The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

Longjiang Shipyard.

Next to the largest pond.

Zhang Qianfan was explaining to Liu Sheng eloquently.

"Your Majesty, please see, this is the first ironclad ship built by our Longjiang Shipyard."

"Because before the problem of installing steam power is solved, the ironclad ship is destined to be heavier than ordinary battleships, so the design is biased towards thick armor and heavy artillery."

"The size of the ironclad ship in front of me is designed according to the second-class battleship. It is 63 meters long, 28.5 meters wide, and the side is 7.2 meters high."

In order to facilitate and better learn and absorb the various technologies passed down by Liu Sheng, all factories in Da'ei have now innovated measuring tools and adopted later measurement units.

Therefore, at this time, Zhang Qianfan introduced the parameters of the ironclad ship to Liu Sheng in later generations of measurement units.

"There are 36 artillery pieces on both sides of the bottom deck, all with a caliber of 150 mm, which is equivalent to Xiyi's 26-pound naval gun."

"There are 24 artillery pieces on both sides of the middle deck, all with a caliber of 130 mm, which is equivalent to Xiyi's 18-pound naval gun."

"The upper deck has a total of 18 artillery pieces, and the caliber is also 130 mm."

"In addition, there is a main naval gun at the bow and stern of the ship, with a caliber of 180 mm, which is more powerful than Xiyi's 42-pound naval gun!"

Liu Sheng looked at the gun ports and nodded slightly.

Although he didn't understand the construction of battleships, he did know something about it.

The reason why the 150 mm caliber cannon is arranged on the bottom deck is mainly to reduce the impact of the reaction force on the ship during shelling.

This ironclad ship has three decks and 80 cannons. It indeed meets the second-class battleship standards set by the British ten years later.

At present, most of the second-level battleships in Western countries do not have so many artillery guns, let alone this battleship equipped with steel plates.

Speaking of which, armouring warships was not the first of its kind.

In fact, as early as the Renchen Japanese Rebellion in the Wanli Period, the Lee Dynasty in Korea built an armored warship called a "turtle ship".

However, the tonnage of this kind of warship itself is very small, and only a dome-shaped thick iron sheet is added to the hull to withstand bows, arrows, lead bullets and small iron cannons.

In this era when battleships and cannons roam the oceans, the so-called "turtle ships" are not much different from ordinary oriental warships. They may sink even if they are hit by a cannon.

Even the flexibility of the boat is lost as a result.

In addition, according to Liu Sheng's understanding, Japan also imitated the "turtle ship" after the Imjin Japanese Rebellion.

In fact, it was just a rough covering of iron sheets on the outside of other warships, which was also difficult to withstand cannon bombardment.

But the first ironclad ship built in Da'ei was different.

It is said to be an ironclad ship, but it is actually equipped with thick enough steel plates.

Although the steel plate does not cover the entire ship - that would be more technically difficult and waste steel.

But almost all of the parts of the ship that are exposed to the water are covered with steel plates.

The second half of the two giant guns at the bow and stern are in the gun room made of steel. The gun barrels can also rotate at a certain angle. It can be said that they have some shadows of the main naval guns in the era of later steel giant ships.

Zhang Qianfan continued:
"After testing, this ironclad ship can withstand nearly a hundred bombardments from iron bullets weighing less than 27 kilograms (30 pounds) without affecting all aspects of its performance."

"Although iron bullets weighing more than 27 kilograms can significantly deform the ship's armor, they generally have to hit the same small area more than ten times to damage the warship to the point of affecting its performance..."

With Zhang Qianfan's introduction, Liu Sheng also had a comprehensive understanding of this ironclad ship.

After that, he took the accompanying officials, guards, etc. to board the ship for a look, and found that the internal layout of this battleship was better than those third-level battleships previously built by Longjiang Shipyard.

After reading it, Liu Sheng couldn't help but praise, "This armored ship looks really good - how long will it take to build one?"

Zhang Qianfan said, "If there are enough materials, one can be built in three months at most."

Liu Sheng nodded and said, "Later, I will let this ironclad ship serve in Hailongwei first and continue to test its performance."

"If there are no major problems in three months, you will start building the second and third ships."

This ironclad ship must have been put into the water for sea trials - there was no sea trial to confirm its basic performance, and the Longjiang Shipyard did not dare to report that it was completed.

But there is a difference between launching it for sea trials and sending it to the Navy to serve for a long time to test its performance.

This ironclad ship costs much more than an ordinary second-level battleship, costing more than three hundred thousand silver dollars.

If the imperial court wanted to build more, it would naturally have to be more cautious.

But not too many will be built.

For now, Liu Sheng plans to let Hailongwei, Donghai Navy, and Nanhai Navy have one each.

In a few years, steam-powered ironclads will be successfully developed. Even if such ironclads are not eliminated, they will be modified. There is no need to build too many.

