Chapter 420 The Ming Dynasty must have its own large ship!
When Yan Shaoting led his men all the way to Qingjiangpu, east of Matou Town.

The news was only learned by Wang Ting, the governor of the grain transport system, and Li Youzi, the prefect of Huai'an, who had been staying at the water post in Matou Town recently.

Upon hearing the inquiry, the two men hurriedly put on their clothes and rushed to the front of the water post.

But at this time Yan Shaoting had already left with his men.

Looking at the horse hoof prints all over the ground outside the water post, Huai'an prefect Li Youzi stomped his feet with a dazed look on his face.

Li Youzi turned his head to look at Wang Ting behind him, shook his head and sighed, "What should I do! I didn't say anything and continued to go south to Yingtian Prefecture, and now I'm going to Qingjiangpu again."

The Huai'an prefect is now in a state of panic.

Scalp numbness.

Wang Ting also had an unpleasant expression on his face: "He is an imperial envoy, what can you and I do?"

As he spoke, Wang Ting sighed.

He shook his head and waved his hands, then turned around and sat on the steps under the porch.

Li Youzi lowered his eyes to look at the other party, but raised his eyebrows and looked at the post guards and soldiers around him: "All get off!"

The post guards and soldiers retreated.

Wang Tingze raised his head and looked at Li Youzi, who obviously had something private to say to him.

He is also very confused now.

Wang Ting had no choice but to accept the fact that Yan Shaoting did not continue to move south but stayed in Matou Town.

Although everyone is called the Governor.

But people are different after all.

Yan Shaoting was an imperial envoy, in charge of the money and grain storage in the six provinces of the Prime Minister.

After all, as the Governor-General of the Grand Canal, he was still someone who could control him. Moreover, after the White Lotus rebels attempted assassination, Yan Shaoting pointed out his affairs as the governor of four prefectures and three counties in Lianghuai.

However, after driving away the people around him, Li Youzi moved his butt and sat next to Wang Ting.

"Wang Duxian, we can't just sit there and wait."

"Do we have to stay in Matou Town forever as long as Yan Shaoting doesn't leave?"

Wang Ting was upset. When he heard Li Youzi's words, he immediately rolled his eyes and looked at him: "Can you drive him away?"

Li Youzi paused, obviously frustrated.

But he still snorted coldly and said, "We are neither left nor right. Have we really become slaves serving others? If he keeps staying here, will we have to send our own wives to serve him in bed tomorrow?"

This is pure madness and temper tantrum.

Wang Ting glanced at Li Youzi and whispered, "I'm just curious why he stayed here and went to Qingjiangpu today."

This is what he has never been able to figure out.

Li Youzi raised his eyebrows, and then leaned close to Wang Ting's ear and said, "Governor, do you think he went to Qingjiangpu in the name of going to Dacang to check the accounts?"

As he spoke, Li Youzi felt a little amused.

These words surprised Wang Ting.

You should know that under the Office of the Governor-General of the Grand Canal, there are two Changying Warehouses, two Changping Warehouses, three Reserve Warehouses and five Zhuang Warehouses inside and outside the city of Huai'an.

There were a total of twelve large warehouses, storing countless amounts of money, grain and other valuables, which were transported from south to north using the canal as a link. In particular, the largest amount of supplies were used to supply the capital and the north.

So many big warehouses.

In addition, under the office of the Governor-General of the Grand Canal, there were officials such as the Councillor in Charge of Grand Canal Transport, the Censor who Inspected the Grand Canal Transport, the Doctor, the Supervisor, the Judge, and the Chief Official. In addition to the Censor and the Doctor who supervised the transport, the Councillor in Charge of Grand Canal Transport, and other civil and military officials, totaling nearly 300 people, and there were more than 20,000 soldiers in charge of warehousing, shipbuilding, and guarding the grand canal.

This is up and down.

Guarding the canal and the large warehouses above and below the canal.

It is inevitable that corruption will arise and people will embezzle money.

Even Wang Ting, the governor of the Grand Canal, turned a blind eye to such things most of the time.

not to mention.

Even if it's me...

No one is perfect.

Wang Ting turned his head and looked at Li Youzi with a slight glare.

He forced a smile on his face: "Mr. Li Fuzun means... that Governor Yan thinks that I have violated the law of the court?"

Li Youzi immediately stood up and shook his head and waved his hands: "Governor Wang, I have absolutely no such intention! The Governor is a person who is praised by everyone in Huai'an. All the officials in the government say that the Governor is honest and loyal to the country."

On the one hand, he praised Wang Ting in a meaningless but extremely flattering manner.

On the other side, Li Youzi's face darkened, he restrained his expression, took a step forward and lowered his voice.

"But……"

"The governor must know that Yan Shaoting is in charge of the six provincial treasuries and grain storages under the order of the emperor. If he really investigates with the emperor's order, there is no guarantee that he will be able to find fault with our past mistakes."

After hearing what Li Youzi said, Wang Ting felt a little uneasy.

Although he had already bowed to Yan Shaoting that day.

But in the officialdom, there has never been any credibility.

