Emperor Chongzhen once again took the train to Tianjin with the eunuch Bingbi, the eunuch, the ministers of the cabinet, the six ministers, the governor of the fifth army, and all the instructors and students from the naval armament school in the capital.
In addition, there are others such as the future Crown Princess Catherine and the Plenipotentiary of the King of Portugal Anders.
The reason for such a big fanfare is of course because there is something important.
The place Emperor Chongzhen took them to was not at Tianjin Port, but at the newly built Tianjin Shipyard a little way away.
There has been military martial law near this shipyard for a long time. Everyone followed the emperor into the shipyard.
Catherine, who was following behind, was very curious. Seeing that the crowd was whispering when they arrived at the shipyard, she quickly asked Anders: "What on earth are you doing? Why is it so grand?"
She has lived in the Ming Dynasty for more than a year. Catherine was thirteen years old when she came here, which happens to be the age at which she learns things the fastest. In addition, she is smart. Not only can she speak the Ming Dynasty Mandarin, but she is also familiar with the customs of the Ming Dynasty. Seven or eighty-eight, I even tasted all the famous dishes of the capital.
Yesterday, she was notified by Anders. Looking at this posture, she understood that the Ming Emperor was a very busy man, and the officials of the Ming Dynasty were also very busy. If there was no particularly important matter, they would definitely not gather at the shipyard.
Of course, Catherine also knew that since she was coming to the shipyard, she must be here to see the newly built ships. But what she wondered was, what new ship could cause such a stir?
Anders listened to her question and whispered: "You should pay attention to the clothes and food of the Ming Dynasty and not care about political affairs! This is the shipyard presided over by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I heard that it has built the king of the sea!"
Hearing this, Catherine couldn't help but pouted and said a little unhappy: "Didn't you ask me to abide by Eastern customs? I already knew that Eastern women are not allowed to engage in politics, so why should I care about political affairs? "
After she finished speaking, her thoughts jumped quickly, and she remembered what Anders said, and she couldn't help but immediately asked: "What king of the sea? Is it a giant sea battleship?"
Before Catherine came to the East, Britain built the largest warship in Europe within one year in 1637, the famous "Sovereign of the Sea".
The ship has three decks and is equipped with 102-104 guns. There are 11 anchors, each weighing 2 tons. There were more than 800 sailors, the largest shell weighed 60 pounds, and a salvo of shells weighed one ton.
Just seeing such a battleship is enough to shock people, so this ship is called "Sea King".
At this time, when Catherine heard about the King of the Sea, she naturally thought of this British warship immediately.
But Anders listened, shook his head and said: "Even a giant maritime warship, even the British Sea King, cannot be called the king of the sea! I guess it should be something else!"
After hearing this, Catherine was about to ask again when she suddenly saw something out of the corner of her eye, so she stopped asking. She quickly looked over and saw a large chimney coming with smoke on the sea in the distance.
"Steam engine?" she said as soon as she saw it, "It's a steam engine ship!"
Steam engine ships are no longer a rarity. At least on the Beijing Grand Canal, there are paddle wheels driven by steam engines. At the beginning, Catherine felt it was very new and she ran over to watch it countless times. Therefore, when I saw the iconic chimney, I immediately understood it.
After she finished speaking, she looked at the Ming Emperor and his future husband standing in front of her. They were pointing at the approaching steam engine and saying something. It seemed that they were quite excited.
So, Catherine turned to Anders and asked: "Isn't it just to see the steam engine ship? This... this can be regarded as the king of the sea?"
From a visual inspection, this steam engine ship is not big!
Anders did not answer her immediately, but turned to look at the Ming Emperor, then frowned slightly, then turned back to look carefully at the steam engine ship approaching in the distance.
After a while, he suddenly said: "Is it because the entire ship is covered with iron sheets?"
The reason why he said this was because Anders saw that the steam engine ship reflected the metallic luster under the sun.
Warships covered in iron sheets are relatively rare, but it is understandable. At this level, it wouldn't attract the Ming Emperor to bring senior civil and military officials to review it, right?
After finishing speaking, he suddenly felt something strange, and hurriedly added: "Have you noticed, Your Highness, that the speed of this battleship seems to be faster due to the combined action of the power driven by the steam engine and the sails?"
Catherine was reminded, looked at it carefully for a while, then nodded and said: "It's just a little faster. That's nothing, right? Moreover, this battleship is not big, and it must not be equipped with many artillery. How much combat power can it have?" Just like this, can you be called the King of the Sea?"
