The steam paddle steamer in the Longjiang Shipyard did not go smoothly in the trial voyage on the Yangtze River, and finally had to be towed back to the dock because of water leakage.More than a million silver dollars have been smashed, but satisfactory results have not been obtained, and ordinary capitalists and inventors have either lost patience, or their funds have broken and they have stopped continuing their research.However, the two projects of the Ming Dynasty, the steamship and the train, did not have to worry about the problem of breaking funds and giving up halfway.For these two projects, as long as Zhao Ming is in power for one day, he will spare no effort to support them.Although Zhao Ming was not satisfied this time, any new technology that is transformed into something tangible needs to be polished repeatedly, and as long as something comes out, it will be considered a huge progress.After the trial voyage, Zhao Ming, accompanied by Song Yingxing, continued to inspect the Longjiang Shipyard.On the slipways of the entire shipyard, large warships are being built, and tens of thousands of workers are busy.Zhao Ming saw the busy scene of the workers, and he was in a good mood, the entire Longjiang Shipyard, sixty or seventy thousand workers and craftsmen, the speed of shipbuilding can be described as amazing.Such a large-scale shipyard can only be possessed by a large and great country like the Ming Dynasty.Zhao Ming saw the grand occasion of the shipyard, and his confidence in his heart increased greatly, in fact, with the size of the Ming Dynasty, even if there was no obvious advantage in technology, the Ming Dynasty also had the ability to push the United Kingdom.Zhao Ming's mood recovered, but the entourage was a little depressed, it is estimated that the paddle steamer failed in the sea trial, which hit everyone very hard.They spend a lot of money every year and occupy thousands of people, but they have never been able to get the results, which makes the voices of the court question them very loudly.Everyone originally wanted to take this opportunity to turn over and let people see the steamer, but unfortunately before they could perform the project, the boat leaked after only a few miles.Zhao Ming smiled and said: "If the ship is built, if there is any problem, continue to improve, there is no need to be discouraged because of a failure."
The widow believes that it won't be long before you can build a real steamship. ”Song Yingxing was still ashamed, "The minister has lost the regent's trust." ”Zhao Ming stopped, looked at everyone, and said with a smile: "Such a little setback, it's all discouraged." ”"The ministers must brace themselves and build a ship that satisfies the regent as soon as possible."
Song Yingxing gritted his teeth and said.This research has been going on for several years, and if it had been before, he would have been dismissed from office and confiscated into the army because of the cost of money and food.Over the years, Zhao Ming has been supporting him regardless of the cost, which made Song Yingxing feel ashamed.Zhao Ming patted Song Yingxing on the shoulder and said with a smile: "The widow has good news for you, Dali Temple is discussing the formulation of a patent law, and the widow is ready to pay out of his own pocket and take out 500,000 silver dollars to reward those craftsmen who have made breakthroughs in technology and made major improvements to the manufacturing process."
Now the policy of the imperial court is here, and the reward fund set up by the widow is also in front of you, and it is up to you to wait for you whether you can get it or not. ”As soon as these words came out, Song Yingxing and the accompanying craftsmen were moved.Everyone was shocked, and the craftsmen were even more talking, and they were jubilant.Zhao Ming saw that everyone had regained their morale, so he immediately turned around and happened to be in front of a huge battleship under construction.This battleship is huge, one size larger than the current Ming Dynasty naval division warships."
Regent, this is the Zhenyi built by the Ministry of Works, with a drainage of 1,500 tons, three decks, and plans to install more than 100 artillery pieces."
Song Yingxing explained.In the Ming Dynasty, the size of warships was generally measured by materials, among which the official materials and civilian materials were different, and the statistics were relatively chaotic.Zhao Ming actually has no concept of materials, and he is not very familiar with other units.Zhao Ming then ordered the Ministry of Industry to rebuild the standard weights and measures, create a standard catty two scales, return the ruler, send it to the provinces, unify the national standard preparation, and use the ton unit for more than 1,000 catties of heavy objects.At present, Britain's main warship "Sea Sovereign" is about 1,500 tons, and the current Longjiang Shipyard can build a 1,500-ton warship, which shows that the shipbuilding skills of the Ming Dynasty have approached the level of the West after 20 years of catching up.This undoubtedly boosted Zhao Ming's confidence."
Not bad!"
Zhao Ming praised it, and then put forward his own request, "The flowering bomb has appeared for more than ten years, and through the war, it has been transmitted to the West.Recently, the Military Intelligence Department has received information that the Spaniards in Dongzhou have begun to use flowering shells.In addition, the British corsair in the Indian Ocean also used this kind of running bomb.At present, flowering bombs are not unique to us, and when manufacturing warships, the Ministry of Industry must take into account the impact of flowering bombs on naval warfare, and must not rest on its laurels. ”The West is indeed stronger than the Ming Dynasty in terms of manufacturing technology, which Zhao Ming admitted.Many delicate things could not be forged by Ming Dynasty craftsmen, but Western craftsmen could create them.The flowering bomb is also not high-tech, and the West will soon be able to imitate it after knowing the idea.Now that there are flowering bullets on the battlefield, Zhao Ming is not surprised, but he just feels a trace of urgency, hoping that the technology of the Ming Dynasty can break through as soon as possible and maintain military superiority.Song Yingxing bowed his head: "The regent is talking about an ironclad ship."
The Ministry of Engineering has already set up a project and started research. ”Zhao Ming was a little surprised, but he didn't expect the bureaucrats of the Ministry of Industry to have this understanding, "Are there any difficulties?"
”"It's actually a little bit simpler than a steamboat."
Song Yingxing explained: "Now the bottom step of the sea boat, one is painted with special paint, and the other part is wrapped in this copper skin, and the craftsman has experience in wrapping metal in wooden boats.This ironclad ship is to put a layer of armor on the ship, which is the same as the horse armor, as long as the iron pieces are installed, it will not affect the navigation and combat of the ship. ”Zhao Ming understood, it is like the horse armor of the heavy cavalry, the war horse that cannot be pressed cannot move, nor can it affect the battle, and the iron armor of the warship is approved, as long as this degree is found, the structure and bearing capacity of the warship can be realized to put armor on the warship."
Transform one first, take it out for experiments.If you can, get at least 10 of them. ”Zhao Ming immediately commanded."
Do your best!"
Song Yingxing said.Zhao Ming bowed, "Next year, the imperial court will conquer Donghu and open up a land passage to India.The widow hoped that when the imperial court liberated Donghu and was ready to attack Wu Sangui, steamships, ironclad ships, and even steam ironclad ships would be able to make progress. ”"The minister will live up to the expectations of the regent!"
Song Yingxing hurriedly saluted.Zhao Ming helped him up and said sincerely: "Then please!"
”After Zhao Ming inspected the Longjiang Shipyard, he immediately went to Chongming for inspection.Here, there is a base of the East China Sea Fleet of the Ming Dynasty, where nearly 10,000 sailors and soldiers train.In order to adapt to the trend, in addition to the river waterproof division, the Ming Dynasty still continued to be called the water division, and all the marine waterproof divisions were reorganized into four fleets: the North Sea, the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and the ocean.In the future, with the expansion of the sphere of influence, there will be additional fleets such as the Dongzhou fleet and the Tianzhu fleet, but at this time, there are four fleets, which are enough to deal with the current problems.At this time, Zhao Ming came to Chongming, on the edge of the dock, there was already a group of generals waiting, seeing Zhao Ming get off the boat, military music played, the generals stepped forward and saluted together, "Ministers welcome the regent!"
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