Bopu Port, colorful flags fluttering. 【Read the latest chapter】
On the makeshift viewing platform of the shipyard, the officials who had crossed the regime were all well-dressed: all the committee members had changed into more decent clothes in their luggage. Although they still looked strange to the common people, they were at least better than usual. The clothes should be more colorful and the fabric should be more sophisticated.
Regarding the issue of official clothing for time travellers, some people from Dan Pain have made suggestions on the internal BB a few days ago. It is currently entering the preliminary discussion stage. According to Wen Desi's experience, this kind of discussion will not produce results within two or three weeks.
"Ship Zero" stands quietly in the dock. The scaffolding on all sides has been removed and the hull construction has been completed. Only deck facilities such as masts and sails have not been installed. The steam engine in the dock was driving the pump to inject water into the dock. As the chief designer of the ship, Wen Desi had mixed feelings about being able to direct the construction of a real sea ship: he was both proud and uneasy.
Fortunately, Zhang Jiji, the shipbuilder, was here. Wen Desi glanced at Zhang Jiji, who was smiling from ear to ear. As the chief shipbuilder of the shipyard, he and the boss of the Lin family were sitting side by side on the viewing platform. Compared to the latter, he was simply insignificant. It can be said that he is proud of himself - the successful completion of the No. 0 ship means that his status in the hearts of the shorthairs has greatly increased, and he has also received an extra bonus.
The Chuanchuan technicians headed by Wen Desi were originally quite unsure about shipbuilding. Although they knew a lot, many practical engineering and technical problems encountered in the shipbuilding process were actually solved by shipbuilders using traditional methods. The main contribution of Traverser is the overall concept and modern management methods, which can be regarded as a great integration of ancient and modern technologies and concepts.
A few days before launching, after dismantling the scaffolding, the shipbuilders conducted a general cleaning of the cabin, cleaning out the debris and scattered tools and supplies to ensure that there were no unnecessary items inside the hull. Then thick cables were used to connect the dock wall and the hull to prevent the hull from shaking after water was filled.
In order to reduce the weight of the ship and make it easier to float when the tide rises, most of the facilities on the ship, including masts, cannons and all ballast, have not been installed until they are launched into the water.
As more and more water was poured into the dock by the water pump, many pieces of wood and other things also floated, and the ship began to shake slightly from side to side, but because it was tied with cables, the shaking was not large. The boat had completely floated, and the people watching around the dock couldn't help but burst into cheers - the first self-built ship of the Chuan regime was finally launched into the water. The indigenous craftsmen didn't know why these short-haired people were so happy, and they also laughed.
"Untie the port one cable!"
"Untie the number two starboard cable!"
…
"Untie the stern cable No. 10!"
Following Li Di's command from the loudspeaker, nine of the ten cables on the ship were untied one after another, leaving only the ship's No. 0 cable, which was tied to the bitt under the viewing platform. Just waiting to be finally cut off and put into the water.
The dock door of the dock was slowly opened, and the high tide water began to pour in. The ship floated further and reached the designed draft.
With a burst of drumming and drumming, Mond, the representative of the Maritime Power Department, came to the ceremony stage with great excitement. He was wearing a borrowed snow-white Royal Navy summer uniform, a golden ribbon, and a tribute to A Victoria Cross borrowed from a medal enthusiast (high imitation.
Mond began to read out the ship naming book with an excited voice:
"Warship Zhenhai/Work started on February 1, 1629/Today it is completed/It is hereby named/April 9, 1629/People's Commissar of Maritime Power Chen Haiyang".
The naming of this first self-built warship has aroused a small-scale discussion, and many people hope to name it according to the naming method of the Four Far Seas. However, people within the navy disagree with this: the Four Great Far Away itself has no achievements, only a shameful history of being defeated, sunk, or surrendered and captured. If it is only selected for "tragic" reasons, then the future fleet fleet will be too coffee table.
In addition to this controversy, most people do not know that LeMay also specifically approached the executive committee, hoping to name the ship the "Women's Cooperative" - at the cost of the cooperative being responsible for providing the meals for the sailors on the ship for three years. She also gave further advice, saying that in the future, ships can be named through bidding, and local businessmen can also bid for the naming rights, and those who win can name the ship for a year.
This proposal made the executive committee laugh and cry. Chen Haiyang said jokingly:
"Then the navy is still in chaos. If it changes its name every other year, who can still make trouble?"
"It doesn't matter. The ship number remains the same. No. 111 will always be No. 111. Government departments will use the ship number to register. The name is just a vest. You can change it at will." Li Mei's idea was not just a slap in the face, she had even thought of the details. , worthy of being a shopping mall veteran.
