If the level of technical reserves in the manufacturing sector is concerned, the shipyard can at least rank in the top three, if not the strongest at present. There are not only shipbuilding professionals such as Yue Zhiyun and Sun Changmi, who are from the Maritime University, and navigation experts with rich practical experience such as Wang Tom, but also a group of local shipbuilders who have been connected to the network through various channels after crossing the city, plus a large number of modern ship materials in the database, as well as a large number of keyboard experts within the group, it can be said that the pure technical strength is very strong, much higher than other competitors of the same era.

The Executive Committee also gave high expectations and support to the development of new sailing ships, and all the raw materials needed by the shipyard were given priority, and those who did not have them were bought, and those that could not be bought outside were built by themselves, and they could not build them themselves...... Let's consider changing the plan. In short, as long as the Executive Committee can get it, the shipyard can have what it needs.

However, perhaps it is precisely because the technical concept is too advanced compared with the level of the same era, on the contrary, the development process of the No. 1 test ship is full of various controversies. Not only the Executive Committee, but almost all the people involved in the development of the ship type hope to be able to make the test ship perfect and functional from the very beginning, and to overwhelm the maritime opponents of the same era in terms of shipbuilding technology.

The wish is beautiful, but the reality is cruel. Although everyone is well aware of the direction of shipbuilding technology in the next few hundred years, it is a pity that due to the current manufacturing level and material limitations, it is impossible to build a powerful and easy-to-operate wooden sailing ship in one fell swoop. The participants belonging to different groups also put forward various requirements or construction for the ship, and as a result, the construction plan of the Ministry of Shipping began to be prepared before the crossing, and it has been changed again and again recently, and the final plan has not been determined for a long time.

Soon after the shipyard was built, the Ministry of Shipping had already reported to apply for the start of another test ship at the same time, because there are too many current technical solutions, and some of the plans cannot be put on the same ship to be built, and the plans cannot be tried one by one by one ship. The Executive Committee felt that it would be too expensive to start construction of two large ships at the same time, so a large number of small test ships were developed later. Of course, these boats will not be wasted after they are built, and after the plan is verified, they will be converted into fishing boats and allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture, or converted into training ships for military camps to train future naval crews.

For the development of sailing ships, the Ministry of Shipping has held countless technical seminars, and even the Executive Committee has held several special seminars, but the final result of each discussion is that no one can convince anyone, and public opinion has gradually formed several large factions.

The most vocal opinion was that the hulls of the new sailing ships should still adopt the traditional pointed bottom shape of Chinese sailing boats, retain the hull structure such as watertight compartments, and only make technical improvements to the bow, stern and rope systems based on the experience of later generations. Those who hold such views account for the majority of the development of new sailing ships, and they believe that the hull shape and hull structure of Chinese sailing ships have represented the future development direction of shipbuilding technology, and have also been widely used, and if these mature construction solutions are not adopted, it is undoubtedly a reversal in shipbuilding technology.

On the other hand, people believe that it is necessary to face up to the reality of this historical period, and that Western sailing ships can travel all over the world, and their technology also has certain advantages, and new sailing ships should learn from them. The cannon on the belly of the ship alone is something that a Chinese sailing ship can never achieve, because the Western sailing ship has a round bottom and is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, and there is enough space in the hull to hold so many guns, and this weight can also play a role in stabilizing the hull. If a Chinese sailing ship wants to arrange a large number of guns on the ship, it can only concentrate on the upper part of the hull, so that not only the center of gravity is too high and the loading capacity of the guns will be very limited, and when a certain side of the ship is fired in a concentrated manner, the ship will lose its balance due to the effect of recoil, even if it does not roll over and overturn, it will greatly affect the seaworthiness of the ship and the accuracy of the gunfire.

However, those who hold this view are generally keyboard experts, although the voice is loud, but in fact there is not much theoretical basis, most of them are in order to realize their minds of the cannon ship doctrine, and the naval warfare of this era should not be like the Caribbean pirates, approaching each other and bombarding each other with the gunwales? Since they have an advantage in their own artillery technology, they should be filled with dense artillery on the ship, regardless of whether they are East India, West India, or pirate fleets, and when they encounter it, they will sink the other side with a concentrated fire is the king.

With the gradual implementation of various test programs, the Chinese sailing school gradually began to gain the upper hand, and the technical dispute has slowly shifted from the debate of the shipbuilding technology school to the debate of various technical details, such as whether to use a cross sail or a longitudinal sail, a soft sail or a hard sail, whether to use a square stern, whether the ribs of the hull should be covered with steel structure, whether the bottom of the ship needs to be covered with copper skin, how to arrange the propulsion device on steam power in the future, etc.

Once this kind of debate on technical details arises, it is more difficult to agree than the debate of schools, and there are often many improvement plans for a small technical detail, and it takes a lot of effort for the shipping department to verify these solutions one by one. For this reason, the frequency of technical seminars at shipyards has also increased significantly, from twice a week to at least once every two days. Yue Zhiyun and Sun Changmi, two white-faced scholars who were still a little young when they came to Guangzhou to report for duty, are now tanned like black charcoal, and Wang Tom, who has become black and bright because of his long-term life at sea, is known as the "shipyard three blacks", basically the three of them are also the main technical backbones of the new sailing ship development project.

