I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 942: Unusual Steamship

The knowledgeable people on the canal pointed at the boat spewing black smoke and said, "This is a small steamer."

"Little steamer? It lives up to its name. It spews black smoke and can breathe fire."

"It emits black smoke because it uses a steam engine. Burning coal will definitely emit black smoke."

"It's the steam engine again. I never thought it would be so useful. You can see it everywhere. It's used in factories and mines in the north, in cotton and silk factories in the south, and now it's even used on ships."

A long string of small steamers rumbled out of the canal and entered Mata Lake, and the passing canal boats and merchant ships all made way.

The boatmen, sailors, and merchants on the ship stood on the deck, pointing at the six small steamers that cut through the waves and moved forward rapidly, and their discussions became louder and louder.

"It has been used on ships for a long time. In the early years of the Wanli reign, our Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau Wusong Shipyard built a wooden-hulled steam-powered ship.

However, the first steam-powered ship of our Ming Dynasty was built by the Hulugang Shipyard of the Jingji Shipbuilding Bureau. It is now called the Qinhuangdao Shipyard. "

"Ah, this brother is very knowledgeable."

"I am a technician at the Wusong Shipyard. Today I am accompanying my wife and children to visit my grandmother's home in Liaocheng."

"So he is our son-in-law from Shandong."

"It's more convenient to go to Liaocheng by canal. It's slower, but it's more direct. Taking the train requires back and forth, which is fine for adults, but it's painful for children."

"Yes, we got off the train in Xuzhou and took the canal boat instead."

"Brother, you are an expert, can you tell me what this little steamer is all about?"

"Yes, yes, yes, brother, tell us about it."

"This small steamer is called the Guazhou II steam-powered ship in our Wusong Shipyard. It belongs to the third generation of steam-powered ships. The hull is made of steel and the deck is made of wood.

It is 27.5 meters long, 4.65 meters wide, and has a displacement of 70 tons. It is equipped with a Chima II medium-sized marine steam engine and a Shenbi IV marine transmission system, with a power of 105 horsepower, a maximum speed of 10 knots, and a cruising speed of 8 knots.

It was launched for trial sailing in the seventh year of the Wanli reign, and the farthest it sailed was as far as Yibin, Sichuan.

Someone immediately interrupted him, "Brother, what you said is a bit false. This ship is so big, I believe it can go to Yiling (Yichang) and below, but how can it go to Sichuan?

The rapids and dangerous shoals in the Three Gorges are no joke! "

Before the Wusong Shipyard technicians could explain, a Sichuan merchant spoke up, "I know this. The rapids and dangerous shoals in the Three Gorges are indeed the gates of hell.

But these damn gates of hell were all blown up by Yin Xiantai."

"Exploded?" Everyone was shocked.

"Yes, it exploded!

Yin Xiantai was stationed in Chengdu and dealt with the chieftains in Jinchuan, Songpan, Ganzi, Tianquan Liufan (Luding), Lizhou (Hanyuan), Jianchang (Xichang), Dajianlu (Kangding), Litang and other places in Sichuan, and stationed tens of thousands of troops.

In order to ensure the supply of food, fodder and weapons, Yin Xiantai had ordered the engineering corps to survey the Three Gorges since the fourth year of the Wanli reign, marking out all the reefs that were harmful to the waterway. Then the officers and soldiers risked their lives to drill holes in them, and then used powerful explosives to blow them up like a fairy.

Chuan Shang paused and continued.

"What a coincidence! On the day when Kongyu Beach in Xiling Gorge was bombed, I happened to be on a boat from Chongqing. We were stopped at Nanjinkou Town in Zigui, and after getting off the boat, I ran to the top of the hill to watch the excitement.

With a loud bang, the entire Xiling Gorge seemed to be blown apart. Debris flew everywhere and when it fell into the water, it was washed away by the rapids.

If you go and have a look at Kongyu Beach, Baigou Gorge, and Magan Gorge now, the water in these canyons is still as fast, but there are no bright and dark reefs, so it is much safer. "

Chuan Shang sighed, "It is said that the engineers of the Wang Division blew up 218 reefs and sacrificed 221 people, basically one person was sacrificed for each reef.

