Emperor Su He followed the current and adjudicated the dispute between the army and the navy.
From the look in the eyes of the military generals to the civilian officials, he knew that the conflict had shifted.
The dispute between the army and the navy is an internal conflict within the military.
Once they realize that they may be cheated by civil servants, they will put aside their internal conflicts and speak out to the outside world in unison.
The military generals of the Great China Empire, unlike other dynasties, could serve as the leader of an army even if they were illiterate.
In the Dahua Empire, if you want to command an army, in addition to having extremely high military management capabilities, you also need cultural literacy.
These generals are all familiar with what happened in history.
Knowing that once the imperial court reaches an era of peace, civilian officials will definitely suppress the military and seize power from the military.
Emperor Su He was also happy to see irreconcilable conflicts between the military and civilian officials.
As the founding monarch, he had unparalleled prestige, and neither the military nor the civil servants dared to disobey his ideas.
His descendants did not have such prestige. They had to use imperial power and various systems to control civil servants and the army.
Emperor Su He announced another important matter before dissolving the imperial meeting.
The court officials and the prince will go to Qinhuangdao Military Port in seven days to participate in the commissioning ceremony of the Great China Empire's first battleship.
When the admirals heard the news, they beamed with joy.
The navy will use this country-defending ship to shock everyone in the empire.
The army general didn't want to go, but he had to go.
The civil servants were just a little curious. They also wanted to see what kind of warship it was. The construction cost of a warship was as high as millions of taels of silver coins.
…………………………
4344 (AD 1647), September 5th.
In the Forbidden City Palace, the eldest prince Su Shu went to his mother's Kunning Palace to pay her respects.
Su Shu was wearing a loose dress. After years of education, his childishness had faded from his face.
He came to Queen Wang Wenjun, knelt down and said, "My son, please give my regards to your mother."
"Shu'er, please get up quickly." Wang Wenjun said happily.
As his son grew up, he left Kunning Palace and lived independently.
Wang Wenjun has very limited time to see his son every day.
After Su Shu sat down, he said: "Mother, my son will go to Qinhuangdao Military Port with his father tomorrow to participate in the commissioning of the empire's first battleship.
To participate in this matter, what can I do? "
Su Shu would not tell his teachers and attendants what was on his mind.
As a prince who wants to compete for the position of crown prince, if he is not trustworthy, he will be out of the game long ago.
The only person he could trust unconditionally and give him advice was his mother, Wang Wenjun.
The queen mother's position as queen has always been as stable as a mountain, which shows her superb skills.
The Great China Empire did not have the Confucian ethics to maintain.
Queen Wang Wenjun immediately dismissed the maids from Kunning Palace and arranged for her confidants to stand at the window.
She pushed the screen to cover the table where she sat.
There is a copper brazier on the table, as well as two pens and a stack of paper.
Queen Wang Wenjun took the pen and paper and wrote words on the paper.
[Shu'er has the support of civil servants behind him, and the second prince Su Lei has the support of the army behind him.
This is all the maternal support behind the prince.
The most important situation for Shu'er now is to obtain the support of the military.
The modern imperial navy has a strong position, and it would be best to have the support of the navy.
Even if we can't win overt support from the military, we should try our best to win over the military's no objection to Shu'er becoming the prince. 】
After Queen Wang Wenjun finished writing, she handed it to her son Su Shu.
After Su Shu read the contents on the paper, he immediately threw himself into the brazier.
Walls have ears, especially the emergence of machines such as phonographs, which made everyone realize that sound is very unsafe.
Communicating through writing is indeed very troublesome, but it is the most confidential way.
Su Shu read the words written by his mother and analyzed the pros and cons in simple words.
His weakest point now is that he has no military support behind him.
The shrewd generals of the military will not place bets until things are clear.
Su Shu wrote down his questions on paper.
[Mother, what should your sons and ministers do? 】
Queen Wang Wenjun responded: [Shu'er, this is a good opportunity.
The best support you can get from the military is that you have military status.
If you offer to join the army, your father will never refuse.
When Shu'er joined the army, the queen mother was still afraid that some forces would stir up trouble in the dark and involve you in several losing battles, which would damage your prestige.
But adding battleships eliminates such worries.
With strength alone, a battleship will never lose at sea.
Battleships are the face of the navy, and the navy will never let battleships lose. It will definitely win any naval battle it participates in. 】
Su Shu was extremely excited. This strategy by Queen Mother Wang Wenjun completely solved the problem he was encountering now.
[Mother, son and minister understand.
