Xia Hongsheng left the palace and didn't think about what happened in the palace after returning home. In the next few days, the emperor did not send anyone to find him in the palace, so he felt that perhaps the emperor had to deal with this matter himself, so he was happy not to make peace.

Li Jiancheng's remnants of the party have been wiped out, and there are still a few crazy fish hidden in the palace, so it is not a difficult thing to deal with. With Li Shimin's methods, it is not easy to investigate and deal with it.

Xia Hongsheng simply ran back to Jingyang and went to see the children in Zhuangzi, who were in the grade and elementary school, and now they can read and write by themselves.

Li Tai has been staying in Xia Hongsheng's Zhuangzi for this time, and seeing him again this time made Xia Hongsheng a little unexpected, and felt that he was a little calmer, and the feeling of "the IQ of people in the world is not as good as Lao Tzu" is a lot less.

"There is progress!" Xia Hongsheng rubbed Li Tai's head: "It's not in vain that I will praise you with your father when I go back this time!" ”

"You praised me?" Although he is talented, he is still a child in the end, and when he heard Xia Hongsheng say this, he immediately looked at Xia Hongsheng expectantly and asked, "What did my father say?" ”

"Of course, it is a boast of being a teacher and teaching well, and you are worthy of being his favorite green bird, so that you can continue to study hard and improve every day." Xia Hongsheng's mouth pulled, and he didn't even have a draft.

Li Tai took it seriously, obviously looked happy, and immediately said as if asking for credit: "By the way, Master, I have found you all the pieces of iron you want, and put them with the blacksmith on the Zhuangzi." ”

"Oh?!" Xia Hongsheng's eyes lit up. A long time ago, he boasted to Li Tai that he could make iron not sink to the bottom. Later, Li Tai didn't take it seriously. Xia Hongsheng also felt that the time had not come. So he put it aside, and the matter was hung up, and neither of them mentioned it. Later, because he sent people to Linyi Kingdom, Xia Hongsheng moved this idea again. It is an indisputable fact that Linyi has three crops of rice, so the three crops of rice will definitely be found. On the Indochina Peninsula, there is a wide range of arable land suitable for growing three-crop rice. Under the present conditions, if you want to have enough and large enough relations with the Linyi Kingdom, it is impossible to work by land, because you have to detour from the land of South Vietnam. The wild nature of the tribes there is not conducive to access. The best thing is to go to sea, go to sea from Fuzhou or Lingnan, arrive at Linyi from the sea, and import a large amount of three-crop rice into Datang.

This piece of land must be firmly held in Datang's hands in Xia Hongsheng's heart. Because of the need to solve the food problem of the Tang Dynasty, when it is now impossible to sail to the ocean and bring new staple foods, it firmly controls the Indochina Peninsula and takes advantage of the tropical climate there to plant three crops of rice. Make it the granary of Datang, this is the only way.

Now ships are able to make voyages from Fuzhou to Indochina. But if you go further afield, or if you have some naval battles, you can't do it.

Xia Hongsheng thought that he would simply do it in one step and directly come up with a steel ship, and then Datang would definitely become the overlord of the sea in one fell swoop.

This is not a pipe dream, because Xia Hongsheng knows that the Archimedes' principle says that the buoyancy of an object is equal to the gravitational force of the object to expel the liquid. Although the density of iron is greater than that of water, the middle of the ship is empty, and the total weight of the ship is equal to the total weight of iron, but the volume of the ship is not the volume of iron, that is to say, the buoyancy of the ship is not equal to the buoyancy of iron, but greater than the buoyancy of iron, since the buoyancy is greater than gravity, the ship cannot sink. The same weight of steel will sink to the bottom if thrown into the water, but if it can be made large enough to achieve optimal displacement of the hull, it will not sink into the water.

Xia Hongsheng just proposed this principle and made a small experiment to prove that this path is feasible. And the rest of the things that use this principle to make larger ships require many shipbuilding experts to work together to overcome difficulties. Fortunately, Datang has never lacked talents, as long as Xia Hongsheng proves that this idea is correct and feasible, then it can always become a reality and build Datang's steel giant.

Because it's not easy, it's all the more important to start researching as early as possible.

Luckily, there's still time.

"Good!" Xia Hongsheng snapped his fingers and said, "Xiaotai, do you remember, I told you before that even if it is steel, I can make it float on the surface of the water and not sink into the water?" With the iron sheets you got you, I'll show you what to see! ”

Li Tai's favorite thing is the incredible and novel things that Xia Hongsheng has done that are completely different from ordinary people's cognition, so when he heard Xia Hongsheng say this, his eyes immediately lit up, and he pulled Xia Hongsheng to go outside.

Xia Hongsheng waved his hand: "Don't panic, it's not possible to pass like this, I have to design the design first, and I have to find some people to help!" I'm going to make a boat out of those iron sheets! ”

"A ship made of iron?" Li Tai's eyes widened, which was a little confused for him: "A ship made of iron...... Does that work? ”

"You know." Xia Hongsheng patted Li Tai on the shoulder and said, "You are the prince, do you have a way to pull over a few skilled shipbuilders?" ”

"Shipbuilders?" Li Tai was stunned: "Where do I know someone who can build a ship!" ”

"You are the prince, just give an order, and naturally there will be someone who wants to curry favor with you to find it for you!" Xia Hongsheng waved his hand disapprethoughtly and said.

"You! ......" Li Tai immediately became angry when he saw Xia Hongsheng talking like this, but Xia Hongsheng looked at him and laughed.

was smiling, but heard Qi Yong, who was standing next to him, suddenly say: "Childe, you want to find someone who understands shipbuilding, in fact, there is one person in Chang'an City who can help Childe the most!" ”

"Who?" Xia Hongsheng turned his head curiously and looked at Qi Yong, but he didn't expect him to know this.

Qi Yong saluted Xia Hongsheng and said: "Son, during the Wude period, the king of Hejian County was appointed as the head of the Jingxiang Road march, built large ships, taught soldiers water warfare, and led twelve armies on land and water to set off from Yiling, break the soldiers of Xiao Milling and the Second Town, and destroy Xiao Milling in Western Liang. Later, he commanded the naval army to fight in Jiangnan, and he must know the people who know how to build ships. ”

Xia Hongsheng clapped his hands: "That's right!" How could a person who had trained and commanded a naval army not find someone who knew how to build a ship! Qi Yong, how do you know! ”

Qi Yong scratched his head and smiled innocently: "I used to hear people in the army talk about the deeds of the King of Hejian County who swept the south of the Yangtze River back then. ”

"Great!" Xia Hongsheng rubbed his hands: "Xiaotai, that's your relative, let's go to visit the king of Hejian County together!" ”

Li Tai was about to speak, but suddenly heard someone outside shouting: "Childe, there are a few Turks outside, saying that they want to visit Childe!" (To be continued.) )