James Corpour, the British ambassador to China in Nanjing, received an urgent report from David McEvoy, the consul of the consulate in Shanghai, that they had seen a very peculiar steamship at the mouth of the Yangtze River in Shanghai, which had no sails or paddle wheels on either side, and was supposed to use propellers, but its speed was not half a point higher than that of the propeller ships built by the British, and it was the 'normal' speed of the steamer. In other words, the Chinese have made a breakthrough in the research of propellers.

And to Korver's shock, David McEvoy said that the ship's exterior was all shining with metallic sheen.

The Chinese did not completely wrap the hull and deck with copper, just like some British warships, the exterior of this ship was still painted, so it is unlikely to be copper, it should be iron.

Although copper is denser than iron, this does not mean that copper is harder than iron, and navy copper is more for corrosion protection. And with the financial resources of the Chinese, it is impossible for them not to even get this bit of copper. David McEvoy was more inclined to have it as an iron-hulled ship, or rather an ironclad ship.

In Britain, the idea of wrapping a layer of iron armor on the exterior of the ship has already been proposed, which must have a good defensive effect on both rockets and artillery shells. But in this way, the speed of the ship is too slow, too slow. Even if it is a powerful first-class sail battleship, even if it is covered with iron armor with a thickness of only one centimeter, the load on the ship will increase by more than 200 tons after the entire project. And this iron armor doesn't mean that it will be finished if it is hung up, in addition to the iron armor, the hull must also be lined with wooden planks. If the thickness of the armor is one centimeter, the thickness of the lining planks is at least three centimeters, or even four centimeters or five centimeters. Of course, the most basic point is that since this iron armor has been installed, how can it be only one centimeter thick?

Can a centimeter-thick armor protect against rockets or artillery shells?

The penetration of the hexagonal cannon is very powerful.

Therefore, if the ship really wants to be ironarmed, it must be weakened below the waterline, so as to enhance the thickness of the armor above the waterline, especially at the side of the ship.

And if the thickness of the armor in the side position of the ship is increased, this will affect the use of the top gun emplacement. Ships, not to make top-heavy mistakes, the result of the British discussion was the removal of the guns on the upper deck. So the ironclad ship is very controversial within the UK!

Both the pro-party and the opposition have many supporters.

Ironclad ships are still a topic of discussion in the UK, have the Chinese already figured it out?

Besides, the Chinese replaced the paddle wheel with a propeller, which was a milestone boost for the steamship. And the British still have a long way to go. That's the gap.

Cornwall knew that his future intelligence focus needed to shift to that aspect, and instead of working tirelessly on the Chinese's financial figures, it was better to put more snacks on this iron-hulled ship.

"Smack." There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Korver threw the information in his hand on the table, covering his face with both hands, how easy it is to engage in intelligence in China. It was his secretary Bloom, a very handsome English boy.

Bloom's voice rang out, too. "Your Excellency, this is today's newspaper."

Korver didn't take his hand away from his face, he was helpless now.

Bloom did not turn away, but said, "Your Excellency, I think it is important for you to read today's newspaper at once. ”

Whether it is "Zhongyuan Daily" or "Military Daily", they have reported the news of the "Chengtian" in a large way, which is an all-iron propeller steamship, the first in the world.

Korver was punched in the heart, he was still thinking about how to peek into the secret of the propeller steamship just now, and now the Chinese have revealed it themselves. The displacement is 1,500 tons, the full load is 4,200 tons, the cargo capacity is 20% more than that of the same tonnage wooden ship, and the cost is comparable to that of the same tonnage wooden ship, but the speed is as high as 9 knots, and the carrying is significantly more catastrophic than the wooden ship, which is an all-iron steam ship......

This means that the technology of the Chinese has really matured. The reason why they don't hide it is because of this kind of ship, and they want to thoroughly promote it to the surface.

"Your Excellency, the fifth edition of the Central Plains Daily, you also need to take a look at ......"

Bloom reminded once again that the tricks of the Chinese are really one link after another. As soon as the news of the iron ship was announced, the new patent invention of the iron and steel metallurgical industry was vigorously touted over there.

Although everyone knows that the iron ship will inevitably stimulate the great development of the steel industry. But the British did not expect the Chinese side to be so strong.

China's steel technology has always been ahead of the world, and its output naturally ranks first in the world.

