Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 989 Experiments
"I don't know a little..." Shao Shude asked in a small ship repair yard in Penglai Town, pointing to a sea ship traveling between Bohai State and Dengzhou.

"Please speak, Your Highness." Ma Wanpeng, who was transferred from Lingzhou, asked respectfully.

His shipbuilding skills are actually very average, and he has never been in contact with seagoing ships, and only understands the repair of inland river boats.However, the technology of inland watercraft is not called technology in front of sea-going ships.

Therefore, he is now just a novice with a certain foundation, but because he was born in Kansai, he was promoted by Shao Shude to the Ministry of Industry as the head of the Ministry of Water, from the ninth rank.

The official is not very big, but after waiting for so many years from a craftsman to an official in the Ministry of Industry, Ma Wanpeng finally did it
The so-called Ministry of Water is actually a bureau under the Ministry of Industry.

The Ministry of Industry has a total of four bureaus under its jurisdiction, namely the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Tuntian, the Ministry of Yu, and the Ministry of Water.

The Ministry of Industry is the "main business", which is in charge of the civil service program of the city.To put it bluntly, in charge of engineering projects such as city pools and roads.

Since this name is the same as the Ministry of Industry, Shao Shude wanted to change its name, and named it the Engineering Department by taking one word each from "worker's service" and "program".

It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Industry is not responsible for training craftsmen, improving technology, or manufacturing weapons, which are the responsibility of the Shaofu.The so-called Ministry of Industry in Guochao is actually the Ministry of Construction.

This "Ministry of Construction" has an advantage. Except for Shangshu and Shilang who need Jinshi background, other officials are free.You can become an official if you graduate from the Guozijian, and even those without a family background can become an official. It belongs to a place where technical bureaucrats gather together.

It is normal for Ma Wanpeng to be the head of the Ministry of Water, and the part he is in charge of is the "hull of the ship" that the Ministry of Water is in charge of.

The main responsibility of the Ministry of Water is still the construction of water conservancy projects.Strictly speaking, it can actually be merged into the Ministry of Industry, that is, the engineering department that Shao Shude wants to change its name to. Cities, roads, and water conservancy projects are all engineering construction.In ancient society, there was no need for a detailed division of labor like in modern times. Under one engineering department, Yuanwailang, the principal and the like each took charge of a set of businesses. Anyway, when the actual construction was actually carried out, it was still the local states and counties that contributed.

Shao Shude was more concerned about the part Ma Wanpeng was in charge of, and planned to set up a separate shipping company.If Ma Wanpeng makes achievements, the Langzhong and Yuanwailang of the Shipyard Division will be stable.

"Why is the ship's building in the middle?" Shao Shude asked.

The ship he was talking about was actually a Silla merchant ship, but its structure was similar to that of a Tang ship. The tall ship building was built in the middle, which was very symmetrical.

"It has always been like this." Ma Wanpeng replied.

"Why not build the building at the stern of the ship?" Shao Shude was puzzled: "The stern of the ship will be heavier, the bow will be lighter, and the sailing will be faster."

"I'm afraid it will be unstable?" Ma Wanpeng was somewhat resistant to this bold design.

"After the cabin is full of cargo, why is it unstable?" Shao Shude asked.

Ma Wanpeng was thoughtful. He had never heard of this design method, and even if it existed, it would definitely not be popular.Is it really feasible to deliberately make the ship lighter at the front and heavier at the rear?

In theory, this could indeed increase the speed of the ship, but——nobody had done it before, maybe there was, but he hadn't seen it either.

Seeing his appearance, Shao Shude was also very distressed.

Last time, he asked the artist to draw a ship in his mind that could sail in the deep sea, but the result of the drawing was completely different, and no one could understand it, so he gave up.

Now he only puts forward ideas and demands, regardless of Chinese-style ships or Western-style ships, as long as his requirements are met.

The first is to build the ship building at the stern.

