Daming 1805

Listening to Wang Lai's explanation, Zhu Jingyuan nodded slightly, basically agreeing with Wang Lai's judgment.

But at the same time, I also vaguely felt that the designer of the Ming warship headed by Wang Lai was still relatively optimistic about the Taixi people's exploration process of aircraft carrier design.

Probably because he directly gave a mature aircraft carrier design, so Wang Lai and other designers did not have a sufficiently accurate understanding of the difficulty of groping for an aircraft carrier design from scratch.

The large number of specialized designs that I directly gave were all accumulated through decades of continuous exploration by many countries in my previous life.

Now if I and Daming don't steal from the Taixi people, it may take decades for them to come up with a truly mature design.

However, it shouldn't take too long if it's just to produce a usable aircraft carrier.

The most critical design of a traditional aircraft carrier is full access to the deck. As long as they are training on a half-deck cruiser converted to an aircraft carrier, they should think of it after killing a few more pilots.

To have full access to the deck, either don’t have a bridge, or put the bridge on the side, and you can make another mistake here.

What they could not quickly determine were the more reasonable structure of the bridge, the shape and flare of the deck, the layout and specifications of the elevators, and the reasonable specifications of the hangar, which were difficult to quantify.

Zhu Jingyuan thought about it for a while, and then asked Wang Lai another question:
"The construction of the [-]-ton battleship has already started, and the design of our [-]-ton aircraft carrier has not yet been finalized. What is the biggest difficulty at present?"

This kind of question is the job that Wang Lai thinks about day and night, so now he answers directly without thinking:
"One is structural and sailing stability.

"A higher flight deck, a larger flare structure, and a highly asymmetric flare structure.

"How stable are these designs under various sailing attitudes.

"Whether it can really satisfy the actual combat pursuit.

"One is the specification of the catapult.

"The current experimental steam catapult can propel a 220-ton aircraft to [-] kilometers per hour.

"There is still a long way to go from the thirty tons and three hundred kilometers you requested.

"Although the research and development team of the steam catapult promises to increase the thrust to more than sixteen tons within one year.

"We also believe that they will be able to achieve sixteen tons.

"However, compared with [-] tons, [-] tons can still be regarded as a completely different data level.

"From twelve tons to sixteen tons, it should be possible to achieve without changing the bottom design.

"But from [-] tons to [-] tons, it may not be feasible.

"Once the underlying design needs to be changed in the future, even if the reserved space is made now, it may not be reasonable.

"The last is the concern about longevity.

"According to your assumptions, an aircraft carrier of this size and design will be the main force of the navy's long-term use in the future.

"They should last 50 years.

"The 50-year limit has put great pressure on the designers, who are hesitant in many places.

"Because what happens 50 years from now is really unpredictable."

Hearing these explanations, Zhu Jingyuan first nodded and then shook his head.

Of course, these problems are indeed problems, but they are problems that they cannot directly solve.

I can only give guiding ideology, technical indicators and direction, but there is no way to realize it concretely.

I am at most on the spiritual level, helping craftsmen to emancipate their minds as much as possible.

Ming craftsman is a very broad collective term.

Including scientific researchers, including process developers, including engineering designers.

It also includes on-site construction personnel, working technical engineering personnel, and follow-up testing personnel.

Finally, there are craftsman-born officials like Wang Lai and Li Rui.

He is used to calling each other "Xiaogong".

The person in charge of a certain department or a certain project can usually be honored as "Da Gong" or "Chief Engineer".

Zhu Jingyuan sorted out his thinking and logic a little, and tried to convey his thoughts to Wang Lai, the head craftsman:
"The [-]-ton aircraft carrier, unlike the [-]-ton battleship, is not purely enlarged.

"A [-]-ton aircraft carrier can still be regarded as a brand-new warship, so the first one can still be treated as an experimental ship.

"Designers only need to ensure that the theory is reasonable, and there is no need to assure the construction department that it will be easy to use after completion.

"But they have to give a probability of feasibility, such as at what degree of rollover it is likely to capsize.

"As for the expected space of the catapult, it also doesn't need to be too rigid.

"The space reserved is not limited to use, but the surplus can be used for other purposes, and if not enough, it can be remodeled.

"After the experimental ship was built, it was completely normal to undergo multiple transformation tests.

"The weight of [-] tons and the speed of [-] kilometers per hour I mentioned are just vague goals.

"There's no need to stick to this goal, isn't the R&D team now saying that it can achieve [-] tons?

"The design standard for the first type of catapult should be [-] tons.

"When the target of sixteen tons is achieved, you can go directly to the ship.

