Daming heir

Chapter 457

The emperor wants to board the ship by boat.

The boarding was still a new type of steam warship that was undergoing bombardment tests and the upcoming sailing tests, which made Zhang Ergong a little embarrassed.

Now this steam warship is the first new warship equipped with steam turbines in Ming Dynasty.No one knows what will happen to this ship before it is completely determined.

After all, during the development of the steam engine, there have been many explosion accidents.

What if it was blown up by the steam engine installed in the back cabin of the warship at this time today?

Zhang Ergong immediately pinched the palm of his hand deeply with his fingers, letting himself drive this terrifying thought out of his head.

He raised his head and carefully looked at the emperor's grandson beside him, hoping that His Majesty the emperor would give up the idea of ​​boarding the ship.

Zhu Yunxi tiptoed and glanced at the warships on the river in the distance.

Yu Daming's ordinary warship is almost the same, even the mast on the deck of the cabin is still preserved, and has not been cut.

But at the stern, there are two huge steel cylinders protruding into the water, connected to the huge propeller blades under the water surface.

The ramming angle on the bow of the original warship of the Ming Dynasty has also been replaced with a steel structure, and the entire bow is wrapped.

This is probably to balance the weight of the entire warship. After adding two steam engines in the rear cabin, the ram angle of the bow is changed to ensure that the warship will not be heavy on the back and light on the front.

Looking at the transmission rod that had to be inserted obliquely into the water because of the airtightness, Zhu Yunxi really wanted to board the boat and experience it for himself.

Zhu Yunxie glanced at Zhang Ergong: "Please trouble Zhang Shilang to arrange a boat for me to board."

Zhang Ergong sighed helplessly in his heart, and bowed his hands to accept the order.

Then he turned around and arranged with the officials under his command to board the ship for the emperor, grandson and others.

"Let people go back to the ship first and tell the steam engine to turn off. Then ask the river boat to swim around the steam warship in case of emergency."

Zhang Ergong's face was solemn. After being an official in the court for a long time, he finally realized the rules of the officialdom and the strictness of the imperial power.

His subordinates took orders, and immediately went to arrange things on the wharf trestle by the river.

This head of Zhu Yuanzhang has already taken his two grandsons along the outermost shipbuilding platform to the riverside wharf.

Even though he has been watching for a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang is still curious and excited about the ships under construction on the shipbuilding platform around him.

He waved to the largest warship under construction on the platform: "This is a treasure ship with five thousand materials from the Navy. How long will it take to complete this ship?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, in the past, it would have taken Longjiang Shipyard a whole year to build this treasure ship with [-] materials, regardless of the preparation of materials and work, just on this shipbuilding platform."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook the corner of his clothes, and looked sideways at Zhang Ergong with his hands behind his back: "So, it's faster now?"

Zhang Ergong arched his hands towards Zhu Yunxi: "The minister discussed with His Highness some time ago, and found the method of working together with flowing water. Now, even with this treasure ship of [-] materials, Longjiang Shipyard can complete it within October." Go into the water."

Zhu Yuanzhang was suddenly curious: "What method did you discuss with your grandson?"

Zhang Ergong nodded again and again, and praised: "His Highness Taisun is talented and intelligent, which is really beyond the reach of this humble minister. It is all thanks to His Highness Taisun that I can achieve today's achievements. Your Highness often has wonderful ideas. Let Wei Chen and others suddenly understand, and things will go more smoothly."

Zhu Yunxi was a little helpless, only Zhang Ergong could say this in the entire court.What's even more helpless to him is that even Zhang Ergong has become a little "slick tongue" now.

Zhu Gaochi on the side opened the mouth and said: "You Zai, Qin has a method of working together, and Qin's powerful crossbow weapons are assigned to one place by a special person. Thinking about it, Brother Xun intends to learn from it."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang became more and more satisfied.

The old man nodded in relief: "It's better to read books. It's best to read more and use everything in the book."

As he spoke, the old man looked at Zhu Yunxi with encouraging eyes.

"It's been doing pretty well lately."

Zhu Yunxi hurriedly bowed and nodded, but he muttered a few words in his heart.

These days, because my two cubs were raised in Qianqing Palace, my status with the old man can be said to be a sunset, which is quite different from the past.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked very excited today, his eyes kept patrolling the shipbuilding platform.

Every time he saw a novelty, he would ask Zhang Ergong, the left servant of the Ministry of Industry, for details.

It's just that Zhang Ergong often blurted out the names of various uncommon crafts in shipbuilding, and Zhu Yuanzhang didn't even try to understand them, but just asked Zhang Ergong to explain clearly.

It seems that following Zhang Ergong's narration, the old man himself has personally participated in the whole process of shipbuilding.

