He Bai sighed inwardly that during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the exchanges between Qi on the sea were already very convenient. In the pre-Qin period, Xu Fu even set off from Qingzhou on a large ship to find immortals. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, General Louchuan set off from Qingzhou to attack Liaodong. However, afterwards, the court's attention was mostly on the threat of the Huns, and the uncertainty of the ethnic minorities in Xiliang, and there was almost no energy or property to establish and maintain the navy.

Of course, there is no need for large-scale shipping at this time when large-scale shipping is not developed. Most of the remaining ones are small official ships in rivers. It is okay to say that the ships carrying official grains are escorted, but large-scale water battles are not possible.

Therefore, most shipbuilders in Qinggu Land are unemployed. After hundreds of years of change, they either moved to Xu and Yangzhou or had long been lost. Therefore, the ships in the Yellow River are only small boats with about 300 materials, and there are almost no medium-sized ships with more than 500 materials. Guan Cheng is able to build large ships with a thousand materials, which is already considered a good talent.

He Bai asked: "Can you build a large ship with more than 2,000 materials?"

Guan Cheng, who was proud, couldn't help but be stunned. After a long time, he shook his head and said, "Report to the Prime Minister, the villain only knows how to build a large ship with thousands of materials. One thousand five hundred materials may be possible. If he dares to build a huge ship with two thousand materials, he cannot guarantee whether it can be used."

He Bai shook his head. The Thousand-Material Ship is considered a big ship in the inland river, but it can only be considered a small ship on the sea. Guan Cheng couldn't even build a two thousand-material ship, let alone a three thousand-material ship and a five thousand-material ship. As for the 10,000-material ship when Zheng He voyages to the West, he doesn't dare to think about it now.

Guan Cheng saw He Bai shook his head, and was afraid that He Bai would give up on him, so he shouted: "Master of the Kingdom, there are several craftsmen who can build 3,000 giant tower ships in Yangzhou. Although most of them are owned by local tyrants, one of them can be invited by the Prime Minister of the Kingdom."

He Bai nodded with satisfaction. The reason why Sun Wu in history was able to shake Jiangdong was because of countless shipbuilding craftsmen and countless soldiers who were proficient in naval commands. He built the sea commander at this time. In three or five years, he would definitely not be able to get off the Jiangdong army. At that time, there was no need to worry that Sun Wu would seize Jiangdong.

He Bai asked: "How much does this shipbuilding cost need?"

Guan Cheng said: "Shipbuilding is usually calculated based on materials. The size is different. The larger the cost, the more expensive it is. As far as the villain was told in Yangzhou, a small boat with a hundred materials is about 800 yuan (80,000 yuan), a small boat with a three hundred materials costs 1,000 yuan (300,000 yuan), a small boat with a six hundred materials costs 2,000 yuan (1 million yuan), a large boat with a thousand materials costs 3,000 yuan (3 million yuan), a large boat with a fifteen hundred materials costs 5,000 yuan (7.5 million yuan), a 2,000 yuan (20 million yuan), a 3,000 yuan (20 million yuan), a 3,000 yuan (60 million yuan). It is rumored that the large boat of Yuzhang built during the former Han Dynasty could carry ten thousand people, and the palace was built on the ship, and the cost was 40,000 yuan per material (200 million yuan). "

"Why are there so many more prices for more than a thousand materials?" He Bai asked in confusion.

Guan Cheng reported: "For the convenience of carrying more troops, and to have the advantage of being condescending in the war, ships with thousands of materials will try to increase the number of floors of women's walls. For example, a thousand-material bucket ship has one attic and a women's wall, and a three-quarter-material boat will have five attic and five attic and five attic and a women's wall."

He Bai asked again: "How many soldiers are carried by each type of ship? What is the purpose?" Seeing that Guan Cheng was tied up by ropes, it was very inconvenient, so Wu Anguo asked him to loosen his ties.

Guan Cheng moved his numb arms a little, knowing that his life was saved, so he thanked He Bai, saying, "Thank you for your kindness. This water battle is different from that on land, and small boat battles are different from large boat battles. The size of the hundred materials can carry twenty soldiers, mainly conflicting and trapping formations. These twenty people are both boatmen and soldiers, and they are dead soldiers."

"Mengchong, who has three hundred materials, also carries twenty soldiers, at most thirty. Although he has conflicting tasks, he has high sideways, various weapons in the ship, and the ability to defend himself, so he can also be used as interceptors and cut off the rear. The three wings of five or six hundred materials are named as the army guards or encirclements of the wings. Each ship has 2, 30 boatmen, 2, 30 soldiers, and 30 soldiers. A thousand-numbered fighter ship is usually the main battleship of the navy, with fifty boatmen and 4, 50 soldiers, and a female wall attic is added to it, like a small fortress."

"This is just a preparation during combat. If it is just a troop transport, it can basically carry four times the troops during combat. If it is a troop transport, one material will transport grain and two stones, and each ship can carry about 80% of the food."

He Bai asked a lot of knowledge about water warfare. Although Guan Cheng was a boatman, after years of exploration, he summed up a lot of experience. He was a good general in naval battles.

He Bai knocked on the table and finally made his final decision and said, "I am both the prime minister of Beihai and the marquis of Longchi Township, Duchang County, Beihai. I want to summon you as my private naval marquis. I have an annual salary of 500 stones. I am not allowed to commit riots again. How about it?"

