The beginning of August is the late summer and early autumn season in Taiyuan. The autumn tiger shows off its power for the last time. It has just been cool for a few days. It seems that adding chopped wood under the stove has made it hot again. However, the heat at this time is not like the sweltering heat of June and July.
A kind of dry heat. Standing in the sun, it seems like you will be melted by the scorching sun, but once you return to the shade of the trees, you will immediately cool down.
In the blink of an eye, Guo Song had returned from the grassland for a month, but the slave exchange and material transportation were still proceeding in an orderly manner.
On this morning, Guo Song came to the shipbuilding workshop located on the Fenshui River. Taiyuan Shipbuilding Workshop was established the year before last. It was actually the relocation and merger of Lingwu Shipyard and Lanzhou Shipyard. It was responsible for the Shipbuilding Administration under the Ministry of Industry.
Management, the Shipping Department was established in October last year and is responsible for the purchase, repair, construction and daily maintenance of ships.
The director of the Shipping Department is called Wang Zhihe, who was the former county magistrate of Chenliu County. Last year, he and Wei Lun were dismissed from office after they sent a thousand tankers from the Jianghuai Salt and Iron Company to Hedong. With the recommendation of the Yang family,
Guo Song appointed him as the official of the newly established Shipping Department, with the rank of fifth-rank official.
Today is the completion of the first three-thousand-stone warship in Taiyuan Shipyard. Of course Guo Song will come to inspect it.
The shipbuilding workshop covers an area of about fifty hectares, with more than a dozen huge warehouses and three docks. There are more than 3,000 craftsmen, most of whom are from Yongqiu shipwrights among the refugees. Yongqiu was a shipbuilder who built dragon boats in the Sui Dynasty.
At the gathering place, many shipbuilding masters in the county became refugees and were eventually recruited to shipbuilding workshops.
At present, the civilian ships in Hedong are basically sufficient. For more than two years, the shipyard has been building military ships, mainly small warships with 500 stones and sentry ships with 100 stones. They have also built two thousand-stone warships.
Today is the day when the first big ship worth three thousand stones was launched.
Wang Zhihe accompanied Guo Song to the shipyard, and the chief steward came out to greet them. Guo Song still remembered that this chief steward turned out to be the chief steward of the Lanzhou Shipbuilding Yard.
"Are you the manager of Jin University?"
Jin Yao was surprised and happy. He didn't expect His Highness Prince Jin to still remember him.
"It's a humble job."
Guo Song smiled again and said: "I still remember you said that the main reason why you can't build a ship is that there is no suitable wood. There should be enough wood now!"
"That's enough. The wood sent from Mobei this time is very good. They are all good materials for building big ships."
Guo Song was startled, "Are you saying that the wood in Mobei is suitable for shipbuilding?"
"Of course it's suitable. Thanks to the king's order, otherwise this batch of wood would have been missed."
Thousands of large logs were transported back from Mobei this time. They were originally intended to be used by Huihe to build a palace, but construction was never started. The timber was piled in the royal city and became a trophy for the Tang army.
Guo Song originally planned to use it to make trebuchets, stone cannons, etc., or to use it as beams for building houses, but he did not expect to use it to build ships.
He suddenly became interested and immediately said: "Let's take a look!"
Everyone came to a huge warehouse. The warehouse manager opened the door and let them in. The warehouse was like a palace. It was filled with hundreds of huge logs, each of which was more than five feet tall. It required two people to hug it. It was extremely strong.
.
Wang Zhihe said with a smile: "I was the one who got these few hundred pieces out of my mouth, so they gave them to me. I heard that there is still wood behind, so Your Highness may need to allocate some more to us."
Guo Song patted the huge piece of wood and asked with a smile: "Manager Jin, this is just pine wood. What's so good about it?"
"Your Highness doesn't know. Pine trees are also different. Although pine trees that have grown for more than ten or twenty years look tall, their wood is relatively loose. These pine trees have grown for at least two hundred years and are used to build palaces. The wood is very fine, and after being dried in the shade for more than ten years, it is difficult for water to penetrate into the interior. It is the best wood for shipbuilding. I have built ships all my life, and I have only seen such good wood three times."
"How about this kind of wood for military use?" Guo Song asked with a smile.
Manager Jin looked at Wang Zhihe next to him pleadingly and begged Wang Zhihe to say a few words for him.
Wang Zhihe was a little embarrassed. This kind of thing was very offensive, and he didn't know whether he should say it or not. But since he was the order of the Shipping Department, he should fight for the interests of the shipbuilding department.
Wang Zhihe bowed and said: "I'll tell you the truth, using this kind of wood for military purposes is tantamount to killing a chicken with a butcher's knife!"
