The warm river breeze poured into the cockpit from the open porthole, making everyone inside a little hot.

The large black leather swivel chair in front of the window turned silently for half a circle, revealing the face of Zhu Pingjin, the son of the world. Although this face deliberately leaves a wisp of beard under the chin, the sparse and soft beard instead exposes the owner's youthfulness.

Hearing Zeng Ying's voice, Shizi put down the binoculars and looked sideways with an expressionless face.

"After watching the boat inside and outside the ship for a long time, does General Zeng have some experience?"

Zeng Ying hurriedly took a step forward and said the compliments he had thought of a long time ago:

"The prince of the world is noble, and he knows more about boats than us on the water, and he will be admired so much that he will throw himself to the ground! This ship is slender, low resistance and high speed; Easy to steer and flexible to turn. It is really the first weapon in the war of rivers and lakes! The last general thinks that looking at Chuanchu, no boat is an opponent! ”

The rules of officialdom are always praised throughout, and at the end they are embellished with a little dispensable little expectation. Zeng Ying slapped the horse's ass, but he didn't think about it, but he slapped the horse's feet.

"General Zeng is an expert in water warfare, and he is also the commander of the ** water army, no better than those literati who join in the fun! They can fool the world like this, you can't! ”

Although Shizi did not pull down his face, his language was obviously dissatisfied.

"This son once told you that the navy is a strategic service, not a vassal of the army.

The task of the navy is not only to dominate the Sichuan River, Jingjiang River, Dongting and Poyang!

In the next year or two, the water protection army should control the entire Yangtze River and ensure the free use of troops by the army in Chu, Jiangxi and Nanzhi;

After that, the navy will go out of the river and into the sea, control the North Sea, threaten the Tartars' lair, and nail the beasts to death in the ice and snow, freezing to death and starvation! The Tartars are good at riding and shooting, and it is rumored that they are 300 miles a day. This son wants to see if it is their horses that are fast or the ships of the navy are fast!

As for the future, the navy will even crisscross the seven seas (Note 1) and spread Hanwei far away!

Emperor Taizu Gao's ancestral teaching: The fifteen countries are not levied (Note 2). That Taiwan is the land of the ancestors, but it is occupied by Hongmaoyi, and it must be taken back!

The Japanese repeatedly invaded the coast, as for Nanjing. Is their emperor unable to manage it or not wanting to take care of it?

The rest of the four seas Zhuyi Rite Religion did not flourish, abolished it without authorization, and cut off the tribute route. If there is no lesson at all, is it not aiding the abuse?

In order for the navy to become a strategic service, it cannot be achieved without suitable warships. The two ships of Boryeong and Luzhou are experimental ships. Their mission is to test the ability of ship structures and equipment to accomplish various tasks through practical use.

Through the use of use, summarization, improvement, and perfection, the new generation of large warships will achieve standardized large-scale production and become the main force of the ocean-going combat fleet of the Navy. In other words, your current test is for future use.

Just talking about the advantages and not talking about the disadvantages, isn't it to grab the medicine yourself and ask for hardship! ”

This may be the "imperial spirit"? was scolded for splitting his head and covering his face, Zeng Ying was not worried and happy.

Sailors sail on the vast seas all year round, and the sailors' vision is much wider than that of the army. The breadth of the field of vision determines the breadth of consciousness.

Controlling the North Sea, others may not know what it means. And Zeng Ying understood that this meant that the army could borrow a boat to land and be a stone's throw away from the Forbidden City overnight!

I have become a hero of the founding of the country, and I will not lose the title of a prince; The navy can really go to the seven seas, and I, Zeng Ying, the commander of the navy, is the emperor of the Heavenly Empire!

How dizzying to think about!

However, Zeng Ying is cautious by nature after all. Before answering, he reaffirmed the intention of the prince: "The prince, do you really want to listen to the general's direct advice?" ”

Who knew that the person who answered on behalf of Shizi was Mr. Cheng:

"Loyalty, the world's most virtuous, the duty of the minister! The prince once said: Righteous and bright, honest and selfless, dedicated, loyal to the country, is a loyal minister! Favoritism and deception......"

