***
The new ship's speed has been greatly demonstrated during its sea trials on the Yangtze River. It is already twice as fast as the old sailing ship, and this is when the wind is low on the river. If it reaches the sea, I believe it will perform even better.
However, as Qin Mu was the emperor, it was not impossible for him to go to the sea to watch the testing of the new ship.
Qin Mu highly praised Li Zhao, the main designer of the new ship, and rewarded him with one thousand dragon coins on the spot. This was a huge fortune. Li Zhao was just a craftsman. If he were in previous dynasties, he would not have dared to dream of such a reward. He was so excited that he burst into tears and fell to the ground.
Others who participated in the planning and construction also received rewards.
Not only did the craftsmen receive praise from the emperor, they also received generous rewards. They were all moved to tears of gratitude and felt as honored as a scholar who had passed the imperial examination and become the top scorer.
Qin Mu said to them: "There is nothing in this world that cannot be done, only things that cannot be imagined. Thoughts are the most important. Whatever ideas you have in the future, no matter how ridiculous others think they are, you should put them into practice. Perhaps the greatest innovation lies in ideas that others think are ridiculous.
I have an idea today, and I need you to verify whether it is reasonable. My idea is to install a bulbous nose below the waterline at the bow, something like this."
As Qin Mu spoke, he asked Han Zanzhou to take paper and pen and start drawing according to his impression. Therefore, ships of later generations all had a forward-convex spherical shape under the waterline at the bow, similar to a nose.
The main advantage of the bulbous bow ship is that it reduces wave resistance. When a ship sails in the water, it will generate waves, which in turn increase the resistance of the ship's navigation, reduce the ship's speed, cause the hull to sway, hit the embankment, and affect the safe navigation of the ship.
Therefore, reducing and eliminating the impact of waves is an extremely important thing in the development of ships. The "big nose" of the bow is properly designed. It can make the crests and troughs of the waves formed by the hull and the bulb meet and offset each other;
At the same time, due to the improved bow line shape and the gentle curvature of the hull at the waterline, it is very useful to reduce eddy resistance and improve the propulsion efficiency of the ship. Thus, the water resistance is reduced and the speed of the ship is increased. At the same time, the bulbous bow can reduce the harmful effects of waves on the ship.
This technology was used on large ships in later generations, but Qin Mu was not sure whether it was suitable for sailing ships and how effective it would be, so he asked the craftsmen to practice it.
The craftsmen looked at the drawings drawn by the emperor and looked at each other in bewilderment. None of them could imagine the working principle of the ball nose. Qin Mu did not explain too much, and let them understand it through practice.
Qin Mu stayed in Longjiang Shipyard for half a day before returning to the palace with satisfaction. Li Zhao and other new ship designers went out to sea with the new ship for sea trials. In order to obtain various data of the new ship and its performance in various sea conditions, a lot of sea trials are needed.
At present, Daqin has established large-scale shipyards in Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Quanzhou, Dengzhou and Dalian Bay, and is also preparing to build a shipyard in Guangdong.
Although these shipyards were privately owned, the imperial court actually had deep infiltration into them and exercised strict control in secret, which was very similar to the military-industrial enterprises of the United States in later generations.
On the third day after returning to the palace from Longmen Shipyard, the emperor performed the ceremony of taking a concubine, and the eldest daughter of the Xu family was taken into the palace and given the title of Zhaoyi. She moved into Huayi Palace in the East Six Palaces.
Currently in the palace, besides the Queen Yang Zhi, there is only one concubine. Yun Qiaoer is not only worth 60 million taels, but she has also followed Qin Mu since they were poor, and their relationship is extraordinary.
Apart from Yang Zhi and Yun Qiaoer, the highest title in the palace now is Zhaoyi. If Xu Ruoshi can give birth to a dragon son, it will not be difficult for her to be promoted to concubine.
This can be considered a disguised reward for Xu Yongshun.
That night, red candles were burning brightly in Huayi Palace. The emperor visited Huayi Palace and the beautiful Xu Zhaoyi was favored by the emperor again. She experienced several life-threatening situations that night and only then did she realize how much the emperor loved her on Mochou Lake.
***
Dazhong Street, the newly paved asphalt road has become the newest thing in Nanjing. Even people outside the city would specially run to Dazhong Street to see the novelty after hearing about it.
