I, the grandson of the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty, earned 100 million taels at the beginning

"How are the preparations?"

Ignoring the somewhat disappointed navies, Zhu Zhangui asked the general manager of the nearby shipyard if he had made preparations before launching.

"Your Highness, all the procedures have been prepared, just waiting for you to watch it go into the water!"

The person in charge of the shipyard is an old shipbuilder, and his ancestors have been shipbuilders for generations.

Ever since he received the blueprint of the steam ironclad ship, he was deeply attracted, and then lay on the shipyard every day, watching the completion of the battleship bit by bit.

Zhu Zhangui nodded in satisfaction, "Okay, pick a good day and let's launch the world's first iron-clad steam warship!"

"Yes!"

The person in charge responded excitedly, and then took Zhu Zhangui aboard the iron steam battleship.

This iron-skinned steam battleship is said to be a new warship, but it is actually an improvement of Baohai Ship.

The main changes are that the keel of the ship and the important parts of the hull are covered with iron sheets, and the steam power is installed.

The displacement of the ship is about 850 tons. It is powered by sail steam engine.

Below are the power cabin, the artillery cabin and the soldiers' lounge.

Because it is a small and medium-sized ship, coupled with some space improvement reasons, the number of equipped artillery is not many.

When the entire battleship is fully equipped, it can be equipped with 45 artillery pieces.

There are 20 left, right, up and down, and 5 front and rear cannons.

"How fast do you expect this ship to go?"

When he came to the steam power room, Zhu Zhangui looked at the steam engine exuding the smell of steel, and asked the person in charge what is the expected sailing speed?

The naval officers who were fumbling around also quickly looked at the person in charge.

For the navy, the three most important things for a warship are speed defense and attack power.

As long as these three items can be met, in the minds of the navies, it is a very perfect warship.

The iron steam warship in front of me must have better defense than the wooden warship, not to mention the attack power, and it is equipped with new artillery.

At present, the artillery of the Ming Navy can be the most advanced weapon in the world, and it is not one of them.

The performance of both parties has been recognized, and the only thing that worries them is the speed.

This is an iron-clad warship. If it is not as fast as a sailing warship, then this ship is meaningless.

The person in charge didn't look at the small book in his hand. He had already familiarized himself with these data. He glanced at the naval officers who were looking forward to him and said loudly.

"The normal cruising speed of this battleship is about 10 knots. If it is driven at full speed with a tailwind, the limit can reach about 15 knots!"

"hiss!"

As the person in charge revealed the data, all the generals present gasped.

With the gradual formalization of the navy, many modern words have been added to the terminology spoken by the Ming Navy.

For example, the speed of the battleship has changed from how many miles it can run in a day to how many knots it can run!

(One knot equals 1.852 kilometers.)

The warships currently owned by the navy can run out of thirteen or four knots the fastest.

But there is a prerequisite for this, that is, in the case of the wind and the ocean current, if the environment is against the wind or against the current, it is as slow as a tortoise, not to mention how many knots it runs, and it is enough to reach the place before the boatman is exhausted. Not bad.

But the new type of armored battleship is different.

The cruising speed of 10 knots mentioned by the person in charge can be run out in non-bad weather conditions.

Don't be afraid of comparing people, just be afraid of comparing goods.

If the new type of warship can run at such a speed as the person in charge said, then all the warships that the Navy currently owns can be directly thrown into the garbage dump.

For a while, everyone was looking forward to the scene of the warship moving at high speed when it was launched.

Ten days passed in a blink of an eye, and it was the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

The weather is good today. Although there is still a cold wind blowing on the sea, it does not affect the enthusiasm of everyone in the slightest.

Except for the soldiers who stayed on the battleship, the rest of the navy came to the shipyard dock.

As the gate of the shipping service slowly opened, thousands of men who had been waiting for a long time, shouted and pulled the rope, dragging the steel warship into the sea with all their strength.

What's interesting is that all these guys pulling the ropes are from the navy, and the leaders are Li Hu and other generals of the navy's warships.

"Brothers, work harder!"

"One, two..."

Following Li Hu's loud shout, everyone exerted their strength together.

The battleship in the dock was slowly pulled out under the support of the rolling wood.

"Hoohoho..."

Looking at the iron plywood that was illuminated by the sun and exuded a chill, the watching naval soldiers roared loudly.

This is a moment in history, and it is also the most glorious moment for the Navy.

From this moment today, the history of the world's oceans will be rewritten.

From now on, the warships of the Ming Dynasty flying the battle flag of the Ming Dynasty will be unrivaled across the entire world.

From now on, no one dared to speak loudly to Daming again.

From today onwards, whoever dares to speak more seriously will not be greeted with forgiveness from Daming, but countless steel warships and ferocious artillery shells.

Truth is within the range of the cannon.

Only when your muzzle is pointed at the enemy can you gain the respect and fear of the enemy.

Peace is the most important thing, I like to point a cannon at your forehead and watch you kneel there talking to me.

Chapter 260: Zheng He: I want this ship, it won't work for anyone!

With a bang, the warship poured into the sea, splashing large waves.

The icy sea water splashed on the watching navy, and instead of complaining, the soldiers screamed excitedly.

For the navy, the waves splashed by the warships are a kind of spiritual baptism.

