Capital Datang

ww.x.om Before the sky is bright, the port of Dengzhou has already started a busy day. There is a constant flow of sea boats, and countless people are gathered on the port. There are coolies carrying big bags, and there are even newspaper boys selling newspapers among the crowd.

In such a busy and messy port, there was another roar, followed by a long sound of 'Woo~', and a train spewing black smoke came quickly from the direction of Dengzhou City.Now the train is no longer the test car that Li Yin sat on, but a train that has undergone several improvements. Not only is the speed much faster, but the horsepower is also several times greater. Sit hundreds of people.

It is also worth mentioning that the current trains are no longer free. People who want to ride have to pay for tickets, and the price is not expensive. You can buy two tickets for one penny, which is equivalent to having a round-trip ticket.It is precisely because of the low price that many people take the train, and even when some foreigners come to Dengzhou, the first thing to do is to take the train, because the strange thing of the train has been spread to all parts of the Tang Dynasty with the merchants. Many people come here especially for the name, making the train on the wharf almost a scene in Dengzhou.

After crossing the port, there is the main city of Dengzhou and several acropolises around it. In recent years, the population of Dengzhou has grown too fast, and the land in the main city is simply not enough. Coupled with the restrictions of the city wall, the city wants to expand It was not easy, so several acropolises were built. However, because of the relatively strong commercial nature of Dengzhou, there are many businesses in the acropolis, and soon became the most prosperous commercial area in Dengzhou.

And an acropolis near the sea in the northeast of Dengzhou is called Ship City.Almost all of Dengzhou's famous shipyards are built here, and there is also the headquarters of the Ship Association jointly established by the shipbuilding industry.As well as the School of Ship Design, which is inseparable from the Ship Association; the newly established Nautical Academy by Li Min, etc., are all located in this ship city.Capital Datang 330

The Ship City was originally the location of the Dengzhou government-run shipyard. Later, Wei Heizi established the School of Ship Design, which was also built here. The current Ship City is slowly developed on the basis of these three.Most of the people living in the city are craftsmen from some shipyards, and there are also many merchants from other places who come to purchase ships, and it is very lively to come and go every day.

Location in the center of Ship City.It is a large building complex. This building is divided into two parts, the front part is the headquarters of the Shipping Association, and the latter part is the Ship Design Institute established by Wei Heizi. The director is now all in charge of Wei Heizi, so the two organizations are divided into front and back offices.It was also convenient for Wei Heizi.

On the way from the Ship Association in front to the Design Institute in the back, a dark-skinned, sturdy middle-aged man was walking back quickly, but behind him was a person who followed closely, and said while chasing: "President Wei!" , think about it again, as long as there are a lot of maritime merchants in Champa. As long as you agree that we can build ships of more than [-] tons there, we are willing to pay double the patent fee!"

"Brother Lin, you should give up on this idea. Your Highness has ordered that as long as it is related to the technology of new ships, it must not be leaked!" Wei Heizi said without turning his head.But when he said this, he seemed to think of something.The hurried footsteps also stopped, but the person behind accidentally bumped into Wei Heizi's back.

"President Wei, who is this?" The people behind were startled, and he didn't expect Wei Heizi to stop suddenly.

At this time, Wei Heizi turned his head to look at the person behind him, and said with some earnestness: "Brother Lin, you two have a date, and I don't want you to lose too much, so I will advise you again today, hurry up and get rid of Zhancheng. The shipyard was sold, let alone build a big ship, otherwise it may bring unexpected disaster to your Lin family!"

Hearing Wei Heizi's solemn advice, the businessman surnamed Lin was also stunned. Speaking of which, his family has been engaged in shipbuilding for generations. With the prosperity of maritime trade, his family's industry is also expanding rapidly, not only in the Tang Dynasty. Many shipyards have been established, even some small coastal countries outside the country have also set up some shipyards, but due to the internal restrictions of the shipping association, it is not allowed to build large ships of more than [-] tons outside the country.This is undoubtedly a huge loss for the Lin family, so he came here, wanting to beg Wei Heizi to let him be accommodating, but unfortunately the other party did not agree at all, and finally advised himself such a sentence, which made him Some do not know why.

"President Wei, can you explain more clearly?" The businessman surnamed Lin asked again.

But Wei Heizi obviously didn't want to explain. After all, this matter is too confidential, and not many people know about it. Even he himself only knows about it, so naturally he can't tell the outsider in front of him, so he clasped his fists and said, "Brother Lin, That's all I can say, it's up to you to believe it or not, there are still some urgent matters in the design institute that I need to deal with, so I will leave!"