I am just a stopgap measure.

There is no guarantee that Yan Shaoting is just pretending to be nice to him.

Wang Ting couldn't help but ask: "Will he really do this?"

Li Youzi saw Wang Ting's reaction and sneered, "As the saying goes, a new official has three big things to do when he takes office. Yan Shaoting is young but already holds great power. If he doesn't stir up trouble during his trip south, how can he profit from it? Even if he is only going to Qingjiangpu today, he still has Jinyiwei people following him."

Jinyiwei!
Wang Qian, the foolish son of Wang Chonggu, the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate and Governor of Ningxia, might not have any idea about the ferocity of the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

But Wang Ting knew clearly what kind of people the Jinyiwei were.

They are tigers, wolves, jackals and leopards that kill without blinking an eye and eat people without leaving any bones behind!
Wang Ting immediately stood up and grabbed Li Youzi's wrist with both hands.

"What's the plan?"

"You and I are both officials in Huai'an, so we are in the same boat."

Li Youzi took a deep breath.

Although he didn't know what Yan Shaoting wanted to do now.

But the defensive heart is indispensable.

Now I can coax Wang Ting to follow me, so that if something really happens in the future, there will be someone to suffer with me, right?

He narrowed his eyes and said in a cold voice: "We should take our people to Qingjiangpu right now. But when we go there, the news has to be sent to Nanjing!"

Wang Ting's mind immediately moved, and he blurted out: "Should we spread Yan Shaoting's fire to Nanjing?"

Li Youzi nodded heavily: "Yes! Burn to Nanjing! If something really happens, can those people in Nanjing escape? We have given them a lot of benefits in Huai'an over the years!"

Seeing Li Youzi say this, Wang Ting nodded repeatedly.

His face turned fierce and he snorted coldly: "Humph! These years, they have not only given us benefits, but they have also asked us to do a lot of things!"

He finally pulled Wang Ting onto his boat.

Li Youzi smiled: "We still don't know what Yan Shaoting is thinking, so we should be cautious and not panic. Let's go to Qingjiangpu first to see what he is going to do, and then make a plan!"

Wang Ting was very happy.

"Good good!"

"Just do as you say!"

……

Qingjiangpu.

Because of its topography, its location on the Grand Canal, and the location of the Imperial Canal Transport Governor's Office, it has always been known as a thoroughfare for ships from the south and horses from the north, and a thoroughfare for nine provinces. In addition, with the establishment of the Canal Transport Governor's Office, more than a dozen large warehouses were built outside Huai'an City, and Qingjiangpu was located on the Grand Canal, a transportation hub, a place for grain storage, and merchants to travel. In Qingjiangpu alone, there are two Changying warehouses, which store hundreds of thousands of stones of grain and grass. Therefore, together with the warehouses in Huai'an, it is also known as the granary of the world.

In Qingjiangpu, in addition to the docks connecting the north and the south on the canal and the large warehouses for storing grain and goods, what is more important is that Qingjiangpu is the location of the largest shipyard in the entire canal.

At this moment, we are in Qingjiangpu Shipyard.

A group of shipbuilding officials and foremen surrounded the imperial envoy Yan Shaoting and his entourage who were flying the royal flag.

The shipbuilders carefully accompanied this high-ranking official who, in their eyes, was as tall as a mountain.

"The Qingjiangpu Shipyard can now build flat-bottomed inland watercrafts of 100 to 1,000 tons."

"In the past two years, the imperial court has allocated sufficient money and grain. At the beginning of the year, the shipyard started building ten thousand-ton ships in one go. All of them are in the dock. By the second half of the year, these ten thousand-ton ships will be launched."

"As for the 800-ton, 600-ton, and 400-ton ships, there are more than 40 of them under construction."

As he spoke, the shipbuilder looked at Yan Shaoting cautiously.

Then.

The shipbuilder smiled and said, "Everyone says that it is because you, the governor, have made great efforts in the court and brought a lot of money to the court, so the court has money and food to give to our Qingjiangpu Shipyard. Although everyone has more work to do now, the wages are also higher, and our lives are getting better. Everyone remembers your great kindness."

This is flattery beyond professional data.

However, when the shipbuilder said this, the surrounding clerks and foremen immediately agreed.

Anyway, the core argument basically revolves around the fact that without strict supervision, there would be no Qingjiangpu Shipyard today.

Yan Duxian is the father of Qingjiangpu Shipyard!
Yan Shaoting simply smiled at the flattery of these petty officials.

He looked carefully at the ships under construction docked in the dock in front of him, and his heart became more and more happy.

"I know that inland waterways require flat-bottomed boats to navigate, and because of the canal, 1,000 yuan is probably the upper limit."

The water depth of inland rivers is relatively shallow, so flat-bottomed boats have always been used for shipbuilding.

This way the ship will be more stable and cargo capacity can be maximized within capacity.

And convert according to the current measurement units.

A ship with a capacity of 1,000 tons, with the technology of official shipyards like Qingjiangpu, is estimated to have a capacity of about 1,000 dan when converted into grain and cargo (there is a lack of historical data and no clear data, but it is basically in this range).

