March is entering, spring is warm, flowers are blooming, and rivers are thawing.
After staying in Nanjing for several months, the Zhang family finally set off to return to Beijing. This time the whole family came to Nanjing to live for such a long time. Although the customs, scenery and historical sites in the capital were very good, but
After all, we have a good family. In February, my wife and concubines were talking about the benefits of the capital at the mahjong table.
Naturally, Zhang Yanling had to return to Beijing to resume his duties. Although the matter at the Bao Shipyard was compromised and reported to Zhu Houzhao, the specific situation still needed to be explained in person.
Moreover, it seems that the warships are about to become large-scale. At the current speed, within half a year at most, the goal of a fleet of ten armored warships will be completed. And the next step is to set sail and go to sea.
Before that, the scale of the naval force to be formed, the generals to lead the army, the preparation of grain, grass, supplies and ammunition, and the impending policy to encourage sericulture, tea, silk, textile and ceramic manufacturing to be implemented to the court must also be put on the agenda. These must be put on the agenda.
They are all coherent. Once the maritime trade route is opened, subsequent trade will have to be carried out. Otherwise, if the trade route is opened, but it cannot benefit the people, it will be of little significance.
Sericulture is not a temporary success. The existing sericulture and silk industry can only be self-sufficient. Once exported, large quantities of products will be needed. By then, there will be no rush to plant mulberry trees. The same is true for tea. Spring is not here now.
Encourage the planting of mulberry trees and tea trees. When the trade roads are opened next year and a large amount of tea and silk are needed for trade, we can only stare.
There are many things that need to be thought about. Zhang Yanling must supervise and supervise himself. It is impossible to rely on the court to take the initiative. In this matter, the foreign court is not active, it just does not object. It is expected that the foreign court will take the initiative to propose policies and encouragement.
Planting mulberry and raising silkworms to encourage tea trees is probably in vain.
In addition, the fleet going to sea is a major event. Zhang Yanling must report something to Zhu Houzhao. Once it goes to sea, it means fighting with various armies, and it is inevitable that the war will be raging. This must be endorsed by Zhu Houzhao, and he
I must also tell Zhu Houzhao that the process of opening trade routes will be accompanied by killing and bloodshed, and I don't want anyone in the DPRK to talk about such a thing in the future.
After the Xingchen returned from its trial voyage, Zhang Yanling decided to take the Xingchen iron-clad ship back to the capital by water. In view of the fact that some parts of the Grand Canal might be impassable, he simply decided to go out to sea from the Yangtze River, go north by sea, arrive at Tianjin Wei Bohai Terminal, and then return to the city.
Initially, everyone was worried that so many people, horses and vehicles would not be able to fit in. As a result, after boarding the ship at the dock of the shipyard, they saw the dark crowd of people and horses filing in. Only when the ship swallowed up all the supplies of everyone, horses and horses like a giant beast, did everyone realize.
How big is this ship?
This is a super giant ship that is about 150 meters long and 60 meters wide when converted in meters. It is the same size as the largest treasure ship of Sanbao Eunuch, with a full load displacement of more than 3,000 tons.
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Although this is not a cargo ship specially designed to carry heavy loads, the load capacity of such a large ship should be between 800 tons and thousands of tons. And it has four levels of cabins, each of which can accommodate hundreds of people and carry hundreds of goods.
It's a lot of tons. No matter in terms of space or load capacity, it's more than enough to accommodate five hundred men and horses and everyone in the Zhang family.
Of course, not everyone wants to return to Beijing. The shipyard left a hundred cavalry as guards to maintain the safety of the shipyard. Xu Gao also stayed. He is the promotion officer of the shipyard, and he is needed for things here.
Staring. On the contrary, the arsenal was running on track, so he didn't need to worry too much. However, Zhang Yanling knew that this would make Xu Gao very hard and take up a lot of his research and development time, so he felt a little sorry.
However, when Xu Gao was consulted for his opinion, Xu Gao didn't seem to care. In his opinion, it was exciting for him that he could be reused and participate in the process of this great thing. He just told Xu Youtang that the arsenal
You cannot relax about things and need to keep an eye on them from time to time.
In addition, after returning, my wife will be sent to Nanjing, and she cannot be left alone in Wild Dog Ridge. Besides, Nanjing is much more livable than the capital. The winter weather and scenery alone cannot be compared to the capital.
On March 20, under the farewell of Nanjing officials and everyone at the shipyard, the ship Xingchen weighed anchor and sailed eastward along the Yangtze River channel, heading straight for the sea.
Such a large ship sailed on the Yangtze River, attracting countless eyeballs along the way. Countless people on the shore watched and cheered, and were very excited. The iron-clad treasure ship held its animal head high, chopping the waves, and sailed down the river at a very fast speed.
The ship sailed smoothly and comfortably. When Zhang Yanling took his eldest son Zhang Yi for a walk on the deck, the young man, who had just learned to walk, was running around and playing as if he were on land. If Xu Wanyi hadn't been worried about the edges and corners on the ship,
If he is afraid of falling, he can run from the bow to the stern.
The nearly 600-700-mile waterway journey from a section of the Yangtze River in Nanjing to the mouth of the sea took less than three days as the warships sailed day and night. On average, the daily voyage was more than 200 miles, which was not unpleasant.
This was the result of relying solely on currents and manpower when the east wind was picking up and the sails of the big ship were useless.
I have to say that Zhang Yanling's eye-opening experience was really opened up by the rotating boat paddles with many people rowing that he had seen before.
