After three days at the Jinzhouwei Shipyard, Zhu Zhongliang boarded the battleship Dreadnought, which was finally ready.

The battleship Fearless and the aircraft carrier Dinghai are both technical verification warships.

Verify the feasibility of the design direction of the capital ship with all main guns and the straight-through deck warship carrying the aircraft carrier.

The original design guidelines were all about getting it done as quickly as possible.

The hull was adjusted from the original capital ship and armored cruiser hulls.

Initially, the nominal design time was only one month, and it was impossible to complete the full details.

In fact, they were building and completing the final design at the same time.

The power system attached to the prototype ship is the standard coal-fired and oil-fired large water-tube boiler equipped with the Daming Navy ship, with a three-rise steam engine.

Half a year after the hull was started, the design team officially decided to cancel the coal-fired boiler and replace it with a pure oil-fired small water tube boiler, with a steam turbine to drive the warship.

The two ships, the Intrepid and the Dinghai, avoided the fate of becoming the last coal-fired warships of the Ming Dynasty at the last moment.

Dinghai thus avoided the fate of becoming the only coal-fired aircraft carrier......

However, the hulls of both ships were built at that time, and it was impossible to go back and make significant changes.

Therefore, the linear shape of the hull is still the original form, except that a bulbous bow is added at the very front of the hull.

Even if the Intrepid was replaced with a pure oil-fired boiler and a steam turbine, its maximum speed could only reach a maximum of 23 knots.

And the fuel consumption rate in the twenty-three knots state is not very good.

However, at the original design speed, that is, about 20 knots, the efficiency of the engine is very high.

Based on the test results, the Intrepid should be able to cruise for 12,000 kilometers if it maintains a speed of 20 knots.

If the speed is reduced to fifteen knots, it can continue to sail more than 20,000 kilometers.

In addition, the hull is still the template of the old battleship, and the hull itself is very wide, so the navigation is very smooth.

After the oil-fired boiler was replaced, there was no more coal ash flying everywhere, and the hull was much cleaner.

Judging by the overall results now, it seems that the ship is very suitable for the use of medium-speed ocean-going special vehicles.

Zhu Zhongliang, led by a group of guards, took a look around several key cabins of the Intrepid, and finally came to the conference room.

Zhu Zhongliang sat on the main seat of the conference room, looked at the spacious space around him, elegant decoration, and nodded with great satisfaction:

"At the time, I thought it was outrageous, but now it seems that this ship is very good, and I don't think I need to think about commercial use after decommissioning.

"Directly visit as an official of the Ming Dynasty, or even the Ming Emperor and the Emperor Taishang."

Empress Taishang sat beside Zhu Zhongliang, nodded with a smile and said:

"It's really good, ordinary warships are not suitable for travel at all, and the battleships of this design are much better, but compared to the normal passenger ship room, it still feels a little cold......"

Zhu Zhongliang directly stretched out his hand and pointed around:

"That's right, although this ship is a hotel-style decoration, the engineering standards are obviously warship-style.

"You see that the chairs are all metal, and there is no wood or silk decoration in the corners.

"Because those things are just a little bit, and if you get shot on the battlefield, it will increase the pressure on the damage tube.

"If someone really designed the warship to be a passenger ship, the designer should also throw it to the Xianbei wasteland to dig potatoes."

The officers around him, the craftsmen in charge of the tests and records, all burst out laughing when they heard this.

After Zhu Zhongliang paused, he looked at the officers and craftsmen around him and said:

"It's not that the soldiers can't have a better living environment, but they must ensure the basic safety of warships.

"Without compromising on safety, more living space can be added and equipment can be used to make people's lives more comfortable.

For example, Jingyuan invented an air temperature adjustment equipment, and the Ministry of Industry is continuing to optimize and debug.

"When it matures, it can be installed on warships, so that the soldiers do not have to fight in the summer with dozens of degrees of heat."

Zhu Zhongliang sat in the cabin for a while, and after resting, he got up again and came to the deck.

Zhu Zhongliang looked at the turret of the Dreadnought where he was, thinking about the current situation in his heart.

According to the latest intelligence from the West Factory, the British, the French, and even the Spanish are also building similar warships.

The fastest ones have now been launched, and the British have even directly adopted the knapsack turret.

The direction of the design of these warships should be the result of summing up the experience of naval warfare in world wars.

This result is also the reason why Zhu Zhongliang is willing to send the Dreadnought out.

There is no need for the Dreadnought to be kept secret and hidden.

However, Zhu Zhongliang looked back at the two fearless hulls on the dock of the shipyard.

The difference between the Dreadnought and the Dreadnought is very obvious.

The difference in tonnage is 15,000 tons, and the difference in length is more than 50 meters, and the difference in form is even more obvious.

The warships designed and built by the Three Kingdoms are either similar to the Intrepid or smaller than the Dreadnought.

This, combined with the Dreadnought's advantages in shells and power systems, makes the Dreadnought the strongest of these new ships.

But the name of the Dreadnought, the world's strongest warship, is obviously less than a year away.

In the future, it will be a mass-produced 40,000-ton dreadnought-type warship and a 40,000-ton Zhenhai-type aircraft carrier.

When Zhu Zhongliang thought about it, his fleet had already set sail.

Including the aircraft carrier Dinghai, a large main fleet escorted Zhu Zhongliang's Intrepid southward.

The fleet maintained a speed of twenty knots, sailed at sea for a day and a night, and arrived at the Jiangnan shipyard at noon the next day.

Zhu Zhongliang took his wife ashore to participate in the launching ceremony of two new aircraft carriers.

