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Chapter 1081 Appreciating Beauty

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    "Compared to the extremely gorgeous Duke of Goa, which has carved railings inside and outside the portholes, bright colors painted on the corners and turrets, and shiny brass inlays around the edges.

    "The Oriental Beauty is like an ugly duckling with an ugly appearance. It is painted black, only the bow corners are covered with brass, and there are no unnecessary decorations. At first glance, it doesn't look like it is taken seriously.

    Zhao Hao is not surprised by this. The promotion of new equipment will always encounter strong resistance from conservative forces.  Whether it is a matchlock versus a flintlock musket, or a muzzleloader versus a breechloader, it is the same.  Not to mention that each Karak sailboat costs tens of thousands and has a huge inventory.

    Neither Spain nor Portugal had the courage to order the decommissioning of the Carrack.  In fact, Galen's ship waited until all the large sailing ships were sunk and scrapped, and then the third party finally took over.

    In the Anglo-Spanish Great War nineteen years later, both the Spanish Armada and the British pirate fleet combined every type of ship known in Europe, involving a dazzling number of models, including early  Just the Calais galley that was a hundred years out of date.

    Are Europeans unaware of the quality of Galen's ships?  Obviously this is not the case - in the famous naval battle of Preveza thirty years ago, a Venetian Galen battleship resisted the siege of more than a dozen Ottoman Galai galleys without being harmed, forcing the Turks to use their own  The squadron flagship acted as a self-destructing ship to destroy this giant fort on the sea.

    But glorious history is both wealth and burden.  Regardless of reality or concept, the upgrade of European warships is destined to be very slow.

    Zhao Hao, however, had no baggage and only had an extremely clear understanding of the development of the navy. He unswervingly identified the Galen ship.  In the next few decades, it will be the main ship of the coast guard fleet!

    He took his senior police officers to carefully visit the Galen ship from inside to outside, top to bottom.  In order to better understand the ship, we also hired a Chinese interpreter on the ship and a Portuguese shipwright as a tour guide.

    It is normal to have a shipwright on board, because the ship is isolated and helpless on the vast sea, so the ability to survive independently is very important.  Especially in Asia, most ports where large sailing ships docked did not have the ability to repair Western sailing ships. Therefore, each large sailing ship was equipped with a considerable number of skilled craftsmen, including carpenters, painters, sailmakers and coopers.  Without these people tinkering, it might only take a storm to leave the battleship lying in the dock.

    ?According to the Zhangzhou interpreter named Shi Xiang, the two large sailing ships combined have a total of twelve carpenters, eight painters and sailmakers, and nine coopers who can work part-time as carpenters.

    When he heard that there were eight sailmakers and there were spare sails on the ship, Mr. Zhao was very happy.  He was worrying about how to get these two big guys back to Tamna Island.  He quickly asked Xiang Xuehai to take people to gather the craftsmen on the ship, and urged them to repair the remaining masts and hang up the sails.

    Wang Rulong and others are very curious, why are there so many coopers on the ship?  Shi Xiang told them that the cooper was one of the most important crew members on the ship, because they were responsible for managing the barrels for storing food and drinks. If the cooper was a lazy man or a drunkard, the barrel leaked.  That means more crew members will be unable to return.

    As for the Portuguese shipwright, Shi Xiang introduced that he was the chief carpenter on the Oriental Beauty, named Blanco.

    "Oh, so you know this ship very well?" Mr. Zhao looked arrogant.

    "No one knows the Oriental Beauty better than me." Blanco has gray hair and is in his forties, with the arrogance and cuteness unique to a craftsman on his face.  He couldn't stand Zhao Hao's questioning and answered loudly with the help of Shi Xiang's mouth: "Because I am her father!"

    "What the hell?" The generals looked at each other.

    "Blanco said that he participated in the entire process of building this boat." Shi Xiang explained hurriedly.

    "I untied the first keel of this ship with my own hands." Blanco said emotionally: "At the Alfama Shipyard in Lisbon, we spent two years building it bit by bit. I don't  Don¡¯t worry, this cute little girl is going on a long voyage for the first time, so I took the initiative to serve as her chief carpenter so that I can take care of her health at all times!¡±

    Wang Rulong and others felt a chill when they heard this, and couldn't help but glance at Zhao Shizhen on the side, thinking that he was as disgusting as his eldest nephew.

    As expected, Zhao Shizhen was moved, looking at the old carpenter from Europe as if he were meeting someone of his own kind.

    But Mr. Zhao¡¯s attention was attracted by the information in Blanco¡¯s words.  "You mean, this Oriental Beauty was not built in the Goa shipyard?"

    "Of course!" the old carpenter from Lisbon suddenly said with a proud look on his face: "The Galen ship is the latest ship type in Europe. There are only three ships in Lisbon, Seville, London and Amherst."Only a few shipyards in Stedam can manufacture it!  "

    In order to prove his words, he also led everyone to the brass nameplate under the mainmast, pointed to the place of origin and serial number on it and said: "Alfama Royal Shipyard, Lisbon, Galen ship vlll! Do you see it clearly?  This is an authentic royal product, not a second-rate product made in a colonial shipyard!"

    "I think it's just average." Mr. Zhao said dismissively, "Why else would he be sent to East Asia tens of thousands of miles away?"

