Are you so excited?

"It's amazing! Wei Aiqing, this is simply amazing! How did you do that? Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but ask repeatedly.

Wei Bao doesn't know how to explain it, this is a physics course, it's not complicated, but if you want to explain every step clearly, I'm afraid it will take at least a month, right?

"Does Your Majesty really want to know?" Wei Bao asked.

"Naturally, I must learn this method, I can make the boat move by itself, this is amazing, will I be able to let the fan move by itself in the summer in the future? When treating the river, can the waterwheel move on its own? Zhu Youxiao asked.

Wei Bao secretly praised Zhu Youxiao for being really smart, and he also knew how to draw inferences from one another, and he could be taught.

"Your Majesty, in another three or five days, Wei Chen will completely build the entire ironclad model for Your Majesty to see, and Your Majesty will be able to have a complete understanding. As for this steam engine, due to material limitations, it can only be made simply. Wei Bao said: "Wechen has some interests in shipping and iron-making technology. ”

"Oh?" Zhu Youxiao was very happy after hearing this. However, he didn't answer Wei Bao's words, but watched with great interest the base of the ironclad ship running on the lake, and it was almost on the other side of the lake.

The Ironclad was a steam-type warship of the early second half of the 19th century, covered with hard iron or steel armor.

As wooden warships were unable to withstand the bombardment of increasingly powerful shells, ironclads were born.

In November 1859, the world's first main ironclad battleship, the Glory, led by the French Navy, set sail for the first time.

The Royal Navy began planning the development of armoured warships in 1856, and in 1857 successfully drew up a draft of the armoured frigates, but in early 1859 the Royal Navy chose to build two ironclad frigates, and in 1861 decided to develop towards a fully armored fleet.

After the first confrontation between ironclads during the American Civil War, the unarmored wooden hull battleships of the sailing era were clearly weak, and the ironclads replaced them as the most powerful ships in naval warfare.

This type of ship later even dominated the American Civil War.

Ironclads can be used for a variety of purposes, including combat ships on the high seas, coastal defense ships, and long-range cruisers.

The rapid development of warship design in the late nineteenth century transformed ironclads from ships with wooden hulls and still had to rely on sails to fill the lack of operation of steam engines, to steel battleships and cruisers with gun emplacements, approaching the level of modern ships of the twentieth century.

The continued evolution of this transformation can be attributed to the development of more sophisticated steam engines for heavy naval guns, as well as the rapid development of metallurgical technology, which made steel shipbuilding feasible.

The rapid development of the ironclad era meant that many ships were obsolete and obsolete when they were completed, and the art of naval warfare was advancing by leaps and bounds.

Many newly built ironclads are equipped with ramming devices. Angles of attack or torpedoes, many warship designers regard them as key weapons in naval warfare.

There was no clear end to the Ironclad era, but by the end of the 19th century, the term "Ironclad" was rarely used.

Newer ships have more powerful capabilities, and are often referred to as combat ships or armored cruisers.

The world's first iron-clad warships were probably some of the iron-clad warships used by the Tyres during Alexander's attack on Tyre in 332 BC, as recorded in Alexander's Expedition.

The Macedonians also concocted some tin boats in the same way. Other well-known ironclad ships in later generations include Japanese ironclad ships and Korean turtle ships.

The ironclad ships that appeared during the Warring States period in Japan are related to Oda Nobunaga and Kuki Yoshitaka.

In January 1576, Hideharu Hatano of Tamba, who was friendly with Oda Nobunaga, raised the flag of rebellion.

Then Ishiyama Honganji Temple also raised troops again, and once again the anti-Nobunaga movement began to intensify.

In April, Oda Nobunaga sent his generals Akechi Mitsuhide, Araki Murashige, and Harada Naomasa to Osaka with 30,000 troops, but they were defeated at the Battle of Reedahara, with more than 1,000 men led by Harada Naomasa killed.

Osaka's Oda army was trapped in the fortress of Tennoji under the fierce offensive of the Ishiyama army, and was surrounded by the Ishiyama army, and the Oda army was in a difficult situation. On May 5, Nobunaga went to Wakae Castle to issue a mobilization order, but only about 3,000 people were gathered.

On the morning of May 7, Nobunaga personally led the 3,000-strong army against the 15,000-strong Ishiyama Army that surrounded the Tennoji Fortress, which became known as the Battle of Tennoji Fortress.