When you go up the Yangtze River and into Sichuan in the future and pass the Three Gorges, you will see monuments everywhere on both sides with names engraved on them. They are all the names of those children who sacrificed their lives.

Everyone calls them the Three Gorges Martyrs."

The atmosphere on the merchant ship was somewhat solemn. Everyone looked at the steam ship speeding past in silence.

The steamship in front blew its whistle and blew twice, as if urging the ships behind to maintain formation.

The two whistles also broke the solemn atmosphere on the merchant ship. A sailor said to the mechanic, "Brother, please continue to talk about this steamer."

"Yes, yes, brother, please continue to tell us."

"Okay. These steamboats have plenty of horsepower. There are no dangerous shoals or reefs in the Three Gorges. The river is just fast, so there's no danger.

In October of the seventh year of the Wanli reign, during the dry season, two such Guazhou Type II steam-powered ships, one fully loaded with cargo and the other empty, sailed upstream from Yiling, one after the other, and after half a day's sailing, they successfully arrived in Fengjie County.

Then go straight to Yibin.

These two small steamers were conducting trial voyages around Sichuan, and one of them went up the Jiajing River all the way to Langzhong City in Baoning County.

One ship went up Qianjiang River from Fuzhou and reached Sinan.

In addition, several Guazhou Type II steam-powered ships were also tested on inland rivers such as the Yuanjiang River, Zishui River, Lishui River, Xiangjiang River in Hunan, the Hanjiang River in Hubei, the Ganjiang River in Jiangxi, the Huaihe River, the Grand Canal, and the Fuchun River.

In the eighth year of the Wanli reign, our Wusong Shipyard transported six Guazhou-type II steam-powered ships to Guangzhou for trial sailing on the East and West Rivers.

In the second half of the year, it was transported to Jinghai and Rinnan provinces and tested on the Taojiang River (Red River) and Lancang River (Mekong River).

At the same time, several steam-powered ships also went north along the canal and conducted test voyages on the Wei River and Lugou River.

We have tried it on all the major rivers in the world, and the response has been very good, so we started to finalize it and use it as a fast cargo ship and tugboat. "

"I roughly understand fast cargo ships, but what do you mean by tugboats?"

"The Guazhou II steam-powered ship was later modified with a Chima III medium-sized ship steam engine, which was smaller in size but had a horsepower of 120 horsepower, which was very powerful, and the cruising speed was increased to 10 knots.

In the section of the Yangtze River from Wusong to Wuchang, the river is wide and the waves are low.

As a result, shipyards in Jiangyin, Nanjing, Wuchang, Anqing and other places built barges, some with wooden hulls, some with iron hulls, and some with cement hulls, some capable of carrying 100 to 200 tons, and some capable of carrying up to 500 tons.

The Guazhou II steam-powered boat was in the front, pulling three to five barges, going up and down the river, and could carry thousands of tons of cargo in one trip. Just like the strings of canal boats in the canal. "

"Thousands of tons of cargo?" "Oh my goodness, he's really a strong man."

The mechanic continued, “That’s right.

In the eighth year of the Wanli reign, the Qinhuangdao Shipyard of the Capital Shipbuilding Bureau, not willing to be outdone, built an inland river ship made entirely of steel, the Hippo II steam-powered motor ship.

It is 37.8 meters long, 6.25 meters wide, 3.4 meters deep, and has a full load draft of 2.4 meters. It is equipped with a Gonggong Type 5 medium-sized marine steam engine with an output of 260 horsepower.

It can carry 350 tons and has a speed of 10 knots.

The Hippo II can not only sail in large rivers, but also in the near sea.

In April of the eighth year of the Wanli reign, four Hippo II steam-powered ships set out from Qinhuangdao, stopped and started along the coastline, and arrived at Wusong Port after sailing for twelve days.

But you can't leave the coastline for more than 100 kilometers.

Because it is sailing in inland rivers, the power is still good. But when it comes to the sea with strong winds and waves, the power immediately becomes weak and the wave resistance is relatively poor. "

A student-looking businessman asked, "Master, may I ask, the ship power you just mentioned, horsepower, is it a unit of power? Does it have anything to do with a horse?"

