Lin Yizhe came to the "Wannianqing", and Pei Jinquan and the shipyard director Ye Wenlan were also there, and they were examining the "Wannianqing". Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

"The inspection has just been completed, and there are a total of 17 damage to the hull, and there are large bullet marks on the deck," Ye Wenlan had already learned that Lin Yizhe would lead the "Wannian Qing" north to Shanghai for maintenance and accompany Wu Dating to be read, so he told Lin Yizhe the statistical results, "The engine boiler is not damaged, and the navigation should be unhindered." ”

"The bottom of the boat has just been seen by divers." Pei Jinquan said, "Although the grounding is on a sandbar, it is difficult to ensure that the bottom of the ship is not touched, if the copper skin of the bottom of the ship is injured by dark stones in the sand, it is not easy to sail, but fortunately, the bottom of the ship is not damaged, and the voyage is unhindered." ”

Hearing the two of them say this, Lin Yizhe was relieved.

When Lin Yizhe returned home after a busy day, Chen Wan couldn't wait to show him a letter.

"Godmother has a letter, take a look."

"Oh? Good news or bad news? I won't read the bad news. Seeing Chen Wan's happy face, Lin Yizhe knew that what was said in this letter must be good news, otherwise the little wife would not be as happy as a lark, but he still couldn't help but tease her.

"Look at what you said, of course it's good news." Chen Wan smiled, "Look at it." ”

Lin Yizhe opened the letter and read it, the letter was indeed written by Zeng Guofan's wife Ouyang, the letter was very short, only a few sentences, but it showed the feelings of missing Chen Wan and himself, as well as the concern for the newborn. At the end of the letter, she also deliberately told Chen Wan that because Zeng Guofan instructed Zheng Dun, the new governor of Shanxi, to ask for Chen Xiang to be retained, the imperial court had granted permission, that is, Chen Xiang's punishment of "shutting down Xinjiang" was actually canceled. So it's no wonder Chen Wan is so happy.

"The godmother also brought a gift to Xi'er." Chen Wan said.

Lin Yizhe saw an open cloth bag placed next to the crib, which contained a small belly pocket, a celadon small crouching tiger pillow and a pair of tiger head shoes, the five poison patterns sewn on the belly pocket and the little tiger head on the tiger head shoes were all very exquisitely made, these three gifts were all children's utensils, although the value was not high, but there was a strong love for the newborn, obviously it took a lot of thought.

Lin Yizhe remembered that he was going to go north, and suddenly had a trace of "fake public and private" thoughts in his heart.

Since the "Wannian Qing" is going to Shanghai for maintenance, and Shanghai is only one step away from Nanjing, why not take his wife and children to Nanjing to visit the Zeng couple, and by the way, give Zeng Guofan the "Turning Tube Divine Machine Bead Gun" that he has just developed, so as to thank him for his support in the previous gun adjustment.

For Zeng Guofan, a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty, Lin Yizhe has always admired him very much.

"If only I could go to Jiangning." Chen Wan picked up her daughter, who had woken up and was staring at her dark eyes, kissed her daughter's pink little face affectionately, and teased her daughter softly, "Grandma wants to die Xi'er, I just want to see what Xi'er looks like, how can Xi'er go to see grandma?" Well? ……”

"Let's take a boat and go together." Lin Yizhe suddenly said, "Let's go over together as a family." ”

"Oh? Coming by boat? Chen Wan was slightly stunned and asked, "Could it be that Kunyu is going to go far away?" ”

Lin Yizhe told her about the northbound journey of the "Wannian Qing", "I originally planned to take the opportunity of this trip to bring the magic machine gun over, but I have to go this way anyway, so it is better to take you two to visit my godmother." ”

"Really?" Chen Wan's eyes lit up.

"Of course it's true." Lin Yizhe stepped forward to look at the daughter in her arms and gently held her little hand, "I just don't know if Xi'er can get used to this ship." ”

"It's okay, I'm used to sitting there." Chen Wan was very excited about Lin Yizhe's proposal, and began to tease her daughter again, "Oh...... Oh...... Mother wants to take Xi'er to take a ship to see grandma......"

"You can prepare in the next few days, it's not just our family of three who want to leave, Mr. Xu, Caiyue and Qing'er have to follow." Lin Yizhe said, "I still have to talk to my uncle." ”

"Okay." Chen Wan agreed.

At this time, Lin Yizhe never thought that the letter from Mrs. Ouyang that Chen Wan received was actually Zeng Guofan's front station.

A few days later, just when Lin Yizhe was busy traveling, he unexpectedly received a letter from Zeng Guofan.

"Your Excellency Brother Kunyu Shaoren: The ship has been honored with the news, and he knows everything."

"Hearing that the 'Wannian Qing' ship made its maiden voyage, with your excellency's magic machine gun to destroy the pirates, a great success, famous at home, the servants are very happy to hear it, Wen Your Excellency will follow the 'Wannian Qing' to Shanghai, hoping to bring his wife and daughter to Ning, to look forward to."

"Your Excellency is humble and modest, and your family is with you, and the officials who accompany you will be able to take care of it. In the past, foreign officials came to the north, and most of them used to avoid people and hatred. Your Excellency should talk a little about promotion, and do not learn the bad habit of avoiding sight. On the day of the book solstice, wait for the north. That is, to ask Tai'an, all but the heart of the lesson, not have. ”

After reading Zeng Guofan's letter, Lin Yizhe couldn't help but be shocked by the speed with which Zeng Guofan learned the news.