The road of more than 200 feet was quickly completed in Zhu Yuanzhang's strong thirst for knowledge.

On the trestle of the riverside wharf, several river boats that had been transferred had already moored.

In the Jiajiang River between Jiangxinzhou and the shore, on the top of the tallest mast on a steam warship that has been anchored, a watchman is holding the mast in his hands, looking at the shore from time to time, and bowing his head at other times, as if he is talking to the ship. The people above informed the emperor's location.

"Grandpa be careful."

Seeing that the old man was about to step directly onto the river boat in high spirits, Zhu Yunxi yelled softly, stepped forward quickly, crossed the trestle bridge and the side of the ship lightly, stopped on the deck, and stretched out his hand towards the somewhat unsteady old man.

Zhu Yuanzhang held Zhu Yunxi's arm tightly with his palm, and then he stopped his swaying body because he had to step on the river boat because of lack of preparation.

After the grandparents got a firm foothold, Zhu Gaochi, Zhang Ergong and others also boarded the cabin deck one by one.

Looking at Jiangxinzhou in front, the scene is constantly undulating because of the river boats drifting with the current.

Zhu Yuanzhang probed slightly.

Zhu Yunxi watched it quietly: "What's on Grandpa's mind?"

"I was just thinking, how many people in the Central Plains have crossed this thousand-mile river? The only way to go from north to south is by ferry." Zhu Yuanzhang patted the railing of the ship in front of him, and said softly: "I don't know when, I, the people of the Central Plains, will pass by." Only then can we cross this chasm smoothly.”

"There will be a smooth day in the sky." Zhu Yunxi said with a confident face, and said with a smile: "Pan Deshan built a water-reduction dam with cement on the Yellow River to resist the upstream flood and reduce the impact of the downstream.

If this method is successful, the two great rivers in the Central Plains, as well as the countless rivers, can be crossed without boats. "

Zhu Yuanzhang's heart trembled suddenly.

He was just thinking about it, but he didn't expect to hear the definite feasibility from the mouth of his eldest grandson.

Zhu Yuanzhang turned around immediately, stretched out his hand and grabbed Zhu Yunxi's wrist: "Brother Xi! Say what you just said again!"

The old man's voice was a little loud, even trembling.

Zhu Gaochi and Zhang Ergong who were on the side looked sideways.

Zhu Yunxi laughed lightly: "The bridges in the Central Plains have always been made of stone and wood. Because of their texture, the span is no more than tens of hundreds of meters. But like the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, the river is deep and the water is fast. The bridge spans, regardless of the material quality of the bridge. The speed of the water flow alone could bring down all the bridges."

"Then how does the cement ensure that the bridge built will not be washed away?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked anxiously, his eyes full of expectation.

"Sun Er and Pan Deshan have done a deduction on the construction of the dam reduction of the Yellow River. The upstream dam is built to intercept the diversion river water, the dam position is reduced to clear the riverbed silt, the bottom is dug deep, and the cement pier is poured layer by layer. After the cement pier solidifies, the If the upstream dam is cleared, the cost of the dam will be reduced.”

Zhu Yunxi came slowly, with a calm expression.

He and Pan Deshan, like him and Zhang Ergong, often propose a feasible solution to a problem.

As for how to solve it, Pan Deshan and Zhang Ergong still have to explore it in detail.

What I have is only the knowledge points that this era does not have. How to implement it, I have to specialize in the technical field.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and thought about it, but he also remembered that the governor of the river channel had written a memorial a few days ago, which mentioned reducing the dam.

The old man let out a sigh, his face became serious, and his tone became deep: "What does reducing the dam have to do with crossing this great river? Brother Xie, if we can subdue the natural moat of this great river and make it a smooth road, you know How big of an impact is it?"

Zhu Yunxi nodded.

He thought for a moment about the sentence that today's moat becomes smooth.

There was a slight smile on his face.

"My grandson is clear." Zhu Yunxie explained softly, "If the natural moat becomes smoother, I will no longer need to use boats to travel between the north and the south of the people. Merchants and merchants can also save on boats. When it comes to the place where it is sold, the purchase price of the common people can also be saved.”

Having said that, Zhu Yunxi paused for a while and looked at the old man.

Finally, he continued: "And the most important thing is, if all the rivers and rivers in the world can become smooth, I will fight south and north with the army, the general will be super fast, the horses will not stop, the army will march forward day and night.

Sending troops in response to the sky does not require time-consuming boats and boats. The iron hoofs cross the river in bursts and go straight to the Nine Frontiers, unimpeded, and the speed of the march is doubled. "

How long would it take for a Beijing army of ten thousand people to start from Yingtian City and go to Xuanfu Town?

Not to mention the future journey.

It would take a whole day just to cross the Yangtze River outside the city from Yingtian City and set foot in Jiangbei.

