While Song Qingyue was concentrating on studying explosives in the capital, the craftsmen on Xiaoliuqiu Island in the south had been concentrating on how to install steam engines on ships.

After Song Qingyue drew the drawing of the ball bearing, he also drew some parts such as flywheel and crankshaft for the craftsmen's reference.

With those things in hand, Song Qingyue artificially accelerated the development of steam engines dozens of times.

At the end of June, the first steamship was successfully completed in a small seaport in the southern part of Xiaoliuqiu.

Fu Chengfeng took a big hammer and smashed away the wooden piles blocking the hull. The ship slowly slid into the sea along the oiled wooden guide rails. Finally, with a crash, it completely detached from the track and fell into the deep water dug out from the shore.

Bay, splashing huge waves.

The boat rocked a few times in the sea before slowly stopping.

The craftsmen in the entire small harbor cheered, and the sailors on the ship quickly built wooden planks towards the shore, allowing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to board the ship with his personal guards.

Li Zhao, the captain of the first steam battleship, did his part.

This is definitely a scene that will be recorded in history!

There was also a painter specially invited by Li Zhao to record this exciting moment on the shore.

Lin Wanfu held up a radio microphone shaped like a morning glory and handed it to Li Zhao. Little Eunuch Qin was working hard on the side to turn the handle of the hand-cranked generator.

"Stab~Stab~"

The noise problem is the same as when Song Qingyue first solved it, and there has been no improvement.

Ahem!

Li Zhao didn't care either, nor did the craftsmen in the audience and the officers and soldiers in the naval camp.

"Weigh anchor and sail!" Li Zhao shouted into the radio microphone.

"Open me with an anchor!! - Stab, stab!"

A completely distorted version of Li Zhao's shout came from the loudspeaker.

"Boom——!" Wan Quan blew the whistle vigorously from the side.

A team of crew members below the deck heard the long blast of the whistle and worked hard to shovel coal into the furnace. Another team of crew members turned on the blower, and the fire became more and more intense. The warm boiler soon boiled, and the steam engine made a huge roar.

There was a loud sound, and the propellers churned under the water.

When the ship left the shore, the old shipwright named An, who was also the person in charge of building the warship, had tears in his eyes and started crying excitedly.

Although this ship is not particularly huge, it is covered in iron armor and is extremely powerful and domineering.

The people on the boat were all the old sailors who had followed King Su early. They were all so excited that they could not express their emotions. Your Royal Highness, you are truly a talent descended from the stars and sent from heaven!

They didn't follow the wrong person!

Their future will be bright!

Cheers and shouts echoed in the small harbor.

There are no traditional masts and white sails, not even big wheels driving on both sides, but there is a big thick chimney, which keeps blowing out black smoke, and the propellers gurgling under the water, churning the sea water, screaming.

This heavy ship, covered with iron, cut through the waves and sailed forward at an astonishing speed.

Mr. Ou, the governor of Fujian, Mr. Shen, the governor of Guangdong, Mr. Liang, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and Mr. Cheng, the magistrate of Kinmen County, stood on the shore of Kinmen, looking at the ship with neither sails nor water wheel from a thousand miles away like a ghost.

Driving from the other side, there was fear and excitement in his eyes.

Li Zhao stood on the bow deck, his heart was up and down, and he remembered what Song Qingyue said to him when he was in the northwest: "Science is the first productive force in the world. If you want your Li family to last a little longer, you must develop it."

Science is made a national policy.”

He didn't quite understand it at that time.

But now he understands.

Isn't this steam engine just science?

It's simple to say, this is the principle of pushing up the lid of the pot when the water boils. Using such a simple principle, you can create such a powerful and exquisite machine, but it makes him full of emotions.

However, he did not want to reveal the secret of the steam engine for the time being, so he only named the ship "Ghost Ship", which was mysterious and could scare people.

Seeing several old guys with white beards on the shore open their mouths in surprise, Li Zhao was even more proud.

"How do you think this prince's devilish craftsmanship looks domineering?" Li Zhao asked in a very arrogant tone with his hands on his hips.

Mr. Liang, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, loved flattering and showing his loyalty. He stroked his beard and praised: "His Royal Highness King Su and the Crown Prince are descended from the stars, chosen by heaven! We are willing to follow King Su and His Highness to achieve great things!"

Li Zhao snorted proudly and looked at the other adults.

Governor Shen also clasped his fists and said with a smile: "I am also willing to follow His Highness the Crown Prince, but I would also like to ask His Highness not to dislike the fact that the subordinate officer is old and incompetent."

Mr. Ou, the governor of Fujian, looked at Li Zhao's tanned but still handsome face, stroked his beard, and smiled a little enigmatically: "I have prepared a banquet for His Highness. Your Highness is here to invite you!"

The banquet was held on another large wooden boat, and suddenly a beautiful and graceful woman came to offer wine with a jade pot.

While pouring wine for Li Zhao, she secretly glanced at Li Zhao with a pair of soft and shy red phoenix eyes, as if she was ogling him, but she was still a little reserved.

He is really very smart and has just the right sense of proportion.

Li Zhao looked at the woman sideways, smiled, said nothing, just picked up the wine and drank.

When Lord Ai saw that Li Zhao had noticed the woman, he stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Your Highness, this is the granddaughter of a lower official. She is virtuous, generous, and smart. I would like to offer her to Your Highness and serve His Highness in his daily life."

