You can hear the banging sound coming from the shipyard far away.
Passing through the ruins of the old city of Jiangzhou, a new shipyard was built in Jinghu Lake to the west.
The hydrological conditions here were originally not suitable for a shipyard.
As a result, due to the earthquake, the water channel changed and the terrain rose and fell.
A natural deep-water port has actually been formed here.
Although the original waterway from Jinghu Lake to the Yangtze River was blocked due to the earthquake...
After Ma Cheng had people dredge the waterway, he established the Jiangzhou Shipyard in Jinghu.
The main task of the shipyard is to repair, transform and manufacture various types of ships.
It is an important logistical support force for the water transport yamen.
The technical backbone of the shipyard are the boatmen and their families brought back by Jiang Ning.
After these people arrived in Jiangzhou, Song Yang and Ma Cheng had been considering their resettlement.
Until a deep-water port was discovered here and a shipyard was planned.
However, during the autumn harvest some time ago, all the workers were brought to do farm work.
After the autumn harvest, they were sent to work in the newly built shipyard.
At this stage, due to the lack of suitable wood, Jiangzhou Shipyard can only carry out repairs and renovations, but cannot build ships.
But even so, it also provides important guarantee for the work of the water transport yamen.
During the rainy season this summer, four ships of the Water Transport Yamen were damaged, and one of the warships even hit a reef and almost sank.
Recently, Ma Chenggong was leading the shipwrights to repair the ship, so he was so busy all day that no one was seen.
"Lao Ma, Lao Ma. Come on!"
Song Yang came to the shipyard and saw Ma Cheng on the warship ahead from a distance. He greeted Ma Cheng twice before he heard him.
"Your Majesty, you are here." Ma Cheng ran over quickly.
"Yeah. There's good news." Song Yang had a smile on his face.
"What good news?" Ma Cheng looked curious.
Song Yang came over personally to tell Ma Cheng that the steam engine had achieved some results.
"It's done?" Ma Cheng said with hope.
Some time ago, Song Yang described to him the general purpose of a steam engine, and said that it could be used to row boats when installed on a ship.
So Ma Chengye has always been thinking about steam engines.
"The prototype is ready. Master Wang is working on the final machine. It should be ready in a month or two."
"This king comes to you this time to ask you to modify the ship first."
There are now three more ships in Jiangzhou, two large ships were found before, and a smaller one was brought back from Xuanzhou by Ma Cheng.
No one at Liu Min knew how to drive a ship, so it was left in the dock.
After Ma Cheng saw it, he asked Liu Min to come over.
Speaking of Liu Min, his correspondence with Song Yang has never been interrupted.
A letter comes almost every month, reporting on the situation in Xuanzhou and the war in Jiangning.
The autumn harvest in Xuanzhou is also going relatively smoothly, and the grain reserves are sufficient to last until next year.
He also sent 20,000 stones of food and grass to Peng Ze.
Since Liu Min completely surrendered to Song Yang, he himself has not been to Jiangzhou.
But it did not delay Song Yang's communication with him.
After learning that Peng Ze was short of food, Liu Min gave Peng Ze support.
It can also be regarded as a kind of loyalty to Song Yang.
In addition, in addition to food, the population of Pengze also increased significantly. Because the two kings of Runzhou and Suzhou were at war, many refugees from the two places poured into Xuanzhou.
In addition, there are also many people from Jiangbei and Huainan Road crossing south.
The population of Xuanzhou also exceeds 100,000.
It can be said that the population within Song Yang's sphere of influence is second only to Jiangzhou.
Liu Min said that during the Chinese New Year this year, he would come to Jiangzhou to meet Song Yang.
Of course Song Yang readily agreed.
As for the war, as of now, the war in Jiangning is coming to an end.
It’s not that one side will win or lose, but it’s really evenly matched and no one can do anything to the other.
Both sides are ready to call a truce.
According to the Clippers' exploration, Qian Guangzhi from Jiangbei has evacuated.
It is estimated that the war in Jiangning will stop soon.
Liu Min asked Song Yang how he treated the Jiangning regime.
Song Yang just replied to Liu Min: "He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world."
Just this sentence made Liu Min more determined to follow Song Yang.
Jiang Ning could just refuse to cooperate.
In fact, King Runzhou in Jiangning City no longer plans to expand his sphere of influence westward.
Because Taishi Gao Liangping always persuaded him to focus on running Runzhou, Changzhou and Yangzhou in Jiangbei.
King Runzhou thought about it and realized that his position was unfair and he was indeed inferior to Song Yang in terms of legal system.
Since Song Yang is still alive, he should give up the throne.
King Runzhou didn't want to give up the throne, so he pretended not to know that Song Yang was still alive.
I simply listened to Gao Liangping's suggestion and did not plan to expand to the west.
He planned to keep Liu Min there to prevent Song Yang from directly infiltrating Jiangning.
In this way, Xuanzhou under Liu Min's jurisdiction became a buffer zone between the Jiangning regime and Jiangzhou power groups.
Of course, Liu Min had actually defected to Song Yang, but King Runzhou didn't know it.
Unknown to him, even Gao Liangping secretly began to help Song Yang divert Jiang Ning's attention.
Because Gao Junyan's letter had already described Song Yang and Jiangzhou as the place where the destined hero Longxing...
Having said that, Song Yang asked Ma Cheng to modify the ship.
