Sui Dynasty: I, Yang Guang, am both scrupulous and stable

Chapter 299 Paying for Failure

Yang Guang received the news from Li Jing and came to the steam engine manufacturing center in the firearms workshop.

At this time, Li Chun was working hard to study Daxing's steam engines, which could be used by warships.

This is also a huge problem for Li Chun, but it is necessary to overcome the problem. Li Chun is very excited now.

Yang Guang pulled him over and said, "Li Chun, Li Jing has received news from the Navy. He has tried the current firearms and cannons, and their power is much higher than before. He is very satisfied with the power of the cannons."

"Your Highness, after thickening the cannon, barrel and length, the power and attack distance of the artillery fire have been greatly improved. Theoretically, the power can continue to be increased by continuing to lengthen and thicken the cannon."

"This method of enhancing power can only be used within a certain range. If it is too long and too thick, it will only increase the cost and become a burden later. I think the power and cost of the artillery are now within a relatively good range. Improvement and strengthening Existing artillery is a better option."

Li Chun thought carefully: "Your Highness is right."

"Also, this time Li Jing came back with full affirmation of the power of the artillery, but also gave an improvement plan for the warship."

"What did he say?"

"Except for carrying artillery, our warships are not very different from the old warships in other aspects. Once an enemy warship approaches and the ship is boarded to seize the ship, the artillery on our warship will be ineffective. There is no power, but in order to better attack the opponent's warship, we have to get as close as possible."

"In this case, when we have water battles in the future, we will still have to use old tactics. On the contrary, it will limit the use of our weapons. In his mind, future water battles should have little or no boarding. In a close-quarters battle like seizing a ship, we have to rely on artillery and other equipment to determine the outcome, because this is the part where our army has the largest lead over the enemy, and we must use our strengths to avoid weaknesses."

Li Jing naturally does not mean that the current warships are not good, but that they are not good enough, or that they can be better.

"What is Li Jing's suggestion?"

"Use more iron parts on the ship to increase the strength of the hull. Covering the exterior of the ship with iron sheets increases the ship's defense ability when it withstands a blow, and increases the impact force of the ship in the event of a collision."

Li Chun frowned slightly: "Your Highness, adding so many iron parts will drastically increase the weight of the warship and reduce the carrying capacity and speed of the warship. If the warship is not fast enough, it will become the target of attack by the opponent. On the contrary, it makes it easier for people to board and seize the ship."

Yang Guang patted Li Chun on the shoulder and said: "Li Chun, isn't this the purpose of asking you to build a large steam engine? As long as there are large steam engines, the heavy warships will be faster than the current warships."

Yang Guang smiled slightly: "Do you think Li Jing has been in the navy for a few days? With his intelligence, wouldn't he have thought that the warship would be too heavy and too slow to be attacked by others?"

"He's not that stupid."

When Yang Guang said this to Li Chun, it seemed true if he thought about it carefully.

Yang Guang explained to him: "Perhaps even Li Jing himself has not noticed it. He is already thinking about the problem based on the assumption that the steam engine has been successful."

"He and I planned that in the future, if large steam engines can drive warships, then our warships can travel without wind and go upstream. The huge power will be greater than hundreds or thousands of people rowing together. He is now in Naval training directly takes these things into account. The key indicators needed for the next generation of warships he envisioned are correct. We need to use steel to build warships. Such warships are not targets to be besieged, but are on the rivers and seas. Steaming steel fortress.”

The description of the steaming steel fortress on the river and sea made Li Chun daydream.

Above the river and sea, a giant steel warship stands on the rippling blue water.Steam rises from its huge chimney, like a living giant, and the rich smell of iron ore fills the air, making people take a deep breath.

There are countless huge cannons on the warship, the roar of machines is endless, and someone is always adding coal and water, keeping this giant in a state of anger.

Li Chun found it difficult to imagine what kind of power other countries would use to fight against the Sui Dynasty in the future if such a monster was really created.

Incredible, this was the first word that came to Li Chun's mind.

Li Chun smiled bitterly: "Your Highness, Li Jing seems to be too confident in me. Although small steam engines can be used now, I still have no confidence in the power of a steam engine to drive such a huge warship."

"What do you think is the biggest problem now?"

