In this way, because of the soul of Huaxia, the guns and cannons that Ma Lin dedicated to the Ming Dynasty to help the Huaxia army strengthen were put into the treasury to eat ashes because of the personal prejudice of a high-ranking official. As for the qualifications of the vassal states and the tributary trade, there is no trace.

It's also bad luck for Marin, after all, the tributary trade he wants happens to be in charge of the special Ministry of Rites. As the saying goes, the county magistrate is not as good as the current management. Marin happened to hit the muzzle of the relevant department, and he could only consider himself unlucky......

If this batch of guns is directly sent to the bear child Zhu Houzhao, things may take a turn for the better. After all, Zhu Houzhao, the bear child, is a warmonger, and he likes weapons the most.

It's a pity that after these guns were sent to the Beijing Division, they went directly into the treasury of the Ministry of Rites, and they didn't have a chance to take them out. Therefore, the bear child Zhu Houzhao naturally didn't know.

If Ma Lin knew that this batch of advanced guns had been thrown into the treasury of the Ministry of Rites as broken copper and iron, he would definitely be so angry that he would spit out a mouthful of old blood, and then he would have brought a knife to Mao Cheng thousands of miles away......

……

Of course, Marin was unaware of what was happening on the side of the Ming Dynasty. After all, there is no Internet and no telegraph to get the news back to Europe in a timely manner. Not to mention that he doesn't know now, even if Columbus's fleet returns, he won't know. Because, Columbus's fleet didn't know the news of the Ming Dynasty after they left Guangzhou...... At this moment, Columbus's fleet is heading south in the South China Sea...... With a full ship of goods, Columbus and Conté and others went back, which can be regarded as an explanation, and it can be regarded as a meritorious service......

……

Not long after Marin came up with the name of Jack Ma, the Chinese of the bombardment, for Felise's second child, there was a sudden good news from the Emden shipyard - the steering wheel was successfully developed......

Hearing the good news, Marin immediately rode to Emden, and came to the military shipyard north of Emden to see the newly developed steering wheel......

The top part of the steering wheel, the part that is hand-wrenched, is similar to that of later generations. After all, Marin had drawn the drawings for the craftsmen.

The lower part is made of a series of bronze gears and copper rods made of a transmission rod. When it is time to steer, the sailor turns the steering wheel, drives a number of gears below, drives the copper rod, and makes it use the lever principle to dial the underwater balance rudder...... Then, with the action of the balancing rudder, the boat completed the turn......

However, this steering wheel system did not meet the requirements of "one person can easily complete the rudder turning" required by Marin. After testing, this steering wheel system requires a very strong sailor to complete the turn. Or, it takes 2 prime-age sailors to pull the steering wheel at high speeds......

But, in any case, this new steering wheel system is already much better than the old straight rudder. Moreover, the old straight rudder bar can turn the rudder up to 5 degrees. The new steering wheel system allows the rudder to be steered 30 degrees...... This greatly increases the speed of the vessel's steering and increases the vessel's agility......

Therefore, Marin did not hesitate to reward each craftsman who participated in the research with 1,000 gold coins as a reward for their contributions.

However, Marin also said that the steering wheel system can actually be improved, and finally the steering wheel can be steered by one person. If these craftsmen were able to improve the steering wheel to a one-man operation, then Marin promised to give each one a hefty 1,000 gold coins......

……

In addition to the development of the steering wheel system, the operation of the upper edge of the jigs, the old sailors also said that they were very proficient. After all, during this time, it was common for old sailors to sail on ships with upper edge boom sails to explore how to control the upper edge boom sails. Now, the old sailors are almost done. For this, they were also rewarded by Marin...... Although there were not as many craftsmen as there were, it was enough to surprise the old sailors......

After all, in Europe, the status of sailors was far from being comparable to that of craftsmen. Strictly speaking, craftsmen, especially great craftsmen, are called masters and are very respected. And the sailors...... Who cares about you as a humble sailor but the captain and the first mate? Everyone knows about Columbus's discovery of America, and perhaps some people also know Columbus's lieutenant or first mate. But who knows the name of every sailor who followed Columbus to discover America?

