It was not only the Tian brothers who were depressed, all the people who saw it along the way were very depressed.

If it weren't for the sailor's flag hanging on it, the first thing these fishermen would have to do when they saw them was to flee for their lives.

That ship has been out of their perception of the ship, and the whole thing is to scare people to death with monsters.

But strange to say, the sailor has been stationed here for two years, but in the past two years, except for the ships of the sailor who can often be seen going to sea for training, those infantry have been stuck in the camp and have never left.

While there was a lot of discussion outside, the fast ship was a busy scene.

"Serious leakage in the bilge!"

"The speed is starting to drop!"

"The hull structure is intact for the time being, and there are no abnormal conditions!"

"Oh no, we have to go back, or we might sink here!"

News came one after another, some good and some bad, and obviously there was more bad news than good news.

On the boat, everyone's faces were always very nervous.

"Let's go back!" The leader nodded and ordered the return voyage.

This is just an experimental ship, and a lot of things have been improvised just to test the feasibility of this method.

Although there are many problems, the benefits are also obvious, the ship can be propelled without relying on human power, or without relying on sails, and the speed is fast and acceptable to control.

Obviously, a small steam engine was installed on this ship, although it was small, but it was also larger than the one they had tested, and it was specially improved according to the state of different environments.

And the person who led the way was the old man Li, who was responsible for participating in the whole process of development, and his level was not high, and he was the director of the seventh grade.

This time, it was he who brought the steam engine made in Chang'an, and brought some craftsmen and students to the field to modify it, and then took charge of participating in solving the problem.

There is no doubt that this steam engine could not pull a train on the tracks, but here its speed has increased by leaps and bounds, and it has never dared to drive it to the fullest.

The ventilation valve is always half open and half closed, and most of the black and white smoke is the smoke produced after the combustion of coal, and some of the exhaust gas is discharged from the cylinder.

"Qian Gong, we don't have much support for you, so your first priority is to prioritize solving the problems found so far, if these problems are not solved, other tests of the steam engine will not be able to be carried out." Old man Li shook his head, in this state, it is impossible to test the reliability and durability of the steam engine.

The main research direction of Old Man Li is also on the steam engine, if the shipyard does not solve the problem of water leakage, a series of other problems can not be solved.

"This is a bit difficult, after all, it is a hole in the bottom of the ship, and the existing materials are simply not possible, even if it can be plugged with resin, it will not be long before it cracks." Qian Gong also shook his head.

They built so many boats, and the most open places were on both sides of the ship's cleats, and the purpose was to drain the water, as simple as that.

As for the weapon system, a rocket launcher is installed on the front and rear decks, and bomb trucks are flanked by bombers, although the firepower configuration is somewhat unreasonable, but in this era, such a firepower configuration is invincible.

If the boat leaks, then they still have a way to solve it, but they can make a hole in the bottom of the boat, and they can't let him leak, this requirement is a bit MMP.

But Qian Gong also knew very well that only by doing so could he bring more power to the ship, and the ability to move without relying on manpower and demeanor, so even if this requirement was difficult to achieve, he had to do it with all his might.

"Wouldn't it be better if the oars were changed to the outside, like a waterwheel?" Qian Gong suddenly thought of the waterwheel and immediately brought it up.

"Theoretically, there is no problem, but when I came, His Majesty specially explained that this layout must be used, and said that other layouts are unstable and unreliable, and the only thing we can adjust is the position of the oars, and when the time comes to load the big ship, two or three steam engines can be set up to propel it." Old man Li shook his head, although he didn't know where the emperor got the news, and he was so sure.

But now that the emperor has spoken, what can he do? Is it for him to go against the emperor's will and do what he has been told not to do?

"It's not difficult to make an opening so that he doesn't leak, but this thing still has to work, and there is no way to block it, it's difficult......" Qian Gong couldn't help but shake his head when he heard that this was specially arranged by the emperor.

"Let's find another way......" Old man Li also shook his head.

To engage in scientific research and design, what you want is to be bold and brainy, as long as you think of it, you can give it a try, but since the emperor said it so surely, they are courtiers, it is naturally not good to test them in private, first, it is not necessary, and second, if it is not good to let the emperor know, he will blame himself, even if he does not blame, who will like such a disobedient subordinate?

