Daming 1805

Chapter 66 The Policymaker's Dilemma
In the field of scientific and technological development, what is the biggest advantage of traversers?
It can make the correct technical direction, skip the discussion stage of wrangling, or even skip the early technology verification stage, and directly enter the stage of R&D.

In other words, it is possible to basically avoid detours and go straight to the right direction and goal from the beginning.

The rate of adoption of the right technology can be drastically reduced on a yearly basis.

That's what Zhu Jingyuan is doing now.

Including the high-speed battleship itself, as well as the most important power system of the high-speed battleship.

In the history of Zhu Jingyuan's previous life, the power system of the main naval battleship has obviously taken several detours, or hesitating at the right intersection.

This is completely natural under normal historical conditions.

Either because decision makers can't directly determine that is the right direction, or because of interests and practical reasons, they can't make a decision right away.

Pure oil-fired boilers, small water tube designs, pressurized spray combustion, and steam turbines have all been around since the days of the Intrepid in 1905.

But it was not until 1916 that the British used it all on the battlecruiser Hood, and there was a semi-finished product of the Queen Elizabeth class in the middle.

For more than ten years in the middle, the British hesitated and wasted a long time on whether to replace the oil-fired boiler or whether to use the small water-tube boiler.

The current level of naval technology in the Ming Dynasty is almost the state of the United Kingdom in 1910.
The design of the dreadnought appeared a few years ago, but because the old emperor always wanted to hold back the aircraft carrier, he passively postponed it until now.

What Zhu Jingyuan is doing now is to make up for the time wasted by Daming and skip the time wasted by the British.

Zhu Jingyuan looked at everyone at the scene, and solemnly summarized and announced again:
"So, what we want to design now is a high-speed battleship with a full-load displacement of 30 tons and a speed of more than [-] knots."

The middle-aged craftsman of the ship power manufacturer thought that Zhu Jingyuan did not understand his words, so he couldn't help but remind him again:

"Wait a minute, Your Highness, this design is theoretically feasible, but it is really not recommended to be so extreme and radical.

"To build a 15-horsepower power system, the length of the warship's engine room will be very large, which in turn will lengthen the protection length of the main armor...

"Ultimately, a lot of weight is wasted in maintaining a significant excess of power systems, making the ship's protection even weaker."

After Zhu Jingyuan heard it, he subconsciously asked:
"Has this great engineer ever considered designing the boiler room into two floors, and part of it is placed above the engine room, so that the overall length can be reduced?"

"This……"

This time, it is not only the power system manufacturers who are stunned, but also the manufacturers and craftsmen related to the design and construction of the hull, as well as the relevant personnel of the Navy.

The boiler room is placed above the engine room, which is a plan considered by the United States when designing the Lexington-class battlecruisers and the New South Dakota-class battleships.

In this age of the world, before the crazy pursuit of speed, no one has thought about it.

This kind of unexpected assumption seems to be used to obtain a high speed while maintaining a relatively normal hull.

Then, a representative of the hull design and construction manufacturer, a gray-bearded craftsman in his 50s, stood up:

"Your Highness, you said that the design plan may be tried, but it is obviously too dangerous.

"Overly concentrated boilers are difficult to maintain and more prone to extensive damage when hit.

"The most important thing is that our Ming Navy does not need such a high speed for the time being, and the speed of 30 knots is too high.

"According to our prediction, we only need to reach a speed of 25 knots, which is enough to form a very obvious advantage over all the enemy's next-generation warships."

Zhu Jingyuan immediately defended again and said:

"It may be enough for the present and the next generation, but no one is sure that the advantage will be maintained in the next generation. I plan to use this large battleship for 30 years.

"And after the boiler technology has improved significantly, we will replace her with a small number of large boilers with higher single-boiler power, so that the safety will come up..."

The two great craftsmen were at a loss for words, mainly because they couldn't keep up with Zhu Jingyuan's ideas.

Liu Quanzhi, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, the 66-year-old man, stood up at this moment:
"His Royal Highness, the construction cost of this [-]-ton, [-]-knot warship will definitely be very high.

"It is likely to exceed twice or even three times the original [-]-ton battleship, mainly because the cost of the power system is too high.

"Even if the use cycle is extended to 30 years, the overall estimated cost of use is still too high.

"Because the original 20-ton capital ship usually has a service life of more than [-] years."

The Ministry of War does not care about the design and construction of warships, but they manage the military budget, the design and construction of warships and weapons and equipment, and they all need them to sign and place orders.

Therefore, the entry point of the Ministry of War for related affairs will always be on cost control, not the weapon itself.

Zhu Jingyuan was a little helpless. Once the cost issue was taken out, it would be hard to say. The cost of this kind of ship must be very outrageous:

"Yes, the construction cost of this kind of warship is likely to exceed twice that of a [-]-ton warship.

"But I can assure Da Sima that even three [-]-ton warships will not be able to defeat one such warship.

"This kind of super warship may be very expensive, but considering the actual combat power and strategic deterrence, he is definitely worth the money."

Liu Quanzhi, who had seen Zhu Jingyuan's brain circuit, was completely unmoved by this explanation, but just bowed his hands to express his views:
"The Ministry of War does not approve of building such a large-scale and expensive warship in the Taiping era."

Facing Liu Quanzhi, Zhu Jingyuan no longer explained, but simply expressed his disapproval, and immediately felt a deep powerlessness.

At the same time, I can imagine why the British in history have staggered for more than ten years on the issue of technological innovation.

Technological innovations that are too radical will first be resisted by conservatives and will also affect the interests of existing suppliers.

Now Zhu Jingyuan has only seen conservatives, but he has not seen stakeholders jumping out.

Because the relevant manufacturers of Daming are all royal consortium enterprises, and now the emperor is also present, the key is that they have not shown their inclination, and they dare not stand up against it rashly.

But if the emperor does not express his support today, subsequent designs and innovations will definitely be hindered.

Even traversers, even if they know the correct technological route, will also encounter the same problems encountered by decision makers in history.

The point is, he doesn't have the power to make a decision now, that kind of supreme dictatorship.

Zhu Jingyuan looked at the old emperor subconsciously.

One is that he subconsciously thinks of the power that the emperor has, and the other is that he remembered the promise of the old emperor. He said that he would fully support his shipbuilding plan.

The old emperor also just looked up at Zhu Jingyuan, and after discovering the yearning in Zhu Jingyuan's eyes, he suddenly showed a somewhat playful smile:
"Since the Ministry of War is not willing to pay, then let Huangzhuang come out..."

Daming's Huangzhuang, similar to the British East India Company, was directly controlled by the emperor and was semi-independent from the imperial court.

Huangzhuang has its own colony, its own army, and even its own fleet, and has experience in shipbuilding.

So as soon as the emperor said these words, the old man Liu Quanzhi jumped a little:
"Your Majesty, you can't let Huangzhuang give out this money."

The military ministers behind and the governors of the five armies also stood up to oppose it.

Because if the money is from Huangzhuang, the boat will definitely be used by Huangzhuang in the future.

The main battleship of this company, Huangzhuang, is actually twice as large as the main battleship of the navy, which puts the face of the court and the navy.

More importantly, with such a large ship, Huangzhuang was even more out of the control of the imperial court.

After hearing this, the old emperor smiled again:
"Since Huangzhuang is not allowed to come out, the Ministry of War will make the budget by itself, and then go to the Ministry of Finance to apply..."

Liu Quanzhi swallowed his saliva helplessly:

"The old minister obeys the order..."

(End of this chapter)