He was naturally well aware of the current progress of the ironclad ship and had even come to Qian Qing's place several times to inspect it. He was present during the last ironclad ship's sea trial. However, due to confidentiality regulations, he had never disclosed it to the public.
Liu Yong smiled and said, "This ironclad ship is truly magnificent. It is a treasured weapon of the Song Dynasty. It is well worth seeing."
He stretched out his hand and said, "Let's go."
Many officials followed him and got into carriages and sedan chairs and headed north.
The shipyard is very close to the town. You can climb over a small hill behind the town and stand on the hill to overlook the entire shipyard below.
However, the top of the mountain and its surroundings are surrounded by the military, and ordinary people cannot get close.
Although Liu Yong had been here several times, he had to show the official document from the court before being allowed in, and this time was no exception.
Soon the group passed the outer fence, climbed over the hill, and slowly arrived outside the shipyard.
The person in charge of the shipyard came to greet us in person.
When many officials looked over, they saw that the shipyard was located on the coast, covering a very large area. Factory buildings rose from the ground, and most of the buildings were made of wood.
Only in the southeast there stands a reinforced concrete factory building covering an area of about one acre.
"Deputy Director, this way please."
The shipyard manager and many officials headed towards the cement factory.
The group walked into the factory.
What came into view was a huge ironclad ship, about ten feet long and two feet wide, slightly smaller than the Haigu attack ship with a displacement of more than 600 tons.
However, to everyone's surprise, the ironclad ship was indeed made of pure steel, but its appearance was very ugly.
There are two masts and sails at the bow and stern respectively, and two chimneys in the middle. The armor looks very ferocious. It is not a large steel plate connected together, but has crisscrossing connection scars in different horizontal and vertical directions.
There is a sluice gate in the middle of this cement factory, so ships are fixed in the waterway in the middle. There are also small ports on both sides, so they can go directly to the sea.
"I actually submitted a petition to the imperial court. Our current navy is more than capable of handling any battle, but the court still insists on building this ironclad ship. We can only strive to overcome all difficulties and make it happen."
The shipyard manager complained slightly, "After spending over 100,000 strings of cash, the ironclad ship was finally completed. The most difficult part was the forging. Countless craftsmen worked day and night to finally forge all those steel plates together."
Liu Yong said, "The imperial court naturally has its own considerations. The chancellor has said more than once that we must be prepared for danger in times of peace. Ironclad ships are the most important weapon of our nation, and we must not neglect them."
"yes."
The person in charge of the shipyard had no choice but to respond.
In fact, he didn't want to build ironclad ships at all, which delayed his construction of seagoing ships and other wooden warships and affected the shipyard's business.
After all, in his opinion, the Song Dynasty Navy had no rivals anyway, so what was the point of building more ironclad ships?
But people are like this. After becoming invincible, they put their weapons into storage and let their horses go to the mountains. For example, the Qing Dynasty in later generations no longer had the motivation to keep up with the times.
On the other hand, in Europe, there were wars every day. Driven by the wars, all kinds of modern technologies and products were born.
So it is absolutely true that war is the catalyst for science and technology.
“This ship looks a bit…”
Zhang Zongyi hesitated and said, "It doesn't look very good."
"Yeah, it's a bit ugly."
"It has somewhat affected the prestige of our Song Dynasty Navy."
“It has to be beautiful as well.”
Everyone was quite disappointed.
I thought ironclad ships were majestic, but I didn't expect them to be so ugly.
But after hearing what everyone said, the shipyard manager was not convinced and said, "You officials only see that it is ugly, but you don't see how powerful it is."
As they were talking, a shipyard assistant came over and said, "Ning Haijun is here."
Everyone walked through the factory and onto the wooden planks outside the gate, gazing out at the distant ocean in the sea breeze.
Amidst the rolling waves, huge warships were seen riding the wind and waves. Not long after, they arrived at the port and slowly stopped in the shipyard's berths.
A naval commander came over accompanied by several soldiers and adjutants.
The commander of the Ninghai Navy was Ma Mao, the great-grandson of the famous founding general Ma Renyu. He had met Liu Yong several times and quickly came over to bow and say, "Greetings, Deputy Commander."
"Commander Ma, thank you for your courtesy. Today is the handover ceremony of the ironclad ship to the Ninghai Navy. I am here to observe the ceremony on behalf of the imperial court."
Liu Yong smiled and said, "Besides, there will be a secret imperial decree for you to carry out later."
"yes."
Ma Mao looked at the ironclad with burning eyes, his excited eyes revealing a burning passion.
Zhang Zongyi wondered, "Is this ironclad ship really that powerful?"
"What you don't know, Grand Administrator Zhang, is that this ironclad ship is truly formidable. If I had this ironclad ship, I could defeat the Zhenhai, Dinghai, and Pinghai armies even if I were to fight them alone."
Ma Mao said confidently.
"oh?"
Everyone looked at each other.
Seeing their disbelief, Ma Mao smiled and said, "Since this is a handover ceremony, why not demonstrate it and have a live-fire training exercise?"
"Then let's get started."
Said the shipyard manager.
Then Ma Mao waved his hand, and soldiers began to board the ship one after another.
This ironclad ship actually had a displacement of only 500 tons and was not completely ironclad, with parts of its decks and cabins being made of wood.
Moreover, most of the space inside is needed to store coal fuel, so there are only about eighty combat personnel, which is one hundred and twenty fewer than the slightly larger Sea Gull attack ship.
But the power and combat capability are completely not on the same level.
After it was built, the Ninghai Navy has conducted several test operations, including various trainings, defense tests and artillery tests, and its combat effectiveness is incredibly strong.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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