Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 636 Yuanshi's First Voyage
Another half month passed, and it was mid-April of the twelfth year of Jian'an, the Grain Full season.

As the criminal officials arrived at the Hancheng Mine one after another to participate in the management, Black Bear also disbanded the Five Color Knights who had assembled for battle.

Leave Hancheng and head to Chencang Shipyard.

Take advantage of the abundant rainfall in spring and summer and the rising Wei River.

His warship was finally launched and he named it the "Yuanshi" warship.

From the initial seizure of ships to travel around, to the later various chariots, they were all named according to the customs of the world.

Black Bear had no feelings for those vehicles and ships, and did not rename any of them.

Basically, the name of whoever is in charge of the warships and transport ships in the military will be recorded.

The same applies to the chariot camp, where the chariots are named after the squad leaders and platoon leaders.

By this calculation, the Yuanshi battleship is the first named ship since his founding.

Otherwise, according to some naming maniacs, even the dried horses of the Iron Cavalry would have to be given a series of loud and elegant names.

On April 13, light rain fell near Chencang.

The Yuanshi battleship without sails completed its water trial, and Fa Zheng, who had the plaster removed from his left leg, also boarded the ship.

The entire battleship was built basically according to Black Bear's plan. Except for the main frame, the inner layer was divided into spaces using standard sliding doors.

The floors are covered with cashmere felt, and the corridors are padded with finely woven straw mats.

The surface of this straw mat is made of rush woven in a warp and weft manner, and the length of the rush is the width of the mat.

The wheat straw is compressed with high-temperature steam to a thickness of two inches, and the surface is sewn with rush matting.

Although it is not resistant to bending, it is resistant to stepping on.

This type of straw mat with standard width, length and thickness has become the most commonly used decoration material in ship cabins.

It is not only laid in the corridors, but also fitted to the hull in the cabin for reasons of tailoring to increase insulation and absorb noise.

In this environment, fireworks are strictly prohibited anywhere in the cabin.

In winter, two steam engines, one on the left and one on the right in the middle and rear part of the cabin, will provide circulating heat dissipation, and daily meals will be carried out on the first floor on the deck.

The second floor is the daily office area, and on the roof of the second floor are various heavy crossbows.

During the battle, there can be a circle of archers standing on the deck; a circle on the first floor; there are only shooting windows on the second floor, and heavy crossbows on the top of the second floor. There are four layers of attack units overall.

There are three floors of space under the deck. Although there are windows on the underground first floor, the actual combat efficiency is not high due to the height problem.

The second underground floor is the living area, and the third underground floor is the storage area.

The steam engines distributed on the left and right can provide steering capabilities, but there is also a stern rudder; near the stern rudder is the anchor.

Like all warships, the Yuanshi's conning tower stood in the middle and rear, perpendicular to the steam engine.

There are two floors on the deck and four floors in the conning tower.

In order to balance the front and back, fuel and weapons are stored in the front part of the bottom of the cabin. At the same time, in order to increase reliability in the event of a collision, the hull material is thicker at the front.

In this way, this giant warship, loaded with 700 people, towed a giant sled and began to plow the silt on the Wei River bed as in previous years.

The two steam engines shared a common exhaust pipe, which extended upward from the four-story tower.

Because of today's rainy and cold weather, the wooden boards sealing the smoke exhaust copper pipes were removed, and the pipes were used to dissipate heat, making the control tower hot.

The two steam engines were also improved with pressure relief valves, one with a steam pressure relief and discharge pipe extending toward the bow and the other toward the rear.

The result is a steerable high-pressure steam jet at the bow and stern.

As in previous years, the Yuanshi, pulling a sled to clear silt, moved slowly down the Wei River bed, which was turbid and full of mud and sand.

Fa Zheng was holding a glass of wine in his hand, wearing a bamboo hat and leaning his arms on the deck railing. He looked down at the surging dark brown mud and sand, taking a sip from time to time, feeling the tranquility of the moment.

He could slightly feel the vibration of the steam engine under his feet. He looked downstream and saw that the river was muddy and filthy.

Military and civilians from both sides of the Taiwan Strait came in the rain to watch this warship that had no sails and did not require oars, and was almost the flagship of the Guanzhong Navy in the future.

Desilting the Wei River benefits the country and the people.

The scholars on both sides of the strait were amazed at the ingenuity and power of the steam engine. Like the vast majority of officials and scholars on board, they had no idea that more than a thousand soldiers were stirring up mud and sand under the ship.

Except for familiar faces like Lu Bu, Dian Wei, and Gao Shun who were still participating in the guard work on the boat, almost all the Taoist soldiers and Yin Gan horses were stirring up the mud and sand on the riverbed at the bottom of the boat, pushing water to remove the sand.

A group of experienced young soldiers from Jiazi Camp who were on board the ship were carrying wine jugs and wandering around, pouring wine for the officials and scholars on board, or providing snacks. Du Ji was also fortunate to be invited. The peaceful life in the past few years has made his figure more round and his face fuller.