The technician smiled and said, "You are right. It is a unit of power. The textbooks call it a unit of power. It is very complicated. I only learned a little bit when I was taking night classes at the factory. I only have a vague understanding of it."

"Master, I am particularly interested in these machines. I want to apply to a polytechnic university after graduating from high school. Can you tell me more about them?"

"Okay, I'll tell you what I know.

When the steam engine came out, the Imperial Observatory wanted to know how much it had done, so there must have been a standard.

Because steam engines were first used to pump water, several engineers from the Imperial Observatory came up with a solution. They selected ten good horses to pull the water pump, and then performed repeated calculations before finally getting the result.

A horse can lift 75 kilograms of water one meter per second.

So it was defined as one horsepower, and from then on it became the unit of power output of steam engines.

The units of power belong to the units of momentum and power, which in turn lead to the units of heat.

There is one Jun and one Yi.

One jin of power is equal to the force applied to an object of mass of one kilogram, causing it to accelerate at one meter per square second.

Heat is defined as the work done by a force of one kilojoule to displace the point of application of the force by one meter in the direction of the force.
It's very complicated. I was confused when I first attended night school.

When you get admitted to a polytechnic university, you will definitely be able to learn it clearly. "

The student looked longing, "Thank you, Master. I never thought physics is so comprehensive and profound!"

The others were all talking about horsepower. They just looked at the steam engine ship in the distance and continued to discuss it.

"These ships are going so fast, they must be in a hurry."

"Yeah, I don't know what's in it."

"I heard that the emperor will be inspecting along the canal soon. Is it to transport the imperial belongings?"

"It's possible. He might be the one to lead the way for the Emperor."

Wang Shiqiu was standing on the front deck of the first Guazhou Type II steam-powered ship. He was not wearing the sky-blue Marine Corps uniform, but an ordinary navy blue work sailor suit, pretending to mop the floor on the deck.

The steamer's cockpit is in the front middle, and the engine room with a long chimney is in the back.

The power compartment is semi-open, with a four-meter-long cantilevered shed, and a boiler operator is adding coal to the boiler.

The coal bunker was just behind him.

The chief engineer tended the steam engine, monitored the pressure gauges, adjusted the valves, and regulated the ship's speed according to the captain's instructions.

The engineer is responsible for the transmission system in the lower compartment of the engine room, ensuring it remains lubricated and functioning properly.

There is a cabin between the cockpit and the power compartment, which is twelve meters long and three meters wide, with 120 Marine officers and soldiers sitting neatly inside.

They were fully armed, sitting in their seats with solemn expressions, with Type 07 rifles slung on their shoulders.

In front of the cabin, there are four Type 26 light machine guns, which look like the Bren light machine gun, an improved version of the ZB7.62 light machine gun, with a 63-round curved magazine and x Type standard rifle bullet.

No water-cooled heavy machine guns were carried.

Several wooden boxes of ammunition were placed between the seats.

There were 700 marines on the six ships, led by Wang Shiqiu. Except for him and his two deputies, no one knew what mission they were about to carry out.

A sailor carrying a bucket of water walked up to Wang Shiqiu and said softly.

"Commander Wang, the captain said that in another 25 minutes, we will turn into Shangcha River, from where we can directly enter Shushan Lake."

Wang Shiqiu straightened up, leaned on the mop with both hands, and looked around the lake. The ships coming and going were all normal.

Without even turning his head, he said to the sailor who was pouring water on the deck, "Staff Officer Yan, tell the captain to slow down before we enter the mouth of the Shangcha River.

There will be several people there.”

"it is good."

Twenty minutes later, the six steamships slowed down and the one in front slowly approached the river channel, where two common fishing boats were parked with seven or eight people standing on them.

As soon as the ship approached, the four men quickly climbed onto the first steamer.

One of them was led to the cockpit and saw the sailor who had just mopped the floor. Both of them were very excited and their four strong hands were tightly clasped together.

"Pharaoh!"

"Old Fang!"

(End of this chapter)