On October 24, 1625, after several years of hard work, the first iron-boned wooden-hulled sailing merchant ship of the shipbuilding industry of the American Republic of China was launched at the Beiyang Shipbuilding Company.

Named the "Manatee", the real yàn iron-framed wooden-hulled sailing merchant ship was made of an iron keel processed and manufactured by a 100-ton steam forging hammer from General Industries, which easily got rid of the complex limitations of the wooden keel structure and made the hull structure simpler. The standard displacement is 1,400 tons, the full load displacement exceeds 1,800 tons, and the maximum cargo capacity reaches an astonishing 800 tons, which is almost equivalent to the cargo capacity of a large flying shear merchant ship of the Ao Guang class, and the maximum cargo capacity of the Ao Guang class with a full load displacement of 2,500 tons is only 850 tons.

This large-volume ocean-going merchant ship adopts a more simple and conservative ship design, except for the keel and steam power cabin, the construction and outfitting of the whole ship is much less difficult than that of the Ao Guang class. However, because there are no steam units with greater horsepower output, and considering the economy of civil ships, the Manatee is only equipped with two 320 horsepower double-expansion steam engines, which are purely steam-powered cruising at full load, with a speed of only a pitiful 6 knots, and the cruising speed of the sails can barely reach 10 knots, and the maximum speed is only 12 knots. But even so, it was almost twice as fast as today's 17th-century sail galen, and there was room for improvement if the wind was smooth.

Judging from the practical application of the clipper fleet to and from the Azores, which averaged only 12 knots per hour, the Manatee was not slow. Moreover, the construction is relatively simple, the cargo capacity is large, the living environment of the crew is better, the navigation is more stable, the route is shorter when the wind is headwind, and the comprehensive performance is still better than that of the Aoguang-class large flying scissor merchant ships.

The performance metrics on paper still look quite attractive. But this is a sail merchant ship that integrates a variety of real projects such as steel keels and large ships. However, it only belongs to the self-developed ships of Beiyang Shipbuilding Company. There is no order contract to pay for its $400,000 R&D investment over the next few years. The national special scientific research funds account for 70% of it, and the self-research funds belonging to General Industry Company and Beiyang Shipbuilding Company add up to more than 120,000 US dollars.

Compared with the expectations at the beginning of the project, it is now really cold, and the entire launching ceremony was only attended by the Minister of Health and Education of the Government Cabinet. And it is also on the grounds of "looking at the use of scientific research project funds", which sounds heartbreaking.

In fact, the problem was caused by the explosion of the USS Constitution boiler, and now both the navy and civilian shipping companies are suspicious of the so-called "latest and most cutting-edge" things. No one wants to take the risk of using it in the first place. Throughout the second half of 1625, the civil ships ordered by the various companies were all traditional and mature sail clippers merchant ships.

For this result, You Qi once publicly scolded, from the naval headquarters to the ocean shipping company under the state-owned import and export group, and finally even scolded his friend Ren Changle's "Mayflower Transportation Company". But scolding and scolding, this real iron-boned wood-hulled ship can't be built and rots in the port?

In a fit of rage, You Qi decided to wait for the Kaichun Manatee next year to complete the outfitting project and sea trials, and directly serve as the company's internal transport ship, specializing in the route of Yushu Town and Qingcheng City, from where it will transport high-quality shipbuilding timber. It will take a year to prove the reliability of the new technology of Beiyang Shipbuilding Company.

After losing his temper, You Qi began to officially start the drawing design work for the construction of the next generation of "Flower" class sail frigates for the Navy. According to You Qi's preconceived ideas. The Flower-class sail frigates, which were scheduled to be built in 1627, would have adopted the iron-boned wood-hull process, even if they had a displacement of less than 1,000 tons. And this kind of flower-class sail frigate, which is used to replace the enterprise-class sail frigate, will also pave the way for the "Princess" class large light cruiser built in 1629.

At that time, this sail frigate with a standard displacement of 920 tons and a full load displacement of 1150 tons will use a single 800-horsepower triple-expansion steam unit and a traditional clipper bow planned by General Industries, and the cruise speed of pure steam power will reach at least 9 knots! Hmph, when the time comes, all the R&D expenses of the Manatee will be shared by you!

……

At the same time that You Qi was looking for his in-laws for his manatee, in the headquarters of NORINCO, the two industrial tycoons were "confronting" each other in a strange atmosphere.

It has to be said that after the explosion of the steam boiler on the Constitution sail light cruiser, the Congress began to attach importance to and promote the long-term pre-research work of the steam turbine, and the main presiding unit was the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry under the Congress. Both Lin Youde, who is the vice chairman, and Jiang Zhaolong, who is a senior consultant, have different views on this project.

Because the two also have more important and sensitive social identities, one is the leader of North Industries Company, and the other is the helmsman of General Industries.

Perhaps in order to break GM's long-standing monopoly on the steam engine project, the development of the steam turbine was not tendered, but directly invested in NORINCO in the name of "national scientific research". But as people in the technology circle, both of them understand how much impact the development direction of this "technology tree" will have on the future application of steam power in China.

Although the arms business has allowed Lin Youde to accumulate a lot of net worth, he still prefers a pure technical talent, while Jiang Zhaolong is more like a businessman who understands technology and pays more attention to the long-term development of the enterprise.

