On the hull of the ship, the black smoke from the chimney became thicker and thicker.
Blown by the sea breeze, a trajectory was drawn in the air.
The speed of the armored ship was still accelerating, but by this time Emperor Jing and Baiguan had completely stabilized themselves.
Walking leisurely on the deck, looking at the scenery from different angles with interest.
Although there is no scenery to speak of, everyone just likes to see it.
Except for Li Yu and Fang Chenyu who were running wildly on the deck.
Fang Zhengyi didn't bother to care about these two children. They were both in their teens, and no matter how stupid they were, they would never fall off the boat.
After looking at it for a long time, Emperor Jing turned his head and said after sighing: "Zhengyi, come with me to the power room to have a look. The steam engine is really a divine thing. I want to see how it works."
Fang Zheng nodded and immediately led Emperor Jing and the Crown Prince to the power room again.
As soon as the door of the power room was opened, a wave of heat rushed out from it.
Emperor Jing couldn't help but take a step back.
However, Li Yuanzhao rushed in excitedly to study the technical details.
He was all too familiar with this kind of environment. The room where steam engines were developed was always so stuffy.
The soldiers who were working indoors had stopped adding coal, and were observing the situation at the boiler with their backs to the door, and the machines were rumbling.
When the emperor entered the room, Tang San was the first to react, picking up a shovel and frantically adding coal.
Xiao Yan glanced out of the corner of his eye, and then he made some moves, and at the same time, he quickly poked his companion next to him.
"Zhang Xiaofan, hurry up and add more coal!"
"What else should I add? I added it according to the standard. Is it because the coal is piled too densely and the firepower is not enough? Why don't you use a fire stick to poke it first?"
"Why are you so honest! Your Majesty is here..."
Tang San was at the side, leaning over his head and saying sullenly: "It's okay if you don't add more, you already have a way to die."
There was so much noise in the room that these three people chattered and Jingdi and others didn't hear it.
After watching for a while, Emperor Jing asked: "Zhengyi, can the coal stored in this ship support a voyage to Feka?"
Fang Zheng shook his head: "I'm afraid it won't work. According to the test data reported in the previous period, normally it will need to replenish fuel at least twice midway. However, if economic issues are put aside, the ship can be equipped with supplies under special circumstances. The ship should be able to support one voyage to Feka."
"Well, how much does this ship cost?"
"Not counting the ship's warehouse and weapon configuration, the cost of the hull is about one hundred thousand taels of silver, which is more than ten times more expensive than an ordinary fully equipped sail warship. However, Da Jing only needs five such ships as the main force of the fleet. , our Dajing Navy is enough to be the best in the world.
"And the cost will definitely decrease in the future. I believe that sooner or later the Dajing Navy will eliminate wooden ships, and this new type of ironclad ship will definitely become the mainstream."
Fang Zheng felt a little regretful as he said this. This ship was too expensive.
Putting aside the shortage of talents, maintenance costs are also sky-high. Science and technology are spawned in advance and are highly biased. It is always difficult to guarantee that there will be major flaws in some aspects.
Nowadays, if Dajing were to equip all such warships, the budget of the Ministry of War would probably be eaten up by the entire navy.
Just as he was thinking this, a sweet smile appeared on Emperor Jing's face.
Oh, it’s only a hundred thousand taels, so cheap.
It doesn’t hurt to build dozens of them first!
"By the way, does this first ironclad ship have a name?"
"I already decided on an informal name when I first proposed the project... How about your Majesty give it a new one?"
"Tell me first, what was the informal name before?" Emperor Jing asked curiously.
Fang Zheng said in a sonorous voice, "As soon as this ship comes out, all the heroes will definitely bow their hands and surrender, so I named it the Guangyu Silence."
"Hmm...it's a good name, that's it."
As he spoke, Emperor Jing's forehead started to sweat slightly.
Upon seeing this, Fang Zheng said: "Your Majesty, it's too hot here, why not go to the deck. Colleagues, you must be hungry after being here for so long. There are a lot of meals specially customized for the navy, so why not take this opportunity to taste them? taste."
