Two 700-ton ironclad ships arrived on both sides of the Covenant, and suddenly the gun windows were fully opened.
King John IV's eyes widened as he looked at the 24-pound heavy guns launched from the sides of the two ironclad ships.
"boom!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom boom boom!"
The gun positions of the two ironclad ships fired in sequence from front to back, firing cannons in the direction of the Covenant.
Raphael suddenly shrank and hid under the plank of the ship.
Even John IV was very panicked and his face turned white.
After a long time, he finally confirmed that the two tall warships on the left and right were firing salutes.
It's not that the King of Portugal didn't understand the etiquette of the sea. At this time, the rule of firing salutes had spread in Europe and gradually became a rule. It was because when the Europeans invented this salute, it had an element of showing off their power, and if at this time, if
Ang IV and his party were frightened by the momentum of the armored ship, so they panicked to the point of losing their minds.
The translator on the Covenant came over and said with a smile: "His Royal Highness, this is a salute to welcome His Highness!"
King Joao IV confirmed that the Covenant had not been torn to pieces by the ironclad's explosive shells and breathed a sigh of relief.
Raphael also stuck his head out from behind the ship's plank and looked at the two armored ships passing by the Covenant with some horror. The diplomat was really frightened just now, but at this time, the panic on his face was gone.
The law disperses.
A small steamer quickly came over and guided the Covenant into the port. Under the leadership of the small boat, the Covenant sailed into the inner channel of Dagu Pier.
King Joao IV smiled mockingly, raised his telescope, and looked at the pier in front of him again.
After watching for a while, he asked the translator: "Translator, what are those iron shelves next to each berth on the pier used for?"
The translator laughed and said: "Your Majesty, that is a pulley crane!"
The translator pointed to a loading ship to the east of the field of vision and said, "Look, Your Highness, the iron frame is equipped with bearings and can easily rotate left and right. With the pulleys and hemp ropes, it can lift heavy cargo from the dock."
Hoist it up and load it into the cabin."
King Joao IV was stunned for a moment and looked carefully at those "cranes".
What are bearings?
He saw some workers operating the iron frames.
There are four large iron hooks hanging under the pulley on the iron frame. After a box of goods on the carriage was hooked by the port worker with the iron hook, the worker sitting on the iron frame gently pulled the pulley and hoisted the goods.
.Then the iron frame was rotated and the goods hoisted by the pulleys were transported onto the ship.
John IV looked at it for a long time and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.
Obviously, this method of loading is ten times more advanced and ten times more efficient than the Europeans' shoulder-carrying method. Only three workers are needed to transport a huge container that can only be lifted by a dozen people.
King Joao IV looked at the binoculars for a long time and couldn't help but ask: "Why are all the goods on the Dagu Pier packed in iron boxes? Those iron boxes seem to be the same size?"
The translator smiled and said: "Your Highness, that's called a standard container." "Standard container?" "Yes, Your Highness. When the goods in Tianjin leave the factory, they must be transported from the factory to the dock. After being shipped from the dock to the seaport, they are shipped out.
When the goods arrive at the port, they have to be transported to the destination by oxcarts and horse-drawn carriages. If the containers are not sealed, it will take a lot of effort just to load, unload and stack the goods, and it is easy for errors to occur and the goods to be lost. "" King Qi is here
Zhenjiu Province promotes standard containers. This container is two meters long, one meter wide, one and a half meters high, and is exactly three cubic meters. No matter what kind of goods they are, they are all packed into the container for transportation, so that there is no need to separate them when changing transportation means.
Just dismantle, load, and unload the container directly on the ship.” “And now the width of the cargo holds of ships, railways and even carriages in our town and six provinces all match the size of the container. The hatch of the ship cargo hold can just enough to hoist a container, and the train
The cargo hold is exactly the size of eighteen containers. The carriage of a horse-drawn carriage is often exactly the length and width of a container, so cargo transportation is much more convenient."
King John IV was stunned when he heard this introduction.
This method of transportation is amazing.
In Europe, white people still have transporters make wooden boxes of various sizes to pack goods. These wooden boxes often lead to a waste of space on the transport vehicle due to their different sizes. With the use of fixed-size boxes such as containers, the goods will not fit on the transport vehicle.
Just put it down without wasting any space.
The use of containers makes it very convenient for goods to be converted into transportation vehicles. Various pulley cranes only need to match containers of the same size. Otherwise, the crane cannot match the size of the wooden box, and it will have to be moved by humans.
Moreover, European wooden boxes will be thrown away after two or three uses. They will deform and break after long-term use. Li Zhi's container is made of steel and painted on the outside, so it can be used for several years.
I'm afraid it can last for more than ten years.
This is definitely a great initiative in the transportation industry. How did Qi Wang Li Zhi come up with such amazing rules?
John IV stood on the deck of the ship, sighing and admiring, but he did not know that the container system was the most basic rule in later generations of logistics. It could not be easier for Li Zhi to use it to improve the efficiency of the transportation industry in one town and nine provinces.
The Covenant docked at the pier, and John IV walked down the gangway.
The first thing John IV saw after getting off the ship was the extremely flat dock road paved with cement.
Cement roads are now very common in Tianjin Town. Now Li Zhi has begun to use asphalt paving on key roads. However, for Europeans who have never seen cement, this road is much smoother than stone roads.
They were still shocked by how spacious the road was.
João IV stared at the gangway for a long time with wide eyes, then finally suppressed his surprise and continued walking forward.
Receiving John IV on the dock was Cai Huaishui, the general manager of the state-owned factory.
Cai Huaishui bowed his hands and saluted the King of Portugal and said: "Your Highness has had a hard journey. Please follow me to the Acropolis of Tianjin and rest for a night in our inn."
King John IV quickly agreed and boarded the carriage prepared for him by Cai Huaishui.
As soon as the carriage started driving, John IV realized something was wrong.
The carriage drove so smoothly, with almost no bumps on the flat cement road.
Although the cement road is much smoother than the stone road, the wooden tires are far from achieving such a comfortable driving feeling. João IV looked horrified and wanted to stick his head out to see the carriage wheels, but was embarrassed to do so due to his status.
Cai Huaishui looked at Joao IV's face and said with a smile: "Your Highness, this carriage is equipped with rubber tires."
King Joao IV looked at Cai Huaishui in shock and asked, "Are you talking about Brazilian gum?"
Cai Huaishui smiled and said: "Yes, Your Highness, after the Brazilian gum is transported to Tianjin and undergoes special processing, it becomes an extremely elastic material. With this material, our carriage can be greatly
It reduces bumps, makes the passengers in the car more comfortable, and makes the cargo on the car safer and more stable.”
King Joao IV opened his eyes wide and glanced at Cai Huaishui.
Can Brazilian latex be used as carriage wheels?
He suddenly couldn't help it and stuck his head out of the car window.
Sure enough, he saw black rubber tires spinning rapidly on the extremely smooth cement road.
