Zhao Yan, who had too much money to spend, quickly spent another 30 million taels on the shipyard, of which 5 million taels were used to experiment with the manufacturing of ironclad ships.

Another five million is used to build large-scale "Glory-class" sail warships. The specification is set to be a displacement of 2,300 tons and divided into three decks. The bottom layer is equipped with 36 heavy artillery pieces at the bottom cabin, 32 heavy artillery pieces at the middle layer, 50 light artillery pieces at the top layer is equipped with 75mm light artillery pieces at the top and tail, and one heavy artillery piece at the beginning and the tail.

The artillery research of the Military Arts Bureau has made new progress this year, and a heavy artillery has been developed. The caliber is the same as the current heavy artillery, with a caliber of 200mm, but the barrel has become longer. The shells fired are mainly chain shotguns, which are mainly equipped with warship bottom cabins.

This involves the issue of naval combat tactics, but when the ship is in the upper wind position, the bottom cabin artillery cannot be used, and what is needed at this time is to sink the opponent, so the original heavy artillery is competent.

When it is located at the lower wind position, the bottom cabin can be used, and the enemy's sail is hit at this time, so the range and destructive power to the sail are the key.

The bottom cabin heavy artillery lengthened the barrel, increasing the range to 4,000 meters. The chain shotgun used at the same time is very destructive to the sails.

However, heavy artillery in the bottom compartment was not produced. The Military Intelligence Bureau is currently experimenting with steel cannons and using nitrofiber as a launching drug.

With new gunpowder, the power and range of the cannon will take a huge leap, but the structure of the cannon will also be greatly challenged.

Especially the still a bit brittle blast furnace steel, it is necessary to wrap the wire and add the cannon barrel, otherwise it will not be able to withstand such a huge explosive force.

The powerful firepower of the Honor-class warship is still unknown, but the firepower is definitely extremely powerful. It also has a high navigation speed, and the hourly speed will reach 10 to 12 knots.

It has high speed, strong firepower, and strong protection capabilities. This is the idea of ​​a glory-class warship. The cost of such a warship exceeds 200,000 silver dollars, and 20 ships are expected to be built.

Another 20 million silver dollar will be used to build fly-scissors. Fly-scissors are urgently needed at present. It only takes 13 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and only 17 days to travel from Qingdao to northern Australia, only 19 days to southeastern Australia, only 22 days to Hawaii Islands, and 32 days to California, a North American colony.

In order to establish a complete overseas colonial system, ships were only indispensable, so Zhao Yan began to build flying scissors.

The largest displacement of the clippers currently built is a 2,500-ton class, with a cost of 150,000 silver dollars per ship. Zhao Yan spent 20 million silver dollars and planned to build 130. Denglai Bank also invested in the construction of 50.

Zhao Yan suddenly thought of the limitations of the current shipyard, and quickly drafted a new shipbuilding plan and issued it.

In the new shipbuilding plan, various ships will strictly formulate specifications, and then measure the length, thickness, strength and other specifications of each wooden board and each part. Then, the parts will be placed inland for production, and then transported to the shipyard for assembly after the parts are produced.

This shipbuilding model appeared during World War II, greatly increasing the United States' shipbuilding capabilities.

At present, the major shipyards in Zhao Yan's hands are still building ships in the original way, and the logs are transported to the shipyard, and then the shipyard is processed.

This method has no division of labor and is also subject to the environment.

If the logs are processed into hull materials at the place of origin, then wood from all over the country can be used and transported and exported after processing. This is much simpler. Not only will it save on freight, but the manufacturing quantity will also surge.

As soon as Zhao Yan's shipbuilding plan was announced, the smart businessman immediately saw the business opportunities. At present, both Shandong government and the people have huge demand for nautical cargo ships, and shipyards have no time to build them. In order to increase the speed of shipbuilding, the shipyards can inevitably give up some of the profits.

Since they can give up profits, opening sheet factories to the timber production site will inevitably make a lot of money, and many businessmen are tempted.

Shandong Business Group quickly raised 3 million taels of funds and established a "Dasheng Ship Material Factory" with more than 80 shareholders. It also hired a team of college students from the Department of Business who graduated from Denglai University to operate the wood factory.

This is inevitable to investigate the origin of a large number of raw materials. The origin of these wood must be clearly understood.

Then choose the most suitable location to open a processing plant, and choose a specification sheet with higher profitability, and actively try to use a steam engine to reduce production costs.

As the news was reported in the newspaper, other merchants also formed similar shipyards, with capital exceeding one million taels. The factories are not limited to a certain place, but are distributed in various places.

In addition to such large-scale ones, there are many other few shareholders and not large in scale. Shipyards with only one place are also opened one after another.

Most of these shipyards are concentrated in the Northeast and Nurkandus, and there are also some in the south. For areas that do not control administration, Zhao Yan asked the provincial armed police force to protect the normal production of the factory.

Those shipyards immediately put into construction after obtaining the specifications issued by Longkou Shipyard.

