Daming: My boss Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 325 Steel is Bone

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at the generous and fearless Li Wei, feeling suspicious in his heart, and asked in a deep voice: "Why do you want to fight against Japan so much?"

Although Li Wei had a personal grudge with the Japanese state about what happened in Yangzhou, he felt that this alone would not make this brat who was lazy every day so active.

Li Wei's face froze. There were two main reasons why he wanted to fight against Japan. One was the national hatred for future generations, and the other was to go to sea now to prepare a way out for his future.

But the second point must not be mentioned, so he sadly told all the evil deeds of the Japanese country in later generations:

"In later generations, the Japanese invaded China, burning, killing, looting, and committing all kinds of crimes. Your Majesty, the capital city, suffered a bloody massacre by the Japanese, and hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives..."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he was shocked and angry: "How could later dynasties be so incompetent? Let the small Japanese country be so wreaking havoc!"

Li Wei glanced at him. The late Qing Dynasty was incompetent, but the late Ming Dynasty was not much better.

Li Wei told him some things about future generations, such as the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but he was not in a hurry to exterminate any Jurchens. The rise of dynasties cannot be solved by killing all the little Jurchens. Without Jurchens, there will be other ethnic groups.

But when he heard that the disaster that nearly destroyed the country for thousands of people in later generations was actually caused by the small Japanese country, he still felt a little unbelievable. In his eyes, the biggest problem was always the fierce foreigners in the north who were good at riding and shooting, but he never considered this small overseas country. Take it seriously.

"Hey, it's not just the Japanese countries, but also the great powers in the far west. They sailed across the oceans in giant iron-clad ships and colonized and plundered all over the world. But I, the Chinese, still held swords and spears to fight with other people's muskets and artillery. How could you possibly be my opponent?"

Although the Manchu and Qing Dynasties also had artillery and muskets, their equipment rate was very low and they were still very backward. Li Wei did not say it unfairly.

However, Li Wei smiled nonchalantly and said, "I plan to use steel to make bones."

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him and snorted in displeasure, saying that he was just trying to make a cake for him by cooperating with this boy!

"Then let's look at the musket first."

Today's ships are all made of wood. If you want to make a big ship, you have to use towering giant trees as the keel. Such giant trees are rare. And the giant ship Li Wei mentioned must be at least thirty feet long. He had never heard of such a giant tree, let alone seen it.

Li Wei immediately handed over his hand in surprise.

Although he has seen various ships of later generations, he only knows a little bit about shipbuilding. He needs to learn more about the knowledge introduced by Jiang Quan in order to transform and upgrade it.

"Do you really want to build a huge ship with all the materials?" Jiang Quan asked.

"Well," Li Wei smiled awkwardly, "The cannon hasn't been built yet, but I ordered someone to make a few muskets first so that they can be demonstrated to Your Majesty."

"But, what to do with the keel of such a huge ship? I have never seen such a huge keel. If it is segmented and tenoned together, it may be difficult to support such a large hull!"

Li Wei led Lu Xiu and others to send the dragon chariot away respectfully, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.

Although this kind of gun looks not much different from the previous flintlock guns on the outside, it has been greatly improved in terms of range and ballistic stability. If you want to go further, you have to make a primer and make custom bullets. The breech loaded gun.

"Use steel to make the keel?" Jiang Quan looked at Li Wei in surprise.

Zhu Yuanzhang had personally tried a flintlock gun before, and this time was no exception. He immediately felt the advantages of this kind of gun, and was pleasantly surprised again.

However, these ships are relatively small and cannot meet the requirements of the seaport he boasted. If he wants to build a giant iron-clad ship with a displacement of 5,000 tons, he will have to build a new shipyard. The current shipyards cannot meet the requirements.

As Jiang Quan walked, he introduced the ships under construction to Li Wei.

He had previously participated in the construction of Yangzhou New City with Li Wei, and was familiar with the use of cement. Now it would not be difficult to build a few more shipyards. Li Wei arranged these things for him and left the shipyard.