As early as 400 years ago, during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, China's national tax records showed that the iron output amounted to more than 19.57 million catties, or more than 9,700 tons, and at the time of Jiajing, the iron output of Guangdong Province alone had reached more than 3,000 tons, which were exported to Japan, Cambodia, Burma, Java, Luzon, and Cochin.

During the Qing Dynasty, iron production has been further developed, but this could not stop the rapid progress of Europeans, in the middle of the last century, not only Britain, Russia and France exceeded China's iron production, but also Prussia, Austria, Sweden and other countries also left China behind.

As of 1800 in the Western calendar, Britain's steel production has exceeded 200,000 tons, although this output and make up for the output of a small township factory in later generations, but far more than the original time and space of China, but in this era is a quite brilliant number. Britain produces more steel than the rest of continental Europe combined, and the combined production of Europe is less than half that of China.

Now, more than a decade has passed since 1800, and the British have grown from 200,000 tons to just over 300,000 tons of steel, while China's steel production has grown from nearly one million tons to more than 1.5 million tons.

It can be said that China accounts for two-thirds of the world's steel production.

In this era, it can be said that such an output can fully meet China's own needs, and it can also be exported to India and other dependent countries in large quantities. Even a few years ago, China's steel prices have fallen sharply, if it were not for the start of the war, if it were not for the construction of railways, China's steel industry would not be able to have 1.5 million tons of glory now.

But now as soon as the iron ship comes out, the balance of steel supply has been broken again.

China's maritime industry is very developed, especially the development of the entire American continent in the future, and the speed directly lies in how close the transportation links between China and the United States are. It is conceivable how a huge impact the large iron ship will have on the original shipbuilding industry in the future.

Even if the country will not let go of the propeller ship for a while, there can be a large iron ship with a hybrid sail. With today's market demand in China, there is no need to think about it, and the big iron ships will inevitably be launched like dumplings.

Therefore, the production of 1.5 million tons of steel seems huge, but it is far from enough for China's own demand. Chen Ming feels that in the next ten years, China's steel production will need to reach at least 5 million tons to barely be enough.

Don't think this is a false idea, you must know that the construction of railways is not only in China, but also in Japan, Siam, and the Seven Khanates, and those vassal states and vassal states in the Americas also need railways.

When the railway runs through the east, west, north and south, it is equivalent to the human body through the two veins of Ren and Du, which will be a qualitative progress. It can make the economic development of various countries move towards a high speed, and it can also make the central control of the local government reach a new stage.

But the 3.5 million tonnes steel production gap cannot be fully closed in one year.

After Chen Ming and the others returned to Nanjing, at the suggestion of the emperor, the cabinet formulated a five-year development plan, and from the next cabinet, China's steel production needs to rise step by step, steadily to the top level. From the current 1.5 million tons/year, to the preliminary 2 million tons/year, from 2 million tons/year to 3 million tons/year and 5 million tons/year in the future.

In addition to steel production, this plan also comes with the number of domestic steam engines, new road lengths, new railway lengths, new coal tonnage, new shipbuilding tonnage, and so on.

It's a huge plan. And the carrier of all the goals of this plan is China's steel production.

The most important key to the completion of this five-year plan is the development of the steel industry, without which the construction of ships, railways, and steam engines cannot be completed. And at least doubling steel production in five years is not a small pressure on the cabinet.

China's steel industry is no larger than that of the United Kingdom, which has a total volume of 1.5 million tons. This will increase from 150 to 300, and it is not known how many large, medium and small steel plants will be eliminated.

Chen Ming did not feel that he was very radical when he made this plan, this value is not outrageous, it took 40 years for the British to increase steel production from more than 200,000 tons in 1800 to 800,000 tons per year in 1840, but the British are completely market economy, and China has a strong government. Moreover, the 800,000 tons of steel production of the British in 1840 soared to 2.56 million tons in 1850. It more than tripled in ten years, and by 1870 it had increased to more than 6 million tons.

What is this for?

It's all about technological advancement.

The reason why steel production in the UK has grown so fast is because of technology. In this respect, China's conditions are far better than those of the United Kingdom. The fact that the patent bill has been maintained for so many years has laid a solid foundation.

This time, the cabinet took the opportunity to announce several new inventions of the institute, including converter technology for blowing oxygen and alkali.