The development of the Royal Navy in the Tang Empire was a long-term process, and the military budget was allocated annually, never compared with the wealthy British Royal Navy, and steadily advanced at its own pace;

In addition to the government's military budget, the Royal Home Office will also set aside funds to help the Royal Navy pay part of the bill for the purchase of ships.

In 1873, 1874 and 1875, the Royal Home Office allocated 2.2 million, 3.15 million and 3.56 million Tang Yuan special funds for the equipment renewal of a series of key enterprises such as the Royal Salem Shipyard and Chang'an Heavy Industry, as well as subsidies for the purchase of ships by the Royal Navy.

After Emperor Richard inspected the cutting-edge warships, he was generally satisfied, but there was still some worry in his heart;

In the original history

More than ten years later, the Manchu court ordered from Germany the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan two ironclad giant ships, born from the German-made "Saxony" class ironclad ships, also have two 305 mm double guns, 150 mm secondary guns and 76 mm secondary guns, and the firepower configuration is basically the same as the "Zhenyang" class.

The only difference is that the main gun is set up in the ironclad gun room of the ship's amidship, and the forward and backward firing range is more limited, and can only be shelled sideways.

In the Sino-Japanese Naval Battle

The two giant ships of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan led the fleet to perform poorly, but unfortunately lost to the rapid-fire artillery fire of the Fusang fleet, which was faster and more powerful, and finally became the national disaster of the Chinese nation.

Therefore, the strength of the ship and the strength of the guns are not the key factors in winning the decisive battle at sea, but the level of ship management, the vigorous fighting spirit of the officers and men of the Royal Navy, and the command of the commander in judging the situation will all be important factors affecting the decisive battle at sea.

“……

The Royal Navy is a highly specialized and highly technical military force, and it is necessary to pay attention to formalized military education and select elites who are loyal and passionate about sailing to join the Royal Navy......" Emperor Richard said with a stern expression.

The royal personal secretary standing on the side quickly recorded it with a pen in his hand, which will be compiled into a guidance document in the future, which will be carried out by the Royal Navy as the main spirit.

After a few words of entrustment, Emperor Richard asked as soon as he turned around; "How's the preparation for the Royal Naval Academy in Salem going? Where is it placed? ”

Marshal Pan Hengchen, Minister of the Royal Admiralty, hurriedly stepped forward and replied after giving a respectful salute;

"The Royal Navy respectfully obeys His Majesty's holy decree and responds to His Majesty's questioning, all preparations for the Royal Naval Academy of Salem have been completed, and the campus construction is almost ready, and the official enrollment will be completed next month.

Located on the Bay of Maine, 27 kilometers north of Salem, the college has a 377-acre campus with a beautiful landscape and a dedicated college pier.

The USS Constitution, a three-masted sailing warship captured during the North American War, is one of the teaching ships of the academy today, and is equipped with a strong faculty force.

The Naval Academy's command department, navigation department, communications department, torpedo department, artillery command department, marine engineering department, mechanical and electrical department, steam machinery department and other complete departments will continue to provide the Royal Navy with high-quality junior officers, and the Admiralty is very confident in this. ”

"Oh...... The Bay of Maine, that's a nice place. Emperor Richard suddenly understood.

He also temporarily remembered to ask, the Royal Naval Academy of Salem was already the fourth naval college.

Previously, the Admiralty had accumulated rich experience in running schools and had a considerable talent pool. As long as the financial allocation is in place and the facilities of colleges and universities are in place, the speed of preparation is very fast.

Do the math

The last time the Emperor visited the North was more than a decade ago, and the big cities of the North, such as Salem, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, had not set foot in for a long time, and now they saw that they had changed a lot.

There is really no way to do this, the territory of the empire is too vast, and it takes half a year for His Majesty the Emperor to make a southern tour, which was already three years ago.

That is, in 1873, he toured Panama and inspected the Nicaragua Canal project.

Whether it is the eastern provinces, the southeastern provinces, or the northern provinces of the Tang Empire, a tour can take as little as two or three months, and as much as half a year or even longer.

After a circle, can it not be more than ten years?

Salem, as an important industrial town in the north of the Tang Empire, is also a metropolis with a population of more than one million, and is as famous as Chicago, a large city in the middle, and Los Angeles, a large city in the south, which is collectively known as the "three strong industrial cities".

At the mention of this, Portland, the capital of Oregon, is a little lonely, and after decades of competition with Salem for industrial development, Portland has finally lost out.

Today, Portland is listed as a second-tier industrial city along with Detroit, Taoyuan, Seattle, Houston, Mexico City, etc., and is far inferior to the first three in terms of industrial scale, category and output value.

Salem's industrial development has not come without a price, with tall chimneys spewing thick black smoke day and night in the more than 40-kilometre-long coastal industrial belt.

The entire city buildings and streets seem to be smeared with a layer of smoky gray, clean clothes are dirty after a day, and the rainwater collected after rain is gray and black.

