"Brother, who is that Lu Xiangsheng? He actually stole my eldest sister's heart?"

Unlike Zhu Huijuan who is at Fangshan School, it is very convenient to call him back. In recent years, except for Zhu Youdong who had to come back to serve as a supervisor when he went out, Zhu Youxiao stayed in the Binhai Shipyard in Tianjin Port most of the time. Therefore, He entered Qianqing Palace the day after Zhu Huijuan returned to the palace.

Then the first thing he said after meeting Zhu Youxiao was to ask about Lu Xiangsheng.

"Hey, the people working down here really can't keep their mouths shut."

"Brother, don't worry. I didn't get the news from the chambermaid. My sister-in-law told me. When I entered the palace just now, my brother was appraising Cao Huachun, so I was called to Kunning Palace by my sister-in-law. .”

"I see. Well, Lu Xiangsheng is a capable person. If Huijuan really marries him, at least in terms of talent, Huijuan will not be wronged."

"That's good. Over the years, eldest sister has gradually become able to take charge of her own business in Fangshan's Textile Materials Laboratory. For such a motivated and outstanding woman, it would be difficult if the man lacked talent or had no ambition to make progress. "

"You are right. Huijuan can like a commoner, but she will never marry a commoner and then follow everyone else. Therefore, this commoner must be motivated and have talents that can be cultivated, otherwise he will be a brother. I will not marry Huijuan to him."

After the brothers finished talking about Zhu Huijuan, Zhu Youdong twitched his lips: "Since you have met your sister-in-law first, you should also know why I called you back this time, right?"

"I'm about to beg for mercy from my brother about this matter." Zhu Youxiao smiled slightly: "Brother, I haven't wanted the princess for the past one or two years. Therefore, brother, please take care of the eldest sister's matter, but please postpone this matter for the younger brother. slow."

"Well..." He tilted his head and looked at Zhu Youxiao. Zhu Youdong smiled and said, "Can you be more detailed? It's better for me to explain to my mother and your sister-in-law."

Zhu Youxiao stood up and saluted seriously: "Brother, the development of iron-clad ships has reached a critical period at this time. I don't want to be distracted by other things."

"Huh? Ironclad ship?" When Zhu Youxiao said this, Zhu Youdong was stunned for a moment: To be honest, he has been too busy recently, and in his subconscious, he always felt that the ironclad ship was really going to change from a drawing. It will take a long time for it to become a reality. So he did not pay attention all the time. When he heard Zhu Youxiao say this, he immediately remembered: Since May of the forty-sixth year of Wanli (1618), the State Affairs Commission It has been nearly two years since the meeting decided to start developing ironclad ships.

"Brother, the ironclad ship development plan two years ago was divided into two groups. The designer of Group A was the power laboratory of Fangshan School, and the leader was Da Sikong (Xu Guangqi). Because my brother was responsible for the design of Group A We were not satisfied with the plan, so we asked Brother Chen to organize Group B. The members of Group B were basically craftsmen from Binhai Shipyard. But in terms of power, we still had to rely on the power laboratory.

After receiving the task assigned by his brother, Chendi and a group of masters from the shipyard spent nearly a year before finalizing the drawings. At the same time, in September last year, the marine steam turbine of Fangshan Power Laboratory was completed. Then Chendi put this into The Taishin machine was taken to the shipyard for experiments. It was found that the propeller could not withstand the kinetic energy of the steam turbine. From this, Chendi began to think about cooperating with Fangshan's materials laboratory to develop a propeller with greater endurance. But the material How can progress in science and technology be achieved? Therefore, the results have never been satisfactory. Later, the shipyard masters said that if we use gears to slow down the turbine, the speed can be completely reduced when it is finally transmitted to the propeller. Down, so that the propeller can withstand... Oh, this idea is excellent. So in recent months, my brother has been leading the craftsmen to develop a variable speed gearbox. This thing needs to be redesigned, and after the drawings are released, the processing The precision requirements are also extremely high. Therefore, I have to squat in the shipyard every day. I don’t think about the wedding at all, and I have no time to deal with it.”

"Thank you for your hard work." After all, he was not an engineering student. Zhu Youdong couldn't understand most of what Zhu Youxiao said. But he could feel that his younger brother really devoted himself to the Ming Dynasty Battleship.

Design and manufacturing work in progress.

