Among the three, Zheng Zhilong was the most suspicious of the emperor's will. Zheng Zhilong himself was a grassroots figure, and he had to get to this day with his ability and opportunity. And those royal family members who were rich in clothes and food might be fine, chanting poems, chess, calligraphy and painting, but other abilities were very suspicious. Of course, this is the emperor's will, and he would not be able to resist the imperial edict. Besides, the burden of the Ming royal family was getting heavier and heavier. If Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong had not killed nearly 100,000 members of the royal family, the burden would have been heavier. In another hundred years, the Ming Dynasty's taxes would probably not be enough to support these royal families.

Qu Shisi and Gu Yanwu immediately received the order and resigned, but Zheng Zhilong was left in the hall without leaving. Chongzhen thought that once Zheng Zhilong became the chairman of the Federation of Industry and Commerce, he was more scrupulous and didn't know what to make with him at this moment. Well, maybe he had an opinion on his decree. He had not discussed with the chairman in advance and interfered in the matter of investment and completely ignored Chairman Zheng's rights. This was a command of overpowering power. Is Chairman Zheng dissatisfied with this feeling of being undermined? Chongzhen also felt that treating a general who used to command thousands of troops in the past was a bit too much, so he comforted him:

"Zheng Aiqing, this matter of the royal family is a potential confidant for me, and it is also a problem that the Ming Dynasty will solve sooner or later. The Federation of Industry and Commerce under the leadership of Zheng Aiqing may help me explore a way to solve the royal family's problems. I hope that this Zhu Tongyi may find a way through the 'official and private joint venture'. I am also a little anxious. I should have discussed it with Zheng Aiqing. Speaking of my decision, I am hasty, so Zheng Aiqing should not mind!"

Zheng Zhilong thought to himself that the emperor was worried that he had ideas. Haha, where did he think of this! Of course, Zheng Zhilong didn’t know that the management responsibilities and rights of later generations were clearly distinguished, and he was a bit taboo to go beyond the level of management. However, in the Ming Dynasty, there was no need to pay attention to these management methods. No matter which level he was, as long as the emperor was willing, he just gave orders. Zheng Zhilong felt a little warm after hearing the emperor’s words. It seemed that the emperor really cared about his feelings. Well, this chairman is worth it!

The reason why Zheng Zhilong stayed was not to discuss the management of the Federation of Industry and Commerce with the emperor. Zheng Zhilong was flattered by the emperor's words, and Zheng Zhilong quickly said:

"I report to the emperor that regarding the royal family's participation in the 'official and private joint venture', I think this matter is very good and should be handled in this way. I follow the order. I am not doing the matter of the royal family. The matter I asked was to ask the emperor to participate in the 'official and private joint venture'. This is the case. I heard Director Wang say that the small iron ship has been tested and I have also seen it. It is indeed good. I heard that the next step is to build a large iron ship, so I have a problem. If I want to participate in the construction of a large iron ship, I can also refer to the 'official and private joint venture' method. I ask the emperor to approve it!"

When Chongzhen heard this, it turned out that Zheng Zhilong was not because of the royal family just now, but was fighting against his own little jiujiu. He was born into a pirate, and his vision was much higher than others. Well, since he knew that there were steel giant ships in this world, Zheng Zhilong could not be unbearable to the steel giant ships. Why didn’t he think of this? It was more urgent to build a steel ship than to build a steel ship. According to Wang Chengen’s plan, it was to build a shipbuilding base in Shanghai. However, Zheng Zhilong now has this request, so he might as well build a shipbuilding base in Fujian. The two major shipbuilding bases in China in the 19th century were in Shanghai, the General Administration of Jiangnan Machinery, and the other was in Fujian, which was the Mawei Shipyard in Fujian.

There was a little controversy between Chongzhen and Wang Chengen about whether it was a state-owned or private business. Chongzhen believed in the official system of "concentrating efforts to accomplish major tasks", which was a bit superstitious about the system of large state-owned enterprises in later generations. Wang Chengen was inclined to privatize shipbuilding, pointing out that the Westernization Movement was ultimately failed due to the institutional constraints of the official business. At the moment of unresolved, he did not expect that Zheng Zhilong was so concerned about shipbuilding. Chongzhen thought that it might be unsure if he had to do it for someone else to build a ship, but if he also used the method of "official-private joint venture" to jointly run a shipyard with Zheng Zhilong, it would not only meet the principle of "concentrating efforts to accomplish major tasks", but also

Avoid the institutional flaws of the government. In terms of capital strength, at least the Ming Dynasty court cannot be comparable to Zheng Zhilong for the time being. Now that the stall is so wide, if the government runs, there is no way to "concentrate our strength" to build ships. If Zheng Zhilong wants to concentrate his efforts to build ships, the power of this shipbuilding may be much greater than that of the court. Chongzhen laughed in his heart, wow! Chairman Zheng seems to be really ready to become a "red capitalist". I don't know whether his subconscious is to allow his son to travel all over the world, or to build a blue water navy for the Ming Dynasty, or just a personal hobby? In short, this is something that is undesirable.