Every winter

The snow layer is grayish-black underneath and white above. It won't be long before the snow on it will also turn grayish-black. Layer by layer is distinct.

In this era, there is no awareness of environmental protection, and there is no awareness of worker protection, and people can only be sincerely proud when they see the chimneys and admire the great power of industry.

Emperor Richard was well aware of the dangers of environmental pollution, but there was no good solution to it, and the only requirement was for all workers to wear masks.

In the early stage of industrial development, limited by the level of science and technology, it was impossible to emphasize any environmental protection measures.

The thick black smoke from the factory chimney shows that the heat utilization efficiency is not high, and the combustion is not sufficient.

This is not intentional, but is limited by today's state of technology.

Senham is like this, but what is the case with London, Paris, Berlin, and other big European cities?

When the Royal Salem Navy visited the shipyard, there were countless fly ash soot and a pungent smell in the air.

The pungent smell came from the nearby Coastal Chemical Industries' fertilizer plant, a heavily guarded factory area that was closed to outsiders.

The abundant harvest of agriculture and animal husbandry in the Tang Empire is inseparable from the precious resources of fertilizer factories and guano mines, but this strange smell is really fascinating!

After leaving the Royal Navy Yard in Salem, Emperor Richard had no intention of staying too long, and took the Royal Train directly to the Portland Palace, where the Imperial Driver was stationed.

On the train

Emperor Richard washed his face, and when he saw most of the black water in the golden basin, he was speechless.

Just for a moment

The hair, face, ears, eyes and nostrils are all black and gray, and it is difficult to clean them without changing all the clothes and thoroughly washing them from top to bottom.

After he cleaned up, he came to the royal luxury box, and saw Liang Bojun and Lu Dawei, deputy directors of the Royal Secretariat, standing on the side, hesitated, and ordered;

"The industrial chimneys of Salem are so dusty that it doesn't hurt to eat so much soot in your stomach? Is there any way to fix it? ”

"Your Majesty, this is ...... Wechen has no countermeasures for a while, can we allow this time, Wechen convened some experts and scholars to discuss this topic and explore solutions? ”

"I have an idea......"

"Your Majesty, please."

"Large smoke and dust is obviously a disadvantage of insufficient combustion, if you set up a sprinkler system, that is, spray water to form a water mist curtain, it should be able to greatly reduce the dust generation, what do you say?"

"This ...... Wonderful, Your Majesty! Liang Bojun was stunned for a moment and then showed surprise, and lost no time in offering his fart.

"Your Majesty, Shengming, we ordinary people are far from being able to do it." Lu Dawei's compliment came completely from the heart.

His Majesty's measures are simple, inexpensive and effective.

Just think about it

As long as the water mist sprinkler system is installed in the appropriate position of the chimney, it is possible to intercept more than 9% of the smoke, which is a wonderful idea!

Emperor Richardun waved his hand absently and said; "In this case, Lu Aiqing will lead the supervision of this matter, and once it is verified to be feasible, it will be immediately promoted to the major industrial zones of the empire."

"Wechen obeys."

"Well, step aside."

"The ministers are leaving."

After seeing the two leave, Emperor Richard sat down in a comfortable and luxurious seat, lit a cigar, and soon the thick smoke of the cigar filled the carriage.

The royal train roared forward, and the scenery outside the window was constantly receding.

Outside the window, the city of Salem is reminiscent of the Crusoe steam age, with thick steam pipes often passing through the gray-black megacity buildings, and chimneys darkening the sky.

The whole city is filled with the industrial power of the steam age, gray, dirty and rugged, accompanied by the regular noise of mechanical operation, like a strong beating heart.

As the train accelerated, city buildings and chimneys became scarce, and vast fields and herds of cattle and sheep appeared in the wilderness.

Unconsciously

The train has left the city of Salem, the dark clouds in the sky have quietly disappeared, and there are large expanses of blue sky and white clouds, and the river is clear again......

Looking back at the gray cloud-shrouded city, Emperor Richard sighed heartily; Perhaps, this is the price that must be paid for the development of industry!

At the end of July this year, the Tang Empire's national economic output had surpassed that of Britain to rank first in the world.

After two and a half years of severe world economic crisis, the Tang Empire's foreign trade rebounded strongly in the third quarter, driving the economic growth to 4.7% in the third quarter, showing a strong recovery signal.

If nothing else

The total economic output of the Tang Empire will surpass that of Britain in the whole year, and it will become the world's largest economic power.

In this way, Emperor Richard finally breathed a sigh of relief, the worst days have passed, so will the good days of prosperity be far away?

Various indicators in the third quarter of this year show that there are obvious signs of recovery, from international trade to domestic production and consumption. Residents' willingness to invest has increased, factories are operating more, and even the prices of agricultural products are on a further upward trend, which is undoubtedly a good sign.