"How is the progress of Group A?"

"Their one uses a piston steam engine to drive a paddle wheel. The level of difficulty is completely different from what I'm doing. It's expected that the finished product will be ready in the first half of next year at the latest. As for Chen's side, it will take at least three years.

!”

After saying this, Zhu Youxiao raised his head slightly again: "But brother, as long as the ships on my side come out with finished products, they will definitely be able to defeat Group A!"

He is still a young man after all. Listening to Zhu Youxiao unconsciously belittling his opponent, Zhu Youdong was not angry: If the fifteen-year-old young man was old-fashioned when he opened his mouth, saying that his opponent was very powerful, and that he had to accept concessions, he would only feel sad.

.

"Okay, let's do that. As for your marriage, let's postpone it. Let's do things that interest you first. It just so happens that once your eldest sister's marriage is completed, it will cause a lot of controversy. In the past two years, you happened to be in

Take shelter in Binhai."

"Brother, what do you mean by this?"

"I am not planning to change another ancestral law for my brother. From now on, as long as Princess Shang's consorts have real talents and practical knowledge, I am ready to let them serve as officials or join the army."

"Hiss~" Zhu Youxiao took a gentle breath: "Seal the prince with real power and give the prince a real official position. Brother, do you want to support the power of the clan?"

"Well, I have a lot to do in the future. In this Ming Dynasty, it is not enough just to have civil servants, military generals and internal servants. The power of the clan must also be released appropriately. In terms of honors and nobles, as long as the princes, princes, uncles and men are

The disciples are not too useless, and I am willing to give them a chance." After saying this, Zhu Youdong helplessly patted Zhu Youxiao on the shoulder: "Yesterday, Lu Xiangsheng was in a dilemma when he heard that I wanted him to be my brother-in-law. Alas,

This does not give the prince-in-law real power. My daughter of the royal family will never want to marry into a good family! Of course, you also know that I am definitely not making such a reform just for Huijuan's marriage. But in any case, after such a change, Huijuan

Juan's happiness is even more guaranteed."

"Brother said that in this case, my future princess may be chosen from the female students of Fangshan School. I hope that in the future, the couple can work together for the rest of their lives on the design of Ming Dynasty's warships."

"Hahaha, that's okay. Speaking of which, you can tell Huijuan now and ask her to help pay attention to you in school."

"Hey, brother, it's too early for this. I have already made up my mind. I will never consider my personal marriage until the iron-clad ship is launched."

"Well, this matter doesn't have to be so far-fetched. In short, I understand your thoughts, so let's postpone this marriage for the time being."

…

When Zhu Youxiao was reporting to Zhu Youdong on the development of ironclad ships, Fangshan School and Gunpowder Laboratory dozens of miles away.

At this time, there were more than 20 laboratories set up in Fangshan School. Among them, Zhao Shizhen was in charge of the firearms laboratory. The person in charge of the gunpowder laboratory was Sun Yuanhua.

As the bomb maniac of the Ming Dynasty, Sun Yuanhua conducted bomb experiments over the years, with some successes and some failures. The price of failure was naturally broken statues, broken fingers, and becoming a disabled person.

However, the damage to his appearance is not a big deal to Sun Yuanhua. In recent years, as the firearms laboratory has been far ahead, the designs of breech-loading guns and breech-loading guns have been completed. The materials laboratory has also produced

Qualified gun barrels and gun steel were obtained. All problems were concentrated in the gunpowder laboratory: smokeless gunpowder!

This was the only major issue in Sun Yuanhua's mind, dragging down the entire Ming Dynasty's military industry.

Now, with ravines on his face, he once again walked into the laboratory.

"On February 28, 1620, at ten o'clock in the morning, we started recording and prepared to start the 1028th experiment in the development of smokeless gunpowder. According to the results of the 1027th experiment, this experiment once again used nitrocellulose and ammonium nitrate as the main materials, and

Add the saturated ketone just developed. Then repeatedly dissolve, filter, dry, and purify...

At 11:26 in the morning, the purification was completed. A total of 1.3 grams of new material was obtained. Put it into the crucible. Light the fire and ignite it!"

Following Sun Yuanhua's order, an assistant wearing thick armor tremblingly lit the little bit of white powder. Then, a cluster of bright firelight flashed violently, and then quickly fell silent.
Chapter completed!