The shopkeeper took Zhou Bofu two more steps, and then came to another slipway that was much smaller, and on this slipway there was a sand boat under construction.

"Mr. Zhou, you see this is a sand boat. This type of boat has a shallow draft, can also be used in the river, and has a large load. Sir's request is that the cargo hold only needs to be modified to accommodate the size of the TEU and the loading and unloading of the crane. "The shopkeeper's word.

"It's fine, but the sand boat is still too slow. I don't think it's enough to just modify the cargo hold. Zhou Bofu said, "Shopkeeper Li, I don't know if there is a way to increase the speed of the ship?" ”

Shopkeeper Li said: "If you want to improve the speed, it's not impossible. Some of our shipbuilders have built warships there before. Our warships have always attached great importance to speed, so there are really many ways on the fleet side of the fleet to increase the speed of their ships. But Mr. Zhou, you must also understand that the ship is such a thing, and if it is strong in this aspect, it will be weak in that aspect; If it is strong in all aspects, the price must be expensive. For example, if the boat is made a little more slender, the speed can be significantly improved, but the flexibility of steering and the ability to resist wind and waves will be reduced to a certain extent. However, these problems are not impossible to solve, the real problem is that once the ship is built too slender, the same amount of wood will make the ship, the cargo capacity will be much smaller. And there is simply no solution to this problem. ”

Zhou Bofu can fully understand this problem, he has taught himself some geometry, and naturally understands that under the condition of the same surface area, the closer the shape of the object is to the sphere, the larger the volume, on the contrary, the more slender it is, the smaller the volume. When it comes to the vessel, the surface area basically determines the amount of timber used, while the volume determines the volume of the vessel.

"What kind of balance should be chosen in this is still up to you insiders to decide." Zhou Bofu said.

"Mr. Zhou, let's go over there for some tea, and by the way, how about taking a look at the several types of ships we have prepared for you?" Shopkeeper Li said again.

Zhou Bofu listened, looked at the sand boat under construction, and then said, "Then trouble Shopkeeper Li." ”

The shopkeeper Li took Zhou Bofu to the south and entered a hall. Entering the hall, Zhou Bofu saw a model of a one-foot-long fortune ship placed in the middle of the hall. The model is very delicately made, with meticulous carvings on the masts, sails, and even windows. I used good red paint again, and it looked particularly beautiful.

Shopkeeper Li didn't take Zhou Bofu to see the model, but only took him to the side, pointed to a few small models about two feet long placed next to him, and said to Zhou Bofu: "Mr. Zhou, you come to see these boats." You look at this one first, this one is the most basic model, basically a sand ship, but the cargo hold has been changed, and it can just put down 900 1,200 pounds of standard boxes. In ports with cranes, each TEU can be lifted directly up and down with a port crane. According to our calculations, the speed of loading and unloading of cargo on this ship is more than five times faster than that of an average ship. Mr. Zhou also knows that many times, the time spent by ships in port is not much less than the time spent at sea. ”

Zhou Bofu saw it, nodded, and pointed to another one: "What about this one?" ”

Shopkeeper Li then introduced: "The speed of this boat is faster than the previous one, and it can take five to six days of ordinary sand boats every four days. But it can only fit 750 TEUs......"

While the two were talking, someone suddenly walked in with a Tessie. Zhou Bofu naturally glanced over there. I don't want that Taixi man to come over with a smile on his face when he saw Zhou Bofu, hugged his fists, and greeted him in a fairly standard official language: "Mr. Zhou, I didn't expect to meet you here." We haven't seen each other in years, right? ”

Zhou Bofu did not recognize who this white man was. Like many Chinese, he was naturally a little faceblind and embarrassed by the faces of those white people, but he saw a guy who accompanied the Tessie and said, "It turns out that Mr. Bell is also an old friend of Mr. Zhou." ”

Hearing this name, Zhou Bofu suddenly remembered that the tall Taixi man in front of him was the same Bell who co-authored "The Origin of Species" with Zheng Sen. He hurriedly replied: "I heard that Mr. Bell, you have gone back to Taixi, and I heard that Xiao Wang Ye Zheng said that you went back to England and went to Cambridge to be the doctor of Guozijian, and I thought that I would never see you again?" Why are you ...... again?"

Hearing someone mention this matter, Bell's conversation box immediately opened: "Old Zhou, you don't know England. England and Da Ming can't be compared, no, it should be said that the whole of Tessie can't compare with Da Ming. At Tessie, you have no academic freedom at all! You see, I co-authored "The Origin of Species" with Major General, and I know that this book brought him a lot of fame and controversy in the Ming Dynasty. But Da Ming is good, Da Ming is a place of freedom, even if the major general's views are not consistent with the official, even if many people do not agree with his views, but everyone is a learned and educated gentleman, and he will only debate in a gentleman's way. There is a famous saying in the Ming Dynasty that 'the gentleman speaks, the villain does it', which is really true, isn't it. And sadly, in my hometown, even Cambridge, there are a whole bunch of villains! Instead of arguing with me on reason, they kept buttoning me up, calling me a 'blasphemer' and saying that I had sold my soul to the devil! It's ridiculous. ”

"It's too ...... to argue about a problem, but you can scold people," Zhou Bofu also said.

"I think, Da Ming definitely won't be like this, right? Chinese are sensible gentlemen, right? Bell grabbed Zhou Bofu's hand.

Zhou Bofu thought in his heart: "I Daming actually has a similar approach, otherwise, how did He Xinyin and Li Zhuowu die?" But my Ming scholars really don't make it like this because of the problem of ghosts and gods. However, although Zhou Bofu thought so, he didn't say it.

"Ah, I knew no. Major General is an example of this. "But the fellows at Cambridge are not. A whole bunch of fools who don't know anything but the Bible, one by one, threw white gloves in my face and wanted to duel me! Well, it's a rather barbaric habit of our Tessie. When two people have a conflict, they can use a duel to resolve the grievance. Old Zhou, you know, I used to run around the world. I don't know how many dangers I have encountered, if I hadn't been in it twice, I would have been dragged back by those barbarians and cooked and eaten. Where are those guys against me? I took out five in a bayonet duel and managed to make the average intelligence of the English rise significantly. So these cowards don't dare to throw white gloves at me anymore. But these fellows keep slandering His Majesty the King, to burn me, a heretic, an enemy of Christ, and a brother of Satan. Years of life in the wild have given me the ability to predict dangers like wild animals. I immediately smelled danger. So, I hurried out of Cambridge and went back to the East. ”

"Alas......" Zhou Bofu sighed with Bell, and said, "Why did Mr. Bell come here today?" ”