Therefore, the sailor is humble, while the master craftsman is noble. To reward the master craftsman, Marin needs to give each person 1,000 gold coins (in fact, this is a heavy reward), and to those old sailors, dozens of gold coins per person can be easily distributed, and those sailors will be grateful......

Seeing that the development and testing of the two convenient technologies were almost complete, Marin decided to have the craftsmen combine the two advanced technologies of the steering wheel and the upper rim jirser into one ship......

In the end, the R&D team converted a brig schooner with a 250-class armed merchant ship as the mother hull......

However, in the process of modification, many problems were also found. One of the most important problems is that the upper edge of the jigss sail cannot be made very high......

Why? Because the current canvas material is of average quality. If it is made too high and too big, after the sail is raised, it is easy to cause the sail to tear because it cannot withstand the huge pressure.

In addition, if the sail is too long and too high, the spinnaker on the upper edge will not be able to bear the weight of the lower upper edge of the jirst and the mainsail when the sail is raised, and the sail surface will tear......

After all, the canvas of this era, mainly linen, could withstand relatively limited force. Beyond this pull range, the sail will tear and be damaged......

Thus, after several failures, the shipbuilders finally came to the conclusion that the upper edge of the girder sail could only be used by medium-sized vessels such as the 250-class armed merchant ships. No matter how big the ship is, it can't be used...... Because, no matter how high the sail is, it is easy to tear......

Marin was a little speechless for a moment...... At the same time, he also remembered that the sails of later generations were able to make such large soft sails because of the extensive use of high-quality tensile materials such as strong nylon or sisal. And now European sails are mainly made of linen, which inevitably lacks strength.

It would be nice to hang the sails on the upper boom like an old-fashioned sailing ship. As Marlin did, if you go up from below, you need to drag the upper edge of the girder and a series of copper rings, which leads to a greater ability to withstand tensile forces. Otherwise, if you are not careful, you will tear it apart with a 'snort'......

Therefore, Marlin needed to use a stronger material to make the upper rim jigger......

Don't think about strong nylon marin, it's a modern petrochemical product. Not to mention that Marin doesn't understand petrochemical industry, even if he understands petrochemical industry, he can't make strong nylon without large-scale chemical equipment that is resistant to corrosion and high pressure......

However, sisal is conditionally available......

Right now, it looks like sisal is still in the desert of northern Mexico with cacti...... As long as Marin sent someone to Mexico to look for it, he could find sisal. After all, the physical characteristics of sisal are so obvious that they can be easily recognized as soon as they are seen......

Just find sisal and promote planting. Then, the high-strength, high-toughness, and sea-resistant canvas made of sisal fibers should be able to be made higher and longer...... Once the sail is taller, its area will naturally be larger, and its ability to harness the wind will naturally be stronger......

In addition, sisal is also an excellent material for making ropes for sea vessels. Even in later generations, most of the cables that held the anchors to ships were made of sisal fibers...... It is conceivable how strong the tensile ability of the cables that can tie up the thousands of tons and 10,000-ton ships in later generations is...... Canvas made of this fiber must have a much higher tensile strength than a canvas made of linen......

……

But before he could get sisal, Marlin had to use the relatively short upper edge jigs. This kind of low upper edge oblique truss sail can only drive a small wooden boat of about 200 tons. No matter how big it is, like a 500-ton warship, it is a little difficult to drive......

Of course, it's not that it can't be driven at all, but even if it can be driven, the speed is definitely not fast......

If you drive a small boat of about 200 tons, it can barely play the role of a sail, so that the boat can only reach a certain speed......

……

However, for the time being, it is enough for Marin to use this kind of armed merchant ship with a displacement of 250 tons, and to equip it with an upper edge boom sail. Coupled with a new steering wheel system, a new type of brig was created. This kind of boat not only has a strong ability to grab the wind, but also is very convenient to steer. It is very flexible above the sea......

In particular, this nimble schooner was well suited for north-south navigation along the coast of the Americas, facilitating Marin's control over the American colonies......