Outside Tianjin, after Li Xuanqing and his wife rewarded the shipyard shipwrights and Guo Chongtao's naval department, Qin Yao really carried the guns onto the warship in three days, and rebuilt two ammunition compartments decently. When Li Xuanqing saw Qin Yao's artillery, he almost fell to the ground. Although he didn't know how many times he had been killed, the artillery made by Qin Yao was still the kind of short-barreled fixed gun in history, and the performance was even worse than what was written in history because this kind of artillery could not adjust the angle and direction of fire.

In front of so many people, Li Xuanqing didn't say much, so he came to the ammunition compartment, which was designed so that Li Xuanqing didn't say anything. Fixed platoon ammunition storage mode, and also connected to the upper battery with a pulley block. The surrounding walls are made of pure steel, and there are a lot of things stuffed between the two layers of steel plates that Li Xuanqing can't understand. The interior is also wrapped in raw cowhide. Since Li Xuanqing didn't expect it to be able to make a rear-loading cannon, he didn't ask much about their lack of a special firing chamber. Just ordered to sail.

In the past few months, Guo Chongtao and his soldiers have almost lived in the shipyard, not only familiar with the characteristics of this new type of ship, but also exercising his and his subordinates' knowledge of water and ship management. After Xu Xingxia's people arrived in Tianjin, Guo Chongtao even mingled with these people every day, invited them to dinner, and learned navigation knowledge from them little by little. After Han Xun and others came to Tianjin, they brought the royal classics captured by Hu Xiaosi, and all the records about the navy in them were also given to Guo Chongtao. With the little bit of the ship in front of him taking shape, all kinds of new machines and professional equipment for navigation transported from the rear are also in place. Many of these are first-time appearances, such as water compasses, transoceanic charts, steam engines, new nautical chart templates, and so on. Han Xun didn't know a lot about these things, but he and Guo Chongtao had been in Tianjin for so long and pondered little by little, although they didn't know how to make it, but they all figured it out.

And according to Li Xuanqing's meaning, Guo Chongtao divided one of his guards into several departments with the sailors he collected during this time: the War Department, a full-time naval battle; Sailor's Department, full-time ship operation; The power department is the technician who burns the boiler or overhauls and so on; Logistics Department, Kitchen Baggage and other logistics matters; Then there is the captain's room, which includes two deputy captains who serve as the supreme leader of the entire ship. Although this division of labor is primitive, Li Xuanqing didn't say anything, and there are some things that need to be explored and corrected little by little, which is good for the growth of a brand new class.

After Guo Chongtao received Li Xuanqing's order, he did not hesitate, waved his hand to let the flag bearer behind him move the flag, and the trumpeter next to him also blew a snow-white conch, and the whining sound began to sound suddenly. To be honest, Li Xuanqing is a little unimpressed by this way of transmitting signals, but with the current conditions, he can only rely on the voices of different vocal segments and the sounds of different instruments to convey different commands. This first ship is okay, if the fleet is formed in the future, it will be more necessary to systematically compile this flag system.

"Senior brother, you go back and help Guo Chongtao compile these horn sounds and flags into a complete system, it is best to make two sets of systems, one for Guo Chongtao's military, and the other set is simpler, and it does not involve military movements to the patrol department, so that they can temporarily issue it to all the fleets and maritime merchants along the coast." Li Xuanqing saw Han Xun walking to his side, so he handed over the matter to him.

Han Xun was stunned for a moment, then understood what was going on, and hurriedly nodded in agreement. Just as he was about to say something, a clever voice sounded behind him, "Senior brother, if you have time, you might as well pay more attention to things at sea, such as the rules of sailing at sea, the taboo on the use of boats, and the regulations on search and rescue and rescue at sea." Some things may be too early to build, but it's not a bad idea to get the framework up early. ”

"Senior brother, you might as well spend more time. The military academy has stabilized, so let the teacher worry about it for a while longer. Senior brother first helped to find a way to build the Naval Academy. Li Xuanqing nodded and smiled: "The sea is much bigger than the land, in addition to our nation dominating the world on land, this endless ocean will also be the land where my Tang Dynasty flows." ”

"Big brother, you see that the smoke is going on, it should be that the boiler room has been successfully ignited, it seems that they are doing a good job. Let's go to the sea in a moment. Qiaoxi clapped his hands to interrupt Li Xuanqing's words and smiled.

