Dong Yanyun rushed to the Magonggang wharf in a hurry, and saw that the Haihan people had indeed prepared the boat, so he was a little relieved. Just now he heard Li Dou say that the merchants from Guangdong had already arrived on the island of Taiwan first, and he was really a little worried that the Haihan people would play other tricks.

"Mr. Dong, Yang Yun from the Penghu Office of the Ministry of Commerce of Haihan is below, and he will be accompanied by Mr. Zai on this visit to Taiwan Island. A young man in a gray uniform stepped forward and took the initiative to greet Dong Yanyun.

"It's hard work!" Dong Yanyun didn't dare to slack off, and immediately replied. However, under his observation, he could see that this young man should only be a naturalized citizen - the Haihan people are surrounded by armed guards at all times, but this young man is waiting alone on the dock, obviously his identity is not so important. But he also knew that this kind of naturalized cadres who were qualified to wear Haihan-style cardigan shirts were generally not too low-level, so they still needed to show a respectful attitude.

Yang Yun saw that Dong Yanyun's entourage was still carrying a few boxes of luggage, so he immediately asked a few boatmen to come down from the boat to help carry the boxes onto the ship. At this time, many migrant workers were still carrying goods on the ship, and they knew that they should be sent supplies to the island of Taiwan. Dong Yanyun saw that this ship was an "exploratory-class" sailing ship, so he asked Yang Yun: "Brother Yang, is this going on the ship of the militia navy?"

"This is not a ship of the Navy, it is an official ship of the Ministry of Commerce. Yang Yun pointed to the dark blue copper coin symbol on the side of the bow of the ship, which was not too conspicuous: "Mr. Dong, please take a look." ”

This sign was mostly covered by another sailboat next to it, and Dong Yanyun really didn't notice it at first. However, he still wondered: "But why are there gun windows on merchant ships like warships?"

Dong Yanyun recognized this ship as a warship for the first time, because of the row of highly recognizable gun windows on the side of the ship, which can be seen from afar, but it is much more conspicuous than the blue money mark of the Haihan Ministry of Commerce that covers most of the bow of the ship.

Yang Yun explained: "It is true that this ship was originally built for the militia army, but before it was launched, for some reasons, it was inconvenient for the military to receive this boat, so it was transferred to the Ministry of Commerce for use as an official ship." ”

Dong Yanyun didn't know why he diǎn diǎn head, and said in his heart, you don't want to sell it to us! It won't be too much to have a few dozen! Of course, he wouldn't be stupid enough to ask why the militia military didn't accept this boat, which is obviously (3) ∈ dǐng (3) ∈ diǎn (3) ∈ small (3) ∈ said, .≧.∽os_ (); It is unlikely that you will get a real answer from the other person's mouth.

In fact, the reason why the Haihan military did not accept this ship is also very simple, because the Ministry of Industry has produced an improved version of the "power" marine steam engine in the middle of this year, and this type of steam engine also includes sub-models suitable for the "exploration class" and "exploration class", which means that the non-capital ships in the naval fleet can also get performance improvements, and in the future, the existing sail warships with pure wind power can be gradually replaced by new ships with hybrid propulsion.

Of course, it is unlikely that a comprehensive overhaul of the Navy's existing ships would not only involve huge costs, but would also be cumbersome in arranging for dozens of "Exploration-class" and "Expedition-class" warships to return to Victory Harbor in turn. Every ship had to go into dry dock to be disemboweled, and installing a steam power system was tantamount to a major overhaul, which required no small amount of time, manpower, and money.

Although Wang Tom and other admirals hoped to have a steam ironclad fleet that was proud of the world as soon as possible, they also knew that the ascent of the technology tree was not in a hurry. Although the design drawings of various steam engines and ironclad ships are available in most of the JÙ libraries, the pace of improvement in industrial manufacturing capacity has not kept up with the military's ambitions. Moreover, the Navy's annual military budget is limited, and it is unlikely that the existing ships will be concentrated on the transformation in the short term, not to mention that the cost of transformation is extremely high, and the cost performance is actually not high.

As soon as the military leaders put it together, instead of changing the old ships, it is better to wait for the new ships to be built and directly put on the new equipment, and the old ships will be converted to civilian use in batches when they reach the retirement period, or they will be repaired and repainted, and then sold to allies such as Annan and Daming at a discount. As for the new ship that has been built on the slipway, because it is built in accordance with the military standards of the Haihan militia, there is a certain technical gap with the monkey version of the export model, and it is not suitable for direct export at present. Anyway, there were not many articles, and the military decided to cut their love and directly transfer it to the department in need at cost price.