    "This is specially sent to Asia for trial sea trials to test its reliability, do you know?" The upright carpenter was fooled but did not know it: "This is the eighth Galen ship built by the Alfama Shipbuilding Yard.  The technology is fully mature, so it will sail to the borders of the empire to serve, and use low-intensity actual combat to prove that it is enough to replace those large and useless Karak ships!"

    "But I think that ship is much more gorgeous than this one." Mr. Zhao still looked unbelieving: "Obviously your people value that one more."

    "That's because the stupid Far Eastern officers have stone heads and are blind." Blanco said dejectedly: "They can't see the changes in Europe, and they think the Carrack is invincible."

    "Really?" Mr. Zhao's police officers, who were also assholes like him, joined in irritating the old carpenter and said, "Officers are the ones who use warships. They should have more say, right?"

    "That's not necessarily true. Let me tell you what makes this Galen ship so good, and you can make your own judgment after listening to it!" In order to prove the excellence of the Galen ship, the old carpenter tried his best to explain the inside and outside of the ship.  Everything is worthy of pride.

    Zhao Hao and his senior police officers also listened very carefully, and some even took out small notebooks to record.  Especially the top-ranked captains such as Haerdi and Rong Sheng were holding back their energy to drive the first new warship in the guard area.

    What they are most interested in is the multi-layer all-access deck on the ship, which can accommodate hundreds of guns on one ship.  Our tonnage is about the same, but it can equal the weight of five thousand-material fortune ships.

    The other one is the tall, fully rigged sailboat, which uses multiple horizontal sails and lays the foundation for the superior performance of the sailboat.  Because a large number of dense cable stays can strengthen the mast, thereby achieving a higher mast height.  Because the wind is stronger at high altitudes than at the sea, Western sailing ships with taller masts are subject to stronger winds and can achieve greater speeds.

    Although Wang Rulong and others were arrogant, when they saw that the remaining mast on Galen's ship was twice as high as the big sail, they had to admit that it was impossible for a Chinese sailboat to reach the speed of a Western sailboat.  Because if you hang a large Ming sail on such a high mast, the mast will break if the wind is strong.

    And in naval battles, speed is the initiative!

    ¡®Change, change, must change!  ¡¯ The generals gritted their teeth secretly and felt that they must replace all the sails with Western-style sails.

    This is a problem among Chinese people. When they see others being better than themselves, they feel that what they have is worthless and they want to learn everything from others.

    Fortunately, Mr. Zhao is not like Wang Rulong and others who belittle themselves.  In his shipbuilding plan, Chinese-style sails occupied a very important position!

    Especially after last night¡¯s naval battle, he was even more convinced that if the Portuguese ship had used Chinese sails, the outcome would probably have been different.  Because Chinese sails are supported by stringers, they are riddled with holes and can still be sailed in the wind. They are not as fragile as Western sails, which will become deflated if they break a hole.

    In a decisive battle with the Western fleet, this difference may determine the outcome.  After all, in a naval battle at the main fleet level, it is not scary if the ship is slow, but it is scary if the ship cannot move.

    Mr. Zhao even found a way to fight against the Western powers in naval battles in the future - relying on the indestructibility of his own sails to attack the red-haired ghost's sails!

    ??~~

    The Chinese-style canopy sail is really a great invention. In addition to being extremely durable, it can also withstand winds from all directions and can sail with both wind and headwinds.  In addition, sailors do not need to climb the tall mast and only need to stand on the deck to operate, so the safety is much better.

    As for the problem of insufficient wind power.  In fact, it has to be divided into two parts.  Why can't Chinese sailboats get more wind power?  It's because the mast is too short.  Why is the mast too short?  This is because the upper and lower sails are integrated with no gaps, and the wind resistance is so good that the mast cannot withstand it if it is too high.

    At first, Zheng He¡¯s fleet solved this problem by increasing the number of masts.  However, the Ming Dynasty stipulated that private shipbuilding could not exceed five masts. Mr. Zhao's Qianli Dafu Ship was already five masts. If there were more, it would be difficult to explain in all aspects.

    However, Zhao Hao feels that we should refer to later solutions - as long as the support frame of the sail does not surround the mast, but only rises and falls in the slide in front of the mast, multiple stay cables can be strengthened.  In this way, the load is supported by numerous cable stays, and the mast will naturally not break.

    In fact, this idea has already been reflected in the Guangzhou ship built in Guangzhou.  Of course, what really provided a complete solution was the new warship with a Western hull and Chinese hard sails built by the Americans for the governor of Fujian after the Opium War.

    And there is a very real difficulty in using western sails, that is, the manufacturing of western sails is a very complicated technology.  If nothing else, just talk about the complex full rigging sail and cable system. Whether the Ming Dynasty's shipwrights can copy it is a question.

    So Mr. Zhao decided to try both types of sails in the test ship type, and use whichever one is suitable at that time.  (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com)With numerous stay cables supporting the load, the mast will naturally not break.

    In fact, this idea has already been reflected in the Guangzhou ship built in Guangzhou.  Of course, what really provided a complete solution was the new warship with a Western hull and Chinese hard sails built by the Americans for the governor of Fujian after the Opium War.

    And there is a very real difficulty in using western sails, that is, the manufacturing of western sails is a very complicated technology.  If nothing else, just talk about the complex full rigging sail and cable system. Whether the Ming Dynasty's shipwrights can copy it is a question.

    So Mr. Zhao decided to try both types of sails in the test ship type, and use whichever one is suitable at that time.  (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com
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