Prodigal Son of the Ming Dynasty

  Chapter 1161 Magic weapon

  The launch of the steamboat was carried out in a lake near Gyeonggi.

  Because the steam boiler was loaded on a river boat, the flat-bottomed boat was slowly transported by countless people with rolling logs. Because it was too large, even the servants of Shuntian Prefecture were used to clear the way for it.

  Fang Jifan and Zhu Houzhao have already been waiting here.

   This is a steam wooden boat. Under the current technical conditions, making an iron boat is almost tantamount to a dream.

   After all, the power required by the ironclad ship is too great, and it cannot be solved by the current steam boiler.

  In order to place the boiler, this ship is very large, nearly twenty feet long.

  Looking from a distance, the hull looks long and narrow, with a chimney on top.

   Its bottom is a dark wheel.

  It is a thing that uses a steam engine to drive a dark wheel to provide power to a ship.

This thing... don't look like it's just a wheel blade, but it has gone through many detours in history. At that time, people also tried to make steamboats, but at first, they were made of paddle wheels. The so-called "paddle wheels" were installed on The paddles on both sides of the boat or the stern are shaped like big wheels. The paddles rotate and hit the water backwards, using the reaction force of the water to push the boat forward. However, propulsion with paddle wheels is relatively inefficient. Especially when running into larger wind and waves, oars often can be out of the water and idle, and the boat shakes very badly when running.

It was not until fifty years later that people realized this huge disadvantage. Some people tried and improved, and finally invented a propeller that looked like a windmill and an electric fan blade to replace the paddle wheel, which greatly improved the performance of the paddle wheel. Efficiency of steam utilization, and increased speed.

  Fang Jifan stared straight at the 'dark wheel' loaded on the stern of the ship, and couldn't help feeling in his heart that the so-called technological progress was actually just a process of trial and error.

  From the bright wheel to the dark wheel, in fact, it only takes one thought, and the technical difficulty required is not high.

   But it took fifty years for such a thing. After the dark wheel, the large-scale application of steamships was possible.

  The design method of this dark wheel was suggested by Fang Jifan.

  Fang Jifan really didn't want his money to go to waste, it was all money, wasted money.

  The boat started to launch slowly, and then, the tugboat slowly dragged the scum of the world, Wang Bushi, to the middle of the lake.

  Zhu Houzhao was already dancing with excitement, extremely happy.

   This area of ​​water has already been explored. In most places, the water depth is sufficient to allow such a huge ship to pass through.

  He pulled Fang Jifan: "Go, get on the boat."

   "Is there any danger?"

  Fang Jifan looked at the huge monster in the middle of the lake with some worry.

  Zhu Houzhao said: "You still can't trust me."

Fang Jifan trembled and shuddered, but Zhu Houzhao dragged him onto a small boat. Many small boats loaded with sailors and helmsmen set off together and arrived at the scum of the world, Wang Bushi. After that, people boarded the boat one after another. .

  Fang Jifan stood on the deck, looking back at the huge chimney.

  Fang Jifan said: "How many times has your Highness tried the water?"

  Zhu Houzhao said: "This is the first time."

  Fang Jifan: "..."

  He also thought that Zhu Houzhao had done experiments with other ships before.

  At least...it should be verified.

  At this time, Zhu Houzhao held a small flag and waved it.

Immediately, the sailors in the distance got an order. In the boiler room, a group of sailors started to light the stove. As the stove burned, steam began to come out. Fang Jifan felt a slight trembling under his feet, as if he was standing Under the lid of the pot, he thought to himself, nothing, nothing, the progress of mankind comes from the progress of technology, and this progress starts from our Fang Jifan today.

  This... makes me look like Tan Sitong.

  Somewhat tragic.

   At the bottom of the boat, the paddle finally started to turn, and the whole boat started to move slowly. It slowly started to splash in the lake water.

  Power seems to be quite sufficient.

Zhu Houzhao was already dancing with excitement, rushed to the steering room, pushed the helmsman away, and turned the rudder happily, the whole hull began to tilt slightly, and the tilt began to become more and more severe. Fang Jifan felt a force pushing him away. Going into the water, just as his face turned ashen, the ship finally began to gradually stabilize again.

  The ship turned its direction, and still moved forward slowly, and the speed began to increase. Because of the inertia, the ship began to feel no resistance.

   This huge hull began to travel along the lake.

   Fang Jifan got off the boat in a daze until the evening.

  Arrived on the shore, someone shouted: "It's bad, it's bad, Duke Qi passed out... hurry... call the doctor."

  Fang Jifan gasped for breath, finally felt better, opened his eyes slightly, and waved his hands: "Don't, seasick!"

  Zhu Houzhao was amused: "Walking in the lake will make you dizzy too, your bones..."

  Fang Jifan suddenly became excited, got up and wanted to pinch Zhu Houzhao's neck: "Your uncle, what are you doing, can you sail the boat properly?"

  Zhu Houzhao muttered: "Look, the others are fine."