"And the last 50 years, that is more of my personal assessment, not an indicator for the design team.

"If it has to be used as an indicator, it is also for the engineering and craft department.

"They have to ensure that after the hull is built, it will not be damaged and unusable within 50 years if it is properly maintained.

"As long as it is not damaged by war, at least it can be repaired within 50 years.

"As for the things on the hull, it is estimated that within 50 years, three rounds can be replaced.

"Technology is developing very rapidly now, and the construction cycle of large warships is long, and it is not new at all to be obsolete after completion.

"Let the craftsmen not be timid, just bring out the best technology they can do so far."

Zhu Jingyuan said a lot intermittently, the purpose was just to convince Wang Lai that he had a strong ability to accept, and to make them sure that he would not use casual words as acceptance criteria.

Wang Lai is also very familiar with Zhu Jingyuan, knowing that Zhu Jingyuan is not being polite in this situation.

If Zhu Jingyuan puts forward certain rigid targets, it must be an earnest request that must be fulfilled.

Just like the original speed of 360 knots, and the later [-] kg shells, it will not be finalized until it can be worked out.

Now that he said so in his mouth, it must be what he asked for.

Wang Lai really relaxed in his heart.

Then several people at the scene continued to discuss various aspects of the situation on this topic.

When the time was close to noon, Wang Lai seemed to think of something suddenly, and mentioned the Taixi people's shipbuilding plan again.

"By the way, Your Majesty, Your Highness, the shipbuilding activities of the Thai and Western countries seem to have entered a certain state of competition.

"The British are going to secure more of their new warships than any other country in the West.

"The Prussians aimed at the British and planned to increase the number of capital ships to the same level as the British.

"The Lucians try to ensure that the number of large-caliber artillery is not lower than that of any other country.

"The French will face the Italians and Spaniards in the Great Qinhai, the Portuguese in the Atlantic Ocean, and the British in the English Channel, which seems to be the most stressful one.

"The French's shipbuilding plan has to follow the British, and it must ensure that the number of capital ships is not less than that of the British.

"The Italians seem to be communicating with the Prussians that they might trade their triple turret design for the Prussian larger caliber artillery technology, while simultaneously defending against the French and Austrians.

"The Austrians seem to be relatively relaxed in the navy, and they have to deal with the Italians and Ottomans, but their sea environment is very harsh, and the Ottomans and Italy can block its sea outlets.

"And Austria's land environment is equally harsh, sandwiched between Prussia, Lucia, and Ottomans.

"Austria actually prefers that Lucia and Prussia put more power at sea, because the conflict between Austria and them at sea is not as obvious as it is on land.

"So Austria's goal seems to be to require that the number of capital ships is no less than theirs, but the requirements for the tonnage and firepower of a single ship can be relaxed to save shipbuilding costs as much as possible.

"The Ottomans have the weakest industrial technology, but they bought directly from us very frankly.

"So the level of warships that can be obtained is actually not lower than that of the Thai and Western countries..."

Wang Lai took a breath when he said this, Zhu Zhongliang interrupted and said:
"As far as the situation and financial status of the Western countries are concerned, can they make such a fuss in the navy?
"Thai and Western countries suffered heavy losses in the World War, and after the war they had to pay reparations and resume construction, so their finances were not well off.

"Those cutting-edge high-speed warships, all countries in Thailand and the West have to independently develop and build their own factories and docks.

"Their total cost of R&D and construction should be much higher than that of our Ming Dynasty."

Wang Lai immediately responded:
"Your Majesty, the information I have received from various sources shows that the Thai and Western countries are currently struggling to build their navies.

"Just like Austria, he wants to save the cost of shipbuilding, but how much lower can the savings be for a warship of this size?

"The research and development cost is certain, the less the number of warships planned to be built, the harder it is to suppress the cost of a single ship.

"Our Ming Dynasty corresponds to the entire Taixi shipbuilding, and since the technology matured, the cost of a single ship has dropped all the way.

"So even with the same funds, the warships built by Daming will be more in quantity and better in quality."

Listening to the conversation between Wang Lai and Zhu Zhongliang, Zhu Jingyuan always felt something was wrong.

The Taixi people may have to wrestle in the shipbuilding competition. The craftsmen of Ming Dynasty don't seem to take it very seriously?

They were neither worried about the threat of Taixi navy to Ming Dynasty, nor were they obviously surprised by their strenuous effort.

Instead, it reveals a feeling of disgust and contempt.

This feeling seems to be a bit like the heart of the Europeans in the previous life facing the naval competition of South American countries.

It may be a little more important than that, but it is far from the level that European and American countries faced their own naval competition in the previous life.

