With a bang, the warships poured into the sea, splashing large waves.

The icy sea water hit the navy watching, and the officers and men not only did not complain, but screamed excitedly.

For the navy, the splash of the waves from the launch of the warship is a kind of spiritual baptism.

Not only is it not an unfortunate thing, but it is an honor, the glory of witnessing a new partner enlist in the army.

The shipyard workers, who had been on standby for a long time, quickly boarded the battleship and inspected the battleship up and down to see if there was any tilting or leakage.

After confirming that there was no problem at all, Zhu Zhangui, accompanied by the chief in charge, boarded the battleship with a cadre of naval generals.

"Your Highness, please light this first fire!"

Coming to the boiler room, the general manager handed a torch to Zhu Zhangui.

The boiler was already full of firewood, and the coal bunker next to it was also stacked with coal.

Zhu Zhangui nodded, took the torch and lit the firewood in the boiler.

As the firewood was lit, the blazing flame burned.

The naval soldiers on the shore, seeing the smoke rising from the chimney, shouted higher with excitement, and stared one by one, looking forward to the operation of the ironclad ship.

But a quarter of an hour, half an hour, and an hour passed, and the ship did not even move.

The excitement of the soldiers just now slowly subsided, and they scratched their heads in confusion one by one.

"What's going on? It's been an hour, why don't you even move, the ship won't break! ”

"It's possible, after all, this is the first steam ironclad battleship, and the craftsmen are inexperienced, so it's normal for problems to occur!"

"Alas, suddenly my heart was a little empty, and I was excited just now!"

"Indeed, so many people are watching here, His Highness has come over in person, and if something goes wrong, I'm afraid someone will be punished at the shipyard, if His Highness gets angry, it is estimated that he will lose a few heads."

The shipyard craftsmen standing in the crowd heard the soldiers' conversations full of black lines, and finally they couldn't listen anymore and shouted at the soldiers who were discussing in small voices.

"You big-headed soldiers know a fart, the steam engine has to wait for the water to boil, and then pressurize with steam before it can start, and it will take at least 1~2 hours for such a big ship to move!"

The soldiers around him were even more contemptuous when they heard this.

"What, 1~2 hours, there is such a time that my ship runs out of dozens of nautical miles."

Some of those who thought more deeply were even more worried: "If this is suddenly attacked, and the ship can't even start, it is purely a live target!" ”

The craftsman of the shipyard rolled his eyes, "So the steamship usually does not turn off the engine, and it is necessary to ensure that it has sufficient power at all times." ”

"Don't turn off the fire?"

The sailors were stunned for a moment, and then looked sympathetically at the sailors who were in charge of power.

The power sailors had black lines, and one of them plucked out his ears and looked at the craftsman.

"What do you mean is that in the future, we, the sailors who are responsible for power, will have to lie on the boat all year round and take care of this uncle!"

The craftsman spread his hands, "You can understand it this way, after all, this thing is not a horse, it will go with a whip, it needs enough strength to drive the runner to drive the propeller." ”

There was darkness before the eyes of the power sailors.

They are responsible for powering the sailors, and in order to ensure that the battleship is ready to move at any time, there are fewer holidays than other sailors.

I thought that with the steam engine, they would be able to live a normal holiday life, but I didn't expect the idea to fall through.

In the past, when they relied exclusively on power, if they did not plan to go to sea in a short time, they could still go ashore to rest and rest.

But now if they are replaced by a steamboat, then they will have to lie on the ship every day, staring at the boiler.

"And it's very hot in the boiler room, and you'll be better in the winter, but in the summer—" The craftsman gave a sympathetic look, and gave the power sailors a stab in the heart.

"Woooooo

Just when the power sailors were depressed, the ironclad warship, whose chimney was only smoking, sounded a deafening air whistle.

"Oh, good fellow, that's loud enough!"

The sailors in charge of the direction of the warship plucked their ears excitedly.

Although the ship has problems of one kind or another, the voice is really good.

"It's moving, it's moving!"

Suddenly, there was a cheer.

The sailors standing on the shore stretched their necks, looked at the ironclad battleship parked in the water, and began to move forward little by little.

Looking at the unopened sails on the plywood, the sailors cheered.

It worked, it really worked.

