Zhu Zhongliang attended seven ceremonies held at the same time, and then began to tour the shipyard.

The five ships that had already been launched all went up to take a look at them in person.

I looked around in the cabin, and several times I couldn't help but say to the people who followed the line:

"Spacious, really spacious, this is the train of thought of that kid in Jingyuan.

"It's not like the designers in the Ministry of Industry in the past, who all picked and picked.

"Those ships are aggrieved when they look inside, can the soldiers live comfortably? Can you exert your combat effectiveness?"

Zhu Zhongliang complained with a big grin, and the surrounding shipyard shopkeepers, managers, and craftsmen immediately echoed him.

But in their hearts, they couldn't help but chant and complain.

The previous designers were stingy with tonnage, and not because your old man has always been stuck with the share of shipbuilding?

Your requirements for a naval vessel are always sufficient.

So much so that the designer will be able to reduce the tonnage as much as possible when designing a new ship with your permission.

Looking back now, I see that everyone has gone wrong.

Your old man is not stingy tonnage at all, but the ships of the previous design do not satisfy you.

That's why I never wanted to build it on a large scale.

Zhu Zhongliang stood inside the operational command of the dreadnought cruiser, looked at this place that could serve as the headquarters of the Grand Fleet, and said:

"It's better to be bigger, it's easy to use when the ship is bigger, anyway, the cheapest thing on a warship is steel, right?"

The surrounding craftsmen nodded again and again, and the most worthless thing on the battleship was the hull.

If there are no special regulations that specifically limit the size of the warship, designers usually tend to make the ship slightly larger, provided that the basic design requirements and use requirements are met.

Greater space redundancy, the ability to gain more reserve buoyancy, more space for fuel and ammunition reserves, more comfortable living spaces and facilities, which means longer sustained combat capability.

There is also more room for upgrades and modifications.

The service life of warships starts with ten years, and with the technological progress and the updating of design ideas, the continuous improvement, transformation and equipment renewal in the process of using warships have always been continuous.

There is no need to build a battleship that can be scrapped in one go, without any upgrades and modifications.

The relatively large hull space can also make it easier for designers to play, make the construction of the shipyard more convenient, and finally make it more comfortable for the navy to use.

In addition to spending a little more money, it can be said that everyone is happy with the idea.

Besides, even if it costs more, it doesn't actually cost much, but it's just mass-produced steel.

Of course, it can't be too much, and if you have to add more engines in order to maintain speed, it will be more than worth the loss.

While the craftsmen were so emotional in their hearts, they all thought of Zhu Jingyuan in the Persian Gulf again.

It's still His Royal Highness the Prince of Great Food, so many orders for warships are coming in one go.

The design requirements and ideas he gave were all in this kind of direction that everyone was happy with.

Zhu Zhongliang circled around several boats and returned to the rest room on land to rest for two days.

Then we started to visit the surrounding factories.

What is under construction in the shipyard is the integrated products of the existing technology, and the things in the supporting factory, in addition to the existing products, are also the products that are being developed and tested and prepared for the future. ….

There are countless civil shipyards in Daming, almost all coastal cities have large and small shipyards, and inland cities along the Yangtze River and the Pearl River also have many inland shipyards.

There are three large military shipbuilding bases, namely Liaodong, Suzhou, and Guangzhou.

In Edo (Tokyo) and the Lion City (Singapore), there are also two large shipyards.

However, the three large shipbuilding bases in China all have a complete warship construction industry chain.

Iron and steel smelting, armor forging, boiler production, turbine assembly, shells and charges, artillery and turrets, motors and cables, as well as pipelines, observation equipment and ballistics

Manufacturers of all the equipment needed on the warships are located in several prefectures around the area where the shipyards are located.

Around Liaodong, Suzhou and Guangzhou, each has a set of independent systems, that is, three complete industrial chains.

In Edo and the Lion City, there are only large shipyards that can produce conventional raw materials in the surrounding areas.

However, the core power system, artillery and observation equipment must be supplied from the local industrial chain.

Among them, the industrial chain in Liaodong, as well as the factories in Edo, are under the direct management of the Ministry of Industry.

The industrial chains in Suzhou and Guangzhou, as well as the factories in the Lion City, are all subordinate institutions of the royal consortium.

After Zhu Zhongliang left the shipyard, he first went to a nearby artillery factory.

I looked at all kinds of firearms and artillery, from small to large, side by side.

During Zhu Zhongliang's more than 30 years as emperor, in addition to visiting the navy and army, he could go around all kinds of warships and artillery, and ask some simple questions on the surface.

If you want to get up close and personal with these things in a state of complete relaxation, you have only had the opportunity until now.

The caliber of the Ming Dynasty's firearms is currently the smallest 8 mm, and there are 12 mm, 16 mm, and 20 mm upwards, with a total of four calibers, each 4 mm a level.

The caliber of artillery ranges from 40 mm to 240 mm, with a level of 40 mm each, and there are currently six main calibers.

These are all calibers used by cruisers, destroyers, gunboats, torpedo boats of all classes, as well as by the Army.

More than 240 mm is the caliber of the main gun of the capital ship, and it is currently expanding by 60 mm.

