Shi Kefa came back, and Sun Chengzong had a very smooth conversation with him. Although he didn't know what the railway was, Shi Kefa was very interested in the position of Minister of Railways. Because, the Minister of Railways was at the same level as the Minister of the Sixth Ministry.

Moreover, the Ministry of Railways is a newly established department, so most of the personnel are naturally selected by the minister, Shi Kefa. Li Hao spent a year thoroughly surveying the line from Jinzhou to Shanhaiguan. He was just waiting for Shi Kefa to take the old department to Liaodong to build the railway.

Li Xiao waited in the capital for half a month before Chen Laohu came back with his people. Without saying a word, Li Xiao took his people directly to Tianjin Wei. They were all veterans of floating on the water. It was much easier to drive a steam engine ship than a sailboat.

.At least you don’t have to fiddle with the jibsail, that series of sails.

After learning from the advanced experience of Yangzhou City, the wooden hulls of the two ships were covered with composite armor. Densely packed wooden boxes were hung on both sides of the ships. Inside the boxes were several layers of iron plates, with asbestos plates and ceramic plates sandwiched between the iron plates.

.When testing with copper cannons, not a single shell penetrated this external armor.

Of course, there is a price. The draft of the Zhenyuan and Dingyuan ships dropped by a full meter, and the speed was also slower. Li Xiao had to reduce the amount of coal loaded in the coal bunker on the ship to ensure the speed. This was not a real voyage anyway.

.The Ming Dynasty coastline is everywhere along the way, and people have been sent to various ports along the way. Coal can be replenished at any time.

On the day of the voyage, the old fisherman insisted on following him. He said that this was the most successful boat he had ever built in his life, and he wanted to see how this boat could defeat those Western ghosts from a foreign land.

Western ghost! This is the new name of the English. Although the people from Europe in the past also had yellow hair and blue eyes, they looked like ghosts. However, Europeans did some good things in the past. People in the Ming Dynasty often called them red-haired people.

Color-eyed people, or yellow-haired people.

This time, these guys actually dared to attack the Ming Dynasty, and they blocked the mouth of the Yangtze River to fight. The image of Europeans in the hearts of the people plummeted, so all Europeans had a brand new name - Western ghosts.

The Zhenyuan's whistle buzzed like a dragon, and the low whistle spread across the sea surface. The huge hull swayed and slowly sailed away from the Tianjin Wei Pier. The Dingyuan ship behind it also sounded.

The whistle sounded, and the huge body looked like a giant beast that had awakened from ancient times.

Everyone was shocked by the scene. Everyone on the dock stood there blankly, watching the two most fierce warships of the Ming Dynasty set sail.

Li Xiao stood on the bow of the boat and watched Zhenyuan enter the deep water area after leaving the dock. When the fisherman ordered to speed up, Zhenyuan seemed to have been pushed hard by a god. The bow of the boat smashed into the water, and countless white waves shot out.

Seagulls circled Zhenyuan and screamed. They had never seen such a large warship since the beginning of the world.

"It's autumn, and the north wind has already started. The weather is about to get cooler. This is God wishing us a smooth journey. It would be great to meet those English people at this time. With the tailwind versus the headwind, we will definitely win just by relying on our speed."

The old fisherman's beard was blown by the wind, and his head and face were covered with beard.

"Things are not that simple. We have to face dozens of times the number of warships. Let's use the time on the road to train and let the gunners become familiar with the artillery as soon as possible. Especially the rockets in the rear row must be sure to hit with one hit. The shooter must be confident

That’s it!” Li Xiao looked at the rocket launcher on the back deck of Dingyuan.

The rocket launcher is very powerful, but the accuracy is terrible. Basically, it can only guarantee that the shells will be fired in one direction. If you want to hit a point target like a ship, you can only rely on salvos to increase the hit rate. Anyway, this rocket shell

It was so big that it could knock off an English sailing ship with a single hit. This thing was originally not suitable for naval battles, but back then the fisherman was prepared to deal with targets on the ground and had no intention of engaging in naval battles.

"Commander, my brothers have all fired rocket launchers. These rockets look like the ones on our ships. If you want to let your subordinates point out where to shoot, that is absolutely nonsense. But if you want to do it all,

There is still some confidence in shooting down a ship. In the past, when the second master was on the ship, he had trained to use rocket launchers to hit the ship. Generally speaking, one or two shells can hit the target ship in a salvo.

