Chongzhen felt that he must have been kicked in the head by a donkey before he placed the Hanyang Iron Smelting Workshop under the name of the Ministry of Household Affairs and made it a subordinate enterprise, which led to the current shortage of iron materials.
Having said that, at that time it was impossible to find anyone who knew how to smelt iron.
Well now, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has grown into a commercial behemoth and can recruit all kinds of talents, including professionals in the iron smelting industry in Foshan and Shaowu.
It is not too late to remedy the situation. Now we should change the nature of Hanyang Iron Smelting Workshop from an enterprise affiliated to the Ministry of Household Affairs to a government enterprise affiliated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and then hold a prospectus to let professional managers from Foshan and Shaowu manage Hanyang Iron Smelting
Workshop, the annual production capacity of the workshop will be expanded to 100,000 tons or even one million tons in the shortest possible time.
Otherwise, there will really not be enough iron material. A railway between Beijing and Beijing is about 1,300 kilometers long, which requires nearly 300,000 tons of iron material. How much iron material will be needed for the Yunxi Railway in the future?
The navy also wants to build ironclad ships. How much iron material will it need?
Not to mention building cannons, rifles, and various mechanical equipment.
At that moment, Chongzhen turned to Gao Qiqian and said, "Gao Qiqian, please send an urgent delivery."
Gao Qiqian quickly took out a small notebook and a writing brush from his leather bag.
"To the Cabinet: Hanyang Iron Smelting Workshop is transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the price is easy to negotiate."
It is possible to change the attributes of Hanyang Iron Smelting Workshop, but it is definitely not possible to grab it by force.
Gao Qiqian quickly recorded it and sent the urgent message to the cabinet.
At this time, the Imperial Guard soldiers guarding the dock suddenly became commotion.
Soon an officer came to Chongzhen to report that a huge navy ship was found on the river.
Chongzhen immediately took Gao Qiqi, Lu Jiude and others to the riverside. Sure enough, they saw a large warship leading a dozen smaller warships to Pukou Pier.
The leading warship is obviously larger than previous warships.
Lu Xiangjin, the commander of the Guards Brigade, made a visual inspection and said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, a two thousand material warship is not that big. I am afraid this is a new five thousand material warship built by Longjiang Shipyard."
Five thousand materials, that is, 2,500 tons.
This is already the tonnage of a frigate.
If it's bigger, it's a destroyer.
But this is nothing. As long as the problem of welding steel plates is solved, battleships with tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of tons can be built soon. By then, Ming Dynasty will stride into the era of cannons and giant ships. What about the Spanish Armada?
Bringing a British Royal Navy or a Dutch sea coachman is a waste.
However, it is not easy to solve the problem of welding steel plates on warships.
After all, warships are not components. They can be put into a furnace to be heated red and then welded.
In Chongzhen's impression, apart from oxygen acetylene welding, there is only arc welding, and in comparison, arc welding seems to be easier than oxygen acetylene.
It seemed that it was time for Boyle to start experimenting with electricity.
The benefits of electricity are self-evident. Let’s not talk about power. Electric motors can be used to replace steam engines and directly enter the electrical revolution, that is, the second industrial revolution.
The significance at the military level is even more immeasurable.
Radio alone could revolutionize Ming Dynasty's communications.
The technical difficulty of the generator is the coil, and the difficulty of the coil is the enameled wire. It seems that it is not difficult to solve as expected. Asphalt is an insulator.
However, these are just long-term plans.
For now, ironclads with wooden shells and armor are sufficient.
Wooden-hulled ironclads equipped with steam power can also crush European sailing ships.
At that moment, Chongzhen smiled and asked Lu Xiangjin and other officers: "Don't you notice that this big warship is any different from other warships behind it?"
As soon as Chongzhen said it, someone immediately discovered the difference between the two.
"Mast!" A sergeant shouted excitedly, "This big warship has no masts or sails."
"But there is an extra chimney!" Lu Xiangjin also discovered the difference, "This big warship must be equipped with a steam engine, so it does not need to rely on sails, but can be propelled by a steam engine!"
"Also, the sides of this large warship, the official hall and the battle shed are all equipped with iron armor!"
"Also, the naval gun on the bottom deck has a larger caliber. It is larger than our army's 4-inch field gun. Its caliber is probably not 5 inches."
"It's more than 5 inches, maybe 6 inches!"
Listening to the excited discussions among the officers, Chongzhen also had some expectations.
Although he was not in Nanjing for more than half a year, he paid full attention to many things that happened in Nanjing. Among them, the Gewu Science and Navy were the focus of Chongzhen's attention.
Gewu Ke is working on two things during this time.
It is also a hot rolling mill. It was originally intended to roll seamless steel pipes to make gun barrels, but because the technology of the thimble material was not up to standard, it has not been able to be made. Instead, it accidentally made a plate rolling machine for rolling steel plates.
With this plate rolling machine, it became possible for the navy to build ironclad ships.
Otherwise, it would be delusional to rely on a blacksmith to use a hammer to hammer iron ingots into iron plates, and then use them to make external armor for warships. Even using a forging press powered by a steam engine to forge iron plates would not work because of the inefficiency of producing iron plates.
If it is too low, low efficiency will inevitably lead to high prices, and the navy cannot afford to spend it no matter how rich it is.
