The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 183 The Poor British

"Look, what a big ship!"

When the passenger ship "Qishun" left Yong'an Port and passed through the narrow Guangning Strait, which was named Spark Island (now the famous Krakatoa Island in the Sunda Strait), many passengers lay on the right side of the ship. Looking at the continuous steam coming out of a mountain peak on the island, everyone can't help but sigh at the magic of nature.

Several well-informed passengers said that the peak on the island was a volcano, and that its interior was constantly moving violently. A geological expert from the Academy of Sciences who had visited the island asserted that the volcano had accumulated enough energy to form a volcano. After energy is generated, it will definitely spit fire outwards, which may endanger coastal residents on both sides of the strait.

Fan Agui had a dubious look on his face after hearing this, but he did not dare to question him.

It's really magical, the hills on the island can actually spit fire on their own!

Are there a lot of flammable materials on the mountain?

The island is surrounded by sea water, why not get a few buckets of water to put it out?

Also, even if such a small mountain spits fire, how can it affect places so far away on both sides of the Taiwan Strait?

I'm afraid this person is bragging!

In "Journey to the West", there is a red boy who can breathe out three flavors of real fire, and there is also a vast flaming mountain hundreds of miles away, which is so powerful that even Monkey King cannot withstand it.

Even if this small broken island caught fire, it would at most ignite the trees and flowers on it and burn it to the shore, but it would not be destroyed by the sea water.

While Fan Agui was thinking about it in his mind, he suddenly heard several loud whistles. Looking for the sound, he saw a huge merchant ship coming from the right side of the "Qishun" they were riding on. It passed by them. , sounded the whistle several times in succession, as if to warmly greet the passengers on the ship.

I originally thought that the passenger ship I was on was very big, but compared with this incoming merchant ship, it was somewhat dwarfed. It was more than half the size of the ship.

My mother, if this boat can carry people, I'm afraid it can carry thousands of people!

"It's the Shengshi!" A sharp-eyed sailor said loudly: "This is the largest ship in our country at present, with a length of more than 110 meters, a width of nearly 20 meters, and a full load displacement of more than tons!"

During this period, the scale and length of wooden boat construction had reached the technical limit. Therefore, the "Shengshi", a large ship launched in 1723, was built with a cast iron frame and wooden shell, which allowed the scale of this large ship to break through the original limits. The hull is also divided into watertight compartments with bulkheads, and the steam engines and equipment on the ship are distributed between each compartment, fully ensuring the stability and safety of the ship.

However, the ship is quite inconvenient to operate. This is because the ship is too long, and its beautiful beak-shaped bow carvings and old-fashioned traditional stern make the hull easily wetted by waves at sea, which will corrode the hull.

"Shengshi" is a full-sail ship. Unlike the navy's sail warships, in order to equip more artillery on the deck, it can only be equipped with a fore-and-aft sail as an auxiliary equipment for its propeller and steam engine.

The "Shengshi" is equipped with a powerful steam engine manufactured by Daqi Heavy Industries, which can drive it to a speed of more than 14 knots, which is much faster than many foreign warships. The ship's single propeller is equipped with a lifting gear device that can be retracted into the wall tunnel at the rear.

The reason why this huge merchant ship did not cancel its sails was mainly due to economic considerations. After all, when using a steam engine, a large amount of coal needs to be burned, which costs a lot of money.

But when there is wind, as long as the sail is raised, a lot of coal can be saved.

This wind doesn’t cost a penny!

Another most critical factor is the problem of fresh water used by steam boilers, which causes steam ships to store more water than pure sailboats for boiling water in boilers.

It is true that steam ships have many advantages over pure wind sailing ships. For example, when there is almost no wind and direct headwind, steam ships can do better than sailing ships when sailing into rivers or ports with complex hydrology. .

However, compared to the fact that it can carry more cargo or people on board and save more expenses during the journey, a steam-sail hybrid ship has greater advantages than a fully steam-driven ship. For transport ships, it is extremely important.

The development of Qi's steamships for more than thirty years has also gone through various twists and turns. In the early days of the steam engine, sailing ships still had many advantages. They could survive almost any sea and beat the terrifying waves.

In the early stages of steamships when the technology was not yet mature, they faced many unfavorable factors such as huge waves at sea that would collapse or damage chimneys, immerse steam boilers, and cut off their propeller blades.

Early steamships could only reach an average speed of 5-7 knots in good weather. As for Qi's scissor-type fast sailing ships, they can sail faster than steam ships in all circumstances unless there is almost no wind or directly against the wind.

More than 30 years ago, during the heyday of fast sailing ships, the awe-inspiring sails of sailing ships would reach a height of more than 30 meters hanging above the deck, and the area of ​​a large forward and lower boom sail was square meters.

In addition to the square sail, there are usually 16 or more jib sails from stem to stern. Although these sails are relatively small, they are characterized by a better angle to the wind. When the ship is sailing into the wind, these jib sails hung between the masts can provide a lot of wind power. The jib and foretopmast staysail at the bow are actually rudder sails, and these jibs assist the bow in steering when the helmsman needs to turn to leeward. The mizzen and gaff topsails arranged at the stern provide an opposing wind pressure, forcing the forward part to turn.

