On the bridge of the Lady, people kept reporting various data to Xu Quan on the bridge: "The steam pressure has reached 0.4 megapascals, and it is expected to reach the safety critical point in 15 minutes!" ”

Fifteen minutes later, another person reported: "The vapor pressure has reached 0.5 megapascals, which is the safety zero point we have set!" ”

Xu Quan said: "To maintain this pressure, each team pays close attention to the operation of each component of the steam engine, and records all the details in time!" ”

Although in the previous limit test, the steam engine project team was able to increase the steam pressure to a huge 5 megapascals in the test, but the reason why it is said to be the limit test means that this pressure cannot be used normally.

With the current technical capabilities, under normal use, the steam pressure is maintained at most about 0.5 megapascals, and only at this pressure can the steam engine keep working for a long time, instead of bursting after a few minutes of extreme operation.

Today, the steam engine on the Lady is running at the limit pressure of 0.5 megapascals, which is almost used every day, and pushes the Lady to run faster and faster.

For the air pressure on the steam engine, there is generally a great limit when it is actually used, and it cannot be that you can continue to increase the air pressure if you want to continuously increase the air pressure.

Even if the navy needs to increase the power output of the steam engine in certain extreme cases because of the special needs of warship operations, and requires the steam pressure to be forcibly increased in order to increase the power under extreme conditions, this limit value is only limited to 0.65 megapascals, and it cannot be higher.

Even if it is maintained at 0.65 megapascals, even if the output power can be greatly increased, the life of the steam engine will be greatly affected, and it will not last for a long time, at most it will continue to run for two or three hours, and no matter how high it is, it will also blow up the cylinder.

Even so, after forcibly increasing the power, it still needs to be maintained and some vulnerable parts replaced.

Under normal circumstances, the pressure of today's steam engines is generally kept below 0.5 megapascals, and more often than not, it is actually only about 0.0.4 megapascals.

This is the case with the steam engine on the Lady, the previous speed was maintained at about 0.4 megapascals, but now after Dong Qingjun ordered to sail at full speed, its steam pressure has been increased to 0.5 megapascals, which is the limit of daily use, and the risk is too high.

Others are still reporting: "The cylinder pressure is stable, the transmission system has been successfully changed, the current power output is stable, and the speed of the paddle wheel has been increased to the predetermined speed!" ”

"The vibration of the mounting base of the unit has increased, and some structures are cheaper, but they are still within the safe value!"

After listening to these reports, Xu Quan said: "What is the current speed?" ”

Others immediately reported: "The current speed is 11 kilometers per hour, and the speed continues to increase slowly!" ”

"Twelve kilometers!"

"Thirteen kilometers!"

"Oh my God, it's thirteen kilometers now, no, it's fourteen kilometers!"

"Now our speed has stabilized at 14 kilometers per hour, which is beyond our expectations!"

Dong Qingjun on the side began to pour cold water: "In recent days, the water flow of the Yangtze River has been relatively large, and it is normal for the expected speed to be relatively large!" ”

That's right, even if the lady doesn't have any power at all, it floats directly on the water, and it can float out for a long distance in an hour.

The real speed test can only be carried out on a calm lake, and it is more difficult to test the speed on the Yangtze River, where the current is relatively large.

And the speed of this thing, related to power, but also related to the hull, as an inland river vessel, the design of the hull is not conducive to high-speed sailing.

If the steam engine is loaded on those fast transport ships, it is estimated that the speed can be increased a lot.

Although it can't say anything just by looking at the speed, it can also be seen that this steam engine has completed its mission, and in the case of a smooth water, the speed of full speed can reach fourteen kilometers per hour, which is almost a data that Xu Quan and others did not expect, they previously expected that it would be at most twelve kilometers per hour.

After going down the river for some distance, the Lady began to slow down, and began to turn slowly in a gentle bay, and it was not easy to turn a steamer more than 60 meters long, 9 meters wide, and with a displacement of more than 150 tons, on the river, and it was necessary to take your time.

Taking advantage of this time, many R&D personnel and engineers began to continuously check the condition of various systems such as steam units and paddle wheels.

Later, the lady, who had completed its U-turn, gradually accelerated and headed upstream.

When he started sailing against the current, Lu Xiyuan, deputy director of the Department of Transportation, kept his eyes wide open and kept paying attention to the data of the voyage, because if he went downstream, he didn't actually need any steam engine, and the sail ship went down the river very quickly.

