Chapter 278: Zhou Yi's Attack

On both sides of the river beach, only the willow trees have drooping branches. Read М

The wind blowing from the river is still a little cold.

The officials of the Ship Department recorded the map on the river beach.

Zhao Xu described it again in detail, down to every detail.

"The king will send a group of masons and some cement to build twelve dry docks on this river beach, six on each side of the river." Zhao Xu said.

Chen Shou was happy again.

Now he was relieved. With craftsmen familiar with using cement, the construction of the dry dock would not be a big problem.

After instructing the dry dock, Zhao Xu inspected the shipyard again.

When Chen Shou first came, everything here was just in its infancy.

Including the very simple temporary wooden sheds where the craftsmen lived.

He saw this.

He understood Chen Shou's thoughts. Now he only wanted to build warships and didn't have too much energy to take care of the craftsmen's daily life.

Perhaps this was a common problem among officials in ancient times.

They are used to using majesty and punishment to make craftsmen work, rather than them working hard spontaneously.

Thinking that the construction of Chengdefang was basically completed.

There were many bricklayers who were free, so he decided to go back and transfer Dong Jianan here, just like building Chengdefang.

Build a formal dock on this land.

Even if the large shipyard will eventually move to the seaside in the future, ships can still be made here.

After the inspection, Zhao Xu got up and went back.

Although there were many dissatisfactions, these shortcomings could only be corrected little by little.

After all, it was a start-up, and experience had to be accumulated little by little.

The officials could not be blamed for this, after all, they were used to everything around them.

Naturally, they followed the old thinking.

Along the river, Zhao Xu arrived at Pingcheng Wharf.

Looking at the boxes of Yanzhou goods being loaded on the ship and transported to the south, he smiled.

As he watched all this, a merchant ship gradually approached the shore.

A young man jumped off the ship, and seeing Zhao Xu on the dock, the young man trotted all the way over.

"Zhou Yi pays respect to His Highness." The young man was none other than Zhou Yi.

Zhao Xu was stunned for a moment, then looked at Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi looked excited, as if he thought he was here to see him.

Zhao Xu felt guilty, as he had completely forgotten about Zhou Yi this time.

However, as the King of Yan, he must learn to act sometimes, and must not disappoint his subordinates.

After all, Zhou Yi also received the important task of training the crew.

"I was just about to send someone to look for you, and you came just in time." Zhao Xu said with a smile.

Zhou Yi smiled even more when he heard this, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness."

Zhao Xu coughed twice and changed the subject, "You said you had trained the crew, how is it going now?"

Speaking of this, Zhou Yi became more excited. He pointed to the merchant ship behind him and said, "I just came back from Jinghai County. These are all recruited by Jinghai County. Most of them are from fishermen and are familiar with water. At the same time, I have sent people to all the counties in Yanzhou to post notices. Only those who are good at water can come to Pingcheng."

Zhao Xu looked at the merchant ships on the river and saw hundreds of men of different ages sitting or standing on the boats.

They seemed to be full of curiosity about the Pingcheng wharf, looking at it and talking at the same time.

Zhao Xu nodded slightly and looked serious.

It seems that Zhou Yi is here for real this time, not to fool around with him.

He was very satisfied with his way of selecting people.

People with good water skills can often become qualified crew members faster.

Zhou Yi was right to choose this way.

"Now that the people have been selected, how are you going to train them next?" Zhao Xu asked tentatively.

He wanted to see what else Zhou Yi could do.

"I have chosen a lake in Pingcheng, which is connected to the canal. When the crew is almost recruited, I will buy a few boats and go to the lake. I will train them to use the wind to sail every day, and then train their warships on the water."

"Of course, we have to train them with artillery. Your Highness said that artillery can be put on board." Zhou Yi said like a string of cannons.

Zhao Xu looked at Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi's eyes were very serious. He was definitely not fooling around.

He nodded secretly.

As the saying goes, heroes have always been young.

Maybe he should pay attention to Zhou Yi and give him this chance.

"You are right. The crew trained in this way is enough to defeat any navy of Dasong." Zhao Xu said.

Zhou Yi thought Zhao Xu was praising him, and his expression was excited. "Now your highness should believe it."

"It's just not enough." Zhao Xu's words stunned Zhou Yi's expression.

As long as the warships are equipped with artillery, they can naturally defeat most of the warships of Dasong.

But his fleet is going to go out to sea to compete with opponents of equal strength.

This requires the crew to be more professional.

He said: "What you know is just the basics. You should recruit crew members and train them to operate the sails. I will give you a book in a few days. You can take it back and study it. If you don't understand, write it down and ask me."

Zhou Yi was excited when he heard this.

Although he didn't understand, he knew that these things must be very powerful.

Now that the King of Yan said he would give him a book, he was naturally like a chicken blood.

Maybe with this book, he can really train the world's best crew members.

After saying this, Zhao Xu remembered that he had not given Zhou Yi a formal official position and job.

So he said: "Also, from today on, I will appoint you as the governor of Yanzhou."

After saying this, Zhou Yi was stunned for a long time.

When he came to his senses, he almost jumped up.

The King of Yan officially gave him an official position, which was equivalent to recognizing him.

From then on, he could serve the palace like other generals and officials.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I will live up to your trust and build the strongest fleet of Dasong." Zhou Yi spoke incoherently.

Chen Shou and other officials of the Ship Department smiled when they saw it.

Zhao Xu smiled and whispered to Zhou Yi: "Although you have an official position and an office, you still have to keep a low profile and not make it public. Just announce to the outside that you are training boatmen for the Yanzhou Merchants. When the time comes, I will officially reward you."

The number of soldiers given to him by the court is only 120,000.

But the guards and boatmen needed by the merchant are not restricted.

He will say to the outside that they are only protecting the merchant and are not part of the royal palace.

In this way, an armed fleet called a merchant and secretly a fleet of the Yanzhou Navy can exist in Yanzhou legitimately.