Unexpectedly, if he was careless, he was raised to the issue of "loyalty and traitor" by the secretary of the prince. Zeng Ying secretly scolded the scholar in his heart for killing people without seeing blood, but his face became more and more respectful, and he replied:

"What Mr. Cheng said is very true, the last general is speechless! The son of the world is a virtuous king, sincere and honest, and the last general should tell him from the bottom of his heart:

Admiral walked through the hull and found several drawbacks.

Disadvantage 1: This ship's guns are large and small, and the actual combat is worrying.

The method of water warfare, or the strong head of the big ship hits the rotten wood of the small boat, and it is suddenly powdered; or burn with fire ships and oil, and destroy men and ships; Or help board the ship and kill the enemy chieftain.

Relying on shelling alone has little effect. Why?

Regardless of the size of the solid iron, there is little difference in the lethality of a medium wooden ship: large and small holes can be plugged with a prepared wooden cone, and it is difficult to sink even if you make a pair of piercing......

For example, in the sixth year of Chongzhen, Zheng Zhilong gathered more than 100 warships and fireships to fight the galleons of Hongmaoyi (Note 3) in the Kinmen Inland Sea. The ship of Hongmaoyi was large and strong, and the cannon was heavy and far away, but it could not stand the Zheng fireboat swarmed like a group of wolves, burned and fled, and was captured ......"

"Go on!" Shizi ordered. His eyes wandered in front of him, not knowing whether he was happy or angry.

Zeng Ying sorted out his thoughts, and collected some suitable words from his stomach, and then said carefully:

"Disadvantage 2: This ship is long and thin, presumably to run faster, making it difficult for the enemy to get close. In this way, the big ship gallops back and forth, and the front and rear main guns can be unleashed...... But in the end, if you want to run fast, you should be consistent, and you must not be half-hearted. The last general heard that Zheng Zhilong's newly built big bird ship now has as many as five masts and eight sails......

The Boryeong Tower towers over the center of the hull. Although it looks majestic and magnificent, it is actually top-heavy and unstable; and the winds on all sides were blocked, and the sails were narrowed...... Rather than that, it is better to simply tear down the ship, or move the shipbuilding to the stern. Then remove the head and tail cannons, and change them to the left and right sides. In this way, the two sides of the mast and sail can be added to the bow and tail, and a number of gunships and head guns can be added to the two sides......"

Seeing that the warning was ineffective, the big secretary Cheng Xiangfeng had to remind:

"General Zeng......"

"General Zeng expressed his views directly, which is exactly what this son wants!" Shizi's back shook his hand and motioned to Cheng Xiangfeng not to interject.

"Bitter!" Zeng Ying, who was difficult to ride a tiger, lamented in his heart.

He was hesitating, but he caught a glimpse of the group of young officers who had quietly surrounded Da Jiang.

Zeng Ying suddenly woke up: Today's protector **, there are too many young people who want to be appreciated by the prince and rise overnight! I don't want to say it when I have the opportunity, but others are waiting for the opportunity!

"Shizi, the last general is bold!"

Zeng Ying finally took a bold step forward and stood beside Zhu Pingjian.

"The third disadvantage: the hull of the Boryeong ship is long and narrow, the ship's outboard is too heavy, it is easy to be attacked by large waves, and it is all made of pine, cedar and other inferior wood. The rivers and lakes are small and the wind and waves are safe. But as Shizi said, the navy is a strategic branch of the military, and it is to go to sea and sail far away. The sea is not like a river, it is the wind that sweeps like a sweep, and the waves go like a mountain. I am afraid that under the blow of the wind and waves, the ship's gunwales will be misaligned, the keel will be broken, and the result will be the disintegration of the whole ship, and the people and ships will be lost! ”

……

The autumn colors on both sides of the Jinjiang River are golden, and the cab of the Boryeong is as lively as a street market.

Zeng Ying, as an experienced commander in naval warfare, hit everyone's pain point with his words, especially Zhu Pingjin.

