My father Yong Le Emperor, you let me keep a low profile

Chapter 113 Shock brought by the steamship!

"Boiler No. 1 has reached pressurization!"

"The pressure of No. 2 boiler has reached its peak!"

"Report, all aspects have been prepared, whether to start."

In a secret small pier in Qiongzhou, some high-level officials under Zhu Gaoyu gathered here, and each of them looked curiously at a small boat with a length of more than 20 meters on the sea.

This ship is different from the previous ones, it has no sails and oars, but only two huge chimneys, billowing thick smoke.

All the sailors on the ship were standing still, looking at Lu Fei, the chief engineer of the Craftsman Battalion.

"let's start!"

Lu Fei calmly gave the order.

This is not the first sea trial. The first boiler explosion caused dozens of deaths and injuries, which made his heart ache for a long time.

The second time, due to the instability of the steam engine, the steam output was intermittent, and the ship stopped after traveling for a long time.

Today is the third time to conduct an experiment, and two boilers were directly installed as soon as I came up.

Lu Fei was calm and calm, while the Mohist disciples who were in charge of the steam engine in the Craftsman Camp clenched their fists nervously.

It has been nearly two years since His Highness passed on the knowledge to them, and now the steam engine has been used on actual ships.

In the past two years, when they started, everything went smoothly. They manufactured various steam machine tools, or steam forging machines and other items for the artisan camp, and they were very successful.

Although the steam engine is small and the power is a little smaller, it has completely let the artisan camp get rid of pure manual manufacturing and enter the era of steam-assisted manufacturing.

After helping the Artisan Battalion with equipment upgrades, Lu Fei directly put the manufacture of ship steam engines on the agenda.

After all, they are more powerful than the king, and the main force is still at sea. In addition to the equipment manufactured by the craftsman battalion, the manufacture of ship steam equipment is the top priority.

They thought that with the experience in steam equipment manufacturing and so many guidance materials, the manufacture of water steam engines should be a matter of course.

However, the two failures caused the loss of personnel and goods, and their firm self-confidence was slightly shaken.

Later, it was Lu Fei who reprimanded them, so that they regained their self-confidence, and went all out to build the third steam equipment, and gave up the single engine as soon as it came up, and directly put two power equipment.

Today's experiment is a big challenge.

If it succeeds, everything will go well, and after further improvements, the official steamship can be put on the agenda.

If it fails, then the overall idea will have to be pushed back to start all over again.

For this steam engine, every engineer in the craftsman camp joined in.

The metallurgical manufacturing department, the steam manufacturing department, and even the fuel department have joined it.

With the full cooperation of all departments, nearly two months of manufacturing day and night, the new two power steam engines were finally arranged on the ship.

"Woooooooo..."

As the ship received the order, the airhorn whined, notifying everyone to get to their posts.

"Start releasing steam, enter the power room."

Gao Wu, the representative of the Mohists, commanded the ship himself, giving orders one by one with a serious expression.

According to the rules set by Zhu Gaoyu, during the experiment, the engineer is not allowed to test it himself.

This is to prevent the failure of the experiment and the loss of important talents.

But after two consecutive failures, Gao Wu, a calm man, desperately tried his best.

Before boarding the boat, he said to Lu Fei who was blocking him: "Your Highness treats my Mo family well, but we are complacent because of a small achievement, and made two big mistakes."

"All gentlemen have worked together to create this device. If it fails again, how can I, Gao Wu, have the face to meet His Highness?"

Lu Fei understood the character of this friend, and knew that unless His Highness was here, others would not be able to stop him, so he had no choice but to let him board the ship for experimentation himself.

But later he found Lu Yu, hoping that he could send a few masters to protect Gao Wu, so that Gao Wu would not be fooled at the last moment, and he would be rescued.

Lu Yu, who also knew that His Highness valued talents, wanted to persuade him, but Gao Wu ignored him at all, and just told the crew to prepare.

Helpless, Lu Yu could only order a few of his personal guards to follow him with shields and protect them well. If necessary, they should be forcibly pulled away.

Following Gao Wu's order, a strong man started to turn the valve, and the steam began to flow into the power room along the pipe.

Listening to the gas gushing out of the pipeline, Gao Wu's spirit reached its peak, and he quickly ran to the power room.

