Amid the roar of the thunderous machine, Li Yan felt a little excited and excited. This was one of the most tightly defended forbidden areas in Dengzhou City. There were two thousand guards stationed around him all year round. Anyone who wanted to enter here must have a handwritten order from Li Yan or Zhao Fu. If someone dared to break in without authorization, he would be killed on the spot by the soldiers immediately, and there was no sympathy to tell.

The reason why there is such a strict defense here is mainly because this is a steam engine manufacturing factory. After Yifan successfully developed the steam engine, he immediately studied the large-scale manufacturing plan. Now it has begun to produce results. The manufacturing factory here covers an area of ​​thousands of acres, with thousands of craftsmen working here, and the power of various machine tools and equipment has also been replaced by steam engines. Although it consumes a little more, it has accelerated the production speed. Now it can produce 30 steam engines per month, and this is because Li Yan tried his best to suppress it. If he let go of production, it would not be a problem to produce 100 units per month.

The reason why Li Yan's pressed steam engine production is that, firstly, the use of steam engines has not been popular yet, and too much production is just a waste. Secondly, the current steam engine still has great room for improvement. Instead of producing these backward steam engines, it is better to put a large amount of power into the improvement of the steam engine. After the higher-power steam engine is developed, it is not too late to produce in large quantities.

Yifan next to him stretched out his long and lazy waist. Last night she stayed up late to design the drawings of a new steamboat. Now she was pulled by Li Yan to visit the steam engine production factory, so she naturally hadn't woken up yet. Li Yan looked at Yifan, who was thin, especially with two dark circles on her face. She looked a little haggard, and she felt a little unbearable at the moment.

"Yifan. Although the matter of steamboat is important, your body is more important. Remember to combine work and rest in the future. Never stay up late anymore!" Li Yan shouted with a serious look on his face. The roar of machines around him was too loud. If he didn't yell, even if he crawled in the other person's ear, the other person wouldn't hear it.

Yifan smiled and did not answer when he heard this, but pointed at the busy surroundings and said loudly: "Your Highness, see how it is built here. Can it become the most important industrial base in my Tang Dynasty in the future?"

Hearing Yifan's proud tone, Li Yan also laughed: "Yifan, the invention of the steam engine will usher in a new era, and Yifan, your name will also become a milestone. In a thousand years, others may not know who Li Yan is, but if Zhao Yifan is mentioned, it will definitely be known to everyone!"

Yifan was stunned after hearing this, but then he showed an expression of disbelief, thinking that Li Yan was joking about himself. Unfortunately, she didn't know that although Li Yan liked to joke, she was telling the truth this time. Thinking about the Watt in later generations. Just improving the steam engine has been listed as a landmark figure in the first industrial revolution. Now Yifan has invented the steam engine from nothing to something, from something to essence, and this achievement is enough to make her famous throughout the ages. Even Li Yan is not as good as her.

Seeing that Yifan didn't believe it, Li Yan didn't say much. It would be useless to spend more time explaining, and it would naturally prove that his words were correct in the future.

Li Yan looked while walking, and Yifan next to him was constantly explaining that the factory already had the atmosphere of a later machine processing factory, including drilling machines, grinding machines and other processing equipment. In fact, these processing equipment were originally available in Datang, but they were manually used, and most of them were made of wood. Now they are all made of steel, and the power is also provided by steam engines. The processing speed is several times higher than before. However, these equipment still seem very simple and still a long way to go compared to later processing equipment.

After turning a few assembly factories, Yifan took Li Yan to a top factory. The processing equipment in this factory is mainly drilling machines, mainly drilling a straight hole in the center of a solid steel rod to form a very solid steel pipe. This thing seems very simple, but it is very troublesome to do it. Because the processing equipment is not standard and the hardness of the drill bit is insufficient, the output of this steel pipe is not high, and the scrapping rate is amazing. There is only a success rate of four or five of the ten. The other ones are either drilled in the hole or the drill bit is broken into it, so they have to be used as waste.

"Your Highness, is it any use for us to drill these small steel pipes?" Yifan asked at the piles of scraps that were taller than the finished product. His two delicate long eyebrows were already frowning. Obviously, he didn't understand what Li Yan wanted these steel pipes to do. After all, with current technology, it was really difficult to make these steel pipes, and those scraps were the biggest proof.

However, after hearing this, Li Yan smiled mysteriously. He picked up a finished steel pipe and looked in front of him. He found that the hole drilled out was straight and smooth, which was indeed in line with his original requirements. Then he said to Yifan with satisfaction: "Yifan, how many such steel pipes have been produced? Have they been transported to Pili Island?"