The specifications of all ships will be formulated by Longkou Shipyard. For example, the specifications of fly-scissors are divided into seven levels: 50 tons, 100 tons, 200 tons, 500 tons, 1000 tons, 1500, 2000 tons. All shipyards can only produce these seven levels to reduce the market risks of ship material plants.

After all, the tonnage is divided too finely, and the types of ship material specifications are very large. The ship material factory is likely to make mistakes in the judgment and produce ship material that no one wants.

At the same time, it is stipulated that other shipyards can only produce some ships of these levels in order to improve the general surname. If different shipyards use different shipyards to use different shipyards, then the risk is very high for shipyards. Once a problem occurs in a certain shipyard, it will have adverse effects on them.

This classification is not only grading of fly-scissors, fishing boats, and warships. This classification is not static, and other shipyards can also apply for additional classification.

Longkou Shipyard will also increase classification as the emergence of ships with larger tonnage, and new types will also be added after the emergence of new ships.

The wood for ships produced depends on the choice of each ship material factory. The market for ships with good sales is large, while the market for poor sales is small.

"The water conservancy has invested 20 million silver dollars, the shipbuilding has spent 30 million silver dollars, and there are still 86 million silver dollars left, which is still very abundant. The railway can increase investment, and some prosperous railway lines may recover their investment in a few years." Zhao Quan suggested.

The first train has been built, and the comfort level is just average, with a speed of 30 kilometers per hour. Zhao Quan no longer thinks that railways are unrealistic.

With the advantages of trains, you can make money completely, and the investment money can be recovered. It is just a matter of time and the profit will be considerable.

Zhao Yan thought for a while and shook his head, "We don't need to involve those money-making railways. Let private capital repair them. When they recover the costs, they will let them sell tickets at a fair price. We will build a strategic railway next year."

Zhao Yan would make this decision, so naturally he had too much money to spend, but it wasn’t that he could spend it indiscriminately.

When building railways, private capital can be used, and private capital will participate in it because there is profit.

For those strategic railways with slow returns, private capital will naturally not be so active in spending money in it, so at this time, the government needs to pay for it to build it.

"Strategic railway?" Zhao Quan couldn't understand. Zhao Yan explained: "Strategic railways are divided into two types, one is economic and the other is expansion."

"Economic strategic railways, such as those used to transport minerals. Expansion strategic railways are to build railways in the direction of our expansion, allowing us to quickly transport troops, materials, and facilitate immigration to the front line. If there is enough profit margin for economic strategic railways, they can be drawn out for private capital to repair, and those without profit margin will be repaired by us." Zhao Yan said.

This kind of profit margin does not mean that the amount of money you invest in is enough to recover as much as you get. Money is calculated as interest. If you can't even compare with the interest of the bank, it is not called a profit margin.

There are two types of private capital. One is the Denglai Bank opened by Zhao Yan, which is equivalent to building it himself. Other banks have appeared now and they can participate. The other is that merchants raise funds to build railways.

"In terms of railway construction, you must establish a railway bureau, otherwise it will be in chaos." Zhao Quan said, and Zhao Yan nodded and agreed: "The railway bureau is established soon."

A week later, the Railway Bureau was officially established.

At the same time as the Railway Bureau was established, railway majors also appeared in colleges and universities.

The Railway Bureau has determined the source of funds for railway construction. One is the central government funded the construction of strategic railways, the second is the local government funded the construction of local railway branches, and the third is the construction of private capital.

When some people invest in building private capital, private capital can first go. Private capital can build railway trunk lines or railway branch lines.

The railway trunk lines that are not built are pruned by the central government, the local trunk lines that are not built are built by the local government, and the local government that is not built are paid by the central government.

After the railway is completed, the fare price will be decided by the Railway Bureau. It will be charged at the normal price during the period when the cost is not recovered. When the cost is recovered, an evaluation ticket will be issued to give the investor 10% of the profit and will be recovered after several years. The specific operation will be operated by the Railway Bureau.

After the establishment of the Railway Bureau, according to Zhao Yan's instructions, five railway trunk lines were first demarcated.

The first one is to go northwest from Shenyang to southern Siberia, and then continue to stretch westward. In theory, this railway can be built to Western Europe. This is a strategic railway from Shenyang-Siberia, named "Shenxi Railway". Shen starts in Shenyang and the west is the direction. There is no specific terminal. Wherever Nuergandus takes, the railway will be built.

The second is to go west from the capital, connecting Zhangjiakou, Hohhot, Baotou, and always building Hetao, then from the edge of Hetao to Gansu, passing Yinchuan and Lanzhou, and then all the way to Luntai County, Tingzhou in the west (Urumqi, administrative name of the Tang Dynasty, looking west of the garrison tower, Han soldiers were stationed in Luntai, once a military center of the Tang Dynasty). This trunk line is named "Beijing-Luan Railway" and is connected to the "Taibei Railway".

