Chapter 277 Dry Dock
Royal Palace. Reading
After Ma Jin left, Zhao Xu returned to the study from the reception hall.
He took a piece of paper and drew the important mountains and rivers of Jinzhou based on his memory.
This map is naturally not comparable to the rough map that Ma Jin brought.
He relied on the contemporary map in his mind.
The geographical details are more complete and accurate.
Most importantly, this is a proportional map.
As long as the generals take the map, measure it with a ruler, and calculate it, they can know how far their location is from the location they want to arrive.
Zhao Xu stopped writing after drawing until it was completely dark.
Then he asked Feng'er to take it to find someone to copy.
When the troops were sent to Jinzhou, these maps would be handed over to the generals to facilitate their march and operations.
The next day.
Zhao Xu got up early and went to Pingcheng with the recruited craftsmen, apprentices and errand boys according to the plan.
It took more than a day's journey.
The mighty team arrived in Pingcheng.
Chen Shou had learned in advance that the King of Yan was coming and had been waiting in Pingcheng.
"I have sent you so many people. Your Ship Department must do me a favor and launch the warships as soon as possible." Zhao Xu said to Chen Shou at the entrance of the Ship Department.
Chen Shou's face was full of smiles. He looked at the crowd of craftsmen as if he had eaten honey.
He led Zhao Xu to sit in the Ship Department and personally brought Zhao Xu a cup of tea.
He has always been upright, and serving tea in person can be said to be really grateful to King Yan from the bottom of his heart.
First of all, the ships in Jinghai County were destroyed, and King Yan did not blame him.
Now, he has provided him with so many conveniences.
This made him deeply feel King Yan's expectations of him.
Even when he was in Ningjin Dusi, his superiors had never treated him like this.
"Your Highness, this is certain." Chen Shou's eyes were full of determination.
Then he said: "If it weren't for the last accident, the warships would have been given to His Highness in the second half of this year. This time, in order to avoid the last accident, I specially arranged sentries near the shipyard, and cavalry patrols every day."
"Yes, that's right." Zhao Xu nodded.
Obviously, Chen Shou had learned his lesson after suffering a loss.
This was the first time Zhao Xu came here since the establishment of the Ship Department.
He asked Chen Shou to introduce the officials of the Ship Department.
Understand how the Ship Department operates on a daily basis.
He was slightly satisfied to learn that the officials each had their own duties, some were responsible for purchasing wood, some were responsible for the craftsmen's daily life and food, and some were responsible for the expenditure of silver, which was orderly.
From this point, it can be seen that Chen Shou has experience in supervising the construction of warships.
After asking about the preparations for shipbuilding, Zhao Xu handed the craftsmen he brought to the officials of the Ship Department.
He asked Chen Shou to take him to the shipyard on the canal.
"Your Highness, in order to be quiet and avoid attracting attention, I chose this dead-end waterway and pulled several ropes on the river to prevent other ships from entering." Chen Shou pointed to the river in front of him and said.
Zhao Xu nodded.
Starting from Pingcheng City, they stopped ten miles away from the dock.
Here, a very wide river ended.
"It is rumored that the canal was going to continue to be dug from here, but then the Wu Dynasty was overthrown and this matter stopped." Chen Shou continued.
After entering Pingcheng, the canal took the shape of an L.
Pingcheng Wharf is at the angle, and the shipyard is on the short side.
So this river is still as wide as the canal.
But it is cut off here.
So there are basically no ships in this river.
Now Chen Shou has pulled ropes on the river again and set up signs to prohibit ships from entering.
This place will be more secluded in the future.
"How deep is the water here?" Zhao Xu thought of an important question.
Due to the large size of the warship, the draft is also quite deep.
If it is too shallow, the ship will run aground.
"I have asked someone to measure it, it is about twelve meters, which is enough." Chen Shou said.
After unifying the weights and measures of the Arms Department, he also sent this standard of weights and measures to the Ship Department.
He asked the Ship Department to follow the new weights and measures in the future.
Therefore, the meter Chen Shou mentioned is the meter of the contemporary standard.
After a pause, he continued: "For the shallower places, I am sending people to dig and clear the silt."
Zhao Xu had no opinion on this depth.
Deepwater ports do not refer to how deep the water is. According to contemporary standards, waters with a depth of fifteen meters can be used as deepwater ports.
This is because the draft of large container ships is fourteen meters.
There are naturally no container ships in Dasong.
Even the warships built are not large in tonnage, so twelve meters is enough.
And many contemporary deepwater ports also have twelve meters.
"Not bad." Zhao Xu showed a satisfied look.
Looking at the busy craftsmen on the river beach.
He remembered that there was another important thing on this trip.
Although Chen Shou had experience in supervising the construction of warships, his shipbuilding method was still very primitive.
That is, he built it directly on the river beach.
This method was fine for building small boats, but he thought it was a bit troublesome to build warships.
If you are not careful, the warship under construction may fall over.
And because the warship is very high, it is also troublesome to deliver the wood later.
"In addition to sending you people, this time I want to teach you something good." Zhao Xu smiled.
Chen Shou smiled when he heard this.
He had heard that His Royal Highness the King of Yan had many unique ideas.
Could it be that His Royal Highness the King of Yan also knew how to build ships?
So he said: "I hope Your Highness can teach me."
Zhao Xu simply squatted on the riverbank and picked up a branch to draw.
"This thing is called a dry dock. Simply put, it is to dig a pit slightly larger than a warship, and cast some square piers at the bottom of the pit. These square piers are called keel piers. When building a warship, the keel can be fixed on it..." Zhao Xu explained while drawing.
Since Chen Shou didn't know what cement and concrete were.
He explained it again and told him that the square piers were cast with concrete.
"This dock is connected to the land on three sides and the water on one side. When building a warship, scaffolding can be built around it to facilitate the construction of craftsmen." Zhao Xu continued.
In modern times, scaffolding is a rack made of steel pipes tied vertically and horizontally. When the building is high and can't be reached, workers can climb through the rack.
The scaffolding of the dry dock is the same.
However, he couldn't make steel pipes, but he could use wood instead.
"Scaffolding." Chen Shou learned a new word.
At the same time, the warship is at the bottom of the pit, which makes it much more convenient to transport materials. Just hang the materials directly from the ground.
Hearing this, Chen Shou's eyes lit up.
This hoisting of wood is indeed a waste of manpower.
The dry dock that King Yan mentioned is equivalent to building a ship in a pit. It is much easier to throw the materials down than to throw them up.
"After the warship is built, open the water gate facing the water, the river water will flow into the pit, the warship will float up and go out of the dock." Zhao Xu finally said.
Hearing this, Chen Shou felt like he had obtained a priceless treasure.
He said to an official: "Immediately take paper and pen, copy the prince's drawing, and write down every word the prince said. It's great. This dry dock shipbuilding is twice the result with half the effort."