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Text Chapter 330: Flammable Sail

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    ww.x.om Before daybreak, the port of Dengzhou has already begun a busy day. There is a constant flow of ships coming and going, and countless people are gathered at the port. There are merchants looking to check the goods, and there are also people carrying large trucks.  There are coolies who pack bags, and there are also newsboys who sneak in and out of the crowd to sell newspapers.

    In such a busy and chaotic port, there was suddenly another roar, followed by a long sound of 'woo~', and a train spitting out black smoke came quickly from the direction of Dengzhou City.  Now the train is no longer the test car that Li Min sat on, but a train that has been improved several times. Not only is the speed much faster, but the horsepower is also several times greater. There are more than a dozen small cars behind it, and it can  There are hundreds of people sitting there.

    It is also worth mentioning that trains are no longer free. People who want to take them must pay for tickets. The price is not expensive. You can buy two tickets for one penny, which is equivalent to a round-trip ticket.  It is precisely because of the low price that many people take the train. Even when some outsiders come to Dengzhou, the first thing they do is take this train, because this rare thing has been spread to all parts of the Tang Dynasty with merchants.  Many people come here because of its reputation, making the train on the pier almost a sight in Dengzhou.

    After crossing the port, there is the main city of Dengzhou and several surrounding acropolis. In recent years, the population of Dengzhou has grown too fast, and the land in the main city is simply not enough. Coupled with the restrictions of the city wall, the city wants to expand.  It was not easy, so several acropolis were built. However, because Dengzhou was relatively commercial, merchants were everywhere in the acropolis, and it soon became the most prosperous commercial area in Dengzhou.

    There is an acropolis by the sea in the northeast of Dengzhou, which is called the Ship City.  Almost all of Dengzhou's famous shipyards are built here, and there is also the headquarters of the Shipbuilding Association jointly established by the shipbuilding industry.  As well as the Ship Design School, which is inseparable from the Shipbuilding Association; Li Min's newly established Navigation School, etc., are all located in this ship city.

    The Ship City was originally the location of the Dengzhou government-run shipyard. Later, Wei Heizi established the Ship Design Institute and built it here. The current Ship City has slowly developed on the basis of these three.  Nowadays, most of the people living in the city are craftsmen from some shipyards, and there are also many merchants from other places who come to purchase ships. It is very lively coming and going every day.

    Located in the center of Ship City.  It is a complex of buildings covering a large area. This building is divided into two parts. The former part is the headquarters of the Shipbuilding Association, and the latter part is the Ship Design Institute founded by Wei Heizi. However, whether it is the dean of the institute or the meeting of the association,  The chief positions are now all held by Wei Heizi, so the two organizations are divided into front and rear offices.  It was also convenient for Wei Heizi.

    On the road from the Shipping Association in front to the Design School in the back, a sturdy middle-aged man with dark skin was walking back quickly, but there was a person following closely behind him. He chased back and said: "President Wei.  , please think about it again, as long as there is a lot of maritime trade in Champa. As long as you agree to us building a large ship of more than 100 tons there, we are willing to pay double the patent fee!"

    "Brother Lin, just give up on this idea. His Highness has an order. As long as it is about new ship technology, it must not be leaked out!" Wei Heizi said without looking back.  But when he said this, he seemed to have thought of something.  The hurried footsteps also stopped, but the person behind him accidentally bumped into Wei Heizi's back.

    "President Wei, what are you doing?" The person behind was startled, and he did not expect that Wei Heizi suddenly stopped.

    At this time, Wei Heizi turned to look at the man behind him, and said with some seriousness: "Brother Lin, if you have a friendship, I don't want you to lose too much, so I would like to advise you again today, hurry up and get rid of the enemy in Zhancheng."  The shipyard has been sold, let alone expect to build a big ship, otherwise it may bring unexpected disaster to your Lin family!"

    Hearing Wei Heizi's solemn advice, the businessman surnamed Lin was also stunned. It was said that his family has been engaged in shipbuilding for generations. With the prosperity of maritime trade, his family's industry has also expanded rapidly, not only in the Tang Dynasty.  Many shipyards have been opened, and even some small coastal countries abroad have opened some shipyards. However, due to internal restrictions from the Shipping Association, large ships of more than 100 tons are not allowed to be built overseas.  This was undoubtedly a huge loss for the Lin family, so he came here and wanted to beg Wei Heizi to be accommodating. Unfortunately, the other party did not agree at all, and even gave him such advice in the end, which made him  Somewhat unclear.

    "President Wei, can you make your words more clear?" The businessman surnamed Lin asked again.

