Wang Xinyu has left Anuradha City and returned to Singapore.

Before leaving Anurada City, Wang Xinyu once advised Yongli that he could not withdraw all the Nanyang Ming troops to the south of Bago City, and that he must support the Mongols and maintain pressure on the Burmese, and only by not allowing the Burmese to have room for development, so that they could have a chance to recover the prince and the empress. However, Yongli did not listen to the advice, and insisted that all the Nanyang Ming troops withdraw to the south of Bagu City, and asked Wang Xinyu to reduce his support for the Meng people, trying to make Mang Bai back the crown prince and empress by retreating.

Li Dingguo also advised: "What the minister is worried about is that Mangbai will definitely break the contract!" He is certainly not willing to compensate us with so much silver every year! We have to keep the pressure on the Burmese to make Mang Bai obedient. ”

Yongli replied: "Could it be that the prince and the queen are not as good as that bit of silver in your eyes?" ”

"The sin of the minister deserves death!" Li Dingguo didn't dare to say anything more, so he had to retreat.

Fortunately, the Meng people supported by Wang Xinyu are not within the control of Yongli, and they have their own leaders. In order to prevent the Meng and Ming armies from being restricted by Yongli, Wang Xinyu temporarily incorporated the Meng and Ming armies into the Meng people's own Bagu Kingdom.

Although the Kingdom of Bago has been destroyed by the Burmese for more than a hundred years, the descendants of King Bago have been resisting and rebelling against the Burmese at every opportunity. In real history, it was not until 1757 that the descendants of King Bago were cut down by the Burmese and eradicated, and the Bago Dynasty was truly declared extinct, and the Mon people were completely reduced to slavery.

Wang Xinyu refound the descendants of King Bago and handed over to him the army of the Mon people he had trained, and this army of 50,000 people temporarily carried the name of the Bago Kingdom, and then restored the identity of the Ming army in the future.

With the army of the Meng people and his own navy guarding the safety of Anuratuo City, Wang Xinyu did not have to worry about any danger in Yongli at all. The city of Anuradha itself is a small island hanging at the mouth of the Irrawaddy River, and the Burmese army has been completely wiped out, and it is impossible to attack this island, let alone the Qing army.

When a slender and graceful ship came to Anuradha City to pick up Wang Xinyu, everything here had already been arranged. Wang Xinyu also had to go back to Xiamen to deal with some things.

It was a beautiful ship, with a high mast, white sails that fed the wind, and a huge amount of power transmitted through the mast to the streamlined hull. The low freeboard provides excellent stability, while the low centre of gravity allows the mast to be three quarters of the length of the hull, which increases the sail area.

This ship is a clipper ship that has recently installed a mast and is undergoing sea trials.

Wang Xinyu wanted to participate in the sea trials in person, so the ship came to Myanmar.

followed Wang Xinyu to Singapore. There are also Li Dingguo's daughter-in-law and grandson, that is, Wang Xinyu's sister-in-law and nephew.

Ba Mo was already safe, and Miss Zheng didn't have to go back, but Li Dingguo considered that his daughter-in-law hadn't seen her mother's family for a long time, so he asked her to go back to her parents' house to have a look.

When the little nephew got on board, he was curious about everything on board, and ran back and forth like a cheerful sparrow, from the helm tower on the top floor to the bilge on the lowest level.

The clipper boat with a combination of Chinese and Western sails is different from the Western-style soft sailboat. Although the Western-style soft sailing ship has a large sail surface and fast speed, it requires a large number of sailors because of the complexity of the sails.

And the sails of this clipper. Unlike soft sailboats, which do not require a large number of people to operate if the sails are suspended with ropes, but the whole block, the combined Chinese and Western sails do not require a large number of wooden skeletons like hard sails. It is sewn together with thick hemp rope, with three wooden skeletons, which are reinforced with ropes. The sails are also not coated with tung oil, and the weight of the sails is relatively light, so the area can be made larger, and the ability to withstand the wind is stronger.

The ship needed thirty sailors to be able to steer the sails. The square sail can rotate freely and at a certain angle with the wind direction, so that the utilization rate is much higher than that of the soft sail, and this ship is the same as the Western-style soft sail, and there are also spinnakers such as support sails and wing sails, which increase the utilization rate of the wind.

There are five compartments on board, and if one of them is flooded, the boat can still continue sailing; If the two compartments are flooded, the ship will be able to drain and save itself. However, the bulkhead structure also had a major drawback: it was impossible to set up gun emplacements on the lower deck, which made it impossible for the ship to carry more guns.