Chongzhen pretended to be pondering and walked back and forth several times, which made Zheng Zhilong feel uneasy. Finally, Chongzhen finally spoke:

"Zheng Aiqing, this construction of a large iron ship is far from building a wooden ship. One is that it costs a lot, and the other is that the technical difficulty is extraordinary. The risk is absolutely not comparable to an ordinary project. If Aiqing wants to participate in the construction of an iron ship, I have to remind you about these two points first."

Zheng Zhilong is still a pirate in his bones. He is an adventurer. Naturally, he knows the greater the risk, the greater the reward. When he heard that the emperor wanted to let go, he quickly expressed his opinion:

"Emperor, since I am loved by the emperor, I appointed as the chairman of the Federation of Industry and Commerce. The first thing I do is to "official-private joint venture". I propose the "official-private joint venture" to participate in the shipbuilding project, and I also have the idea of ​​setting an example. If the emperor approves, I will do my best. I believe that with the supervisor of the General Manager Wang, I will succeed. Even if there are twists and turns in the calculation, I can bear it calmly. Since I am the chairman of the Federation of Industry and Commerce, I still have this awareness. I will definitely live up to the trust of the emperor!"

Chongzhen thought to himself, this must have been Zheng Sen, who gave Zheng Zhilong information. Zheng Sen knew that Wang Chengen had been from the later generations of more than 300 years, and building an iron ship would definitely be a piece of cake. Of course, things are far from that simple. The industrial foundation of this era is basically zero. Shipbuilding involves a lot of industrial technologies, and there is no welding. It has to be built with riveting technology. The difficulty of building a wooden ship is completely different from this. Fortunately, Zheng Zhilong is very strong. As long as he is willing to burn money, the ship will be able to be built, but he just doesn’t know how much tuition fee he has to pay.

Seeing Zheng Zhilong's statement, Chongzhen smiled and said with a smile:

"Okay! Since Zheng Aiqing has such a special liking for shipbuilding, I promise you. King Ding has just brought me good news, so I will take you to see a good thing. This thing may be a great good news for shipbuilding. After seeing it, I will definitely be happy for my Ming Dynasty."

Chongzhen led Zheng Zhilong and called Wang Chengen, and his group came to the steel mill where King Ding was stationed.

The steelmaking workshop is in full swing. Now the demand for steel is soaring. There are already three shifts a day, running at full capacity, and steelmaking is constantly being made day and night. On the one hand, three new workshops are being built to increase converters to increase production capacity.

The steelmaking workshop has actually used steam turbines as power. Three second-generation steam turbines have been installed, and one of the three steelmaking workshops is installed. Different blowers are driven to rotate through the sky shaft and clutch suspended on the top beam, and there is no need for manpower to blow the air anymore.

King Ding led Chongzhen and his party to a steam turbine, pointed at the steam turbine, and introduced:

"Father Emperor Qiming, since he installed the steam turbine, the wind power is strong and even compared to the human-powered wind, so the quality of the steel he refined has been greatly improved. At the same time, two rolls are also used to power the steam turbine. The rolled seamless pipe is simply incomparable to the quality of the human-powered rolled pipe."

Zheng Zhilong saw someone constantly adding coal to a burning furnace that was burning red. There was a large round iron can lying horizontally above the stove. The iron can has a pipe connected to a large gourd-shaped instrument. An iron shaft extends out of the instrument and flies, and a wheel on the shaft is wrapped with a belt to drive the sky shaft to rotate. The sky shaft then sends the power to the blower and the pipe rolling machine, which looks really wonderful.

King Ding said proudly:

"Those two boilers are still old-fashioned, and only this boiler has been converted into a water pipe type boiler. Since the two rolls roll out the seamless steel pipe, the water pipe boiler has begun to be transformed. The seamless steel pipe can withstand high pressure. The flanges are made by hot forging at both ends, and bent pipes with flanges are connected. A copper sealing gasket is embedded between the flanges. After locking with bolts, rivets are riveted to death, so that air leakage will not occur. My father, please see, the drain pipe is placed on the coal fire, and the coal fire directly heats the pipe, the steam pressure is higher, the steam turbine outputs more, and it also saves coal."