Nobunaga himself was wounded in a fierce battle, but Nobunaga's presence boosted the morale of the Oda army, and they were able to defeat the Ishiyama army.

After that, the Oda army surrounded Ishiyama Gobo by land and water to cut off the soldiers' rations.

On July 13, 1576, 800 ships appeared with the reinforcements of Ishiyama Honganji Temple, the Mori Murakami Navy.

Because the Mori navy, which controlled the sea control from Sanyo Road to Setouchi, and the Kii Saga navy, which was based from the Kii Peninsula to Osaka Bay, were both on the side of Ishiyama Honganji, Nobunaga was unable to cut off the local sea supply line in Osaka Bay, so Oda Nobunaga was in a difficult situation in the battle with Ishiyama Honganji.

In 1576, in July of the fourth year of Tensho in Japan, during the Battle of Namba Oki, 300 Kawachi naval ships led by Odakata's Manabe lord Ma Bei and Numano Iga Mamoru fought fiercely on Osaka Bay with more than 900 Mishima naval ships led by the Urabu military department that transported military rations on the Maori side.

Oda was no match for the Maori naval forces, which were dominated by clever boats and used scorching arrows. In the end, the main Mabei of Manabe and other generals of the Oda side were killed in battle, and most of the warships blocking Osaka Bay were burned, and after defeating Oda's naval army, the Mori army moved food and ammunition into Ishiyama.

In 1578, Oda Nobunaga began to reflect on the defeat at the Battle of Namba Oki, and decided to build fire-resistant iron ships because of the fire attack of the Maori navy. Nobunaga immediately called for the Nine Demons and ordered him to supervise the construction of the iron ship.

There is also a theory that Nobunaga was racking his brains about the fire-resistant ship when he saw an iron bell in a temple and was inspired. So Nobunaga wrapped the bottom frame of the Ataka boat in iron sheets and added heavy artillery. Build the first ironclad ships.

Yoshitaka brought wood from Kishu Kumano for shipbuilding, and began building iron ships in Ijo Toba. Drawing on the strengths of foreign ships such as the old warships and Ming ships, Kataka built a brand-new warship with iron on the hulls of the seven newly-built Ataka ships to prevent fire. The ship was called an "ironclad ship" by later generations because it had a width of seven ken (about 12 m) and a total length of twelve ken (about 21 m), and was made of solid wood and covered with iron plates as armor.

The armor on the outside of the ship was epoch-making in the world at that time.

In 1578, in April of the sixth year of Tensho in Japan, ironclad ships officially appeared on the battlefield. Built two years after the Battle of Namba Oki, Yoshitaka commanded six ironclad ships to bypass Kishu Osaka from Toba Ōminato to blockade Osaka Bay. On the way, he easily repelled the attack of the fleet led by the disciples of Saga Valley, and docked at Sakai at Tsu on July 17.

In 1578, on September 27, the sixth year of Tensho in Japan, the Nine Demons Fleet was inspected by Nobunaga. After visiting the ship, Nobunaga was very satisfied with the ironclad ship and gave Kataka 20 gold coins and nine men to support him.

In 1578, on November 6, the sixth year of Tensho in Japan, 600 Maori naval ships went to the rescue of Ishiyama and engaged the Nine Ghost Fleet blockaded by sea. This was the Battle of the Kizu River, in which the Maori side launched a brave and decisive attack on the ironclad ship, but the general's ship was destroyed by the cannon on the ironclad ship, and the Maori naval army was defeated. The Oda naval army was victorious. The victory at the Battle of Kizugawa allowed Oda Nobunaga to establish an advantage in the Battle of Ishiyama.

Since ironclad ships could only fight offshore, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was unable to bring ironclad ships with him when he sent troops to Korea, and was defeated by the turtle ships of the Korean general Yi Sunsin.

It was not until the middle of the 19th century that the British adopted the design scheme of ironclad iron-hulled ships, abandoning the wood-hulled hull.

After the middle of the 19th century, with the development of science and technology and the shipbuilding industry, sail battleships gradually gave way to steam warships.

In 1849, France built the world's first battleship with a steam engine as an auxiliary power plant, the "Napoleon", which became the pioneer of steam-powered battleships in the Navy.

The Crimean War of 1853-1856 established the dominance of steam warships in the modern naval fleet.

On the basis of steam battleships, steam ironclads with steel armor began to appear.

In 1859, France built the world's first steam ironclad.