When the speed of a large ship is not fast enough, a dozen long ropes on each side are the guarantee of speed. This kind of long rope can usually be pulled up by the crankshaft when it is penetrated deep into the water, and can be hung on the outer side of the ship. Once necessary, it can be lowered by the crankshaft.
After getting into the water, a group of five people shake the Changlu, and the blades of the Changlu rotate in the water like a propeller. The propulsion efficiency is breathtaking.
The wisdom of the ancients is truly amazing. The design of this long rope must have been the invention of a skilled craftsman. In the era before steam engines, manpower and wind were the main driving forces of ships. The innovation in this regard lies in this rotating long rope.
Luzhong reached the extreme.
The warship left the Yangtze River Estuary and entered the East China Sea. None of the girls had ever seen the sea. When the ship entered the sea on the morning of the 24th, everyone in the Zhang family rushed to the deck to watch the sea. It was a sunny day and the sea was calm. Look.
Looking at the vast sea, the tall white sails, and the seagulls flying around the ships. It is really refreshing and a wonderful sight.
Zhang Yanling was very happy when she saw how happy her wives and concubines were. She felt like she was taking her wives and concubines on a yacht to go on vacation on the sea. Moreover, this big boat was much more majestic than the yacht.
In the evening of that day, everyone held a family dinner on the front deck. Everyone sat on the deck to enjoy the night sea view and enjoy the food.
Although it was the end of the month, there was only a waning moon and it had just risen. But Xu Wanyi was also full of interest, and his artistic cells began to stir again. This time, instead of writing poems, he let the piano play a song "Spring River Flowers and Moonlight Night" to add to the fun.
Qin Ming's piano skills are quite good, and he played the song "Spring River Flowers on a Moonlit Night" very exquisitely. Xu Wanyi was beside him and recited verses in time.
"The tide of the spring river reaches the level of the sea, and the bright moon on the sea rises with the tide..."
The girls were infected by her emotions and all shook their heads.
At the end of the song, everyone applauded and laughed. The soldiers on the ship also cheered loudly and applauded, which was very comfortable. But Zhang Yanling said something that was unpleasant to the scenery.
"Where is the bright moon? The sea is pitch black. If you sing it when the moon is full, it will be quite artistic. When you sing it at this time, some donkey heads are wrong."
Xu Wan stood up with her hands on her hips angrily and said angrily: "You don't know elegance and are reckless. You are really a rough man. I have nothing to say to you. What artistic conception and rhythm do you know? It's really irritating."
"That is, if you are able, the Duke of the State would also play a piece of music?" Qin Ming also rolled his eyes and asked.
Zhang Yanling laughed and said: "I will just sing a song, so I can apologize to Wanyi and cheer you up."
Everyone was shocked. They had seen Zhang Yanling write poetry and Zhang Yanling was arty, but they had never seen Zhang Yanling sing music. This was the first time that the Duke of the country sang music.
"My lord, can you sing?" Chen Shiyi came up and smiled.
Zhang Yanling said: "What? You don't believe it?"
Chen Shi coughed and said in a low voice: "The humble position means that the songs you know cannot be sung here. What the Duke can sing is nothing more than some little songs there. In public, the county The Lord and your ladies are here, so you can’t sing randomly.”
Chen Shiyi's voice was not high, but everyone who was gathered around could hear it clearly. Xu Wanyi heard the words and said hurriedly: "Husband, please don't sing randomly. After drinking a few glasses of wine, don't lose your composure." .”
Zhang Yanling waved her hands and said, "What are you thinking? I know a lot of serious songs. And they are ones you haven't heard before. I just composed them today."
"That's strange. Did you just compose it? When? Why haven't we seen you composing it?" Zhu Qingyi asked with a smile.
Zhang Yanling said: "Is it difficult to compose music? You can do it just by humming in your stomach. Do you still have to hum and haha for a long time? Today during the day, I felt the seagulls flying in the blue sea and blue sky. Seeing you happy, I feel the same. Since then, I have become very popular and composed this song. Princess Qingyi, you play the pipa well, please accompany me and I will show you my embarrassment."
Zhu Qingyi smiled and nodded, and ordered Caiyun to bring the pipa, but said: "What cipai? What tune?"
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "You can sing along with me and do whatever you want. Do you understand the accompaniment? It's just a foil."
Zhu Qingyi was speechless and could only nod.
Zhang Yanling stood up, raised his hands to the sky, coughed, and put on all his posture. Everyone found it funny, and they all thought that Zhang Yanling was just trying to make everyone happy, rather than actually composing any music.
Suddenly I heard Zhang Yanling singing loudly: "The sea laughs..."
Everyone was frightened. Zhu Qingyi shook his hands, and the pipa played the sound of gold and stone. I thought that based on this sentence, this song must be a desolate and powerful song. But I heard Zhang Yanling's clear voice and continued to sing briskly:
White clouds are floating and green water is swaying,
The world is so happy.
Free wind and free bird,
Today’s laughter.
What joy, how wonderful,
How incredible.
Sing your song and sing my tune.
Sing all the happiness in the world.
Today’s laughter.
My heart is floating and my body is shaking.
Sing my happy tune.
Happy people sing happy songs.
The sound was all laughter.
Smile and watch the tide.
The world is so free.
Today’s laughter.
What joy. How wonderful.
How incredible.
…
Zhu Qingyi quickly followed his tune and played a pipa song extremely briskly, followed by Zhang Yanling's relaxed and unrestrained lyrics and melody, which worked perfectly together.
Everyone was still in disbelief at first, but after listening to Zhang Yanling's song, they burst into applause and cheered loudly.