【The third shift is delivered】

There are many achievements of the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau, but compared with the shipbuilding industry of Western countries, the shipbuilding level of the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau is pitiful. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

In 1860, the British built the 9,137-ton Warrior ironclad, and during this period, large steam armored battleships had a displacement of 8,000 to 9,000 tons and a propulsion power of 6,000 to 8,000 horsepower.

Just this year, Britain will also build the world's first battleship with an all-steel hull -- the battleship Sovereign, with a design displacement of 14,150 tons, a main scale waterline length of 115.8 meters, a total length of 125 meters, a width of 22.9 meters, and a crew of 670-712 people.

The gadgets built by the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau are not only small in tonnage, but also very backward in construction technology, and Yan's firm needs to upgrade them on a large scale after receiving them.

Yan Xueyi does not lack advanced warship construction technology in his hands, and there is technology, but the construction conditions of the shipyard are insufficient, which is also a problem.

At present, the only thing that Jiangnan Shipyard can handle is a large number of skilled workers, and all kinds of backward shipbuilding technology that Jiangnan Shipyard had before can be thrown away, and in the future, Jiangnan Shipyard will build submarines, the secret weapon of the Imperial Chinese Navy, under the leadership of Xu Xiake.

When the war between the Chinese Empire and Britain and France resumed, the Anglo-French combined fleet once again marched towards the mainland of the Chinese Empire, and I believe that when the time comes, the "wolf pack" of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire will definitely give them a big surprise.

After Yan Xueyi and his entourage visited the Jiangnan Shipyard after the reform, they then flew to the next target, the next target was the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, which has now been renamed Mawei Shipyard.

Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, founded in 1866 by Zuo Zongtang, then the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, during the Manchu Dynasty, was the most important warship production base of the Manchu Dynasty.

The Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau is mainly composed of three parts: the iron factory, the shipyard and the shipbuilding school (Qiushitang Art Bureau) to set up two classes of manufacturing and navigation, requiring the trainees to achieve the ability to build ships according to the drawings and serve as captains, and send personnel to study in Britain and France to learn driving and shipbuilding technology.

The first steamship "Wan Nianqing" made by the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau was launched in June 1869, and by February 1874, a total of 15 steamers were built.

In the process of setting up the factory, although it encountered various difficulties, it gradually improved its shipbuilding technology, and at first could only manufacture wooden hulls with less than 150 horsepower, but in 1885 it made the first ironclad ship, and the engine was also changed from the old single engine to a composite engine, and the horsepower increased from 150 to 2400.

The Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau and the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau were the two major shipbuilding bases of the Manchu Dynasty, which made great contributions to the development of China's shipbuilding industry, and of course, the shipbuilding technology of the two shipyards was also backward.

Nowadays, Jiangnan Shipyard has become a shipyard mainly for building submarines, and if there is only one shipyard that temporarily builds submarines, then Mawei Shipyard will continue to build warships and civilian ships.

Under the control of Gan's firm, a large amount of capital and advanced shipbuilding technology will be imported into Mawei Shipyard, making Mawei Shipyard grow into one of the five major shipyards of the Chinese Empire, along with Jiangnan Shipyard, Shencheng Shipyard, Tianjin Shipyard and Dalian Shipyard.

Yan Xueyi and his entourage came to the Mawei Shipyard to inspect the Mawei Shipyard, which made the old people in the Mawei Shipyard feel a lot.

For these old people, the Mawei Shipyard is their home, and they dedicate their youth here, and they naturally hope that the Mawei Shipyard will get better and better, and that one day, the Mawei Shipyard will be able to build warships that are more advanced than the warships of Western countries.

Recall that during the Manchu Dynasty, the Mawei Shipyard was often short of funds, resulting in the slow development of the Mawei Shipyard.

At the beginning, the construction cost of Mawei Shipyard was not more than 40 taels, which was allocated by Fujian Customs in 40 percent, and the perennial fund was 600,000 taels per year, and it was also allocated by Fujian Customs in 50,000 taels next month under 60 percent foreign tax. Later, under the tea tax of Fujian Province and Shen Baozhen, Shen Baozhen concurrently ran the defense of Taiwan Bend, and 20,000 taels were allocated on a monthly basis in the name of "ship maintenance funds", and by 1874, more than 5.35 million taels of silver were shared.

After 1878, the Fujian Customs could not allocate funds on time in accordance with the original regulations, and there were a lot of arrears, resulting in a shortage of funds and production difficulties, from 1874 to last year, production shrank, and the average annual shipbuilding was less than 1.

However, now everything has changed, the Mawei Shipyard has changed owners, it is said that behind the new owner is the emperor himself, and then the new owner carried out a drastic reform of the Mawei Shipyard, and cleaned out all the people who stirred up the Mawei Shipyard, and then the new owner took out a lot of money to renovate and expand the entire shipyard.

Now a 10,000-ton and a 5,000-ton dock is under construction, and a large amount of new equipment has already been shipped and is being installed.

The new owner has already said that as soon as the shipyard is renovated, it will start to build larger warships, which is something that all Mawei people have dreamed of for a long time.

Thinking of this, the old people burst into tears, the gap between the dead Manchu Dynasty and the current Chinese Empire is too great, and now the emperors of the empire have come to the shipyard and talk to them, ordinary people.

Several people thought they were dreaming, and when they woke up, it would all disappear, but it was only in the cool sea breeze that they realized that all this was true, and the emperor and empress really came to the shipyard in person.

……

After Yan Xueyi inspected the Mawei Shipyard, it meant that the first inspection of the year was officially over, and after a six-day trip, Yan Xueyi took Chang Yuxin to inspect the South China Sea Fleet, the Pacific Fleet, the Shencheng Shipyard, the Jiangnan Shipyard, and the Mawei Shipyard.

Yan Xueyi's first inspection this year will bring a signal to all walks of life at home and abroad: In the future, the Chinese Empire will vigorously develop the shipbuilding industry and navy!

Yan Xueyi guessed that when the news of his inspection reached the ears of Western countries, many people would definitely laugh at him, especially the British and French.

In their opinion, neither shipbuilding nor the navy can be built in a day, and the shipbuilding industry may be able to develop rapidly with the help of Germany, but the navy is different, and it is simply impossible to have a strong navy without a few decades.

They would not have thought that Yan Xueyi would open up, and the shipbuilding industry and navy of the Chinese Empire would develop by leaps and bounds.