The third article is to go west from Yanzhou Fuyuzhao County, pass through Jining, Kaifeng, Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Xi'an, and then connect from Xi'an to Lanzhou, named the "Yulan Railway".

The fourth article is to build from the capital to Wuhan, connected to the "Zhaotai Railway" in Zhaojiabao-Taiyuan, and named it the "Beijing-Han Railway".

Article 5 is to build from Wuhan to Guangzhou, named "Guangdong-Hankou Railway".

The one with the least rewarding prospect among these railways is the Shenxi Railway. After all, Siberia has not been developed at all, so this road was built by Zhao Yan. However, some sections of the road are relatively prosperous and are built by private capital, such as a section passing through Zhangjiakou.

At the same time, the return rate of Taibei Railway is relatively low, and Zhao Yan also needs to invest in construction.

The returns of the three main lines, Yulan Railway, Jinghan Railway, and Guangdong-Han Railway, are relatively good and will be built by private capital.

In addition to the main line, two branch railways were also identified.

The first one is to extend from the railway trunk line of the Zhaotai Railway to Datong and the north direction of the Mobei Railway, and then merge into the section of the "Baikal" of the Shenxi Railway. It is named "Taibei Railway", Taiyuan Prefecture, and the north is "Beihai". Lake Baikal was called Beihai in ancient times.

The second is to go south from Hetao to Xi'an, connecting to the Yulan Railway, named "Anhe Railway".

The returns of these two railway branches are average, not too high or too low. If someone wants to repair it, he will repair it. If no one wants to repair it, then Zhao Yan will invest in the repair.

The strategic significance of the Shenxi Railway is the westward expansion in Siberia, and the Beijing-Windustry Railway also expands westward, with the difference being one in the north and the other in the south.

The Beijing-Hanzhou Railway and the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway are connected to the Zhao-Tai Railway. The economic strategy is very strong. After the two railways are connected, Shandong's goods can go directly to Guangzhou and then transport them to Nanyang by sea. At the same time, they are also preparing for the expansion of the Indochina Peninsula.

As for other railways with economic returns, there are almost no plans for railways in the Jiangnan region, and their economic strategic significance is also very strong. However, this is left for the railway bureau to plan one after another, and I believe that many people are willing to invest.

In order to build the Shenxi Railway and the Beijing-Windustry Railway, Zhao Yan planned to invest 20 million silver dollars first, and planned to complete the construction within five years. He would add it when the money was not enough. In theory, the money could be completed, and there was still surplus, which depends on whether the laborers could catch it.

If workers can be caught, the cost will be greatly reduced. The biggest cost of building a railway is the labor force, which depends on Japanese laborers and the various "national brothers" in Siberia.

It was the fourth quarter, and tax revenues in various places began to be reported one after another. This year's fiscal revenue from regular channels is estimated to be the average 70 to 80 million taels last year.

Especially when the Golden Force mines everywhere.

...Nanyang, with the efforts of Su Buheng and the Nanyang Infantry Brigade, by the end of September, they had completely gained a foothold in Nanyang.

In addition to 18 warships, Su Buheng's frigates increased to 30 one after another. The powerful maritime power made the Spanish and Portuguese warships shrank and dared not do anything.

Su Buheng, who has absolute maritime authority in this weak area of ​​Asia, set off from Jakarta and headed to India to continue to clear out the Dutch forces.

The Dutch were soon driven out of the area completely.

The Dutch were driven away, and the Spanish and Portuguese were even more panicked. Especially after the Nanyang Infantry Brigade occupied Java Island, the Spanish Governor was always worried about whether the Philippines could be saved.

The situation is indeed worrying. The huge empire suddenly developed a strong desire to expand and even extended its claws to the Americas.

The Philippines is almost close to them. If this huge empire suddenly seizes the Philippines, the local government will not have enough time to react. Moreover, even if the local government sends troops to reinforce, its chances of victory are extremely low.

After expelling the Dutch from Asia, Su Buheng began to open strongholds on various waterways and intercepted passing ships to collect travel fees.

Among the various channels in Nanyang, only one Malacca is still under the control of the Portuguese.

Therefore, the Strait of Malacca became Su Buheng's next target. In this era when the truth is within the range of cannons, as long as there is enough force, seizing a strategic stronghold is only a very simple process, and there is basically no need to consider too much diplomatic aspects.

The situation in Java has also made great progress.

In July, more than 30,000 new muskets were shipped, as well as swords and tens of thousands of plate armor. The Nanyang Infantry Brigade used these weapons to equip the Chinese on Java Island.

The Java governor has arrived, but the number of Chinese is not that large at present, so the king of East Java has been temporarily retained. After the number of immigrants increases one after another, a comprehensive cleaning will begin.

Han Sheng led the Nanyang Infantry Brigade to attack the Islamic state in West Java.

Islam spread rapidly in Asia and has become the main religious belief in the Nanyang region in this era. However, this religion is currently not allowed to exist in Shandong laws.
To be continued...