In Lingao, the attached port of the Red Plate Shipyard, Pang Yu was carrying a travel bag, standing on the dock, staring at the newly launched fast schooner in front of him.

The Qiongzhen Navy has developed very rapidly in recent years, but there are not many new ships built by themselves, and the big ships are all snatched from Westerners and then transformed. The rest of the auxiliary vessels were also purchased or captured ready-made ships in Tongguò, and were remodeled into a new fleet. In the shipyard that Wang Ruobin is in charge of, there are only seven new ships that have been designed entirely with modern knowledge and built independently by the Qiong Navy, including this latest one, and this is not counting the first experimental small racing boat, which has long since been decommissioned.

However, all seven boats are of pure blood, and all are standard fast shoukers, the so-called "big clippers" – the ultimate achievement of a wooden sail-driven boat, the clipper has reached the point of near-perfection. Even if it actually has many shortcomings: it is not suitable as a battleship - it is too difficult to handle; Nor is it suitable as a passenger ship - it is too uncomfortable to ride; It is also difficult to move in inland rivers, but the advantage of ultra-high speed at sea alone is enough to compensate for this shortcoming. And this advantage is precisely unmatched by all other types of ships of this era.

Therefore, at the internal meeting of the shipyard, Wang Ruobin withstood external pressure and insisted that there is only one kind of longitudinal sail among all the current self-shipbuilding types. As for what armor, firepower, battle line, etc., you have asked for, for now, we will make do with the captured galleon, and when the technical conditions come up in the future, we will go directly to the ironclad. When the time comes, it doesn't matter if you are a big ship cannon party or a flat-deck god cult, even if you have multiple turrets, riveted armor, steam power, rigid suspension...... Wait, it's all negotiable - but at the stage of a wooden sailboat, let's just think of fast schooners!

It is also a loss that Qiongzhen is now on the sea, relying on the queen of the warship - Qionghai to press the formation. There has never been any major setbacks, and the navy has indeed been able to grab galleons from Westerners, which can meet most of the needs after refitting. Therefore, the navy did not put too much pressure on the shipowner, allowing him to build new ships according to his own judgment.

And the fast sailing fleet of the Joan Navy has now made a name for itself among the surrounding forces. Except for the Ming Dynasty, which has entered the apocalyptic stage and has been super unconscious, and has not yet reacted, all other forces that know something about maritime affairs are salivating over the short-haired super-clipper - Wang Ruobin's shipyard has repeatedly caught spies trying to steal technology, and everyone has been interrogated: the Zheng family, the Japanese, the British, the Dutch, and even Annam and Siam, who they don't pay attention to, are trying to reach out here.

Therefore, the security work of the red card shipyard is also super tight. The Marine Corps has a permanent company here, and daily inspections and regulations are strictly enforced. Pang Yu, as a "genuine shorthair", is not restricted from acting here, but other locals, even if they are senior technicians. It is also necessary to act strictly according to the scope of the pass, otherwise they will be censored as spies and even arrested.

"Well, it feels good, this is the latest model 'Flying Shear III', and it is one step closer to the ultimate boat model I expected 'Flying Shear V'."

The owner of the boat, Wang Ruobin, appeared on the dock at some point, with a smug expression on his face. The development of new ships on the side of the Joan Navy has adopted a similar model to the construction of new ships by their original national navy. The so-called "small steps and fast runs": the development of new ship types does not pursue a one-step approach, but through the repeated construction of verification ships to improve the technical level little by little, the same type of verification ships usually only build two or three finished ships, and then absorb the lessons learned, on this basis, continue to design and build newer models.

Specific to these fast shoukers, except for the original real yàn dinghy "Snow Wind", only one was built. The second ship of "Shiyu" and "Yefen" is the official version of the second ship on the basis of it, that is, the "Flying Scissors No. 1 type" called by Wang Ruobin, and then the three ships "Feiyan", "Baiju" and "Xinxuefeng" belong to the "Flying Shear No. 2" and arrive at this new ship. It's "Flying Shear Three".

Moreover, Wang Ruobin went all out to develop a fast schooner - he had a good idea of what this type of ship could eventually achieve. According to Wang Ruobin, the final and most mature model of the classical large schooner should be designed according to the "Royal Flying Scissors" that is still in use in modern society. And it was a behemoth one hundred and fifty meters long, with an empty weight of 5,000 tons and a full load displacement of 11,000 tons!