As soon as these words came out, several other elders were so angry that they gritted their teeth!

Seeing that Prince Su's palace has sharp weapons like rifled guns and rifled cannons, and now there are also ghost craft ships, with such sharp weapons in hand, why worry about losing the world?

No matter what orthodoxy or public expectations, they are all cannon fodder under the gun!

The governor of Fujian, Old Thief Ou, was initially lukewarm towards the prince, and seemed to have nothing to do with Prince Su's palace. Now he eagerly approached him and wanted to give his granddaughter to someone to keep him warm.

What about the character of a literati?

What about the integrity of Confucian scholars?

What a thief!

Li Zhao sighed in his heart, thinking that the greedy faces of these old guys are still so annoying!

But he couldn't refuse the situation he was in now. Counting the logistics and food transport troops, as well as tens of thousands of craftsmen, the consumption of rations alone was huge, and the arsenal with tens of thousands of craftsmen was working at full capacity to build new firecrackers. Artillery bullets and artillery shells also consume a lot of raw materials.

It is true that Prince Su's Mansion is rich, but in this rebellion to seize the throne, the whole family may be implicated. If he is rich, he needs someone to sell him grain, iron ore, saltpeter, sulfur and other raw materials.

He would not be able to achieve anything without the support of the powerful people in the south. His father and Yue'er are still in the capital, so he cannot make any mistakes here.

Li Zhao needs the people in southern China to fully support him and Prince Su's palace. For this reason, he must show a sufficient attitude and provide enough benefits. In this era, no agreement can make people more reassured than marriage. Collect it She's just a woman. Li Zhao can't accept her or not according to her own wishes. Whether she accepts her or not, those old men can't really care about her bed.

A few days later, when Li Zhao returned to Xiaoliuqiu by boat, there were three beauties with their own characteristics around him, one named Ou, one named Shen, and one named Liang.

Governor Liang was not afraid of complaining to his daughter in Beijing. He was the imperial concubine's nominal grandfather. For the sake of the interests of the Liang family, he still wanted to seduce people around Li Zhao. He really didn't care about any dignity.

It’s not that County Magistrate Cheng of Kinmen didn’t want to send his daughter to His Highness the Crown Prince, but the first two governors and the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi almost started fighting each other over this matter. How dare he, a small magistrate, stick his neck out to join in the fun.

I could only sigh as I gazed at the large chimney of the ghost craft ship that was billowing black smoke, hoping that His Highness the Crown Prince would remember that he, a little county magistrate, had helped him in the past.

When young Eunuch Qin saw the three noble ladies and their respective maids and servants getting off the ghost ship, he hurriedly entertained them warmly.

Li Zhao's eyes did not stay on them for a moment, and he only told Qin Jifu: "The conditions on the island are difficult, don't wrong these girls." He left them aside and continued to practice gunnery and cannon training with his men. .

The latest sniper rifle sent from the north has a barrel over three feet long and can hit targets at a distance of more than 250 steps.

He was lying on the ground, holding a sniper rifle made of fine steel. There was a scope made of a small telescope on the barrel of the gun. Through this scope, he aimed at the seagulls floating up and down in the sea breeze in the distance. With a bang, Pull the trigger.

The cone-shaped copper-coated lead bullet grazed the seagull's wings, and the seagull flapped its wings in fright and flew away.

Du Xiaoyong, the Commander-in-Chief of the Nanyang Navy, who was also one of King Su's most capable subordinates in the past, took the Thousand Mile Watch and looked at it for a long time, then said: "The wind is blowing to the left today, Your Highness, when you fight, you have to turn to the right."

Li Zhaoyang made a sound, pushed the gunpowder and bullets into the bottom of the tube with the push rod, and took aim again.

There was another bang, and white smoke came out of the muzzle of the gun. The seagull fell from the sky. Li Zhao opened his mouth and showed his big white teeth. He laughed miserably, handed the gun to Lin Wanfu, and said, "Here you go." .”

Eunuch Lin exclaimed, lay down impatiently, closed one eye, and tried to aim with bated breath.

Ji Quanfu, Wan Quan, Fu Chengfeng, and the young general Mu Lei who followed him to the south, as well as a group of generals, were waiting in line with their necks stretched out, anxiously gearing up, trying to Hurry and try this "strongest gun king".

However, there is currently only one such gun, and one person can only fire two rounds of bullets. In order to prevent the lead from melting and filling the rifling in the barrel, the bullets are specially made and wrapped with a layer of brass leather around the lead, which is very cost-effective. Bullets are generally much more expensive.

Everyone who had tried the gun was in awe of the princess who was thousands of miles away.

Who can think of it? Who can think of it?

How could such a beautiful woman like an alabaster bottle break at the first touch create such a terrifying weapon!

Lin Wanfu felt even more confused.

How could a woman as delicate and soft as a lamb like the Crown Princess create such a thing?

But His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that this gun was drawn by the Crown Princess. From the flint activation mechanism to the rifling and the shape of the bullet, it was all the Crown Princess's idea.

Lin Wanfu's scalp feels numb when he thinks about this now.

I no longer dare to serve the three new ladies enthusiastically.

This gun is something that can make a person's head explode instantly at a distance of 250 steps.

If the man in Jingli gets angry, doesn't he make people die without knowing how?

He suddenly felt sympathy for his eldest son.
To be continued...