In addition to collecting shipbuilding drawings and skilled craftsmen from the official shipyard, Guo Zhiyuan also asked Zhang Cheng to buy several private shipyards at all costs. Don’t underestimate these private shipyards. Because of the decline of the official shipyard, a large number of craftsmen who had been exiled from the official shipyards went to the private shipyard to return to their old business. Not only did the technology be passed down from generation to generation, but with the prosperity of coastal private maritime trade, these private shipyards also paid great attention to exchanges with Western shipbuilding technology, learning from their strengths and weaknesses, and their craftsmanship became more and more sophisticated.

For example, the "Founding Boats" incident in the 13th year of Jiajing (1534) fully demonstrates the strength of the private shipyards. At that time, the official shipyards in the Ming Dynasty were corruption and severely declining in technology. Even the "Founding Boats" that were enthroned by the Ming Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty could not be able to undertake the construction of the "Founding Boats" that were enthroned by the Ming Dynasty. This was a major event related to the prestige of the Ming Dynasty. If it was spread, it would be a joke. The officials in charge of the matter had no choice but to find a private shipyard to take over the "big pot". They originally had the idea of ​​being a dead horse as a living horse, but they did not expect that the private shipyard really built the "Founding Boats"! This giant "Founding Boats" that were fifteen meters long, six feet wide, tens of feet deep, tens of feet, and tens of feet three feet deep, which attracted thousands of people to watch, greatly increased the prestige of the Ming Dynasty, and truly fulfilled the truth that masters were among the people!

In addition, Guo Zhiyuan had Xu Xinsu secretly acquire Daxi naval gun drawings for him, and the matter of hiring Daxi craftsmen, retired sailors and gunners has also made progress. Xu Xinsu is worthy of being a sociable master. Although he did not get the drawings, he recruited more than 200 Western craftsmen and retired sailors and gunners for Guo Zhiyuan. Compared with the Chinese, the Western country concept in this era is even weaker. They risk their lives to go out to sea just to make money. As long as they give them money, they don’t care who is hiring them.

Among these great Westerners, there was also a retired officer, the British named Francis. According to him, he had already become a captain in the British Navy and independently commanded a British warship. He was fired from the army because of alcoholism. After retirement, the guy was hired as a captain by a British merchant and went to Xiamen. The guy remained unrest. He got drunk and fought with people on the streets of Xiamen. He fought more than a dozen people alone, but he was not at a disadvantage. In the end, the government dispatched dozens of yamen runners to subdue him and put him in a cell.

At this time, the government was not as weak as the later Qing government. Although Francis was a foreigner, he still had to be punished if he injured people. The British businessman who hired him was very dissatisfied with this arrogant and liked to cause trouble, so he was naturally unwilling to pay a fine for him and threw him in a cell and drove away by himself. Xu Xinsu had something to do with the government. After hearing about this, he spent some money to protect Francis. Francis, who had just lost his job, had no choice but to accept Xu Xinsu's recruitment and followed him to Dongfan.

Francis is indeed an unpleasant guy. Not only does he say he is arrogant, but he likes to be vicious. As soon as he arrived in Dongfan, he made a fuss and pointed to more than a dozen Dongfan modified armed warships parked on the pier and laughed: "This is also called a warship? The British Empire warship I was commanding can overturn a hundred such warships!..."

Not only the people from Dongfan, but also the craftsmen, sailors and gunners recruited with Francis, they didn't like him very much. They felt that this guy had no ability except for his big mouth. However, Guo Zhiyuan didn't think so. He knew that people with personality like Francis often had a big temper and had great abilities.

Guo Zhiyuan still has a way to deal with this arrogant and rebellious guy, and he handed Francis over to Fazheng. Of course, Fazheng would not be spoiled by Francis' bad temper. If he doesn't obey, then beat him up. Francis has always claimed to be extremely powerful, but it is not enough to see him in front of Fazheng. He was beaten by Fazheng every day and his face was swollen. This guy was not convinced and said that I can't beat you. Let's drink bars. Fazheng drinks wine as water, and of course he will not be timid. As a result, he drank Francis directly under the table and was drunk for a day and a night before he woke up.

Now Francis can't get too bad. Fighting and drinking are his two major hobbies. He was compared by Fazheng, so he naturally couldn't be arrogant. When he saw Fazheng, he lowered his eyebrows and looked at him, and was extremely honest.

Francis is indeed a bit of real skills. His arrival has improved Dongfan's naval combat skills and tactics to a higher level. Moreover, this guy is a versatile guy and is also very talented in artillery control. Under his training, Dongfan's artillery manipulators' handling proficiency and artillery accuracy have significantly improved.

In addition, Francis also provided Guo Zhiyuan with the latest "porthole" design plan for the British side gun. It was with this new design that the British defeated the Spanish fleet, which was known as invincible at sea. Before this, although Western countries had popularized the use of artillery in naval warfare, they still used artillery as an auxiliary attack method. In the end, they still had to use the soldiers to board the enemy ship through the battle of the enemy, and through close combat, they could not be considered the final victory until they completely occupied the enemy ship.

The British discovered the shortcomings of this primitive naval combat tactics, and first set up a "porthole" on the warship, so that the cannons can be fired from the lower deck of the ship, and at the same time, the weight of the cannon can be evenly distributed under the center of gravity of the ship, so that the ship can travel smoothly during artillery. More importantly, this can greatly extend the duration of the artillery stage and can lock in the battle without the need to fight the battle!

It can be said that the side gun completely changed the tactics of naval warfare. In the past, naval warfare had to be equipped with a large number of soldiers on the ship to ensure the number of people in the side gun battle. At the same time, when designing warships, they would pay special attention to the design of "corner collisions", so that they could gain advantages by impacting enemy ships. The British's side gun tactics greatly saved cabin space and manpower, and were more flexible in naval warfare, and also allowed them to spend more resources on the firepower configuration of warships.

As a time traveler, Guo Zhiyuan certainly knew the advanced nature of the British side gun tactics. It was through this tactic that the British replaced the Spaniards as the new maritime overlord, but knowing that it was one thing and practice it was another. Guo Zhiyuan could not apply the side gun tactics to the Eastern Boat Fleet. The arrival of Francis just solved this problem.

Francis also proposed a genius idea. He proposed that some key components on the sea ship could be replaced with cast iron components, so that they could be firmer on the warship and would not be sunk immediately even if they were hit by shells. His idea was naturally sneered by craftsmen. Even three-year-olds knew that wood could only float on water if it was lighter than water. Wouldn't it sink if it was made with iron?
Chapter completed!