There are a lot of problems on the ship, and when you come, it is very eye-catching.

However, when they left, the speed of the ship was a little slower than before, and by the time they returned to the shipyard, the speed of the ship was basically the same as that propelled by man.

And the hull is sinking seriously, and there is a lot of water in the bilge, and many people work along the way, so there is only water left to drain out, how to drain it? Pour out a basin of water.

Anyway, fortunately, the ship was safely driven back to the shipyard, and everyone's hearts were relaxed.

Then the equipment is used to lift the hull of the ship, lift it directly onto land, and place it on a shelf for modification.

Old man Li really can't do much, the next task is mainly responsible for Qian Gong, and Old Man Li is taking his team to continue to transform the steam engine.

The steam engine used in a ship is actually no different from the steam engine used in a train, or rather, it is just an additional piece of equipment.

According to the original design, the train wheels were changed to steel-cast gears, and then a smaller gear was made, which was integrated with a long piece of steel, with a gear on one side and an oar on the other.

They can't make things that are too high-tech, and they can't make them too complicated, so they can only use this all-in-one design, which is convenient, simple, and firm.

But there are many such problems, and the corrosiveness of seawater far exceeds that of water vapor, so even with the best steel, how long a set of oars can be used without problems is also a debatable.

If it corrodes too quickly, they can only think of other ways to replace it with other materials.

Although the two teams work together, they do their own thing.

On the one hand, they are discussing how to solve the big problem of water leakage, and on the other hand, they are inspecting the boiler and checking the steam engine, of course, the rust prevention problem of the steam engine and the boiler, they still have not solved it.

But this problem doesn't seem to be big, it's just that it's replaced more frequently and takes a little more money.

Until you find the right material, you can use it reluctantly.

A month passed in a blink of an eye, there was no problem with the boiler, there was no problem with the steam engine, Old Man Li They made some small changes to the layout of the steam engine, the fixed fix, the cancellation of the cancellation, and at the same time in order to ensure the maximum power, also used as little gear as possible, and readjusted the size of the gear.

"What did you do?" Old man Li asked.

Although the two sides are together, Old Man Li does not know how to build ships, and secondly, he does not put his mind on their side.

Seeing that Qian Gong found himself and said that he could carry out the second seaworthiness, Old Man Li couldn't help asking, for fear that the first problem would appear again.

......Qian Gong despised Old Man Li and continued: "The first one further narrows the scope of water intake, the second one sets up a relatively sealed cabin with a small scale, and the third one sets up several water presses, and arranges different people to drain water according to the degree of water ingress in the bilge, and discharges the water from the bilge directly through the water press. ”

Old man Li also gave the other party a contemptuous look, this method can even be thought of, and it looks so unreliable.

Suddenly, Old Man Li had an urge not to follow him to the sea trial, for fear that the problem would arise again.

Of course, this is impossible.

The boat was put back into the water, and this time there were more people on board, including the captain who commanded, the helmsman who steered, and because the sails were not suitable, the steering wheel had to be used to control the direction, and there were various observation and monitoring personnel, and five shipwrights were arranged to drain the water.

The boat that had just been launched warmed up for a while, and when the pressure in the boiler came up, the oars began to rotate slowly, and the hull began to move slowly, and then the speed became faster and faster.

Subsequently, the five boatmen who discharged the water were also discharging water all the time, the amount of water was not large, and the personnel monitoring the bottom of the boat also reported that everything was normal.

After a month of improvement, this time the trial voyage was much smoother, although the problem of water ingress still existed, but because of the addition of several drainage devices, the water in the bilge was always controlled below the water line, and did not affect the speed of the ship.

Similarly, after the changes made by Old Man Li, the power of the boat has also increased this time, although it is not so obvious, but as an experimental boat, this is enough.

Of course, with the lesson of the last time, this time they didn't run far, but kept circling around the sea area within the shipyard area, and the craftsmen who were building ships were dumbfounded, and even began to wonder that the ship they built had a hairy role?

After asking the principle, Old Man Li rarely put forward his own opinions to Qian Gong, of course, this is just a small change, how it works, it is obvious without testing.

The best way to pump water is not to start from the top, but from the bottom, which allows for faster and cleaner pumping.