Climb aboard the giant ship and the weather is myriad.

The strong shock, in all directions, one after another, overwhelming.

However, at this time, Cixi had already come out of the initial trance, and although her mood was agitated, she was already able to look at what she saw in front of her with a relatively calm eye.

The first thing that surprised her was a few huge masts.

Such coarse timber can only be found in the largest palaces of the Forbidden City, such as the Taihe Palace, in China, which are used as the main load-bearing columns. Cixi knew that wood of this size was harvested from the deep mountains and old forests in the south, and it cost tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to cut down, go out of the mountains, and return to Beijing.

Cixi asked in a low voice, "This ...... What kind of wood are the pillars made of? ”

Guan Zhuofan said: "Back to the Queen Mother, I used 'oak'. The world's finest 'oak trees' are grown in Europa and the United States. Well, we also produce this thing in China -- we call it 'oak tree'. However, the quantity is not much, and the quality and thickness are not as good as the 'oaks' of Europe and the United States. ”

Cixi said: "I remember, this 'champion' was bought for 1.16 million taels of silver? ”

"Yes, it's 1,160,000 taels of silver -- the Queen Mother's memory is very good!"

Cixi sighed softly.

Guan Zhuofan knew why the royal sister sighed: the whole ship only cost 1.1 million taels of silver - this money, if put into China, is only enough to buy these big "pillars"!

The Champion has four large "pillars" - one mast and three mainmasts - and the upper masts are also very thick.

His heart moved slightly: This is a good opportunity to instill "correct concepts" in the royal sister - those who "inspect" the gods and horses can't just look at the flowers and just watch the excitement!

Guan Zhuofan coughed lightly. Said: "Everything is in the Holy Ming Cave!" England was able to build such a big ship. Specializing in the benefits of the ocean. In fact, it has a lot to do with the British court, from the British king downwards, to vigorously advocate the planting of 'oak trees', and make unremitting efforts! ”

"Oh?"

"Back to the Queen Mother. Ark wood must be used to build a good ship, a great ship, and a strong ship. Well, the minister replied to the Queen Mother with an allusion. About ten years after Jiaqing, Britain and France fought a naval battle. In this battle, the French side, as well as the Spanish helpers, was considered to be two against one, but the result was a complete victory for the British. Of the 33 ships of the Franco-Spanish coalition forces, 8 were sunk. Twelve more were taken prisoner by the British; And the British twenty-seven ships, not a single one was lost. ”

"Oh. Britain and France, it turns out that they also fought? ”

"Yes, Britain and France both want to lead Western countries, and they want to fight for overseas territory, back and forth, and they have fought some wars."

Cixi's mind is very bright, even so, between Britain and France, do I have an "opportunity"?

However, this issue does not need to be discussed on this occasion.

"Well, what do you mean, the British won the battle because the British ships were good; British ships are good because ...... 'Oak' is used for shipbuilding? ”

Guan Zhuofan secretly praised the royal sister for her quick response and said, "The Queen Mother Shengming! Take the Victory, the flagship of the British fleet - oh, the flagship is the ship used by the captain of the fleet. Well, the 'Victory' is made entirely of oak trees that are more than 100 years old, and these oak trees, after being harvested, are first soaked and polished for a full fourteen years before they are used to make ships - such wood, which does not crack, does not deform, and is extremely strong. ”

"The Victory had a total of 5,000 such oak trees, and it took 19 years to complete."

Cixi gasped lightly, and after the veil, her expression was solemn, she nodded, and said, "No wonder. ”

No wonder, England is invincible in the world; No wonder, the British invaded twice, and the great Celestial Empire was completely powerless to resist.

Guan Zhuofan said: "Although this 'Victory' is no longer involved in combat, it is still as strong as ever, and it is still in service with the British Navy, well, it is used as a 'work ship'. Chen remembered that the 'Victory' was put into service about the 43rd year of Qianlong, and it has been nearly 90 years since then. ”

After a pause, he said: "With the condition of the 'Victory', it can be done for another ninety years." ”

The Royal Sister let out a slight exclamation.

Guan Zhuofan is not fooling the royal sister. It was not until 1922 that the "Victory" was completely decommissioned and became a cultural relic; When Kwan Zhuofan crossed, the "Victory" was still well anchored in Portsmouth Harbour.