But sailing against the current can be more troublesome, the speed is very slow, and if it is against the wind, then it is even worse.

If the headwind is already bad, then the windless weather is desperate!

In some sections of the river or when there is no wind, a slender man is required to pull the boat upstream.

But if there is a steam engine, it doesn't matter what the wind direction is, and there is no problem going upstream, even if the speed is slower, then for inland waterway transportation, it will be progress.

The smoky steamships will sail at a speed on any of the Empire's waterways and lakes, transporting supplies and passengers, and together with the train transportation, they will become the blood vessels of the Empire's military and economic operations!

Moreover, inland waterway transportation plays a huge role in some places where the terrain is more complex and it is difficult to build railways.

When inland river transportation is convenient, then cargo transportation and passenger travel will be more convenient, and it will play a great role in the economic development of some areas with complex terrain.

And then there is an indispensable military role, relying on rivers and steamships, the Tang Dynasty will go there!

When he was swimming upstream, reaching a speed of seven kilometers per hour, he couldn't help but take out a wine bottle and began to pour wine for himself and the others.

And when the speed of the counter-current was finally maintained at 8.2 kilometers per hour, he couldn't help but say loudly: "Success, we have succeeded, report to Your Majesty!" ”

In fact, there is no need for him to order to report the victory, the situation of various experiments has been constantly transmitted to Li Xuan's side through the auxiliary ships, and the weather is good today, through the relay of flag speakers on many auxiliary ships, it is enough to report the situation of the lady seven or eight kilometers away to Li Xuan's side.

Hearing that the Lady was going upstream, when the speed was stable at more than eight kilometers per hour, Li Xuan smiled: "Okay! ”

Several persons in charge of the Yangtze River Shipping Company who accompanied Li Xuan to watch the trial voyage next to him widened their eyes after hearing a series of data on the sea trial, and then the general manager headed by him directly instructed the deputy: "Immediately collect relevant information, order steam engines from Zhaoqing Machinery Company and Tianjin Youbang Company, and we will build steam ships!" ”

"We must be ahead of other companies, take the lead in building a fleet of steamships, and then pull down freight rates to catch them off guard!"

"Also, immediately stop all orders for sailboats, especially those for inland waterway vessels, and cancel all of them, and prepare relevant modification plans for existing vessels!"

"This time, our Yangtze River Shipping Company not only has to be the leader as always, but also has to fight a surprise war, even if we can't drive them down, we must dispel their thoughts of challenging us!"

"Let them know that our Yangtze River shipping has been, is, and will be the largest inland shipping company in the empire from the beginning!"

Just after watching the sea trials, the Yangtze River Shipping Company is ready to completely fall to the side of the steamer, and they are also ready to form a steamship fleet before other shipping companies reflect it, and then pull down the price, and drive a group of competitors out of the field through a tragic price war!

The reason why the management of the Yangtze River Shipping Company is so determined is also related to the fact that they have been constantly challenged by latecomers, and the number one position of the inland shipping company has almost been unable to keep it several times.

From the very beginning, the empire has supported inland waterway shipping and shipping, and this policy support, coupled with the surging development of the empire's industry and commerce, has greatly increased the demand for shipping, which has stimulated the rapid development of the empire's shipbuilding industry, and the same shipping industry has also developed rapidly.

Yangtze River Shipping Company, a large-scale shipping company specializing in inland and coastal shipping wholly owned by the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises of the Tang Empire, has been the first in China in terms of ship ownership since its inception because it has accepted many naval vessels, plus some other ships.

However, over the years since its establishment, although the Yangtze River Shipping Company has always maintained the name of the first inland shipping company in China, various domestic shipping companies have sprung up one after another, and many shipping giants have also appeared!

At present, among the top ten inland coastal shipping companies in China, the top few are no worse than the Yangtze River shipping companies.

In particular, the Feng Shipping Company, which seems to be a family business in the name, has accepted huge foreign investment since the Feng family voluntarily relinquished its controlling stake, and hired a large number of professionals to form a management team, creating a one-stop shipbuilding and transportation system.

They have their own shipyards, their own shipbuilding, and then try their best to pressure the cost of transportation, often with a lower than the market price to undertake transportation orders, especially in the freight market is simply to meet God to kill God, to meet Buddha to kill Buddha, only to do not finish the order, there is no unsolvable order, even the Yangtze River shipping company in the inland river freight market segment, are losing and retreating, not an opponent at all!