    However, Wei Heizi obviously didn't want to explain. After all, this matter was too confidential and not many people knew about it. Even he himself only had a rough understanding. Naturally, he couldn't tell the outsider in front of him, so he cupped his fists and said: "Brother Lin,  I can only say this much. It depends on you whether you believe it or not. There are still some urgent matters in the design institute that I need to deal with. Please tell me.?!  "

    After Wei Heizi finished speaking, he turned around and left, leaving the businessman surnamed Lin standing there alone, frowning as he pondered the meaning of Wei Heizi's words.

    As soon as Wei Heizi entered the Ship Design Institute, a young man with more than 20 years of age immediately ran up to report: "Dean, you are finally here. The Battle of Tsushima has ended. Although we won, His Highness is very dissatisfied."  , and even sent a handwritten letter, asking us to correct the shortcomings of the warships exposed in this battle as soon as possible."

    "Has someone come from General Lu? All the data on the damaged warships should have been sent, right?" Wei Heizi's face sank when he heard the news, thinking that he was afraid of what he was going to do. He had received the news about the Tsushima naval battle before.  Arrived, all the warships used by Lu Qing and others in this battle were designed by them. Although Lu Qing and the others won the battle with less and more, they also lost more than 30 warships, accounting for the entire fleet.  A quarter of the team, this result obviously did not meet his requirements for His Highness King Qi.

    "Don't worry, Dean, the people and data are here. Moreover, I and several master craftsmen did some research just now and found that most of the damaged warships were destroyed by fire, and almost none were actually hit and sunk by the opponent!" The young man was very fast.  replied.  This young man's name was Gao Yue, and he was one of the earliest students at the Design Academy. Because of his excellent grades, he was promoted to be Wei Heizi's assistant, and he learned from Wei Heizi while working.

    Hearing Gao Yue's words, Wei Heizi also frowned. The warship was made of wood, so naturally it was most afraid of fire. Although there were some fire prevention measures on the ship, based on the news he got, Lu Qing and the others were facing  There were 50,000 Japanese and more than a thousand warships. With so many ships firing rockets at the same time, even if the fire was put out in time, some warships would inevitably be burned down.

    At this time, Gao Yue continued: "Dean, in addition, the people sent by General Lu also provided information, that is, during the battle, most of the destroyed warships started to catch fire from the sails, and then  The burned cables pressed against the ship, which ignited the wood on the ship, and then the ship was burned down."

    "That's it!" Wei Heizi nodded after hearing this.  Today's warships are all Fuchuan type, and they all use traditional hard sails. These hard sails are usually made of plant leaves and are very flammable, although there are measures on board to deal with sail fires.  measures, but if too many rockets are hit, it will be impossible to save the ship. In the end, you can only watch the sail become a big torch.

    The two of them walked and talked, and soon arrived at a hall of the design institute. The hall was very simple, surrounded by huge wooden shelves. There were many ship models on the shelves, and in the middle of the hall,  It is a huge round table with a lot of documents placed on it. There are several young shipbuilders around who are looking at these documents carefully. In addition to these people, there is also a person who looks like a general standing next to it.  , it seems that it should be sent by Lu Qing.

    As soon as Wei Heizi came in, everyone in the hall stopped what they were doing and saluted him.  But Wei Heizi didn't care about these etiquettes. He rushed to the table and read the culture sent by Lu Qing, then asked the general some questions, and finally stroked the short beard under his chin and said nothing.

    At this moment, a white-haired master craftsman said: "Dean, although our losses in this naval battle were a bit large, being able to defeat more with less is enough to prove that the warships we designed are very good. As for  The ship was burned, but there was nothing that could be done. After all, the hard sails were made of leaves and were very flammable. However, as long as they were not surrounded by enemies like this naval battle, the sails would have caught fire.  , can also be extinguished in time, so overall it is good, but His Highness still asks us to improve, is this too high a requirement for us?"

    As soon as the old craftsman finished speaking, many of the master craftsmen in the hall nodded. After all, the flammability of sails was a big problem. The reason why the old building ships used oars was to worry about the sails being attacked by others, so in the past  The warships generally had no sails.

    However, Wei Heizi was a little disapproving after hearing this. He looked at the people in the hall and said calmly: "Sails are indeed a big shortcoming, but what does our ship design school do? Isn't it just to solve the problems encountered in the application of various ships?  Is there something wrong? So don¡¯t say this again in the future.¡±

    Hearing Wei Heizi¡¯s words, the old craftsman immediately retreated in shame, and everyone else also knew where they were wrong, and began to lower their heads and meditate on how to solve the problem of flammable sails.  But this problem is obviously very difficult. Everyone thought for a long time, but they couldn't come up with any good solution. After all, the sail is so huge and hung at a high place, so it is naturally the enemy's first target. And this thing only needs to  Once ignited, it is likely to ignite other things on the ship and become the culprit of burning the entire ship.

    And just when everyone, including Wei Heizi, felt a little helpless, suddenly Gao Yue, who had been silent next to him, said: "Dean, II thought of a way, but I don't know if it will work?  "

    wxs.o
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