"It's the first time I've gone to sea on a boat at such an old age." I don't know when Zhang Tianhu and Ma Laosan, the two old naughty boys, also got out of the cabin, looking at the endless sea in the distance and the ship gradually shaking under their feet, and said with a little emotion. Li Xuanqing's location is the war room, which is also the tallest building on the whole ship, which is also designed to imitate the ships of later generations, and the newly built cabin on the deck is more similar to the building ship at this time.

"Teacher, in the future, you can take the boat whenever you want. The ship was cleverly built. Qiaoxi was amused by Zhang Tianhu's appearance and said with a smile.

"Xuanqing, what's the name of our ship?" Ma Laosan also smiled when he saw Qiaoxi's smiling face, and walked over and asked.

"This ship will be used as a training ship for the Naval Academy, it is still too small to be used as a full-fledged warship." Li Xuanqing really has no interest in a 500-ton sea ship, but fortunately, with the current strength of the Navy Department, he is satisfied with the ability to practice the technology well, "It's called Experimenter No. 1." ”

While several people were chatting at the bridge, the experimenter No. 1 also started smoothly, leaving the temporary dock of the shipyard and heading towards the later temple islands. And with the full force of the steam engine, the speed is getting faster and faster. The figures of various testers at the lower level also came and went, shouting constantly, and Guo Chongtao was even more busy with his feet not touching the ground. It is also difficult for him, a man from the north, to be able to stand firm on the rough sea in just a few months. Zhang Tianhu and Ma Laosan were on the boat for the first time, and they were tortured by this wind and waves and vomited directly into the cabin.

All of a sudden, Li Xuanqing and Qiaoxi were left on the bridge, and they looked at the sea breeze blowing their fierce clothes, and Qiaoxi smiled: "Big brother, I didn't expect it to be so comfortable to go to sea in this life." ”

Li Xuanqing took Qiaoxi's hand and said with a smile: "The sea and the sky are on the line, and the embankment is helpless." In fact, the sea is still wide, and when it is too peaceful in the future, I will find an island to build a paradise. ”

"This is good, I look back and take a look, I don't remember where that paradise is." Qiaoxi cheered, leaned against the railing and said with a smile.

In any case, this iron-hulled ship with a lot of afterlife atmosphere was built, and it was not a big problem to look at this stance, but as the speed increased, the few wooden sailing ships that followed behind could not keep up with the speed, and were left far behind.

When Li Xuanqing and Qiaoxi were testing new warships, the situation in the Central Plains became more and more tense, and after the Tiance Army learned the news, Yang Tiancheng and Wang Houchun deployed defenses overnight, and transferred the cavalry corps in the hinterland of Youzhou and Bingzhou to the south to the line from Luzhou to Shenzhou to deter the south bank of the Yellow River. Biao Zi and others from the Xuanying Wei Bianzhou Branch were instructed to find out Zhu Quanzhong's final intentions at all costs.

However, at this time, in addition to Zhang Guihou and Ding Hui and others on the Jingnan front line within the Xuanwu Army, other people's opinions on this matter began to diverge, from the beginning of the righteous indignation and preparation to find the Tiance Army for revenge to the end Most people realized that the capital of the war on the two fronts was far inferior to the Tiance Army, and then the strategy of defending the north and attacking the south prevailed, that is, in Shannan Province, it was necessary to defeat the intervention forces of the Tiance Army, one was to avenge Jingxiang, and the other was to solve the dilemma of the front. This opinion was headed by Ge Cunzhou in the army, and it was also tacitly accepted by Xie Tong and other think tanks.