In the information collected by Wang Ruobin, there are almost all the numbers about the boat, but how to actually make it is a difficult problem for him - it is like cheating in an exam, although Wang knows the final answer, but the intermediate derivation process has to rely on his own exploration. So there is a gradual advancement from "Flying Shear One" to "Flying Shear Five", of course, this is just a plan, if "Flying Shear Five" can not meet the requirements, then there will be "Flying Shear Six", "Flying Shear Seven" is not surprising.

"Do you name models based on the number of masts?"

Pang Yu didn't know much about this, but he could at least see that Wang Ruobin's design was generally getting bigger and bigger, and the number of masts and sails was also increasing—the previous "Shiyu" and "Yefen" ships were all sloops, and then the "Xinxuefeng", "Baiju", "Feiyan" and so on were brigs, and in this latest model, the narrow and slender hull with three main masts from front to back stood tall, and the total length of the hull was close to the Spanish galleon they had captured.

"Hehe, almost, the ultimate model I have planned, the 'Flying Shear Five', is a five-masted ship...... Of course, there will be some other changes, but basically...... That's right, the mast is more and more. ”

Under the leadership of Wang Ruobin, Pang Yu went on the boat to visit again. Perhaps because of the relationship that left too much impression when he rode the earliest small "snow wind", the fast schooner always seemed to be a small boat in Pang Yu's impression. Of course, this is also because the length-to-width ratio of schooners has always been relatively large, and the hull is always very slender, and it feels like it can't hold much.

Therefore, the previous four ships, "Yefen" and "Shiyu", were pure reconnaissance ships and auxiliary ships. Once the "Shinyukikaze", "Feiyan" and "White Horse" are in service, the fast sailing fleet will finally take shape and can be combined to carry out certain high-speed assault missions. and occasionally used to urgently transport some small quantities of goods.

But today's "Flying Shear III" type should already be regarded as a large ship. The length of the hull is more than fifty meters, and the width is more than six meters even on a one-to-eight basis. According to Wang Ruobin, the displacement alone is more than 200 tons without load, and if it is fully loaded, it can reach more than 500 tons, which means that this ship can carry about 300 tons of cargo, which has surpassed most of the auxiliary ships on hand in the Qiong Navy except for large sailing ships. If a few more ships are built, they can be used as a transport fleet on their own -- exclusively for high-speed transportation.

In fact, this is the main purpose of clippers - high-speed freight. At that time, the Americans used it to send their newly produced tea to Europe as quickly as possible, and it only took 13 days to cross the Atlantic. If we use it to deliver agricultural products to the north, we can even ensure that Chen Tao and his people can eat fresh lychees. And not even an escort, no warship or pirate ship could catch up with it. ”

"Can you get to Lushun in five days?"

That's all Pang Yu cares about now, and that's why he came to the dock for a while—the committee was also in a mess for a while after receiving the urgent telegram from Chen Jun, and then quickly made a decision: send him to take over the Weihaiwei base again, and take care of the affairs of Lushun as well. In short, it's a word: you go clean up the mess.

"No problem, if it's going well, four days will be enough."

The reason why we want to send the latest big flying scissors to launch. But because in addition to sending Pang Yu over, he also had to bring a key person - surgeon Shi Yisheng. Although Wen Deji sent a telegram back saying that he had taken Old Jack with him, there were no clippers in the northbound fleet, and the fast sailing detachments were all on duty in Luzon at this time. The committee calculated the time, and felt that it was at the speed of the large ship formation of Wendehei. Even if you start to move at full speed from the vicinity of Ningbo, it will be too late to arrive at Lushun. It would be better to send a fast boat and a doctor from Hainan Island -- Wang Ruobin to ensure that his new ship can move at an average speed of more than 15 knots, and if necessary, it will be able to run out of 20 knots, and if he is lucky, he will be able to reach the vicinity of Lushun in only four or five days.

