With smoke billowing from the two large chimneys, the behemoth seemed to come to life.

"Let's go, come up with me and have a look!" Li Wei said with some excitement.

This kind of large warship is full of the atmosphere of later generations, and the cabin style on it is also designed according to the appearance of later generations, such as glass, steel, etc.

Jiang Quan hesitated a little when he heard this, and persuaded: "Master Hou, why don't you let the sailors try the ship before you board the ship." ”

The first time he made a behemoth, he was really afraid that he would accidentally sink into the river, Li Wei was an important person, and it would be great if there was an accident.

And Li Wei waved his hand indifferently: "It's okay, isn't there still someone following behind by boat, if something really happens, it can be rescued in time, and there will be no problem." ”

The first time he built this kind of ironclad ship, of course, he was a little bottomless, and this time he also made all preparations.

Jiang Quan was still a little hesitant, but Li Wei had already walked over first.

The big ship was more than three feet high, and when you walked under the ship and looked up, it was like a steel wall.

Li Wei and the others came to the bottom of the ship and boarded the ironclad ship along the gangway.

Standing on the deck is like standing on a majestic city, but now this majestic city is a movable sea fortress!

"Pass the order, let the sailors begin the sea trials." Li Wei commanded.

"Yes."

Jiang Quan responded and passed on the order, and with a loud whistle, the ironclad ship finally moved slowly and sailed out of the dock.

On the riverbank, many craftsmen in the shipyard watched this giant ship sail out of the shipyard, full of shock and pride. Only Li Wei, the god in their hearts, can lead them to create such a wonderful creation!

After sailing into the Yangtze River, the ironclad ship was completely freed from the shackles, driven by the powerful power of the steam engine, the propeller rotated rapidly, and the speed of the ironclad ship rose rapidly, five miles, ten miles, twenty miles, and the speed became faster and faster, until the speed of forty miles per hour stabilized.

Li Wei stood on the bow deck and felt the river breeze blowing, and sighed.

In fact, this speed is not too fast, if the ordinary sailboat is smooth, sometimes it can even exceed this speed, but the advantage of the steam engine is that it does not rely on wind and hydropower, as long as there is coal burning, it can always be so fast!

After standing at the bow of the boat for a while, Li Wei instructed Jiang Quan to let people reduce the speed a little, and there were many accompanying boats behind, so they had to wait for them, and they had to check the situation on the ship again.

After leaving the bow, he went to the stern first, and since the propeller needed to poke into the water, the leakage problem in this position was his main concern.

The watertight compartment at the stern of the ship is also isolated separately, and the huge propeller shaft is like a girder across it, constantly leaking out of the shaft seal.

Several craftsmen and sailors were busy in a hurry, some carrying buckets, and some pumping water out with hand-cranked pumps designed by Li Wei.

Seeing Li Wei coming, several people were about to put down their work and salute to see each other, but Li Wei waved his hand to stop them and let them continue to be busy.

After dealing with a few people, Li Wei came to the leakage of the tail shaft to take a look.

Now the seal made of natural iron pear wood is used here, which is not only wear-resistant, but also slightly expands when exposed to water, which can basically ensure the sealing, but the leakage speed of this uproar, if no one cares, it will not take long to flood this section of the warehouse, so it is necessary for the sailors to watch all the time and keep draining the water outward.

In fact, all ships have such a thing as water leakage, and the same is true for modern ships in later generations, but people can leak a bucket of water in half a day, and he doesn't have much effort.

Seeing Li Wei staring at the leak and frowning silently, Jiang Quan, who was accompanying him, spoke out and comforted: "Master Hou doesn't have to worry, you just need to order someone to guard it day and night, and drain it in time, so it won't matter." ”

Although this is also a big flaw, compared to the ironclad giant ship of all expectations, it is also a flaw!

Li Wei nodded lightly, now it can only be like this, and then consider oil seals or something when technology and materials are advanced in the future, and soon when the technology of the motor is mature, you can change the hand pump to an electric pump.

Now although there is a steam engine on the ship, it can also be equipped with a generator to generate electricity, but it has no motor and no electric light, so he does not need to install it.

