On the bank of the Chaobai River, ten people, including the ministers and Sun Chengzong, also walked on the cement road.

Looking into the distance, on the mirror-like lake, birds flying past from time to time, and occasionally fish tails swimming, bringing layers of ripples on the surface of the lake!

The reeds around the lake have long since withered and yellowed, and a large number of villagers are cleaning the reeds in an organized way, and a large open space has been cleared, and a white powder is sprinkled on it.

But I don't know what the purpose is.

At the end of the road are thousands of shipyard workers and their families who have been specially invited to watch the ceremony.

Passing through the crowd, there was a huge dock ahead, and a black battleship was quietly parked in the dock, the water at the gate was flowing in continuously, and the hull of the ship was slowly rising.

I saw the battleship, with a pointed head and a wide body.

Visually, it is about 30 zhang long (94.5 meters) long and 8 zhang wide (25.4 meters).

A set of large, tall chimneys stand in the back half of the ship, and the island is a three-story structure built at the front of the ship.

What surprised the ministers the most was that there were two huge guns in the bow and stern of the ship, with barrels pointed obliquely and an astonishing caliber.

And there are more than 20 guns on each side of the battleship, and the muzzles of the guns are lined up!

Spectacular!

This is the design drawing of the Zhenyuan ship that Huang Xiao specially spent money to get!

And on this basis, improvements have been made.

For example, the sails were changed from two to one, which also freed up space.

Relying on two horizontal three-expansion reciprocating steam turbines as power, two of the original eight coal-fired boilers were added, which increased the endurance of the Zhenyuan ship by hundreds of nautical miles to 5,000 nautical miles.

After the refit, the speed is also much higher than that of the original Zhenyuan ship, from 15.4 knots to 18 knots (one knot = one nautical mile = 1.852 km).

In addition, the turret has also been changed to a rotatable angle design, and the design of the ironclad fort is adopted, and the important turret, boiler, steam engine, and ammunition depot are surrounded by 508mm steel plates, which greatly improves the protection force!

In this day and age, this is almost invincible.

Huang Xiao didn't believe that the enemy's artillery could penetrate the armor of the Zhenyuan ship!

No matter how advanced Huang Xiao was, he didn't get it, he thought this was enough!

This giant ship cost more than one million taels of silver, and in the state of rotation of all the soldiers and civilians in Dahuangzhuang day and night, it was successfully produced today!

Historically, the Zhenyuan ship cost 2.8 million taels and took eight months to build.

Wang Zheng and Song Yingxing both greeted him.

Everyone saluted.

Yang Lian asked, "Lord Wang, is this ship really made of iron?" ”

Wang Zheng nodded and said, "This is an ironclad ship built according to Mr. Huang's drawings, and the ironclad ship is naturally iron." ”

Yang Lian asked: "How much does it cost to spend so much refined iron?" ”

Wang Zheng said: "One hundred and twenty thousand taels of silver, five thousand ...... of people."

And they were all appalled.

Yang Lian's cheeks twitched, and he trembled: "It's a waste of national strength!" In vain! What's the use of spending a million taels to build this iron lump? ”

He glared at Wang Song and said, "Your Majesty and the Hou Ye want to make this, don't you know how to advise?" If these coins are used for the people's livelihood, how many people can live! ”

The ministers nodded one after another.

Gao Panlong said: "What Yang Yushi said is extremely true! If this steam engine is used in water conservancy, smelting, textiles, etc., it is indeed a weapon of the country, but this ironclad ship is useless! ”

Yang Lian said: "Now the wood is in the boat, no!" The iron is ready! However, if the Hou Ye wants to build again, we will never allow it! Death! ”

"That's right! Yang Yushi is right! Death! ”

"I second!"

"I also second!"

Suddenly, the ministers clamored.

Sun Chengzong and the others were silent, watching from the sidelines.

Zhang Xianzhong said to Li Hongji and the two: "Last night, Brother Cheng said that with this ironclad ship, you can open up territory, why is it useless!" ”

Li Hongji shook his head and said, "Don't pay attention to them, they don't understand the plan of the Hou Ye." ”

But I heard Song Yingxing say: "Do you remember the incident when Lord Zuo and I beat each other in court?" On that day, Yang Yushi was also going to die today, but what about the facts? Are Your Majesty and Mr. Huang wrong? ”

When everyone remembered the situation that day, their faces were strange.

Zuo Guangdou laughed and said, "Today, the old man is on the side of Lord Song, Da Hong, why don't you fight with Lord Wang first?" Then wait for Mr. Huang to come over, and then come to you to solve your doubts? ”

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then burst into laughter.

Yang Lian blushed and said, "Hugh wants to steal the beam and change the pillar!" Such a heavy ironclad ship, even if it does not sink when it enters the water, it will not be able to move! ”

Song Yingxing said: "Yang Yushi, why don't we make a bet?" ”

Yang Lian was about to speak, Wang Zheng played a round and said: "Don't fight for will, Yang Yushi, you just take a look first, this ironclad ship will not only not sink, but also very fast, I can guarantee this, bet, Yang Yushi will lose, or don't hurt the harmony." ”

Yang Lian heard Wang Zheng say this, but he didn't say anything.

Wang Zheng smiled and said: "You don't know the intentions of Mr. Wait, some doubts are also human nature, but this ironclad ship will definitely be built, as for how much?" This has to wait for the will of Mr. and Niangniang, as far as I know, Tianjin Wei Shipyard has also started construction of two ships at the same time! ”

The ministers were shocked again, and Wang Zheng continued: "Although the cost is huge, and the labor is also very large, but the benefits brought by it, I can conclude that it will be a thousand, ten thousand times!" And it is a major event related to my Chinese eternal life! ”

The ministers were dumbfounded.

This should be incompatible, why is it eternal?

Wang Zheng said: "The specific situation, when you enter the training class, you will have some understanding, and after you understand, you will definitely support the construction of ironclad ships!"

And not all ironclad ships have to spend so much money, smaller warships will not be so expensive, and you can also build cargo ships to transport goods, you can also sell cargo ships for profit, in the future, my shipyard in Dahuangzhuang will specialize in building inland river warships, and cargo ships, and large warships will be built by Tianjin Wei Shipyard. ”

After Wang Zheng explained, the ministers did not say anything more.

If you don't understand it, it's a joke.

As he spoke, Zhang Yan's royal belt behind him came over, and everyone saluted.

Zhang Yan, with the support of the palace maid, got off the royal court.

Huang Xiao stepped forward quickly and accompanied her.

"You don't need to be polite, go to the shipyard with this palace."

Zhang Yan walked forward.

The ministers followed.

Go down to the open space at the shipyard dock.

Originally, everyone was in a high place, and they felt that they were mighty and extraordinary from a distance, but now when they got closer, everyone looked at this behemoth, and their hearts were shaken.

"Mother, sir, the firing area has been cleared, the personnel have been emptied, the dock has been filled with water, and the boiler has been preheated, please order!"

Zhang Yan nodded at Huang Xiao.

Huang Xiao stepped forward, and the soldiers brought a megaphone.

Huang Xiaodao: "At this historical moment, on behalf of Your Majesty and Niangniang, I would like to say thank you to the craftsmen and families who built it!" ”

His voice was loud, and as the megaphone came out, everyone around him could hear it clearly, and there were soldiers shouting at the same time, and thousands of people could hear it clearly.