   On the shore, a group of students had already taken a pen and recorded the data. Finally, someone took a notebook and sent it to Zhu Houzhao.

  Fang Jifan snatched the book and checked it. The speed was not bad. Compared with ordinary sailboats, even those sailing along the inland river, the speed was more than twice as fast.

The crew checked and calculated, based on the duration of the voyage just now, the maximum speed and average speed, and the remaining fuel, it was finally concluded that the ship can sail for 23 hours and 570 kilometers with a full load of fuel. about.

  Of course, this is a lake. If it is traveling against the current in an inland river, it will take fifteen hours, about 400 kilometers. But if it goes smoothly... then... it will reach 41 hours, 800 kilometers.

  Fang Jifan looked at all the data and let out a long sigh of relief.

   There is still a lot of room for improvement. If the ship and boiler are rebuilt, it may be able to sail for a longer time.

   It would be great if an internal combustion engine could be made.

   But immediately, Fang Jifan dismissed this idea.

  With Zhu Houzhao's IQ, he will never see it in this life.

   But it doesn't matter.

  As long as the voyage can be guaranteed, the fresh water problem of the steam sea ship... can be solved...

  For example... steam sea ships can travel along the coast. In fact, in this era, most of the ships originally sailed along the coast and entered the deep sea, which was too risky.

  As long as there are ports along the way, if the voyage can reach 600 kilometers, it is enough to stop at any time for replenishment.

  Fang Jifan let out a breath, and opened his eyes slightly: "Immediately start to improve, other than that, the sea-going ship must be launched as soon as possible, and I will pay for the money, as much as I want."

   With this achievement, Fang Jifan is already satisfied.

  Uncle’s, isn’t it silver? Is Fang Jifan short of money?

   What Fang Jifan lacks is women.

  He raised his eyes cautiously, and glanced at Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao didn't know how to read minds, so he said cheerfully: "It's easy to deal with if you have money. Everyone in the Steam Research Institute is waiting for your words. Come, come, come, you all go to the boat, Continue to test the ship, see if there are any problems, and where you can improve, these days, you will die, and you will all die on the ship."

   A group of students and craftsmen, who dare to neglect, are busy on board.

  Zhu Houzhao and Fang Jifan are on their way back. Along the way, Fang Jifan's heart still hurts when he thinks that countless silver coins are about to be thrown into the water, but now...it seems to be seeing the light of day.

  If...the steamship can really appear, then...the distance from Daming to the Golden Continent will be greatly shortened. My father is still in the Golden Continent, but he doesn't know...

   Come to think of it.

  Fang Jifan let out a sigh of relief, wishing to see him a few more times in his lifetime.

  …

  Xing Wangfu.

  Zhu Houcong bowed his hands to several people with an obedient face: "Hello, Uncle Jingjiang, Hello, Uncle Liao, Hello, Brother Changyang, Hello, Brother Xingshan..."

   More than a dozen princes gathered together, and Zhu Houcong greeted each of them.

  Jingjiang King Zhu Yueqi stroked his beard and smiled: "Hou Cong is such a good boy."

   As he spoke, he and King Xing Zhu Youzhao looked at each other and smiled.

  Zhu Youzhuo said: "Where is it, Brother Wang is too fond of love. Tomorrow... Dongcheng Theater will stage "The Case of Guillotine Beauty". Is Brother Wang interested?"

  The Changyang King was young, patted his thigh and said: "Yes, yes, yes, my favorite is "The Case of Guillotine Beauty", click it, have a good time!"

  Everyone laughed.

  Zhu Youzhu laughed, took a teacup, sipped the tea, and said: "Brother Liao, I'm waiting to invite you here this time to discuss some important matters."

  Liao Wang Zhu Chongshou was taken aback: "I don't know what to teach."

   "I heard that you still live in Honglu Temple?" The first one who couldn't help it was Jingjiang King Zhu Yueqi.

  Hearing these words, Zhu Chongshou immediately sank his head and remained silent.

On the other side, Xing Wang Zhu Youzhu said with a smile: "This is not a long-term solution. You see, King Jingjiang bought a mansion with 80 acres to be my neighbor; and King Changyang, King Youxing Mountain...we all bought it. Now, thinking that Brother Wang is still in the Honglu Temple, we brothers and these juniors, seeing it in our eyes, we are also anxious."

Zhu Yueqi said from the side: "Yes, yes, the dignified prince, how can you live without a fixed place, your family has more than one hundred people, it's fine at your age, but you have to think about it for your son That's right, now the price has risen again, our land has increased by more than 1,700 taels per mu, how much is this 100 mu of land?"

   Several other county kings also began to persuade: "Uncle Wang..."

Hearing this, Zhu Chongfu couldn't help being angry: "It's not that the king can't afford it, but he can't bear it. The king understands that this Xishan Jianye has shares in his Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and his surname is Fang also has a feeling that they summoned us, just to buy them a house, and they don’t want the ancestral system of Emperor Taizu Gao..."

  (end of this chapter)