Several guarding soldiers nearby also hurriedly followed with their shields.

"Boom...boom..."

Before Gao Wu approached the power room, he heard the sound of piston movement coming from inside.

The piston started to move, but Gao Wu didn't have any happy expression on his face.

The operation of the steam engine is normal. If they can't even do the basic operation, then these engineers can jump into the sea to thank the world.

"Bang bang bang bang..."

As more and more steam is delivered, the pressure becomes stronger and the piston moves faster and faster.

And because of the transmission rod brought up by the piston movement, it also began to drive the oars to rotate rapidly.

The rotation of the oars brought up a lot of water splashes, and began to push the boat forward slowly.

"Oh my god, it really moved!"

An exclamation sounded from the bank, causing the engineers on the bank to look back in unison.

Jian Yi noticed the dissatisfied eyes of the people present, and quickly pulled the shocked Xie Jin to remind him not to make a fuss.

Only then did Xie Jin, who was pulled, notice everyone's gazes, and awkwardly cupped his hands in apology.

"I didn't expect that His Highness's subordinates would gather so many capable people and strangers, and they could even think of a way to move the boat without using sails."

Looking straight at the steamboat slowly moving on the sea and making various turns, Xie Jin couldn't help but sigh.

"Do you think this is a good thing?"

Jian Yi said something out of nowhere.

Xie Jin froze for a moment, glanced at the other party, shook his head silently, and stopped talking about this topic.

The two came here more than a year ago, and Jian Yi was appointed as the king of Yue Changshi, replacing Haisheng in Champa, and managing the affairs in Qiongzhou.

After discussing in letters, the two decided to continue with the previous plan.

No matter how you say it, Jian Yi is still the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and his ability is not comparable to that of ordinary people.

Under his management, the whole Qiongzhou is thriving.

Qiongzhou Wharf has become the busiest place in Southeast Asia.

When he first came, although many merchants had the qualifications to go to sea, they did not dare to act without the orders of the chamber of commerce and Zhu Gaoyu.

After Jian Yi arrived, he made adjustments. All merchants could trade freely, but only in the area from Malacca to Daming.

If you want to trade through Malacca, you must get the approval of the Yue Palace.

As he made adjustments, commerce and trade in the entire Southeast Asian region became fully active, with no less than a hundred ships coming and going every day.

The two most important stops in Champa, Qiongzhou, are full of people, and the economy has been greatly improved.

In terms of talents, Jian Yi also helped in the selection, and after Haisheng's confirmation, they were transferred to various industries.

Coupled with the construction team formed by the Yuewang Mansion, which is developing in Qiongzhou Champa and other places, the entire Southeast Asian region is simply changing every day.

Such a large flow of people, taxation and commerce have brought huge benefits to the Yue Palace.

Jian Yi said this some time ago, the income from Qiongzhou to Malacca alone for one month can be worth the tax revenue of the court north of the Yangtze River for a year.

What's strange is that the entire Southeast Asian region has changed so much. Apart from paying taxes regularly, the old man has never reported a word to the court.

It is impossible for this old man not to have a reaction in his heart from his position as the head of the officials in the Ministry of Officials to a long history of a prince.

If he hadn't come to Qiongzhou and saw the prosperity here, he might not care about anything and just retire here.

Jian Yi didn't report here, and those who were hammered by the Moon Shadow Guard at Jin Yiwei didn't dare to come, so that the court didn't know anything about the situation here.

In addition, the old man went on the Northern Expedition again, and he couldn't pay attention to Qiongzhou.

Some things have to be admitted, the changes brought about by different people are different.

In the past, Haisheng worked so hard to immigrate that he managed to attract so few people.

As a result, it didn't take long for Jian Yi to take over Qiongzhou's command, relying on his previous connections and the merchants from the chamber of commerce to help with transportation.

In just over a year, hundreds of thousands of refugees were brought in from various disaster-stricken areas in the north.

Although it is difficult to leave the homeland, there is no way to survive.

Most of those refugees and disaster victims made the decision to separate their families after learning about the treatment they would receive in Qiongzhou.

The boss stayed where he was, and continued to guard the family business.

The other brothers followed the people sent by Qiongzhou to various parts of Southeast Asia, looking for a new way out.