The stern building has three floors, two floors above the deck and one floor below the deck.Shao Shude is not very clear about the specific functions of these three layers. Anyway, he only saw the appearance while playing games, and didn't have a deep understanding.

In my general impression, the second floor of the stern building has a wide view and is where the navigator and the captain stay at work. If it is a battleship, the officers will also command it during combat.

The first floor of the stern building is where the officers and senior sailors live. The environment is relatively better, and the captain's room is also here.

The lower level of the poop deck is where the middle and lower ranks live, and seem to sleep in hammocks.

There should be a forecastle at the bow, which is much smaller than the poop, mainly for storing food, medicine, tools and other materials.

Of course, he has also heard of the famous clipper sailboat.

This kind of sailboat cancels the forecastle and further reduces the weight of the bow, that is, the "hollow bow", and the bow is designed as a long and sharp shape, which has excellent wave-cutting performance, which is very different from traditional Chinese and Western-style sailboats. Therefore, Very fast. The "Grand Republic" sailing ship has a displacement of 3400 tons, but it only takes [-] days to cross the Atlantic Ocean, which is amazing.

However, the technology required for this kind of ship is too high, and Shao Shude doesn't understand it. It is a product of the development of western natural science to a certain level. Mechanics, engineering, materials science, astronomy, and navigation must have a certain level. ,not that simple.

"Secondly, abandon flat-bottomed boats and build sharp-bottomed boats." Shao Shude said.

Both sharp and flat are relative, flat-bottomed boats are not absolutely flat, and sharp-bottomed boats are not absolutely sharp, they just have different arcs.Ancient Chinese also had sharp-bottomed ships, but they were not sharp enough, and the whole was relatively smooth, with a blunt round shape, while Arabian and European ships were more pointed.

It is not necessary to use a sharp-bottomed boat to play in the coastal waters. When you need to sail far, it is best to use a sharp-bottomed boat.No matter in offshore or deep sea, sharp-bottomed boats are safer and faster than flat-bottomed boats with the same tonnage.

"The third one is to use flat sails and soft sails. The canvas is sewed with linen, and the mast is also done as I said before." Shao Shude said again.

A traditional Chinese sailboat with a short mast and only one hard sail.Western-style sailing ships have high masts and three soft sails. The sail cable system is very complicated, and the training requirements for the crew are very high.The complex sail cable system also brings convenience in handling, such as sailing against the wind, flexible maneuvering, faster speed and so on.

"Don't take the third point for granted. Let me ask you, how to sail against the wind?" Shao Shude asked.

"Lower the sails and just float along the water." Ma Wanpeng replied.

"What if the wind is against the current? How to sail?"

"This..." Ma Wanpeng was a little surprised: "You can't sail against the wind and the current, right?"

"But the soft sailboat will do." Shao Shude said with certainty.

The principle is actually very simple. The force can be decomposed into components in different directions. Ships sailing in a "zigzag" on the sea can sometimes offset the impact of reverse ocean currents. Traditional Chinese sailing ships cannot do this.

Ma Wanpeng stopped talking.

"You first try to build a ship according to my requirements. I don't care what happens, but it must meet the above requirements." Shao Shude said.

He knew that these requests he made completely subverted the mainstream design concept of traditional Chinese sailboats.And there will definitely be problems during the construction process, maybe the ship crashes and people die.But he intends to push forward with his personal will, build Western-style ships with Chinese-style shipbuilding methods, and gradually improve and upgrade shipbuilding technology, just like advancing the construction of multiple disciplines by building Luoyang City.

Engineering projects are the best means to promote technological progress at this time, not one of them.

You have to allow failure, and only when you fail can you improve and improve.Fortunately, it is just a ship, and it can afford to fail a few more times.

"That's the end of the matter." Shao Shude got up from the chair and said without doubt.

******
After explaining the matter of building the test ship, Shao Shude planned to leave Dengzhou.

This trip to the east was originally intended to appease the miscellaneous army, lay the foundation for maritime trade, and build new ships. Now that the three things have basically been completed, the rest is to advance steadily and wait for the results.

