After Wang Haoran returned to Chang'an to discuss with Li Shimin, the matter of jointly building a shipyard was decided. Wang Haoran only needs to invest in technical talents, and the construction and financial problems are all borne by the imperial court, because this shipyard is considered to be used by the imperial court itself, not for commercial purposes. What Wang Haoran can get is what he has learned from this research, and he can use it to set up another shipyard to build ships for sale and other purposes.

At present, the top priority is to build a suitable big ship as soon as possible, Wang Haoran had to immediately devote himself to research, he transferred Chen Jun out, and the fuel power was handed over to Yu Zhaoyun and others to continue research. The imperial court set up a temporary research institute in Midtown, and recruited a large number of experienced shipwrights for Wang Haoran to call on, and their first goal was to design a large steam-powered ship first.

Of course, navigation technology is not only a problem in shipbuilding, but also various theories and auxiliary instruments have to be improved or made one by one, such as the use of keels, sails, compasses, etc., and Wang Haoran naturally has arranged suitable people to study.

Nearly a year has passed in a blink of an eye, and all the facilities in Hangzhou have been prepared, and Wang Haoran began to prepare for another relocation after receiving Li Shimin's will. The mother of the child is worried, and as the son of man, how can he not worry? So before setting off, Wang Haoran took his wife and children back to Chang'an. Now it is much more convenient for them to go back to Chang'an, because the railway from Zhongcheng to Chang'an has been fully opened, and it will not take more than five hours to go back and forth.

Soon, Wang Haoran rushed to Hangzhou with all kinds of technicians and those shipwrights.

Xu Xuanan and his father-in-law Tan Mengde had been waiting for a long time, and after welcoming Wang Haoran and others, Xu Xuanan hugged these old friends one by one.

The shipyard is naturally by the sea, and the residence of Wang Haoran and others is not far from here. Li Tai's mansion was a bit far away, but for convenience, he had a new house built nearby before he came. After everyone settled down, within a few days they began to build a steam-powered ship. In the past year, they have made the design drawings, and now they only need to let the factory make according to the drawings, but they still need to improve one by one in the production.

For emergency purposes, the shipyard first has to make medium-sized ships that can accommodate hundreds of people, because the steam power technology has been ready-made, coupled with the research in all aspects in the past year, a steam-powered ship has been produced in less than half a year. The disadvantage is that the ship is still made of wood, and the iron boat technology is still under development.

After several tests and refinements, this medium-sized vessel began to be mass-produced. Wang Haoran also set up a shipyard called "Yuanhang" for commercial manufacturing, and now the business is thriving, the demand for water transportation is increasing, and it is completely expected to make a lot of money. However, Li Shimin and Wang Haoran said in advance that if commercial ships are put into use, they must first focus on trade in Wuzhou. At present, there are not many people who have a way to go to Wuzhou to do business, so in the early stage, Wang Haoran still has no huge profits to make.

After another year or so, the large iron ship was finally made, and Wang Haoran named it "Exploration", which was made by the imperial shipyard. After several tests of the water, Wang Haoran proposed to Li Shimin to recruit warriors to sail and explore the east. Of course, Li Shimin still remembered what Wang Haoran said before, and he readily agreed, and said that he would personally go south to see this behemoth, and he ordered to make such a large iron ship, which originally meant to explore to the east.

After Wang Haoran got permission, he began to recruit warriors, including doctors, shipwrights, talents who were proficient in the art of navigation, soldiers, and people...... Among them, the positions with technical requirements are basically selected from the shipyards of the imperial court.

What Wang Haoran didn't expect was that there were a lot of people who came to sign up, and even if some people with slightly worse physique were screened out, the number of people still far exceeded the number he had booked. Wang Haoran had no choice but to issue a questionnaire to consider who to choose. Some of the questions in the questionnaire are a little inexplicable, asking who is in the family, the source of income, etc., and even asking what the other party doesn't like to eat, taking a shower once a few days, etc., so that many people don't know how they were not selected or selected.

Li Shimin arrived in Hangzhou a few days before the Discovery set sail, and he had also seen the blueprint of the iron ship before, and had also heard Wang Haoran's description of it, but what he saw with his own eyes this time was still very shocking. The huge iron ship stands on the sea, like a small island, as the saying goes, the water does not carry ten thousand, so what about the huge iron ship in front of you? Is this really something that belongs to Datang? Li Shimin's heart ignited a sense of pride, that's right! This is the strength of Datang! This is Li Shimin's Tang Dynasty!

A few days later, the Discovery was about to set sail, and there were as many as 200 warriors marching forward, who were neatly lined up on the shore waiting for Li Shimin's lecture.

"Warriors, everyone must know that this heaven and earth is spherical, so everyone doesn't have to worry about falling into the endless abyss or something." Li Shimin shouted, after Li Chunfeng, Wang Jingxiu and others research, the Taishi Bureau has confirmed that this heaven and earth are round, and it is also called the earth, "However, whether it is in the sea or on the other side of the sea, it is an unknown territory, and what risks there are still unknown, but you can still be fearless and stand up, such courage should be remembered by the world!" I will also burn incense and pray to heaven that you will return safely and soon. ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" All the warriors thanked in unison.

Wang Haoran saw Li Shimin nodding to him, presumably Li Shimin's words were finished, so he stepped forward and said to everyone: "Before this, you are already familiar with the relevant regulations of this voyage, but the most important points, I still want to emphasize again. First, don't be a picky eater, and you must eat what you want to eat in the recipe; Second, if you find islands or new lands, you must not come into contact with the wild animals of those places unless you have to. If you encounter a savage tribe, try not to disturb others; Third, it is strictly forbidden to collect wild animals or seeds found elsewhere without permission; Fourth, you must return safely! ”

The auspicious time has arrived, and Li Shimin shouted: Set sail! The trumpets and drums on the shore suddenly roared. The ship immediately got busy, and under the command of the captain, the coal was added to the coal, and the sail was hoisted...... Everything is busy and orderly. With a long whistle from the ship, the Discovery slowly moved faster.

Li Shimin looked at it for a long time, just wanted to leave, suddenly found something interesting, stopped and looked at the exploration that had gone away with a telescope, only to see that the exploration was slowly blocked by the sea level from bottom to top, and finally disappeared was the Datang flag fluttering on the exploration ship, and muttered: "It seems that this earth is really spherical!" ”