Chapter 108 666 Plan

Many people gathered on the beach to watch the trial of the new ship, including Bennett Todd and several of his businessman friends.

He asked his friends around him, "Have you seen it clearly? That boat seems to have no oars."

"You read that right, it does not have an oar, it is driven entirely by the wind." Salt merchant Godwin confirmed to him.

"I wonder if the Lord's summons to us this time has something to do with this ship."

"What?"

"Didn't Master Graiman mention the establishment of an ocean-going trading company before? But at that time, there were no ships suitable for ocean voyages, and it has been shelved ever since. Now such a ship has been built."

"I don't know how the performance is yet."

Businessmen were talking on the beach.

…

In the afternoon, the city hall once again summoned merchants from Port Fulan and the surrounding areas, and sure enough, Earl Grayman once again mentioned the matter of ocean trade.

"After building the second boat, I will conduct an ocean trial!"

Paul declared to the merchants.

"The destination is tentatively decided to be Balmer Port in the Kingdom. If possible, we will head south to Cape Bay."

Balmer Harbor is located at the outlet of the Seine River, the largest river in the kingdom. From there, you can go upstream to the royal capital, Jingyao Castle.

Someone soon asked: "Lord Graiman, will your ship be sold to us private merchants?"

"Of course. The more you buy, the happier I will be. But it must be after meeting the needs of the army. We must have a powerful navy to ensure the safety of the route. You don't want to encounter pirates after going to sea, right?"

"You can go to the shipyard to place your order now. First-come-first-served basis!"

"Director Hansel of the Government Affairs Council will set off south to the capital in the near future. You can go south with him yourself or send a representative to inspect the market conditions in the south."

After hearing this, the businessmen were excited and gearing up to do something big.

There are now more than a dozen private factories in Alda and Bailding under the rule of the Government Council, which have sprung up with Paul's technical support. They are either wholly owned or joint ventures, and their products include paper, porcelain and cans. , and several salt drying fields have been established along the coast, and the price of salt locally and in surrounding territories has begun to decrease.

Of course, the private operators who invested in these industries have made a fortune, and they are eager to expand the market scope.

What surprised Paul was that when he "invented" the can, the information in his memory said that wide-mouth glass bottles were used, so he followed the information. However, private can manufacturers actually changed the glass bottles to Using clay pots greatly reduces costs.

This can be considered a good "innovation". As expected, the profit-seeking nature of businessmen is terrifying.

In order to prevent the cannery he built from being obsolete, he ordered that clay pots be also used to make cans.

…

While Paul was drawing the pie for the businessmen, a military meeting was also taking place in the heavily guarded naval base.

Attendees were Chief of Staff Schroeder, Navy Commander Austin, Equipment Department Minister Kelly, Logistics Department Director Ron, and the Army 1st Battalion Commander Bryce who had just arrived at Port Fulan.

"Chief of Staff, this is the development outline we have drawn up."

Austin respectfully handed the stack of papers to Schroeder.

Schroeder took it and looked at it carefully.

He frowned and handed the outline to others to circulate.

Bryce, who was the first to receive the outline, glanced at it and said in a trembling voice: "Is the Navy's appetite too big?"

"Expanding to 600 people in the next two years?"

"60 large and small artillery pieces?"

"Equip at least 6 sail warships?"

Bryce slapped the table and said angrily: "Austin, are you kidding me? There are only 8 cannons in the entire army that can really be called artillery."

Austin pointed it out to him: "You have to look carefully. Many of these 60 cannons are gadgets like swivel guns."

Bryce shook his head: "That's too much!"

Austin said: "This is the result of our careful consideration. It is quite conservative, 600 men, 60 guns, and 6 warships. It is referred to as the '666 Plan.'"

He explained to everyone: "The earl ordered the navy to open the route to the south as soon as possible and ensure the safety of the route. With these few galleys and hundreds of recruits equipped only with swords and a few muskets, how can we eliminate those large ships along the way?" Pirates big and small?”

"The Navy must ensure that four ships are patrolling, one ship is training, and one ship is undergoing maintenance at the same time."

There is no mistake. One post, one content, one 6 one, one book, one book, one read!

Bryce asked: "The training is understandable, but the ship needs to be overhauled after it is built?"

"Of course!"

Austin patiently explained to a bunch of landlubbers: "It takes a long time to build a qualified warship, but in order to equip it as soon as possible, our first batch of warships must be built in a hurry. For example, the current Hope only took For more than a month, the wood in many parts has not been fully dried, which will cause the hull to corrode quickly, so we need to regularly inspect the warship. Of course, even for those qualified ships, regular inspection is necessary. "

"Then what's going on with this 'Marine Corps'? Isn't there already our Army?"

"It is necessary to have a group of personnel who are proficient in land warfare. The pirates will not just float on the sea and let us bombard them with artillery. If the situation is bad, they will probably run to the land, and their home base is either on the island or on the island. At a certain stronghold along the coast, we must go ashore to eliminate them. At this time, notifying the army to cooperate is likely to delay the fighter plane."

Reasons came out of the navy commander's mouth one after another, making it impossible for anyone to refute. At the end, he added:

"I believe you all understand that Alda now has an urgent need for ocean trade. Once trade begins, the Government Council will be able to collect more taxes and allocate more military spending to us."

"Not just the Navy, but the Army as well."

This last sentence is a very good prospect.

Schroeder pondered for a long time and said to Austin: "I agree with this plan in principle, but in the end it still needs the earl's decision. The current resource allocation has been very tilted towards the navy. The army has more than 1,000 talents equipped with 8 cannons, while the navy There were only a few hundred men equipped with 10 cannons, and many army officers had great objections to this."

Austin glanced at the angry Bryce and thought to himself: "Isn't there one right in front of me?"

"Even in the face of Emden's threat, this tilt has not changed. Many soldiers of the newly expanded third battalion are even equipped with wooden sticks. Fortunately, God bless, the Kent family has no plans to use force for the time being."

Schroeder stared at Austin and said word by word: "So, the Navy must produce convincing results."

Austin stood up, saluted everyone present and said firmly:

"Please rest assured, Lord Lord, please rest assured, Chief of Staff, please rest assured everyone here, we are already working with the Intelligence Department to investigate and sort out the intelligence of various pirate groups, and we will take action soon. I guarantee that in one year's time, Northwest Bay There is only one armed force of our army in this sea area.”

Schroeder stood up and patted him on the shoulder and said: "Very good. In order to support the navy's operations, the Equipment Department will build a new ordnance factory in Port Fulan to provide the navy with the required guns, gunpowder and other types of weapons nearby." arms."

This is really good news. Austin said excitedly: "We will definitely live up to Lord Grayman's high expectations."

Thank you "Destined" for the reward!