"Your Highness, I have constructed the appearance of a large steam engine in my mind. For such a large machine to actually operate, the strength requirements for all components are very high. With today's technology, I am afraid that it will be damaged after just two turns after being installed."

Li Chun and others have already figured out the principle of the steam engine very clearly. The principle is of course simple, and with the experience of small steam engines, the team already has a foundation. However, the material strength required to build large equipment is not comparable to that of small equipment.

Li Chun's worry is very reasonable. It can't just be an empty shell. Moreover, the warship is going to fight, and the usage conditions that need to be considered are more extreme than ordinary rotation.

Yang Guang understood that the biggest problem now was the strength of materials, and once again launched his currency policy.

"Li Chun, starting today, I will appoint you as the chief designer of the steam warship. What you will be responsible for in the future is not the special work of the steam engine, but the overall construction of the steam warship, the mine, the smelting workshop, and the forging workshop. , we will cooperate with you unconditionally wherever you need us.”

Li Chun looked at Yang Guang in surprise. He was less than 20 years old. If Yang Guang gave him such power, the number of craftsmen he could mobilize would be at least 5000 to [-], including the miners and other workers. The job earns over [-] yuan, which is very stressful for him.

Yang Guang looked at Li Chun's face and asked with a smile: "What? You don't dare anymore?"

"Your Highness, I, Li Chun, don't dare to do anything. Your Highness trusts me so much. I'm just afraid that I won't let him down if I don't do it well."

Yang Guang said earnestly: "For those who do research, there is no guarantee of success. It often takes dozens of failures in exchange for one success. Didn't we go through this before? But I am willing to pay for failure. Paying for failure is just for the sake of success." Pay for tomorrow’s success.”

Li Chun immediately said: "Your Highness, you can trust me, Li Chun. I, Li Chun, will go all out to build a steam warship for Your Highness."

"This is the mentality that young people should have."

Yang Guang patted Li Chun on the shoulder: "As the chief designer, you have to consider the overall situation on many things. Everyone, including me, has to listen to your technical decisions. I can only give opinions, but in the end It’s you who makes the decision.”

"Your Highness...I..."

"Just do your best. Tell me now, what are you going to do next?" Li Chun did not rush to answer, but thought for several minutes, sorted out his words and said to Yang Guang: "Your Highness , I will divide the construction of the steam warship into three parts to be carried out simultaneously to speed up the construction. The first is the planning of the large steam engine, responsible for the design of the large steam engine and experiments, the second is the improvement of steel components, and the third It’s the building of warships.”

"Reserve the space required for large steam engines in the warship in advance, and start building the rest first. You can use existing warships to modify them first, gain more relevant research experience, and pay for failure with the minimum cost."

Yang Guang nodded with great satisfaction: "Very good, I knew to consider the cost issue from the beginning. It seems that I really found the right person."

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your trust."

Yang Guang said with a smile: "You develop warships and steam engines for me, and Li Jing trains the navy for me. This makes me feel a lot more relaxed. Others will think that I am a hands-off boss who is very comfortable."

"Your Highness is joking. The only one who can do this is His Highness. How can I put it lightly?"

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

"First, His Highness is the only one in the world who has so much money to do this, and is willing to spend so much money to do this, so it must be His Highness."

"Secondly, His Highness is the only one who is willing to trust us to do this. You are the only one in the entire Sui Dynasty who is willing to do this."

"Thirdly, His Highness said that he is willing to pay for the failure of the research. I have limited knowledge. I feel that you are the only one in the history."

Yang Guangda laughed: "Li Chun, why are you imitating others' flattery now?"

Li Chun smiled awkwardly: "Your Highness, people say that I, Li Chun, am stupid and always have unrealistic ideas in my head. If I hadn't worked under His Highness, I would have been able to live in two acres of thin farmland in my life. Thank God. Without Your Highness, I would have been miserable." Without me, Li Chun."

Yang Guang nodded with satisfaction: "Do your job well and I won't treat you badly. Your name, Li Chun, will definitely be in the history books."

……

Half a month passed by in a flash, and reports came from the northern and western fronts at the same time.

One good news and one bad news.

News from the northern front, Goguryeo tore up the treaty and attacked the city that was occupied by the Sui Dynasty before. Now it has been besieged. The Youzhou Army was dispatched urgently, but they did not take advantage of the encounter. The Goguryeo team already had firearms and equipment, although the quantity was not counted. Plenty, but about half are equipped in the elite army.