The ship really did not use the sailing oars of the ship and acted on its own.

He had already gotten off the ironclad ship and went to Zhu Zhangui, who was guarding the warship next to him, and nodded with satisfaction.

The reason why he was on this ship was because he was afraid that the craftsmen would make such a large boiler for the first time, and he was afraid that something would go wrong and suddenly explode.

This is no joke, the power of a boiler explosion is definitely no worse than a missile, standing on an ironclad ship, that is, standing on a missile that is ready to explode at any time.

The trial route of the ironclad ships was from Quanzhou to Qiongzhou Port, the base of the West Sea Fleet.

In addition to testing the performance of the ironclad ship, various experiments will be carried out along the way.

One of the most important experiments was the purchase of a new piece of equipment for the navy, the water torpedo.

"Let's go, let's follow suit!"

Zhu Zhangui waved his hand at the shore and gave the order to follow up with the escorted battleship.

Li Hu originally wanted to follow, but was strictly rejected by Zhu Zhangui.

It is a serious dereliction of duty for a dignified admiral to not manage the army at the naval base, but to follow the trial ship around without doing his job.

As for the other generals.

Even the main general was driven down, and they didn't dare to say anything.

4 frigates and 4 supply ships, escorting the ironclad battleship slowly forward, slowly disappeared from the sight of the people on the shore.

Yongle 16 years spent in Zhu Zhangui on sea voyages.

In the past year, a lot of big things have happened in Daming.

The newly unified grassland forces in the north had a rare battle with the Ming Dynasty.

The battle ended with the death of Arutai, and the steppe returned to a state of disintegration.

In the country of Daming, everything is very stable, and all aspects are developing steadily.

As the Chamber of Commerce became more profitable, the number of investors also increased, and more and more land was recovered by the imperial court. The land was registered by the Ministry of Households and subleased to people who had no land or had little land at a very low price.

In terms of overseas colonies, in addition to some fighting at the beginning of the year, with the construction of land routes between the two sides, the entry of migrant workers has gradually stabilized.

At the end of the year, Daming got a large amount of grain.

According to the overall calculation of the household department, this grain was enough for the Ming army to eat for two years.

In terms of finances, although the imperial court posted a lot of silver because of the purchase of treasure money, it gradually returned to a stable state as the families of those who committed crimes paid repayments.

This year has ushered in tremendous development in science and technology.

The steam engine, which started the first generation of the industrial revolution, was successfully developed and entered the production stage.

With the addition of the steam engine, the process of industry is about to improve rapidly.

For example, wrought iron and textiles will be added to the operation of steam engines next year, and the output will be greatly increased.

Among them, the most important transportation force, the train is already being manufactured, and next year, when the railway from Beiping to Jinling is completed, it will be officially put into operation.

In terms of the ocean, steam ships will only be produced for the military at present, and it may take more than ten years or even decades for ordinary ships to be equipped with steam engines.

"We're finally home!"

At the base of the West Sea Fleet in Qiongzhou, dozens of warships slowly sailed into the port under the guidance of the leading ship.

Zheng He looked at the fluttering Mingzi banner in the port, and knelt on the deck excitedly and whimpered.

Along the way around the world, they have experienced too many hardships and tribulations.

Of the hundreds of ships of all sizes, only a dozen remained, and the rest were either swept into the sea by the wind and waves, or captured by the enemy and became trophies of others.

Tens of thousands of soldiers went to sea with him, but at this time, the number of people around him was less than 2,000.

Zheng He's heart was full of guilt, he was ashamed of his trust in the emperor, his entrustment to the emperor's grandson, and his guilt against the naval officers who believed in him and supported him.

He didn't know how to deal with the families of those sacrificed soldiers, let alone how to comfort their sad hearts.

"Zheng Tou, should we rest here for a few days, or go back directly."

The shirtless man, who had recovered from his injuries, looked at Zheng He, who was kneeling on the deck and crying silently, raised his head and held back the tears that were about to flow out of his eyes, and stepped forward to help Zheng He.

"Rest here for a few days and then go back, my brothers have been tired with me for so long, it's time to have a good rest!"

Although Zheng He really wanted to go back immediately to form a new fleet, go back and beat the white-skinned pigs to death.