300 mm is the caliber in service, 360 mm has already been developed, and 420 mm has already begun to be developed.

There are also data for calibers above 420 mm, but not for artillery, but for torpedoes.

480-mm torpedoes were used for torpedo boats of less than 500 tons, and 520-mm torpedoes were used for destroyers and cruisers.

Aviation torpedoes currently under test continue to be of a lighter 480 mm caliber.

The Navy is developing larger 600-mm torpedoes, ready for use on destroyers and ships.

Originally, there were still many artillery calibers actually used by the Ming Dynasty, and the original data was not so regular as it is now.

Mainly in the era of smoothbore guns, it was customary to use the weight of the shell to indicate the class of the artillery.

In the era of rifled guns, the caliber of artillery began to be used to indicate the level of artillery.

With the original artillery direct conversion representation method, the directly formed artillery caliber figures are all fragmentary.

Not only are most of them not whole numbers, but many of them even have decimal points. ….

The emperor at that time may have obsessive-compulsive disorder, and at the time of that round of military industrial upgrading, all the caliber of artillery was rounded and unified.

Under the guidance of the treasurer and craftsmen of the artillery factory, Zhu Zhongliang paid special attention to several types of artillery in design and testing.

Quadruple 40-mm anti-aircraft guns, twin 80-mm and 120-mm high-level guns.

As well as the 420-mm 50-diameter naval gun under test.

The old emperor stood in front of a cannon barrel placed on the shelf, looked at the barrel that could fit a whole adult, looked at the smooth threads and gates, and asked the shopkeeper and craftsman around him with curiosity:

"Now that this new cannon has been produced, has it been tested in practice? How's the test going?"

The master of the factory stepped forward and arched his hand and reported:

"Emperor Qi, the barrel of the new cannon trial production has been tested separately at present.

"With a lighter shell weighing 1,000 kilograms, the muzzle velocity can reach about 800 meters per second.

"Under this parameter, it is possible to shoot more than 150 rounds in a stable and continuous manner.

"But Prince Oshi asked for more than 1,300 kilograms, preferably 1,500 kilograms of shells.

"We also have to achieve a muzzle velocity of more than 760 meters per second.

"Let's try 1,300 grams

When the shells were pounded, an accident occurred during the continuous firing test.

"To meet the requirements of His Royal Highness Prince Daishi, we must continue to optimize the production process......

The test data of the naval guns produced by the artillery factory are similar to those of the early naval guns of the 1918 Lexington-class battleship cruisers, Nagato-class and Colorado-class battleships.

Zhu Jingyuan's request was based on the Iowa-class MK7 naval guns.

The MK7 naval gun was a 406 mm caliber, 1225 kg super-heavy shell.

After scaling in to 420 mm in equal proportions, the weight of the shell should have been about 1360 kg.

Zhu Jingyuan gave a range of 1,300 kg to 1,500 kg, which was given higher than ever.

Zhu Zhongliang listened to the craftsman's report and asked in some astonishment:

"Fifteen hundred kilograms of shells? Isn't that a bit too high?"

The master craftsman of the artillery factory nodded very approvingly and said:

"What the Emperor said is yes, this 1,500-kilogram shell is more suitable for a main gun of about 460 millimeters.

"In a 420 mm naval gun, it is an extremely overweight shell.

"1,300 kilograms is already a heavy bomb.

"This is too demanding for the barrel production process, and we estimate that we will have to rub this barrel for several more years......

The old emperor was a little suspicious of Zhu Jingyuan's request in his heart, but he didn't show it on the surface.

Even if you want to discuss and ask, you have to ask Zhu Jingyuan directly in private, and you can't complain in front of outsiders.

That would reduce Zhu Jingyuan's prestige among these craftsmen, and even create a suspicion that he did not trust him.

So the old emperor just nodded slightly, and expressed other thoughts while agreeing:

"The research and development of the barrel should continue to explore, and continue to explore the upper limit of the power of this caliber artillery.

"The optimization of the production process must also continue, and if there is a new technological breakthrough, the research and development of all naval guns will benefit.

"But now looking at the prototype barrel, since it can use a thousand kilograms of light shells to continue fighting, it can already be used on warships, right?

"A 420 mm naval gun, even with a relatively light shell, is more powerful than 360 mm, right?

"Can the existing 40,000-ton warship be equipped with six to eight 420-millimeter naval guns?"

The master craftsman explained to Zhu Zhongliang:

"The design can be installed, but it can only be installed with a maximum of six guns, and the fire density will be relatively low.

"Moreover, the newly designed battleship has a high-speed hull and a relatively narrow hull, which limits the use of large-caliber artillery. The point is that the turbine takes up a lot of tonnage and space.

"If you forcibly install artillery of this caliber, the strike effect should not be very good.

"To use the hull line of the new warship, and to be able to stably use the 420mm naval gun, the hull should be at least 50,000 tons, preferably 60,000 tons.

"If it is a wide hull that can accommodate a speed of 20 knots, it can be directly equipped with eight 420mm naval guns."

Zhu Zhongliang listened and nodded slowly and said:

"That's right, the guns and hull design have to work together, and bigger guns have to use wider ships.

"A 60,000-ton battleship happens to be the target ship ...... Jingyuan."

Prince Void