Early the next morning, Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Sen first came to the Fabio shipyard in Beigang. The fact that Zheng Zhilong was going to inspect the shipyard www.biquge.info was naturally known to Fabio for a long time. Even, over the question of whose shipyard the "big handsome" should inspect first, he once again had an argument with Lawrence. Fabio knew that there was now a competition for a new coal carrier. According to the Metallurgical Division, such vessels will be used for coal transportation between Qiongzhou and Da Viet Kingdom, and considering that the demand for metal will continue to rise in the future, the demand for such vessels will also be very large, which is definitely a big deal.

In Fabio's view, if Zheng Zhilong can be allowed to inspect his shipyard first, then in the case of preconceived ideas, "it is more likely that the marshal will be inclined to himself." And he has also prepared a lot of new tricks that can attract the attention of the handsome. By the way, you can also give Lawrence some eye medicine - although Lawrence kept his designs strictly secret, Fabio still found out a lot of news.

Lawrence knew this, of course, and worked hard, but in Fabio's view, he was at a natural disadvantage - because his shipyard was farther away from where the "big handsome" was staying. So in the end, Fabio still won, and of course, in order to win, he also used some not-so-bright methods, such as having someone write a letter to Liu De, and attach a silver ticket to the letter, and also left Lawrence's name. He knew that Liu De was an ambitious person, and he would never be tempted for this little money. As a result, Fabio's shipyard managed to get the first place.

When Zheng Zhilong arrived at the first gate of the shipyard, Fabio was already waiting. After entering the first gate of the shipyard, the carriage turned to an open space next to it and came to a stop, according to the rules, the shipyard is a highly confidential and highly sensitive area, and no outside vehicles are allowed to enter the core area. All vehicles entering and exiting need to be closely checked, and Zheng Sen's car is no exception. In addition, it is not far from the core area of the shipyard, and the roads inside the yard are very busy, with tracks everywhere for transporting materials, and there is no road for ordinary horse-drawn carriages.

Zheng Zhilong got off the carriage and looked around, and saw that this shipyard was almost a city. It was only the first gate that had just entered, and behind this gate there was a higher wall, on which there were two cannons. Zheng Zhilong recognized that the two cannons were just old-fashioned three-pounder guns, and they were probably just for show, after all, this shipyard was near Beigang, and it was so vulnerable to attack.

Fabio led everyone through the second gate, then walked to a staircase and said, "Commander, you have never been here before, but the road for people in this shipyard is in the air, and the place below is reserved for those heavy carriages. ”

Zheng Zhilong nodded, and followed Fabio up. The top is a plank road with wooden planks in the air, and the bottom is supported by pillars. Zheng Zhilong stood here and looked down, and saw a carriage, loaded with wood, pulled by two horses, passing underneath. Zheng Zhilong estimated that the wood was very light, but it didn't seem very laborious to see the two horses pulling the horse, so he asked: "This horse looks ordinary, how can it pull such a heavy wood?" ”

"Dashuai." Fabio hurriedly replied, "Take a closer look, the carriage is running on the track invented by the major general. The track is made of hardwood, wrapped in a layer of wrought iron, and then smeared with whale oil, so that it is exceptionally smooth, and the ground is very flat, so that the horses can pull it up without much effort. It's just that once the carriage runs, it can't stop easily. Therefore, if there are people below, it is easy to have an accident in which the carriage hits people. So I came up with the idea of building such a plank road in the air, so that both people and carriages would be safe. ”

Zheng Zhilong nodded and said, "Fabio, the method you think of is really good. ”

"It's a pity that the secretariat of the major general refuses to admit that my method has a patent." Fabio pursed his lips and said, "They say that the plank road has been around thousands of years ago, and it is not my invention." Of course, I have to admit that they have a point. I've always been a fifteen-ten. It's just that the thought that Lawrence, the thief, didn't have to spend a penny, took the method I came up with, and built such a plank road in his shipyard, made me feel uncomfortable. This guy will copy other people's ideas. Taking advantage of Lawrence's absence, Fabio hastened to create an opportunity to discredit him.

However, neither Zheng Zhilong nor Zheng Sen picked up this conversation. Zheng Zhilong looked at the heavy-duty carriage running below, and then said, "Fabio, let's go and see the ship being built in your factory." ”

Fabio led a few more people along the boardwalk and arrived near the dock. There is a raised platform that can be climbed to overlook the entire dock. Fabio led a few people up to the high platform, pointed to one of the dry docks and said, "Marshal, young general, look, this is a large coal carrier under construction.

