The steamboat stopped at the berth, and Li Jie and Guo Zhenglin hurried to the dock. They saw the boat dropping the sampan. They were about to board the boat, but one person appeared on the boat. Seeing them, they laughed and said, "Brother Li, Brother Guo, I haven't seen each other for many years, are you safe?"

Hearing this familiar voice, Li Jie and Guo Zhenglin also looked up. When they saw the person who was talking, they all showed surprise on their faces and shouted: "Brother Jie!"

The person on the ship was Xie Jin who had not seen for many years. Speaking of which, since he moved the capital, the Qiuzhen Academy has been divided into two parts. Xie Jin presided over the Zhaozhen Academy in Nanjing, and Guo Zhenglin presided over the Beijing Zhaozhen Academy. Both parties were plagued by affairs. Li Jie has never had the opportunity to go to Nanjing these years. This is the first time he has met him.

"Brother Jie, why are you here? Why didn't you notify us before?" Guo Zhenglin quickly reacted and asked in surprise.

"Haha, I didn't plan to come, but the performance of this ship's first sea test was really not stable, especially the steam engine always had problems, and someone with experienced needs to follow me, so I came together." Xie Jin also explained with a smile.

Only then did Li Jie and Guo Zhenglin realize that although Xie Jin's appearance had not changed much, he was wearing a coarse cloth shirt with some unwashed oil on it, and his hair and beard were a little messy. It was probably when there was a problem with the steam engine on the ship, he went down to repair it himself.

"Brother Jie, can we get on board and see? We have been waiting for this steam boat for a long time!" Guo Zhenglin stopped being polite at this time and immediately explained his purpose.

"Of course there is no problem. I'm just about to have a good chat with Brother Guo and you guys!" Xie Jin immediately turned sideways and made a gesture of inviting him. Li Jie and Guo Zhenglin also stepped onto the boat.

There were many crew members brought by Xie Jin on the steamship, most of whom were teachers or students from Nanjing Qiuzhen Academy. The ship was designed by them personally. This time they went into the water sea trial, they also personally controlled the ship. After all, they were the people who were the most familiar with this ship.

Many of these crew members knew Li Jie and Guo Zhenglin, so they saluted each other when they met them. Some of them could even name Li Jie, so they also chatted with them.

Xie Jin personally acted as a tour guide and took Li Jie and the others to visit the steamship. In fact, the structure of the ship is not very different from that of ordinary ships, but there is no sail or pulp, so from the outside, the boat looks a bit weird. After all, no matter what kind of ship, it requires sail or pulp to provide power.

Steamboats do not need sails or slurry. They rely on the propeller behind the ship to provide power. The one that drives the propeller is naturally the steam engine hidden in the belly of the boat. Therefore, the biggest change is in the cabin, where steam engines are placed and coal is used to provide continuous power.

It is worth mentioning that a steam boat is not just about putting the steam engine on the ship, but is a very complex project. For example, the ship needs to be redesigned to calculate the center of gravity of the ship, and there are also some power transmission and other components, which also require very rigorous calculations.

"Brother Li, Brother Guo, our development of steam engines in Nanjing started a little late, and the progress was not as good as that in Beijing, so I simply focused on the practical aspects of steam engines. The shipbuilding industry in Nanjing happened to be developed, so we joined hands with some craftsmen in shipbuilding workshops to study hard for many years before we designed this steam boat." Xie Jin introduced to Li Jie and the others while walking.

This is the cabin of the steamboat, which is very humid and stuffy. Although the boiler inside has been extinguished, it still emits amazing heat. A huge steam engine is located in the cabin, and there is a storage for specialized storage of coal next to it, making the entire cabin look very messy.

Li Jie and Guo Zhenglin are both experts in steam engines. The two first carefully observed the steam engine used by the ship and found many problems. In fact, although Nanjing and Beijing each developed steam engines, they also had a lot of exchanges, so the idea of ​​steam engines is the same, but Beijing did better.

However, although the steam engine used on the ship is a little worse, the design of the ship is very exquisite, especially the transmission shaft and propeller. These two things look simple, but the requirements for materials are extremely high. Beijing has also conducted relevant research, but it has not been able to solve this problem. Unexpectedly, Xie Jin has already begun to be practical.

Xie Jin took Li Jie and the other two to the boat for a while, and finally the three of them came to the cabin again. Then he pointed to the steam engine in the cabin and asked Guo Zhenglin: "Brother Guo, our steam engine is still too bad. We always have problems along the way. We have to repair it every few days. Next, it depends on you!"

The steamboat replaced the steam engine, and Guo Zhenglin was also confident after visiting the steamboat. Because Xie Jin and his team had left a way to replace the steam engine when they were designing it, he said confidently: "Brother Jie, don't worry, we have prepared the same type of steam engine, and we can replace it for you at any time!"

"That's great. If the steam engine problem is solved, then the ship can be officially put into use. I have decided to let it run the sea route from Taijin to Songjiang Prefecture all year round. At its speed, it will definitely be very popular!" Xie Jin said happily when he heard this. He was worried about the steam engine along the way. If he could replace it with a better quality steam engine, the biggest disadvantage of the ship would disappear.

"Brother Xie, it's getting late, and we didn't expect you to come. Why don't we go to the restaurant on the dock to have a drink? Then we will eat and chat, which can be regarded as we welcome you." Li Jie suggested that they were eager to visit the steamboat just now, so they didn't let Xie Jin rest. This is not a way to entertain guests.

Guo Zhenglin agreed with Li Jie's words and immediately asked Xie Jin to get off the boat to the banquet. Of course, Xie Jin did not refuse, so the three of them got off the boat together. As for the people brought by Xie Jin, Li Jie also arranged for people to hold a banquet to entertain these people.

It was still the restaurant where Li Jie and his two rested just now, but they just had someone re-selected a table of food and drinks. Then Li Jie and Guo Zhenglin accompanied Xie Jin to eat and chat. At the beginning, they only talked about some changes in the academies on both sides, as well as some research directions in the academies, etc.

However, I don’t know who started it, but finally talked about Lao Zhu’s funeral. According to Xie Jin, Lao Zhu’s coffin had been sent to Nanjing Xiaoling Ma and had been buried with Empress Ma. The funeral team was also dealing with the final matter.
Chapter completed!