The first of the two 40,000-ton target aircraft carriers was originally named Zhenhai, so it is now also collectively referred to as the Zhenhai type.

Two were built in the same batch, and the second aircraft carrier was not originally named.

Zhu Zhongliang also chose the name of the "Jinghai" ship in accordance with the names of the two aircraft carriers in Dinghai and Zhenhai in front of him.

The construction period of the aircraft carrier of the World War II fleet is usually shorter than that of the main battleship, because the aircraft carrier hull structure is simpler.

From the main and auxiliary guns and mechanical structures, to the number of armor and equipment, the number required for an aircraft carrier is significantly less than that of a battleship.

However, that was the situation after the shipyard was skilled in building aircraft carriers, and now the shipyards of Daming have very little experience in building aircraft carriers.

Before the two 40,000-ton aircraft carriers in Zhenhai and Jinghai, the Ming Dynasty had only built a simple Dinghai aircraft carrier.

In addition, the Zhenhai-type aircraft carrier designed by Zhu Jingyuan is not a pure all-through deck fleet aircraft carrier of World War II.

Except for the absence of a beveled deck and a large catapult, she structurally does not differ much from a modern aircraft carrier.

The lifts are all outside the freeboard on the left side of the deck, and the flight deck in the middle is a complete piece.

The construction indicators proposed by Zhu Jingyuan are also based on capital ships, not the standards of historical cruisers.

Therefore, the two ships of Zhenhai and Jinghai were launched at the same time as the two battleships.

However, after the aircraft carrier is launched, the amount of "decoration" work in the later stage will be smaller than that of the battleship, and the two aircraft carriers should be put into service earlier.

In this way, at the end of October of the second year of Ankang, Daming launched four 40,000-ton warships one after another.

And it can be expected that after the beginning of spring next year, four 40,000-ton warships will start construction at the same time.

After that, four per year, until all existing former dreadnoughts and armored cruisers were replaced, and then future plans were considered.

When Zhu Zhongliang was chatting with the shopkeeper of Jiangnan Shipyard, he also leaked the news that there will be orders for new capital ships next year.

Let the other party set aside two 40,000 tons in advance, don't be occupied by civilian ships at that time, and you can't move the cycle.

Then Zhu Zhongliang got on the ship again, officially set sail with the fleet, and headed for the direction of Mozhou.

Zhu Zhongliang, the emperor, wants to visit Mozhou, of course, it is impossible to act secretly, and Zhu Jingyuan must be notified first.

When Zhu Jingyuan received the news, he felt that a question mark was on his head.

What is this old man doing here at this time?

The Emperor Taishang basically doesn't care about anything, is it to come to Mozhou specifically to chat with himself?

However, although he was puzzled, Zhu Jingyuan still had to act immediately, and took Lin Zexu and Niu Jian to prepare to meet him.

First of all, you have to arrange a place for the old man to live.

Fortunately, during the construction process of more than a year in the past, Lin Zexu considered the possibility of a special high-level visit.

At the same time as the construction of workers' dormitories and workshops, a small but very good manor was also planned.

It is located on a small peninsula in the middle of Mengxian Island, and is named Bishui Garden.

Bishui Park is a relatively independent area from the surrounding houses, and even has its own small wharf.

Therefore, it can be the same as Xiyi Fort, which can be fortified with high strength alone.

The construction project was almost completed this summer, and now the renovation project is just in the end.

The original plan was to start before Zhu Jingyuan left.

Now I can only speed up the progress and complete it before the Emperor Taishang arrives, and give it to the Emperor Taishang first.

A month later, on December 3, the second year of Ankang in the Ming Dynasty, the fleet of Emperor Zhu Zhongliang arrived in Mengxian.

The Grand Fleet docked at the Mengxian wharf, and Zhu Zhongliang's own dreadnought drove directly to the pier of Bishuiyuan.

Zhu Jingyuan's family, Lin Zexu and Meng County officials led by Niu Jian all greeted them at the dock.

Zhu Zhongliang came out of the cabin, glanced down above the gangway, and directly saw Zhu Jingyuan in the front row.

"Looks like you've grown a little taller......"

Zhu Zhongliang muttered with some emotion in his heart, and then noticed the two women beside Zhu Jingyuan.

Wearing the crown dress of a world woman, she now has a big belly, and there are maidservants holding two children next to her.

"This is that the two concubines are pregnant again, this kid is really capable......"

Zhu Zhongliang realized that he had two more great-grandchildren or granddaughters, and he was immediately very happy.

He walked down the gangway with a smile, waved to the crowd who saluted him, and said:

"There's no need to be polite, I came to Mozhou just to take a look, and I don't have anything serious.

"Just let Jingyuan chat with me, you don't have to stay here, let's go and get busy with you."

Although the Emperor Taishang is indifferent, after all, he is also the Emperor Taishang, and theoretically the person with the highest status in the entire country.

Zhu Zhongliang said that they did not have to guard themselves, but these officials did not dare to leave directly.

Although everyone knows in their hearts that the Emperor Taishang is here to see his grandson, he doesn't need outsiders like himself as a background.

But at the very least, in terms of etiquette, you have to wait for the Emperor Taishang and Zhu Jingyuan to leave the scene before they can retreat.

Zhu Zhongliang is also an old man, and after finishing speaking, he picked up Zhu Jingyuan's hand, and the grandfather and grandson got into the car directly.

Liu Muyun and Yu Duxue also immediately took the children, got in the car and left the dock, and drove into the courtyard gate of Bishui Park one after another.

The royal people all left, and the surrounding officials were relieved, and left the scene one after another to go about their own business.