In addition to recruiting Lumen disaster victims, Jian Yi also adopted many orphans and brought them to Qiongzhou to let Xie Jin, Qiongzhou, educate these children and create a school to educate these children, so as to cultivate talents for the future Qiongzhou.

Lu Fei, who should have talked about these things with Zhu Gaoyu a long time ago, also asked his engineers to register in the school and regularly lecture these children on the teachings of various universities.

At first, Xie Jin was a little dissatisfied, but Jian Yi said, "You still want to live in Jinyiwei Prison", but he was blocked back.

"Mr. Jian, if that happened one day, where would you stand?"

Seeing the steamship getting farther and farther away, feeling the relieved atmosphere of the surrounding engineers, Xie Jin suddenly asked.

"I don't know if the old man can live to that day in his position and seek his own government. Just try to do the things at hand well. What happens in the future is their family's business and has nothing to do with me."

Jian Yi has already taken it easy now, no matter how their brothers compete in the future, it is none of his business.

He only needs to manage one side well, and he doesn't care about the others, and he doesn't want to ask.

In fact, thinking about it, he used to be the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, so what if he will fully support Zhu Gaoyu in the future, but in the end, he will return to that position at worst.

As for conferring titles, he hadn't given much thought to these things. If the literati of Ming Dynasty want to be conferred knights, it's not something you can think of.

"I'm back, I'm back..."

Just as a group of people were standing by the small pier, looking at the direction of the billowing smoke and discussing in low voices, a royal guard ran over excitedly.

"Who's back?"

Jian Yi, who was a little confused, asked a question.

"Back to Changshi, it is His Highness who has returned."

"Champa sent someone over to inform our side that His Highness's fleet will arrive at their side in two days, and let our side be ready to welcome it."

When everyone present heard that Zhu Gaoyu had returned, they all had relaxed smiles on their faces.

"Your Highness, you are finally back."

Hearing that Zhu Gaoyu was coming back, Jian Yi smiled wryly.

Jian Yi has some opinions about Zhu Gaoyu leading the team to sea.

How can the boss of one party not stay in his own territory to deal with matters, but instead run around.

If there is something wrong with the center of the imperial court, I don't know how to notify it if I want to.

In the past, he was the Minister of the Ministry of Officials of the imperial court, so he could not control this matter, and it would not belong to him.

But now that he is the king of Yue Changshi, he has to talk about this matter.

"Mr. Lu, I'll leave it to you here, let's go back and make some preparations."

After saying hello to Lu Fei, Jian Yi took Xie Jin and some officials back to Qiongzhou Palace to get ready to welcome him.

At the end of March in the 12th year of Yongle.

After going to sea for more than a year and nearly two years, Zhu Gaoyu finally returned to his own territory.

"The old man should be in the north now, playing hide-and-seek with the savages."

Seeing the bustle of people and the approaching pier, Zhu Gaoyu showed a relaxed smile.

Hearing the local accent again, let alone the excited soldiers, Zhu Gaoyu was also extraordinarily relaxed.

For some reason, he always has a sense of urgency overseas. Only when he returns home, seeing that familiar face and listening to that familiar voice, can he relax in his heart.

"Your Highness, do you think my sister will like me?"

Dona, who returned from Zhancheng with Zhu Gaoyu, looked a little nervous at the pier bustling with people in the distance.

As the saying goes, an ugly daughter-in-law also needs to see her in-laws.

As Zhu Gaoyu's side concubine, Dona naturally wanted to go to Beijing to meet the old man and Empress Xu.

Of course, as the main wife, Zhang Yue, she had to pay respects to see her.

Otherwise, if the eldest sister is unhappy, even if she is the queen of a country, she will never have a good life in the future.

Feeling the tension of the side concubine, Zhu Gaoyu smiled and put his arms around her shoulders.

"Don't worry, your sister is a virtuous and virtuous woman, and she won't make things difficult for you."

Although Zhu Gaoyu had mentioned that sister more than once, and knew that she had a very gentle personality, Dona was still very nervous.

But when she saw the woman standing behind Zhu Gaoyu with a veil on her face, she was relieved again.

With this woman here, I believe that my sister's hostility will not be placed on me, and I may even unite with myself to fight this fox.

After all, this stunning woman put too much pressure on her.