As a result, the maiden route of the "Danyang" was determined in this way -- yes, the "Danyang" was the name of the first ship of the "Flying Shear III" type. Most people don't feel much about the name. But Pang Yu understood the mystery, and complained very much after hearing it:

"Isn't it said that people who run to the sea are the most superstitious? How do you do this kind of demon moth? It's not better than Xiangrui, isn't it? Xiao Lang is so awesome that when he crosses the strait, he has to learn from Fu Jian to set up a flag, this time it's good, it's really a whip to cut off...... You can't just take a normal name? The previous two ships called 'White Horse' and 'Feiyan' are not very good! ”

Regarding Pang Yu's complaints, Boss Wang could only smile bitterly:

"The name of the charter is not up to me - the collective has to hand over this power to everyone. And some people just like to spoof, what can you do with him? ”

-- Speaking of the naming rules for ships, it was really a confusing account, originally it was said that it was determined by the committee, but later some people put forward opinions, saying why? Everyone should have the right to do so. So it was agreed that the 139 people would take turns to draw lots, and whoever caught it would get the right to name the new ship once. Of course, I also said it in advance: you can't take too weird and vulgar names. The problem is that a name like "Danyang" has a deep connotation, and ordinary people don't know its stalk, so they can't deny it. By the time the person who understands knows this, he has already understood it.

The two chatted for a while, and at this time, several other people also rushed over with simple luggage - including Shi Yisheng, Doctor Shi, several technicians in Wang Ruobin's shipyard, and the corresponding escort team and sailboat operators. Due to the haste of this operation, several people in charge of the fast sailing team in the Qiong Navy were outside, so they had to be personally dispatched by Boss Wang again, and by the way, they also made a voyage test for the "Danyang".

Seeing that the people were almost there, Wang Ruobin ordered to lift the anchor and prepare to set sail. But at this moment, I saw a figure flickering at the entrance of the pier, and a big man shouted "Wait a minute" and rushed straight over.

-- But it was actually dismissal.

Pang Yu, Shi Yisheng and others glanced at each other, as the original founder of the Weihai base in Shandong, the official head of the third regiment, and the Weihai general canonized by the Ming Empire, for this trouble in Lushunkou, there is no doubt that the most suitable person to deal with is to deal with the trouble. But the problem is that his wife Julie is approaching to give birth, and now her belly is very strong, and her mobility is becoming more and more inconvenient, and she does not even attend the daily meeting of the committee. Xie Xi resigned from his position and returned to Hainan in order to take care of his wife, and if he was called to Liaodong again at this time, he would definitely not be able to catch up with the birth of the child. Not to mention that there may be danger - what happened to Xiao Lang is over there.

So everyone at the committee tacitly didn't mention him at all, and directly said that Pang Yu would go alone, and the latter fully understood, and went back to clean up a little before setting off for the dock, deliberately not going to say goodbye to Lao Jie. I just didn't want him to know that there were any extraneous things in the future, but as the spouse of the former committee member and the current committee member, he was also well informed about the dismissal and still rushed over in time.

Seeing that Lao Xie was panting and rushing onto the boat with a duffel bag, everyone understood his thoughts, but Pang Yu still asked:

"Julie, did you tell her? This time, I might stay there for a long time. ”

"Having said that, she understands it perfectly. The third regiment is also my child, and I will not give it to anyone else to spoil again! ”

Xie Xie's face was still full of anger - knowing that Xiao Lang had just landed at Lushunkou, he couldn't wait to ask the first battalion without artillery cover to run to the death with the Houjin army, Xie Xi was so angry that he scolded Xiao Lang for being a bastard and not feeling distressed by sacrificing other people's children. If it weren't for Xiao Lang's own injury, and his life and death were still uncertain, the dismissal would definitely immediately submit impeachment to the committee, and no matter what, he would not be allowed to take charge of the military power of the Third Regiment again.

But the immediate priority is to bring the three boys home safely. And Lao Xie will never fake others in this matter, even Pang Yu, who has cooperated with him for the longest time and has the deepest friendship, it must be done by his Lao Xie himself!

The opinion seat was so insistent that everyone didn't say anything about persuasion. So Wang Ruobin ordered to pull up the anchor block, raise the sails, and in the blessing bell ringing on the bell tower of the pier, the newborn "Danyang" took advantage of the wind to move quickly...... After a while, it disappeared between the sea and the sky. P