On February 5, 1832, Sean accompanied Admiral Moco to inspect the Kangshi Shipyard located east of the Port of Poitou.
Although he had obtained information about Moko Shangke from different channels, Sean was still very surprised to see him in person.
This is the image of a sailor who is used to being exposed to the sun and wind at sea. His skin is bronze and his hands are wide and rough. This is extremely inconsistent with the noble background of Admiral Moko. If he were not wearing a straight admiral uniform,
, Sean will definitely think that he is just the captain of some ocean-going merchant ship.
This broke the inherent image of senior officers in Sean's mind and won some favor from Sean.
At this time, the manufacturing workshop of Kangshi Shipbuilding Company was in full swing. The technicians and workers did not even have a holiday during the Spring Festival.
A slender ironclad ship is being built in the dock.
Its volume is five times that of the Genoese, with a displacement of 1,000 tons. This is the largest ironclad ship that Kang's Shipbuilding Company can currently mobilize all resources to build, because it involves complex processes.
The red-hot rivets held the pieces of cast iron together. It seemed that Kangshi Shipbuilding Company had found the right way forward.
Next to it is another wooden sailboat. From the appearance, it is still a traditional three-masted sailboat, with a displacement of 1,800 tons. In order to save time, Sean temporarily acquired several large merchant ships of the same model and dismantled these merchant ships.
Remove deformed and decayed parts and select
The best keel and other parts were reassembled. The difference is that some redesigns were made to suit combat, making it have three decks, which can be equipped with artillery or giant crossbows. The wooden sail not only has two strings, but also the bottom
All were equipped with 100 to 150 mm of armor.
Whether it is an iron-clad ship or this new sailing armored ship, they are all equipped with steam engines, but the former's steam engine is the only source of power, while the latter's steam engine only provides auxiliary power - this mainly depends on the cost of use.
This was the result of Sean's busy work for a whole month. In order to have enough manpower to see some results when Admiral Moko arrived, he even spent a lot of money to acquire the only traditional shipyard in Poitou.
Obviously, Admiral Moko came with hope. This admiral also heard about the heated discussion caused by the successful trial of the Genovese half a year ago.
Therefore, Admiral Moko boarded the Genovese as soon as he arrived and took a ride outside the port. Regardless of the sweltering heat and noisy environment, he went down to the bottom of the ship to observe the working scene of the steam engine.
The admiral was full of praise for the Genoese:
"Viscount, here I see the future of the navy. No, I see the future of the ocean. In time, steamships will become popular in the world."
"Thank you for the compliment, Admiral, but as far as ironclad ships are concerned, our current ability can only build warships of this displacement, but I think it is actually very suitable for fighting fish monsters because it does not need to install heavy artillery.
It doesn’t require too many sailors to operate the sails, and the cost is relatively low.” Sean said, “An ironclad ship of this size can carry enough fuel and can sail at sea for at least a month, and it is not afraid of wind and waves. In other words
In other words, investing once will save you worry and effort.”
Admiral Moko had just experienced a disastrous defeat. Not to mention the loss of the battleship, the loss of the sailors made him extremely distressed. However, the crew of the ironclad ship did not need too many sailors because it did not need to catch the wind or adjust the direction of the wind.
Raising and lowering the sails and changing angles make sailing relatively simple.
What Sean did not mention is that using steam power, the ship is more maneuverable and can flexibly change its course as needed, which is extremely beneficial in combat.
However, Admiral Moko did not mention a word about his purchase intention. He only asked how much a 1,000-ton ironclad ship like this would cost. Sean replied that the cost would be around 700,000.
Sean noticed that Admiral Moko looked very unhappy. Sean could also imagine the reason. He was short of money. Raising a large number of merchant ships was already the greatest support given to him by the cabinet.
But he suffered a huge defeat.
Therefore, General Moko was under tremendous pressure. The raging public opinion in the newspapers wanted him to step down immediately. All kinds of abuse and criticism made him want to commit suicide for a time.
He even suspected that if no one dared to stand up to clean up this mess, or if the cabinet and military command wanted him to continue to bear the blame to divert the public's attention, he would have been dismissed long ago.
Admiral Moko was very unwilling. When he retreated to Port Mao to rest, he happened to read a report about the Genoese in the newspaper. He thought of the fish-men who were attracted by the fish-men holding simple weapons at sea.
He destroyed the way battleships fought at the bottom of the ship, thinking that an ironclad ship was what he wanted, even an armored ship.
What Sean showed him was exactly what he wanted to see, although with the slow manufacturing capacity of Kang's Shipyard, it would take some time to provide him with a fleet.
Obviously, neither the emperor nor the cabinet could wait long. The interruption of ocean transportation and ocean trade was causing the empire's already difficult finances to bleed every day.
"Your Majesty, Admiral, to show my sincerity, this ironclad ship, which is under intense construction, can be provided to the Navy for free for trial use."
