Chapter 283 Iron Armored Ship

On the north side of the valley of the Navy Army Barracks, Xue Ping and his men were working hard. He took off his official robe and had a short jacket without sleeves. His face was tanned and completely lost his appearance when he was in Hejiang.

Seeing Zhou Ze and Lao Xu coming, Xue Ping dropped the tools in his hand, held the spoon in his mouth, and ran over quickly.

Zhou Ze handed Xue Ping a handkerchief, and Xue Ping took it with her white teeth and wiped it.

"Why is the governor here?"

Zhou Ze glanced at the depth of the artificial lake. Not to mention the number of people, the excavation speed was not a little faster. It was originally planned to take one or two months to complete, but after the manpower was increased, the construction could be completed in half a month at this speed.

"Look at your progress, and then go and see what is happening on the boat. Take your time and be careful. The servants' food must be prepared. It is so hot. The medicine for reconciling the summer heat should be prepared."

Xue Ping nodded with a smile.

"Don't worry, the governor is drinking mung bean soup as water, and there is also sweet powder in it. I have meat to eat at noon, so I can't do it one by one. After all, I didn't have such treatment before, and now there are still many people rushing to come, but I think I can't transfer it if I have more people."

Zhou Ze more agrees with Xue Ping's arrangement. What is needed for manual labor is cooperation. Too many people cannot transfer, it is a waste.

"Okay, I'll feel relieved after a glance. Take it easy, especially don't get hurt, otherwise no one will stare at me."

"As long, don't worry."

Zhou Ze didn't say much, and got on the carriage with Lao Xu, walked around the lake for a long time, and arrived at the shore. As soon as he approached the warship, several people with hands appeared.

When he saw Zhou Ze, he quickly knelt on one knee.

"I've met General Zhou."

Zhou Ze waved his hand and glanced at the side.

"Didn't Wang Dutong find the craftsmen in the crossbow camp? Have people ever come?"

The officer and soldier in charge of the guard quickly bowed and replied:

"Does of craftsmen came, but they were wearing navy clothes. However, their subordinates did not receive the order, and they were waiting on the east side and did not put them on the boat."

Zhou Ze nodded. Such a sense of defense is still good and remarkable.

"Get up and call people over."

The man trotted to take the person over. Zhou Ze looked familiar with the craftsman in the lead. If the guess is good, these are all people brought by Hejiang.

"I have met General Zhou."

Zhou Ze smiled at this person.

"All of you are from Hejiang?"

"The subordinate Lu Dongchuan is from Lujiazhuang, Hejiang. He is now assigned to a group of crossbow camps. We followed the construction of Black Fire Camps, crossbow camps, perfume workshops and other places. Some of them were craftsmen who were temporarily recruited from Hejiang, and some were people from the crossbow camps."

Zhou Ze was very satisfied and nodded and said:

"Since so many places have been built, can you read? Can you understand the drawings?"

"Yes, I'll find a few words, but the drawings look fine. According to Wang Dutong, the previous drawings were all from General Zhou's handwriting, and Xiaomin recognized General Zhou's handwriting."

Zhou Ze was very satisfied and waved his hand to Lao Xu. Lao Xu took out a bamboo tube on his back and opened it and poured out a roll of drawings.

"It was all civil engineering construction before, and the requirements were not that strict. It was different here. The warship was a relatively fine thing. I need you to change it a lot. Each place must be slim in size, especially the thickness and fit of the iron sheet. They all need to be fine, which can be done?"

Lu Dongchuan looked nervous, but he still pointed at the person behind him and said:

"I heard from Wang Dutong that there were many blacksmiths here this time. For this reason, I practiced building iron plates in advance. We brought some samples and asked General Zhou to take a look."

Zhou Ze raised his eyebrows, not to mention that this approach is very similar to his appetite.

"Oh? Take it and take a look."

The few people behind him lifted up a huge box and opened it to take out some iron plates from it. Not to mention that the thickness was very balanced, there were almost no traces of knocking on it. Zhou Ze was a little surprised.

