The reason why Lazarev returned to St. Petersburg at this time was related to three things. The first and most important one was the friction between Russia and Turkey.
Because of the Holy Land issue, Nicholas I was extremely dissatisfied with Turkey's attitude towards the snake and the rat. This domineering Tsar believed that the Catholic forces led by France had been constantly provoking the Holy Land issue. As the natural guardian of the Holy Land, Russia was naturally
To fight back.
And the damn Turks did not fully abide by the agreement reached between the two countries and did not provide Russia with political convenience and privileges. Instead, they sheltered the French. It was a heinous crime!
Nicholas I, who had always been extremely dissatisfied with Turkey because of religious issues, naturally believed that he had released Turkey's two horses in 1829 and 1833, allowing Turkey to avoid the fate of being immediately divided and dismembered. The Turks should be grateful.
But now the Turks are not only ungrateful, but are stabbing people in the back, which is really unbearable. Therefore, Nicholas I is inclined to solve the problem at once, completely tear down the Turkish wall, and unite the great powers to give Turkey the same way as Poland.
The account was divided.
If you want to carve up Turkey, you must use military means, and the role and status of the Black Sea Fleet are very prominent. Nicholas I naturally wanted to summon Lazarev, the hero of 1829 and 1833, to listen to his opinions.
The second thing that made Lazarev return to St. Petersburg was his old friend, General Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen.
Admiral Bellingshausen was also a famous navigator and explorer. He once led Lazarev on an expedition to Antarctica. At that time, Bellingshausen was the commander of the formation, and Lazarev was the deputy commander and peace officer.
The captain of the .
From that time on, the two formed a friendship. However, the results of the scientific expedition around the Antarctic were not particularly satisfactory. Alexander I hoped that Bellingshausen would bring back comprehensive survey data of the Antarctic, but due to the harsh climate, Bellingshausen
Bellingshausen failed to do this. So Alexander I flatly refused to pay Bellingshausen to print and publish the maps and charts he drew as punishment.
After that, Bellingshausen was promoted step by step. He served as commander of the Black Sea Fleet, the commander of the Second Baltic Fleet, and the commander of the Baltic Fleet. After being promoted to admiral in 1839, he basically retired in Kronstadt, which was regarded as a retreat.
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But even though Bellingshausen has taken a back seat, he is still very concerned about naval construction. He was also quite dissatisfied with Menshikov's conservative methods before, but it was helpless that Nicholas I liked Menshikov.
Husband, no matter how dissatisfied he is, there is nothing he can do with the old eunuch.
Menshikov had been suspended at home because of the Mesadov case. Grand Duke Constantine held high the banner of innovation again. Bellingshausen thought it was a good opportunity, so he contacted a group of old friends to discuss naval innovation together.
The specific method of doing this can be regarded as a last-ditch effort.
Naturally, Lazarev must be on Bellingshausen's invitation list. It happened that the former was also coming back to meet the Tsar to report on his duties, so it happened to be done together.
The third reason for Lazarev to return to St. Petersburg is directly related to Li Xiao. As a major supporter of steam ships, especially iron-hulled steam ships, the old man has always paid attention to relevant information in this regard from various countries around the world.
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When Li Xiao published related papers under the pseudonym of author A, the old man paid attention to him. Especially after the verbal dispute between Simonds and Li Xiao, the old man paid even more attention to Li Xiao. The reason was very simple. The old man agreed very much.
Li Xiao’s point of view.
Similar views are truly a minority in backward Russia. Both steamships and iron-hulled ships are anomalies in Russia. Especially when the two are combined, they are the extreme of heterogeneity and should be regarded as
Knocked to the ground and stepped on by ten thousand feet.
In the view of these conservatives, steamships were expensive to build, their reliability was abysmal, and their ride comfort was quite poor. They had no value at all and were just expensive toys.
And using iron to build ship hulls is even more deviant and the most ridiculous thing in the world. Using steel that sinks when exposed to water to build ships, isn't this just a dream?
Over the years, Lazarev has been constantly dealing with idiots who hold similar views, constantly trying to persuade old stubborns like Menshikov to accept new things. But the effect can only be said to be unsatisfactory.
Because the reasons are very complicated. Let’s take the two above as examples. The second one really has no common sense in physics and is not worth refuting. But the first one actually makes some sense.
The cost of steamships is indeed very expensive, much more expensive than traditional sailboats. Especially for Russia, which has almost no ability to produce steam engines, it is even more expensive. Let’s put it this way, a steam engine of 200 to 300 horsepower costs several
Thousands of pounds. If you include boiler equipment, the cost of importing such a set may reach tens of thousands of pounds.
Tens of thousands of pounds in that era was not a small amount of money. Ten thousand pounds was equivalent to about one hundred thousand rubles. This was only for the purchase of turbines and paddle wheel equipment, and did not include the hull and outfitting. Add one piece of everything, and a ship would cost three or four dollars.
million pounds.
This is really expensive. You must know that the cost of building a second-class 75-gun battleship back then was only 40,000 pounds. Spending 30 to 40,000 pounds to build a ship that is much smaller than a battleship and has almost non-existent armament is not worth it.
This is somewhat unacceptable to any navy.
What's more, steam engines and boilers in the early years were riddled with problems. Boiler explosions and steam engine strikes were common occurrences. Maintenance was extremely troublesome and expensive. Moreover, the riding comfort of this new type of ship was extremely poor, and the huge vibrations of the old and simple steam engines made the ship
Your legs are numb, and the acrid smoke from the short chimney can choke you to death, plus the burnt cinders and dust all over the deck.
Well, anyway, early steamships were really not as comfortable as in a black coal kiln. Moreover, the speed of early steamships was still very slow. Even with a steam engine, the speed could not exceed ten knots, and the coal consumption was very impressive. It is also supported that the entire ship was used to load coal.
For sailing that lasts only a few days, you have to rely on sails most of the time.
Think about it, in this case, sailboats are still the mainstream, and steam engines seem dispensable. With all the shortcomings put together, who will like this new toy? Even if they really like it, they don’t have enough money to build it in large quantities.
In short, Lazarev, who promoted steamships, was in great pain. He could see the future of steamships, but he was unable to convince the many opponents due to his limited knowledge. At one point, the old man felt desperate and felt that his lifetime was
The era of great development of steamships is no longer in sight.
But Li Xiao's sudden appearance opened a window for him and gave him hope!