One Piece of Song Dynasty

Originally, today was the day when the new ship was launched, so the shipyard specially prepared firecrackers. When the dock door was opened, the firecrackers went off in unison, which was really lively. net

However, while Li Xin was excited, he also felt a little uneasy. After all, he had only made some ship models in his previous life, and he was still far from being a real shipbuilder. Theoretically, he could copy some ship models from his previous life and draw pictures to make them into ship models. , but if a real ship could be built according to the ship model he made, Li Xin really had no idea whether it would be possible.

After the new boat entered the water, it quickly floated smoothly on the water without tilting forward, backward or sideways. The balance obviously met the requirements for launching into the water.

After the ship floated, more than a dozen shipwrights began to board the ship, arrange the sails and rigging on the ship, and conduct an overall inspection of the ship, focusing on checking for leaks in the bottom tank.

Li Xin and others stood near the dock and watched these people busy on the ship. After a while, a shipwright who boarded the ship ran to the side of the ship and shouted loudly to where Old Man Liu was: "Report to the Chief Steward! Hull! The inspection has been completed! No water leakage was found! Other inspections are also normal. Can it be moved out of the dock?"

Old man Liu looked at Li Xin and said, "Master, everything is normal with the new ship. Can it be driven out of the dock?"

Li Xin said: "Uncle Liu, let's get on the boat and take a look. Net"

Old man Liu replied: "Okay, my master and the seventh general are here to invite you."

Everyone boarded the new ship together. After boarding the new ship, Li Xin felt how strong the ship was. At the beginning of the construction, Li Xin told the shipwrights that the ship must use enough materials and must be built strong. It must be able to withstand the harsh weather and strong winds and waves at sea.

Therefore, the shipwrights did not cut corners when using materials. Not only were the materials used sufficient, but precious teak was also used to build the ship. The thickness of the wood on the hull side panels and ship deck was also very high. The material is more than twice that of ordinary merchant ships, and in addition to the mortise and tenon structure for assembly, a large number of large iron nails are also used for reinforcement.

In the load-bearing parts of the structure, more materials are used, and a lot of materials are put in, leaving enough margin. Therefore, when you step on this boat, you can feel the solidity of the boat under your feet. The sound of landing is dull, which shows that The deck is thick enough.

Li Xin personally walked around the boat and checked the conditions everywhere. Because the boat was newly built, it looked very clean overall. The new boat still used the rudder control method. It turned out that Li Xin wanted to do this for this The ship designed a rudder operating mechanism to replace this backward vertical rudder operation method. However, Li Xin only knew a rough idea of ​​the steering wheel structure, and more shipwrights needed to explore and test it. Li Xin had no idea about the steering wheel structure. The need for a new ship is urgent, so for the time being it is better to use the rudder stock first, and then change it back when the helm becomes mature. net

In this era, no matter whether it was a Chinese or Western-style ship, the common rudder operating mechanism of later generations had not yet been invented, and the invention of the rudder operating mechanism was not invented until as late as the th century.

Before that, whether it was a Chinese or Western-style ship, the rudder was basically controlled by a rudder or tiller. This had great disadvantages. First, the controllable angle of the rudder was relatively small. , it is not able to meet the operational flexibility of the ship at sea, and the helmsman's view is blocked by the poop when operating, and he cannot see the situation in front, and can only adjust the rudder under the instructions of other people on the ship.

Once encountering strong waves or sharp turns, it is difficult for a helmsman to control it. Sometimes it even takes three or four people to control the rudder pole and operate it.

Only with the rudder operating mechanism can this problem be solved, making ship maneuvering simpler and more effective, while also improving the ship's maneuverability.

At this time, the shipwrights on the ship who were members of the trial voyage were already in place on the ship. Before it could be undocking, a group of people ran to operate the sails on the ship. Several shipwrights in charge of operating the sails were busy at the mast. Busy and constantly adjusting the sails, it seems that these people have trained in advance.

After seeing that all preparations had been completed, Li Xin finally ordered to undo the cables and undocking.

Old man Liu stepped forward and said, "Master, let's get off the ship and wait for the trial results at the dock."

Li Xin waved his hand: "Liu Shu knows what you are worried about. This boat was designed by me personally. I will definitely be on the boat to watch it sail for the first time. Besides, even if something goes wrong, there is still a sampan on the boat. It’s okay, let’s get out of the dock.”

Old Man Liu nodded and said: "Okay, then let's do what the master says."

Following Li Xin's order, the shipwrights on the ship began to get busy, untying the cables that controlled the ship's hull and throwing them into the water.

A large sampan rowed by more than a dozen people appeared outside the dock door. The boatwright on the sampan caught a towing cable and tied it to the tail of their sampan.

Only a dozen shipwrights were heard, amidst the sound of a leader's trumpet, and they began to paddle the oars in their hands. The loose cable tied to the bow of the new ship was quickly tightened, and the hull of the sampan was lifted. Under the tug of the board, it began to move, and was gradually pulled out of the dock gate and into the wider freshwater lake.

People on the river bank cheered loudly when they saw the ship undocking smoothly, and firecrackers were fired again on the bank to celebrate the smooth undocking of the new ship.

After the new ship was towed out of the dock, it did not go to sea immediately. Instead, it was inspected again on the lake and an anchoring test was conducted. After confirming that there was no problem with the ship's center of gravity, Li Xin ordered the shipwrights to unmoor the ship, break away from the sampan used to tow them, raise the sail, and rely on the power provided by its own sail to Heading towards the sea.

At this time, the new ship truly started sailing with its own sails for the first time. The helmsman carefully operated the rudder under the stern tower. Under the watchman's command, he constantly made adjustments to stabilize the ship and slowly sailed towards the seaport.

At the same time, there are several sampans that have sailed out of the seaport in advance before the new ship goes to sea. They are waiting outside for the ship to go to sea. As accompanying ships, they provide safety protection for the test participants on the ship. If something goes wrong, rescue the ship quickly.

After the new ship sailed out of the sea, surrounded by these sampans, it sailed onto the wide sea, and then continued forward, heading towards the wider western waters of Xinghan Island. The weather was very good that day, and the sea surface The wind is not strong and the waves are not high, making it very suitable for sea trials of new ships.