Zheng Zhilong looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a sea ship being built in the largest dock in front of him. Looking at the style of this boat, it looks very much like a Chinese-style lucky boat.

"This boat looks a lot like a lucky boat." Zheng Zhilong said.

"Shuai, you're right. In fact, Chinese-style ships also have many advantages, such as heavy load, low cost, and easy training of sailors. Taken together, as a cargo ship, it has obvious advantages over European-style ships in terms of cost. Fabio said, "In particular, this ship will be used for transportation between Qiongzhou and Da Viet, which is not much distance, and the usual wind and waves in this area are not too big, and coal is not a time-sensitive cargo, so I relaxed the aspect ratio, and the length and width ratio of this ship was put by me to 3.5 to 1." Of course, this will cost a significant reduction in speed, but it will greatly increase the carrying capacity, and the ship can transport more things with the same wood. ”

"The ship doesn't seem to have a compartment either?" Zheng Sen asked with a frown.

Chinese-style sea ships have compartments, which can ensure that if a certain cabin is flooded, the whole ship will not sink. This is one of the great advantages of Fukufune. Now that Fabio's ship is almost ready, the top deck has not yet been laid. Looking from this side, it is clear that the ship does not have a compartment design.

"Yes, Major General, I didn't adopt the compartment design." Fabio said, "You know, from Qiongzhou to Da Viet, the sea route is in a semi-enclosed bay, and the wind and waves are not big. If the compartment design is adopted, the cost of such a ship will be increased. I don't think it's much necessary. Of course, this is not the main reason. The main reason is that the use of compartments makes loading and unloading slower. You see, if such a ship is to guarantee that if there is a compartment that is flooded and does not sink when it is full of cargo, then we have to provide it with as many as five compartments. In this way, each compartment needs to open a hatch, and each hatch can't actually be opened very large, and the result is not as convenient as one or two large hatches. According to our calculations, this saves about a third of the loading and unloading time. Marshal, Major General, you know, dock time is very precious. If each ship could be unloaded in a third of the time, the efficiency would be very high. It's not impossible for me to definitely pay a little bit for this. And this is a ship with Chinese sails, there are not many sailors needed on it, and if something really happens, the big sampan that the ship carries can put everyone down. Add to this the fact that even at the furthest point of the route, it is not too far from the shore, and the sailors themselves can sail to the shore by themselves with a small folding sail on my specially designed sampan. Not to mention the fact that such ships will always sail in formation. ”

"But Fabio, the presence of the partition is not only to prevent water ingress, but also to strengthen the ship's strength, if there is no partition, is the ship strong enough? It won't break itself because of a swell when it is full of goods, right? Zheng Zhilong also said with some unease, "The sea in that area is relatively calm, but after all, it is the sea, not a big pond." ”

"Commander, according to the calculation, the degree of sturdiness is sufficient. As long as the sailors do not carry them out to sea in a typhoon. Compared to the average boat, this boat is much thicker and shorter, which in itself makes it a little stronger, especially when facing swells. Fabio replied, "If the marshal is not at ease, I can also add a partition to it, which is not a problem, but if you add a partition, the purchase price needs to be increased a little." Marshal, Major General, I have to say that the guys of the Metallurgical Department are really too picky, and the price they pay for a sea boat, if calculated by unit load, is not much more than a ship for lakes and rivers! ”

"In the end, just relying on calculations is not necessarily reliable in many cases. We still have to wait until it is finished and then drive to the sea to try it. Zheng Sen said. This is true, because the mechanics of materials in this era is still completely dark, and calculations based on such an academic basis are not necessarily reliable.

"That's what the Major General said." Fabio immediately climbed up along the pole, "This ship will be launched in half a month, and then it will be ready to sail to the sea to try." If the marshal and the major general are free at that time, I don't know if they can come to the shipyard and participate in the ceremony of launching the ship. ”

"I'll talk about it then, and if I have time, I'd like to come and see it too." Zheng Zhilong said with a smile.

"Also, Major General, you also know that according to Tessie's rules, when the ship is launched, it is necessary to have a lady smash a bottle of wine at the bow of the ship, which is considered a good luck for a safe year. I wonder if I can labor your beautiful lady to do this? Fabio quickly added. He doesn't want to pass up any opportunity to get in touch with the big boss.