This suggestion is definitely not within the scope of Grand Duke Constantine's consideration, because even a temporary truce will be a complete defeat on his side. Tonight, all kinds of rumors about this inquiry will be circulated in all salons, all balls and theater boxes in St. Petersburg.
information.
Among these news, Li Xiao is definitely the one who shines, and he is likely to become a clown who is ridiculed and ridiculed.
Grand Duke Constantine's pride could not accept such an "insult", especially when he saw Li Xiao stepping on his head and receiving cheers. Just thinking about it could drive him crazy.
"I will never..."
Just as Grand Duke Constantine started, his confidants once again persuaded him: "Your Excellency, Grand Duke Andrei Konstantinovich is much more difficult to deal with than we expected. We must find more powerful and professional people to control him."
Stop him...if we continue today, we may be completely defeated, and then there will be no chance of a comeback!"
Grand Duke Constantine finally stopped talking. The hope of a comeback was his last life-saving straw. For this slim hope, he could only suppress his unwillingness and declare an intermission to fight another day.
With a roar, another wave of ridicule rang out in the auditorium. This laughter almost made Grand Duke Constantine vomit blood. He could only glare at Li Xiao bitterly, and then quickly retreated and ran away.
Surrounded by the cheering crowd, Li Xiao's friends immediately gathered around him. Without saying a word, Tolstoy gave him the warmest hug and almost kissed Li Xiao. This naughty kid was so excited that he almost became a
Li Xiao's crush wanted to catch Li Xiao and have a long chat for three days and three nights.
Fortunately, there was Alexei, who took away the "embarrassing" naughty boy, because Lazarev and Bellingshausen wanted to discuss business with Li Xiao, and they could not be delayed by the naughty boy's convulsions.
So under Tolstoy's lingering eyes, Li Xiao almost ran away and boarded the carriage of the two veterans. Just now, he was also frightened by the naughty boy with green eyes.
"Thank you both for your support. Without you, I might not have been able to pass the test so easily today."
Li Xiao expressed his sincere gratitude as soon as he came up. Indeed, without these two veterans today, the questioning environment would be even worse. When the time comes, all the people watching him will be enemies with malicious intentions towards him, and he will not have a single supporter.
There would be no fair and reasonable questioning environment. And all this was fought for by two veteran generals who withstood pressure. This was really not easy.
However, neither Bellingsgauchin nor Lazarev cared much. Bellingsgauchin waved his hand indifferently and said: "Your Excellency, the Grand Duke, you are overly complimentary. We didn't do anything, we just watched a good show."
, I really didn’t expect you to defeat your opponent with just your own strength, beautiful!”
Lazarev also praised: "Yes, Your Majesty the Grand Duke, your performance in this inquiry is a hundred times more effective than us traveling around to persuade and persuade. You let everyone see the iron-hulled ships and
Steam power has a future, it is not some absurd fantasy, nor is it some alchemical magic that cannot withstand scrutiny..."
The 19th century was not only an era of great development of science and technology, but also an era of eccentricities. Science and metaphysics were both popular, and all kinds of true and false knowledge were everywhere, which often made people dumbfounded.
For example, when iron is used to build ships, there are many metaphysicians who have falsified it. Many people like Yelofey adhere to the concept that iron cannot float and refuse to change. They also rely on their right to speak and influence to mislead people.
A large number of people really want bad money to drive out good money, which makes them very frustrated.
"General, I didn't do anything. I just stated the facts that have been proven for a long time. Your work is ten thousand times better than mine. Without your constant publicity and appeal, without your promotion, the situation would be even worse.
, and I am afraid that my remarks will be regarded as evil words to confuse the public, and then I will be directly sent to the stake and burned to death, and it will be impossible to sit here peacefully."
Lazarev and Bellingshausen laughed and said:
"We don't need to flatter each other anymore. Your Majesty, the Grand Duke, as you said, the situation is still serious. The old-fashioned people in the Admiralty are not so easy to convince. We must continue to work hard to pursue the victory!"
Li Xiao agreed with this. It is definitely beneficial to popularize science. The backward Russia really needs such a fresh wind, even if it can only blow away a little dust.
After chatting for a while, Lazarev suddenly asked: "Your Excellency, after listening to your speech today, I would like to ask, have the problems that plagued iron-made ships been solved, and will iron-made ships become the mainstream in the future?"
Li Xiao replied seriously: "General, I think it is a historical trend and inevitable that iron-made ships will become the mainstream. Iron-made ships have too many advantages... but it cannot be said that all problems have been solved at present!"
Lazarev was surprised: "Is there still a problem? Isn't the navigation problem solved?"
Li Xiao said: "The navigation problem has been solved, but the solution is not perfect. There are still flaws in actual application. Data needs to be continuously accumulated for correction, and professional personnel are required to use it well. And these are still lacking in our country...
…”
Lazarev was silent, but he also knew that Li Xiao was right, Russia was too backward and lacked professional and technical personnel.
Li Xiao added: "Actually, apart from the navigation issue, Ye Luofei hasn't mentioned the more important issue today!"
Lazarev was surprised: "Is there a bigger problem? How is it possible?"
Li Xiao smiled bitterly and said: "Yes, that's the problem of rust prevention. As you know, iron products rust too easily, especially in high-salt and humid environments, the rust rate will be very fast!"
"If no intervention is taken, an iron ship will rust and be damaged very quickly. It can turn into a pile of scrap metal in ten years!"
Lazarev was shocked. You must know that iron ships are about 20% more expensive than traditional wooden ships. If you add a steam engine, it is not surprising that the cost is 50% more expensive than wooden ships. Such an expensive ship is only ten
No one can bear the loss of life expectancy in the coming year!
"Is there no way?" Lazarev asked worriedly.
"Yes!" Li Xiao nodded and said, "Strengthening maintenance and regular rust removal are temporary solutions but not the root cause. But in the long run, developing new materials that are more corrosion-resistant and spraying paint or coatings with better anti-rust properties are the best solutions.
The solution.”
Lazarev's eyes suddenly lit up and he asked excitedly: "Are there such new materials and new coatings? Your Excellency, please tell me quickly, this is great!!"