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Chapter 741: The Prelude to the End of the Age of Sail

The group of companions around him all behaved as if they had not seen the world.

Everything they saw and heard after arriving in Daming shocked them extremely!

Steam engines, concrete roads, railways, telegraphs, electric lights...

These new things that were unheard of before are now appearing in large numbers in Ming Dynasty, so everything is extremely magical!

People here dress well, always have smiles on their faces, and behave very politely. There are many literate people, and there are not even beggars on the streets of the city.

The city seems to be spotlessly clean.

Hunger, poverty, chaos, plague, war...these bad words seem to have nothing to do with this great country!

When they came to Daming, they felt like they were in heaven!

Everything here is covered with a filter in their eyes.

Especially when they arrived in Nanjing, and when they learned that there were two to three million people living in Nanjing, the expressions on their faces were full of disbelief.

In a city where two to three million people live, there is no smell of feces or urine, there is no garbage on the streets, and there are not even poor people wearing ragged clothes...

This is really unbelievable!

You know, in this era, the population of Paris and London may not exceed 100,000, but the urban environment can be called the smell of shit!

The streets were full of stagnant water, garbage, and ragged beggars and poor people.

It is in stark contrast to the neat, clean and civilized Nanjing of the Ming Dynasty now!

Especially when they knew that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty actually wanted to implement compulsory education in his capital, a city where two to three million people lived.

After every child of appropriate age can enter school and study!

They firmly believe that this is paradise on earth.

You know, in Europe of this era, education is the privilege of the nobility!

But in Nanjing, everyone can attend school for free and have the opportunity to receive education, regardless of class or status.

This is really incredible!

Is this the greatness of the King of the East?

No wonder they have almost unlimited power.

Looking at the steam armored ship casually swimming on the Yangtze River, after retiring from the Royal Navy, Chester now makes a living as a merchant or pirate. The expression on his face is not only shocked, but also solemn.

.

[To be honest, I have been using the Huanyuan app recently to read and catch up on new books. It allows me to switch between sources and read aloud with many sounds. .huanyuanapp is available for Android and Apple.]

Because, just standing here, looking at the steam armored ship dragging up the river, he seemed to be able to see the world's naval battle situation, the situation that was changed by the steam armored ship...

From today on, the British Empire’s advantage on the sea will no longer exist!

He could even imagine what the future naval battle would look like.

If the Ming Dynasty and Great Britain went to war, Great Britain's Royal Navy would still try their best to seize the upper hand and seize the "T".

As a result, the Ming Dynasty's naval fleet relied directly on its armored shell and the maneuverability of its steamships to rush in front of the Royal Navy fleet of the British Empire.

Then give the British Empire’s Royal Navy a round of love!

"This is so not elegant at all!"

Chester couldn't help but say something.

He knew that from now on, wind power would no longer be the decisive factor on the battlefield!

The era of sailing seems to have just begun and is about to end...



Zhu Hongyu held a telescope in his hand, looking at the steam armored ship on the river, and asked Wang An beside him.

"How are the ship tonnage and speed statistics?"

Wang An cupped his fists and said.

"Your Majesty, this steam ironclad can reach an average speed of fourteen knots using steam power when the sails are fully set and the wind is smooth."

"The speed of the ship will fluctuate depending on the size of the wind and waves!"

When Zhu Hongyu heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up.

Even though the speed of fourteen knots seems inconspicuous, some merchant ships in later generations could easily achieve it.

But that’s for the hereafter!

There is absolutely no comparison between the technical conditions of later generations and today!

Zhu Hongyu is already quite satisfied with being able to reach a speed of fourteen knots in this era.

Zhu Hongyu nodded with satisfaction, and then continued to ask.

"What is the tonnage of the ship? How many gun emplacements are there?"

Wang An opened his mouth to explain everything in Zhu Hongyu's ear.

"This experimental steam ironclad ship has a tonnage of 600 tons and has thirty-seven gun positions!"

"There are thirty-two side gun emplacements and five rotatable turrets on the deck!"

"The largest caliber artillery among them is the 40-pound heavy cannon!"

"Solid bullets, sparkling bullets, incendiary bullets, shotgun shells...and many other types of shells can be used!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Hongyu nodded again and said.

"Well done, I'm very satisfied!"

After Zhu Hongyu pondered for a while, he opened his mouth and gave instructions.

"Order people to make preparations to transform Ming Dynasty's existing fleet ships into steam-iron armors!"

"When the Ming Dynasty's shipyards have accumulated enough relevant experience and technology in the process of transforming the fleet into steam armored ships, let's start large-scale construction of steam ironclad ships!"

"I hope that what I can see by then is a real steam ironclad!"

"Instead of the half bucket of water now!"

After Zhu Hongyu finished speaking, everyone around him agreed in unison.

After the test of the steam ironclad ship was over, Zhu Hongyu led the team back to the palace.

For the Ming Dynasty's existing fleet to be transformed into steam-armored ships, that is, to add steam engines and iron armor to the Ming Dynasty's existing ships.

Instead of simply building a new steam ironclad!

Zhu Hongyu had thought deeply about this matter.

There are many purposes and reasons, but in the final analysis, the problem still lies in the current inadequate technology of Ming Dynasty.

If Zhu Hongyu now asks Ming Dynasty to build steam ironclads, he can barely build them.

However, the performance parameters cannot be guaranteed at all!

Performance parameters cannot be guaranteed, which means that on the battlefield, the combat effectiveness of warships cannot be guaranteed.

If the combat effectiveness cannot be guaranteed, it is better not to build it!

Therefore, for Zhu Hongyu, instead of expending all his efforts and resources, he will now start the shipbuilding plan of the steam armored ship.

It is better to transform the existing fleet into steam armor first, so that sufficient technology can be accumulated in the process!

By the way, you can also look forward to technological breakthroughs from the research institute!

Once the shipbuilding technology is almost accumulated and the research institute's technology has achieved a breakthrough, there is no rush to start a large-scale shipbuilding wave.

Anyway, judging from the current situation, although the Ming Dynasty's navy is unable to expand west of Malacca!

However, if you want to guard the three-thirds of an acre of land in front of your home, there is still no problem!

Arrogant?

No, this is confidence!

This is the absolute confidence brought about by the Celestial Kingdom for thousands of years!

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