"Mr. Lin, I am not against the application of the project, nor against technological progress, but we all have to think about it clearly. Although the country's R&D investment falls on your family, once this Congression-led R&D project is approved for practical application, more than half of the patents of this national special holding project do not belong to us, what will be the impact on both of us? The initial investment of our two families in the reciprocating steam engine can't be in vain, right? ”

Jiang Zhaolong picked up the teacup and secretly looked at his old friend's face, full of helplessness.

He admits that he has always had a strong monopoly on the manufacturing patents of reciprocating steam engines, but he has also established a strategic alliance with NORINCO, and the two companies share monopoly interests in the production of parts for reciprocating steam engines to enterprise applications. Once the research and development of the national patent project steam turbine is reached, it means that the two companies will be easily weakened by the state on the grounds of breaking the monopoly.

Patents belong to the state, with a little fiddling. The members of the R&D project team formed by the stunned young people are likely to be dismembered by the state to form an independent steam turbine manufacturing company. In summary. Even patents can be granted. NORINCO and General Industries will be squeezed out of considerable market space.

"I don't dare to openly sing my own opposition at the Commission of Science and Technology, this is not what we should do when we engage in technology." Lin Youde put the teacup back on the table with trembling hands and said carefully. In the face of this colleague and friend who has cooperated for several years, Lin Youde can only tell the truth. "Those who can enter the Commission of Science and Technology are not fools, no matter how layman they are, they understand the basic situation."

"With your attitude, I'm satisfied!" Jiang Zhaolong heard the negotiable voice. finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Mr. Lin, you are younger than me, but I still call you Lao Lin, we will not drag the country back, but we can't let the country treat us as fools!" ”

"Mr. Jiang, if you have something to say, just say it, as long as you don't let people gossip." Lin Youde gritted his teeth and revealed his heart.

"I need an update on the development of your steam turbine project, and I'll start the GM In-house project right away. Getting rid of the country may be to our detriment in the future. As long as my results here come out first, the patent is in our hands. What's mine is yours, and you and I are still a strategic alliance! Jiang Zhaolong paused, and finally said his big move.

Standing up slowly, walking back and forth in the luxuriously decorated office, walking for nearly 5 minutes, Lin Youde turned to face his friend and nodded slightly. After returning to the desk, Lin Youde pressed the secretary's electric bell, and after a while, a pretty European female secretary walked in in a Han skirt.

"Please let Mr. Cao Zhe come to my office. I said that I would check the progress of the project, adjust the work of the project team, and ask him to bring a full set of materials. After Lin Youde finished speaking, he smiled at Jiang Zhaolong, who was about to get up and say goodbye.

……

Not long after, a thin engineer with thick glasses walked into Lin Youde's office. Cao Zhe, a former worker in the mold factory of a township enterprise, is the chief engineer of the current steam turbine project team in Huamei.

After the catastrophe, it is also a special combination of the three third-rate nine sects. If you don't count the more than half of the former dock workers who were once unknown, there are also second-knife professionals in several industries among the remaining people who have swept in. However, the shortcomings of professional talent coverage and knowledge and technology are an objective situation that cannot be reversed, in addition to the relative "strong" medical team and chemical talents, even if You Qi, Jiang Zhaolong, Lin Youde and others, if placed in the future generations, it is just a small handful drowning in the professional ocean.

The principle of the steam turbine is easy to understand, but the details involved in the development process have choked the necks of countless people.

"Xiao Cao, how is it going now? Today, I also asked Mr. Jiang of General Industries about a lot of technical issues, and it seems that we can't do things behind closed doors if we want to really do things well. Lin Youde smiled and served tea to this proud protégé who worshiped under his door after the crossing.

"Oh?! Does Jiang always have any good ideas? Cao Zhe is a typical skilled worker in later generations, and during this time, he is not grasping several bottlenecks in the project, "I have carried out several process verifications, and the blade casting is not a troublesome matter, but the precision machining process of other components is very troublesome." If the accuracy cannot be improved, the work efficiency and failure rate of the whole machine will be very bad. Otherwise, the most primitive turbine structure can only be adopted, the efficiency is limited, and the coal consumption is higher than that of the reciprocating steam engine. ”

"Well, I also found out, so I entrusted Mr. Jiang to try to get a special machine tool for us to see if we can deal with these problems. By the way, tonight we will check the progress of the project, and list any problems in a categorical manner, and everyone will brainstorm them. Find another opportunity to let Mr. Jiang come over and talk about some professional knowledge of finishing for everyone to learn. Lin Youde looked at the apprentices who had stayed up late every day in the past few months, and secretly couldn't bear it.

"Okay, master, I've always wanted to learn from Mr. Jiang, but I haven't had a chance!" Cao Zhe lifted his glasses and smiled happily.

"By the way, Xiao Cao, at the end of this year, after the company's shareholders pay dividends, there will be an internal share expansion, you must subscribe a little more, if the money is not enough, I can borrow you, the country has built the stock market in the past few years, and excellent companies like us are not worried about stock prices. You don't just think about work, think more about the future, you know? Lin Youde thought about it, and was still ready to compensate for this diligent apprentice.

"Hehe, I can't eat it for a few lifetimes now, and you take care of me so much, master, I listen to you!" Cao Zhe was even happier when he heard it, there is such a master for his own sake, what else do he have to scruple about.

Cao Zhexi left with a smile, and Lin Youde sighed deeply with a helpless face. (To be continued.) )