In the end, the executive committee chose Zhenhai, a very ordinary traditional name, which mainly corresponds to "Fubo". Although the two ships are one Chinese and one Western, and have similar structures, they are similar in terms of use and positioning: limited armament , taking into account transportation.
Then a ceramic vase flew towards the ship. The one who threw the vase was Li Mei. After her plan to bid for the ship name was rejected, she took over the task of smashing the bottle through hard work. Of course, it was partially sponsored-all the participants The meals for those attending the ceremony were an asset of the Women's Cooperative, and were provided by "Half the Sky", the most luxurious restaurant in Dongmen City. The banners of the Women's Cooperative and Half the Sky almost didn't reach the viewing platform. Even Ms. Du Wen, who is extremely appreciative of all the actions of women's cooperatives, can't stand it - how can such decadent capitalist business habits be used on such a solemn occasion.
As the vase was smashed to pieces, Wen Desi gave the order to flood the vessel. Under the whistle command of the flood director Li Di, the workers immediately cut off the last tether. The Bobu Coastal Fort fired a salute, and then a motor speedboat acted as a tugboat, carefully towing the ship out of the dock. The whole launching ceremony was completed.
There was no ballast on the newly launched Zhenhai, and it was carefully towed to the self-propelled flat barge. The flatbed barge will serve as a floating dock for vessel outfitting. Its wide deck is filled with equipment and materials, and poles are erected to hoist large equipment such as masts and artillery.
The smoke of the gun salute has not yet dissipated, and the craftsmen have already rushed to the new ship to start the outfitting project - the executive committee is urging it, and the ship is urgently needed for exploration expeditions - in order to save the shipbuilding period, the bottom of the hull was originally planned to be clad with copper. The idea was also cancelled. They naturally had copper sheets, but Wen Desi didn't know how to wrap the copper sheets - this process that required a lot of time was abandoned.
"The outfitting project can be completed within a week, and then we can go to sea. Damn it, what is this?" Wen Desi looked at the heated scene and took out a small piece of brittle porcelain from his hat, "It's too dangerous. Where is Li Huamei?" "
"In the business building, people from the Foreign Affairs Department, the trading company and the General Security Administration were talking to her," Ran Yaohui reported.
"How are the sailors on her ship?"
"There are ten of us in total. In addition to taking turns watching the boats, we spend our free time drinking and shopping in Dongmen City. There are no special circumstances."
"Humph, she doesn't have a maid or anything like that by her side? A single woman has been floating on a boat with this group of people for several months, and she hasn't been given anything—nothing—"
"It seems that this woman is very strong. She has strong muscles and is very agile. Ordinary sailors probably won't be her opponent." Ran Yao said his speculation.
"Are those guys in the navy drunk? I don't think this girl is that good, she's all confused."
"In my opinion, it's because this woman fits their imagination, right? The female pirate has the same name as Li Huamei in Glorious Voyage. She has a bit of romanticism. Also, I think this woman's appearance, words and deeds are very modern. It’s more in line with everyone’s taste.”
Wen Desi nodded: "What you said makes sense. How was her visit to the Fengcheng Wheel yesterday?"
"You can see that I'm shocked, but——"
"But what?"
Ran Yao remembered the scene when he accompanied Li Huamei on board the ship yesterday - considering that there would be many questions after boarding the ship, he specially made assumptions about the questions she might ask and unified the answers. The naval officers who were closest to Li Huamei were called one by one to the office of the General Administration of Political Security for individual conversations and safety awareness education. People were told that even if they couldn't remember the exact wording of their response, they were definitely right to say, "I don't know."
However, Li Huamei's behavior after boarding the ship made them unable to see anything suspicious: running around on the deck, touching the huge anchor chain with her hands, and asking what the rotating thing on the top of the mast was. In the end, I insisted on climbing the mast to have a look, but after being persuaded by the accompanying staff that it was dangerous up there, I didn't insist anymore. She was very interested in the two fully enclosed lifeboats tied to the ship, and went in to have a look... Naturally, she also wanted to know why such a large iron ship could float on the water instead of sinking, and what an iron ship was. To move forward.
Generally speaking, Li Huamei fits all the behaviors of an ordinary person in this time and space in such a situation: curiosity, shock, envy and happiness. From Ran Yao's point of view, Li Huamei's behavior was normal, and he couldn't find any fault with her.
"But she showed no particular interest."
"What's the meaning."
"Li Huamei is interested in the ship itself, not anything else. Many of the questions she asked were very professional and she has a good knowledge of navigation."
"So, is she the captain? If you don't understand, you can't bring the ship here, right?"
"Is the purpose of her coming to Bopu for trade?"
"Yes, this was specifically mentioned in the Navy report. She is very interested in our products."! ~!
