It is false to say that Luo Jian is not in a hurry, now the saltpeter mine of the gunpowder factory has been exhausted, and it is basically in a state of shutdown, this news is tightly sealed, although the workers of the gunpowder factory have nothing to do, they still commute to and from work normally every day, lest the news leak out.

The caravan sent by Yangzhou has already gone to the south to purchase, I don't know how much can be bought back this time, if the Manchu Qing know this news, it will be terrible, if they take the opportunity to attack, then the Yangzhou army is really in trouble.

Although Xiao Liu has made progress, but the progress has not been large, mainly because the quality of the materials is not up to par, although ammonia has been successfully produced in the laboratory, but there is still a hurdle to pass in the use of ammonia to make nitric acid.

Now the Wuhu steelmaking plant has started, the address is Luo Jian and Shi Kefa went to choose together, and when the steelmaking plant over there is put into production, the steelmaking plant here can do some special steel research and development with peace of mind, and at present it can only wait.

The production of various factories has also slowed down, and the fleet does not return for a day, and everyone's hearts are equally unsteady.

The two hurried to the shipyard, which was also surrounded by a high wall, and the shipbuilding technology also needed to be kept secret.

Walking into the courtyard of the shipyard, what was presented to everyone was a wide main keel, Luo Jian estimated, the keel was probably not less than 30 meters long, Luo Jian suddenly remembered that the British had built the "King of the Sea" a few years ago, its keel length is 39 meters, it seems that the battleship under construction in Yangzhou is not much smaller than it.

The keel is placed on a huge slipway that leads directly to the makeshift dock.

The tall canopy next to it was already filled with huge pieces of wood, and hundreds of craftsmen were busy without stopping.

A row of houses has been built on the left side of the huge keel, and Song Yingxing and his team have all moved here.

Luo Jian and Shi Kefa walked towards the house, and there was a discussion from time to time.

On a huge work desk, Song Yingxing was lying next to him, calculating on the paper next to him from time to time, a group of students were also holding a notebook and writing something, Zhu Cihuan was also among them, and when he saw Luo Jian and Shi Kefa coming in, he smiled shyly.

"Xinghua, Inspector, you are here. Isn't the battleship design a little bigger? If you go to the sea, you're just saying 'Big Mac'. Song Yingxing looked up and said.

"Is this a 'Big Mac'?" Luo Jian thought in his heart about the 100,000-ton cargo ship and aircraft carrier in another time and space, compared to them, this battleship was not even small.

"Old Song, I said a long time ago that a few years ago, a country on the other side of the ocean had built a warship bigger than this, and we are not big." Luo Jian said with a smile.

"It's too big, the power problem is not easy to solve, our steam engine can't be too big, the quality of the steel can't pass the test, only a few steam engines can be installed to drive, we are studying the linkage problem." Song Yingxing said.

"Old Song, I have some information here, can you provide you with some references?"

Luo Jian took out a stack of papers from his bag, this is some of the mechanical transmission information he has queried from the computer in the past few days, originally he didn't want to provide Song Yingxing with them, he was afraid that there would be a fault in some technology.

It's just that the situation is urgent now, if the problem of shipping is not completely solved as soon as possible, I am afraid that the future development of Yangzhou will be restricted, and it can only take the way of pulling out seedlings to help grow.

Song Yingxing took the information in Luo Jian's hand, took it in his hand and began to look at it, no longer paying attention to Luo Jian, Shi Kefa and others, Luo Jian had to smile bitterly at Shi Kefa.

When Luo Jian and Shi Kefa came back from a big circle in the shipyard, they saw that Song Yingxing was patting his head and saying, "Oh, why didn't I think of this way." ”

"Xinghua, Inspector, there is no problem with the power, I will let the shipbuilders speed up the progress and ensure that your warship will be able to go to sea in two months."

"Old Song, this matter is not in a hurry, quality comes first." Luo Jian hurriedly said.

"You still can't trust the old man? We want to be the fastest and the best quality. Song Yingxing replied.

"Old Song, you still have to install sails on the battleship, right?" Luo Jian asked.

"Of course, sailing at sea is not comparable to the river, fuel can be replenished at any time, and you can save a little bit at sea, of course, you have to load the sails." Song Yingxing said.

Hearing Song Yingxing say this, Luo Jian put his mind at ease, for fear that they would forget to design sails when they had a steam engine.

"By the way, I heard you say that any British-made warship dares to call it 'King of the Sea', what is the name of our warship?" Song Yingxing, who was in a good mood, remembered the issue of naming the battleship.

"This is our first battleship in Yangzhou, why don't you call it Yangzhou, what do you think of Xinghua?" Shi Kefa said with a deep groan.

"Our Yangzhou is too small, and when the world is unified in the future, you will feel that this name is too stingy." Luo Jian said with a smile.

"What's the name? It has to be loud and memorable, let me think. Shi Kefa thought with a frown.

"Don't think about it, I think our warships will be named after our national heroes to commemorate their contributions and sacrifices for our nation, what do you think?" Luo Jian said with a smile.

"Okay! This is a good idea, our battleship will be called 'Wei Qing', and when there is a second and third ship in the future, we will call it 'Huo Quai', 'Yue Fei', 'Wen Tianxiang', this is a good idea! Shi Kefa said appreciatively.

With the unanimous approval of everyone, the naming of the first battleship in Yangzhou was determined, and the "Wei Qing" was born on this day.

"Old Song, can you tell us about the specific design of this battleship?" After giving the battleship a name, Luo Jian began to pay attention to the details of the battleship.

"The total length of the completed battleship is thirteen zhang eight, with a total of three decks, designed to carry 600 people, there are twenty-four guns on the upper deck, and twelve guns on the middle deck, which are driven by four steam engines, and there are three main masts on the upper deck. Song Yingxing talked about these things like a treasure.