On the third day of August, Shao Shude left Penglai County and headed west.

At this time, I received news from the two battlefields in the north and the south.

Yang Yue on the northern line actually broke through Weizhou City.

This news was a bit unexpected, Shao Shude looked at it carefully, and almost burst into tears from laughter.

The city of Yuzhou is not big. There are [-] state soldiers, [-] Yiding soldiers, and [-] Han Tu regiments, totaling [-] defenders.It stands to reason that it is not very easy to fight, and Yang Yue is not Lu Huaizhong, so he has no interest in storming a fortified city.

But who would have thought that God made a joke for everyone.It was just a tentative attack, and the city wall of Lingqiu County in Weizhou collapsed...

If Li Ke does not cultivate internal affairs, the consequences will appear.

The city wall collapsed, the defenders on the top of the city fell to pieces, and the rotating sergeants in the city were also stunned, their morale plummeted, and they were directly rushed and fled by the flying dragon army whose morale was soaring.

Wang Chuzhi, who was stationed in the Tiancheng Army, heard the news, oiled the soles of his feet, and ran away with six thousand soldiers.When they arrived in Xinzhou, they were blocked by Li Cunxiao, so they stopped.

In fact, it doesn't matter whether Weizhou City is won or not.In the past month, the Fan tribes in Yun and Wei prefectures have basically been wiped out, and countless prisoners have been captured.

However, it is not without benefits if it is defeated, at least it will make the Jin army lose a stronghold.Otherwise, they can hoard food, equipment, and soldiers in Yuzhou City, and they can use this as a base to attack, greatly increasing the combat radius.

After the capture of Weizhou, the army divided into two groups, one to attack Feihu County, which was blocked by the enemy in the mountains, and the other to attack Xingtang, which was defeated by Li Cunxiao.Upon hearing this, Yang Yue ordered all the ministries to detour and attack the three prefectures of Xin, Yi, and Gui, and not to fight Li Cunxiao and Wang Chuzhi head-on.And he himself continued to urge the attack on Yunzhou, to see if there would be God's favor, so that the city wall of Yunzhou would also collapse.

That's it for the Northern Front.On the southern front, the battle of Qizhou was gradually deepening, and Yang Xingmi also mobilized a large number of troops to reinforce the front line.However, continuous torrential rains fell in July, the rivers flooded, and the army was plagued by diseases. Both sides suspended their offensives.

Zhe Zongben and Ding Hui led their troops back to Huangzhou and Ezhou.

I heard that morale was not very high, and the sergeants did not dare to say that they were sick when they were sick, for fear of being locked up.

Zhe Zongben was a little annoyed, and directly vented his anger on Du Hong.

On July 28, he invited Du Hong to a banquet in the army, then put him under house arrest and sent him to Luoyang to "be an official".At the same time, the cleansing of Ezhou began immediately. Du Hong's personal soldiers, generals, and confidantes were all arrested, and all officials at all levels were assigned to Zheshi's own people.

The movements are simple and rough, and the eating looks not very good-looking. It really is the style of painting of the wealthy family in Guanbei.

You ask Shao Shude what is his attitude towards this?Of course it was severely reprimanded.But he also acquiesced to Zongben's move.

It was he who promised to appease Ezhou to the Zhe family, but Zhe Zong's behavior was rough, and there was nothing wrong with it in essence.

Shao Shude chose to forgive the father-in-law, and at the same time sent envoys to appease Du Hong, gave him a mansion in Anyefang, and sent people to Ezhou to take Du Hong's family over, and his property was also preserved.

From now on, Du Hong will be an official in Luoyang with peace of mind, and he will set an example for the commander-in-chief of the court.

It is impossible to have no negative impact. For example, will Zhao Kuangning in Xiangyang panic?Will Zhuge Zhongfang of Xingyuan Mansion be eccentric?Does the Zhao family in Xuzhou have any ideas?And so on.

But it is difficult to have both in the world, so we can only take one step at a time.

(End of this chapter)