In mid-March, the grass grows and the warbler flies, and the spring breeze is warm.

The drawings of the improved version of the Daifuku ship have basically been drawn, and I called Yu Jin and Bai Chong to the Four Seas Temple.

Handing over the thick stack of drawings in my hand to the two of them, I said: "This is the blueprint of the warship that I have improved, although the construction of the Langya shipyard has been temporarily suspended, but the ship also needs to be carefully studied by you, and it will take time to build it, so you can take it back and study it carefully." ”

Yu Jin arched his hand and said, "Your Majesty, is there anything special about this ship and the current warships of Great Qin?" The minister was worried that some details would not be noticed. ”

I nodded and reminded, "Naturally, there is." This ship is called Dafu Ship, and the biggest difference compared to those ships made in Panyu is that it adopts a watertight cabin structure. ”

I pointed to the side view of the hull: "Look here, the current warships are directly built hulls, and the inside is connected throughout, but once the hull is damaged, the water will instantly rush into the cabin, and it will be easily sunk." Daifuku uses the hull to isolate the inside of the hull into thirteen watertight cabins, so that even if one of the cabins is flooded, the other compartments can be prevented from flooding, which will greatly reduce the probability of shipwreck. ”

"The second point." I pointed to the difference with the Ming Dynasty Daifuku ship: "This kind of ship adopts a streamlined type, with a sharp head and tail, no parallel segments, the widest part is in the middle and back, and the transition from the bow to the widest part is smooth, there can be no obvious shoulder protrusions, stern, not too hypertrophied, to avoid eddies at sea." ”

"The third is easier to understand, the current ships are all wooden structures, and some of the supporting structures of the Daifuku ship have been replaced with steel, such as iron nails, ribs, brackets, etc., and can even be wrapped in a layer of iron sheet as a whole, and then painted with paint, which can not only enhance the strength of the hull, but also prevent seawater corrosion."

Yu Jin exerted his whimsical ideas and said excitedly: "Your Majesty, the minister suddenly remembered that His Majesty once said when teaching the ministers a lesson on buoyancy that as long as the volume is large enough and the structure is reasonable enough, even a piece of hollow steel can float, why don't you make the entire hull of the ship made of steel?" Wouldn't that be stronger? ”

I smiled and explained, "There are two problems that cannot be solved by the all-iron ship. First, the hull is too heavy to be driven by sails; Second, with the current steel production and molding technology of the Iron Smelting Mansion, let alone building an object as large as a ship, I am afraid that it will be a problem to build a model. ”

Yu Jin was a little disappointed, and arched his hand and said, "The minister understands." ”

I was a little amused when I saw his expression, the dozens of people in the Zuofu and Taishi Mansion belonged to him who studied the most seriously, and his progress was the fastest, and he was basically able to think about problems in the future.

Then he encouraged: "Don't be discouraged, the thing you said is called an ironclad ship, but it can't be built now, and in the future, Daqin may not be able to build it after it can produce large pieces of plastic steel and develop a steam engine." ”

Yu Jin's eyes regained their brightness, and he asked, "What is the steam engine that Your Majesty is talking about?" ”

I thought about it, since the topic is here, why don't I tell him: "I have already told you the simple principle of energy conversion, and the principle of the steam engine is also very simple, which is to boil water and convert heat energy into kinetic energy. It is mainly composed of cylinder, base, piston, crank connecting rod mechanism, spool valve steam distribution structure, speed regulating structure and flywheel and other parts, just like this......"

An hour later, the Sihai Hall had become a temporary small class, Yu Jin and Bai Chong took notes full of five pieces of paper with paper in their hands, and I was so dry that I barely understood the structure and working methods of the steam engine.

The three of them took a sip of tea and rested for a while, and I sighed: "Telling the two of you today is not just to answer your doubts, Yu Jin's words just now reminded me that the development of the steam engine is not a simple matter, it may take two years, ten years, or even twenty years, and we will not be able to develop it in our lifetime, but it is better to start earlier, isn't it?" Even if we don't succeed, future generations can take fewer detours. ”

When the two of them heard that I actually used the word "we", they instantly "played the essence" on their upper bodies, and they were so moved that they almost wanted to cry, and choked up: "Your Majesty, the minister must cast the foundation of my great Qin for all eternity with the strength of this life!" ”

Seeing that the two of them wanted to hug me if it weren't for my identity, I suddenly couldn't laugh or cry, and at the same time sighed at the academic dedication of the ancients who could die at the end of the day.

I got up and tidied up my robe, and said with a smile: "Okay, I and you are still young, now you have built muskets, simple machine tools, glass, etc., none of which are simple, maybe Daqin will have a technological explosion, and the steam engine will be developed next year, and the year after tomorrow will have the technology to build ironclad ships, although technological breakthroughs must be accumulated, but the application of theory to practice may only be an explosion of inspiration, sometimes I can't think of things you may think of." ”

The two were no longer entangled, and bowed down and said, "The minister is taught!" ”

Seeing that the two of them had regained their fighting spirit, I began to instruct the business: "Three things are on your agenda, first, build a model of the Dafu ship as soon as possible, and after the test is successful, it is estimated that it will be the time when the initial construction of Xianyang New City will be completed, and the construction of the Langya shipyard will begin at that time; Second, Bai Chong has already found a galena mine, right? ”

Bai Chong arched his hand and said: "Yes, the Nanyang County Guard has already organized the people to mine, and I want to ask Your Majesty to show me how to smelt lead quickly on a large scale!" ”

I nodded: "The general process of refining metals is almost the same, and the same is true for refining lead, using the crucible lead smelting method, simply put, it is to build a live wall before installing the furnace for smelting, and then lay coal blocks of different sizes on the furnace in layers, that is, graphite, and when it is almost burned, you can remove the live wall and take out the crucible, and finally break the crucible to remove the slag on the upper layer and the yellow slag on the middle layer to get the lead cake." ”

"Of course, it also contains some impurities, such as gold and silver can be refined by soot blowing, but the content is very small, I need lead to make projectiles, those gold and silver are not worth mentioning, you just need to produce enough lead, and then improve the musket after the lead shot is made, so that the musket can be more suitable for lead bullets, and the range and accuracy will be greatly improved."

Now that the Qin army in the north and the Qin army in the south have begun to gradually transform into cantonment, it will take about half a year to adapt, and then they must be equipped with enough musketeers!

"Third, at least 20,000 muskets should be built before the eight-year court."

Bai Chong asked: "Your Majesty, now there are more and more scientific research projects in the Jiangzuofu, and it is becoming more and more difficult, the number of craftsmen has reached more than 300, and the number of apprentices is nearly 200, and the Jiangzuofu is already overcrowded. However, the shosaku of the new city was almost completed, and the minister suggested that all the craftsmen in Xianyang city should be moved to the shozuofu of the new city, which could accommodate a thousand people and could better conduct research. ”

Bai Chong was also used to strange words such as scientific research projects, so I nodded and agreed: "Yes." The new city will be built as a mansion with various experimental sites, which can be more conducive to scientific research, so move there when you are ready, and stay in the city in charge of sales and political affairs. ”

"Obey orders!"