The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 739: Xianfeng, you are in big trouble!

Hong Rengan stood on the stone steps at the entrance of the dock. The sea breeze pushed the smell of rust, tar, soot and other various exhaust gases into his nose, choking him and making him cough for a while. The two Japanese who followed him, Yamamoto Gonbei and Nanyun Shichiroemon, quickly put away their sketchbooks and came up to him with a concerned look on their faces. Hong Rengan waved his hand and said, "Go on, keep drawing. This is a rare opportunity. This is a chance for us North Korea to learn from the United States!"

"Hai!"

After hearing the order from Hong Rengan, the Prince of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the two Japanese immediately took out their pencils and sketchbooks and began to draw - they drew the layout of the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York and the appearance of the dock and slipway, as well as the appearance of a strange "gantry crane" that had just been installed.

"Your Highness, Prince Gan, this way." Zhang Bao, who spoke Mandarin with a Hunan accent and was now wearing a federal navy uniform, raised his hand and said, "The steel keel has just been laid on the No. 3 dock. The foreigners call it the 'backbone of the ironclad ship.'"

Looking in the direction of Zhang Bao's finger, I saw twelve slipways lined up along the Donghe River. The sound of the steam hammers was so loud that it made my eardrums tremble. Men in rough work clothes shuttled between the steel frames like ants, speaking Cantonese, Irish accents and Italian slang. On the No. 6 slipway, which was specially built for small inland ironclad ships, four Chinese apprentices were measuring the thickness of the steel plates with bamboo rulers. The leading engineer, Chen Afa, cursed in Ningbo dialect: "Little bastard! The tolerance must be controlled within half a centimeter. Do you think you are a tailor making gowns?"

Hong Rengan raised his telescope to take a closer look. An inland steam ironclad ship was almost completed. The base of the bow rotating turret had been welded, and eight foreign craftsmen wearing leather aprons were debugging the gear box.

Yamamoto Gonbei put down the telescope, turned his head and muttered to Nanyun: "That ship seems to be installing a rotating turret!"

"It's the rotating turret. The Jiangnan Shipyard hasn't figured it out yet." Zhang Bao kicked away the iron filings at his feet. "This time it's good. I finally learned it!"

In fact, Rinko had obtained the drawings of the rotating turret a long time ago, but the problem was that the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau did not have the kind of capable people who could get pregnant at first sight, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's industrialization had only been going on for less than 10 years!

After getting the blueprint and copying it, he still couldn't get it done! Fortunately, Zhang Bao got the opportunity to participate in the construction of the northern river gunboats by providing the northern United States with a "patch ship" - a modified inland ironclad ship. So Zhang Bao transferred a group of engineers and technicians from the California Militia Navy Factory to learn from the foreigners in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

As he spoke, he snapped his fingers at Chen Afa. The engineer came running over, took out a roll of oil paper from his arms and unfolded it - it was a modification drawing for the 70mm breech-loading gun.

"Three reinforcement hoops have been added to the barrel, so it's less likely to explode." Chen Afa's fingers moved on the rifling diagram. "In addition, this new locking mechanism must use Swedish special steel. The ordinary steel in Xuzhou is very brittle."

Nanyun's pencil scratched on the paper, marking "Swedish special steel" with a red circle. Yamamoto suddenly interrupted: "What is the special method of this special steel? How to refine it?"

Zhang Bao shrugged: "How would I know? Let the people at Xuzhou Metallurgical School figure it out!"

The level of Xuzhou Metallurgical School was not low, and the principal was Besemai! However, there were too many "secrets" in metallurgy, and even a master like Besemai didn't understand many things. His ability was to design furnaces that could produce steel at low cost, which was enough for rails, rebar, and armor plates, but special steels like gun barrel steel were not his forte.

Hong Rengan discovered a dozen new slipways and docks at this time, so he turned around and asked Zhang Bao, "A Bao, what are they building over there?"

"Slipways and docks," Zhang Bao said. "The Brooklyn Navy Yard originally had twelve slipways and docks. Recently, the navy's orders have increased significantly, so they decided to expand production and invest in the construction of twelve more slipways and docks. Boston is also expanding production. If nothing unexpected happens, when this batch of slipways and docks are completed, the United States will have the world's largest shipbuilding capacity!"

Hong Rengan took a breath - the world's second largest industrial strength is really terrible! The slipway can be built at will, and the production capacity can be increased at will. Ironclad ships are launched just like dumplings. When he was in the Kingdom of Korea, he helped Yang Xiuqing manage the industry, and he knew how difficult it was to increase shipbuilding capacity!

This is not just a matter of building a few slipways - of course, a slipway is not easy to build - it also requires machines, supporting facilities, raw materials, engineers and skilled workers. In short, it is like a chain, one link after another, and if any link has a problem, the shipbuilding project will be ruined.

That is to say, only an industrial power like the United States, which ranks second in the world in industry and first in the world in infrastructure (and is the first by a cliff), can achieve "shipyard freedom".
A long whistle was heard in the distance. A tugboat towing a coal ship was turning into the dock. The white foreman on the deck waved his whip and shouted, "Get to work, get to work. The coal from Pennsylvania has arrived!"