In terms of defensiveness, the slender hull structure also makes the ship easy to penetrate in engagement; In addition, once the combined Chinese and Western mainsail touches the chain bomb, a chain bomb can completely destroy the entire main sail.

Although the clipper ship was not suitable as a warship, it was positioned as a fast merchant ship, so these disadvantages were not considered shortcomings, and this kind of ship was the most perfect merchant ship ahead of its time.

Even if she encounters a pirate or an enemy warship while transporting goods, the clipper ship does not need to be afraid, she can easily get rid of her opponent with her high speed, and any enemy ship will never be able to catch up with her, let alone get into range.

Wang Xinyu stood at the bow of the boat, the hunting sea breeze blowing his hair. He proudly watched the waves split by the bow of the ship, experiencing the most amazing speed of this era.

"I feel that the maximum speed is still not fast enough, and it cannot reach the required maximum speed of 20 knots!" Wang Xinyu said to Albert, who was standing beside him.

Albert has been in charge of the ship ever since it was launched for sea trials. Listening to Wang Xinyu's question, Albert replied: "Twenty knots is impossible, the cruising speed of this ship is about fourteen knots, and the maximum speed is eighteen knots, but this is already quite an amazing speed!" ”

"It seems that the ideal is beautiful, the reality is cruel, and there is still a big gap between the ideal and the reality!" Wang Xinyu said with a smile. To be honest, I'm quite satisfied with this speed.

Liu Fugui, who served as the first captain of the clipper, praised again and again: "It's too fast! This ship is just too fast! No warship or pirate ship can catch up with her! ”

The wind and waves were a bit strong, and the boat shook so hard that it was difficult for untrained people to even stand still on deck.

"Captain, it looks like we're off course again!" One of the sailors shouted.

"Adjust course! What's going on? Something wrong with the compass? Liu Fugui shouted.

The sailor replied: "The wind and waves are too strong, the hull of the ship shakes so badly that the compass sometimes jams, and the ship deviates from course." The waves were so great that neither the astrolabe nor the reciometer could be operated, and we could not return to course without knowing our position. ”

Liu Fugui said: "That can only rely on the coastline to adjust the course." ”

The compass, that is, the compass. It is possible to tell the crew the direction in which their ship is sailing. But the compass could not tell the crew where his ship was. Sometimes the wind and waves are too strong and the ship's course will deviate. At this time, the astrolabe can tell the crew the latitude and longitude of their ship, and with the compass, the ship can return to its original course.

However, when the wind and waves are strong, it is very difficult to maneuver the astrolabe, and once it deviates from the course, it is difficult to adjust back.

"Use the coastline to adjust course?" Wang Xinyu was stunned. "Now our sea trials are along the coastline, but this ship is an ocean-going ship that has gone to the vast ocean, how to adjust the course in today's situation?"

"Then you can only roughly estimate, how much can be adjusted, there must be errors, and when the wind and waves are small, we will turn back to the course." Liu Fugui said.

Wang Xinyu's navy had rarely encountered this kind of problem before. Because the original ship was slower and the hull shook less, it was less likely to deviate. And the clipper ship is fast, and the hull shakes much more. It is more prone to deviations, and this is where a nautical instrument is needed that can know where you are at all times.

When the clipper ship splits the waves, it tosses up and down so badly that nautical instruments such as astrolabes cannot be used on undulating and bumpy ships.

Wang Xinyu thought in his heart: on the vast ocean. I'm afraid that there are few times when the wind and waves are small, and most of the time it is strong winds and waves. So how do you adjust the course? Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration, and there he was!

"Sextant! You can make a sextant! With that thing. We'll always know we're there. Wang Xinyu muttered to himself.

Liu Fugui asked strangely: "Sextant?" What's that? ”

"When I get back to Singapore, I'll make that thing." Wang Xinyu said with a smile.

There is a five-level wind blowing on the sea surface, with a gust of six, and there are three to four meters of big waves on the sea surface, and from time to time there are white wave caps blown away by the strong wind, bursting out of the waves, the speed of the wind is quite large, and the clipper boat is bumping up and down in the waves.

"Lower the sails and sail at two-thirds of the sails!" Liu Fugui shouted.

The clipper boat sails along the coastline at a speed of about fifteen knots. At this time, it may be possible to reach twenty knots with a full sail, but it is too dangerous.