When Li Nai came to the shipyard, everyone was also holding a new round of technical discussions. The meeting place was set up under the stacking shed, and everyone sat down on a wooden pier and began to discuss the technical details that were not finished yesterday. Although everyone present saw Li Nai come in, no one persuaded him to leave, because he had to hand over the second-hand ship and crew they brought from Guangzhou to "Fu Ruifeng", so he also went to the reception banquet held for Li Nai yesterday on behalf of the Ministry of Shipping. Tao Donglai specially greeted him, if Li Nai has nothing to do and go to the shipyard, let him see what he wants to see, and let him listen if he wants to listen, shipbuilding is a highly professional business, but it is not something that Li Nai can understand by listening to it casually, and there is no special need for secrecy.

Therefore, everyone just glanced at Li Nai, then turned their heads and focused on the discussion again, and listened to Yue Zhiyun said: "The truck early this morning has already sent the newly processed steel connectors from Tian Du's side, and they can be loaded directly onto the ship when they turn around." Although this ship did not have time to catch up with the use of steel keels and ribs, the use of these steel connectors can also effectively strengthen the hull. ”

"What about the steel hollow mast we ordered, can Tian Du ship it at the scheduled time?" Sun Changmi asked with a cigarette butt in his mouth and squinted his eyes. He squatted on the side of the road like an old farmer in the countryside, and if it weren't for the fact that he was wearing a hooded shirt that only the Haihan people had, Li Nai, who was watching from the sidelines, would almost have recognized him as a local naturalized citizen.

"The mast is enough to choke. Tom Wang shook his head and took over the conversation: "Yesterday I contacted Roger, the metallurgical workshop used to use the plate bending machine is not so big, I am afraid it needs to be divided into multiple stages of processing, but there are also technical problems in welding, using old-fashioned forging welding to process, I am afraid that the finished product will not meet the requirements in terms of strength, they are still trying to solve it." ”

"Didn't we bring welding tools?" asked Yue Zhiyun in amazement.

He said that the stock of flux-cored wire and high-pressure gas cylinders is limited, and it is better to use a little less now, and it is better to think of other processing methods. Tom Wang explained.

"Didn't I prepare these things for now, what kind of savings can I save at this juncture!" Yue Zhiyun complained a little angrily: "Without a steel mast, then we can't greatly increase the mast, how can we use the newly designed sail without raising the mast!"

Sun Changmi persuaded: "Mr. Bai is right, even if one or two masts are processed, it is only to solve the temporary needs, and in the future, when the production is finalized, we still have to face the same technical problems, and it is best to solve it now." ”

Hearing this, Li Nai couldn't help but interject and asked, "Why do you want to build a raised mast?"

"The higher the mast, the larger the sails can be hung, so that the wind can be used more efficiently...... Do you know what utilization efficiency is?" Yue Zhiyun explained halfway and couldn't help but ask rhetorically.

Li Nai nodded and said, "I understand a little, please continue." ”

"Nowadays, sea ships use wind power as the main power, so the utilization rate of wind power by sails is the main factor affecting the forward power of ships. To solve this problem, we have designed a new sail, mast and rigging structure, which will greatly improve the utilization of wind power than the existing Fuchuan or Canton ship...... Of course, it also includes the Galen ships of those foreign devils. Yue Zhiyun proudly explained to Li Nai: "The sails of the longitudinal sailing Chinese sailing ship are easy to control and can flexibly use various wind directions, but the disadvantage is that the sails are few and small, and the actual effective area of the wind is not large. Western-style sailing ships with crosssails can use a larger sail area because the mast is high enough, but because the mast is too high, it is not so easy to operate to collect and raise the sail, and the high mast must also be added with various support cables to ensure its stability, which greatly hinders the rotation angle of the sail. ”

Li Nai didn't understand what he heard, and asked with some doubts: "I have seen the sailing ships of the Westerners many times, and the sails are many and dense, which seems to be enough to make up for the defect of the sails not turning well. ”

"That's just what it looks like. Yue Zhiyun went on to explain: "Western-style sailboats have great limitations in design, because they blindly increase the area of the style, but the use of wind power by their sails is not as high as it seems. When downwind, the rope sail, the oblique truss sail and the mainsail block each other, because the storage of the rope blocks the rotation angle of the mainsail, and the crosswind and headwind can only rely on the rope sail to use the wind power, and the use efficiency and operation convenience are far more flexible than that of Chinese sailboats. ”

"Since Mr. Yue thinks that Chinese-style sailing ships are so useful, why hasn't anyone enlarged the sails by raising the mast in the past?" Li Nai's words fully exposed his layman's essence as soon as he asked this.