Sean also spent a lot of money for business. The 700,000 he said was not an exaggeration, although it was twice as expensive as a wooden sailboat of the same size.
Of course, if workers are more skilled and the manufacturing process is more mature, large-scale manufacturing can significantly reduce costs.
"Viscount, thank you for your generosity. I want to know when it can be launched into the water." Admiral Moko said with some excitement.
In fact, he could not guarantee that the Military Command or the Cabinet would be willing to place the order, which meant that Sean might have spent 700,000 in vain.
"At the end of March, this is the maximum capacity of Kangshi Shipyard." Sean said, "If it weren't for the challenge from the fish monster, my original plan was to build an ironclad ship with a displacement of 1,000 tons by the end of this year.
I feel very satisfied. After all, we are all newbies.”
"But you are at the forefront." Admiral Moko said, "I will bring the generosity of a recipient of the Imperial Gold Dragon Medal to the Holy City. As an admiral, I promise to work hard to promote the allocation of funds from the cabinet.
, those guys want us to defeat the fish demon, but let us use our bare hands. Even if they leak a little bit from the fingers of the army, they will make our navy rich."
Sean automatically ignored the admiral's complaint and said with a smile:
"Thank you for your affirmation. Kang's Shipyard also hopes to contribute a small amount to the Imperial Navy's victory over the fish demon."
At noon, Governor Byrne held a banquet at the Grand Hotel in Poitou, entertaining General Moco, Mayor Stanley and Sieyès, Chairman of the Estates-General.
Sieyes provided Admiral Moko with another option, the Poitou Consortium was willing to provide loans to the Navy so that the Navy could purchase 1,000-ton ironclads.
"I would like to know how much the gentlemen of Poitou are willing to provide as a loan?" Admiral Moko asked.
"Ten million!" Sieyes said.
The bankers are certainly not philanthropists: "Secured by the Genoa tea tax of 1834. Annual interest of 15%."
The reason why the terrible interest rate was set at 15% was not because Sieyes was too greedy, because when the emperor or the cabinet borrowed money from the bankers in the Holy City, they had to pay an interest rate of up to 20%, which shows that the country's repayment ability is extremely poor.
But such big business has rarely been encountered by Poitou bankers before, especially when it involves arms and equipment. This is the exclusive domain of the financial giants in the Holy City and Gyeonggi Province, and has no role for the Genoese.
Now that there is such an opportunity in front of him, Sieyes will certainly not miss it, especially with the tea tax as a guarantee. This is a high-profit business that is guaranteed to make no loss. In addition, this ironclad ship was made in Genoa and was used by Genoese people.
Offering loans is also very reasonable.
Sean, the Governor, and the Mayor all strongly support this deal. It will create jobs, increase tax revenue, and be more conducive to a prosperous economy.
Admiral Moko left with this plan. This was simply not something he, an admiral, could decide. Now he couldn't even protect himself.
The inspection trip to Poitou was actually a rebellion on his part. He attributed one of the reasons for the defeat to the patchwork of the ship. If he didn't argue for himself, would the big shots in the Holy City think that he was easy to bully?
Sure enough, Admiral Moko returned to Port Mao and wrote a fiercely worded letter. He scolded the Prime Minister and the marshals of the Military Command, and listed all the unfair treatment the navy had suffered in the past twenty years. At the end of the letter, he
threatened:
Either remove me from my position and I will quit, or give me money and I will build an armored ship!
Admiral Moko is an honest man. Unlike his predecessor, he is a man who truly loves the sea, so he has a very high reputation and appeal among the sailors.
Instead, he commanded an army and ordered his subordinates not to come to Taiwan. Because reporters then learned that the Navy had not updated a single warship in twenty years, and the treatment of naval officers and soldiers was not 80% as good as that of army soldiers, so many scandals were exposed.
But ironclads were a new thing, and the people in the Holy City had only seen them in newspapers. They were skeptical of Admiral Moko's plan to build ironclads. The steps were too big and could easily lead to trouble.
Admiral Moko was dismissed from his post. One of the fundamental reasons that Sean knew was that he touched the cheese of the arms dealers, because they controlled all the resources in the north to manufacture sailing warships and thought that installing iron hulls on wooden sailing ships would
It can also be used for combat.
Sean doesn't find it strange. The Imperial Navy has always been ignored, which is also related to the fact that the Empire faces too little danger at sea. The only enemy of the Navy is pirates.
If there had been long-term maritime competition with countries like the Xia Kingdom, the Imperial Navy would not be what it is today.
Technological progress is always inseparable from demand, and war is the most important factor in promoting military-related technological progress.
Regardless of the controversy in the north, Sean's first 1,000-ton ironclad ship is still under construction. Since the order seems to have been put on hold, he is not in a hurry for success and has devoted himself to it, summarizing experience and lessons in order to improve and improve.
Sieyes, on the other hand, was quite angry: "Yankee!"