As for the rocket shells, one hit, not to mention explosion, can smash through the ship even if it hits it." Chen Laohu became familiar with the equipment after boarding the ship. The rocket launcher on this ship is the same model as the one on the original ship. His subordinates are very familiar with it.

easy.

"Then find some smart ones to operate the front main gun. Pick a few strong ones to carry the shells and try to increase the rate of fire."

"Don't worry, Commander, this ship is big, but it doesn't have as many cannons as our original ship. We used to have twenty cannons on one side of the ship. There are forty cannons on both sides of the ship, plus the front and rear main guns. This

There is no gun port on the side of the ship, but ten guns are placed on the side deck. This time, our gunners are well equipped." Chen Laohu was very dissatisfied with such a large ship equipped with so few guns.

"You bastard, take a look. Those are new artillery pieces, breech-loaded. The cannonballs are all cone-shaped, not the round cannonballs you used to play with. Whether it's the rate of fire or the accuracy of the range, these cannonballs are as good as

What you used to do is not the same thing." Mr. Yu reached out and slapped Chen Lao Lao. Chen Lao Lao bowed his head and shrank his head, but Mr. Yu slapped him firmly on the head.

In fact, he had long discovered that these artillery pieces were breech-loaded. But for a while, he couldn't find anyone to teach him how to operate these artillery pieces. It was the time when he was begging the old fisherman, and it didn't matter if he was hit twice by the old guy.

, it will be easier to open your mouth when you want someone later.

"Get familiar with those artillery pieces quickly. We don't have much time. This time we would rather load less coal than load so many shells. I'm just here to give you some practice on the road."

"No, it's just...!" After listening to Li Xiao's instructions, Chen Laohu looked at Mr. Yu in embarrassment.

"Go to Zhao Shizhen, he designed these cannons." The old fisherman waved his hand and chased away Chen Laohu like flies.

"Thank you, Mr. Yu!" Chen Laohu bowed, and then he disappeared.

"This trip may be the last time I go on a long journey. I am getting old and my body is weak. I think back when I fought with the Japanese pirates in Korea. The small broken boat was far less stable than this big one. The wind and waves were so strong that it could knock people up. Inside the cabin

All the people vomited, the smell, oh, forget it.

The legs of the big guys were as soft as noodles, but when they heard that they were going to fight the Japanese pirates, they all became energetic. The sky was dark and the ground was dark, and the sea was almost covered with corpses. After the battle, the whole sea was swaying.

They are all sharks, making the sea surface look like a boiling pot. Have you seen the bloody water...the red sea surface?" The old fisherman looked at the dividing line between the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, his eyes desolate and distant.

"At that time, in naval battles, artillery had already been on the battlefield. However, gang fighting still occurred from time to time. Such naval battles were extremely cruel and bloody. Those seniors back then were really in trouble.

The court is still in difficulty now. When the court's finances are a little better, the court will provide for these veterans. A country that forgets its heroes will soon be forgotten."

"On behalf of those old brothers, I would like to thank the Marshal! When this man gets old, he is willing to recall the past. It's strange to say that when he was young, he didn't have so many thoughts. Now that he is old, his brain is not working all the time.

idle.

Now I only get two hours of sleep a day, and most of the time I stare until dawn, thinking about the events of my early years.

These artillery pieces and so on, thanks to Zhao Shizhen, we can play well."

"Lao Dao wrote to me, saying that he wanted to return to Japan when he was old. I said that I would let him retire on Changxing Island. Don't blame me for being mean. It's true that he knows too many secrets of our weapons. I don't understand the temperament of Japanese people.

You also know that they are very submissive now, but when they turn around and press us, they will be even more ruthless than wolves."

"I know this, and I think you did the right thing. Back then, I had no choice but to rely on his experience. In the future, when we train talents, we still have to look for them from the Chinese Miao people.

I was just thinking about telling you this. Zhao Shizhen is a genius in weapons. He has specialized in artillery research in the past two years. Although you drew the drawings for the breech-loading artillery, there are many difficult things. He led his people to make the artillery shells.

, it was necessary to forge the barrel and test the material. It took two years to finally understand the breech-loading artillery. The loading speed, accuracy, and range are not comparable to the breech-loading artillery.

Even though we only have ten cannons on one side of the ship now, in terms of combat effectiveness, they are more powerful than the twenty cannons before."