The smooth road surface makes people want to have fun on it.
People from other neighborhoods asked the supervising officials when it would be their turn to have the streets in front of their homes paved with asphalt.
The official from the Ministry of Works replied complacently, "Soon."
"When is it going to be soon?"
"Soon it will be soon."
"So when is it going to be soon?"
"That's it... Are you done yet? You're almost done!"
"Sir, don't be angry. When the shop comes to our side, I will kill an old hen to entertain you."
"Hahaha... I understand. You should keep your old hen to lay eggs. I still want to wear this official's official hat."
"Sir, look at what you said, it's just a chicken. Normally, neighbors would kill one when they visit each other. This can't be considered a bribe."
"Neighbors can eat your chickens when they visit us, but officials like us cannot."
***
"no!"
In the lobby of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Left Vice Minister Huang Zhenlin sternly refused. He flicked his black sleeves and said, "How can anyone who wants to see the Emperor of the Great Qin meet him?"
The British envoy Clauswell was dressed in a neat suit and holding a top hat that looked a bit like a boat. He had been negotiating with Huang Zhenlin repeatedly in the past few days but had not made any progress. So he asked to meet the Emperor of Qin, but he did not expect that the young Qin official in front of him would refuse outright.
"Sir, your conditions are too harsh. The British Empire cannot accept them."
The British called themselves Great Britain in front of Daqin, which made Huang Zhenlin feel a little irritated. As far as he knew, compared with Daqin, Britain was just a tiny country, but if its colonies were counted, it was indeed big.
Huang Zhenlin did not refute him on this point, and said lightly: "Mr. Clauswell, if Britain is unwilling to cooperate with Daqin, what loss will it have for Daqin
We can cooperate with the Dutch, the Portuguese, or even the Spanish. As long as we are willing, I believe the Spanish are willing to put aside past grievances and cooperate with Daqin."
For Europe, although it had discovered the New World of America, most of the land there was still in its original state. If it wanted to develop trade, it would eventually have to look to the Far East. This is why Britain gradually shifted its strategic focus eastward.
But the condition proposed by Huang Zhenlin was that the interests east of the Cape of Good Hope belonged to Daqin, and the interests west of the Cape of Good Hope belonged to Britain.
How could he accept such conditions
Britain had finally established a colonial base in India and was just about to make a big move. If Huang Zhenlin's conditions were followed, wouldn't the British Empire have to withdraw from India
"Mr. Minister, as far as I know, although your country defeated the Spaniards in Luzon Island, your navy has never left the Strait of Malacca."
"That's not a problem. We just need to find a good partner. Even if no one is willing to cooperate with Daqin, it will not be Daqin that suffers.
My Great Qin Royal Navy can defeat the Spaniards today, and can cross the Indian Ocean tomorrow, and even reach the English Channel. If you don't believe it, Mr. Clauswell, you might as well wait and see. I believe that in your lifetime, you will definitely see the golden dragon flag of my Great Qin in the English Channel. "
Clauswell didn't care about Huang Zhenlin's threat at all, and even disdained to refute it.
But one fact is that most of the valuable colonies in the Far East were divided up by countries such as the Netherlands and Portugal.
If the British Empire wanted to control trade in the Far East, it had to first defeat the Sea Coachman, who was at the height of his power.
If Daqin turned to cooperate with the Dutch, it would be a very bad thing for the British Empire.
So Clauswell made a big concession to seek an agreement with Daqin: "Your Excellency, Daqin will give us the monopoly of tea, silk and porcelain. We will only retain the interests of India. The rest of the Far East will all be counted as your country's sphere of interest. This is already the biggest concession our country has made."
"Hahaha, Mr. Clauswell, please forgive me for being frank, but your country seems to have no interests in other places except India? Even the little interests in India still depend on the Dutch."
I wonder what the officials of the Qin Dynasty would think if they heard about this confrontation between the two. Who could imagine that under the influence of Confucian classics, they would talk about profit all the time
But the tone of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Qin Dynasty sounds no different from that of the Western Yi.
This was destined to be another fruitless confrontation. The Qin Empire, which had not yet left Malacca, was about to open its mouth wide and swallow all the areas east of the Cape of Good Hope in one gulp.
This was difficult for Clauswell to accept, even though the trading rights with Daqin were so tempting.
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.(To be continued..)
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