Seeing that Li Yan did not answer his question, Yifan couldn't help rolling his eyes at him, but he still replied: "Your Highness, you asked us to produce this kind of steel pipe at any cost, so we have produced more than 4,600 pieces in total during this period, and it has been sent to Pili Island long ago."

When Li Yan heard that there were more than 4,000 pieces, he was even more happy. Although it was impossible for all these steel pipes to be made into the things he needed, it probably would have to be at least thousands. As long as you have these things, it would be no problem to sweep across Japan.

After visiting the steam engine manufacturing plant, Li Yan immediately asked Yifan to take him on a steam boat. Yifan also felt energetic. After all, this was her hard work and it was also supported by Li Yan, so he wanted Li Yan to see it for a long time.

The steam engine manufacturing plant was originally in the ship city, not far from the shipyard where the steamboat was built. Li Yan took Yifan to the shipyard quickly. There was a small dock in the shipyard, where some newly built and had not yet left. Li Yan looked around and found that there were more than a dozen ships in total. Among these dozen ships, he even saw the steam boat at a glance.

I saw that the steamship was not very big, with a head and tail of about seven feet. It was considered a medium-sized ship, and its shape was similar to that of an ordinary lucky ship. The hull was thinner and had a deeper draft. The most special thing was that there was no mast on the ship, making it even more impossible for sails to look bare on the deck, which was why Li Yan saw at a glance that it was the steamship.

At this time, the two of them also walked to the dock. Yifan pointed at the steamship that looked very narrow and long, and introduced with a proud expression: "Please look, this is the steamship made by a little girl. At that time, according to your instructions, we asked us to use the car and ship as a template. Later, we also built several sample ships. Although the effect is good, the paddle wheel outside is very easy to damage and is not efficient. Later, Your Highness, you proposed the concept of propeller. After our efforts, we finally built this kind of propeller steamship!"

"Quick! Take me up and take a look!" Li Yan said excitedly. As a later generation, he certainly knew the direction of the development of the ship. He asked Yifan to make paddle ships before and then to make such propeller ships. Although he took a little more detours, he also accumulated a lot of experience, which is worth it.

The steamboat had already received news that Li Yan was going to take a ride, so the crew on the boat were ready. Li Yan's guards first went up to take safety protection, and then Li Yan and Yifan got on the boat. Yifan turned into a guide again and took Li Yan to visit the entire boat, and even did not let go of the boiler room in the cabin.

After the visit, Li Yan immediately set sail and prepared to go out to sea on a steamboat. The goal was to be on Pili Island. He happened to have many things to deal with on the island.

Seeing Li Yan's excited look, Yifan also smiled with satisfaction. With her order, the steamship that had already risen in the fire sounded a flute, which attracted people in the shipyard to look here, and at the same time, they also showed excitement in their eyes. They also knew the strange ship on the dock that did not use sails, and even many craftsmen participated in the construction of the ship. Although these craftsmen did not know the meaning of this strange ship, their instinct and intuition as a shipbuilder made them vaguely feel that the ship was a miracle that was born in their own hands.

With a louder whistle sound, the steam boat under Li Yan's feet finally began to move, and Li Yan on the boat also clearly felt the roar of the steam engine under his feet, and then the whole ship suddenly trembled and began to slowly move forward.

When Li Yan saw that the ship had really started to accelerate slowly without sails and oars, he just nodded with satisfaction, but the royal guards who came with him all widened their eyes, holding the hilts of the knife in their hands, as if only in this way could they give them a sense of security.

Seeing the nervous look of the guards beside him, Li Yan couldn't help laughing. After saying that they could relax, he walked to the bow of the ship with Yifan, feeling that the steamship under his feet was getting faster and faster. All the ships he encountered were left behind were left far behind by them. This made Li Yan even more excited. At the same time, he had already begun to plan to build a shipyard that truly produces steamships, but this shipyard will not be built in Dengzhou anymore, but on the land he really mastered.

Pili Island is located ten miles away from the original naval army camp, not very far from the ship city. In addition, the speed of steamboats, I quickly arrived here. Yifan had also been to Pili Island before, but because the island was too confidential, she usually could only operate on the outside of the island, and she had no right to enter the real core area.

When their ships approached the only military port on Pili Island, many warships immediately surrounded Li Yan's ship, and the giant crossbows and strong bows on the ship were all ready, and it seemed that they would attack at any time. Until they saw Li Yan standing at the bow, the generals on these warships were very respectful to command the warships to leave.
Chapter completed!