Not only is it not bad luck, but it is a kind of honor, the honor of witnessing the enlistment of new partners.

The shipyard workers who had been on standby for a long time quickly boarded the battleship and checked the top and bottom of the battleship to see if there was any tilt or water leakage.

After confirming that there was no problem at all, Zhu Zhangui, accompanied by the general manager, boarded the battleship with a group of navy generals.

"Your Highness, please light this first fire!"

When he came to the boiler room, the person in charge handed Zhu Zhangui a torch.

The boiler was already full of firewood, and the coal bunker next to it was also piled with coal.

Zhu Zhangui nodded, took the torch and lit the firewood in the boiler.

As the firewood was ignited, a raging flame burned.

The naval soldiers on the shore, seeing the smoke coming from the chimney, shouted more excitedly, staring at each other, looking forward to the operation of the ironclad ship.

But a few quarters of an hour, half an hour passed by, and the boat didn't even move.

The excitement of the soldiers just now slowly subsided, and each of them scratched their heads in doubt.

"What's going on? It's been an hour, why don't you even move, the boat won't break down!"

"It's possible. After all, this is the first steam ironclad battleship. The craftsmen are inexperienced, and it is normal for problems to occur!"

"Oh, suddenly I feel a little empty in my heart, I was just excited for nothing!"

"Indeed, there are so many people watching here, and His Highness came here in person. As a result, something went wrong. I'm afraid someone at the shipyard will be punished. If His Highness gets angry, he may lose a few heads."

The craftsmen of the shipyard standing in the crowd heard the soldiers talking with black lines all over their heads, and finally couldn't listen anymore, and yelled at the few soldiers who were discussing quietly.

"You big-headed soldiers know what a fart. The steam engine needs to wait for the water to boil, and the steam can be repressurized before it can be started. It takes at least 1~2 hours for such a big ship to move!"

The surrounding soldiers despised him even more.

"What, 1~2 hours, during this time my boat ran dozens of nautical miles."

Those who thought more deeply were even more worried: "If there is a sudden attack and the boat cannot even sail, then it is purely a living target!"

The craftsman in the shipyard rolled his eyes, "So the steamship does not turn off under normal circumstances, and it must always ensure that it has sufficient power."

"Do not turn off the fire?"

The navy soldiers froze for a moment, then looked sympathetically at the sailors responsible for the power.

The power sailors had black threads all over their heads, and one of them looked at the craftsman with his ears out.

"You mean, from now on, we sailors in charge of power will lie on the boat all year round and take care of this uncle!"

The craftsman spread his hands, "You can understand it this way. After all, this thing is not a horse. It will go away with a flick of the whip. It needs sufficient strength to drive the wheel and drive the propeller."

The power sailors saw darkness.

They are the sailors who are responsible for power. In order to ensure that the warship can move at any time, they have fewer holidays than other sailors.

They thought that with the steam engine, they could also live a normal holiday life, but they didn't expect the idea to fail.

When relying exclusively on power before, if they had no plans to go to sea in a short period of time, they could still go ashore to rest.

But now if they were replaced by a steamboat, they would lie on the boat every day, staring at the boiler.

"Besides, it's very hot in the boiler room. You'll feel better in winter. If it's summer..." The craftsman gave a sympathetic look, and ruthlessly gave the power sailors another stab at their hearts.

"Woooooooo..."

Just when the power sailors were feeling depressed, the ear-splitting whistle sounded from the iron-clad warship that was only smoking from the chimney and making no movement.

"Hey, good guy, that's loud enough!"

The sailor in charge of the direction of the warship scratched his ears excitedly.

Although the ship has problems of one kind or another, the sound is really loud.

"Move, move!"

Suddenly, there was a burst of cheers.

The sailors standing on the shore stretched their necks, looked at the iron-clad battleship parked in the water, and began to move forward bit by bit.

Looking at the unfurled sails on the plywood, the sailors cheered.

It worked, really worked.

The ship really moved by itself without the aid of sails and oars.

He had already got off the iron-clad ship and went to Zhu Zhangui who was on the guard ship next to him, nodding in satisfaction.

The reason why he was on this ship was because he was worried that the craftsmen were making this kind of large boiler for the first time, and they were afraid that something might go wrong and it would suddenly explode.

This is not a joke. The power of a boiler explosion is absolutely no worse than that of a missile. Standing on an ironclad ship is standing on a missile that is about to explode at any time.

The trial route of the ironclad ship is from Quanzhou to Qiongzhou Port, the base of the West Sea Fleet.

In addition to testing the performance of the ironclad ship, various experiments will be carried out along the way.

The most important experiment is to add a new equipment to the navy, the water torpedo.

"Let's go, let's follow!"

Zhu Zhangui waved his hand towards the shore and gave follow-up orders to the escorting warships.

Li Hu originally wanted to follow, but was strictly refused by Zhu Zhangui.

The dignified admiral of the navy is not managing the army at the naval base, but instead follows the trial ship around without doing his job, which is serious dereliction of duty.

As for other generals.

Even the main general was kicked out, and they didn't dare to say anything.

4 frigates and 4 supply ships, escorting the armored battleship slowly moved forward, and slowly disappeared from the sight of the people on the shore.

The 16th year of Yongle was spent in Zhu Zhangui's sea voyage.

Over the past year, many major events have happened in Daming.