Zhu Quanzhong, who calmed down his mood, accepted this opinion after comprehensive consideration, and sent Ge Cunzhou as the general manager of Jingnan Province, and Zhang Guihou, Ding Hui and Wang Yanzhang, who had 50,000 troops to command the front line, commanded an army of 150,000, totaling 200,000, and vowed to pacify Jingchu in one fell swoop, and fight with the Tiance army in Shannan East Road.

Ge Cunzhou's 50,000 reinforcements soon set off from Luoyang, and the news naturally spread to the headquarters of the Tiance Army in Chang'an. After the other party increased his troops, Xu Tianxiang transferred the rear guard battalion to join Chen Yu's group army, transferred Gao Siji's Ninth Army from Luzhou to the Guanzhong area, made up for the lack of troops in Guanzhong, and transferred Hou Yong's corps to garrison Xiazhou.

Although this result relieved Yang Tiancheng and Wang Houchun on the northern front, the situation in Jingnan was still grim. Losing Jingxiang's plan is equivalent to an extra certainty of victory for Cheng Wei, but the pressure brought by the 200,000 troops of the Xuanwu Army is not something that Cheng Wei can bear, and after thinking about it again, Cheng Wei sent messengers to Yang Shouliang in Shannan West Road and Chen Yu, who had already taken Junzhou, trying to persuade Yang Shouliang to cooperate with him against the Xuanwu Army, compromise with Chen Yu, and cede most of the mountainous areas in northern Hubei in exchange for the Tiance Army attacking the Xuanwu Army from behind.

The area of northern Hubei is not large, and it is all mountainous terrain. But it is very important for Chengxi's territory, and giving up northern Hubei is equivalent to giving the north gate to the Tiance army. From this point of view, Cheng Wei is still very sincere, but the helpless thing is that the Tiance Army has basically relied on its own strength to open up the barrier from northern Hubei to the Southern Plain during this period of time, so Chen Yu rejected this condition, and instead hoped that Cheng Wei could surrender to the Tiance Army, and told the policy of the Tiance Army and the case of Gao Siji and others who surrendered to Cheng in the early stage, hoping that Cheng Wei could consider it.

Later, Chen Yu quickly reported the changes in the front line to Xu Tianxiang, the general staff, and asked Xuan Yingwei to send a commissioner to the Fuzhou area where Cheng Wei was located to find a way to persuade the other party.

At this time, Li Xuanqingyuan was in Tianjin, and Xu Tianxiang and Cen Tianshi discussed and authorized Qin Kong, the person in charge of Xuanying Weishan South Road, to be responsible for this matter. However, at this time, Chen Yu's meaning had just been brought to Cheng Yu through the messenger, so there was little hope for this matter, so Xu Tianxiang's order to Chen Yu was still based on fighting. With the addition of the 120,000 troops of the Chen Yu Corps and the Chen Bing of the Chen Corps in Junzhou, the northern line of Junzhou, which can directly attack the Xuanwu Army to the east, and directly penetrate into the hinterland of Chengwei to the south, becoming a huge force that must be considered in the decisive battle between the two families.

The war situation in the Central Plains is changing rapidly, and Li Xuanqing, who is still swimming in the Bohai Sea at this time, does not know it for the time being. After a day and a night of sailing, Experimenter 1 arrived near the Miaodao archipelago, which in ancient times was the site of the legendary Immortal Mountain on the Sea. There is one last piece of data that has not been tested on the trial voyage of this trip, and that is artillery firing. Li Xuanqing was not interested in the short-barreled cannon made by Qin Yao, but just asked Guo Chongtao and the people in the equipment department to test it by themselves, and found an uninhabited island and began to ignite and shoot after adjusting the firing range.