Even if the European navigation powers Spain, the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands built first- and second-level battleships, they only had a handful of them.

And they basically operate in the eastern waters of the Atlantic Ocean, and are unlikely to be sent to the East.

In this case, the Tai'ei navy, each with one second-level iron-clad battleship, is enough to run rampant in several sea areas in the east!

Of course, the presence of ironclad ships does not mean that the Dalai Navy will definitely be able to defeat the navies of Western powers.

After all, compared with several Atlantic navigation powers, the naval warfare technology of Da'ei Navy is still immature, and the use of battleships and cannons is still in the learning and proficiency stage.

When Liu Sheng was thinking about this, Zhang Qianfan on the side saw that he was about to leave, so he cupped his hands and said, "I beg your Majesty to give me a name for my first iron-clad ship in Damei!"

Liu Sheng thought for a while and then said: "Let's call it Zhenhai."

···
Time enters May.

The weather is getting hotter.

On this day, Suzhou Customs reported that the North Korean mission fleet had arrived at Wusongkou again.

When Liu Sheng learned of this, he immediately summoned Li Changwen and other military ministers to discuss it.

"I didn't expect that the Lee family moved very quickly in North Korea. They left around December last year, and now they are back in less than half a year."

After hearing this, Li Changwen said, "Last year, the Qing captives directly occupied Ping'an Road and Hamjing Road, and now they want to occupy Huanghae Road."

"If this continues, North Korea's demise is imminent. No wonder Li Jie and others are anxious."

Liu Sheng smiled and said, "Did you come up with such an unreliable idea in a hurry? Or, in Li Zhu's eyes, am I just a lecher?"

Li Changwen, Li Banghua, Zhu Dadian, Ma Shimin all couldn't help but smile when they heard this.

No wonder Liu Sheng said this.

This time the North Korean mission unexpectedly sent four "princesses" and twelve beautiful North Korean girls.

The five princesses were either Li Jun's daughters or nieces, and they all came from the Korean Li clan.

I didn't dare to say anything about asking Liu Sheng to be a concubine in Liu Sheng's harem. I just hoped that she could enter the palace as a maid and serve Liu Sheng to atone for Li's previous sin of being a slave to the Qing Dynasty.

"Let's talk about it, how should we deal with it this time?"

Li Changwen said, "I think your Majesty might as well accept Li Zhu's apology gift."

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

Li Changwen said, "Although our government has adopted the strategy of 'driving wolves to chase deer' against the Qing Dynasty and North Korea, it is too fast and too easy for Qing Dynasty, a hungry wolf, to occupy North Korean territory."

"If this continues, I'm afraid Qinglu will grow rapidly by annexing North Korea in the next few years."

"I am not afraid of the Qinglu, but if they become too strong, I am afraid I will suffer a lot of losses if we send out troops to destroy them in the future."

"In that case, why not give the Li family a little help first and let them consume more of the Qinglu's power." Liu Sheng nodded slightly.

What Li Changwen said does make sense.

According to the news sent back by Xunfengwei, when the Qing rebels occupied Ping'an Road and Hamgyong Road, they encountered little resistance from North Korean official forces. However, it took some effort to put down the rebellion later.

If the Qing Dynasty can easily annex Hwanghae Province, Gangwon Province and other Korean territories, it will indeed quickly increase its strength.

At this time, Zhu Dadian also spoke up, "This year our army will disband part of the guard force, and some of the standing force will be equipped with flintlock muskets."

"Some of the old matchlock guns that were replaced cannot be processed. They have been accumulated for a long time and lack of maintenance, so they can only be smelted."

"In this case, it is better to sell some to North Korea, which can not only earn some money, but also strengthen the strength of Li's North Korean army, which will consume a lot of Qingluo's energy."

After hearing this, Ma Shimin made another suggestion.

"I believe that in order to prepare for our future occupation of the Korean Peninsula, we should make more arrangements now."

"Teams are rising in North Korea to resist the Qing Dynasty and Li's Korea. If we, Da'ei, can send people to infiltrate them and establish a team with the purpose of surrendering to us, Da'ei, we can easily gather information, and we can also train a group of people to govern North Korea first. Peninsula’s helper…”

As several military ministers put forward suggestions one by one.

Da'ei's "driving out wolves and chasing deer" plan to annex the Korean Peninsula has become more complete and mature.

then.

After the military disciplinary meeting, Liu Sheng invited people from Honglu Temple to hold a small meeting.

Then he ordered Honglu Temple to send officials to Wusongkou Customs in Suzhou to bring the Korean delegation to Nanjing.

···
Jiading County, Wusongkou.

After half a year, Jin Yu came here again.

In addition to the entourage from last time, he not only brought some unique treasures from North Korea, but also brought four young and beautiful princesses and twelve beautiful North Korean girls.