The carriage on its way back rolled over the broken bricks of Broadway Street, and the sweet smell of baked cakes wafted in from outside the curtain. Zhang Bao suddenly lifted the curtain and called for a stop, throwing two copper coins to a newsboy who was staring blankly at the street: "I want the latest issue of the New York Herald."

The front page of the newspaper had a blurry photo: On the Colorado prairie, Indian cavalrymen wrapped in Mongolian fur robes held up the Stars and Stripes, with a human head wearing a federal military cap tied to the flagpole. The caption read: "General Nicholas Zhao Si commanded the black and Indian troops to massacre the city of Denver!" "Fake news." Hong Rengan shook his head, "How could Bishop Zhao do such a stupid thing. However," he lowered his voice, "The bragging skills of the North are getting more and more sophisticated. When the white people finish fighting themselves, I'm afraid..."

His words were full of melancholy.

Zhang Bao snorted: "There will be a battle, we must be prepared!"

The carriage stopped in front of the True Covenant Cathedral. A wheat-ear cross flag fluttered on the Chinese-style hip roof, and the stained glass windows spelled out the doctrine of "Heavenly Father slaying demons."

A short Japanese priest in a black robe was preaching to New Yorkers passing through Chinatown, speaking in a Japanese accent mixed with his unskilled English: "The Korean ironclad ship is Noah's Ark, it will carry the truth and break through the evil waves of the last days."

Huang Shiren, who had just come from the West Coast to manage the Zhenyue Bank business, was discussing the "dollar" and "U.S. debt" with a Jewish guy from Wall Street in the church's reception room. When he saw Hong Rengan coming in, he said to him: "Your Highness, Mr. Meir from Wall Street said that President Lincoln has decided to issue $1.5 million in unsecured, non-convertible U.S. dollar notes."

Before he finished speaking, the intern in the Presidential Palace in a gray tweed suit burst through the door. Snowflakes fell on the boy's shoulders, and the wax seal on his briefcase had not yet dried: "Prince Hong, Colonel Zhang, the President is calling you urgently! Something happened on the Western battlefield!"

Lincoln's cheekbones were more prominent than they had been six months ago, like a starving old horse. Behind him hung a map of the West, with the Colorado Territory circled in red ink.

"Zhao Si's black army and the Indians occupied Denver half a month ago." The president's pipe made a few burn marks on the map. "And what's more interesting is this." He pulled out a secret letter from the oak drawer. "Missouri Governor Claiborne Jackson and Kansas Governor Charles Robinson, the two enemies shook hands in Springfield, the capital of Illinois."

Hong Rengan and Zhang Bao were both stunned.

Illinois belongs to the North, Missouri belongs to the South, and Kansas is currently "neutral" and has not yet decided who to fight.

Now the abolitionist governor of Kansas and the pro-slavery governor of Missouri are shaking hands in the capital of Illinois in the Northern Confederacy. This seems like a big deal!

Is it possible that Kansas and Missouri are going to side with the North?
These are two states!
The Battle of Harrisburg-Yorktown in the East has not yet begun. Both sides are mobilizing their troops. It is the critical stage in the preparation of the battle. Such a big incident has happened in the originally peaceful western battlefield. The situation is not favorable to the South!

"King Gan, your plan worked! Together they formed a Midwestern White Supremacy Alliance." Lincoln said this as if it was a bitter pill. "And they are willing to turn to the Union on the condition that the Union sends a large army to join forces with them to wipe out Zhao Si's 'Yellow, Black and Red Disaster Army'."

"In addition, the three states on the west coast must make a statement!" Lincoln's pipe passed over the Rocky Mountains. "I hope that the three states on the west coast influenced by the True Contractists can unite with the federal government to send troops to attack Zhao Si. In exchange, the federal government can recognize the three states on the west coast to elect Chinese governors and Chinese federal senators and representatives."

His gray eyes turned to Hong Rengan again, "As for the Korean Heavenly Kingdom - when the war is over, the United States can give North Korea 10 ironclad ships!"

Three days later, the freighter bound for California blew its whistle. Hong Rengan stood on the deck, watching the outline of Manhattan sink into the night. Chen Afa was counting the smuggled blueprints in the bottom hold. The sample of the locking mechanism of the 70mm gun was wrapped in three layers of oilcloth.

Zhang Bao leaned against the railing holding a wine pot and said, "Prince Gan, do you think Zhao Si knows that he is about to face a disaster?"

Hong Rengan nodded and said, "You should know it, right? Even if he doesn't know, your teacher must have figured it out." As he spoke, he patted the railing again, "Abao, who do you think will win the American Civil War? And how long will it last?"

Zhang Bao shook his head: "In terms of national strength, the North has a huge advantage, and the North's national strength has begun to show its power. However, the South is not without a chance. If Zhao Si's "yellow, red and black" army can win on both sides of the Mississippi River and spread the war to the Great Lakes region, perhaps the North's industrial production will be greatly reduced, and the chances of winning will come!"

(End of this chapter)