"The schooner can't add a rope, otherwise the only advantage of flexibility will be gone, and the Chinese sailing ships are all pointed-bottom ships, and the mast is too high will guide the center of gravity to be unstable. Of course, Yue Zhiyun also realized Li Nai's ignorance, so he explained boldly with confidence: "Moreover, the sails of Chinese sailing ships are too heavy, and increasing the area will increase the weight, and the mast that is too high may not be able to hold up in strength, and it is easy to break when the wind is strong." ”

Li Nai suddenly realized: "That's why you want to build that hollow steel mast, which is to reduce the weight of the mast, increase the strength and height, and increase the area of the sail. ”

Li Nai's inferences were very fast, and Yue Zhiyun immediately stopped the idea of explaining to him in detail. The new sailing ships used far more technical innovations in masts, sails and rigging than steel hollow masts, but only this one was the most technical and the most difficult for outsiders to imitate, because it was difficult to reach the level of crossing the group in terms of metalwork. As for the other details of the improvements, most of the discerning people will be able to understand the mystery after seeing it once.

The Ministry of Shipping has done far more technical improvements to the above-deck facilities than the hull itself, and most importantly the redesigned sail system based on modern mechanical principles. This new system adopts some of the characteristics of the two types of sails in the East and the West, but it is very different from it in general, and it can be said that it is another black technology weapon that crosses the era.

Whereas early sailing ships used the dynamic wind pressure generated by the wind blowing directly on the sail as it moved forward, modern sailing ships used the pressure generated by the flow of air through the arched sail, and this static wind pressure produced a much greater driving force on the sail than the dynamic wind pressure. This principle sounds incomprehensible and abstract enough to be intuitively imagined, so it was not yet applied to the design of sailing sails at this time.

It was not until 1726, a hundred years later, that Daniel Bernoulli from the Swiss Bernoulli family proposed the "boundary layer surface effect", that is, the greater the flow velocity of the fluid, the lower the pressure, and the smaller the flow velocity of the fluid, the greater the pressure. This great discovery was later named the "Bernoulli effect" by the scientific community, which is also one of the most important theorems of fluid science, and was widely used in the manufacture of ships and aircraft in the following centuries. Even the banana ball phenomenon in soccer matches can be perfectly explained by the "Bernoulli effect", which perfectly explains the inconsistency of the air flow velocity on both sides of the soccer ball due to rotation, so that it deflects towards the side with the higher velocity.

The sail structure used in Western sailing ships can only use dynamic wind pressure, which means that cooking rice that occupies most of the sail area can only be used under the condition of downwind or side downwind, otherwise the wind will not provide power but will become resistance. Although the jisphon sail can take advantage of some of the static wind pressure, its twisted shape and limited area make its practical effect very limited.

Although the Chinese sailing boat can take advantage of the effect of static wind pressure by relying on relatively flexible sail manoeuvring, this relative technical advantage is extremely limited because the Chinese sail is designed for ease and efficiency and not for the Bernoulli effect, and the height of the mast does not allow the use of larger sails.

The shipping department put a lot of thought into the design of the sails, verified no less than ten schemes, and finally finalized the sail design scheme that is closer to that of modern sailing ships. This design is a longitudinal sail structure, but the use of a Chinese hard sail, but a soft sail, but different from the Western sail, the sail will be added on both sides of the curved arch bamboo spokes, the middle of the spokes have a rope through the sail surface to fix the position, the sail arch when the wind will be limited to the curvature of the spokes. And this structure is different from the unilateral spoke fixation of the Chinese hard sail.

Such an arched sail can make full use of the static wind pressure, and rotate flexibly, can effectively use the crosswind or even the headwind to provide forward power, and the efficiency of wind power is far higher than that of traditional Chinese and Western sailboats. Moreover, with this kind of sail, there is no need to install auxiliary sails such as slate sails on the ship, and the sail handling is much simpler than that of Western-style sailboats. Based on the same sail area and external wind conditions, the Ministry of Shipping believes that the new sail designed according to fluid science is at least one-third more efficient than the original Chinese and Western sails, and after the use of the new rigging pulley, the number of sail operators required will not increase much compared with the past. This also means that under the same conditions, the speed of sailboats using new sails will also be greatly improved, which just meets the requirements of the Executive Committee to facilitate sailing and increase speed.

Of course, this does not mean that the new sails are perfect and can be applied immediately to the existing sailboats. First of all, the production of canvas is a great problem for the current crossing group. At present, the crossing group does not have a textile industry, and ninety percent of the cloth is imported from the outside world, and the remaining one percent comes from the jibei cloth supplied by the local aborigines and the crossing group's own reserves. However, the existing external purchase channels have not found any fabrics that are really suitable for making sails, at least according to the standards of shipyards, there are no qualified products. The sails of the No. 1 test ship will be made from the stock canvas brought from later generations. However, the inventory is limited, and if you want to make this kind of sail on a large scale in the future, you will have to face the problem of raw materials sooner or later.

Secondly, this design has only been used on test ships with a very small displacement, and it will take time to verify whether it will get the expected effect when it is really put into use on large ships, and what technical problems need to be solved in the process of use.