Within a few days, everything was ready to stop, and the "Wannian Qing" set off from Mawei Port and headed north to Shanghai.

Since the "Wannian Qing" will sail directly to Tianjin for reading after completing the maintenance in the north, it can be said that the time is relatively tight, and all the relevant personnel will set off with the ship. In addition to Lin Yizhe, Wu Dating, who was accompanied by Wu Dating's subordinate and the former "Changsheng" military wheel commander Wu Shizhong.

Wu Dating's name Tongyun is a native of Yuanling, Hunan. Xianfeng raised people for five years. In 1866 (the fifth year of Tongzhi), he was ordered to patrol Taiwan's military preparation road according to the rank of inspector, and during his tenure, he was recommended by Hu Linyi and Zeng Guofan, etc., in 1868, Wu Dating took leave to return to his hometown of Fujian due to illness to govern, and then after Zuo Zongtang, Shen Baozhen and other consultations, reports, he was transferred to the ship administration and promoted.

Wu Shizhong originally served under Wu Dating, and in his early years, he had many dealings with foreigners, fluent in English and navigation. In March 1867, the U.S. merchant ship "Wanderer" was shipwrecked and sunk in Taiwan, and the captain and his wife and most of the crew were killed by the Gaoshan natives after going ashore. When Li Xian arrived in Taiwan and went to the indigenous world, Wu Dating sent Wu Shizhong as a general secretary (translator and liaison officer), which can be said to be a rare Western-style operational talent at that time. After Wu Dating came to the shipyard and was promoted, as Wu Dating's underneath, Wu Shizhong also entered the shipmaster at this time. At first, he served as the steward of the "Changsheng" steamship purchased by Fujian, and later went to Siam with Ye Wenlan, the director of the shipyard, to be in charge of the manager in Siam in order to purchase ship materials for the "Wannianqing". Before coming to the "Wannian Qing", he had just been selecting materials in the dense forests of Siam. At this time, Wu Shizhong's official position was a guerrilla in the Meizhou Battalion, and he was a rare pilot talent for the shipmaster. Wu Dating brought him with him when he went north this time, in fact, it meant that he wanted to "learn business".

At this time, on the "Wannian Qing", it can be said that the concentration was all Western-style officials who were willing to do things and were enlightened.

And the youngest passenger on the "Wannian Qing" is Lin Yizhe's daughter Lin Yuxi.

The first time he took his young daughter to sea, Lin Yizhe was still a little worried. I'm afraid that my daughter won't be able to stand the bumps in the sea of the steamer. To the surprise of everyone on the "Wannian Qing", the little Lin Yuxi not only did not have the slightest intention of seasickness, but was very comfortable with taking the boat.

Xiao Yuxi, who was crawling all over the deck, soon became the beloved pistachio of everyone on the "Wannian Qing", and for the long and boring voyage, her presence made the voyage no longer boring and dull.

The "Wannianqing" went all the way to Shanghai, entered the dock of the Yesong Shipyard, and began comprehensive maintenance and repair.

The Yesson Shipyard was a shipyard established in Shanghai in 1865 by a British businessman. The factory was originally owned by the American Burvie Company, and was later purchased by British businessmen and changed to Yesson Shipyard. Yesong Shipyard is one of the earliest large-scale foreign carpentry ship repair and shipyards in Shanghai. The Yesson shipyard has a large dock with a length of 112.8 meters, a door width of 16.46 meters, a medium width of 15.24 meters, and a draft of 4.27 meters at full tide. For a large warship like the "Wannian Qing", the Yesong shipyard is undoubtedly a good choice.

After arranging the docking and maintenance of the "Wannian Qing", Lin Yizhe took his wife, daughter and entourage to Nanjing and made a special trip to visit Zeng Guofan and his wife.

What Lin Yizhe never expected was that Zeng Guofan, who was the governor of Liangjiang at the time and was about to be transferred to the governor of Zhili, would send a steamer to meet him!

And this steamer is the paddlewheel gunboat "Tianji" manufactured by the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau!

When Lin Yizhe came to the deck of the "Tianji", the excitement in his heart was no less than that of the ship of the "Wannian Qing".

In fact, the "Tianji" was launched on August 8, 1868, before the "Wannian Qing", and should be the first steamship made by China since the experimental "Huanghu" small steamer.

"Tianji" is a steam paddle gunboat, all wooden structure, displacement of 600 tons, equipped with 5 guns, compared with the "Wannian Qing", has appeared backward. Lin Yizhe, who is familiar with the history of modern Chinese shipbuilding, is no stranger to paddle steamers. Since the advent of steam-powered steamships, paddle steamers have been widely used at the beginning. On the day of the birth of the "Tianji", at a time when the paddle steamer was about to withdraw from the stage of history, the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau built such a steamer, in fact, with a certain conservative technical experimental nature. Except for the steam engine, the "Tianji" was all made by the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, and the steam engine was repaired and refurbished by purchasing second-hand goods. Because the drawings were the drawings of ships that had been built by the American Flag Iron Works before, and the materials were also the original storage materials in the factory that Li Hongzhang bought when he purchased the Flag Ironworks, the construction speed of the "Tianji" was relatively fast.

The title of "Father of Chinese Shipbuilding", although Zuo Zongtang tried his best, he was still unable to grab it in the end.

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