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Upper reaches of Weishui!

Du He rode alone along the Weishui River, which is the first major tributary of the Yellow River, flowing through the Loess Plateau, with the middle and lower reaches of the canal vertical and horizontal, from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, all of which are the main roads of the Guanzhong Caoyun. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoNowadays, Chang'an is the largest metropolis in the world, and there is an endless stream of ships coming and going on the river, and there are no less than 100 ships of all kinds, which shows the prosperity.

But as they move deeper into the upper reaches of Weishui, caravans of pedestrians gradually decrease, and only a few pleasure boats occasionally appear on the lake.

Continuing deeper, about ten miles away, a large-scale shipyard appeared in front of me.

This is the latest shipbuilding base, which is home to some of the best craftsmen in the Tang Dynasty who specialize in the construction of seagoing ships.

If you want to open up the Maritime Silk Road, the compass to distinguish the direction, the sea ships that travel far away are the most important tools of maritime trade, and they can't do anything without them, and if they don't complete it one day, their plans for the Maritime Silk Road can't be implemented. Therefore, after setting a strategy, Du Ho devoted himself to the construction of cargo ships and compasses at sea.

On this day, he received an invitation from Cheng Laowei, saying that the first batch of sea ships had been completed and asked him to review them.

Du He was overjoyed when he heard the news, left everything in his hand and rushed to the shipyard.

Cheng Laowei's real name is Cheng Tong, because of his strange behavior, people who know him call him Lao Wei, and he is a famous craftsman in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, at the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the heroes rose together, and the naval army of the southern overlord Xiao Mo and Jiangdong Fugong Qi was invincible. However, Li Tang Taiyuan raised troops and gained a foothold in Guanzhong, and the soldiers and horses used were mainly infantry and cavalry, and there was no naval army at all, and the water combat ability was extremely low.

In the third year of Gaozu Wude, Li Yuan named Li Xiaogong as the chief manager, and attacked Xiao Miao, who was very good at water warfare. At that time, Li Jing, the god of the Tang Dynasty who was still a general under Li Xiaogong, gave Li Xiaogong an idea, saying that the formation of the navy was not a day's work, and it was not as good as Xiao Milling's navy in how to train, so it was better to seek a shortcut, mainly warships, and rely on sharp weapons to win Xiao Milling. So he recommended Cheng Laowei to build a battleship. With a sharp weapon, Li Xiaogong not only broke through Jianglingsheng and captured Xiao Miao, but even the Jianghuai Navy of Fu Gongqi was defeated by Li Xiaogong.

After the war, Li Xiaogong showed Cheng Laowei's exploits, Li Yuan was overjoyed and promoted him to be a master craftsman, specifically responsible for the construction of the palace, but Cheng Laowei directly resigned from his official position and willingly became a grass citizen. It turned out that this old man Cheng was a craftsman who was obsessed with shipbuilding technology, and he defected to Li Xiaogong for countless timber and invention funds, and he had no intention of becoming an official at all, he would rather be a common man to study his shipbuilding technology, rather than build a palace for the emperor and leave a name in history.

When Du He was looking for talents in this area, he heard the name of this person unexpectedly, and went to Jiangling in person to invite, Xu Lao Wei was eighty years old, and he was at the age of enjoying Qingfu at home, so he was unwilling to agree to Du He's request, but since he saw the principle of Du He's hand-painted movable triangular sail, he didn't wait for Du He to speak, and shouted and came together.

As a person obsessed with shipbuilding technology, where is there no temptation to encounter the knowledge in Du He's hands, not only did he follow him, but also pulled his two sons and a grandson who inherited his technology to join in.

Cheng Lao Wei was too old to do it himself, but he was experienced and skilled, so Du He gave him the power to manage the shipyard in his place, and was responsible for building ships that could travel far at sea.

Walking into the shipyard, Cheng Laowei had been waiting for a long time.

"Your Excellency!"

Cheng Lao Wei has a strange temper, arrogant and arrogant, looking at the entire Tang Dynasty in terms of shipbuilding skills, and he can't find a few people who can compare with him, and often doesn't put others in his eyes, but in the face of Du He's thousands of years of experience and knowledge, he has to be convinced, and he called out respectfully.

"Cheng Lao has worked hard!" Duholio nodded and let him lead the way.

In the depths of the shipyard, a red sailing ship was quietly moored on the Weishui River.

Unlike the usual boats, the ship in front of me is not very large, but the design has been changed to a boat with "sails" as the main power. Generally, in order to pursue speed, ships on the lake will be equipped with oars, that is, vehicles and ships driven by manpower, relying on manpower to step on the oars and rotate the propellers to maximize the speed. This is not possible at sea, where the larger the number of people, the more obstructive it is, so the rational allocation of manpower is a key issue. Therefore, seagoing vessels are mainly "sails", precisely to reduce unnecessary personnel consumption.