The first ironclad duel appeared in 1862 in the American Civil War. Since then, the ironclad has become the new hegemon of the seas.

Ironclads were replaced by former dreadnoughts from about the early 1890s.

In the early 20th century, battleships were equipped with armored turrets that could rotate 360 degrees in all directions on the central axis of the main deck or on both sides of the hull, and the naval guns were also generally rifled with spiraling, which further enhanced their attack power.

At this time, most of the battleships have been directly called ironclad ships, and the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ironclad ships built by Germany used by the Beiyang Naval Division of the Qing Dynasty can be called the representatives of ironclad ships in this period.

In that era, ironclads were undoubtedly the overlords of the seas.

This kind of iron-clad warship, which was developed from the battleships of the sail warship era, played the role of the main battle warship in the navy, and was used to participate in regular large-scale naval operations, and was the backbone of the navies of various countries and a symbol of national strength.

According to the simple division criteria at that time, ironclad ships can be divided into displacement: first-class ironclad ships with a displacement of more than 8,000-10,000 tons, and second-class ironclad ships with a displacement of 5,000-7,000 tons. The Dingyuan and Zhenyuan of the Qing Dynasty in China, and the ironclad ships of Japan's "Fuso" and "Hiei" belong to this category.

According to the different designs and relevant technologies adopted, the ironclad ships of the mid-to-late 19th century can be divided into "ironclad ships with side guns", "ironclad ships with waist gun rooms", "deck rotary ships", "terrace rotary gunboats" and so on.

By the 90s of the 19th century, due to the continuous growth of the strength of the new armored cruisers, the second-class ironclad ships gradually became first-class with the armored cruisers, and the former absolute main first-class ironclad ships were gradually eliminated due to the position of the main gun, firepower, speed, armor, etc.

The pre-dreadnought is a collective term for warships built between the late 1880s and 1905.

It replaced ironclads and became the main force of the navies of various countries until the beginning of the twentieth century, when they were replaced by dreadnoughts. The pre-dreadnoughts were armed with heavy guns as their main guns and one or more light weapons, covered with reinforced steel armor and equipped with coal-fired steam engines.

Wei Bao actually wanted to skip the stage of building ironclads and directly upgrade to the stage of building dreadnoughts.

Because in this era, the general situation of this world, there is no more economically developed country than the Ming Dynasty.

The Americas are still almost empty, and Europe is very poor except for Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands, which have moved, and these three moving countries are not very rich, and those who are rich are some pirate merchants, countries, and cities, and they are still very poor.

Therefore, if Wei Bao builds an ironclad ship and wants to make money by selling arms, it is obviously unrealistic.

By the end of the nineteenth century, the arms trade was so good, it was because many countries in the world had become strong, and they were a group of countries, not like the Ming Dynasty now.

In 1900, when the Eight-Nation Coalition attacked us, the Italian army inadvertently occupied an almost unattended Qing army weapons depot near Tianjin, and seized a large amount of weapons, ammunition and war materials stored there.

All kinds of advanced weapons and all kinds of military supplies stunned these invaders.

The newest and best-performing weapon in the world at the time was the envy of the Italians.

Vice Admiral Simon, the Italian Vice Admiral who led the expedition, wrote to the British Minister afterwards that these weapons included the latest model of the Manlicher carbine, which was more advanced than the carbines installed in the Allied forces, and seemed to be new from the factory; The Krupp cannon was larger in caliber, more precise, longer range, and more modern than all the guns in service in the German army.

It can be seen that the family background of the Qing army at that time was very thick.

In the 19th century, why did the world's largest arms importer still use shotguns and broadswords on the battlefield?

Simon wrote in a playful and ridiculous tone: "At the beginning of the battle, the Qing army accidentally captured so many advanced weapons, which is equivalent to equipping the 16,000 soldiers of the coalition army with full armament and surplus, but it is a pity that our soldiers only have two hands." ”

At that time, there was no such thing as today's technological blockade, and for Asian countries, European powers basically could sell you any advanced weapons as long as they paid for it. It is equivalent to saying that the Eight-Nation Coalition Army relied on captured weapons to invade Beijing to a large extent.

Most of these weapons were found in warehouses, not in the hands of the Qing army.

Why did the Qing army hide their weapons in warehouses but not distribute them to the troops?

20 years ago, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang had just finished fighting the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Twist Army, and the twenty-year civil strife was finally over.

This is a question of reimbursement for military spending.