If you look closely at the splicing area, you can hardly see it. It is a bit similar to the location of the solder joint. Zhou Ze doesn't know what process they used, but this technology is too good.

"This is not a hammer, what big tool did you use?"

Lu Dongchuan was a little surprised, but if he met an official who knew craftsmanship, he would naturally be willing to say more.

"When we built a boiler for the Black Fire Camp, we found that the traces of the iron plate hammer that were too large hit, and the redness was uneven, so we were afraid that it would cause an explosion. I thought of the huge hammer used to compact the river bank.

We cast a large iron solid hammer and used it to compact it. After that, we improved different shapes. Now when lifted, we can forge and smash iron plates that are ten feet square, with a very uniform thickness.

As for the connection position, it is connected with the serrated edge, and then molten iron is dotted and compacted. You can do whatever form you want."

Zhou Ze patted Lu Dongchuan's shoulder hard. He probably worked all year round, and this person was full of muscles and was quite strong.

"Okay, very good. People from Hejiang are going to be like this. They have to use their brains to do whatever they do, think of ways and design tools. Whose idea is this? At that time, Lao Xu remembers to ask Wang Shier to give this person fifty taels as a reward, which is called a technical transformation reward.

Look at this drawing, my idea is to transform this warship into an ironclad ship.

As the name suggests, the hull is wrapped with a layer of iron plate, which is moderate in thickness. After all, too thick involves draft. Too heavy hull is not conducive to navigation and loading. I want this ship to be safe and sound even if it collides with a ship in the Western Zhou Dynasty.

In addition, if you want to improve these lookouts, you can place heavy crossbows. As for the size, there are detailed marks at the back. Pay attention to two points. First, cooperate with lookouts next to them, and second, you can close them at any time."

Lu Dongchuan held up the drawings and discussed with the people behind him while looking. The discussion was very professional. After all, Zhou Ze drew the required results, but they needed to complete the details in it.

After discussing it, they asked more than a dozen questions, and they also walked around the boat. Then Lu Dongchuan bowed to Zhou Ze.

"I have seen it and I need to modify the drawings in one day. As for the materials, I will agree to submit them tomorrow. The materials will be prepared. If only dozens of us transform all the ships, it will take three months to complete them. Of course, we can also modify the pictures on site while renovating them."

"Yes, after all, it involves confidentiality and there will be no more personnel. You will be eating and living on the boat for the time being. What do you need to prepare for? As for the other people you find, if you are willing to stay in the crossbow camp, you will stay out of the way."

Lu Dongchuan widened his eyes, unexpectedly unable to do it. He was stunned for a moment before wavering his hands behind him and kneeled down on the ground.

"Thank you, General Zhou, we are willing to stay and follow General Zhou without hesitation."

Zhou Ze waved his hand and won people's hearts. For Zhou Ze now, he was free to use it, but he really hoped that these people would stay.

"You have brains and are willing to solve problems with your heart. You will not bury your talents in the navy, so do your best."

Lu Dongchuan bowed and said:

"General Zhou, several heavy crossbows have been made. The size of the current one has not been determined yet. Can we confirm it earlier so that we can also get one and try to install it. After all, heavy crossbows are large and require multiple people to control, and there are more space requirements."

Zhou Ze paused and waved his hand directly.

"It's better to choose a day than to meet the day. Let's go to the military camp now."

Lu Dongchuan looked a little embarrassed on his face, rubbed his hands and looked at Zhou Ze.

"Starting today, the navy army has been re-arranged and assessment tasks have been set. Both the crossbow camp and the black fire camp participated in the training. If they were called out, I was afraid that I would not be able to pass the assessment!"

Zhou Ze paused and glanced at Lao Xu, who nodded slightly.

"Oh, it's okay. You don't participate in the military and let you train to improve your physical fitness, not forcing me to do so. Then I will tell Wang Xiankui that you should take the important crossbow first."

After hearing Zhou Ze say this, Lu Dongchuan breathed a sigh of relief. When Zhou Ze turned his head, he raised his eyebrows. When Lao Xu saw this action, he curled his lips and shook his head slightly.
Chapter completed!