As for how many loopholes there are in this matter...
In fact, no one will care!
As long as things are logical and logical on the surface and can be explained to them, no one will really want to be serious with Zhu Hongyu.
Thinking about these messy things, Zhu Hongyu took a deep breath, and then gave instructions to the personal eunuch beside him.
"I want to personally attend the first operational test of the steam ironclad ship. Please order someone to arrange the preparations!"
"I want to witness with my own eyes the heroic appearance of the world's first steam ironclad ship!"
Compared to the intrigues in the political arena, Zhu Hongyu is obviously more interested in climbing the technological tree.
…
On the third day of July in the second year of the Ming Dynasty's restoration, the pier on the bank of the Yangtze River was bustling with people.
A section of the Yangtze River outside Nanjing was designated a no-navigation zone by the imperial court.
For a period of time, all commercial ships, civilian ships, and official ships are prohibited from navigation.
The court's propaganda to the outside world was that it would conduct experiments on launching new ships here.
Many Ming Dynasty people who had nothing to do and were interested in this came to the dock and the bank of the Yangtze River on this day, ready to join in the fun.
Take a look at what the new type of ship the imperial court talks about looks like!
Zhu Hongyu also arrived at the dock on the bank of the Yangtze River early. After the soldiers of the Imperial Guard took over the defense of the dock, Zhu Hongyu arrived at the bank of the Yangtze River.
He stood on the dock, quietly waiting for the experiment to begin.
Wang An, the head of the Ming Royal Research Institute, Lao Liu Tou, the head of the Ming Arms Factory, Li Xu, the head of the Longjiang Bao Shipyard, and others all stood beside Zhu Hongyu in a very difficult situation.
This steam ironclad research project was jointly carried out by the three parties!
The research institute is responsible for technical research, the arsenal is responsible for the hull structure design, and the Longjiang Bao Shipyard is responsible for the casting of shipbuilding materials, as well as the final hull assembly and outfitting.
Now that the results are about to come out, there is no room for them not to be nervous.
Zhu Hongyu stood on the dock, holding a detailed plan for the experiment in his hand.
This plan book records the relevant data of this experiment in detail.
Including the tonnage of the ship, the power of the marine steam engine, the speed of the ship, the gun emplacements equipped on the ship, the thickness of the armor, etc...
In fact, strictly speaking, the current armored steamship of the Ming Dynasty cannot be regarded as a real armored steamship.
Because most of the hull structure of this ship is only made of wood.
It's just that the outside of the ship is covered with a not-so-thin iron plate for protective armor.
In addition, some important components of the ship were replaced with steel, making the overall structural strength of the ship far stronger than that of traditional sailing battleships.
Moreover, there is also a problem with the power system of this sailing battleship!
Due to the performance issues of the steam engine, this steam warship is not actually powered by pure steam!
But a sail-plane hybrid!
There are also sails on the boat.
The steam unit is generally not used, and at most it is used as auxiliary power.
Or in wartime, steam units can be used to replace sail power, so that Ming warships can get rid of the dependence of warship power on sails.
Use more flexible naval combat tactics!
In fact, historically, when steam engines were first applied to ships, they were only used as auxiliary power.
The reason why the Ming Dynasty is like this is not because Zhu Hongyu doesn't want real steam armored ships.
But the current shipbuilding technology of the Ming Dynasty is not up to standard, and the technology of steam engines is also inferior.
At present, we can only build such a steam iron-clad ship with half a bucket of water first, and use it to accumulate technology in the early stage.
If you don't first build a few steam iron-framed ships with half buckets of water, then directly build a real steam iron-framed ship, it is easy to go too far and cause damage.
It’s better to be on the safe side!
Zhu Hongyu didn't have to wait long before the steam ironclad ship with half a bucket of water slowly sailed out of the shipyard.
The ship's sails were fully stretched, and black smoke was billowing from the chimney.
The sun pierced through the clouds and shone on the steam armored hull. The armor on the hull reflected the sunlight.
The gun windows on the side of the ship opened, revealing the black muzzles of the guns.
Even on the deck of the ship, there are several gun positions installed.
These gun emplacements are covered with a layer of iron plates for protection. They are more like turrets than gun emplacements.
It’s still that rotating turret!
The bottom of the turret is connected to the steam engine unit that provides power to the ship. The steam engine can be used to drive the heavy turret to adjust the shooting elements.
This design is beyond its time!
On the bank of the Yangtze River, people looked towards the steam iron-clad ship in the middle of the Yangtze River.
Seeing the steam armored ship swimming freely in the Yangtze River, countless people could not help but exclaim.
"Oh my god, oh my god!"
"Iron ship, this ship is really an iron ship. It reflects the sunlight, so it can't be fake!"
"The imperial court actually built an iron ship!"
"Iron can also be used to build ships? This is really incredible!"
"The iron ship is still smoking, it's so amazing!"
"..."
Under everyone's gaze, the steam ironclad ship actually lowered its sails.
Then, what happened next was beyond the understanding of many people.
After the sails were lowered, the steam ironclad ship was still moving, even faster and faster.
Moreover, this steam ironclad ship is still going upstream!
White waves kept appearing at the stern of the boat, as if something was churning underwater.
That’s the scene caused by the propeller spinning underwater!
"This...what is going on? How come the ship can continue to move even though the sails are lowered?"
"It's amazing, it's really amazing!"
"Oh my god, it's not like the Dragon Prince has received the imperial edict and is pushing the boat in the river, right?"
"..."
Although to the people of Ming Dynasty today, the existence of steam engines is not a secret.
However, not many people can associate steam engines with steam ironclad ships the moment they see a steam ironclad ship.
Some Ming Dynasty people who were relatively feudal and superstitious even associated the scene in front of them with the legendary Dragon King.
And he also added some scenes to Zhu Hongyu who was watching the fun!
Chester, a businessman from England, stood in the crowd, looking at the steam armored ship on the river, and kept saying oh buy it, oh buy it!
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It can be seen that he is now so shocked that he is speechless!
"God, this is incredible! It's amazing!"
"The amazing Chinese people, how on earth do they do it!"