At that time, the military expenses to be reimbursed by the Hunan Army and the Huai Army totaled about 30 million taels of silver, because the salaries of the Hunan Army and the Huai Army were very high, and the soldiers were fighting for money.

Only when the final work is completed, the emperor is satisfied with the acceptance and pays the money, and then the soldiers can get their full salaries.

In the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the army was finished, and the emperor was also satisfied with the quality of the project and was willing to give money, but according to the financial procedures at that time, it was necessary for the household department to audit, and the emperor sealed it after passing the audit.

The problem came, the staff of the household department, and the scribes proposed that according to the rules, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang had to pay a bribe to them before they passed the audit. Of course, this money was not called a bribe at that time, but had a name called "ministry fee".

How much do they want? 1.3% of the total reimbursement of expenses.

It is equivalent to saying that 30 million taels of silver will be bribed with 400,000 taels.

According to the purchasing power of silver in the late Qing Dynasty, this money is equivalent to 80 million yuan now!

Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang couldn't take it out, and they didn't want to take it out.

At that time, even if you were to call a minister of military aircraft, it was very interesting to give 10,000 taels.

Moreover, these 400,000 taels were not distributed to the officials of the household department, but to the general staff ----- scribes of the household department.

In terms of identity, their status is very different from that of Zeng Guofan, but the group they formed can really cover the sky with one hand, even if it is a household book, if they dare to destroy their vested interests, they may be driven away.

The reason is very simple, although this kind of ministry fee is actually extortion, but it is part of the normal income of the scribes of the whole world for hundreds of years, and the scribes actually undertake the actual work of government operations, but when they become officials, they do not do things and only take money, and the result of not following the rules is to offend the scribes of the whole court, and the final result is that no matter what they do, they will encounter trouble in the future.

So Zeng and Li really didn't dare not give this money.

In the end, he bargained and bargained 400,000 taels into 80,000 taels.

But Zeng Guofan was still not satisfied, so he wrote a report to the emperor, talking about his difficulties, and requesting that the military expenses not be directly reimbursed to the household audit.

And the emperor agreed, and Zeng Guofan was grateful, feeling that this was more happy than letting him be promoted.

But in the end, Zeng Guofan still gave the money to the household officials according to the price of 80,000 taels negotiated first.

Greeting the emperor was just an insurance to prevent the household scribes from raising prices.

But the rules of giving money cannot be broken.

Corruption has penetrated into all levels of society, and in the late Qing Dynasty, not only did you have to bribe the person in charge of receiving money in the household department, receiving weapons in the military department, and going to the warehouse to raise the grain and grass for horses, but even if you got the approval of the leader, you had to give a sum of money to the actual officer, otherwise you would not want to receive weapons.

At this time, if the officers leading the troops were not so selfless and unwilling to pay out of their pockets, then of course the soldiers under them would not be equipped with weapons, let alone training.

Therefore, many times in the late Qing Dynasty, the army was crying before the battle about the lack of bullets and firearms.

By the time the superiors hurriedly gave money, guns, and bullets, it was too late.

Although Li Hongzhang has money, except for a few elites, he can't afford to use the weapons in the army's daily training, and even if he gets new weapons before the war, illiterate soldiers can't learn to use them within a few days, and it's useless.

It seems that the end of each dynasty is very similar, and corruption penetrates deep into the bone marrow, penetrating into every corner of the dynasty, pervasively.

Therefore, whether it is the end of the Qing Dynasty or the end of the Ming Dynasty, it cannot be said that the equipment is worse than the people and cannot be defeated, in fact, it is already rotten internally.

At this time of the Ming Dynasty, not to mention the world's leading equipment, it was definitely not lost to Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, their earliest three maritime brothers.

Compared with Jiannu, it has an absolute advantage, and what Jiannu is most afraid of is the Ming Dynasty's city defense artillery.

It's useless, the equipment for fighting is only a small part of it, and the key is the strength of the country, fighting the whole, and fighting all the details of the soldiers, horses, money, and food.

Zhu Youxiao loudly urged the eunuchs on the other side of the lake: "You go into the water, change the direction of Wei Aiqing's boat, and let the boat row back by itself!" ”

When the eunuchs heard this, a few of them jumped into the water.

They laboriously turned the bottom of the boat, don't look at Wei Bao just made a bottom, but it was a bottom five meters long and one meter wide, and there was a bulky simple steam engine on it, which was not light.

