From time to time, Hong Tao would also publish one or two articles about this naval battle in the Jinhe Daily to explain his views, review the gains and losses, and look forward to the future. In this way, the resentment of the people will find an outlet.

In fact, as far as the common people are concerned, they most hope that the country will be rich and strong, but sometimes everyone stands at different angles and heights, and there will be differences. It doesn't matter if there are differences, this is a good thing, as long as there can be smooth communication, whether these differences are finally resolved or not, most people will understand, at least they will not continue to resent.

Holding parliament accountable is the second step in this national debate. There are too many people's opinions, and Hong Tao alone can't communicate for ten years. Isn't there a council? Aren't they just the representatives elected by the people! Yes, don't represent in vain, this time you are needed to represent the people, and if you make them through, it is equivalent to explaining to the vast majority of people. As for saying that there are still a few people who just don't understand, that's okay, love to understand or not.

In addition to writing some small articles, going to the newspaper to fight with others, and going to the parliament from time to time to fight the Confucianism, Hong Tao has a more important job to do, which is to rebuild the Royal Navy.

The Royal Navy suffered heavy losses in this naval battle, with two of the seven armed merchant ships sunk, two seriously damaged, and the remaining three damaged, each of which had to be overhauled in order to examine whether their main structures were damaged. Once the main structure is damaged, the ship can no longer run to the ocean and can only be used for short-distance transportation. For example, if you go to the port of Malacca, Guangzhou port, Mingzhou port or something, it is not very reliable to cross the Indian Ocean.

The remaining eleven Jiao Shark class were not too seriously injured, but the guns on the ship were basically scrapped. The barrels that had been corroded by seawater and high temperatures could still be used. But when you can't keep it, it will blow up. They were all replaced with new elongated iron cannons. Without increasing their weight, these iron cannons had a longer range, a straighter trajectory, and a relatively higher longitude.

The Jinhe was seriously injured, with many cracks in its mast, upper deck, and hull, and the captain's cabin was almost turned into a sunroom. Although Wen Xiaoqi said that it could be repaired without affecting the hull structure, Hong Tao resolutely did not want this ship to continue to be the flagship, he wanted a new warship. It's not that I don't trust the Wen family's ship repair skills, but that I'm a little tired of this ship. After so many years of personal experience and research. Hong Tao felt that the craftsmanship of the Jinhe Shipyard could go one step further and show it by building a real sail battleship.

In Hong Tao's memory, the most powerful battleships in the era of sail battleships were those who were called special and first-class battleships. They had a displacement of more than two or three thousand tons, had three or four artillery decks, and were armed with hundreds of guns.

This kind of ship is a movable sea fortress, and although the speed is a little slow, it is a unique good ship for loading. Now Hong Tao can no longer drive the boat to go out casually, so the speed of the ship is not the main thing, seaworthiness, safety, comfort, plus a style is the top priority. He was the Emperor of the Empire. Wherever you go, it represents the face of the empire.

In fact, Hong Tao wanted a cruiser even more, which was about the same size as the Jiao Shark class. Lengthening the hull and reducing the number of guns and sailors not only increases the speed of the ship, but also increases the non-stop range, making it more suitable for long-distance travel on the ocean.

This type of ship is very much in line with his character, he is not a fan of big ships and big guns, he is not really keen on anything, he just likes to explore all kinds of unknowns. A high-speed cruiser with armament was more in line with his needs. If you encounter too many enemies, you can speed up and run away; If you encounter fewer enemies, you can catch up and use naval guns to bully others.

Compared to cruisers, battleships had too large hulls, too deep drafts, and clumsy steering. This kind of ship generally exists as the backbone of the fleet's firepower output, and is used to bombard the enemy's capital ships. Its ability to survive alone is not as high as that of a cruiser, and it requires group cooperation to give full play to its ability, and it is not very good at fighting alone, let alone Hong Tao's style of bullying the weak and afraid of the hard.

But this time the parliament is iron-hearted against Hong Tao, they resolutely do not approve the emperor to use the so-called fast cruiser as the flagship, no matter how good the performance of this cruiser is, it can only be used as a battleship of the Royal Navy, and the emperor's flagship must be high-end and high-grade!

On the rich side of the Jinhe Empire, although everyone does not have the hobby of going out to show off, the emperor of his own country still has to take a luxury warship when he travels. This is a matter of the face of the people of the entire empire, not a matter of the emperor's personal preference, even if Hong Tao wants to pay for his own flagship.