After Wei Heizi finished speaking, he turned around and left, leaving only the businessman surnamed Lin standing there alone, frowning and thinking about the deep meaning of Wei Heizi's words.

As soon as Wei Heizi entered the Ship Design Institute, a young man of more than 20 years came up to report: "Dean, you can count on it. The Tsushima naval battle is over. Although we won, His Highness is very dissatisfied, even He also sent a letter in his own hand, asking us to correct the shortcomings of the warship exposed in this battle as soon as possible."

"Has someone come from General Lu? The data on the damaged warships should have been sent?" Wei Heizi's face sank when he heard the news, thinking what he was afraid of. I received it before. All the warships Lu Qing and the others used in this battle were designed by them. Although Lu Qing and the others won the battle with fewer victories, they also lost more than 30 warships, accounting for the entire warship. A quarter of the fleet, this result obviously did not meet His Highness King Qi's requirements.

"Don't worry, Dean, the people and the data have arrived, and just now I studied it with several master craftsmen, and found that most of the damaged warships were destroyed by fire, and almost none were actually sunk by the opponent!" The young man was very fast. replied.This young man named Gao Yue was one of the earliest students of the School of Design. Because of his excellent grades, he was promoted to be Wei Heizi's assistant, and he learned from Wei Heizi while working.

Hearing Gao Yue's words, Wei Heizi frowned. Warships are made of wood, so naturally they are most afraid of fire. Although there are some fire prevention measures on board, according to the information he got, what Lu Qing and the others are facing is Fifty thousand Japanese, more than 1000 warships, so many ships fired rockets together, even if the fire was put out in time, some warships would inevitably be burned.

At this time, Gao Yue continued: "Dean, the people sent by General Lu also provided a piece of news, that is, during the battle, most of the destroyed warships started to catch fire from the sails, and then The burnt cable was pressed on the ship, and the wood on the ship was ignited, which burned the ship as well."

"I see!" Wei Heizi nodded after hearing this.The current warships are all in the shape of Fuchuan, and they all use traditional hard sails, which are generally made of plant leaves and are very flammable, although there are fire prevention measures on board. However, if there are too many rockets "shot", there is no way to save them. In the end, they can only watch the sails become big torches.

The two talked while walking, and soon arrived at a hall of the design institute. The hall was very simply furnished, surrounded by huge wooden shelves, on which were placed many ship models, and in the middle of the hall, there were It was a huge round table with a lot of documents on it, surrounded by several young shipbuilders who were carefully looking at these documents, and besides these people, there was a man who looked like a general standing beside him , it looks like it should be sent by Lu Qing.

As soon as Wei Heizi came in, everyone in the hall stopped what they were doing and bowed to him.But Wei Heizi didn't care about these etiquettes, he rushed to the table and read the culture sent by Lu Qing, then asked the general some questions, and finally stroked the short beard under his jaw and muttered language.

At this moment, a white-haired master craftsman said: "Dean, although our losses in this naval battle are a bit big, but being able to win more with less is enough to prove that the warships we designed are very good. As for The ship was burned, but there was no other way. After all, the hard sails were made of leaves, which were already very flammable. However, as long as they were not surrounded by the enemy like in this naval battle, the sails must be considered to be on fire. , can also be extinguished in time, so overall it is still good, but His Highness still asks us to improve, isn't this too demanding of us?" Capital Datang 330

As soon as the old craftsman finished speaking, many master craftsmen in the hall nodded repeatedly. After all, flammable sails were a big problem. Warships generally do not have sails.

However, Wei Heizi didn't take it seriously when he heard it. He looked at the people in the hall lightly and said: "The sail is indeed a big defect, but what does our ship design institute do? Isn't it to solve the problems encountered by various ships when they are used?" Is it "wrong"? So don't say such things in the future."

Hearing Wei Heizi's words, the old craftsman backed away in shame, and the others also knew where they were wrong, and began to bow their heads and ponder the solution to the flammable sails.It's just that this problem is obviously very difficult. Everyone thought about it for a long time, but they couldn't come up with any good solution. After all, the sail is so huge and hung on a high place, so it is naturally the enemy's first attack target. Once ignited, it is likely to ignite other things on the ship and become the culprit in burning the entire ship.

And just when everyone, including Wei Heizi, felt helpless, Gao Yue, who had been silent beside him, suddenly said, "Dean, I think of a way, but I don't know if it will work?"

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