Ma Cheng immediately suggested changing the smaller one.
After all, it wouldn’t be a pity to replace the small one, but the big one can still be used.
Song Yang actually had the same plan.
"Then change to a smaller one. Let's go and see where we need to move." Song Yang nodded and pointed to the small ship parked on the shore in front.
It just so happens that there is something wrong with the rudder of this small ship and it is waiting to be repaired.
"Your Majesty, please wait a moment. I'm going to find a master." Ma Cheng said hello and went to the warship he had just disembarked from.
The warship was the one that hit the rocks. The hole was repaired just a few days ago, and repair work such as internal reinforcement is being done these days.
"The common man Yang Baihei has met the prince. The prince is a thousand years old."
Ma Cheng brought a middle-aged boatman from the boat. When he saw Song Yang, he kowtowed and saluted.
People's names are always so simple and unpretentious, Yang Baihei...
Simple and easy to remember.
Yang Baihei has the highest status among this group of boatmen. He was the big engineer when he was in Jiangning.
Technically there is nothing to say, just let him go and take a look.
"Old Yang, please forgive me." Song Yang made Yang Bai feel angry.
The boatmen had actually met Song Yang once, but that time was during the autumn harvest, and Song Yang only gave them a few words of encouragement.
They didn't know Song Yang's specific personality, so they were still cautious when meeting Song Yang this time.
"Old Yang, Your Majesty wants to renovate that small steamer. You can go and have a look." Ma Cheng pointed at the small steamer.
"Yes." Yang Baihei didn't talk nonsense and just nodded with his fists clasped.
A group of people got on the small ship. This ship has five wheels, two on each side and one at the stern.
The hull is only about fifteen meters, and the width is three to four meters.
There were two workers on the boat adjusting the rudder.
Seeing Song Yang and his entourage approaching, he came over to salute hurriedly.
"You are busy with your own business, I just want to take a look."
After dismissing the workers, Ma Cheng took everyone into the power cabin.
The overall structure is the same as that of a large ship, but the model is smaller.
Song Yang searched through the blueprints of the ship in his mind, but unfortunately there was no one suitable for the modification of this ship.
It seems that I can only exert myself.
"Just leave one of the two transmission shafts. The rear one can be directly converted into a tail rudder. There is no need to install a water wheel." Song Yang pointed in the power cabin with Yang Baihei.
"If the prince changes it like this, it may lead to lack of motivation..." Yang Baihei said with some embarrassment.
He didn't know about the steam engine. If it were still driven by human power, it would be difficult for such an improved ship to move.
"Don't worry, the power has been upgraded this time. Just change it according to the prince's instructions." Ma Cheng said with a smile.
By the way, he also explained the steam engine to Yang Baihei.
Yang Baihei was stunned for a moment.
I never thought in my life that any machine could move on its own.
However, both the prince and Manager Ma said so, and he could not refute it. He could only record the transformation plan that Song Yang said.
Based on the overall plan proposed by Song Yang, combined with his own experience, he provides some experience in upgrades and adjustments.
Everything from the waterwheel, drive shaft to rudder must be adjusted.
Back in the cockpit, Song Yang asked the two workers to stop what they were doing and not to repair it yet.
Anyway, they have to be dismantled and replaced with new ones.
The two workers were speechless for a while. When we got on the boat just now, you asked us to do our own thing! Has this changed?
Okay, you are the prince, you have the final say!
"Roughly speaking, these places need to be moved, and we can start cleaning them up when we have some free time recently."
"Blacksmith Wang estimates that it will take a month or two to make the steam engine, and it will also need to be upgraded and improved. It will be good if it can be proven to be put into use within three months."
"You can calculate your own time here. The first complete machine will be put on board for use when the time comes."
Back on the deck, Song Yang gave instructions to Ma Cheng and Yang Baihei.
The reason why the first steam engine was used on ships was because of the current situation, it seemed that only ships could use it.
Although steam engines can also be used in textile mills, the corresponding machines also need to be adjusted.
So it is better to put the steam engine on the ship and use it as a trial operation.
If the effect is good, steam shipping will be faster and more convenient for transporting coal, iron ore.
At that time, the steam engine that will be adjusted according to the actual usage will definitely be more perfect.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. There is plenty of time. If you tell me, the changes you want to make can be done in a month at most."
Yang Baihei didn't know much about ship modification and his familiarity with it. He could get an approximate construction period by just calculating it.
"Okay. After the modification is completed, let me know. Then we will see what needs to be adjusted." Song Yang nodded.
The refitting of the ship is almost done haphazardly, and it is unlikely that it will be completed in one step.
It is normal to change a little and look a little.
"Your Majesty, Master Wang is working on a steam engine. Over there with the Tiger Crouching Cannon..."
After getting off the small ship, Ma Cheng picked up the Crouching Tiger Cannon.
He was still thinking about the Crouching Tiger Cannon aboard the ship.
"Leave it to Wang Jinyu. Their apprentices can also do it. Don't worry, the Tiger Crouching Cannon is not a difficult thing. Once the mold is made, it can be mass-produced."
"I'll give you ten of them after I build them!"
Song Yang smiled and said to the anxious Ma Cheng.
Recently, Ma Cheng often imagined the scene of carrying the Crouching Tiger Cannon onto the ship to count bandits, so he was very concerned about this.
Song Yang also wants to own a gunboat, so of course he will give his full support.