Guan Cheng was excited and prostrated and said, "Liar, no, servant Guan Cheng pays homage to the lord."

He Bai nodded. He would agree to the government's inviting officials, no matter the thief who had no ambitions, he would agree. What's more, He Bai treated him well, and went from a death row prisoner to a military officer at the level of military marquis. In the entire Beihai County, even if there were seventeen county lieutenants, there were only twenty-three equal officers. Above this were Huang Zhong, Wu'anguo and Zong Bao.

He Bai said again: "This time, I have three tasks for you."

Guan Cheng bowed again and shouted: "I'd like to ask the Lord to give an order."

He Bai knocked on the case, thought for a while, and said, "First, he went to Yangzhou to summon the craftsman who could build a three thousand-material building ship. He said that I would use a salary of 1,000 stone to hire him as the official of the building ship. Second, he summoned Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin, who were robbed in the Yangzijiang area. If there were other well-known water thieves, they could summon me together, and I would all have great use."

"Third, I want to buy one million stones of grain in Xuzhou, but I am afraid that Xuzhou will not be able to transport it within three months. Therefore, I need to hire a large ship that can be transported by sea in Yangzhou, with a total load capacity of no less than 100,000 stones, and go to Donghaiju County, Xuzhou to stand by. These three things are mainly about transporting grain, secondly for craftsmen, and finally for recruiting water thieves. Could you do it well?"

Guan Cheng shouted loudly: "I would like to ask the Lord to rest assured, and these three servants will definitely do it for the Lord."

Guan Cheng's affairs were finished, Aike came to Ju County again to express his gratitude and reported to He Bai that the other two salt merchants in Beihai had the help of He Bai to combat the pirate Guan Cheng's disturbance on the coast. They were extremely grateful. Each of them was willing to give 10 million yuan to support He Bai's Beihai National Development Plan. However, because of Shalu's previous period, he was afraid that he would offend He Bai, so he did not dare to enter the palace to thank him.

He Bai thought of something, so he asked Aike to summon two other salt merchants into the mansion to ask questions. Two middle-aged men in their forties knelt in front of He Bai and bowed loudly, shouting: "The little people are in their spare time, Fan Jian pays homage to the Prime Minister. Thank you for your tolerance for the little people."

He Bai waved his hand and said, "This is a small matter. I have always convinced people with virtue. As long as you do not do too much, I will not remember it in my heart."

After the two thanked each other again, they dared to sit down as easily with Aike. He Bai asked, "You three other families are the merchants who cook sea and make salt in Beihai? I wonder how much salt you will get in total in one year?"

Aike said: "Mr. The government has always been very strict in the management of salt and iron. The salt officials of the three of us produced each year have calculated the salt county governments. According to the salt tax this year, it is more than 11 million yuan, and with ten taxes one, the total price of salt production is about 110 million yuan. Although the market price of salt is different in various places, it is basically about 800 yuan. So from last year to this year, it has a total of 140,000 stones of salt."

Yu Xia also bowed and said, "In previous years, there was no Zhang Rao. In the chaos, Guan Cheng's annual sea salt production would be around 200,000 shi. In recent years, it has been reduced by 30%. It is all Zhang Rao, which is the harm of Guan Cheng. Fortunately, thanks to the help of the prime minister, not only drove away Zhang Rao, but also subdued Guan Cheng. This is our blessing."

He Bai asked again: "What is the annual expenses such as salt production and transportation and trading, and what is the net income?"

The three of them hesitated for a while. The net income of this merchant was not easy to explain. Later, I thought about He Bai, as the Marquis of Longchi Township in Duchang, lived next to the three of them. If he was determined to interfere in Haiyan, he would probably not be able to object.

Fan Jian could only honestly say: "Cooking sea for salt is a very hard thing. Not only does it require many people to cut grass and harvest firewood, but it also requires many people to transport it to all places. Fortunately, salt is a must for people, so the income is not bad, and it is about 40% of the net profit."

He Bai calculated in his mind that each of these three salt merchants had an average net income of nearly 15 million yuan a year. If the Marquis of Longchi Township, who had a fief of 3,000 households, did not do anything else, his annual income would probably be less than that of them. As expected, those who could become big merchants would have huge profits. It seems that the commercial tax would have to be increased in the future, and it would have to be increased to about 20 to 25%.

He Bai asked about the Liu family in Le'an again, and then he learned that because Qingzhou is close to the sea, it is common for boiling sea to make salt. Le'an salt merchants have been making trouble many times to compete with Beihai salt merchants for the inland market. This time is just a common situation in recent years.

In general, except for the basic supply of about 120,000 stones of salt in the county and state, the remaining 80,000 stones were mainly supplied to Qi State and other counties and states in Yanzhou as the supplement.

Because the Liu family in Le'an is close to the sea and close to the Yellow River, the annual production of sea salt reaches 700,000 to 800,000 stones. Not only does it supply the salt from Le'an, the plains and Jinan, but even most counties and states in Yanzhou are within their range. The annual net income can be said to be rich in the vassal kings.

The Guancheng incident this time was caused by the chaos caused by the Liu family's desire to seize the market of Qi and rectify the salt industry in Qingzhou. The former Beihai Prime Minister did not dare to intervene in helping the three families, and to guard against Guancheng, which was because he was afraid of the Liu family's momentum. However, He Bai's intervention in it was considered a good thing for him.
Chapter completed!