After the establishment of China Merchants Bureau, it successively purchased four merchant ships from Hong Kong, London and other places, namely "Eden", "Dai Bo Laikai", "Pollit" and "Pollik Youshou", as the main capacity. Because most of these ships were small in scale, and only one "Eden" was close to Hong Kong at that time, it was able to arrive in Shanghai and put into operation in a short period www.biquge.info of time. Compared with Jardine Matheson and other foreign shipping companies in China, the strength of China Merchants Steamship can be said to be extremely thin. In order to expand the fleet of China Merchants as soon as possible, Li Hongzhang tried to buy larger ships, but he never succeeded, because the foreign brokers sent them for purchase, without exception, were second-hand goods, "high price and poor quality." Just when Li Hongzhang felt that he had no way to do anything, the news of the launch of the "Fubo" class transport ship of the Harbour Master came, and Li Hongzhang was overjoyed and immediately decided to buy these new transport ships from the Harbour Master.

Before the establishment of the China Merchants Steamship Bureau, when Li Hongzhang applied to the imperial court in a report, he proposed that the ships of the China Merchants Bureau should be collected from the ships of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and the Fujian Shipping Administration. It's just that at that time, the Shipbuilding Administration and the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau were building warships, and there were no ships available. Unlike Zuo Zongtang, who regarded Li Hongzhang as a great enemy all his life on the grounds that the Huai army had crossed the border into Zhejiang, where his sphere of influence had been destroyed during the extermination of the Taiping Army, Shen Baozhen did not hinder Li Hongzhang because of this, but put the overall situation first, and when Lin Yizhe established the Shipmaster Gun Institute to manufacture Lin's machine guns, he received Li Hongzhang's strong support, so the cooperation between the two sides was not barrier-free. Shen Baozhen understood what the establishment of China Merchants meant to China's shipping industry, and after understanding the difficulties of China Merchants, Shen Baozhen was determined to vigorously support China Merchants to compete with foreign shipping companies. After consultations, Xia Xianlun, acting minister of shipping, decided to hand over the first two "Fubo" and "Yongbao" of the "Fubo" class transport ships that had already been built to China Merchants for use first, and the four newly built "Haijing", "Chenhang", "Daya" and "Yongqing" ships of the same class will also be returned to China Merchants after they are completed. All six Fubo-class transport ships can be paid only half the price. After the news broke, the Western media in Shanghai were all jealous, especially the British steamship company, "We heard that the Fuzhou authorities sold two of the largest steamers built by the Fujian Shipyard to China Merchants at half price, and this gift of course greatly helped China Merchants to operate at a lower rate than a foreign rival who had already reduced the minimum freight rate, and in this way it was profitable." ”

Li Hongzhang is naturally very grateful for this great gift from the shipmaster, and the cooperative relationship with the shipmaster has also become closer.

After arriving at the Harbour Master's Office, Sheng Xuanhuai and Zheng Guanying first met with Xia Xianlun, the acting Harbour Master, and Wu Zhongxiang, who was promoted to the Harbour Master's Office, and then, accompanied by Lin Yizhe, visited the two transport ships "Fubo" and "Yongbao", as well as the Harbour Master's steam engine manufacturing workshop. After learning that the No. 2 ship "Yongbao" used a domestic steam turbine, Sheng Xuanhuai and Zheng Guanying were overjoyed.

In the winter of 1869, shortly after the launch of the "Mae Yun", the ship's workers, technicians, and foreigners began to draw and study the 150-horsepower steam engine and its supporting boilers that were later installed on the "Fubo". The drawing work was carried out by the "Drawing House", which was located on the upper floor of the engine workshop. Under the guidance of the foreigners, the drawing students sketched various total score drawings in detail one by one, and the completed drawings were handed over to the wood mold workshop to "carve wood to make a full set of molds". Then according to the mold, the finished product is made by the iron striking and foundry, and finally polished and assembled in the turbine workshop. When assembling the steam engine in the turbine shop, the water tank shop next door is also replicating the two sets of boilers. In the spring of 1871, the first good news was announced in the tank workshop, when two square low-pressure boilers were successfully made, rolled out along the rails leading from the tank workshop to the slipway, and hoisted into the "Yongbao" hull on the slipway.

After the launch of the "Yongbao" carried out voyage trials, the speed was measured to be 10 knots when the wind and tide were headwind, and up to 13 knots when the wind was downwind, which was not much different from the "Wannianqing" and "Fubo" that used imported steam engines of the same power. ”

In just a few years from "Wannianqing" to "Fubo" and then to "Yongbao", the 150-horsepower steamship of the Shipyard has gone through the construction of ready-made ship materials in full accordance with foreign drawings, to the design of its own, to independent manufacturing, and finally to the localization of core components. The steam engine, the crystallization of science and technology in the age of steam, has now been born in the hands of the Chinese themselves.