Guan Zhuofan continued: "Also, in the naval battle fought by Britain and France, didn't the French and Western coalition forces capture twelve ships? On the night of the end of the war, a great storm arose on the sea, and for four days it blew, and eight of the twelve ships sank; The ships of the British, in the midst of the great storm, did not sink a single one. ”

Cixi nodded and said, "The British man-made ships are indeed better than the French. ”

Sighing slightly, he said, "Giant oaks are everywhere in the UK, this ...... Alas, what a blessing! ”

Guan Zhuofan smiled and said: "Back to the Queen Mother, in this Britain, at the beginning, there were actually very few oak trees in the territory, and most of the oak used for shipbuilding was imported from the European continent. ”

Cixi was quite surprised, thought for a moment, and said: "You just said, 'The British court, from the British king downwards, vigorously advocated the planting of oak trees', and what kind of 'persistent' -- could it be that these big trees were planted by the British themselves? ”

Guan Zhuofan said: "Queen Mother Shengming, that's exactly the case! Most of the Western powers are based on commerce and trade, and trade is open to the ocean, and oak is not only the key to shipbuilding, but also an important material related to national fortunes. At the time of the rise of the British, they were at odds with the European powers across the sea, and the European countries refused to export oak to Britain. The British have no other way but to grow their own seeds. ”

"Queen Mother Mingjian, the British Isles, the terrain is narrow, how much extra place can be used to plant big trees? What's more, this oak tree takes a long time to grow? The capital is large, and the return is slow, and ordinary farmers will never do this business. Therefore, this matter cannot be done without the court from top to bottom, vigorously advocating and promoting! ”

The royal sister frowned slightly, and thought to herself: What if it were me?

"In 1503, the British enacted a law, called the 'Tree Planting Law', to encourage the planting of oak trees. Well, that was the fifteenth year of the former Ming Hongzhi, and it has been more than three hundred and sixty years since then. ”

Sister Yu moved: For the sake of a kind of tree, a special law was drafted?

Kwan continued: "The King of England has designated the oak tree as the 'national tree' and called it the 'Royal Oak'. The British Navy's military song is called 'Heart of the Oak'. ”

"Also, in the naval battle between England and France, the chief and deputy commanders of the British fleet were the most powerful advocates of planting oak trees. The British commander was called Nelson, who repeatedly inspected the oak plantation area and wrote to the imperial court, asking the cardinal to pay attention to his affairs; The lieutenant's name was Collingwood, and he had a habit that when the ship docked, he would bring a sack full of oak seeds, and scatter the oak seeds wherever he went. ”

After the veil, her eyes were blazing, and the royal sister said softly: "You mean, we should also vigorously plant this oak tree?" ”

Guan Zhuofan shook his head slightly and said, "Back to the Queen Mother, this time, that time." Now the warships have begun to be covered with iron armor. Western shipbuilding technology is changing with each passing day, and the current ironclad ships are still 'iron bones, wood muscles, and iron armor', but the minister estimates that it will not be long before they will become real 'iron bones, iron muscles, and iron armor'! Therefore......"

"You wait- well, you mean, now...... In the future, oak will not be so important to build ships, what is really important is - steel? ”

"Shengming is no more than the Queen Mother! Surrender! In the future, the decisive victory in the sea frontier - in fact, not only on the sea, but also on land - is to fight steel! Whoever has more iron, who can make good steel, who can build strong ships and cannons, will win! Just like back then, whoever has more oak trees and enough good materials can build a sturdy ship, and whoever is the overlord of the sea! ”

Cixi pondered for a while, and couldn't help but feel excited, feeling that the blood was slightly hot! Guan Zhuofan's words resonated extremely strongly with the fierce ideological fluctuations about steel when she first saw the "Champion".

She said, "How much iron does it cost to build such a big ship?" We...... Is there so much iron? ”

Guan Zhuofan said categorically: "Back to the Queen Mother, there are yes!" All this iron is buried in the ground! We in China, the land is vast, what treasures are there underground? It's just that we didn't need it before, so we didn't bother to find it! This prospecting is also a university question, but as long as we take out the vigor of the British to plant oak trees and put in a lot of effort, how much iron can't be found, can't be dug up, and can't be refined? ”

"Find an iron mine, set up an iron factory, and smelt good steel, and by that time, we will be able to build such a big ship ourselves!" Bigger and better than this, I can't say for sure! ”

Cixi's blood was boiling, and for a while, she didn't know what to say. Subconsciously, she made a move that she had never done before: grabbed Guan Zhuofan's hand and held it tightly.

*(To be continued......)