Great Tang Southern Emperor

"Your Highness, my subordinates have always had a question." Fang Yiai finally asked the question he had always wanted to ask after indulgence: "Since we are going to go to Yuezhou from the sea by sea, why don't we sit down?" How about river boats coming here along the Yellow River? Isn’t it more troublesome?”

"Hehehe" Seeing Fang Yiai ask this question, everyone immediately burst out laughing.

Fang Yiai asked strangely, "What are you laughing at?"

"I thought you would hold back and not ask me." Li Zhen smiled.

"It's actually very simple. Your Highness never thought of going to Lingnan so early." Du He explained with a smile.

"Why?" Fang Yiai wondered: "Lingnan has become a mess, isn't it just to calm down the chaos and win people's hearts?"

"Lingnan is indeed in chaos, but it hasn't reached the limit." Li Zhen said: "Although the main line of the Feng family has been exterminated, there are still many talents in the side branches. If they are not eliminated, it will be difficult for us. It’s a disaster sooner or later.”

Fang Yiai is not an idiot either, when she heard this, she immediately understood: "The reason why His Highness is dragging on the road is to let the members of the Feng family beat themselves up, and when they are done beating up, we will go to clean up Lingnan. "

"You just need to know this, don't say it outside."

Fang Yiai's IQ is not low, after all, he is a child from the prime minister's family, so he still has some political wisdom, and he said knowingly: "Yes, my subordinates understand, the reason why we stay in Dengzhou is mainly because of It is to wait for the princess and the others."

"That's right, we are just waiting for the concubine and the others." Li Zhen laughed: "But while waiting for the concubine, the king is also studying new shipbuilding technology with the masters of the Dengzhou shipyard. It is not a waste of time."

"That's right, that's exactly what happened. The subordinates also helped."

"Hahaha"

"Okay, I've seen the sea, and it's time to prepare to eat. By the way, it's the first time for most of us to come to the seaside. The "Food Encyclopedia" says that the taste of seafood is very different from that of river seafood. We have to try it today." Li Zhen clapped her hands and said: "Today, my king treats guests. Everyone can eat whatever they want. Don't be polite to me."

"Your Highness, aren't you a bit stingy?" Fang Yiai wrinkled her nose when she heard that she only ate seafood, and said, "Who hasn't eaten seafood yet? Our family is rewarded a lot by the emperor every year."

"Idiot, that's called dried goods. Can dried goods be the same as seafood?" Du He scolded with a smile: "Seafood and seafood, what you eat is the word umami. Does the dried food you eat have umami taste?"

"Uh..." Fang Yiai realized that she had asked a stupid question, and was immediately speechless.

"Hahaha"

"Master Du is right. Seafood must be caught and eaten immediately, otherwise the meaning of seafood will be lost." A man galloped towards him from a distance, and explained with a big smile at the same time.

"Your Highness, Lord Liu has arrived."

"Your Highness, Liu Rengui is late to welcome you, please redeem your Highness." Liu Rengui got off his horse and loudly confessed to Li Zhen.

Li Zhen quickly helped him up, and said with a smile: "This is my king's fault. If this king insisted on seeing the sea first, I wouldn't have traveled so far to greet Lao Zheng. On the contrary, it was you who took over the shipyard for me. After three years, I still have to say thank you to you."

"What are you talking about, Your Highness?" Liu Rengui, a middle-aged man with dark skin who looked more like a farmer than an official, said with a smile, "I haven't thanked Your Highness yet, if it wasn't for Your Highness who transferred me to Dengzhou Shipyard , I really can't discover my talent in water warfare."

"Oh? So, Zhengzheng, you are very good at water warfare?" Li Zhen was overjoyed. Liu Rengui is naturally good at water warfare. He was transferred to Dengzhou to supervise the construction of warships. He was originally intended to be trained as a future naval commander. , but now these words can not be said, can only ask pretending to be pleasantly surprised.

"It's really a strange thing to say. I grew up in the Central Plains (from the Wei family of Bianzhou), and I was an official in Chencang. I have never been to the seaside, but I was in the first water battle after coming to Dengzhou. He won the admiral of the Dengzhou Navy and stunned everyone. It was only later that I found out that my talent in water warfare was extremely high. After all, His Highness discovered me, otherwise I would only be an old warehouse in my life. Captain."

"Okay, let's not thank anyone." Li Zhen laughed and waved his hands: "Anyway, since you are here today, don't go back. Tonight I will entertain the three armies. You are familiar with this place. Bring a few people with you." Help me buy some seafood, and I invite you to have a good seafood meal."