Seeing Sheng Xuanhuai's surprise and Zheng Guanying's surprise, Lin Yizhe couldn't help but feel emotionally in his heart.

Ten years ago, China was still struggling with the trauma of the Anglo-French invasion of Beijing and the burning of the Old Summer Palace, and now it has won the crown of the steam age, an achievement that is tantamount to a great technological revolution in China, which has no modern industrial base.

The great success of the "Yongbao", which has a Chinese "heart", has greatly encouraged the shipmaster. Since the Opium War, starting from Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan, the Chinese who have felt the scientific and technological power of the West have always dreamed of having the same strength as the Western powers, "mastering the long skills of Yi to control Yi", as a way of self-improvement, but most of them are implemented through the purchase of "tools", and few people dare to try the method of making tools that seems to be tantamount to seeking skin with tigers to learn secret skills directly from foreigners. Through a set of effective contract norms and monetary incentives for foreign technicians, coupled with the efforts of Chinese officials, technicians and workers, the Harbour Master has finally succeeded in realizing this dream.

Soon, after completing the relevant procedures. The two ships "Fubo" and "Yongbao" went north to Shanghai under the stewardship and sailors, carrying Sheng Xuanhuai, Zheng Guanying and the pick-up personnel sent by China Merchants, and officially joined the ranks of China Merchants' transport fleet.

At this time, while building the follow-up ships of the "Fuba" class, the shipmaster was in full swing preparing for the construction of a new type of ironwaki wood-hulled cruiser.

At night, Lin Yizhe was still preparing a recital under the lamp:

“…… The ship must be made of natural bent wood, which is not available in the mainland, and is transported to Siam, Yangon and other places. I heard that there was a lot of wood in this place recently, so the West created an iron wedge to help its poor. The former of the Fujian factory are all made of wooden ribs, and the new ship is started, and the wooden wedge is large and exhausted, barely gathered, and it is not enough for a ship, and the follow-up is particularly difficult, and it is not necessary to change the iron wedge......"

And Lin Yizhe didn't know at this time that an unprecedented storm was quietly coming.

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Fontainebleau, Paris, France.

"My dear majesty, I think it would be better for us to award this venerable Chinese, the savior of the French Empire, a knight of the Grand Cross." Empress Eugenie looked at the oil portrait of Lin Yizhe who had just hung on the wall of her "China Pavilion" and said to Napoleon III, "This represents the highest honor." ”

Empress Eugenie is talking about the Grand Cross, the highest rank of the French Legion of Honor.

The French Legion of Honor is a knighthood system established by Napoleon in 1802 to replace the old dynasty, and is the highest honor awarded by the French government. Napoleon established the Legion of Honor with the intention that anyone of race and ethnicity, male or female, military or religious, loyal to the tenets of liberty and equality, and who had distinguished France, both militarily and otherwise, could become members of the Legion of Honor. The Legion of Honor consists of a total of 5 ranks, corresponding to the 5 honorary ranks of the members of the Legion of Honor, from the lowest to the highest, which are Knight, Officer, Commander, Senior Officer, and Grand Cross Knight.

The Legion of Honor enjoys an extremely high reputation among the French army and the common people. Even after the demise of the Napoleonic regime, subsequent dynasties did not abolish the medal, but only adjusted its shape. During the Second Empire, the Medal of Honor was almost identical to that of the First Empire, with the only difference being that the crown arch of the Medal was not decorated with a clover from the First Empire, but instead of an eagle.

As the man who saved the fate of the French Empire - and of course the fate of her, her husband and son, in Eugenie's view, Lin Yizhe fully deserved such a medal.

"No, no." Napoleon III shook his head, looked at the portrait of Lin Yizhe and said, "I had this idea at first, but when Colonel Riyige heard about it, he expressed his resolute opposition. He said that if the odious Prussians knew the news, it would bring great danger to our benefactors. I thought about it carefully and felt that what he said made sense, so I gave up on this plan. ”

"Then Your Majesty must have something to say, right?" Eugénie's heart was full of gratitude at this time, and she had completely forgotten the unhappiness caused by the emperor's reprimand and house arrest and the removal of her confidant "Count of Baliqiao" Montauban.

"Colonel Riyige said that our benefactor is desperate to get help from France in shipbuilding, and I have ordered all relevant departments to fully cooperate with the Chinese side's request." Napoleon III said, "We will help Chinese build three stone docks......

"But none of this is for him." Eugénie interrupted Napoleon III, "It is so unfair that he has done all this and received nothing for himself." ”

"What do you think should be done?" Napoleon III sat down in a chair and looked around at the various treasures on display, "Shall we give him some treasures?" ”

"It's a great idea." Eugenie looked at her collection of Chinese imperial treasures, smiled and nodded, "Let me choose a few suitable 'little gifts' for him, but I don't know what his taste is." ”

――――Dividing Line――――

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