She never thought that there would be such a beautiful woman in the world, let alone a man, even her heart would itch after seeing this woman, which shows how attractive this woman is.

She once heard Lord Haisheng say that there are many kings in Yanhuang who were bewitched by women and did many stupid things, so that the country perished.

And this kind of woman is called a troublesome beauty, and the most powerful one seems to be a woman named Daji.

In the past, she couldn't figure out how it was possible for a man to be bewitched by a woman if he was so powerful.

But since she met this woman, she understood that it turns out that women can really attract men by virtue of their looks.

Fortunately, His Royal Highness was not affected by this, which made Dona feel more relaxed.

At the same time, I was also a little proud. The man she Dona fell in love with was indeed different.

"Woooooooo..."

Just as the fleet was heading towards the pier, and the officers, soldiers and sailors cheered loudly towards the shore, a strange boat came out of the pier.

The boat had no sails or oars, and ran out with two big smoke pipes emitting thick smoke.

The cheers stopped abruptly, and everyone stared blankly at the small boat coming towards the fleet, ready to guide the battleship into the port, with fascination in their eyes.

In order to improve the quality of the Ming sailors, Zhu Gaoyu gave lectures to their officers whenever he had time, and their officers would also convey the content of the meeting to every sailor and sailor.

The idea of ​​a steam battleship has already been spread in the navy. Many soldiers are imagining what a ship that can move without sails or paddles looks like.

Although their military officer had given them a design drawing, the picture was on paper after all, without the shock of reality.

Even many soldiers have a little doubt about this kind of ship that can move without manpower, thinking that it is absolutely impossible to realize.

Even if it can be realized, these people on the water may never have the chance to see them in this life.

Everything they have learned now is just a preparation for future generations.

However, just when they thought they would sail and row the oars for a lifetime, the boat they thought was impossible to appear suddenly appeared in front of them today.

This kind of feeling is like the kind of surprise that a son who has been looking forward to for a lifetime, but who ends up giving birth to a girl, just when he has no hope, suddenly falls from the sky.

"That is……"

Behind Zhu Gaoyu, Sun Yun, the temporary commander of the fleet, rushed to the front of the ship excitedly, not caring about being rude, and looked at the steam warship slowly approaching in the distance with heavy breathing.

"Your Highness, it's steam, it's steamboat... They succeeded, they succeeded, hahaha..."

After rubbing her eyes vigorously, she slapped her hands hard twice to confirm that she was not dreaming.

Sun Yunyun, Wang Jin's disciple and the future leader of the Ming Navy, at this moment, was as excited as a child, jumping up and down on Jiaban, pointing at the steamboat slowly approaching in the distance, and shouting loudly at Zhu Gaoyu .

"I saw it, I saw it, I saw it!"

Feedback from the illusory space, Zhu Gaoyu's spirit became extraordinarily resolute, and at this moment, his heart was touched violently.

Ever since his body was strengthened, apart from the wedding night in the bridal chamber and the birth of his son, there was nothing else that could make him so excited.

Although he understood that the steam ship in front of him was a test product, and it was far from the ideal steam warship.

But then again, everything is difficult at the beginning.

Everything starts from a difficult beginning. Zhu Gaoyu firmly believes that after the craftsman camp breaks through this difficult beginning, the subsequent construction will be smooth sailing.

Seeing the steamboat approaching slowly, Zhu Gaoyu raised his fist and roared loudly towards the shore.

"The Artisan Camp is mighty!"

When Sun Yunyun and the surrounding sailors and guards heard Zhu Gaoyu's roar, they raised their arms one after another, beat their chests vigorously, and roared loudly at the craftsman battalion personnel on the shore.

"The Artisan Camp is mighty!"

Lu Fei and others who greeted them on the shore, when they heard these words, their eye circles turned red all of a sudden.

After so many years of hard work and persistence, they finally lived up to expectations and produced strong results.

They knew in their hearts that they and the Ming Dynasty's navy complement each other, and the more powerful the Ming's navy is, the status of their members of the hundred families will also be rapidly improved, completely breaking the dominance of the Confucian family.

Thinking of their glory in the future, Lu Fei and other engineers stood up straight and responded loudly to the fleet.

"Da Ming Navy, mighty!"

(End of this chapter)