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Chapter 771 Han Level
"Your Majesty, I have something to report to you in person."

Yuan Keli and Wang An were already familiar with the matter of being the regent, so they bowed and accepted the order. But Yuan Keli still had something to say, and his expression was very serious. He stood up from his seat and bowed his head.

"tell me the story……"

After several years of continuous correction, the imperial court no longer needs to kneel down when holding meetings, and the ministers have gradually gotten used to it. However, when it comes to key issues, some people still have to kneel down to show their determination or insist. Hong Tao really didn't know what Yuan Keli was going to say. Did he have a relative who passed away and wanted to write a petition to remove the deceased's love?

"The regent is nominally a regent, but in reality he is the crown prince. Your Majesty has been married for more than ten years and has not had a prince. I implore Your Majesty to enrich the harem for the sake of the country and the people, and to reassure me and the people."

"I second the motion! I implore Your Majesty to enrich the harem for the sake of the country..."

When Yuan Keli finished speaking, everyone in the hall, except the staff officer and Wang Chengen, stood up and kowtowed, loudly echoing him. In fact, Wang Chengen wanted to kneel as well, but when he saw the emperor's unfriendly face, he straightened his legs again.

"I am not even forty years old, and I am in such good health. Why should I rush into this matter... Well, I will pay attention to this matter when I go south. I have heard that the women in the south of the Yangtze River are beautiful and virtuous. I will pick one or two and bring them back."

The ministers collectively forced the emperor to abdicate in order to get him to find more concubines and give birth to princes sooner. This really surprised Hong Tao. But it was just a surprise. He first argued, and when he saw that it didn't work, he changed his mind and claimed that he liked Jiangnan women and wanted to go and pick one himself.

"Let Gekko investigate carefully to see if anyone is secretly connected with them!"

The emperor had personally agreed, so the ministers were naturally satisfied and stood up to leave. When they left the hall, Hong Tao's kind smile disappeared immediately, and he fiercely issued an order to Wang Chengen.

No matter who it is or why, the private alliances are strictly prohibited. Today you can force the emperor to choose concubines, and tomorrow you may force the emperor to change his policy. It is extremely annoying!
On October 23rd, it is suitable to travel or move; it is not suitable to get married or break ground.

There was a guard post every three steps and a sentry every five steps in the Dagu Port area. The area within two miles was surrounded by navy soldiers in black clothes. No one was allowed to enter or leave. If you want to know why, the answer is four words: the emperor is on tour! If you ask any more questions, they will arrest him and hand him over to the Jinyiwei to dig up his ancestors.

Several slender, dark-skinned warships with a row of red gun ports on each side were anchored far away on the sea. This paint job belongs to the navy's main Qin-class warships. If the sails are spread out, they are all black, and there are golden suns and silver moons on the top sails of each mast.

Only the ship closest to the dock was different. It was longer and fatter than the Qin-class battleship, with a row of red-painted gun ports on each side, and the words "Han 001" were prominently written on the bow and stern.

The Han-class three-masted warship has a keel length of 34 meters, a hull width of 9 meters, a V-shaped bottom with an outward expansion arc, a full load displacement of about 650 tons, and a deadweight of 300 tons. The standard crew is 156 people, the wartime crew is 201, and it can accommodate up to 400 people for 21 days of non-stop sailing.

Unlike the Qin class, the Han class completely eliminated the poop, and the deck was completely flat from the bow to the stern. The stern was restrained and looked very thin, as if there was a tail but it was cut off from the tail root.

Another obvious difference is the sails. The mainmast of the Han class is 31 meters high and has 4 layers of cross sails; the foremast is 27 meters high and has 4 layers of cross sails; the mizzenmast is 27 meters high and has 3 layers of longitudinal sails.

Yes, that's right. The Han class has brought back the full-mast square sail. Why? Did they find that the Qin class's mixed sail type was not easy to use after actual combat testing, or had other major defects? This is both right and wrong. In fact, if you look closely, the Han class's square sail is different from the traditional European square sail. European square sails have only one mast on each side, and the leeward edge of the sail is tied to the mast of the next sail, while the Han class's square sails have two upper and lower masts on each side.

What's the use of an extra spars? Hey, don't underestimate the extra wood below, it can make each sail a separate control unit.

The traditional European soft sail system has a fixed angle of the cross sail, which has great thrust when encountering tailwind and crosswind, but cannot be used when encountering headwind. Therefore, several longitudinal sails are usually installed on the bow girder and the mizzen mast, which not only facilitates turning but also retains some thrust in headwind conditions.

For hundreds of years, captains and sailors have been looking for the optimal sail solution, and later a mixed sail type of square and fore and aft sails on one mast appeared.

It is more flexible than a pure square sail and has a greater thrust-to-weight ratio than a pure fore-and-aft sail. However, it still sacrifices some of the thrust of the square sail and the flexibility of the fore-and-aft sail, and is a product of compromise.

Until the 19th century, this problem that had troubled generations of sailors was finally solved by a Swedish ship designer. He installed a spar on the leeward edge of the square sail, but only fixed the spar on the windward edge, and temporarily clamped the spar on the leeward edge on the mast with a clamp.

When the boat encounters a tailwind or crosswind, the sail is opened to become a normal cross sail. When encountering a headwind, the sailman can adjust the clamp to change the angle of the leeward edge of the spars, thereby adjusting the angle of the sail within a certain range, with a maximum range of no more than 15 degrees left or right.

Don't underestimate 15 degrees, it can turn a headwind into a crosswind, and a slight adjustment of the ship's course will turn it into a crosswind.

That is to say, when encountering headwind, the ship no longer needs to zigzag to obtain thrust and maintain course. It only needs to slightly adjust the course and the mast on the leeward edge to obtain thrust similar to that in crosswind, which greatly reduces the frequency of turning.

What's even more clever is that there is an additional leeward mast, coupled with an independent winch and rigging. When each sail is folded, only two sailhands are needed to cooperate in using the winch to roll up the leeward mast, just like rolling up a curtain, and then the entire sail can be rolled into a strip and tied tightly.

It is even easier to lower the sail. Pull the capstan rigging in the opposite direction, and the sail is opened like a scroll. And you can open it by one-third, half, or three-quarters, which greatly reduces the labor intensity of the sail operator and also reduces the number of sail operators.

You should know that on large sailing ships, whether they are sailing cross-rigged or cross-rigged, the number of sailors accounts for more than half of all sailors.

If there are high sea conditions or naval battles and the ship needs to change direction frequently, all crew members, including carpenters, blacksmiths, cooks, boatswain, second mate, first mate and even navigator and clerk, must go to the mast to participate in the work of raising and lowering the sails.

It was a race against time, a race against death. Often life and death and victory or defeat depended on a few minutes, and being late was tantamount to suicide.

Just adding one more spars, one clamp and a set of capstan rigging to each sail can reduce the workload of the sailman by at least half, and increase the speed of raising and lowering the sail by at least twice. This means that the warship can carry a dozen or even fewer sailors, as well as their food and supplies.

In fact, this type of sail is more cost-effective to use on merchant ships. It can instantly reduce the number of crew members and workload, which means reducing transportation costs without affecting speed.

(End of this chapter)