The navy warship needs to berth at Longwan Wharf to send the more than [-] soldiers to Jiangbei, as well as military supplies such as war horses, ordnance, food and grass.

If there is a bridge across the river, and 1 soldiers and horses go northward, it only takes a few hours.

The old man's eyes had already started to light up.

Zhu Yunxi coughed lightly: "As long as Pan Deshan's cement dam is built, it means that the imperial court can use the method of cement dam to lay piles under the river surface one by one, and then build bridge decks on them. At that time, there is no need to worry about the erosion of rivers and rivers, and it can be guaranteed for a hundred years, and the natural moat can be smooth at that time."

Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath. He didn't know about building bridges, but he knew that as long as the piles of cement and dams could really withstand the erosion of river water, then it was absolutely feasible to build bridge decks across these piles. .

Bang Bang.

Not far away, Zhu Gaochi bumped Zhang Ergong beside him with his elbow.

He turned his head to look at the simple, newly promoted Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Industry, and said in a low voice: "If I remember correctly, the servant also handles the cement matter. Can you take what Brother Xi said today seriously?"

Zhang Ergong frowned slightly.

He burns cement, builds steam engines, builds trains, and steams warships. After all, what he does is different from river harnessing and bridge building.

Just thinking about it a little bit, estimating the plasticity and firmness of cement.

After Zhang Ergong pondered for a long time, he still opened his mouth and said: "As long as Governor Pan's cement dam can really stand in the Yellow River channel, then what His Highness said is absolutely feasible!"

In just a short while, Zhang Ergong has already thought of a construction method.

Even if the cement dam is unreliable, as long as it can stand in the river to resist the erosion of the water flow, it will be a big deal to shorten the distance between those concrete piers.

Concrete piers are built higher, which can also prevent possible major floods in the future.

As long as the bridge deck is high enough, there is no need to worry about being washed away by the current.

Thinking about it, Zhang Ergong has already begun to think about which places in the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River outside Yingtian City can be used by the imperial court to build bridges across the river.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was already deeply immersed in the imagining that the sky would become smoother, so that he himself did not realize that the hand holding his grandson was always tightly clenched.

"Grandpa, it's time to board the boat."

Enduring the swelling pain in his wrist, Zhu Yunxi looked at the river boat that was already leaning against the steam warship to connect, and immediately called out softly.

"Huh? Ah!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes flashed, and he looked up at the huge warship that covered his entire field of vision. He quickly lowered his head and frowned, and let go of his grandson's arm that he had been holding in his hand.

Because of the experiment, there are no officers and soldiers on the first steam warship of the Ming Dynasty, only a few sailors and gunners who sailed normally on a complex warship, and a large number of craftsmen. The craftsman is here.

Since Zhang Ergong became an official of the Ming Dynasty with his craftsmanship, the imperial court also conducted several merit examinations, selecting craftsmen with sufficient merit or ability from the craftsmanship under the imperial court to be promoted to be a craftsman.

Although it is only low-level, but the impact is extraordinary.

Passing through the rickety stairs hanging on the outside of the ship, Zhu Yuanzhang stepped onto the steam warship full of expectations.

The emperor was shocked and shocked today.

Even standing on a warship bumping with the waves, his face was full of excitement.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked up and saw the huge mast standing high on the deck.Because it is to berth, a design test is carried out on the assembled new artillery to test the compatibility of the new artillery on the steam warship.

The smell of gunpowder smoke wafting from the deck indicated that the firing tests of the artillery had continued many times.

On the deck, Zhu Yuanzhang walked to the side facing Jiangxinzhou, looked at a field on the shore that had been bombarded by artillery indiscriminately, and said casually: "Those were all caused by today's experiment? How accurate is the artillery on the ship? How powerful is it?" How much is it? If the warship starts to move, can it guarantee that the accuracy will remain the same?"

As the founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang was well versed in military affairs, and he pointed out the most important problem of the steam warship in a few words.

Zhang Ergong looked at a green-robed craftsman officer who had been standing on the deck.

The other party immediately understood and stepped forward.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the new artillery has been improved. Its aim is more accurate than my old artillery. Now on the warship, although it is bumpy due to the current, it can be guaranteed to be the same as the old artillery. After two rounds of test firing, Make sure the alignment is correct.

The minister and the others had just verified that after mooring and anchoring, the shooting accuracy of the new artillery on the warship has been guaranteed to be correct.

Next, the ministers will test the accuracy of the artillery when the warship is sailing. "

With a smile on his face, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded again and again, his face gratified.

Zhu Yunxi looked up at Jiang Xinzhou for a while, then waved to a dense forest.

"Go over there and continue shooting a round."

………………

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

(End of this chapter)