Zhu Yuanzhang fell silent immediately after hearing this. He valued Li Wei so much because he saw the power of those firearms in later generations. The flintlock guns and artillery made by Li Wei now have already exerted great power during his two expeditions. Not to mention those advanced equipment. If someone really uses such weapons to attack the current Ming Dynasty, let alone the Japanese country with a population of millions, I am afraid that any small tribe can be unscrupulous as long as they recruit ten thousand people into an army.

Longjiang Shipyard was the first shipyard established in the Ming Dynasty and is also the largest shipyard to date. It is located in the southwest corner of Yingtian. There is a lifting department under the Ministry of Industry in the shipyard to comprehensively manage shipbuilding affairs.

"Yes!" Li Wei responded respectfully, and even ordered Lu Xiu to prepare as soon as possible.

The shipyard has six or seven workshops such as tent shop, joinery, paint, iron, rope, cable, etc., each with its own division of labor.

It's finally done. With Zhu Yuanzhang's promise today, at least there will be no such thing as a country without conquest. As for shipbuilding, this is a big project. I'm afraid it won't be completed in less than a year and a half. Fortunately, the shipyard itself Just being under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry can save him a lot of trouble.

According to his idea, the first step is to modify the current ships, install paddle wheels, and move steam engines up as power, which saves time and effort.

Li Wei nodded slightly and listened while walking.

Li Wei nodded seriously: "Of course!"

After viewing the dock, Jiang Quan took him to the supporting workshop.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Although Li Wei had told him, he still couldn't believe it.

Jiang Quan, who had been promoted to the rank of doctor in the Du Shui Qing Dynasty, took Li Wei to inspect the entire shipyard. The shipyard was built along the river, with docks lined up along the river. There were also some ships under construction in the docks.

"Most of these ships are about one thousand materials, and there are sea ships and river ships. Sea ships have wider hulls to withstand sea wind and waves, and sailboats have larger oars, which are mainly driven by wind and manpower, while river ships It has a long and narrow body shape and is mainly driven by water power and manpower.”

Li Wei nodded slightly. Using wood to make a boat was too restrictive. Steel was the best material for boat building.

Jiang Quan frowned in embarrassment.

If he had known these words were so effective, he would have said them earlier!

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly and asked again: "Didn't you say that the fire and artillery have also been improved? Show them to us!"

"Go back and find an open space. I want to build several large shipyards." Li Wei ordered.

After this conversation he took the firearms more seriously.

Jiang Quan frowned, thinking hard about the feasibility of this matter.

After testing the gun, Zhu Yuanzhang gave him a few words of encouragement and left the Arms Bureau with satisfaction.

Li Wei inspected one by one and carefully inspected all these things.

After a while, everyone came to the shooting range where the guns were tested. The craftsmen took out several hand-made rifled guns, loaded them and fired, demonstrating for a while.

It is not difficult to renovate old ships. As long as he asks, the current craftsmen can complete it. At most, he will have to direct the steam engine when debugging.

Jiang Quan Gong claimed so.

Li Wei glanced at him and said calmly: "Okay, just do as I say."

Taking a deep breath, Zhu Yuanzhang said solemnly: "Then you can build it. The money, food and manpower are at your disposal. When you build such a giant ship, we will mobilize troops and horses to form an ocean-going navy!"

But there are many problems to be solved in order to build a new iron-clad ship. The first is the keel problem that Jiang Quan is worried about.

Later ships were built in sections and then welded. Now there are no such advanced welding methods, but it is impossible to directly cast a steel keel hundreds of meters long.

But he has already thought of a way, which is to use the relatively simple thermite welding technology. The most important thermite is a mixture of aluminum powder and iron oxide powder. Iron oxide powder is better said, it is made of iron ore. The main ingredient is this, but aluminum powder is a bit troublesome.

Before the advent of electrolysis, aluminum had always been a rare and precious metal, but fortunately, it now has electricity.

When Jiang Quan organized craftsmen to build a large shipyard, Li Wei also began to make electrolytic aluminum equipment, and by the way, he also made electrolytic copper equipment.

Electrolysis is one of the main methods for producing high-purity metals. With these devices, the problem of copper wires has been solved, and one of the technical problems of electric motors has also been solved.