Under the gaze of everyone, Qin Yao brought the lit torch close to the tail of the cannon, lit the cannonball fuse, and after the rapid burning, a loud bang came from the body of this monster that no one had seen before, and a black cannonball with flames and smoke flew out in an instant, and instantly arrived at a towering boulder on the island, only to hear a loud bang, and the entire hull was pushed by this recoil force to shake, and everyone looked into the distance without waiting to stand firm, only to see that the boulder that was still standing was smashed to the ground, Asunder.

"How far is that? No more than 500 meters, right? Li Xuanqing shook his head and sighed: "There is no long range of ballistas, if this is known by future generations, it will definitely die of laughter." And the shells are still solid. ”

"I think it's okay, it's finally starting from nothing. I heard that Brother Qin has been thinking about artillery for the past half a year, and he eats and lives in the laboratory. Qiaoxi was not as disappointed as Li Xuanqing, but clapped his hands and smiled: "The early artillery should not rely on lethality, but momentum." ”

"Forget it, let's go down too. You see, the senior brother, they all jumped up excitedly. Li Xuanqing took a deep breath and pulled Qiaoxi from the bridge to the front deck, and said with a smile: "It's not bad, Qin Yao, your gun was installed on the deck and didn't crack the deck, and this recoil was handled well." "Actually, Li Xuanqing made a mistake, the recoil of the short-barreled gun itself is relatively small.

"In the future, the weapon system of the warship needs to be specially designed, and the design of the ship needs to be docked well, so that the two become a whole, and we can't wait for the ship to be built and then think about how to add the weapon system." Li Xuanqing didn't require much of a high level for this ship, so as long as he implemented the concept of the future generations he brought with him.

"Please rest assured, the armament department has also set up a department dedicated to the design of naval weapons, which is connected with the shipyard's ship design department." Qin Yao also knew that Li Xuanqing was not very satisfied with the artillery he designed, so after hearing Li Xuanqing's words, he hurriedly agreed.

"Okay, we've been at sea for a day, Chongtao, arrange the return voyage, how fast is it to implement the hybrid, and the wind direction is also correct." Li Xuanqing waved his hand to signal the return voyage, and then took Han Xun and the others back to the war room on the top floor.

"Today's experiment is basically over, and it depends on the three of you how to go forward. Senior brother should do a good job of the Naval Academy and train more professional talents, and sailing on the sea is a technical job, and what is needed is professional personnel, and this must not be left to chance. Li Xuanqing took Han Xun's hand and said earnestly.

"The second is your navy itself, we are not only a new type of ship, but also the Tang Navy has been cut off for a hundred years, and there is no experience left to you, everything has to be explored by yourself. What I want to say is that the navy is a brave division guarding the Tang Dynasty's maritime frontier, and those who offend our Tang Dynasty will be punished even if they are far away. Li Xuanqing saw Han Xun bow down and take the order, turned to look at Guo Chongtao and said, "Whether the navy can be on a par with the army in the future depends on your own ability and ability." ”

"Please rest assured, the lord will be punished even if he offends my Tang Dynasty." Guo Chongtao did not have the arrogance of the former Shu Emperor in history, and was a standard hot-blooded young man under the baptism of the Tiance Army.

"Okay, you are responsible for the affairs of the shipyard, with the gradual rise of the navigation industry, other shipyards will definitely start work one after another, go back and sort out the construction process of ordinary civilian ships, if anyone needs it, you can give him a copy. Technology needs to be developed to keep improving. Zhang Qiang has nothing to explain, the industrial group can always be guided by his own knowledge from later generations in Qiaoxi's hands, so it is okay to just ask him to find a way to sort out the construction process of civilian ships.

"The Navy is done." The three of them took the order and left, and Qiaoxi walked over and said with a smile: "Big brother, have you designed your naval flag?" ”

"Navy flag?" Li Xuanqing's heart moved, looked up at the top of the empty mast and smiled.