The shipbuilder was very pleased with the detailed numbers Yan Shaoting provided.

Although I was a little surprised.

But he always maintained a humble smile on his face.

"The Governor is wise. The canal in our Daming has reached the limit for ships that can carry 1,000 tons of cargo."

Yan Shaoting nodded, but then asked, "But if you really want to do it, can you make a bigger ship? For example, one with 2,000 tons or even 3,000 tons?"

The shipbuilder was stunned for a moment, not knowing why Yan Shaoting asked this question.

But the superiors, especially the imperial envoy Yan Shaoting, asked questions.

The shipbuilder immediately spoke up: "Of course it can be built. As long as the court and the government provide enough money and food and transport the materials needed for shipbuilding, the craftsmen here in Qingjiangpu are all veterans who have passed down their skills for generations. They can build a ship with two or three thousand materials."

Yan Shaoting nodded.

But he did not rush to continue asking questions, but walked around the shipyard in Qingjiangpu.

After a closer look, Yan Shaoting finally had a concrete understanding of the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding industry.

For example, ships that cost three to five hundred tons are basically built with a whole keel and covered with wooden boards on the outside.

But for ships weighing 700 to 800 or even 1,000 tons, it is impossible to lay out all the thick wood. So the craft used is to tie several large woods together and lay them out. Although the craft is a bit complicated, for carpenters with thousands of years of mortise and tenon craftsmanship, the complicated craftsmanship is not an unsolvable problem.

And in the Qingjiangpu Shipyard.

It was exactly as the shipbuilder in charge had said.

The craftsmen were very excited about the arrival of Yan Shaoting, a high-ranking official from the capital, especially after learning of Yan Shaoting's identity.

It was full of praise from beginning to end.

For this.

Yan Shaoting just laughed it off.

It is easy to imagine that in the past, the imperial court was in debt every year, and the craftsmen at the Qingjiangpu Shipyard probably had a hard time.

Even if we could build some civilian ships for merchants outside, it would only be enough to make a living.

Now that the imperial court has money, it can naturally be more generous in allocating money and food to the lower levels.

Although there will inevitably be people who take advantage of the situation and enrich themselves, as the total number increases, the share that ends up in the hands of those below will naturally increase.

Walked all the way.

Watched all the way.

Yan Shaoting finally stood at the location where the dock and the canal waterway were connected.

outside.

Because of the shipyard, this section of the river is wider than other places. There is even a smaller dock next to the shipyard for docking ships that transport wood and building materials to the shipyard.

Standing by the water.

Yan Shaoting turned around and looked at the shipbuilder, his features were kind and his expression friendly.

"I wonder if you can build a ship that can hold a lot of materials?"

The shipbuilder who had been following Yan Shaoting was shocked when he heard this, and his whole body trembled violently.

All kinds of stuff!

At this moment, he didn't believe that Yan Shaoting had said something wrong, but he was convinced that he must have heard it wrong.

Yan Shaoting just looked at the shipbuilder calmly.

A long time later.

The shipbuilder then managed a smile with embarrassment on his face: "Governor, Qingjiangpu has the skills to build ships of 2,000 to 3,000 tons. But...but a ship of 10,000 tons...even the Longjiang Shipyard in Nanjing...I'm afraid it's...difficult..."

After saying this, the shipbuilder racked his brains and thought hard.

Another half day's work.

The shipbuilding official whispered, "Back when Emperor Chengzu was in power, the largest ship built by Longjiang Shipyard was only 5,000 tons. But now..."

How is it now?

Following the fire that year.

The Ming Dynasty never built the legendary 5,000-ton Fu ship or treasure ship again.

Yan Shaoting also knew about this.

Moreover, in the past two years, he had even sent people to secretly investigate in the southeast.

But he was still reluctant to give up.

after all.

Now that the sea has been opened, he wants Ming to embark on the path of overseas colonization, so naturally the ship must be as big as possible.

Ming dynasty.

You must have your own large ship!
He repeated in a deep voice once again: "In terms of craftsmanship, can we really build a ship that can hold 10,000 tons of cargo?"

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The Ming History: Food and Goods Records states: "The people of Jiangxi, Huguang, and Zhejiang were ordered to transport 1.5 million shi of grain to Huai'an warehouse, the people of Suzhou, Songjiang, Ningxia, Chi, Lu, An, and Guangde were ordered to transport 2.74 million shi of grain to Xuzhou warehouse, and the people of Yingtian, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Huai, Yangzhou, Fengzhou, Liuzhou, Chuzhou, Hezhou, and Xuzhou were ordered to transport 2.2 million shi of grain to Linqing warehouse, and the government troops were ordered to transport it to Beijing and the two warehouses."

The Record of the Walls of Changying Granary says: The granary "overlooks the Huai River, has eighty-one granaries, and the width of the base is 278 steps, and the circumference is 1,544 steps. The granary was founded by Chen Gongxiang in the year Renchen of the Yongle reign... The walls around it stand like city walls, and look like iron, which is unprecedented in other granaries near the water."

(End of this chapter)