In the rush of work, he did not forget to teach these students. Under his leadership, these students almost left the classroom and followed him around the Ordnance Bureau every day. They were children from craftsmen's families, and many of the adults in his own family were also They all worked in the Ordnance Bureau. Sometimes, after finishing the work, Li Wei would directly ask their adults to take them back. Busy days always pass by quickly. A few months passed in the blink of an eye. Under Li Wei's personal supervision, two more workshops were built in the Ordnance Bureau for the production of aluminum, copper and other metals.

Today's Ordnance Bureau has gradually moved away from the old manual work methods. The roar of machines is everywhere. With the steam engine as power, forging, cutting, and drawing pipes have begun to gradually break away from manual work. Towards standardized production methods.

At the Longjiang Shipyard, large trucks carried ten-meter-long steel beams to the dock in Xinjian City.

The huge dock is nearly two hundred meters long, thirty meters wide and fifteen meters deep. It is reinforced with cement all around. There are keel piers and side piers in the middle to support the construction of ships. There is also a crane made of pulleys above. You need to manually turn the winch to use it. Although it is far inferior to the electric aerial crane of later generations, it is still much better than manual handling.

Jiang Quan followed Li Wei and stood on the edge, looking at this huge shipyard, and couldn't help but feel filled with emotion.

Not only was this the only time he had seen such a huge shipyard in his life, but what was even more rare was that it was built under his own command. But he didn’t know if the big ship Li Wei mentioned could really be built. If it could be built, then he might Maybe he can also leave his name in history.

"Master Marquis, the dock has been built. How do you plan to build the ship?"

Jiang Quan asked hopefully.

"Well, let's start by building a steel beam structure."

Li Wei nodded and said, although he has never built a ship, he can understand the basic steps. It is nothing more than starting with the bones and then the skin. The bottom steel beam is directly welded with thermite, and other beams can be riveted, bolted, etc.

Sections of steel beams were lifted into the dock and placed at predetermined positions. Then Li Wei took thermite welding tools and walked down with some craftsmen to the connection between the two steel beams.

Thermite welding has certain risks. Li Wei personally guided the craftsmen to align and level the steel beams, then clamp them with clamps, put them on the high-temperature-resistant molds, seal the surrounding gaps with glue, and then bake them inside. The steel beam turned reddish, and finally a funnel-like device was placed on it.

The structure of this thing is not complicated. The main thing is that the iron oxide inside reacts with the aluminum powder to generate high temperature. The aluminum captures oxygen and forms aluminum oxide that floats on the top. The liquid iron element sinks through the holes and flows into the mold, which is equivalent to casting. .

Before lighting the thermite, Li Wei had people evacuate the surrounding people. A craftsman carefully lit it like a firecracker and ran away.

As the thermite in the funnel began to react, the gaps in the entire device suddenly showed a dazzling bright red color. The temperature of the thermite reaction is as high as 3,000 degrees, which can easily melt steel. The molten iron generated by these reactions flows along the funnel. It flows into the clamped mold and is filled between the two steel beams to form a red section.

When the reaction was over, Li Wei hurriedly said: "Go quickly, take off the mold, and handle it as I taught you before!"

"Yes!"

The craftsmen who had been prepared immediately came forward with tools, removed the mold, and used a hammer to vigorously knock off the excess protruding parts, and then waited for it to cool and polished the corners.

After a long time, the two steel beams finally became one complete one. This kind of welding is relatively reliable.

Jiang Quan followed Li Wei and went forward to check it out. When he saw the steel beam that looked like one piece, he couldn't help but sigh: "It's really... a miraculous skill!"

Li Wei also looked happy. This welding method can not only be used to weld ship hulls, but also be used to weld rails, make incendiary bombs, etc.

"The main steel beams are all welded in this way, and the other beams are built with bolts and rivets. Let's start construction!"

Li Wei ordered loudly.

Many craftsmen said yes and began to weld and build the steel frame of the ship step by step.

Although Li Wei didn't have to do it himself, he didn't dare to leave. A big project like shipbuilding was much more complicated than the previous construction of Yangzhou New City, so he had to keep a close eye on it.