In fact, there are only a few departments that can use sailing ships within Haihan, except for the military, other ships are basically concentrated in the name of the Ministry of Shipping, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Agriculture. First of all, the Ministry of Agriculture is unlikely to spend a lot of money to purchase military ships, although the military has been priced according to the cost of shipbuilding, but because the technical specifications and shipbuilding standards of warships are relatively different from civilian ships, this price difference is not worth it for the Ministry of Agriculture, the same price can almost build two civilian fishing boats of the same type and tonnage.

Secondly, the Ministry of Shipping will definitely not take this pot, this ship was originally built by a shipyard under the Ministry of Shipping, but the embarrassment of the Navy is not the responsibility of the Ministry of Shipping, and there is no obligation to take this pot for the Navy - if you want to take it, the converted cost can only really only calculate the material money, so the military will definitely not be happy, after all, the advance fee they pay to the shipyard is not only the cost of materials.

In the end, Tom found Schneider and persuaded him to take over two "Expedition-class" and one "Exploration-class" warship that had begun to install sail lines on the slipway. Schneider was reluctant to spend more money at first, because the Ministry of Commerce itself also had orders for commercial ships of the same type in the shipyard, and the cost was lower, and the ships receiving the military would spend an extra amount of money.

However, Wang Tom later persuaded him, because the shape of this ship is exactly the same as the military type equipped by the militia group, which is very deceptive, and can be used to transport important people and materials when necessary, and even provide "escort" for the fleet of the Ministry of Commerce. Moreover, the military can get a few old training guns from the military base in Sanya and load them on the ship, so that they can be disguised more decently. If necessary, it is even possible to recruit a few more retired artillerymen to serve as sailors on board - these additional services do not require additional costs from the Department of Commerce.

Schneider also makes sense when he thinks about it, although the merchant ships of the Ministry of Commerce also have some armed personnel and weapons on board, they do not have a deterrent effect in appearance, and when there are important personnel and material transportation tasks, they often have to rely on military ships. Moreover, this kind of borrowing is not in vain, whether it is to take a hitchhiker or ask it to escort the ship, the Ministry of Commerce has to pay the corresponding expenses to the military. One or two times may not be much, but ten times or eight times down is more considerable, not to mention that the military's ships are not on call, and most of the time the Ministry of Commerce has to take care of the military's schedule. Rather than doing this for a long time, it is better to get a couple of ships the standard of military ships that are dedicated to special tasks.

Of course, these ships are to be converted into civilian ships, and it is impossible to meet the standards of the military in terms of weaponry and staffing, and it is impossible to even connect closely, at best, it is a self-defense armed process, but for the Ministry of Commerce, this measure can indeed effectively reduce its dependence on the military, as for the cost, for the Ministry of Commerce, which has deep pockets, only whether it is worth doing is a deal, and price is never the real determining factor.

Three months after Schneider bought the ship, among the official ships dispatched by the Ministry of Commerce to Penghu, there was such a special ship that was basically identical to the shape of the Haihan warship, and Dong Yanyun, who represented the Fujian official, was also the first time that this ship carried non-Haihan personnel.

Qian Tiandun and Li Dou arranged for Dong Yanyun to take the ship assigned by Haihan instead of his own ship, which was somewhat to limit Dong Yanyun's activity area near Kaohsiung Port, and by the way, to show off his strength. After all, it is true that it is not something that any country can do to convert a brand-new warship into a civilian use.

Dong Yanyun had also taken the civilian version of the "Exploration-class" sailboat before, but this was the first time he had taken a military model, and he couldn't help but be a little excited after getting on board. However, the second deck originally used to arrange the artillery has been changed to a cabin, and Yang Yun took Dong Yanyun into the independent cabin, and Dong Yanyun found that the original gun window had been changed to the lighting porthole of the cabin. There is only a single bed and a small table next to the bed in the small cabin, and after putting Dong Yanyun's luggage on the floor, there is basically no room for movement in the cabin. There is no flamboyant interior in the cabin, but judging by the rosewood used to make the zuò furniture, the clean white cotton bedding on the bed, and a four-inch glass round mirror fixed to the bulkhead, the cabin is neatly furnished with unobtrusive luxury.