"It is a light multi-masted schooner, based on the principle of graphics drawn by adults and the old man's many years of experience, and it has several masts, the foremast and mainmast are hung with crosssails, and the rear mast is hung with a triangular sail. In this way, it can not only make full use of the wind power, increase the speed, but also be more flexible, easy to maneuver, and can drive in various wind conditions. In addition, the wind blowing on the upper part of the sail generates upward lift in addition to the horizontal thrust. This is good for ships to sail when the lift is relatively small, but if the lift is too large, it may capsize the ship. The use of the spinnaker and top sail can reduce the lift and help the boat to sail steadily. ”

Du He climbed up to the deck along the wooden bridge, carefully observed the whole sailing ship, and found that everything was almost impeccable, so that people could not find fault with it, and secretly marveled at the ingenuity of the ancients, which was really amazing, and he only said a rough idea from memory, and they succeeded in building such an excellent sailing ship with their own imagination, which is really remarkable.

"Good!" Du He smiled: "It's just that I don't know if this ship has the ability to travel far." ”

Cheng Laowei's eyes widened, as if he had been insulted because of Du He's question, raised his voice, and said angrily: "This is natural!" All parts of the ship are painted with red lacquer to prevent insects, and all the wood is made of the finest elm, especially the bottom of the boat, which has two layers specially added to ensure that even if one fails, there is another layer of protection, even in the event of strong winds and waves. ”

"Elm?" Du He frowned, elm is abundant in the Yellow River Valley, the most common wood in the North China Plain, has good elasticity, moisture resistance, rot resistance characteristics, especially the best elm, more hard as iron effect, known as "elm pimple". It is precisely because it is not enlightened and difficult to understand.

However, there are not many high-quality elms, and the price is very different from the common elm, and the use of high-quality elm for shipbuilding will make the cost very expensive and difficult to widely popularize.

"Won't the cost be higher?"

Cheng Lao Wei shrugged his shoulders helplessly and said: "This is a helpless thing, my lord, you must know that this is a sea ship, not only has to withstand strong winds and waves, but also needs to travel on the boundless sea, often can not land for several months, if you don't use high-quality materials, once an accident occurs on the sea, the whole ship will be in danger." This is life, and there is no room for sloppiness. ”

Du He also knows this truth, but it is difficult to popularize things that are too expensive, which is an ironclad fact.

"Is there a way to reduce the cost of using the common sturdy wood to play the same effect as the best elm!"

Cheng Lao Wei rolled his eyes and said: "This is what it is difficult for adults to be strong, you get what you pay for, it is something that children know, and they want to save money, and they want to create good things, how can there be such a good thing in the world." ”

Du He touched his nose embarrassedly, making people say that he was a child, he was really embarrassed, his eyes suddenly saw a square wooden box on the deck, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, and he smiled: "It may not be such a good thing, Cheng Lao, I have an idea, it should be feasible...... How was the bottom of this sailboat built, with two layers of planks directly attached? ”

Cheng Lao Wei knew the power of Du Heqi's idea, and hurriedly said: "Well, whether this can travel far depends mainly on the bearing capacity of the bottom plate, and the two layers of wooden planks can better protect the bottom of the ship and ensure the safety of the long journey." ”

Du He said with a smile: "That's it, have you ever thought about making the bottom of the boat in a new way, not connecting the old-fashioned two layers of wooden planks, but connecting the bottom of the boat in the shape of a box, making a small space." To put it bluntly, instead of two planks being thickened, the two planks at the bottom of the boat are separated, and then the two planks at the bottom of the boat are separated into countless small boxes in the shape of a "well", so that there is no leakage or ventilation between them. So that even if one place is hit and cracks. Then the water will not penetrate into the cabin, it will only fill the cracked small box, and it will be able to continue sailing without repairing it at all. This is more effective than putting two planks together. ”

Cheng Laowei stood stunned for a while, and shouted in a low voice: "I think it is feasible, this is the same, although it is a little troublesome, but it reduces the expense, and the desired effect can be achieved without using high-grade elm." This is a wonderful method, and the sailboat made by this method, even if it is made of common elm, is better than the method I used before! ”

"And! We can also lay a piece of iron sheet on the bottom of the boat, which can also effectively strengthen the hull and prevent the inevitable impact. Du He's mind became active, remembering that the ironclad warships in ancient times did the same.

Cheng Laowei admired: "This technology can not only be used for navigation, but also has a miraculous effect on the battlefield, which can make the warship have stronger protection capabilities, and it will not sink even if it is hit." ”

When Du He heard this, he suddenly laughed, and also realized that he undoubtedly had an idea, which would become a sharp weapon for future "naval battles" and hostile confrontations.

"Rebuild, rebuild a sailboat in my way, and the future of Datang depends on it."

Half a month later, the new sailboat was completed again.

At the same time, the study of the compass has also made substantial progress, they have overcome the most difficult level, and the day of success is just around the corner.

Everything is ready, only the east wind is owed, the ship and compass are all unharmed, and the rest is only the person who commands the first voyage of the Tang Dynasty.

The role of an experienced navigator is capable of outperforming even an army. It's just that sailing is the first time, where to find an experienced navigator?