Jin Feng said: "This kind of building boat is a transitional product and will soon be eliminated."
"Sir, has he designed a new ship?"
When Hong Taoping heard what Jin Feng said, he forgot about everything else and stared at Jin Feng with a look of expectation.
Ever since Jin Feng first came to the dock, Hong Taoping felt like his world had been turned upside down.
Many of the ships designed by Jin Feng were things that Hong Taoping had not dared to imagine before, and even considered impossible.
Such as a steamship.
If someone had told him before that he could drive a boat upstream by burning firewood, Hong Taoping would not believe it even if he died.
Until he saw it with his own eyes, Hong Taoping felt like he was in a dream.
Just one steam engine can pull such a large Zhenyuan No. 2 and haul a lot of cargo.
Speedboats driven by steam engines are faster than war horses and are tireless.
This is something Hong Taoping never dared to think about before.
Now even if Jin Feng told him that the ship could still fly into the sky, Hong Taoping would believe it.
No, in Hong Taoping's view, Jin Feng had already made the ship fly into the sky.
Isn’t that what an airship is?
"We have indeed designed a new ship." Jin Feng pulled out another stack of drawings and handed them to Hong Taoping: "This is the second thing I came to see Young Master Hong for."
Hong Taoping quickly took the drawings and looked at them carefully.
After looking at it for more than ten minutes, Hong Taoping put down the drawing and asked doubtfully: "Sir, this ship looks similar to the ship you designed before."
Jin Feng previously designed a seagoing ship, which removed the buildings on the cabin and made the whole ship flatter. This way, it would have better anti-rollover capabilities when encountering wind and waves at sea.
The blueprint that Jin Feng just handed to Hong Taoping is basically similar in appearance to the previous sea-going ship. Although the internal structure has changed, overall the changes are not very big.
"It's almost the same as before. The biggest change is that I plan to build this ship with steel plates." Jin Feng said lightly.
"What?" Hong Taoping stood up directly: "Are they all made of steel plates?"
"That's what I planned." Jin Feng nodded.
"Sir, do you know how much steel is needed to build a ship with all steel plates?" Hong Taoping asked: "Let's not talk about whether it can be built, but can you get so much iron?"
"You can rest assured about this. Since I proposed this idea, I can naturally get the iron!" Jin Feng said confidently.
Jin Feng had thought about building an iron-clad ship a long time ago, but the amount of steel required to build a large ship was too much. With Dakang's previous iron ore mining capabilities, it was too difficult to support such a huge shipbuilding project.
Moreover, good steel must be used on the blade, and the ability to produce iron is limited. Steel can only be used for weapons, armor, and agricultural tools. It is really a luxury to use it for shipbuilding.
Jin Feng was very aware of the importance of steel. After taking power, he attached great importance to it. Not only did he vigorously improve steel smelting technology, he also set up a special mining team to search for various mineral deposits in Sichuan, Shu and Qin.
Last year, the exploration team found an iron ore that was relatively easy to mine in Shuzhong.
Coupled with the use of gantry cranes and rails, the difficulty of mining has been further reduced, and the mining volume has also been significantly increased.
More importantly, the newly built steel plant adopted Jin Feng's improved iron smelting method and assembly line operations, which greatly increased steel production.
Science and technology are primary productive forces.
Nowadays, the output of Jinchuan Iron and Steel Plant alone is several times higher than the total output of all the previous Dakang steel plants combined.
So Jin Feng came up with the idea of producing iron-clad ships.
"Sir, even if you can get so many iron plates, if you use them all to build a ship, it will definitely be very heavy. Will the ship not sink?" Hong Taoping asked.
"If you put an iron pot into water, will it sink?" Jin Feng asked.
"Sir, can an iron ship and an iron pot be the same?" Hong Taoping asked, dumbfounded: "How thick is an iron pot, and how thick is the steel plate of an iron ship?"
"Why are they different?" Jin Feng asked again: "How big is the iron pot, and how big is the iron boat? If you enlarge the iron pot to be as big as the boat, how thick do you think it will be?"
Hong Taoping was stunned when he was asked. After a moment, he nodded and said: "That's true, but it's not necessary, right? Building a ship with iron plates not only wastes steel, but is also heavy and heavy. Wouldn't it be better to use the same wooden boards to build a ship? Not only does it save materials, but it's also heavy.
Also more lightweight.
If sir, you think the wooden boat is not strong, can you just wrap it with an extra layer of iron plates like now?"
"I built iron ships to go on long voyages on the sea."
Jin Feng said: "Master Hong should know how big the waves are on the sea. Ordinary wooden ships can't carry them. Only iron-clad ships can be more confident of reaching the other shore thousands of miles away!"
"That's it!" Hong Taoping suddenly realized.
He grew up by the sea, and his family was a shipbuilder, so he was very aware of how rough the waves can be on the sea.
When I was a child, I encountered a strong typhoon. The waves it stirred up could be several feet high. I don’t know how many big ships were smashed. Even the Hong family’s dock was almost flattened by the waves!
This is true along the coast, but in the deep sea, the wind and waves will definitely be bigger, and the wooden boat will indeed not be able to withstand it.
"Sir, with all due respect, a long voyage requires more than just a ship. There are many things that need to be prepared. It's best to think about it in the long run. Are you a little anxious to build an armored ship now?" Hong Taoping asked again.
"I know there are a lot of things that need to be prepared for a long voyage, but I really can't wait any longer."
Jin Feng explained: "The weather has become more and more extreme recently, and Jiangnan is also in chaos. In the next few years, grain production is likely to be reduced on a large scale!
If we really wait until that day to build ships and then send people on a long voyage, it will be too late. In fact, even if we send people out now, it is a bit late!"
When Hong Taoping heard this, he couldn't help but fell silent.
The butt determines the head. Hong Taoping is the person in charge of the shipyard, and what he considers is shipbuilding.
But Jin Feng now controls Sichuan, Shu and most of Qin, and is bound to win the Central Plains and Jiangnan, so what he needs to consider is all the living beings in the world.
The shipyard is also located in the south of the Yangtze River. Even if Hong Taoping doesn't care much about current affairs, he knows that the south of the Yangtze River is indeed in chaos.
Because there are more and more people coming to the dock to beg and find jobs, many people say they don’t need wages and will work for the dock for free as long as they take care of the food.
"Sir, I understand your painstaking efforts," Hong Taoping raised his head and asked, "What do you need me to do?"
"The steel factory has started to produce the iron plates needed for the iron-clad ships. I need you to rush out a batch of flat ships as soon as possible. After the materials for the iron-clad ships are delivered, I hope that the production of the flat ships has been completed and they can be assembled immediately.
Iron-clad ship!" Jin Feng said.
"Don't worry, sir, I will complete the task even if I don't eat or sleep!" Hong Taoping promised, patting his chest.