The Sui army obviously did not expect that the Goguryeo army had so many firearms, so it suffered a big loss during a head-on battle.

The Di newspaper wrote that the Youzhou Army was preparing for the second attack, and Goguryeo was attacking the previous city with full firepower. This was an attitude of wiping out all the soldiers in the city.

Along with the Di newspaper, the eunuch who came to deliver the letter said in a panic: "Your Highness, Your Majesty asks you to go to the palace to discuss after reading the Di newspaper. Let's go quickly."

"Why are you in a hurry? My father asked me to read the newspaper before going to the palace to discuss it. I haven't read it yet, please wait."

Yang Guang looked at the news from the Western Front. It was the news that the Sui Dynasty and Tuyuhun had started a war.
However, Yang Guang saw a piece of news that he didn't know before. The prince of Tuyuhun was in Yang Xiu's hands for some reason.

The two armies were fighting, holding the other side's prince in their hands. This was a very strong psychological pressure. The other side would definitely throw a weapon at him, but when he looked down, Yang Guang couldn't help but laugh and cry.

Yang Xiu directly escorted the other side's prince directly in front of the two armies to the middle, letting his own people see it, and the other side's people also seeing it, showing it off like a humiliation.

When our soldiers learned that they had captured the other party's prince, their military power was greatly boosted, and the morale of the other party's soldiers was greatly reduced. This battle undoubtedly defeated the other party, and they retreated hundreds of miles to temporarily stop.

In the military reports sent back, there were many words of praise for the King of Shu, Yang Xiuna, and they were full of praises. They basically used all the words that could be said about the sage of war, the god of war, and so on.

It was obvious that Yang Xiu had personally reviewed and approved this military report, otherwise it would have been more than that.

Yang Guang shook his head and smiled bitterly. When he saw that Yang Xiu had the other prince in his hand, he immediately thought that the other prince had surrendered, or at least a close associate of the prince. Otherwise, how could the other prince show up before the fight had been fought? In Yang Xiu's hands.

When he first saw in the military newspaper that Yang Xiu had the prince of the other party, Yang Guang was shocked. He thought Yang Xiu was going to cooperate with him to overthrow the rule of King Tuyuhun. In this case, he really had a reputation as a master. , and with powerful helpers, as long as we fight steadily, we can even defeat the entire Tuyuhun.

As long as the main ministers of Tuyuhun see that the situation is over, many of them will definitely be dissatisfied and come to seek refuge with the prince of Tuyuhun. At that time, they will be able to help the prince of Tuyuhun to ascend the throne and cultivate some abilities of our court around him, euphemistically called managing Tuyuhun, and finally negotiate The Sui Dynasty garrison guarded the Tuyuhun trade route. Although they did not occupy Tuyuhun in name, they actually controlled its tower.

Although the actual handling will not be as simple as it is said, and the balance of interests among the various nobles in Tuyuhun is also very troublesome, but if you can control the prince of Tuyuhun, you will have the best person to govern Tuyuhun. It is really What a God-given opportunity.

However, what Yang Xiu wanted was not to actually control Tuyuhun, but to occupy Tuyuhun in name. He went out to fight for great fame, and this battle was fought so beautifully, which was exactly what he wanted.

After reading the good news and the bad news, Yang Guang stood up and said to the eunuch: "Let's go into the palace."

The eunuch nodded hurriedly and bowed.

In the emperor's study, Yang Jian is still writing. His calligraphy skills are good, and his handwriting is strong and powerful. However, without the aura of the emperor, this handwriting can only be regarded as a good standard.

"Have you read the newspapers in Di? There is another war on the Western and Northern fronts. What do you think?"

Yang Guangjushi replied: "Goguryeo on the northern front is now equipped with a lot of firearms. I think they may have started to imitate our firearms. Otherwise, they would just pick them up from the battlefield. There shouldn't be that many."

"This is also what I am most worried about, so the situation in Goguryeo is more serious than what was reported in the newspaper. You should go there."

"Father! If we want to deal with Goguryeo, which now has firearms, I'm afraid it won't be enough for the Guangyouzhou Army. We will also need to mobilize all the armies from Shandong and other places."

The emperor nodded: "Stop the war on the southern front against Nanchen, and solve the problem of Goguryeo first."

(End of this chapter)