Chapter 592: Nanhua's Ironclad Warship (Fourth Update, Please Subscribe)
Opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared. Just when the "Uranium Watch" and other state gifts that Emperor Zhu presented to Meiji were being sent by a special person sent by the diplomatic mission to Linhai to return to Japan, Emperor Zhu arrived at his Nanhua again from Yingtianfu by a special train.
The next time I came to Nanhua was to attend the launching ceremony of the "Battle Ship No. 1" at the shipyard.
Like the usual great engineers, the royal photographers used multiple movie cameras to record the visual footage of the emperor's arrival. Now, for the subjects of the Ming Dynasty, what were they watching in the movie?
Of course it is the rapid development of the Ming Empire. What else is there to look at?
See penguins in Antarctica?
There is no more exciting scene than watching penguins! Not to mention in this era, even more than 100 years later, the scenes of those grand projects are still shocking.
In this era, those grand projects will only make people feel more shocked. Through those films, people's national pride can be enhanced.
Compared with other things, this is the most important thing. For a nation that has been in decline for more than two hundred years, what could be more important than inspiring people's national self-esteem and self-confidence?
Aren’t those engineering projects and industrial achievements the best publicity tools?
"Like, really like!"
Standing in the dock, Zhu Xianhai stared at the warship with a displacement of 7,300 tons. Its shape looked extremely similar to the "Zhenyuan" familiar to the Chinese people in later generations.
The same "central ironclad fort", the same diagonally mounted main guns, and even the main guns were the same twin 305mm - thanks to the efforts of the Kluge Arsenal, the 30x 305mm naval guns were finally installed on the warship, which finally did not delay the launching time.
However, its main guns are not concentrated on the bow like the "Zhenyuan", but are located at the bow and stern respectively, and its freeboard is higher. It looks more like the "Maine" than the "Zhenyuan". In fact, when Ruanda designed this warship, Zhu Xianhai did give a lot of suggestions, including the layout of the main guns.
At this time, the ship, which had been named "Nanhua", was not only hung with colorful flags, but also had a large colorful ball hanging on the bow, like a lantern.
What should the launch of a warship look like?
Zhu Xianhai naturally adopted the method of taking what is available and directly adopted the launching style of the People's Navy of later generations.
A big colorful ball on the bow, plus... well, champagne.
He threw the "champagne" in his hand and hit the left string of the "Nanhua". As the warship slowly went down, the colored ball on the bow opened, and the colorful paper and other decorations inside flew all over the sky at the moment of the explosion. The scene was quite spectacular.
The "Nanhua" battleship was launched!
What does the launching of this combat ship with a displacement of 7,300 tons, two twin 305mm main guns and eight 150mm secondary guns mean?
The people who were cheering at this time had no idea what this meant at all. The engineers and workers of the shipyard as well as the naval officers and soldiers were cheering there. Amid the cheers, the huge hull of the "Nanhua" rushed out of the dry dock and then floated steadily on the sea.
Then a shrill whistle sounded, alerting the onlookers - it was heading towards the ocean!
Towards the ocean!
According to the warship naming rules drawn up by Zhu Xianhai, the main combat ships of the Ming Navy will be named after provinces, and cruisers will be named after cities. It was named "Nanhua", which shows how much importance the Ming Dynasty attaches to it!
This is not surprising. After all, the "Nanhua" is the largest warship built by the Ming Dynasty, and it is also the world's first fully armored battleship. Although its steel armor is only 300 mm thick, it is equivalent to 350 mm of iron armor.
Two steam engines with a total power of 10,000 horsepower roared. Although its speed was very slow at the moment, according to its design, its maximum speed was up to 16 knots. Once it was put into service, it would be the fastest warship in the world, and even cruisers could not compare with it.
"The Ming Dynasty's ironclad warship!"
Zhu Xianhai looked at it with a little pride, and there was an expression of approval on his face. He didn't even notice that Luanda beside him didn't breathe a sigh of relief until the warship floated steadily on the sea.
As the chief designer of the "Nanhua", he knew better than anyone that this warship was actually a bit oversized - the designed displacement was only 6,800 tons, but because of the design, its tonnage was "a little" overweight. Finally... everything went well!
Not knowing whether the chief designer was unsure or not, Zhu Xianhai stared at the graceful warship on the water with a smile on his face.
The "Nanhua" should be the most modern warship in the world!
Turning his head slightly, Zhu Xianhai gave instructions to Li Xuelin, commander of the First Fleet.
"Just complete the sea trial and, if possible, lead him to visit Russia next month!"
"next month!"
Li Xuelin's heart tightened, and he couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed as he stared at the "Nanhua" which had not yet undergone sea trials.
"Isn't it too hasty in such a short time?"
"It's just like proving our shipbuilding strength to the whole world!"
Zhu Xianhai said with a smile.
"First visit France, then Russia, the most important thing is to promote the Nanhua-class combat ships to Russia."
"What! Your Majesty, we... want to sell the "Nanhua Class" to Russia?"
Li Xuelin said in surprise.
"Your Majesty, this is the most advanced warship in the Ming Dynasty!"
It is not only the most advanced warship in Ming Dynasty,
How can we sell the most advanced warships to others?
"I know, it's because it's advanced that we want to sell it to them!"
Zhu Xianhai smiled.
"In the entire world, only Russia will buy battleships from us. Although they wanted to expand their navy after taking advantage of the Franco-Prussian War to break through the restrictions of the Treaty of Paris two years ago, the British and French refused to sell warships to them. The Russians... Such an opportunity is rare right now!"
This opportunity is rare because being a Russian is really not easy!
The defeat in the Crimean War not only cost Russia the life of a Tsar, but also, according to the Treaty of Paris signed on March 30, 1856 between Tsarist Russia and Britain, France, Sardinia, Turkey, Austria and Prussia, the Russian Imperial Navy was not allowed to maintain more than six ships of 800 tons and more than four ships of 200 tons in the Black Sea, nor to establish naval arsenals and naval fortresses along the Black Sea coast.
The signing of the Treaty of Paris made the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet only have paper significance. It was not until 1870 that Russia took advantage of the Franco-Prussian War and issued a notice to the signatories of the Treaty of Paris, announcing that the restrictions on Russia's fleet in the Black Sea and the clauses on the neutralization of the Black Sea were invalid.
However, due to severe financial difficulties, and most importantly, the refusal of Britain and France to sell ironclad ships to Russia, Russia had to explore and build ironclad ships on its own. It built the 10,000-ton "Peter the Great" which was nominally capable of long-distance voyages but had poor wave resistance and could only stay in the near sea, and also built strange ships like the disc-shaped battleship.
Therefore, the Ming Dynasty must seize this opportunity to sell its advanced ironclad ships to Russia.
Is there anything more satisfying than using other people's money to develop your own navy?
If we don't take advantage of the "embargo" on Russia by various countries to have a bite of meat from this polar bear, would we be doing justice to God?
Of course, there is another unknown reason for sending a special envoy to visit Russia.
(End of this chapter)
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