The ironclad ship went down the way, all the way to the mouth of the Yangtze River, and the ships that occasionally encountered along the way, when they saw this fast-sailing steel beast, they were all frightened and avoided from afar, for fear that one would be accidentally sunk.

Li Wei returned to the deck again and rode the ironclad giant ship through the waves.

After a while, Jiang Quan reminded loudly: "Master Hou, it's not early, do you think it's time for us to return?" ”

"Don't we bring enough coal to go to sea?"

Li Wei was surprised and said that he had built this ship to conquer the Japanese state, and of course he had to conduct sea trials.

Jiang Quan was slightly stunned, and said with a wry smile: "Master Hou, it takes more than 800 miles to go to sea from Beijing, even if our ship is very fast, it will only be dark to arrive, and we have not prepared relevant citations for the first time on trial voyages, and the guards along the river will not let us go to sea." ”

Li Wei frowned slightly, too, there are guards along the river, and it is impossible to let him go to sea without documentary evidence.

"Okay, go any further, we'll go back when we're almost done."

"Yes!"

Jiang Quan breathed a sigh of relief, and said yes.

At Li Wei's insistence, the ironclad ship sailed for another two hours, and it was not until it approached Tongzhou that Li Wei agreed to return under Jiang Quan's successive persuasions.

After the order was issued, the giant ship began to slow down and prepare to turn around, but at this moment, Li Wei saw more than a dozen ships parked by the river in front of him from a distance.

"What's going on?"

Li Wei asked, pointing to the dozen or so ships in the distance.

Jiang Quan looked up in the direction he was pointing, and then replied softly: "It should be the inspection or the guard who is inspecting the smuggling ship." ”

Now the Ming Dynasty prohibits the private sector from conducting maritime trade, and once it is inspected by the Inspection Division, not only will the goods be confiscated, but also the felony will be punished.

Li Wei had already talked to Zhu Yuanzhang about opening the sea trade, and now when he saw this smuggling investigation, he couldn't help but feel moved in his heart, and wanted to know the specific situation of the current sea trade.

"Send someone to ask about the situation." Li Wei commanded.

"Yes."

Jiang Quan didn't think much about it, so he summoned someone to give orders.

A small boat was hoisted, and one of Li Wei's guards rowed the ships with the sailors in the boat.

Ahead, Fukuyama Shouyu Senhu Shijun intercepted the dozen or so sea ships that were being inquired, and the leader of these sea ships was a dark-skinned and tattered man, but his voice was a little special, some shrill and sharp.

"This lord, I am indeed an envoy who was ordered to go to sea, these ships are treasures that were ordered by His Majesty to go to sea to search, not smuggled goods, and I hope your Excellency will know it!"

The man explained bitterly.

Shi Jun looked him up and down, his clothes were so black that he couldn't see his original appearance, this was still the best among them, and the others were barely covered with rags.

"You said you were ordered to go to sea, but what about the paperwork? What about the Holy Decree? Shi Jun frowned and asked.

"This ......" the man said helplessly: "We have crossed the ocean, and even the wind and waves have been lost, and many items have been lost, and the clerical holy order is also among them. ”

"Hmph, even dare to lose the holy decree, even if you are not smuggling, it is a great crime of disrespect!" Shi Jun said coldly.

The man also sighed when he heard this, saying so, but he sailed tens of thousands of miles away, and it was already a blessing from God to survive, so how could he take care of this.

"My lord is right, when I return to Beijing, I should ask Your Majesty for my guilt, and I hope that your Excellency will make it convenient."

Shi Jun's brows tightened after hearing this, this man's voice sounded like a eunuch in the palace, but he didn't dare to believe it based on this alone.

"Look, my lord!"

Just when Shi Jun was in doubt, the subordinates beside him suddenly pointed to his rear and exclaimed.

Shi Jun turned his head suspiciously, only to see a huge figure slowly coming on the river, the gray steel reflecting the cold light under the sunlight, and the two giant pillars on it were still smoking.

"It's ...... Boat? ”

Shi Jun's eyes slowly widened, and he looked at this ironclad giant ship in horror.

"Yes...... Right! ”

His men were also a little uncertain, and stammered in reply.

They had never seen such a huge ship before, and it was a ship in iron armor.