Anders felt a little embarrassed after hearing this, and quickly explained: "The title "King of the Sea" was added by me. It probably means that the battleship will be more powerful!"
After hearing this, Catherine said "Oh", then looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to them, so she whispered to Anders: "Actually, our Portuguese warships are not bad. Don't say anything else, they are just at sea. In terms of combat power, if the number of fleets is the same, I believe we in Europe are stronger!"
After hearing this, Anders quickly looked around, and then responded to Catherine in a low voice: "Your Royal Highness, you are going to marry the emperor. According to the Eastern saying, marrying a chicken follows the chicken, marrying a dog follows the dog, um... That's probably what it means! If you still think that you are not from the Ming Dynasty, life will be very difficult! His Royal Highness the King asked you to marry far away from the East. If you know that you are not living well, you will blame yourself."
After hearing this, Catherine opened her mouth, but in the end she said nothing. She turned to look at her future man, then nodded and said, "Okay, I understand."
In any case, she had only been in Ming Dynasty for a little more than a year. It was a bit forced to say that she had completely forgotten Europe and assumed the identity of a Ming Dynasty person. After all, the appearance is really different!
While they were chatting, the steam engine ship was getting a little close, and it began to lower its sails and slow down, slowly stopping towards the shipyard.
At this time, Anders saw it more clearly and couldn't help but said in surprise: "Why does this battleship only have two cannons?"
Obviously, this battleship only has artillery on the bow and stern, and there are no gun emplacements on both sides of the ship. What role can these two cannons play in a naval battle?
He was thinking that Emperor Chongzhen had boarded the steamship under the guidance of the prince and others. The Ming army officers and craftsmen in charge of the ship were already standing on the deck to greet them.
Stepping onto the deck, Emperor Chongzhen stepped hard, listened to the sound, and said with a smile: "Not bad, how is the protection ability?"
"Back to my father, except for a few parts of this warship that are still made of wood, the rest are all made of iron." After hearing this, the prince said excitedly, "After two improvements, the balance and protective power of this warship have improved." Only in this aspect can we meet the requirements. I can guarantee that if we encounter a Western warship head-on, we will be able to kill the enemy by surprise!"
Building a steel battleship is not that easy. Even though Ming Dynasty has accumulated rich shipbuilding experience, this is the first time for a steel battleship. Therefore, starting from the wooden ships covered with iron sheets, they have been trying to build steel battleships. Even at this time, they are not yet able to build a battleship made entirely of steel.
Moreover, shipbuilding is extremely expensive. If it weren't for the fact that the Ming Dynasty is now rich and the treasury is rich, it really can't withstand the tests for many years.
When Emperor Chongzhen heard what he said, he nodded and said, "I also want to know the shortcomings after the actual voyage!"
After finishing speaking, he turned to look at the captain and ordered him: "Answer me!"
"According to the order!" After hearing this, the captain quickly agreed, and then replied: "When driven by an old steam engine, the speed of the warship was not very fast. Later, it was replaced with an improved steam engine, and the speed was much faster. Even if The speed is not slow when the sails are down. The only disadvantage is that even if the ship stores as much coal as possible, it still cannot last long at sea. Therefore, the ship still needs to rely on wind power."
Emperor Chongzhen naturally knew that the improved steam engine he said actually used rubber seals instead of silk seals, which increased air tightness and made it more efficient. As for the source of the rubber, it was proposed to the Portuguese for the first time, and they brought it over when Portugal sent their princess here this time.
Nowadays, large-scale planting has begun in Nanyang. It is expected that in the near future, improved steam engines like this will replace all current mainstream steam engines.
At this time, listening to the captain's introduction, Emperor Chongzhen probably understood that steel warships driven by steam engines did not yet have the ability to mass-produce and equip the navy.
First, steam power still needs to be improved;
Secondly, the steel battleships that can be built today are still a bit small. When the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty become more mature and can build large steel battleships, then famous battleships will be available in the future.
If a steam-driven, steel-made battleship was really built, then the Ming Dynasty would be invincible at sea, instead of relying on numerical superiority like it does now.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was not satisfied with the battleship, but Zheng Zhilong, who then entered the naval armament school of the battleship, excitedly touched around, as if the battleship belonged to him!
For this battleship, he knew there were three major killers.
First, the body is made of steel, which makes it extremely protective;
Second, it is driven by steam power and can sail against the wind;
Third, the artillery is a rifled artillery, with an extremely long range and high accuracy.