The five-level wind is already very strong, even if it is a big ship of seven or eight thousand tons in later generations, it is very powerful to shake in the case of a five-level wind, and ordinary people who have not been trained have already vomited on the ship. The tonnage of this clipper is less than 500 tons, and the degree of shaking can be imagined.

Wang Xinyu is used to life at sea, but he suffers from his eldest sister-in-law and little nephew. The two of them vomited even bile, and the lively and lovely little nephew was still very curious to run around when he first got on the boat, and now he can only lie on the bed, and he doesn't dare to get up.

Several of Miss Zheng's maids also vomited so much that they could only lie on the bed and dare not move, not to mention taking care of people at this time, they themselves had to be taken care of by others.

By evening, when the wind and waves had finally subsided, the clipper raised its full sails again, and sailed at a speed of fourteen knots.

After a long voyage of four days and four nights, the clipper arrived in Singapore on April 6. At this time, there is also a clipper ship in the Singapore shipyard that has been launched and is moored at the dock for final installation work, and there are two clippers under construction in the dock, one has just been laid keel, and the other is laying wooden planks.

Seeing this beautiful clipper ship sailing into Singapore from afar, Zheng Yun couldn't wait to rush to the dock to welcome her husband back.

"Husband!" I haven't seen each other for more than a month, and as soon as I saw her husband come back, Zheng Yun flew up like a bird, threw herself into Wang Xinyu's arms, and leaned tightly on his thick chest.

After a while, Zheng Yun noticed that Wang Xinyu had changed into a red python robe! She looked at her husband in surprise, and she didn't know what words to describe the joy in her heart: "My husband has been crowned king?" ”

Wang Xinyu nodded: "This time, your husband has a meritorious service in saving the driver, and Your Majesty is gracious and gives your husband a county king." ”

Zheng Yun is proud of her husband: "The concubine is not wrong, my husband is a big hero who stands up to the sky!" ”

"By the way, look who's back!" Wang Xinyu turned his head and pointed to several women who were supporting each other, and a little boy whose legs were weak even when he walked.

Although I haven't seen her for many years, as soon as she saw her sister, Zheng Yun still recognized it immediately. She ran up in surprise, grabbed the young woman in the middle, and cried out with joy: "Sister! ”

The sisters, who hadn't seen each other for many years, met again, and the two hugged each other tightly and cried.

After Wang Xinyu returned to Singapore, he did not spare for a moment, and immediately devoted himself to the work of manufacturing sextants.

The so-called sextant is an instrument in the shape of a fan. Its components include a small telescope, a translucent and semi-reflective fixed plane mirror, known as a horizon mirror, and an active mirror linked to the indicator, known as the indicator mirror.

The sextant is used by the observer to rotate the indicator mirror so that the celestial objects that appear at the same time in the field of view coincide with the sea horizon. The altitude angle of the celestial body can be read according to the angle of the indicator mirror, and the error is about 2.2 degrees to 1 degree. The data obtained is calculated to know the location of your ship. Of course, to figure out the exact location, complex mathematical formulas were required, and these were basic skills that Albert had long been familiar with.

With a sextant, the ship is able to cross the ocean with the shortest course.

The key to the sextant was the glass-making technology, which was supplied by the glass factory in Borneo.

After Wang Xinyu drew the drawings of the sextant, he had the drawings sent to Borneo and handed over to the glass factory to make equipment such as small telescopes and horizon mirrors. When the glass factory makes these devices, they can be assembled.

In addition to manufacturing sextants, Wang Xinyu is also ready to devote himself to the development of production safety matches.

But at present, the Alchemy Institute is still in Xiamen, and scientists such as Song Yingxing are still in Xiamen. Wang Xinyu returned to Xiamen this time to prepare for the relocation of the Alchemy Institute to Qiongzhou, and to bring Song Yingxing, Dai Zi and other talents to Qiongzhou. With Song Yingxing's help, I believe that safety matches will come out soon.

Seeing the sails sewn into a piece, Wang Xinyu had another thought: a hot air balloon.

The principle of hot air balloon is very simple, and I believe it is relatively easy to make. After having a hot air balloon, the battleship on the sea surface has a pair of clairvoyance, and the battleship under sail can raise the hot air balloon at any time, the hot air balloon is fixed on the ship with a cable, and the observer on the balloon can find the enemy ships in the distance, so that the fleet can prepare for battle as soon as possible, and can also detect the upcoming typhoon in time, send an early warning signal to the fleet, and let the fleet avoid the typhoon. (To be continued.) )