Even if there is a plate rolling machine, the cost is probably not low.
The 5,000-material wooden hull had actually been built before the Northern Expedition.
For the sake of safety, the first steam-powered ship used an old ship with 2,000 materials that was about to be scrapped.
But now it seems that the steam power test was so successful that Zheng Zhilong and Ge Wuke directly installed the steam engine and iron armor on the newly built 5,000-material warship in one step.
The second thing Chongzhen paid attention to was the 6-inch naval gun.
6 inches is 192 mm. This caliber is definitely a giant cannon.
A 192 mm diameter solid iron bullet weighs almost 50 kilograms, and the gunpowder has to be loaded with 12 kilograms.
Moreover, this 6-inch ship model newly developed by Gewuke has a revolutionary technical innovation, that is, a wedge-type breech block is added to the rear of the gun, and the front-loading gun becomes a rear-loading gun.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! In the near future, 4-inch field guns and 2.5-inch mountain guns will become rear-loading guns.
While Chongzhen was thinking about it, the five-thousand-material ship was already moored at the berth of Pukou Pier. Then the gangway was lowered and Zheng Zhilong walked down quickly with a dozen naval generals.
Zheng Zhilong's face was red and he looked very excited.
"Your Majesty, is this giant armored ship majestic enough?"
"Weifeng, it's so impressive. Duke of Fujian, thank you for your hard work."
"It's nothing wrong with me, Mr. Fang and Mr. Song from the Gewu Department are really hardworking."
When talking about Fang Yizhi and Song Yingxing, Zheng Zhilong's face showed a look of reverence unconsciously.
In the past, although Zheng Zhilong also respected scholars, it was just respect. But now, scholars with real abilities such as Yi Zhi and Song Yingxing have risen to the level of respect.
The reason is also very simple. Zheng Zhilong saw with his own eyes the subversive changes that Fang Yizhi and Song Yingxing brought to the navy.
Steam engines provide power to help warships get rid of the constraints of wind, increase the caliber of cannons to 6 inches, and transform them from front-loading to rear-loading. This is something that is really unimaginable.
These are all the huge changes brought to the Navy by Gewu Ke.
Chongzhen asked: "Are Fang Yizhi and Song Yingxing here?"
"The two gentlemen said that they are busy with work and really can't get away."
Zheng Zhilong smiled and said: "If you want to see them, please go to the Gewu Department."
Hearing this, Chongzhen was not angry, but felt happy. This is the true way of doing things.
If any leader comes to inspect, he rushes to greet him, and then accompanies him throughout the tour and explains, then how can he calm down and do his work? He is just thinking about being a tour guide.
Chongzhen immediately boarded the five thousand material ship accompanied by Zheng Zhilong.
Zheng Zhilong first pointed to the thick armor and said: "Your Majesty, the thickness of this ship's armor is 3.5 inches. After the armor, there is a layer of 7-inch thick mulberry wood board. The armor alone weighs four to five hundred tons!"
"So heavy?" Chongzhen asked, "Can it withstand direct fire from a 4-inch field gun?"
"Then it depends on the ammunition loaded." Zheng Zhilong said, "I have tried it. If you load black powder, even if it is fired directly at a very close range, it will not penetrate. At most, it will make a big dent, because the mulberry board behind the armor
It is elastic and can absorb the impact force of cannonballs to a great extent, so it can withstand it."
Chongzhen asked: "What if nitrocellulose gunpowder is used?"
"Then it's really unbearable." Zheng Zhilong said helplessly, "One shot can penetrate the armor from five hundred steps away."
Chongzhen said in his heart that except for the Ming Dynasty, no country in the world could have nitrocellulose gunpowder. It would be enough if it could withstand 4-inch caliber black powder shells.
"It cost a lot to build this ironclad ship, didn't it?"
"The money is indeed spent. The armored ship alone cost nearly 2 million, and the 16 6-inch guns and 48 4-inch guns equipped on the ship cost more than 800,000."
"More than 800,000?" Chongzhen was stunned when he heard this, "Is it so expensive?"
64 cannons, more than 800,000, doesn’t the average cost of each cannon be more than 10,000?
I remember that when we first started making cannons, the cost of a 4-inch cannon was only 500 taels of silver. This price increase was too drastic.
Zheng Zhilong said: "Didn't this change the front loading to rear loading? What kind of gun bolts were added? And guide rails were installed on the third deck, as well as other devices, so the price went up."
That's right, the scientific research funds are included in the cost of building this ironclad ship and naval guns.
"That one is not called the gun bolt, it's called the gun block, and the one on the deck is called the reentry device." Chongzhen said angrily.
"Yes, yes, it's called the breech block and the re-entry device." Zheng Zhilong scratched his head and said with a smile, "I always forget it."
After saying this, Zheng Zhilong smiled and said: "Your Majesty, this armored ship has not been named yet. How about you give it a name?"
Chongzhen pondered for a moment and then said: "This is the first iron-clad ship of our Ming Dynasty. It deserves a resounding name. Who is the most powerful naval general in Chinese history?"
Zheng Zhilong said: "That must be Zhou Yu who burned Red Cliff."
"Just Zhou Yu." Chongzhen said, "Let's call him Zhou Yu."
