"After sitting on the boat for a few days, I have already rested."
Jin Feng waved his hand and said, "Just let Xiaobei and the others go see the house. You can take me to the new dock first!"
These words hit Hong Taoping's fancy. He rubbed his hands and made a gesture of invitation: "This way, sir!"
After saying that, he trotted ahead to lead the way.
"Run Niang, you go and clean up the room. My husband and I will go take a look."
Tang Xiaobei patted Runniang and quickly followed Jin Feng.
The Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative have now formed a large scale, and the daily cargo throughput is very large. However, Zhenyuan No. 2 has been busy transporting grain recently and has not been able to take care of transporting materials to the Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce.
Tang Xiaobei was extremely anxious, but she also knew the importance of food, so she never mentioned it.
New docks mean new ships, and new ships mean new transportation capabilities.
Tang Xiaobei insisted on following him to the East China Sea. In addition to accompanying Jin Feng, he also wanted to see the progress of the dock.
The new dock is not far from the old dock, and it takes less than ten minutes to walk there.
"Sir, we're here!"
Hong Taoping pointed to the huge dock in front of him, his eyes full of pride.
The new dock and the big ships inside are his favorite works, and he wants to show them off when he meets people.
It is a pity that there are too few masters who know how to build ships around him. In Hong Taoping's mind, Jin Feng is the number one confidant. On the day when the new dock was capped, Hong Taoping wanted to write a letter to Jin Feng and invite him to visit.
But knowing that Jin Feng was fighting in Xizhou at the time, Hong Taoping suppressed this idea.
Some time ago, I learned that Jin Feng had returned from Xizhou. Hong Taoping quickly wrote a letter to Jin Feng. As a result, the letter is still on the way and Jin Feng has already arrived.
"so big!"
Tang Xiaobei looked at the dock, his eyes full of shock.
The new dock is more than ten feet high and more than a hundred feet long and wide. It looks extremely huge.
In the open space in the middle of the dock, a huge ship has been basically completed, and the workers working on the big ship look particularly small.
Zheng Chiyuan, who was following behind, was as shocked as Tang Xiaobei.
Although he had been at the dock for a few days, there were bodyguards guarding the outside of the new dock. Zheng Chiyuan hinted that Hong Taoping wanted to go in and have a look, but Hong Taoping didn't answer, so Zheng Chiyuan was sensible and didn't ask any more questions.
This is also his first time entering the dock.
For Zheng Chiyuan, who has been dealing with ships all year round, the impact of this giant ship is greater than that of Tang Xiaobei!
Tang Xiaobei was thinking about how much cargo such a big ship could haul, while Zheng Chiyuan's eyes were attracted by the two giant cannons installed on the bow deck.
Although he didn't know what the two giant cannons were used for, Zheng Chiyuan could feel the oppression brought by the giant cannons through their ferocious appearance!
Next to the cannon, there are heavy crossbows and catapults.
The outside of the hull is also inlaid with thick steel plates, so it is not afraid even if it is attacked by fire or heavy crossbow fire.
In addition, there is a tall and thick chimney erected on the back deck of the big ship. Zheng Chiyuan knew without asking that this ship must also be equipped with a steam engine, and judging from the diameter of the chimney, this ship is equipped with a steam engine.
, I’m afraid it’s much larger than Zhenyuan No. 2.
Tang Xiaobei and Zheng Chiyuan's attention was on the big ship, but Jin Feng only glanced at the big ship and then looked at other places in the dock.
The first is the structure of the dock.
The new dock is more than ten feet high. Although there are many pagodas and ancient temples that are higher than the dock, and it is not the tallest building in Dakang, it is very difficult to build.
Because the area of the dock is too large, and in order to leave enough space for shipbuilding, the middle of the dock must be open.
For the construction technology before Dakang, it was simply impossible.
That is to say, Jin Feng made concrete and coupled with the design of modern mechanical structures, this new dock was built.
On both sides of the ship, there are two rails, and a huge gantry is suspended at the end of the rails.
"Is the new gantry crane easy to use?" Jin Feng asked.
This dock and gantry crane were specially designed by Jin Feng, but he only sent the construction drawings and did not participate in the construction process.
From the current point of view, there should be no major problems with the main structure of the dock, but Jin Feng doesn't know whether the gantry crane is easy to use.
"It's easy to use, it's so easy to use!" Hong Taoping replied excitedly: "Without this gantry crane, even if such a large ship could be built, it would never be so fast. The construction period would be at least seven or eight months longer, or even a year.
many."
In the past, when shipyards were building ships, heavy ship plates could only be lifted in manually and then installed on simple racks. Sometimes it would take more than half a month to install just one ship plate.
But since the introduction of the gantry crane, this work has suddenly become easier. If there are no accidents, it can be completed in half a day at most.
"As long as it works!" Jin Feng nodded and asked, "What's the progress of this ship? When can it be launched?"
"The main structure has been completed, and the steam engine was installed a few days ago. It is being debugged these days. It should be ready to launch after debugging." Hong Taoping asked: "Sir, what is the name of this ship? The craftsman asked
Me."
Both Zhenyuan No. 1 and Zhenyuan No. 2 have their names painted on the hulls. Now that the main structure of the ship has been completed, the craftsmen are ready to paint their names, so they come to ask Hong Taoping.
How dare Hong Taoping name it without authorization? He originally planned to write to Jin Feng to ask, but now that Jin Feng is here, he just wants to ask.
Coming up with a name has always been the most troublesome thing for Jin Feng. He thought for a while and said: "Master Hong, you are responsible for the construction of this ship. It's up to you to come up with a name!"
"Can I?" Hong Taoping asked, somewhat flattered.
Although this ship is not Dakang's first steam engine ship, in terms of size and performance, this ship is much stronger than Zhenyuan 1 and Zhenyuan 2. It will definitely leave a mark in the history of Dakang's ship development.
of a sum.
If Tie Shixin and Wei Datong want to leave their names in history, then what Hong Taoping pursues is to leave his own name in the history of shipbuilding.
"Of course," Jin Feng said, "Zhenyuan No. 1 and Zhenyuan No. 2 were both named by me, now it's your turn!"
"Thank you sir!" Hong Taoping excitedly saluted Jin Feng, then bit his finger and thought for a long time before replying: "Sir, let's call this ship Zhenyuan No. 3!"
After hearing this, Tang Xiaobei couldn't help but rolled his eyes.
She thought Hong Taoping would give the ship a resounding name, but she was disappointed.
It seems that Hong Taoping also has difficulty with naming.
However, Jin Feng had already agreed to let Hong Taoping name it, so Tang Xiaobei couldn't object in public.
"Sir, I think the name Zhenyuan is very good. If possible, I would like to build a fleet, starting from Zhenyuan No. 2 and going all the way down!"