As for the tendency of the Prussians to cooperate with Italy, this is actually very easy to understand.

This is not a historical inertia, but determined by the environmental pattern of the two countries.

Although the two countries border on land, they are separated by the Alps, the largest mountain range in western Thailand.

The two countries basically do not affect each other on land.

The navies of the two countries are even more active in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, and the other is in the Great Qin Sea, so they can't get together at all.

Prussia is the land of the four wars in the Western continent, but relatively speaking, the south is the safest.

Italy is the Western country with the fewest natural conflicts with Prussia, and it is also the most suitable ally for Prussia to win over.

But circumstances in Italy at the same time determined that he would not be a loyal ally of Prussia.

Surrounded by the Alps, Italy has a highly independent environment on land.

But as a peninsula, it does not have any strategic depth.

The sea is surrounded by France, Spain, Austria, and Ottomans.

On the contrary, it is basically impossible for the Prussian navy to directly interfere with Italy.

For Italian businessmen who are good at watching the wind and steering the rudder, it seems to be the most natural choice to be an ally of Prussia first when the situation is not bright, and then change strategies according to the actual situation.

Anyway, the Prussians couldn't do anything to the Italians.

Zhu Jingyuan himself, compared to all Ming people, paid more attention to Taixi people.

Hearing this situation, I couldn't help reminding:

"Since there is a tendency for the Italians and Prussians to cooperate, then we should take action to stop it?

"For example, to provide the Italians with the manufacturing technology of the 360mm gun.

"As long as they pay, we can sell them finished guns, even standard turrets.

"Of course it does not include electroslag remelting technology.

"At the same time, sell the design of the triple turret to Prussia... and Lucia and other Western countries.

"You can make it clear to them, anyway, they can't build a few ships in total, and they can't use dozens of artillery in total.

"In this case, the cost of their own research and development is too high, but it is more cost-effective to buy the finished product directly.

"We don't just sell products, we also sell services, which can provide comprehensive maintenance, replacement and upgrade services.

"If it is not sold out, it will be left alone, and their worries must be relieved.

"Let them understand that for a country like theirs, there is a truth that it is better to buy than to make.

"Of course, if they are willing to pay enough money, we can provide technology and even help them build production lines.

"Of course it does not include the latest electroslag remelting technology.

"Let all countries in Thailand and the West trade with Da Ming independently, anyway Da Ming can be regarded as omnipotent.

"Prevent them from communicating too much internally, and eventually there will be a tendency to unite."

Zhu Zhongliang has a small book of the emperor, so although he pays less attention to Taixi people than Zhu Jingyuan, who has personally experienced it, he is also higher than other Ming people.

Hearing the words "joint tendency", he immediately nodded in agreement, then stroked his beard and said with a smile:
"There is one thing to say, for the current European and American countries, it is true that it is better to buy than to make.

"Buying our finished artillery directly can reduce their financial pressure and reduce the competitive pressure of shipbuilding.

"The key is that future technologies will become more and more complex, and R&D costs will account for an increasing proportion of equipment.

"If they can't jointly research and develop to share this part of the cost, they will always be under the pressure of our Daming in the future.

"It is of course correct to avoid their prejudgment of joint tendencies.

"But it's useless for you to tell Wang Gong and Li Gong about these things. They are great craftsmen and don't engage in such intrigues.

"You have to write a memorial to your father and Mr. Shen and submit it."

When Zhu Jingyuan heard his grandfather's words, he immediately thought of the relationship between Thailand and the West and the United States after World War II.

By the time of the Cold War, the countries of Thailand and the West had to unite in order to still have a place in military technology.

This is determined by the size of the country.

It is difficult for a single Western country to maintain a complete industrial system after the completion of the second industrial revolution.

It's not just about the number of workers and technicians.

Another very critical reason is that the cost cannot be amortized due to insufficient production.

If there are no bigger countries in the world, even if the cost of their own research and development is high, they can continue to barely maintain it.

The point is that in the current world, there is the United States, which can even out costs, as their direct competitor.

Western countries have completely lost their competitive advantage in front of the United States.

At the technical level, it was completely suppressed by the United States and became a part of the American industrial chain.

The current Ming Dynasty seems to be able to replace the status of the United States...it should be the multiple status of the United States and Red Lucia.

We must not only make them unable to leave Daming, but also keep threatening and suppressing them.

It is not yet possible to get them to unite to form the European Union or a new Rome.

This is indeed a rather important matter.

So Zhu Jingyuan nodded quite seriously and agreed:

"I understand. I will write a special memorial when I go back, and then I will discuss it with my father and Mr. Shen on the spot."