Jiangdong celebrities and Sichuan Province relatives took the Xiyi sea boat to the Three Gorges before the Nanjin Pass did not dare to move forward, Uncle Qiu had to settle the group of ladies and nobles, and he took the hired foreign captains and sailors to abandon the ship and land into Sichuan. When he arrived in Chongqing, Uncle Qiu Guo did not leave at home under the pretext of ill health, so the captain and sailors were sent to Chengdu by the Chongqing Garrison Regiment.

Before Zhu Pingjin left for Meizhou, he had an in-depth exchange with the Spanish captain of Xiyi Haizhou on the design of the Boryeong.

Captain Na Langji didn't know Zhu Pingjin's identity, so he took a gold ingot and poured out his opinions and plates with a smile.

He insisted that the length-to-width ratio of the Boryeong was too large, which had a great negative impact on the hull structure. For example, when passing through a long swell, the ship's body will be lifted up by the wavehead, resulting in a strong middle arch, and even causing the dragon to break bones;

The bow side of the Boryeong floating outside is also not proper. When the waves are on the side of the wave, this drift will be subjected to a strong impact, causing the hull to swing back and forth, accelerating the structural damage or even disintegration of the hull. When fighting on the gang, this kind of side will make it easier for the enemy to jump into the gang, so the new battleships of Western maritime powers such as England, France, and Spain have all used an inward tilt design above the waterline.

The Boryeong ship has a single mast and a single sail, and the distribution of the two main guns in the front and rear of the center line is even more incredible.

Since the defeat of the Spanish Armada in the English Channel, the naval battles of the civilized world have been won by volleys of gunfire from the battle line. The indicators for evaluating the firepower of a battleship are, first, the number of guns; second, the weight of artillery projectiles; The third is the number of layers of artillery decks. Even the smallest fourth-tier battleship should not have less than forty guns!

Zeng Ying's views on the Boryeong were obviously influenced by his experience in Fujian, and also represented the opinions of some officers with combat experience, such as Yu Dajiang.

Others, unrestrained young officers, were counter-arguments. They believed that a powerful main gun could compensate for the numerical inferiority, and that the main and secondary guns, which could rotate in a wide range, could fire at both sides, winning the flexibility of firepower output on a complex battlefield, and doubling the number of guns in disguise.

The brass horn of the sound transmission turned the officers' arguments into a chattering noise that spread to the oars, to the sail line handling posts, and then to the entire ship. There were already some worthless crew members standing in the corridor outside the cockpit, inquiring about what was happening in the cabin.

I can't say anything about it.

Zhu Pingjin borrowed the strength of the porthole frame and turned the rotating seat one hundred and eighty degrees in a chic manner, so that his face was facing everyone:

"General Zeng is honest and undeceiving, and he told the truth! The main and auxiliary guns are fully midline piggyback arrangement, all straight decks, as well as the outboard of the floating ship, the design of the middle shipbuilding, the large aspect ratio and the single sloop, all of which are unprecedented innovations! ”

"But there are more than what you know, and what you don't know! The main gun determines the power of a battleship, and I'm afraid everyone is very concerned. This son might as well reveal a little in advance: it is a short-barreled heavy artillery with a caliber of five and a half inches! Each iron cannon weighs about thirty pounds! ”

"The main cannon weighing thirty pounds? Isn't that the equivalent of the Rimmaoyi's largest forty-two-pounder gun? Zeng Ying pinched his fingers and was amazed. He knew that there were many countries in Xiyi, and Hongmaoyi was only one of them. It is said that Hongmaoyi is very good at business and shipbuilding. Compared to England, another maritime power, the Khmauri's ships were small and their guns were heavy, so the naval battle did not fall behind. But the largest naval gun in Hongmaoyi is only a forty-two-pounder gun!

"In addition, the Firearms Bureau has prepared three types of guns for the main artillery. In addition to the solid bullets and glutinous bullets that you have all seen, there is also a high-power flowering bullet that you have never seen! ”

Speaking of the powerful flowering bomb, Zhu Pingjian's face couldn't help but show a smug look. Seeing that everyone was curious, he added:

"The power of this flowering shell is no better than that of a fifteen-pound cannon! The power requirement is to concoct the enemy twice. Even if you hit two shots, you can destroy a 300-stone grain ship! ”

The words of the two concoctions of the prince immediately made Zeng Ying gasp.