Chongzhen followed the instructions of King Ding, and through the fire in the furnace, he could indeed see a row of drainage pipes in the fire. He thought to himself that this was good, even the water pipe boiler was built, and he jumped directly over the fire-tube-type Lancashire boiler. This is really a leapfrog development! Wang Chengen of the Chongzhen Dynasty nodded meaningfully. King Ding was still a child, and now he is an expert. He introduced the steam turbine as if he had known it. He was calm and composed, and he was not like a fourteen-year-old boy. Originally, steam

The development of boilers should have evolved from the most primitive pot shell type to the pot shell fire tube type, and finally to the boiler water pipe type. Now that there is a seamless pipe, it actually skipped the fire tube type boiler and directly put it on the water pipe type boiler. This leapfrog transformation greatly improved the thermal efficiency. It is a miracle that this is a miracle! Although all this was guided by Wang Cheng'en, Dingwang's specific organization, through this series of practical training, is no longer a steam turbine expert in this era.

Wang Chengen said with a smile:

"After this water pipe boiler is successful, it is completely feasible to use a steam turbine as the ship's power. However, there are still some technical issues that need to be paid attention to. First, these three steam turbines are now impulse steam turbines, but if used on the ship, in order to improve reliability, it is better to use a low-speed and low-stress design, so it must be changed to a multi-stage reactionary design; second, the gear transmission needs to ensure processing accuracy. Third, if you want to further improve the thermal efficiency, the steam pressure must be increased, and you have to find another way to seal the water pipe boiler. However, even if this steam turbine system is installed on the ship and equipped with a gearbox and a propeller, it can be barely used. It is definitely better than a sail."

When Zheng Zhilong heard this, he was a little suspicious, and half-believed and half-doubted:

"Director Wang, in your opinion, can this steam turbine drive a large ship?"

Wang Chengen nodded and said, "Of course."

Zheng Zhilong's eyes added a bit of spirit. He thought to himself, can he really run fast on the sea like the Japanese iron ship without sails, just installing this steam turbine? Zheng Zhilong's thoughts of electric shock, and in turn made suggestions in front of the emperor:

"Your Majesty, since Director Wang said that, why not install a steam turbine on the three-masted gunship, try it out, and see the true seal, wouldn't that be good? If it succeeds, my Ming Navy will no longer be afraid of the speed of the Japanese iron ship. Of course, this is my minister's terrible opinion, and I don't know whether it is right or wrong."

Zheng Zhilong naturally understood the importance of ship speed. Since the emperor had agreed to build an iron ship with an "official and private joint venture", if the steam turbine was successfully equipped with a three-masted gunship, then the iron ship he built in the future was also equipped with this powerful steam turbine. Wouldn't it be invincible in the world! At that time, his son drove a giant ship made by his father, traversing all over the world, well, mighty!

Although Chongzhen was not as brave as Zheng Zhilong, he obviously dared to think and do it more than Wang Chengen's rigorous or even conservativeness. If Chongzhen came to be in charge of the development of steam turbines, the steam turbines of the shell boiler would be installed directly on the ship, let alone the water pipe boiler had been successful, so what are you waiting for! To fight against the Japanese in Luzon, you must build a fast ship as soon as possible. Zheng Zhilong's words just scratched his itch, and Chongzhen laughed:

"Haha, it's not bad. I'm still worried that my Ming Navy's ship could not catch up with the Japanese iron ship. Now that the steam turbine has passed, it's really raining in time! Wang Chengen, no matter what, just install this steam turbine on a three-masted gunship. The faster the better, the better. King Ding cooperates with him with all his strength. How about?"

When Wang Chengen saw that the emperor was very angry, he finally took some care of his own face and used the tone of asking for advice. But no matter what, he could only bite the bullet and put it on. Besides, many technologies in the world were also used and improved. The so-called "the hat is not good, and I can still look like it while fighting", he had to respond:

"The emperor's will. However, when this steam turbine is on board, you have to make some minor changes and it should be successful within one month."

Zheng Zhilong was overjoyed when he saw the emperor expressing his opinion. He had to take a good look at this precious steam turbine. At this moment, he looked around the steam turbine, just like looking at a beautiful and unparalleled young girl. King Ding was patient and told him how steam would occur, how steam could drive the blades, and finally how the smoke was discharged from the smoke window. Chongzhen and Wang Chengen looked at Zheng Zhilong's obsessive appearance, completely subverting the image of Zheng Zhilong in his mind, and were stunned.

While Zheng Zhilong was thinking about the steam turbine, Chongzhen and Wang Chengen also communicated with each other. Wang Chengen was so happy after knowing that Zhu Tongyi would bring the Ming Dynasty royal family into the "official-private joint venture" plan. For Wang Chengen, the Ming Dynasty did not need to worry about repeated construction at all now, but instead focused on preventing monopoly. This competitive situation was exactly what he wanted.

As for Zheng Zhilong's participation in the construction of the steel giant ship, it was really a waste of time. Wang Chengen's suggestion was that the shipyard had to build more than two shipyards, one in Shanghai and the other in Fujian. The shipbuilding in Fujian was equipped with steam turbines, and the shipbuilding in Shanghai was equipped with steam engines developed by Yizhi.

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Chapter completed!