"The minister would be more respectful than obedient." Liu Rengui laughed.

Chapter 241 The Battleship Problem

Chapter No.17 Warship Problems

Dengzhou is rich in seafood, and you can buy a lot of seafood in any fishing village. There is no need to ask Liu Rengui to go. In fact, one of his followers is leading the way, and the real Liu Rengui is presenting to Li Zhen in a dense forest. report.

"Your Highness, the above is all the information about the Dengzhou Shipyard." Liu Rengui said to Li Zhen respectfully: "According to my subordinates' prediction, the Dengzhou Shipyard has not yet reached its limit. capacity can be doubled.”

"No, it's not necessary." Li Zhen shook her head slightly and said: "Dengzhou Shipyard does need to be expanded, but not now. The biggest use of Dengzhou Shipyard now is to provide a sufficient number of craftsmen for the future Yuezhou Shipyard. Our next stage The main goal is to build Yuezhou, and the Yuezhou shipyard is the most critical part of the task of building Yuezhou."

"Yes, I understand." If you want to develop Lingnan, the transportation link is the most important thing. Unfortunately, the Luoyue Highway (Luoyang to Yuezhou) has just started construction. Even if you spare your life, it will take at least several years to complete the project. Certainly not in a short time.Since the road is not good, the only thing available is shipping. It happens that Yuezhou is close to the sea and has an excellent deep-water port, which is just right for the development of shipping. As long as the route from Yuezhou to the Central Plains is opened, the special products produced in Yuezhou will be available. Ship it to the hinterland of the Central Plains at the fastest speed to provide sufficient funds for the construction of Yuezhou.

Moreover, Li Zhen's next thoughts will be more on the sea. The sea is the focus of Li Zhen's development. If you want to conquer the sea, you can't do it without strong enough ships and warships. The construction of the Yuezhou Shipyard is the top priority. However, Li Zhen would rather suspend the construction of Wuzhuang Temple (the excuse Li Zhenxiang used when fooling Li Shimin to build a Taoist temple for him in Zhenyuan Daxian's hometown), and must also develop the navy.

"But you don't have to be sorry. Since I chose to build the Dengzhou shipyard in Dengzhou, naturally it will not be abandoned. It will also be one of the important shipyards of our Datang Navy in the future, but it is not available yet." See Liu Rengui With a pity face, Li Zhen knew that he had developed feelings for Dengzhou Shipyard, so she quickly comforted her.

"Then I'm relieved, thank you Your Highness." After all, Dengzhou Shipyard was built by Liu Rengui himself, and it can be said that it took a lot of hard work for it. It would really hurt if it was abandoned like this. Fortunately, Li Zhen's words made him feel at ease.

"By the way, has the warship I wanted been built?" Li Zhen asked the second question: "You wrote a letter a while ago saying that there was a problem with the construction of the warship. I don't know what the problem is?"

"Actually, it's not a big problem." Liu Ren tracked: "The fifth-tier battleship has been built, and another fourth-tier battleship is also being tried. The trial of the battleship was very successful. The problem is the cannon. At the beginning, we didn't have any Found, but after a long time, there will be problems. That is, the accuracy of the cannon will gradually change, and finally it can even be a circle, especially in strong winds and waves, it is more prone to problems. After our detailed research, we found that it is sea water The problem is that the corrosivity of seawater is much stronger than that of ordinary fresh water. Your Highness, you have never seen the wind and waves at sea. Sometimes even the entire ship will be submerged in the waves. Under such circumstances, the gun barrel is easy to enter The water, combined with the fact that we don't pay enough attention to upkeep, makes this happen."

"Well, how did you solve it in the end?" Li Zhen asked, although he gave the shipbuilding design drawings, but he did not give much guidance in the specific manufacturing process, in order to let the craftsmen suffer more. , increase experience, only in this way can a group of truly qualified ship designers be cultivated, otherwise they can only be cultivated into fakes who know what they don't know why.

The same is true in the manufacture of cannons. Except for the first cannon, Li Zhen only gave a general development direction for future cannon manufacturing, and then encouraged craftsmen to freely develop their own innovations and let them do their own research to accumulate experience.

Facts also proved that Li Zhen was right. The creativity of the working people should not be underestimated at any time. Now the Tang army has installed four or five types of cannons, ranging from mortars to howitzers. It can reach the cannons around the Sino-Japanese War.There are even mortars among them, which made great achievements in the fight against Tubo. Tubo mountains are high and dangerous, and heavy artillery can't be transported at all. In the end, this kind of mortar that can be carried by one person was blown away. The determination of the Tubo people to resist, blowing down some of the city gates, made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty's conquest of Tubo, and that battle was also the battle of the mortar's fame.

