After being hit by Zhuge Liang, Liu Hou thought about it carefully, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that it would not work to build a steel gunboat, not to mention that the steel output could not keep up, even if there was enough steel, where would the steel gunboat be so easy to build, and the shipbuilding industry in later generations would have condensed a lot of scientific and technological achievements in it.

Not to mention anything else, the welding problem between the steel plates alone is difficult to die, and now there is no arc welding, it is very difficult to realize the welding of two steel plates, the method is not nothing, but it is difficult and troublesome, and it cannot adapt to large-scale industrial production at all.

There are also a series of problems that are difficult to solve now, such as rust prevention and corrosion prevention, which are destined to exist only in fantasy.

Liu Hou had to give up this tempting idea, the meal still had to be eaten one bite at a time, and it was too unrealistic to step into the nineteenth century. In fact, there is another question that Liu Hou did not take into account: how fast can a bulky thing like a steel gunboat go without a steam engine to drive?

"Your Majesty, why don't we send a construction corps over to cut wood?" Seeing that Liu Hou was silent for a long time and fell into deep thought, Guan Gong suggested again, he still thought that Zhuge Liang's method of drying wood was good.

"No, even if we can't build ships with steel, we have other options." Liu Hou waved his hand.

"Oh? What are the alternatives? Guan Gong asked curiously.

"Cement, the output of cement is enough, now many places are using cement to pave roads, we only need to stop one or two road laying works, we can save cement for shipbuilding." Liu Houdao.

"Cement can also build ships?" Guan Gong asked in surprise, in fact, it was not only him, but others were also surprised.

"Why can't cement be built into ships? Since steel can build ships, so can cement. And cement shipbuilding has many benefits. Liu Houdao.

When everyone heard it, they were like an initiation, yes, why can't cement build ships? Since the materials and weight of shipbuilding are not concerned, what cannot be used to build ships? Cement is heavy, but it's not as heavy as gold, and since a ship made of gold won't sink, a ship made of cement certainly won't sink either.

As the little emperor just said, buoyancy is related to the weight of the water discharged by the object, so it is a big deal to make the cabin bigger, so that it can discharge enough water, then the boat will not be able to float.

Liu Hou saw that everyone was thoughtful, so he began to talk about the benefits of cement shipbuilding: "There are many benefits of cement shipbuilding, first, the materials are very cheap, cheap enough to be used to pave roads; Second, the material is easy to obtain, and there is no need to choose some old timber like building a ship with wood, and there are restrictions on tree species, etc.;

Third, the construction is simple and does not require skilled craftsmen; Fourth, shipbuilding is very fast, countless times faster than building wooden ships; Fifth, the boat built is very hard, although not as hard as steel, but it is much stronger than a wooden ship, I believe that everyone already knows the hardness of cement very well, I will not say more;

Sixth, the boat built can be fireproof and arrow-proof, and our ship will not be afraid of fire attack in the future. ”

In the era before Liu Hou lived, he saw a lot of cement boats, and when he was a child, he often saw countless cement sand carriers sailing slowly in the inland river, and those sand carriers were always piled with high piles of sand, so that the side of the ship was almost level with the water.

Liu Hou often worries that these boats have such a deep draft, will a big wave hit the boat and the boat will enter the water, or even sink because of it? He was so impressed by this that when he got rid of the steel ship, the first thing that came to his mind was the cement ship.

Liu Hou said the six advantages of the cement boat in one breath, and everyone was thrilled when they heard it, and their eyes lit up, especially Guan Gong, who had been holding his breath, and he couldn't wait to personally pick up the knife and get on the horse to cut down the sinister villains in Dongwu one by one.

It's just that Jingzhou's navy is too weak to realize this wish, and now listening to the little emperor talk about so many advantages of cement ships, he feels that his many years of tracing can be realized soon, and his old and angry heart beats fiercely again.

"Good!" Guan Gong slapped his big~ leg and said excitedly, "Then what are you waiting for, immediately call the plasterers, and let's start building a cement ship." ”

Liu Hou was not in a hurry, he said: "Second uncle, don't be impatient, after all, shipbuilding is different from road building, shipbuilding still needs craftsmen, not that there are plasterers, so we still need to find some craftsmen first." ”

"Oh? What artisan to look for? Why hasn't the second uncle heard of what craftsmen are needed for muddy work? I know cement, it's easy to operate, just mix cement, sand, gravel and water in proportion, it's very simple. Any adult can learn it in half a day, and no skill is required at all. ”

"Hehe, second uncle, you are talking about the final cement pouring step, of course, this is the easiest step, but shipbuilding is not so simple. First of all, you have to design a ship, draw the drawings and build it according to the drawings, otherwise you don't know what kind of monster you will build in the end. ”

"What's so difficult about that, although Jingzhou has not built many ships in recent years, there are always some of them, these ships have drawings, and the second uncle will order someone to take these drawings and use them."

"No, the original drawings can't be used, because cement is much heavier than wood, and boats of the same size need more buoyancy to float, so it is very likely that the boat built according to the original drawings will sink to the bottom of the river as soon as the water is over."

"Oh, yes, I forgot about it." Guan Gong slapped his forehead and said.

"Hehe, the second uncle doesn't need to be anxious, as long as the design is reasonable, there will be no problems. At present, the first thing to do is to find some people who have graduated from the academy and are proficient in buoyancy, so that they can study and study with the original shipbuilders to design a powerful cement ship.

I remember that there is a ship research institute in the academy, although there are not many people who study this, but there are still people, the second uncle might as well go there and invite some researchers to come back and help you design a few cement ships. ”

"Okay, okay, just do what Your Majesty says. Not to mention anything else, the calculation of buoyancy is indeed not the director of the shipbuilders of the second uncle, and it is still necessary to find someone from the academy and ask them to help calculate the ratio of displacement to their own weight. "It's fair.

Liu Hou saw that he just explained it again, Guan Gong actually understood the truth that buoyancy must be greater than the self-weight boat to float, and couldn't help but feel very relieved, this guy is really studious, is the legend of his reading "Spring and Autumn" true? Could it be that in addition to his martial arts, he is actually a scholar?

"Second uncle, in addition to the design drawings, you also need to find some craftsmen who can make lanterns, and craftsmen can also do it." Liu Houdao.

"What's the use of these people?" Guan Gong asked puzzled.