Tomorrow I will try my best to become a naval officer on a battleship. 】
Su Shu clenched his fists. He finally found a way to break the situation.
He has been in the Navy for several years, and after gaining a military background, everything will be easier to handle.
…………………………
Early morning on September 6th.
Emperor Su He brought the prince, civil and military officials and representatives from all walks of life.
They boarded the train and headed to Qinhuangdao Shipyard, one of the Navy's largest shipyards in the northern empire.
The first battleship verification ship was built at Qinhuangdao Shipyard.
The verification ship was launched a few years ago and went through a long period of research and development of power system and weapon system.
The pinnacle masterpiece of industry in this era was finally produced by the Great China Empire.
Emperor Su He was very excited along the way. He chatted with the ministers about the benefits that the powerful imperial navy would bring to the empire.
After more than ten speed improvements, steam trains are now much faster than horse-drawn carriages.
Apart from the noise, the ride experience in a train carriage far exceeds that of a horse-drawn carriage.
The speeding train drove directly into the Qinhuangdao Shipyard.
Qin Shanshui, the commander of the Qilin Guard, was responsible for security issues. He immediately led the Qilin Guard soldiers off the train and guarded every direction.
Emperor Su He saw that it was already dark, and everyone was already dizzy from taking the train for a long time, and some of them were unable to sleep.
He waved his hand and ordered: "Let's all disperse! Go to the hotel in the shipyard to stay."
Civil and military officials and representatives from all walks of life immediately showed relaxed expressions on their faces after hearing Emperor Su He's instructions.
They found a place to stay and prepared to have a solid sleep after eating.
Early the next morning, it was September 9th, the day when the battleships entered the queue.
Cabinet minister Qian Mingyi accompanied Emperor Su He and said with emotion: "September 9 is the day when His Majesty ascended the throne, and everyone celebrates this day.
On this day, there is another happy event, the empire's first armored battleship has been commissioned.
This means that the world's naval history has turned a new page. "
Governor Feng Sanqiu stood nearby and looked at Qian Mingyi with squinting eyes.
This sentence should obviously be said by him. The civil servant was so good at speaking that he took away all the words that should belong to him.
Feng Sanqiu said honestly: "This is a congratulatory gift brought by the entire navy to His Majesty.
The ironclad battleship chose to enter the fleet on this day to celebrate this happy day. "
Emperor Su He smiled and talked about this matter with everyone.
The addition of the battleship was indeed a gift from the navy, but he was very happy.
The addition of battleships is of extraordinary significance to the Great China Empire.
This marks that the Dahua Imperial Navy is at least a few decades ahead of its enemy in technology.
Before other countries had armored battleships, the Imperial Navy of Great China was the world's hegemon.
The Imperial Navy of Great China can protect the people of the empire and earn profits anywhere in the world.
The group of them walked to the port of the shipyard and saw a huge warship with a silver-white metallic light in the distance, moored at the port.
The designer and chief engineer of the ironclad battleship, Weihai Hou Liu Guangsheng, led shipyard representatives to greet him.
They bowed collectively to welcome the arrival of Emperor Su He.
Emperor Su He said with a smile: "Everyone Pingshen, Mr. Liu Hou, please introduce the situation of the battleship to me and all my dear friends."
Liu Guangsheng walked to Emperor Su He and looked excitedly at the huge warship in front of him.
The armored battleship is the pinnacle masterpiece of his life.
Liu Guangsheng believed that if he could build an armored battleship, it would be enough to leave his name in Qing history.
"Your Majesty, this is the top-of-the-line warship we have spent nearly a thousand tons of steel to build.
The battleship has a displacement of five thousand tons and is ninety-six meters long from bow to stern.
On both sides of the warship, three triple 350 mm caliber artillery pieces are installed.
There is a 300 mm caliber gun at the bow and stern of the ship.
All the artillery on the warships have been prepared with the empire's latest artillery aiming system.
With the help of the artillery aiming system, artillery can ensure that artillery shells still have a high hit rate ten kilometers away. "
Emperor Su He listened to Liu Guangsheng's introduction to the basic situation of the battleship.
He didn't know much about battleships, but just looking at the paper data, battleships were already very powerful.
Grand Governor Feng Sanqiu reminded: "Your Majesty, the commissioning ceremony of the battleship is about to begin.
This battleship has not yet been named by His Majesty. "
Emperor Su He had already prepared for the name of the first armored battleship.
The naming rules for ironclad ships are named after the mountains and rivers of the empire.
“The first battleship was named Taishan.