"Well, since you're not afraid to spend money, I'll be reluctant to spend a luxury. But let's say in advance that this great warship was built entirely at the expense of the state treasury, and was imposed on me with my opposition, and this ship cannot be used to attack my personal character in the future! It's not that I want to enjoy, but for the country! Compared with a reasoned debate, Hong Tao is willing to admit his head even if he loses. But his thinking is more dirty, or rather accidental, he is willing to think hard about the bad side of everything, and he is more accustomed to filling the possible loophole behind him in advance, even if the loophole is only theoretical.

After plugging the loophole, Hong Tao took the final resolution of the parliament and began to worry again. The high-end and high-grade giant battleship is very easy to say as soon as the upper lip touches the lower lip, and even an elementary school apprentice in the Imperial shipyard can come up with an idea in the vernacular. But an idea is an idea after all, and it is not so easy to actually build it.

The question of ship type is not difficult, with the Jinhe as an example, a slight change of ship type, enlarge a circle, and add two layers of artillery decks is a first-class battleship. When the Golden River was first built, it was pondered in the direction of the battleship, and after five or six years of research and development, the Imperial Shipyard did not have any technical difficulties, as long as there were enough resources, construction could start in minutes.

When it comes to resources, it's a little bit difficult, mainly because of the wood. A large ship with an estimated displacement of about 2,500 tons, or a warship with rough skin and thick flesh, will consume astronomical amounts of wood. Preliminary calculations require more than 3,000 trees, not ordinary pine, but teak from Kalimantan, rosewood from the Indian Peninsula and large-flowered dipterocarp from the Malay Peninsula.

These timbers have small dry and wet shrinkage, basically do not deform, and their hardness is second only to iron plough wood and red sandalwood, but they are lighter in weight, and they are also resistant to insects and corrosion, and have high load and impact strength, which is the best wood for building warships. Moreover, rosewood and dipterocarp have a beautiful texture and a delicate smell, and the use of them to build cabins is both beautiful and refreshing.

However, not much of this timber is produced on Luzon, and even less is produced, and most of it has to be transferred back from Phuket, which is very expensive to transport. This is actually not the point, the Nanyang countries have basically become the de facto vassal states of the Jinhe Empire, and the emperors of the suzerains want a few logs, even if they dismantle their palaces, they have to rush together. Don't mention the money, whoever mentions the money will be in a hurry.

The problem is that this kind of warship is built to be sturdy, and there is no problem with seaworthiness, the only drawback is that its own weight is too large, and it is estimated that the maximum speed can reach nine knots just by sails, and it is usually six or seven knots. This kind of speed is resolutely unbearable, and even the main fleet can't keep up, isn't it a burden! However, according to the current ship-building technology and existing materials, it is impossible to build a battleship too slender, the wooden keel does not have such a large supporting strength, and the waves are slightly larger, and the hull has to be deformed.

Hong Tao can't clearly violate the resolution of the parliament, this ship must be big enough and high-end enough! How to let himself have a more satisfactory flagship without violating the resolution of the parliament has become the first important official business that he must worry about every day, and other things can be delayed, but this matter cannot be delayed!

"Gee, if only I could go to Australia and chop some almond eucalyptus!" Thinking about the problem of reducing the weight of the hull, Hong Tao's first thought was wood.

In Australia, there is a large tree called almond eucalyptus, which is characterized by its relatively light weight, but its strength, corrosion resistance, and load impact strength are very high, and its shrinkage is very small. Moreover, this tree grows straight and tall, more than a hundred meters is not a problem, and it is an excellent material for shipbuilding.

It's a pity that Hong Tao hasn't had time to develop Australia, and this plan has not yet been put on the agenda. The reason why he would rather go on an expedition to distant Europe and America than to see the barren continent of Australia is not because he didn't make up nonsense, but mainly because the climate there is too fucked. Either there are swamps and crocodiles running all over the ground, or the drought is so bad that you can't even drink water, which is very unsuitable for human life.

In the thirteenth century, when the productive forces were still relatively backward, it was not cost-effective to develop Australia by manpower alone, and it was useless to develop it. In other places, you can't even grow food, and it's not a problem to eat kangaroo meat every day. Not to mention mining in the hot, dry outback, and the stuff will at least have to wait until the railroad and the train are available.

"Railway!? It's kind of interesting...... I'll go and ask Qi Zu first to see if he got that thing out. If I do get it, my big ship will have an eyebrow! As soon as he thought of the railway, Hong Tao suddenly slapped his thigh, stood up and ran out.

(To be continued.) )