Yang Yun took Dong Yanyun to the porthole and disguised to him the method of opening and closing the outer cover of the porthole. There is a bracket on the bulkhead, pull it up, the cover will rise, pull it down, the cover will be lowered, it is very flexible and convenient. Dong Yanyun saw this, stretched out his hand to probe the window, but found that it was actually a layer of transparent glass.

"This porthole is only used for lighting, the window is sealed and cannot be opened, as for ventilation, there is also an indoor vent, if Mr. Dong feels stuffy on the way, he can go to the deck at any time to breathe. Yang Yun hurriedly explained to him.

Dong Yanyun should be down, and he is also impressed by this arrangement of the Haihan people. Although the interior of the ship he was riding in was far more luxurious than the cabin in front of him, these details were indeed not as ingenious as the Haihan people.

"Mr. Dong will take a short rest, and after the goods on the dock are loaded, the ship will depart immediately, and will arrive at its destination before sunset today. If you have any questions, you can go to the cockpit on deck and find me. Your two retinues, we arranged them in the ordinary cabin at the stern. Yang Yun arched his hand and said goodbye. He was not only responsible for taking care of Dong Yanyun, but also a batch of supplies transported from Penghu to Kaohsiung Port, as well as more than a dozen construction craftsmen who went to the local area on the same ship.

Dong Yanyun sat in the cabin for a while, felt the hull of the ship begin to shake slightly, and looked out of the porthole, sure enough, the ship was slowly leaving the shore. This cabin seems to be sealed, but it is indeed not stuffy, Dong Yanyun looked around but did not see where the ventilation port in the cabin was.

After a while, Dong Yanyun felt that staying in the cabin was really boring, and wanted to call the entourage over, but the cabin was really narrow, and the three adults standing in it were all crowded, and staying in the cabin must be very cramped. So he decided to go to the deck, and when he opened the door, he noticed that there seemed to be exactly the same cabins on both sides of the passage from the deck, and at a glance, there should be about ten of them, but except for his cabin, the other cabins were all closed, and I don't know if there were any occupants.

The cabins on the second deck were all converted from the original gun emplacements, originally five guns were deployed on the port side and five guns on the port side, and one gun emplacement was also reserved on both sides to continue to be used for the deployment of guns, but it was exactly the same from the outside, and it would only be used when it was really necessary to use force.

Dong Yanyun went up to the deck and saw that the surroundings were already a vast ocean, and the outline of Penghu on the sea level could be faintly seen in the direction of the stern, and it was about ten miles away from the port. Dong Yanyun noticed that Yang Yun was standing at the bow of the boat, holding a small instrument to observe the sea level in the distance. Dong Yanyun also knows this thing, the Haihan people call it the "sextant", it is said that it can quickly determine its location and course in the vast sea, but its principle is secret, among the naturalized people, only the Haihan Navy and a few full-time navigators on merchant ships will master this technology.

Dong Yanyun did not know that this kind of instrument that relied on optical principles for nautical positioning was originally invented by the British after a hundred years, and it was not miniaturized until the end of the 18th century after the continuous improvement of skilled craftsmen, and the arrival of the Haihan people made this kind of nautical instrument put into actual use at least more than a century earlier than in history. How useful this instrument is, any sailor with sailing experience will understand, Dong Yanyun is naturally no exception, it is definitely impossible to say that he is not greedy for this treasure. But the problem is that this thing is not sold at all, and its use has always been an unsolved mystery, even if Dong Yanyun has a good brain, it is difficult to understand the principle of its use just by looking at the operation.

Dong Yanyun also knew that this thing was a taboo for the Haihan people, so he didn't rush over, until Yang Yun finished the operation and put the sextant back in the box for people to take back to the cabin, he slowly paced over and accosted: "Since Brother Yang can use this sextant, he must also be a disciple of the leaders of the Haihan Dynasty." ”

Yang Yun said with a smile: "It's just luck that I was picked by the chief to do this errand, and the diǎn skill I learned is just a drop in the bucket for the chiefs, and it is far from qualified to say that the disciples are not qualified." ”

Dong Yanyun said: "Brother Yang is polite! The old man has been friends with Haihan for several years, and there are only one or two navigators in a fleet who know how to use the sextant. The people who can do this errand are all capable people!"