"Zhao Shizhen is indeed a talent. He can be given more responsibilities. His family has moved to the island, so he must take good care of his family. I will explain these things."

"Today's Wuyan Institute, I am just a nameless person. These things can still be arranged, so you don't need to worry about it, Commander. I was thinking...!"

"You still have to sit in charge of the Wuhan Academy, and Zhao Shizhen is still unable to take up the leading role. From now on, you only need to be in the middle and regulate. You don't have to do everything yourself. You should have been able to enjoy your old age, but I just dragged you to this position.

It's my fault. But look, the world has just been peaceful, and the English have come to make trouble again. I don't feel relieved that you are not in charge of the Wuhan Academy.

In this way, giving Zhao Shizhen a vice-president can be regarded as a fourth-rank official according to the military system of the imperial court."

"Not only Zhao Shizhen, Mr. Sun sent several people. Two of them were named Xu Erjue. Xu Ermo's brothers were particularly smart and capable. Many of the designs and manufacturing on the locomotive were made by these two brothers. Later, when I asked about it, I found out that it was Xu Guangqi.

, Master Xu’s grandson. This family’s academic background is not a bit better than that of an old man like me.”

"The grandson of Xu Guangqi? This is a skill learned from home, to make up for two stewards from the sixth grade. As long as there are capable people, the court will not be stingy with official positions and money. In the future of land transportation, trains will be the top priority. Railways, but

The nation's main artery.

From now on, shipbuilding, railways, and airships will all have to be built by the Military Research Institute. By the way, how is the airship thing going? This thing needs to be built as soon as possible!"

"The hot air balloon is fine, but the airship is not. The main reason is that the steam engine is too big, carries too much coal, and is too heavy for the air bag to lift."

"I know that there is a kind of oil in the Middle East, which can be refined into gasoline. It is lighter than coal, but burns more violently than coal. Unfortunately, there are only a few places in China that produce this kind of thing. And

It's all underground, and it's difficult to extract that thing from the ground with our current technology."

"Oil! Isn't it black, sticky, and smells a bit smelly?" Mr. Yu suddenly asked after thinking about it.

"Have you seen it?" Li Xiao was surprised that the fisherman actually knew about oil.

"I have never seen the oil that the Marshal mentioned, but I know that there is a kind of stone paint that is very similar to what you said. When fighting with the Japanese, Marshal Chen once got some of this stone paint. I thought

It was able to attack Japanese ships with fire, but the effect was not very good after testing. Later, it was of no use. The soldiers lit the thing on fire. They collected the soot and made ink, and wrote it on paper shiny. They made a lot of money.

"

"...!" Li Xiao was speechless. This was the first time he heard about using petroleum as ink.

"Do you know where that thing comes from?" Li Xiao was more interested in oil than making ink.

"It seems to be over there in Sichuan, in some kind of mountain. I don't know the exact details!"

"Ask Mr. Chen to search, and you will find it. After you find it, you only need to use a pot to cook it to get the gasoline I mentioned. But be careful, the oil will be separated into layers when boiled. The first layer is gasoline, and the second layer is

Diesel. The rest can be sold as kerosene! Gasoline needs to be stored in sealed cans, otherwise it will evaporate quickly."

"Volatile?" The old fisherman was confused.

"Uh...! Just like alcohol, it will disappear if exposed to the air for a long time."

"Oh! Then this gasoline...!"

"I'll draw a drawing for you when I get back. You mail the drawing to the Wuhan Research Institute first. For the specific things, after I return to Beijing this time, you ask the Xu family brothers to come over. I will explain to them face to face that we will test the airship thing.

Let's do it. After we reach the Middle East in the future, we will build large tankers to pull back ship after ship.

Not only can this gasoline-powered machine be smaller than a steam engine, but it may also be more powerful than a steam engine. It's just that the processing requirements are a bit higher, so let the Xu brothers tinker with it. If it doesn't work in one year, just two years, two years

If it doesn't work, just three years. If it doesn't work in three years, then five years. Anyway, we have plenty of time, so we can figure it out."

"Haha! Marshal, you are right, but it's a pity that I can't see it anymore." When he thought of the huge airship flying in the sky, the old fisherman was so excited that he was shaking.

"Don't worry, you can always see it. It won't take many years. Once technology develops, it will be like a flying meteor. It will only get faster and faster, and it will never stop. In ten or twenty years, you will look back.

, our technology today will make you feel terribly crude.
Chapter completed!