen from other places to settle in Dengzhou with generous treatment. In addition, coastal pirates are rampant, and these pirates are born sailors. When capturing them, you can also absorb some crew members from them.”

“Your Highness, this is a good method. There are many pirates imprisoned in Dengzhou’s great prison, many of whom are homeless and forced to join pirates. This subordinate will go and select some later.” Yue Yun said.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Liang’s face became even more triumphant. Before, it was Yue Yun urging them to speed up, and now it was finally his turn to lack manpower.

After inspecting the military port’s shipyard, Xiao Ming, led by Zhang Liang, went to the second and third shipyards located at the north gate of Dengzhou. Now, these shipyards were under his unified management.

In the past, he only managed a small Qingzhou shipyard, which was incomparable to now, as he was now quite comfortable and satisfied.

The second and third shipyards were not far from the military port, also for unified scheduling. As Zhang Liang said, there were four nearly completed battleships in both shipyards.

After inspecting the shipyards, Xiao Ming and Lu Fei and others headed towards Dengzhou city. On the way, they could occasionally see Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce carriages transporting salt, and even some carriages transporting dried sea fish. These two were the main profitable goods in Dengzhou.

In Dengzhou city, Xiao Ming met Yang Chengye. He originally wanted to return directly to Qingzhou, but thinking of the importance of maritime trade, he decided to instruct him further, reminding him to pay attention to the construction of merchant houses and foreign affairs offices.

“The most important thing is the construction of the port. In the future, Dengzhou Port will become the port with the largest throughput. From now on, you must build a large number of warehouses near the port to store goods,” Xiao Ming instructed. “Moreover, you must also produce wooden boxes, which can then be sold to merchants, and warehouses can be rented to sea merchants. In addition, docking at the port requires fees. This one port alone will be enough to make Dengzhou immensely wealthy.”