nucmednet Chapter 102 South Garden
Chapter 102 South Garden
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Li Fu had to juggle the new city construction tasks entrusted to him by his master with the maintenance of his private residence. He naturally understood that doing the former alone was not enough, as the latter was equally important. Running between the two for the past six months, he had lost a lot of weight. Hearing his master's words, he knew that his efforts had not been in vain, and he was secretly pleased, but he did not become complacent. He simply replied, "This is all a humble man's duty," and continued to lead the way.
Walking along the path behind the small building, passing through an arched doorway, a wide pool suddenly comes into view. A long corridor is built along the water's edge, extending to the opposite side. The outline of the house can be vaguely seen through the tree branches; this must be the inner courtyard. A branch in the middle of the corridor extends into the middle of the pool, ending at a pavilion where one can cool off and rest.
Li Fu said somewhat awkwardly, "As per the master's instructions, a lake was originally to be dug here so that boats could navigate it. However, the craftsmen said the project was too large, and it would take several hundred people a year or two to complete. Mr. Yan also said that all the gardens in Jiangnan have ponds like this, with the layout centered around the pond, and the pavilions and terraces all built along the water, so..."
Liu Ye felt embarrassed. It seemed that building an artificial lake where boats could be rowed was just wishful thinking on his part. He waved his hand and said, "Mr. Yan is right, and you are right too. This is very good. It is built by the water, the scenery is natural, and the front and back yards are clearly distinguished."
Li Fusong breathed a sigh of relief and pointed to the opposite side, saying, "That's the master's inner quarters over there, a grand courtyard with seven sections. No matter how many wives the master has in the future, there will be enough room for them..."
"Hehe," Liu Ye chuckled, pointing at Li Fu. This guy always seemed to know what he was thinking. He turned to Liang Xiaoming and asked, "So, Mingzi, this house... or rather, this garden, isn't it nice? Shall we live together?"
Liang Xiaoming scratched his head and hesitated, "Should I move in too? But..." He stammered for a moment and said, "...But I always feel like this is a park, and it doesn't feel like home."
Liu Ye glared at him angrily, "Did you live in a two-bedroom apartment in your past life? Now that you're a nouveau riche, do you still want to live in a two-bedroom apartment?"
"Hehe, maybe I'm not destined for that," Liang Xiaoming said embarrassedly. "I'm not used to living in such a spacious park... You can enjoy the park slowly. Just get me a small courtyard. Besides, I promised to be Sun Yuanhua's neighbor!"
"You...you..." Liu Ye pointed at him, speechless. He had kindly built such a large garden and invited him to live with him, yet he had been utterly ungrateful. Oh well, this guy doesn't know what's good for him, let him be. "Since you insist, then so be it. But let me make it clear first, this isn't me trying to hog everything; it's your own choice, and you can't go back on your word later."
"I will never go back on my word, don't worry," Liang Xiaoming promised, patting his chest.
After crossing the pond and arriving at the backyard, Liu Ye pointed to the deep courtyard and said to Tang Yu, "Since Mingzi doesn't want to stay here, this is where we'll stay. You can choose whichever room you want!"
Tang Yu glanced at it, then lowered his head and said, "I dare not accept your kindness, Master. I will stay with you and serve you personally. Wherever you stay, I will stay."
Liu Ye was well aware of Tang Yu's ulterior motives: she lacked a formal status and dared not live alone in a courtyard or even a room. However, such feudalistic ideas were deeply ingrained and could not be eradicated in a short time. It was best to let things take their course for now and gradually loosen their mental constraints later.
"It's alright. You'll serve me personally for now. I've really not used to these past few months without you around."
After inspecting the garden, Li Fu reminded him, "According to the rules, a new garden must be given a name."
After considering for a moment, Liu Ye said, "Qiongzhou is located in the south of the Ming Dynasty's territory, and it is also where we started our business, so let's call it 'Nanyuan'!"
After finishing reading, Liu Ye suddenly remembered something: "By the way, I heard you mention before that the charon cannon is shorter and has a faster loading speed than the cannon. It suddenly reminded me of pistols. Since you said that the shorter version of the brown bess and the short and thick charon cannon are easier to load, then shortening the flintlock musket a bit more and making a pistol shouldn't be too difficult, right?"
During his trip to Dengzhou, Liu Ye suffered from the lack of weapons. Rifles were too long and inconvenient to carry, and he didn't know how to use melee weapons. When he encountered martial arts practitioners wielding knives and guns, he was at their mercy. If he had a pistol, the situation would have been reversed. No matter how high your martial arts skills were, I could have taken you down with one shot.
Liang Xiaoming scratched his head: "Well, it's not a big problem. There are famous flintlock pistols in history that we can learn from. Give me some time, and I'll figure out a way to make one."
Liu Ye said with satisfaction, "It's good that you can do it. There's one more thing to remind you. You can also make use of those dozen or so Portuguese people. They are artillery instructors and experts in using artillery. They might be able to give you some good suggestions from a practical perspective."
Liang Xiaoming agreed.
Liang Xiaoming then took out a roll of blueprints and said directly, "Yezi, three improved 500-ton galleons have already been built. You need to give me a plan on how many you ultimately need. Also, these are my new warship designs, including 1,000-ton and 1,500-ton classes. If you agree, I'd like to start trying to build them after this batch of 500-ton warships is completed."
Looking at the blueprints for the two new warships, Liu Ye asked, "Mingzi, you have to tell me the purpose and necessity of these two warships."
Liang Xiaoming pointed to the plan of one of the smaller warships: "This is a 1,000-ton class ship. The Royal Navy has many warships of this tonnage, which are the main force in combat. In smaller fleets, they can even serve as flagships. A 500-ton class warship is enough to fight pirates, but it doesn't have much of an advantage against the Dutch Far East Fleet. If you want to win a naval battle against these Dutchmen, you need a warship like this as your main force and flagship. Its deck is thicker, it has more gun emplacements, and it can withstand enough shell attacks and give the enemy a powerful counterattack!"
That was a compelling reason, Liu Ye nodded. He pointed to the floor plan of another, larger ship and asked, "So what about this ship? Since there's already a 1,000-ton class ship, why build a 1,500-ton class one?"
"To fight the Netherlands, you need a true flagship, Yezi! If you want to extend your reach even further, to fight the Spanish and defeat their old but enormous improved carracks head-on, then you need a flagship like this even more—the Royal Navy defeated the Armada with light galleons over a long voyage, using agility and maneuverability to overwhelm them—if they huddle in Manila harbor, with coastal defense guns nearby, 1,000-ton and 500-ton warships alone will not be enough; a 1,500-ton mobile gun emplacement is the ultimate weapon to defeat them. I believe we can become the dominant force at sea in the future, and after this period, I have completed the design of this 1,500-ton warship. It should be noted that not many 1,500-ton warships will be built, at most one or two. This type of warship is not only very expensive to build, but also requires a lot of materials and has a long construction period."
The term "mobile artillery platform" appealed to Liu Ye; it was Liang Xiaoming's idea, and he naturally trusted it. So, he finalized the construction plans for both types of warships. "Let's try building the 1,000-ton class first; the 1,500-ton class can be left for last. As for the 500-ton class warships, five in the first batch will be enough," he told Liang Xiaoming.