The man who was being questioned also looked at the giant ship with dull eyes, and his heart was shocked. If there is such a ship for him to ride the wind and waves, then even if he sails tens of thousands of miles, he will not be as miserable as he is now!

Shi Jun swallowed his saliva with difficulty, he also participated in the Battle of Poyang Lake with His Majesty back then, and had seen Chen Youliang's kind of three-story giant ship, but that kind of ship was only a dozen zhang long, compared with the ironclad giant ship in front of him that was more than 30 zhang long and three or four zhang high, he could only be regarded as a child who had not grown up.

As for the ironclad ship in front of them, don't say that they are fighting, just run over them directly to make them crushed and buried in this big river.

Fortunately, by this time, the ironclad had slowed down for a long distance and stopped moving a mile away from them.

In the horrified eyes of everyone, a small boat came quickly, and Li Wei's escort came to Shi Jun and the others, and said loudly: "I am the personal guard of the Marquis of Jiangdu, and the Marquis of Jiangdu ordered me to come to inquire, what is going on here?" ”

Li Wei is now a marquis, and even his guards are honored, and he is neither humble nor arrogant in the face of Shi Jun, who guards thousands of households.

Li Wei has been the marquis for a while, Shi Jun naturally knows, hearing the guards report his name, he didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly gave his hand and said: "Xiaguan Fushan guards the thousand households Shi Jun, and here intercepts a group of suspected smuggling merchant ships are being investigated. ”

"This lord, I am not a smuggler businessman, but an envoy of the inner palace who was ordered to go to sea to hunt for treasures, and I hope that my lord will report to the Marquis of Jiangdu!"

The man shouted as well.

Shi Jun frowned and glanced at him, but he didn't say anything to stop him.

Li Wei's guards nodded, bowed to Shi Jun again, and returned by boat.

A moment later, the escort returned to the ironclad ship and came to Li Wei.

"Master Hou, in front of you is Fushan Shouyu Qianhu, inquiring about smuggling merchant ships." The guard said respectfully.

Li Wei glanced at Jiang Quan and said with a smile: "I really made you guess right." ”

Jiang Quan bowed humbly.

"However, the intercepted man insisted that he was an envoy who had been ordered to go to sea, and that he was not a smuggler." The guard said again.

Li Wei's smile suddenly froze when he heard this: "The envoy who was ordered to go to sea? ”

"Yes, that's what those who took the lead on the ship said."

"Little Dezi!"

Li Wei immediately exclaimed in surprise!

It's been three years, and he is a little unfamiliar with this name, and occasionally when I think of him, I think that this little eunuch should have been buried in the sea, but I didn't expect to hear from him today.

"Quick, take me there!" Li Wei exclaimed excitedly.

Xiao Dezi went to sea with a task, in addition to looking for potatoes and sweet potatoes, there was also more important rubber, which he had specially explained.

The four major raw materials for the development of industry, steel and coal already have, oil fractionation is not difficult, the key is the problem of how much output, now the most lacking is rubber, if Xiao Dezi brought this thing, then the road of industrial development is a flat river!

Under Li Wei's orders, several light boats were hoisted down from the big ship, and Li Wei led some guards and hurried over.

Shi Jun, as a thousand households along the Yangtze River, was also arrested because of the Yangzhou Japanese raid on the city, and it was Li Wei's intercession that he was released.

"Xiaguan Shijun has seen Jiangdu Hou."

"No need to be polite."

Li Wei waved his hand casually, Shi Jun remembered him, he didn't remember Shi Jun, now he just wanted to see Xiao Dezi as soon as possible.

After dealing with Shi Jun, Li Wei scanned between the crowds, looking for Xiao Dezi's figure, but he didn't find the familiar figure after looking for a long time.

Li ...... Lee-sama! ”

The leading man looked at him and shouted tentatively.

When Li Wei heard the voice, he also fell on him, and carefully identified it before recognizing it.

"Little Dezi? How did you...... It's so dark! ”

used to be a little dezi who was white and beardless, but now, if he hadn't taken the initiative to open his mouth, Li Wei would have almost missed him.

Xiao Dezi's nose was sore, and he almost didn't cry.

He left Beijing in the thirteenth year of Hongwu, wandered at sea for more than three years, and experienced countless tribulations, among which the hardships are really indescribable, and now he finally sees his acquaintances again, and he suddenly can't help it.