The bottom steel beams were welded together one by one, followed by the upward support beams and so on. As time went by, a huge iron skeleton slowly appeared, followed by a wooden structure and a steel skin.

It was as if time had gone back in time in the dock. This giant ship made of iron and wood was slowly born from bone to flesh like an ancient behemoth!

After the hull construction was on track, Li Wei returned his energy to the Ordnance Bureau.

The hull manufacturing is okay for the time being, but the equipment above still needs to be manufactured.

After finally building a giant iron-clad ship, he didn't want to use a garbage thing like a paddle wheel on it. It had to have a propeller.

The propeller is mainly cast, and the Ordnance Bureau's technology can now fully produce it. However, due to material problems, it is definitely not as corrosion-resistant and durable as the alloys of later propellers.

In addition, his first child will be born along with the giant ship.

Recently, Anqing's belly has been getting bigger and bigger, and Li Wei has also taken some time out from his busy schedule to spend some time with his little wife.

An Qing is lively and active by nature. It has been a pain for her since she was pregnant with this child. People arranged by Li Wei watch her every day and do not allow this or that. The servants are also very sensible. Even if An Qing is the princess, they also Don't dare let her mess around.

Time flies, the weather changes from cold to hot, and from hot to cold again. The craftsmen once again fully demonstrated what it means that there is power in numbers. As long as there are enough money and people, the construction speed will be very fast even without the advanced equipment of later generations. Fly up.

After more than half a year of construction, the world's first ironclad ship was finally born in the Longjiang Shipyard of the Ming Dynasty five hundred years ahead of schedule!

At this time, in the dock, the outer skin of the ship has been covered with steel, and there are dense cables on both sides. The gray steel is shining coldly in the sun, and the huge hull is as shocking as a steel mountain!

There are two huge chimneys standing high on the hull. Since the fire has not yet been ignited, the entire hull looks smooth and beautiful. However, after the steam engine is started, the billowing black smoke coming out of these two chimneys will soon disappear. It will make this giant ship dirty.

"Master Hou, we have really completed it!"

Jiang Quan said excitedly.

Li Wei nodded lightly with a smile on his face, but then said softly: "But don't be too happy too early. The hull has been built, but the equipment on it has not been installed yet, and it has not been tested in the water."

In addition to the steam engine that serves as the driving force, the ship also has to install cannons, doors, windows, floors and other things, just like buying a rough house and having to decorate it with furniture.

"Hurry up and install the equipment that needs to be installed, and then we will launch the sea trial." Li Wei ordered.

"Yes, sir, don't worry." Jiang Quan agreed excitedly.

After Li Wei finished speaking, he handed over the finishing work to him and went home.

There are no tests now, and he doesn't know when Anqing will give birth. Some things must be prepared in advance.

The first is the sterile delivery room. Li Wei specially had a room vacated and cleaned and sterilized every day. All kinds of clothes and fabrics were steamed and sterilized for later use. After a long time, they had to be replaced with new ones.

In addition, he also asked people to make forceps. It is best not to use this thing, but if it really comes to a critical moment, it can also be a life-saving thing.

There was also a midwife. He went to the palace specially to ask Zhu Yuanzhang for a royal midwife, who lived in the Prince Consort's house and was ready at any time.

A month passed gradually, and the equipment on the ship was installed, and Jiang Quan invited Li Wei over again.

In front of the dock door, a group of craftsmen were holding tools and getting ready. Looking at the armored giant ship in front of them, Li Wei was filled with ambition and shouted: "Let the water go!"

"Yes!"

Everyone responded and immediately moved waterproof sand and stones, dug open the dock door, and the river surged down and poured into the dock room.

As the water level gradually rose, the ship's hull began to sway gently under the restraints of the cables. It was not until the water level reached a height of four or five meters that it gradually floated.

After the ship was stabilized, Li Wei ordered people to remove the cables, and then checked in the dock to see if there were any leaks.

After all inspections are completed, the boiler is ignited and the steam engine is started.

(End of this chapter)