In the morning, Mingyan slept soundly. He worked until very late last night and didn't fall asleep.
Suddenly, there was a clicking sound, the bed shook, and he felt the earth trembling slightly.
Mingyan sat up suddenly. Was there an earthquake?
Looking out the newly illuminated window, I felt a little confused.
Then there was a loud boom, and then a thunderous sound came.
No, it's not an earthquake, it's the opening of the sea.
The sea ice is cracking.
Mingyan quickly put on her clothes, opened the door and walked out. His orderly Ergazi quickly got up from the bed, put on his military coat, and ran out after him.
Mingyan stood on a huge rock and looked at the coast as if thousands of horses were galloping. The cracks in the sea ice stretched violently and made a deafening sound.
The cracks continued to expand, horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. In less than an hour, the entire sea surface was covered with floating broken ice. The dark and black water surged up, carrying broken ice with it.
Mingyan was very excited. It was the first time for him to see such a spectacular sight.
"Director, let's go back. The tide is about to rise. It's too dangerous here. It's full of ice."
Mingyan nodded and walked back with Ergazi.
Smoke is already rising in the factory area, and dinner will be served soon.
Mingyan did not go to have breakfast, but came to the dock.
The first clipper ship has been outfitted.
Quietly moored in the dock.
As the building process became more proficient, progress was faster than expected.
The boat has been built in advance.
The sailors and supplies are all ready, just waiting to set sail.
Once it has opened the sea, it can be tested. Only if there are no problems during the test can it be truly put into use.
This ship is not big, less than a hundred tons, maybe seventy or eighty tons. According to Ming Dynasty standards, it is about two hundred and fifty materials.
The boat is very narrow, but the linearity is very beautiful, with a flying shear bow and a rounded tail. The three tall masts are all riveted with steel pipes.
The bow also extended a long foremast diagonally forward, which was used to hang the jib.
Mingyan gently patted the white hull of the boat with his hand. During this period, he and thousands of people worked tirelessly just for this clipper boat. In his eyes, it was just like his own child.
I hope the trial voyage is successful.
Three days passed in a flash.
The sea conditions are not very stable yet, with the sea ice melting in the morning and freezing at night.
There are strange icicles everywhere on the sea.
Ming Yan and Chen Liang warned no one to go onto the ice. Once the ice collapsed again, huge floating ice blocks could squeeze people to death.
That evening, a fast horse galloped into the camp.
Chen Zuwang looked at the open sea in the distance and took a long breath.
During this time, he went to Zunhua Xinghe Academy to study, and with twenty students of all ages, he became a disciple of a girl named Yaoguang.
Systematically learn simple mathematics, nautical drawing, star navigation, currents and meteorology, use of sextant, compass, telescope, semaphore, ship management and other courses.
Although he only had a month and didn't even have time to digest the knowledge, he felt that he had undergone earth-shaking changes.
In the past, sailing relied on the experience taught by his master. He knew these experiences, but didn't know why. After this month of study, he seemed to have opened his eyes and understood the principles.
During this month, he studied very hard and had a lot of questions to ask Teacher Yaoguang every day. Fortunately, Teacher Yaoguang also took special care of him. You can come to her anytime if you have any questions.
He knew that he was about to go back to participate in the first trial voyage. Unlike these brothers and sisters who were sitting here studying, they could study systematically for a year or two, while he could only study suddenly.
He spent almost all his time studying except for eating and sleeping.
Three days ago, he received the news that the coast was open to sea. He knew that he had to go back. He felt extremely reluctant to leave, but he could only pack his luggage.
Before he left, Teacher Yaoguang came to see him off and gave him a notebook, handwritten by Yaoguang. It contains some knowledge that he may need for his trial voyage to Vladivostok this time.
The news of Chen Zuwang's return made Mingyan and Chen Liang overjoyed.
The crew is all ready, just waiting for him as the helmsman.
There has been very little sea ice in the past two days.
It will take another two days to release water into the dock.
Then the crew was assembled and the trial voyage began.
The three of them came to the dock and were excited to see such a beautiful white sailboat.
Chen Zuwang discovered that many drainage ditches were dug around the dock and built with cement.
A dense number of pressurized water wells are installed along the upper edge of the dock, and iron pipes run vertically deep to the bottom of the dock.
"What are so many pressurized wells for?" Chen Zuwang asked puzzledly.
It wasn't there when he left, it should be installed this month.
"Hahaha, finally there is something you don't know, hahaha" Chen Liang said with a smile.
"Think about it, we dug out the soil from this dock, and it took five thousand people to work for two months. If it was filled with water, the ship could be launched into the water, and then the lock gate could be opened to drive the ship out. In order to build new ships in the future, it is not Do you still have to wash out the water? How much manpower does that require?"
Chen Zu looked at his forehead, yes, it would cost his own life to use people to fetch water. How did you get it here? This method is better than building two thousand water pressure wells, using manpower to press the water, and pumping the water directly into the drainage canal and flowing into the sea.
Chen Liang said proudly: "This is my grandson's idea. After installing these two thousand water well pressure machines, two thousand people can drain the water out in three days. It saves time greatly."
"Is everyone here? When will we go into the water?" Chen Zuwang asked.
He has been designated as the helmsman of this trial voyage, which is an extremely important position.
"The master has replied. This maiden voyage is of great significance. It is scheduled for the day after tomorrow. It will be auspicious that day." Mingyan replied.
"We will start filling the dock with water tonight, and it will be enough to fill it up overnight," Chen Liang said.
After dinner, the dock was brightly lit, with hundreds of carbide lamps illuminating the dock as bright as day. According to the rules, Ming Yan and Chen Liang led everyone in a ceremony to worship the God of the Sea.
Burn incense and pray for a safe first voyage the day after tomorrow.
Chen Liang used a hammer to smash open the lead-sealed iron door of the water injection port, and suddenly turbulent seawater flowed into the dock from the water injection port.
The sea water is extremely cold and contains many small ice cubes. After a while, the bottom was filled with water, and the boat began to float slowly.
The boatmen used cables to pull the hull from all sides to prevent the hull from hitting the dock wall and being damaged. After all, the boat is too small and the dock is too big.
At dawn, the water in the dock was level with the sea.
The boat rested on the edge of one side of the dock and set up a gangplank. Workers began to load various supplies for the maiden voyage onto the ship.
The crew members also boarded the ship one by one and found their positions.
They had one day to get to know the boat.
Chen Zuwang stood on the top of the stern. The view here is super good and he can see clearly in all directions. He was holding the steering wheel in his hand, and he was still a little nervous. This was his first time using this thing, and he had always used straight wooden rudders.
Early the next morning, the maiden voyage ceremony began.
All the people went to the dock to watch the ceremony, and Mingyan had people set off 100,000 firecrackers. In the smoke of firecrackers, this white sailboat sailed out of the dock through the slowly opening gate and ran towards the sea.
On the white bow, the three characters "Star" were written in dark blue cursive script.
No one realized that this moment was the coming of an era.