But looking at the tired expressions of his soldiers, he could only temporarily suppress the anger of revenge in his heart, and ordered everyone to go to Hong Kong to rest.

"Zheng Tou, who are you?"

As soon as the battleship landed, a large group of naval officers and sailors quickly met it.

A naval officer in the lead, seeing Zheng He's embarrassed appearance, hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed Zheng He's empty sleeve, with a hint of anger in his eyes.

Zheng He is his old commander, but he didn't expect that a trip to the sea would become like this.

He swore that if he knew who did it, he would have to skin and cramp that guy to pieces.

"I'm in some trouble!"

Seeing the old brother in the past, Zheng He felt a little better, stretched out his intact hand, and patted the admiral's shoulder.

Immediately, Zheng He noticed that the port was full of lights, and there were colorful flags hanging on the battleships docked on the seaside, and asked with some doubts.

"How do you know we're back?"

"We don't know!" The officer scratched his head in disunderstanding.

"We are preparing to welcome His Royal Highness Taisun, when you drove over just now, we thought it was His Royal Highness Taisun, and after no one responded for a long time, I sent someone over, only to know that it was you who came back."

"Your Highness is coming!"

A hint of surprise flashed in Zheng He's eyes.

He didn't expect to see Zhu Zhangui so soon, but then thinking of his current situation, a trace of loneliness flashed in his eyes.

If Zhu Zhangui saw him like this, I am afraid he would be very disappointed.

"Yes, Your Highness came with the new battleship on trial, and we are here at the end of the line."

Not noticing Zheng He's expression, the officer nodded.

Then he looked at Zheng He and the others with a mysterious face.

"Zheng Tou, brothers, our first new battleship that spans history has been launched, guess what kind of battleship it is!"

When everyone saw this guy selling off, they all had some hateful teeth.

They have been away from home for several years, and who knows what kind of new warships will be built.

"Lao Xu, you stinky boy, don't sell it, hurry up and say, be careful that Lao Tzu beats you!"

The shirtless man rolled his eyes angrily, stretched out his punchbag-sized fist and threatened, the officer of the Xihai military base.

"Yes, you can just say it, we have been away from home for a few years, how do we know what the development of the navy has become."

Zheng He also smiled and asked the officer to hurry up.

The officer smiled and said mysteriously to a few people.

"You still remember what His Highness said about the ironclad battleship!"

As soon as these words came out, Zheng He and the others shook slightly, and Zheng He grabbed the officer excitedly.

"You're saying our ironclad battleship has been launched!"

Seeing Zheng He's excited appearance, the officer stopped selling and nodded vigorously.

"Not only is it an ironclad battleship, but it is also a steam battleship that does not use sail power, and it is said that it can run ten knots of endurance without sails."

"Ten knots?"

Zheng He and the others were confused for a moment, and they didn't understand what this word meant.

The changes in the navy only slowly changed after Zheng He and others left, so they couldn't understand some of the new terms of the navy.

"Knots are our navy's shorthand term for the speed of the ship."

"One section is equal to nearly 4 miles, and ten sections means that a battleship can run 40 miles in half an hour without the help of sails, and an hour is 80 miles!"

Seeing that a few people didn't understand, the officer remembered that when these people left, the navy didn't have this term, so he hurriedly explained it to Zheng He and others.

Only then did a few people suddenly realize.

"An hour can run 80 miles, those 10 hours are 800 miles, and a day is thousands of miles!" The shirtless man snapped his fingers, and the more he opened his mouth, the wider he became, and finally his mouth opened in surprise to swallow a duck egg.

"I'll be good, it's faster than running with the wind and the current!"

"Hehe, that's of course, otherwise why would I call it, it's a new type of warship that spans the ages!"

The officer of the naval base laughed, and then said helplessly.

"It's a pity that there is only one, if there are a few more, I just don't want to fight this old face, and I want one from His Royal Highness, rowing to our side of the West Sea!"

Listening to the conversation between the officers and his subordinates at the Xihai base, Zheng He's eyes became brighter and brighter.

"Ironclad battleship, steam-powered, thousands of miles a day!"

The more he thought about it, the hotter his heart became, and he made a decision in his heart.

"I want this boat!"