"Lord Li, what a ......"

"It's me, it's me! Haha, it's great that you're back! ”

Li Wei stepped forward and patted Xiao Dezi and laughed.

Xiao Dezi has been at sea for more than three years, and although he looks thin, his body is much stronger.

"Oh yes, did you find the things I asked you to find?" Li Wei asked eagerly.

Rubber was so important that he had to hurry.

Xiao Dezi calmed down his agitated mood and said respectfully: "Fortunately, the grain and the things you said about Your Majesty have been found, and they are on these ships." ”

When he first went to sea, Zhu Yuanzhang repeatedly told him that he knew the importance of these things very well, so after running all over the Americas and finding these things, he went through hardships on the way, even if he lost the holy decree, he didn't lose these things.

In the past, there were dozens of ships in the fleet, but now less than half of them have returned, and these things can be said to have been exchanged for human lives.

"Good, good! Take me to see it! ”

Li Wei didn't know this, but urged happily, wanting to see those things soon.

"Yes, please come with me, my lord." Little Dezi raised his hand to lead the way, leading him to the detained ships.

Seeing this, the soldiers guarding the side of the ship set their eyes on Shi Jun, who hesitated for a moment and waved them away.

Although Li Wei's performance was very exaggerated at the beginning, it was in the eyes of insiders, and thousands of households along the river like Shi Jun were still very grateful to him when they learned that they were released because of his favor.

The ships used by Xiao Dezi are not small, each of them has more than a thousand materials, and it is not a problem for each ship to transport fifty or sixty tons.

After the two boarded the boat, Li Wei saw those familiar things: corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers......

Xiao Dezi is very smart, although he doesn't know how to grow these things, but some people do.

At the time of leaving, he specially ordered people to kidnap some local aborigines, although the language is not comprehensible, but after some comparisons and guesses, coupled with the steel knife frame neck education, these natives quickly understood what he meant, these things should be dried and left for seeds, and the cultivated seedlings should be cultivated, and these were transported to Daming by crossing the ocean with great difficulty!

In addition to these, there is also the rubber that Li Wei is most concerned about, these translucent squares cemented by natural latex are very soft and elastic.

Of course, if you want to use it, you have to vulcanize this natural rubber, and you also need to add carbon black or something, and the processed rubber is tougher and more elastic.

Xiao Dezi brought not only some finished rubber, but also oak seeds, but this thing had to be cultivated from scratch, and it would take several years to start tapping.

But it doesn't matter, now that there are steam ships, as long as there is a route, it is not difficult to cross the ocean to the Americas again, and it will definitely be no problem to go back and forth within a year, and just build a few more transport ships to run back and forth after the war is over.

"Okay, Xiao Dezi, you have made a great contribution, and Your Majesty will definitely reward you well when you go back!"

Li Wei smiled happily.

Xiao Dezi also smiled.

After reading these things, Li Wei took him off the boat together, came to Shi Jun, and said, "Shi ......"

"Shi Jun."

"Oh Shi Jun, that's right, this is indeed a minister in the palace, I can testify for him, these are indeed precious crops that were found at sea at the behest of His Majesty, and I hope Lord Shi will make it convenient for them to return to Beijing with me."

When Shi Jun heard this, he hurriedly said respectfully: "Since there is Hou Ye as a guarantee, then the lower officials should obey their orders, and these people will be handed over to Hou Ye to deal with." ”

"Thank you!"

"Master Hou is polite, it's all the officials who should be."

Li Wei bowed his head lightly, and secretly wrote down the name of this Shi Jun, if he had the opportunity, he would not mind promoting this thousand households.

After communicating with Shi Jun, Li Wei let Xiao Dezi and others regain control of these ships, and he was ready to return to the ironclad ship.

However, just as they were about to return home, another group of men and horses galloped from the shore.

"What's going on, stop me!"

The people who led the team shouted from afar and stopped Li Wei and the others who wanted to leave.

When everyone heard this, they turned their heads to look.

"Who is this man?"

Li Wei frowned, his face a little displeased.

Since he was made a marquis, few people dared to speak to him like this.

(End of chapter)