"The problem hasn't been solved yet." Liu Rengui said with a face of shame: "The subordinates have thought of many ways, such as covering the cannon with a cannon cover, or increasing the sealing of the cannon window, but it doesn't help. Add a cover, that might make it waterproof."

"Haven't you ever thought about painting the cannon with oil or lacquer?" Li Zhen asked strangely: "This method has been spread in the army, haven't you borrowed it?"

"Of course I did, but ordinary oil is useless at all." Liu Rengui said with a wry smile: "Your Highness, you don't know that when sailing in the sea, it is washed by water too many times. Ordinary oil only needs to be washed a dozen times. If you brush it, there will be nothing left. If you brush too much, it will be inconvenient to clean up during naval battles (now, animal oil is used for maintenance, but animal oil has residue, and brushing too thick will affect the accuracy) , we are working on a waterproof oil, but we don't have a clue yet."

"Uh..." Li Zhen was speechless, she really hadn't thought about this, but now she couldn't get the engine oil out, otherwise the problem of waterproofing would be solved.

"But the cover is also a good way. In the Western Regions, there is a way for the army to cover the cannon to prevent dust. It is good to use the cover." Li Zhen can only say this, after all, he has no good way. During the years, he was really concentrating on studying and learning arts, and he didn't open too many hooks. At most, he launched some businesses occasionally to make some money.

"Yes, this subordinate understands, but is there really nothing you can do, Your Highness?" Liu Rengui said disappointedly. He originally wanted to get some advice from Li Zhen. After all, Li Zhen's intelligence was outstanding throughout the Tang Dynasty. Well, as Li Zhen's close minister, he naturally knows better.

"There must be a way, but I can't figure it out now." Li Zhen himself is actually a half-assed person, so it's okay to ask him to design mechanical ships and cannons. After all, he is learning this, so it's okay to ask him to do some small chemical experiments. Although he is not a professional, it can be regarded as having dabbled after all, but how to make a suitable anti-corrosion oil is really a bit embarrassing for him-it is not a subject at all, petrochemical and mechanical design are really good. It doesn't matter, I've never done this before.

"However, your thinking is correct." Li Zhen saw that Liu Rengui was a little disappointed, and said: "First, temporarily block the muzzle with a cover, and don't be idle yourself, try to research a suitable anti-rust oil."

Seeing Li Zhen's affirmation, Liu Rengui was shocked and immediately assured: "Yes, the subordinates must live up to His Highness's expectations and strive to produce suitable oil."

Chapter 242 The Best Seafood

Chapter 18 Superb Seafood

"In short, put the cannon on the battleship as soon as possible. I will take it away this time." Li Zhen said: "Speaking of battleships, how many warships has the shipyard produced in total? Are there ten?"

The reason why there are so few questions is that the Dengzhou shipyard was built by him five years ago and was completed only three years ago. In addition, in order to train craftsmen, the shipyard did not directly build warships at the beginning, but started with small cargo ships. , It was not until a year ago that the fifth-tier battleship was successfully built, not to mention that the shipyard had other production tasks. Li Zhen estimated that it would be good to have ten battleships at this time.

"Your Highness, you underestimate our shipyard." Liu Rengui smiled and said: "Your Highness does not know, although the business of the shipyard is booming, but we use the three-shift work method that Your Highness mentioned, so don't think we are busy. The shipyard already has fifteen Tier [-] battleships, and if Your Highness can come a month later, our first Tier [-] battleship can also be produced."

"So many?" Li Zhen was taken aback: "Is there no problem with the quality?"

"Your Highness, what you said is too much." Liu Rengui pretended to be very hurt, and said aggrievedly: "Who doesn't know that our Dengzhou Shipyard is the most famous shipyard in the Tang Dynasty, which integrates military technology and quality. It is definitely the best in the world, even the people in Jiangnan are using the ships built by our shipyard—even civilian ships have such a good reputation, let alone warships, Your Highness, you really hurt the hearts of your subordinates."

"Pfft~ that's fine, don't be funny, as long as the quality is okay." Li Zhen really didn't expect Liu Rengui to have such a funny side, and immediately sprayed it out.

Liu Rengui also put away his funny smile, and said solemnly: "Yes, but Your Highness, our ship is really good. We have done various tests specially, and we wasted three warships for this. The quality is absolutely guaranteed."

"It's so good." Li Zhen said with satisfaction: "Everyone has worked hard. After this matter is over, you can reward them with ten pennies each on my behalf."