You will be at the top of the mountain, and you will have a panoramic view of the mountains. "
When Liu Guangsheng heard the name of the Taishan ship, he shouted loudly: "The auspicious time has come, and the commissioning ceremony of the Taishan ship has officially begun."
Only when everyone gets close to the Taishan Ship and observe such a huge warship up close can they experience its huge sense of oppression.
Liu Guangsheng represented the shipyard as the builder, and Feng Sanqiu represented the navy as the receiver.
The two parties carried out the handover work, and the naval officers boarded the Taishan ship, took over the entire warship, and sounded the whistle.
The battleship line-up ceremony was completed, and the captain of the Taishan ship, Li Pinglang, officially made great achievements in Europe.
As the naval general who best understands ironclad tactics, he is credited with annihilating hundreds of enemy ships.
Li Pinglang competed all the way, leaving behind those with strong backgrounds, and became the final winner.
Emperor Su He's smile never stopped.
"My dear friends, let's board the Taishan ship together and see the most important industrial crystallization of the empire, the navy's weapon of national sovereignty."
Everyone walked through the gangway and came to the deck of the Taishan ship.
Ironclads were a new thing, and the Navy had just accepted them not long ago.
Others had only heard of ironclads in newspapers; they had not seen one yet.
He could see the steel deck and the huge artillery on both sides of the Taishan ship. Everyone was shocked.
"The deck is made of steel. No wonder a warship is so expensive, but the cost of so much steel is not low."
"This kind of cannon is so scary. It's the first time I've seen a cannon with such a large diameter.
Just look at the cannonball. This cannonball is bigger than me, and it is very scary to look at. "
"Just looking at the battleship's thick chimney, you know that the battleship's steam engine must be very powerful.
To be able to drive such a heavy warship, steam engine technology is the most precious technology. "
Emperor Su He was touring on the deck of the Taishan, and he was very satisfied.
Just look at the nine artillery pieces on both sides of the Taishan. They are three triple artillery pieces.
Triple artillery, which means that only one artillery sight is needed for three artillery.
Even the armored cruiser couldn't withstand the salvos fired by the three cannons.
Emperor Su He looked at the thick armor of the battleship. It was thicker than the thin-skinned armor of the cruiser.
The original intention of building battleships was to deal with the ironclad ships that other countries might develop, so that the Imperial Navy of Great China could maintain its leading position.
Emperor Su He knew that future battleships would only need to continue to iterate, expand the tonnage of warships, and use more advanced artillery.
Before the advent of airplanes and aircraft carriers, battleships would rule the entire ocean.
The Great China Empire would be at least hundreds of years ahead in developing battleships.
Emperor Su He called Feng Sanqiu and said: "Only when the Taishan ship is in motion can it show its great power.
Let the Taishan ship go to the shooting range and show its strength. "
When Feng Sanqiu heard Emperor Su He's instructions, he immediately beamed.
He had long wanted those civil servants to see the power of battleships.
Let these people take a look at whether the cost of a warship worth millions is worth it.
The boiler of the Taishan ship was opened, and the completely crushed coal was blown into the boiler through the blower.
Pulverized coal is fully burned in the air, generating huge heat, allowing the boiler to produce a large amount of steam.
The people on the deck watched raging black smoke rising from the Taishan ship's boiler.
They have all been notified that the Taishan ship is about to go to the shooting range.
They are waiting for the moment when the Taishan ship shows off its power.
Emperor Su He asked Liu Guangsheng: "Now the country is constantly competing for coal and fuel. What kind of fuel is used for the Taishan ship?"
He knew that oil really wanted to wait for its big development. That was when the internal combustion engine appeared. Now, pouring oil directly into the boiler and letting it boil water would be overkill.
Liu Guangsheng explained: "Your Majesty, not only the empire, oil is unevenly distributed around the world, and its extraction is still very troublesome.
Coal is available in most places and is relatively easy to mine.
In the absence of generational differences in fuels such as petroleum, all important warships burned coal.
In this way, it will be much more convenient for warships to replenish fuel in various places.
We also use many technical means to make coal-burning boilers more efficient. "
Emperor Su He nodded and said: "Coal is indeed widely distributed now, so it is a good choice to choose this direction.
However, we cannot give up on fuel technology and must continue to explore it. "
Emperor Su He's intention was very clear, mainly to build coal-fired boilers, while oil-fired boilers should continue to be explored.
Whichever scientific researcher comes up with an internal combustion engine, the Great China Empire will make a lot of money.
Battleships have only one drawback, and that is their slow startup speed.
After a long wait, the Taishan ship finally started, driving slowly on the sea, getting faster and faster, heading towards the shooting range. (End of chapter)