He just wanted to see Emperor Qianyuan of Dayei and ask him to send troops to eliminate the Qing captives and save Korea from danger.

Woo! ——

A weird, loud, long chirping sound sounded again, which brought Jin Yu back to his senses, and he couldn't help but look in the direction of the source of the sound.

Unfortunately, it was too far away and separated by many buildings, so he couldn't see the scene where the long chirping sound came from.

However, according to the sporadic news heard by the servants who went ashore yesterday to purchase, the thing that made this strange noise should be a thing called a "train".

Although Jin Yu was a little curious about this train, that was all.

What he was more concerned about now was whether he could see Emperor Damei.

Wait until the afternoon.

Finally the good news came.

But it was officials from Honglu Temple who came to Wusongkou Customs.

The chief official of Honglu Temple who came here is a young official with handsome appearance and elegant temperament. However, if you look closely, you will feel that he is a bit sinister.

"Jin Yu, the Winter Solstice envoy of North Korea and Councilor of Li Cao, met with the envoy."

The young man nodded slightly and said: "I am Fangyu, the Prime Minister of the Secret Service Department of Honglu Temple. Next, the journey of the North Korean envoy to Beijing will be arranged by me."

"Without further delay, we will set off in about two hours. Please hurry up and arrange for the delegation to disembark. Don't delay the time."

Jin Yu was stunned after hearing this.

I thought, leaving in two hours?

Isn't it going to be dark by then?
Could it be that they had to travel all night?
Although if you take a boat from Suzhou to Nanjing, the water surface of the Yangtze River is relatively gentle and there is no turbulence, but boating at night is somewhat dangerous.

If you are an ordinary person and are in a hurry to do something, there is nothing wrong with taking some risks.

The problem is that they are a North Korean envoy, and they brought with them a lot of treasures and four princesses.

What should I do if the ship sinks due to strong waves or other dangers?
Thinking of this, Jin Yu had the courage to remind, "Envoy, after all, we have carried a lot of tributes. Is it too risky to sail overnight?"

Hou Fangyu was unhappy when he heard this, "You want to teach me how to do things?"

Jin Yu said hurriedly, "I don't dare."

Although Hou Fangyu pretended to be an envoy from his overlord's country, he did not dare to make any mistakes when it came to matters within his duties.

So he snorted and explained: "Don't worry, we won't take a boat, but a train to the capital. The road is very safe."

Take a train?
Jin Yu was stunned again.

When he wanted to ask more questions, Hou Fangyu had already disembarked.

There are a series of other procedures for the North Korean mission to disembark, but those are basically the affairs of the officials. Hou Fangyu, the temporary chief officer, is at ease.

If it had been Qian Ming, he might have taken advantage of the two hours in between to find some friends from Jiading to enjoy tea and beauties.

Now I don't dare to go out and mess around. Instead, I just stay in the customs and wait.

When the members of the North Korean mission went through a series of disembarkation procedures at the customs, especially after checking whether they were suffering from epidemic diseases, they were finally able to walk out of Wusongkou Customs.

Jin Yu discovered.

There were several large four-wheel carriages waiting outside the customs.

When they boarded the carriage under the command of the officials from Honglu Temple, Jin Yu couldn't help but wonder: Could this be the train that the Da'ei people were talking about?
Doesn't it just have two more wheels than an ordinary carriage? How can it be called a train?
When these carriages started moving, Jin Yu discovered that the four-wheeled carriages were not only more spacious, but also very stable and fast.

However, Jin Yu felt that the reason why these four-wheeled carriages were so stable was also related to the strange stone road they were walking on.

Jin Yu noticed this road after exiting the customs.

It seems to be paved with a single stone slab, with no gaps visible.

However, in Jin Yu's opinion, there is no way such a big stone could exist in the world.

Even if there were, it would be impossible for the Wei people to move there.

The longer the carriage drove on this road, the more incredible Jin Yu found the existence of this road.

Unable to figure it out, he stopped thinking about what he did.

In his opinion, there were too many weird things about Dawei.

When the four-wheel carriage stopped, Jin Yu saw through the window that they had entered another large building.

Apart from some slightly larger houses here, what caught Jin Yu's attention the most was a strange road not far away.

The bottom layer of the road was paved with fine stones, but there were four long iron rods on it, extending into an invisible distance.

On this railway, there is also a huge strange car with more than a dozen carriages parked.

Could this be a train?
This thought came to Jin Yu's mind.

Hou Fangyu happened to come over and said calmly: "Let the princesses rest for a while. After all the tributes you brought are put on the train, we will get on the train."

"Remember, all your actions before and after getting on the bus must be subject to our arrangements. If something goes wrong, you will be responsible for the consequences!"

After confirming from Hou Fangyu that the huge strange car in front of him was the rumored train, Jin Yu couldn't help but feel more in awe of Da Wei.

He immediately responded obediently: "We will definitely remember it." (End of Chapter)