"The kitchens we have here are also interesting. They use the waste heat generated by the power room to heat food."
Emperor Jing smiled: "Okay, Dajing's fleet has been at sea for so long, and I haven't tasted what the navy's rations are like. Let's go."
As soon as he was done, Fang Zheng quickly directed his people to get a few tables and chairs and move them to the deck.
Several large pots of rice were steamed, and various canned foods were heated on plates and presented one by one.
Canned food was invented since the first voyage to the sea. Although there are always rumors that canned food is made of garbage scraps, it has always been widely praised by the military and lower-level soldiers.
After so many years of iteration, the categories have become quite rich.
Not only is the food delicious, the remaining cans and bottles can be sold directly to foreigners at high prices to make extra money.
On the deck, the officials sat down, admiring the beautiful scenery and eating canned food.
Feeling great.
Fang Zheng kept asking questions as soon as he was taken to another table. Feng Jie, Minister of the Ministry of War, asked: "Master Marquis, the cans for our military are all provided by Taoyuan County. It is said that you use leftovers for these cans. I used to I’m embarrassed to ask, but today we’ve made it clear, is this true or false?”
"Lie! Absolute lie! There are always people in the market making rumors about my property. Don't believe it because it's all red-eye. Everyone should be able to see my character over the years, so I don't need to explain more, right?"
"I think you still have to explain why this braised pork can has pork liver in it?"
Fang Zheng took a closer look and saw that there was indeed a piece of pork liver on the plate. He picked up the chopsticks and quickly picked it up and put it in his mouth: "It's pork, lean meat."
"Hey, hey, there's more here, why don't you taste it again?"
Seeing that he wanted to refuse, the officials at the table picked up chopsticks and pulled out another six or seven pieces of pork liver, and then stared at Fang Zhengyi eagerly.
Fang Zheng calmly picked up another piece of pork liver, put it into his mouth to taste it, and said seriously: "Yes, this is indeed pork liver. Look at my memory. I specifically asked them to add more offal to the canned meat. I forgot !excuse me."
Feng Jie's expression turned cold: "Master Hou, the money my Ministry of War paid for is to buy pork! You mixed it with offal for me? At a small scale, there is a problem with your canning production, but at a big scale, it is related to stealing the national treasury. No different, you must give me an explanation today!"
Fang Zheng ignored everyone, raised his chin and said, "What are you talking about? That's a good thing! Who can I, Fang Zheng, trick, who can trick me, Dajing Haijun?"
"Let me tell you, most people want these internal organs but I won't give them to them! All the nutrients are in the internal organs, which are rich in protein and vitamins, which can relieve eye fatigue and treat dry eyes, and also have fat to quickly replenish the soldiers' physical strength. These are at sea. It’s the best food, do you know the science?”
The officials at the same table were confused, and Feng Jie said in bewilderment: "Master Hou, don't you fool us with science when you have nothing to do!"
"I usually invite you to attend lectures at Dongda University, but every one of you doesn't pay attention to the lectures. Well, let me put it in a way that you can understand. Mr. Feng, have you seen Fighting Beasts?" Fang Zheng curled his lips and asked.
"I've seen it, what's wrong?" Feng Jie asked confused, "Does this have anything to do with your canned goods being wrong?"
"What's wrong with the goods? I'm just adding ingredients without increasing the price! Let me ask you, what does the beast do after it hunts?"
"I know this!" The officer at the same table slapped the table. "The beast successfully hunts. First it disembowels the prey, then eats the entrails, and finally eats the meat!"
"That's right!" Fang Zheng said, stroking his palms, "Beasts never lie to people, right? They must eat their food first. This shows that internal organs are more nutritious than meat. Do you think this is correct? Is it scientific or not?"
The people at the table looked at each other, and then nodded in unison: "Science, science!"
It seems to make sense, but this guy has gone around in a big circle, and I always feel like something is wrong?
Feng Jie touched his head and was about to sit down when his eyes suddenly glanced into the distance and he stretched out his hand.
"Look, there are three ships coming over there!"
.....
(Chapter 2 will be later, Saorui!)