In the battle of Qujiang, two centipede 1 relied on the firepower of two seven-and-a-half-pound short guns in the bow of the ship to ravage a 300-stone grain ship of the earth tyrant. However, the key to victory is still the lethal effect of single bullets and glutinous bullets on personnel after penetrating the hull. The local rioters suffered heavy casualties, and they couldn't win and run away, so they had to surrender.

After the flowering bullet hits the enemy ship, it can also explode, and the power is naturally much greater than that of a single bomb. However, both Chinese and foreign, naval warships have rarely used flowering shells.

The inconvenience of using the flowering bomb is only a secondary reason, and the poor safety is the main reason. In the event of a fire, piles of flowering shells are equivalent to exposed powder kegs and are extremely dangerous.

But the flowering bomb is so dangerous, the prince still insists on using it, presumably the flowering bomb produced by the protection ** has solved the safety problem. For example, the 15-pound guns of the Centipede Boat III have been equipped with a large number of flowering shells, and there have been no explosion accidents.

But two fifteen-pound flowering bombs exploded together, and it was impossible to destroy the three-hundred-stone grain ship in an instant! How powerful is it?

Zeng Ying and the others had not yet tasted the taste, and many young officers who stretched out their ears to listen to the words had already cheered with joy: This kind of enemy-destroying artifact is used on the dilapidated civilian ships stolen by those thieves, isn't it a knife to kill chickens!

"It's just to kill the chicken!" The prince slammed the table, and a strong murderous aura suddenly overflowed: "The thief is in vain to reach the destiny of heaven, don't you know that this son of the world and Miss Luo can use the power of heaven and earth!" ”

Can make the power of heaven and earth!

Shizi's words made everyone's nerves be poked suddenly.

"How can we harness the power of heaven and earth?" Shizi asked everyone with a smile.

Everyone shook their heads.

There was a young officer who thought about whether the sails of the navy could be regarded as "making the power of heaven and earth"? Just as he was about to raise his hand to answer, he thought that a platoon-level officer who was contemptuous of people could "make the power of heaven and earth", didn't he just fall into the big pit of "vain admiring the destiny of heaven"? So he retracted his half-raised hand back into his sleeve like lightning, and only his head shook desperately.

Seeing that no one answered, the prince smiled and uncovered the mystery: "There is a knowledge that tells people how to use the power of heaven and earth." This kind of learning is science! ”

Everyone suddenly realized.

There are two subjects of mathematics and science in the Shu examination, and the scholars who took the exam complained wildly about the new examination subjects, which made everyone in the province know. The word science, like an unscrupulous bandit, forcibly entered everyone's field of vision for the first time.

"This time I brought you to the Machine Bureau to show you the power of science! The drawbacks of warships mentioned by General Zeng can be solved by science. Shizi laughed. Subsequently, he instructed Cheng Xiangfeng to draft an order to include Zeng Ying as a person who could access the secret level of the Firearms Bureau.

Without waiting for Zeng Ying to thank him, the prince commanded again:

"The navy is a technical service, and the salary subsidy for officers and soldiers of the same level should be higher than that of the army! But from now on, all naval officers who are promoted to positions above the company level must have a diploma of C and above in mathematics and science! ”

It turns out that the prince has been talking for a long time, and his purpose is here!

Zeng Ying understood.

Those who beg for a living on the water all year round also understand.

Although there are many people who can't read a fight, they know that a C-class diploma is equivalent to a talent in the Ming Dynasty!

Note 1: Ancient China had a vague understanding of the world's oceans and oceans. Nanami, which can be understood as the sea of the world. In the letter of state to the Pope, Emperor Yuan Shun has the word "Seven Seas".

Note 2: If you are interested, please Baidu by yourself.

Note 3: Hongmaoyi, the common name of the Dutch Ming Dynasty.