"Only thirty-six guns?" Luo Jian remembered that there were one hundred and four guns on the "Sea King".

"Xinghua, do you remember the king again? Can its artillery compare to ours? Not only can our artillery shoot far, but the firepower is fast, and one can withstand four or five of them. Song Yingxing said with a smile.

After listening to Song Yingxing's words, Luo Jian reacted that at this time, Yangzhou's artillery had surpassed this era a lot.

"Our warships are much stronger than other warships now, and the best steel is used in many places, which is guaranteed to withstand the wind and waves at sea, Xinghua, you can rest assured." Song Yingxing reassured Luo Jian again.

"That's good, if you have any difficulties, tell us, and let's figure out a way together." After listening to Song Yingxing's words, Luo Jian's heart was much more steady.

Luo Jian and Shi Kefa, who returned to Yangzhou, had more and more things, and the Wuhu steelmaking plant was about to be completed, and the groundbreaking ceremony was also invited to participate, both of whom felt that this was a major event and said that they wanted to participate.

Both of them followed the progress of the shipyard and sent people to see it almost every day.

Finally, the day of the completion of the Wuhu Steelmaking Plant, this time Luo Jian and Shi Kefa took a steamboat that had been converted by the sailor to go up the river, and it took only three days to arrive in Wuhu.

The main personnel of the Wuhu Steelmaking Plant are all sent from Guazhou, and they are technically familiar with the road, and the construction process of the steelmaking plant is very smooth, and the workers have all been trained and ready to start work today.

Looking at the open-hearth furnace, which was several times larger than the Guazhou Steelmaking Plant, Shi Kefa was excited.

"Xinghua, once the Wuhu Steelmaking Plant is put into production, our steel output can meet the needs, right?"

"Just this steel mill? Brother Xian, it's still early, and we will build bigger ones in the future, these steelmaking plants are all for emergency use, and they are still very backward in technology, and they are also very environmentally unfriendly, and they will be eliminated as soon as possible. Luo Jian said with a smile.

"Xinghua, what are you talking about? This is going to be eliminated as soon as it is built? By the way, what is environmental protection? Shi Kefa said dissatisfied.

"Environmental protection is environmental protection, we can't destroy the environment for the sake of production without restrictions, you look at the black smoke coming out of this chimney, this thing is not a good thing. Brother Xian, we must look farther, what is built now will never be eliminated in the future, and when the technology advances in the future, the elimination of these industries with low output and high consumption will be an inevitable phenomenon. Luo Jian explained.

"Well, I understand when I hear you say this, and when technology advances in the future, let's build a more advanced steel mill that doesn't emit black smoke." Shi Kefa said.

Luo Jian and Shi Kefa stayed in Wuhu for three days, and when the first molten steel was produced in the steel mill, the two returned to Yangzhou on a steamboat.

Along the way, Shi Kefa sighed at the speed of the steamship, and kept saying to Luo Jian: "This steam engine is good, we must build more, but this thing is too steel-intensive." ”

The steamship went directly to the Guazhou dock, and both of them were worried about the construction of the battleship, and they happened to come over today to have a look.

When the two walked into the shipyard wall, they were surprised by the scene in front of them.

The huge hull of the "Wei Qing" has almost been built, but there is still a huge gap in the middle, apparently for the installation of a steam engine.

"This is a nail for a ship?" Shi Kefa looked at the pile of nail-like steel rods in front of him.

"I guess so, such a big ship must use such a big nail. By the way, let's build a nail factory. Luo Jian said.

"What are you building that thing for? Isn't it easy to get a steel mill out of it? Shi Kefa asked suspiciously.

In fact, Luo Jian just subconsciously said, remembering that when he was a child, the old people in his hometown called iron nails "foreign nails", because the previous iron nails were imported from abroad, and we couldn't produce them ourselves, and the older generation has always used the previous saying.

Luo Jian smiled, did not answer Shi Kefa's words, and turned to look at the battleship carefully.

Seeing that Song Yingxing's students were holding folders in their hands one by one, they were comparing on the hull with a ruler from time to time, comparing on the drawings while gesturing, Zhu Cihuan was also doing the same thing, and when he saw Luo Jian coming, he smiled at him, less shy than before, and obviously more confident.

"Come, come, Cihuan, how do you feel here?" Luo Jian saw that everyone was busy with their own business, and no one paid attention to Zhu Cihuan, so he asked softly.

"Governor, okay, I now study at my husband's place every day, and I have to go to Uncle Liu's to study mathematics and chemistry at night, and they all say that I am making rapid progress." Zhu Cihuan said confidently.

"Well, yes, you can ask me any questions in the future." Luo Jian said.

"Duke, you can do math and chemistry too?" Zhu Cihuan asked curiously.

"Well, I know some, chemistry is not as good as your Uncle Liu, and physics and mathematics are not as good as me." Luo Jian said with a smile.

"Governor Dadu, Liu Jun often brags that you are his husband, can you also accept me as a disciple?" Zhu Cihuan raised his head and said.

"Cihuan, Uncle Luo is very busy, in fact, he has very little time to teach you, rather than putting on a name and not fulfilling his responsibility as a gentleman, I deserve this gentleman, you just study hard with Song Lao and Uncle Liu, and learn all their skills, you will be much better than Uncle Luo." Luo Jian touched Zhu Cihuan's head and said with a smile.

"Xinghua, I know that your affairs are more important than these skills, but I still hope that you will take the time to teach the children, Liu Jun, this kid often blows you so well, many children are not convinced, for the sake of your great image, you should teach them a lesson." Song Yingxing didn't know what was coming, and said with a smile.

PS: Happy New Year to everyone!