The boat was moving very slowly, and Du Ji could also feel the powerful thrust of the steam engine.

Before this, Black Bear drove the boat to remove silt, and the plowing of the riverbed was just a show, and it was basically all up to the puppet Taoist soldiers to work hard.

This time, the silt deposited in the riverbed was actually plowed and the effect was naturally very different.

"Rivers and canals must be desilted regularly. This is true for people, and it should be the same for the country."

When Du Ji heard someone say this, he turned around and saw that it was Su Ze. Su Ze had been transferred from the secretary's desk to the shogunate's Cao Yuan. He came to Du Ji with a wine glass in hand and said, "Bo Hou, how long do we have to wait?"

Seeing that Su Ze seemed to be trying to persuade him to take up a government post, Du Ji smiled casually and said, "Guanzhong is peaceful and prosperous. I am very content to live under the rule of the Grand Marshal."

Seeing that Du Ji was still waiting, Su Ze did not force him. He drank the wine in the cup and put the empty cup on a wooden tray of a passing clerk. He squinted his eyes and looked at the south bank. He warned him earnestly: "Everything in the world changes with the times. Don't do the same thing as carving a boat to find a sword. It takes time to carve a hole in the pillar."

Before the Dizhu is dug through, the next performance evaluation will include the four Hexi counties, the border counties and the Nanzhong counties. These dozen counties can act as a buffer, allowing most people to have opportunities for promotion or transfer.

During the turbulent times, officials from all over the country were basically in their prime.

Therefore, within ten years, there will be almost no retirement due to old age.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

As for the performance evaluation six years later, Jingzhou and Jiaozhou can be brought in as a buffer to ensure that most people have a chance.

But what to do in the ninth year?
If the Dizhu is dug through, the two states of Yan and Yu alone can accommodate and contribute many official positions, so that officials from all levels, old and new, will have a place to settle down and avoid being unemployed in middle age and falling into lower social classes.

There is enough room to relieve pressure, and as long as you work hard, you can basically keep your career.

The officials who were brought down this time were not particularly corrupt, and their cases were mainly related to unfair murder verdicts and dereliction of duty.

Every time there is an evaluation, there is room to release pressure externally, so most people have room to transfer, and naturally there are opportunities for new people to come to the fore.

If the pillar is not broken through in the ninth year, the newly promoted group of officials will naturally knock the old group of officials into pieces, causing many people to fall into the water.

For example, the battleship under your feet, although very large, can theoretically accommodate two thousand people in combat.

But now, with more than 700 people, it is just right, lively but not crowded.

Su Ze had chased black bears everywhere and earned the shogunate's salary after much hardship.

Now he was afraid that Du Ji would mess up. Not to mention the ninth year's performance evaluation, even in the sixth year alone, military officials who were once Qinghua Guards began to scramble for the chief officers at the county level.

By the ninth year, there were more Qinghua military officers with sufficient qualifications and merits. By that time, the new officials squeezed out the old officials, and the Qinghua military officers squeezed out everyone!

At this time, how easy is it for you, Du Ji, to become an official?

While Su Ze was advising Du Ji, the new secretary of the secretariat, Yang Jun, came to invite Fa Zheng.

Fa Zheng had already been transferred to another place, but Hei Xiong kept him in Ganquan in the name of recuperation.

He also knew that he was kept just to participate in the maiden voyage of Yuanshi.

The shogunate is a huge fleet of warships, and the space that can be accommodated on the flagship is always limited.

Keeping him on board for the maiden voyage was a promise of his future status.

When Fa Zheng arrived at the stairwell of the command tower, he saw Liu Ye coming out. They exchanged simple greetings and Fa Zheng went up the stairwell.

Liu Ye now has two delicate mustaches, and his temperament is more restrained and simple, not as bright and dazzling as before.

He was also about to take up the post of 'Governor of Xuanda' in Dai. Xuan was the newly built Xuanhua City, and Da was Datong City.

It is clear from the place name and position that he went there to criticize Ma Teng.

This is to prevent Ma Teng and the people around him from really treating Ma Teng as a general.

Fa Zheng also went to Dai, but he was the Dai magistrate, with an official rank of Qianshi.

In order to protect him, two military settlements and one ranch settlement had been set up in Dai County.

The personal soldier who broke Fa Zheng's leg while skating was also assigned by Black Bear to be the county lieutenant.

Just stay safe for the next three years and then we'll talk about the next step.

As the first secretary of the Secretariat, Fa Zheng's career change was representative.

There is a lot of unnecessary suffering, and Fa Zheng also has to go through the process.

Just as Fa Zheng climbed up the tower, at the stern of the ship, Zhuge Liang, who ranked first in the prefectures and counties in the imperial examination, and Huang Yueying were looking at the Chencang Shipyard which was becoming increasingly blurry in the distance and talking in low voices.

(End of this chapter)