The "other things" in Li Sheng's mind were not anything else, but the ship's affairs.
This ship...
Before, the Tang Dynasty had already had high-end sailing warships with primitive steam-assisted power. Although the speed was very slow in Li Sheng's opinion, it was much faster than all other ships in this era!
This speed advantage can even be said to be as fast as lightning in the ocean battlefield.
Because this speed not only represents the speed itself, but also means that the entire hull condition of the ship is more stable - otherwise, how can we increase the speed?
A more stable ship condition means stronger wind and wave resistance and better livability - this is very important at sea. The ship cannot make the crew unable to live.
And all this means more powerful ocean navigation capabilities!
This is also Li Sheng's ultimate goal.
Enhancing military strength was just a side goal. After all, Datang's military power was not weak in the first place. The real goal was its ocean navigation capabilities.
In fact, many things will be the same in later generations...
The Star Wars project is also seen as engaging in a nuclear arms race under the guise of space development, and is a strategic fraud on the part of North America, but in fact...
In fact, this is not completely a strategic fraud, because ballistic missiles and anti-missile missiles are things that have been under development.
Moreover, it cannot be said that it is a pretense or a fraud, or that it is disguised as something with no real content.
Space development is a historical mission, and it belongs to the entire human race. After all, there will always be a time when the petroleum and coal are exhausted...
The same applies to the Tang Dynasty now. Shenzhou is a big place, but...it's only that big after all.
He is not infinite.
Future development and growth will always require resources from outside, and... the southeastern area has a lot of resources, but for China, they are not enough.
Not enough!
The ultimate destiny of China, whether in Li Sheng's view or in the subconscious mind of all Yanhuang Miao descendants, is to become the locomotive of human development, whether for the benefit of China or the destiny of mankind.
So in that case, you have to find a way to get the resources. And to get the resources... you have to go to that place first.
It was for this purpose that Datang's warships were modified, but Datang's goal was not just Southeast Point.
There are five continents and four oceans in the world, how can there be...
The forbidden army of China cannot go to a place?
Therefore, Li Sheng knew very well that if China really wanted to industrialize, relying solely on China's local resources would definitely not be enough. It would also have to benefit from the dividends of the New World such as the discovery of America and Australia.
Without such a big head, how can we talk about development?
Therefore, Li Sheng's great shipbuilding business cannot be stopped, and...if he hadn't predicted the needs of shipbuilding, processes, and technological improvements, Li Sheng would not have gone to great lengths to build a shipbuilding industrial park.
But looking back, Li Sheng also felt that the road was really difficult and long...
Because of the current technology, if we want to further improve the ships of the Divine Forbidden Army, we will basically have to use iron-clad ships.
A steel hull, if you think about it, you will know that its ability to withstand wind and waves is definitely far better than a wooden hull, and this thing also has a special effect...
That is the burning dan that has a special effect on wooden ships, but has little effect on iron ships!
In other words, this thing is equivalent to a ballistic missile defense system.
The biggest killer weapon in modern times is of course ballistic missiles, but there are many anti-missile systems in the world, such as the THAAD system, which once caused quite a stir.
The reason for the controversy is actually very simple, because this thing is used to protect against ballistic missiles.
Of course, it cannot defend perfectly, but if it can intercept part of it, it will be quite useful.
And it was still that time that it caused a stir not only because THAAD could defend against ballistic missiles, but because it was not a defensive weapon in the literal sense.
This is actually an offensive weapon. With anti-missile capabilities, various military bases that are extremely afraid of ballistic missiles can move forward. This is the value of the anti-missile system.
The same is true for armored ships. Defense is not just defense, just like in the game, armor does not equal a bastard, because only when you are armored can you cross the tower.
Iron ships have similar properties, but there is a problem.
Iron cannot float in water, but iron ships can.
However, despite this, the density of steel is still much greater than that of wood, so it is not difficult to float, but it is more difficult to move.
In other words, Li Sheng still needs to develop a more powerful steam engine to support the construction of ironclad ships!
A steam engine with greater power is no joke, because it is suitable for iron-clad ships. The entire project is almost equivalent to redesigning the steam engine...
And it is far more complicated and difficult than before.
Li Sheng naturally has a headache with such a large workload. Of course, there are shortcuts, such as skipping various update patches for steam engines and starting research on internal combustion engines directly...
With this thing, Li Sheng could make a single-cylinder diesel engine commonly used in rural areas in later generations with his eyes closed.
But the problem is that there is no oil. In the current situation, we don’t know when we will find it, so we can only improve the steam engine first.
At this point, Li Sheng can only put his mind at ease and respect his liver first, and he also faces a problem, that is, the research and development work is very expensive...
This also made Li Sheng feel extremely familiar, and he didn't know whether to be relieved or melancholy. Because all the previous research and development were not actually research and development. Many things belonged to the ancients, and they could understand it even if they tried hard to use their brains.
For example, printing may arouse the amazement of the ancients, but they can also understand this thing - at least the principle of this thing. For example, movable type printing uses copper and lead blocks, and the white and crisp paper can be made.
Because something called a strong alkali was used to bleach...
As for what a strong alkali is, it would take many years to explain the chemical knowledge in detail. However, just talking about the caustic soda used by Li Sheng and drawing a design can explain it to the ancients.
At the very least, the super elites among the ancients like Wei Zheng, Du Ruhui, and Chai Shao could slowly think and understand.
But steam engines, especially improved ones that can support the navigation of ironclad ships, are different.
This thing is something that no matter how detailed Li Sheng explains it, no matter how talented the ancients are, they will never be able to understand it.
Even if the design drawings were placed in front of them, these ancients would never be able to understand them in their lifetime!
This is why the amount of work is huge.
Because the power is higher, the complexity is higher.
For things with higher complexity, Li Sheng naturally needs to order more parts...