"How do you say this?"
"Your Highness also knows that the main military materials are iron, and wood is nothing more than crossbows, shields, spear shafts, or large trebuchets, stone cannons, etc."
"Keep talking!" Guo Song said calmly.
Wang Zhihe gritted his teeth and continued: "The requirements for the bow body and spear shaft are very high, and it is definitely not suitable. Shields are light and lightweight. Nowadays they are made of rattan soaked in oil. As for the crossbow body, trebuchets and stone cannons, They have no requirements for wood. Wood is just an auxiliary material for them, a support, not a main material. Any wood can be used, and using this century-old wood to build a trebuchet is really a waste of money, but It's different for shipbuilding. Using this kind of solid and fine old wood to build ships can definitely go to sea, which is of great significance."
"I don't have a problem. It doesn't matter if I give it all to you. I'm just afraid that the military won't agree!" Guo Song said helplessly, spreading his hands.
Manager Jin immediately became anxious, "Your Highness, we are also building warships for the army!"
"That's true!"
Guo Song smiled and said: "Let's do this! I will grant you all the old timber obtained in Mobei, and then I will ask the Huihenu Khan to exchange big trees for slaves. They must have cut down new trees, and these new timber will be given to you." Ordnance Department, please stop fighting with them."
The manager of Jin University was overjoyed and said repeatedly: "We will never fight! We will never fight!"
Guo Song waved his hand, "Then we have to make it clear that the ship you build must be able to go to sea. This is what you said!"
"I guarantee that there will be no problem with my humble position."
"Okay! Let's go see the new ship."
Guo Song waved his hand and walked towards the warehouse. Wang Zhihe was a little anxious and quickly pulled Manager Jin aside and whispered: "Can I go to sea?"
"Don't worry! Our ships with a thousand stone or more can go to sea, and our ships with a ship with a weight of three thousand or more can go to long seas. There will definitely be no problem."
.........
The three-thousand-stone ship is moored on the shore, and dozens of craftsmen are still applying the last coat of tung oil. They are not yet allowed to board the ship, and today they can only inspect it underneath the ship.
The entire ship is about twenty feet long and four feet high. It has smooth lines and majestic momentum. There is a huge dragon head carved on the front of the ship, which is ferocious and rough.
But the biggest feature of the ship is that it has wheels, with two overturned wooden wheels on each side. Its power comes from human pedaling. It is a car and ship. The biggest feature of the car and ship is that it sails against the wind and can turn around flexibly. It is very suitable for rivers and rivers. Water battle on the lake.
"Your Highness, please give me your opinion!" Wang Zhihe said with a smile.
Guo Song smiled and said: "It's really hard to express opinions without a real ship. Let's do this! I'll make a suggestion. If you think it's reasonable, you can adopt it. If it's unreasonable, just give it up. Don't force it!"
"Your Highness, please speak!"
Guo Song pointed to a huge frame on the shore in the distance and asked: "Is this big ship built there?"
"Exactly!"
“How will we get into the water after the construction is completed?”
Manager Jin Da scratched his head and said: "After it is built, sleepers are placed underneath, and then ropes are used to drag it down the river. It is built in this way."
"What if it's a big ship worth 5,000 stones, how to repair it?" Guo Song asked again.
"If it's a simple maintenance, just brush it with tung oil in the water. But if you want to replace the bottom plate, it's a bit troublesome. It has to be dragged ashore, which is very laborious, requires hundreds of cows, and is easily damaged."
"My suggestion to you is to dig a big pond by the river and cover it all with bluestone slabs, so that water can be let in and water can be drained out. Usually it is a dry pond, so you can build the boat in the pond. When the boat is built, pull it apart.
With the cofferdam, when the water comes in, the ships float up and enter the water directly. The same goes for ship repairs. When the tide rises, the ships come in first. When the tide goes out, the water naturally drains out. After the cofferdam is blocked, the ships are repaired in the pond."
Manager Jin's eyes lit up. This is a good idea. Why didn't he think of it?
What Guo Song introduced was the dock. The dock was only invented in the Song Dynasty, but it does not exist now.
"How about this method?"
Steward Jin slapped his thigh hard, "It's so wonderful. The ship is in the big pond. When the tide rises, you don't have to worry about the water washing away the ship. You don't have to work so hard. The water will drain out by itself when the tide goes out. Why didn't we think of it earlier?
We didn't expect..."
Manager Jin was so excited that he was a little incoherent, "Let's discuss it tonight and we'll do it tomorrow!"
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[Today is Mother’s Day. Lao Gao wants to take his elderly parents out for a walk, so today and tomorrow will be updated in the morning and evening. I hope you understand!]