After the boat turned around, it went back the way it came.

Zhu Youxiao guarded the shore, for fear that the boat would be injured when it touched the shore, so he personally went to block it with his hands.

Wei Bao smiled: "Your Majesty, the speed of Weichen's adjustment is slow, it's okay." ”

"Can you stop? If it burns like this, will the ship have to run on its own all the time? Zhu Youxiao asked.

"You can let it run idle, it's just a waste of some coals. It is also possible to close the door of the charcoal furnace after idling, and the steam engine will stop when there is no heat. Wei Bao asked, "Is Your Majesty going to stop the steam engine?" ”

"What is idling?" Zhu Youxiao didn't understand.

Wei Bao said with a smile: "You can run, you can not run, just like the stove is burning, at this time, you can continue to boil water to drink, or you can let the stove burn in vain, and don't put anything on it." ”

Zhu Youxiao sighed, understood, and nodded: "Then let him idle for a while." I'll take a look, and then let the boat run two times around the lake on its own. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wei Bao agreed, and disconnected the lever used for traction.

"Wei Aiqing, you are so capable, such a delicate craft, did you invent it?" Zhu Youxiao was overjoyed while watching.

"Your Majesty has won the award, it was invented by Weichen." Wei Bao said honestly. Originally, he invented the steam engine in this era, and there was no steam engine anywhere in Europe, in the whole world.

Not to mention that they don't have it now, in the original history, even if they have it in another hundred years, they still can't find the most critical component - the leather gasket, and it will take another hundred years for the steam engine to have practical function.

Wei Bao has raised the service life of the steam engine by more than 200 years.

"Aiqing, you are such a genius! In the future, you must enter the palace every day, report the situation outside to me, and accompany me. Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but pat Wei Bao twice on the shoulder.

Wei Bao hurriedly surrendered his hand to obey the order.

At this time, Feng Quan had already secretly gestured to Wei Zhongxian, and he wanted to sneak away, but Wei Zhongxian agreed.

Although Kebaba saw Feng Quan about to slip away, he didn't specifically remind the emperor and Wei Bao.

Wei Bao looked at all directions, listened to all directions, and suddenly saw it, "Hey? Lord Feng? Where are you going? You lost me 100,000 taels of gold! There is also a lifetime of slavery for me, isn't this just a post and a written note? Now it's time to change the post and the note and complete the bet. ”

Feng Quan had already run out of the pavilion, and was stopped by Wei Bao, and his face suddenly seemed to be dead.

"Lord Feng, when you come back, you will sneak away without reporting to Your Majesty, what is the reason?" Wei Bao laughed.

Zhu Youxiao also said: "Feng Aiqing, you are too presumptuous, if you don't tell me, you will sneak away?" ”

Feng Quan was so frightened by the emperor's words that he knelt down suddenly, "Your Majesty, how dare Weichen, Weichen feels a terrible stomachache, and if he wants to go to make it convenient, he has already told Gonggong Wei." ”

Wei Zhongxian also said: "Yes." ”

Wei Bao smiled: "Lord Feng, don't work hard for so much, re-establish the post and contract notes, you sign it, I will send someone to go home with you to get the gold, and then you can be as convenient as you want." ”

"Yes, the man has no faith and does not stand, since he has already made a note just now, he must not return!" The Emperor also agreed with Wei Bao's words.

Feng Quan thought of 100,000 taels of gold and being a slave to Wei Bao for life, so he couldn't stand steadily, and his body swayed.

Wei Bao hurriedly helped Feng Quan up, "Come on, help Lord Feng to sit down." Wait for me to rewrite a post and a contract. ”

Several eunuchs looked at the emperor, and Zhu Youxiao nodded, signaling the eunuchs to listen to Wei Bao.

Seeing that Wei Bao was very sophisticated in doing these things, Kebaba couldn't help but smile with a handkerchief.

Wei Zhongxian said coldly: "Congratulations to Master Wei, you have won so much gold!" also accepted Lord Feng as such a good slave. ”

Kebaba also congratulated Wei Bao.

Wei Bao knew that Wei Zhongxian was not happy in his heart, so he smiled indifferently and thanked the two.

Wei Bao knew that if the emperor didn't treat himself well and didn't keep himself by his side like he is now, Wei Zhongxian might still be able to tolerate himself, and once the emperor wanted to treat himself as a close courtier, Wei Zhongxian would definitely not be able to tolerate himself.