During normal sailing, in order to ensure a stable heading, the deflection forces of all longitudinal sails cancel each other out and combine into one forward force. The square sail hung on the yard can be adjusted to be at right angles to the keel, so that it can maximize the wind intake in downwind conditions. When the ship needs to change direction, the captain only needs to break the balance between the bow jib and mizzen sail to force the behemoth to change direction with the help of wind pressure and rudder pressure.

The combined weight of the masts, yards and rigging on a typical four-masted square sailing ship in Qi exceeds 60 tons, but they are many times stronger than the old wooden masts and European hemp rigging. As a tradition, the rigging used to control the yard and sails of Qi's high-speed sailboats is the hemp rigging from the Luzon region. The Luzon Islands have become the largest hemp rigging in the Southeast Asia due to their abundant wild abaca. With place of origin.

The rigging and other bulky objects at the height of the sailboat are very complex and diverse. Some sail yards are more than 30 meters long, and the largest sail wing has a diameter of half a meter in the middle and weighs one ton when dry. If the metal wires, rope chains and Luzon ropes in the rigging were connected end to end, they would stretch for several kilometers.

However, the fast sailing ships of Qi State must always follow the most basic design principles. As the main power source, there are more than ten square sails hung on the three huge main masts. The sails are designed to be short and wide, which is easy to maneuver and has the largest wind surface area.

However, despite all the advantages of a fast sailing ship, it has a fatal shortcoming in operation, that is, in order to control the complex and huge sails on the ship, it needs to be equipped with more sailors. A sailboat with a displacement of about 2,000 tons has a crew of more than 300 people, from the captain to the lowest-level sailor apprentice (if it is a battleship, the number will be even more), of which there are nearly 200 sailors in shifts. .

For a pure steam ship of the same size, the total number of operators is only fifty or sixty at most, and the focus of work has shifted from sail operation to the operation and maintenance of the steam engine driving equipment in the bilge.

With the development and improvement of ship steam-driven equipment, in the past two decades, many reputable merchant ships have begun to use steam-sail hybrid ships on a large scale in order to provide services on time and reliably. During the voyage, steam engines were mainly relied on, and sails were used as auxiliary propulsion tools. They only sail on when their machinery fails.

Warships, on the other hand, rely on wind power to sail when cruising, and only turn to steam engines when there is no wind or the wind direction is unfavorable.

However, the Qi-British War that has been going on for more than two years has allowed the propeller-equipped steam warships to shine, giving the Qi Navy an unprecedented advantage in several naval battles. Perhaps for a long time to come, It will stimulate the navies of various countries to launch a wave of large-scale conversion of sail warships into steam warships, and this will be transmitted to civilian ships.

At this time, if there was one form of transportation that could change the world, it was the railroad. The invention of this land transportation weapon has made inland areas lacking ports more closely connected with trade centers and political centers. The exchange of capital, personnel, and technology has become faster and cheaper, and the country can mobilize more manpower and material resources at critical moments. It has also increased by more than an order of magnitude than before.

Without this thing, then an agricultural society would still be an agricultural society. Due to the distance barrier, the entire country was in a de facto feudal system. That is, the large and small landowners, as the emperor's vassals, tax collectors and bureaucratic reserves, actually ruled the occupied areas. Farmers, the absolute majority of the population, have low efficiency and limited output. How can this agricultural country rise?

In addition to railways, the second largest one is undoubtedly large-tonnage steel ships. It has the advantages of fast speed, large cargo capacity, low cost, and few operators. It also ignores wind direction and ocean currents. It is simply an invention born for trade.

As soon as Qi's 2,000- to 3,000-ton steel ships were launched, they became very popular and were likely to greatly change the course of the colonial world. Now they are already developing a brand new ship of more than 8,000 tons. If successful, it will shock the world again and connect the entire ocean and land more closely.

When the passenger ship "Qishun" left Yong'an, it encountered more and more ships along the way, including many steel ships, puffing out thick smoke and sailing in the ocean. When they passed each other, they would Sound the loud whistle.

There were also some Westerners with red hair and green eyes among the passengers on the passenger ship, which made Fan Agui feel strange. He looked at them repeatedly while taking a breath on the deck or eating in the restaurant.

Hey, are these Yi people also going to the Han continent?

Not only do these Yi people look completely different from them, they even eat different things. In the restaurant on the ship, these hairy Yi people had three snacks and two big meals a day. The first thing they ate was nothing more than roasted beef, sheep, chicken, and fish. Then there are sweet steamed buns (bread), sugar cookies (biscuits), and a few pieces of fruit. What he drank was also cold water, sugar water (cocoa), milk, vegetable broth, sweet and bitter red wine, butter, yellow potatoes, white rice and other things.

Well, these Yi people seem to be rich people. They are very well-dressed and eat very richly.

Fan Agui looked at it and muttered jealously. Looking at what they were eating, it probably didn't taste as good as the big white steamed bun in his hand. It was even more delicious with just a green onion dipped in hot sauce.

The beef, sheep, chicken, and fish that the Yi people eat are nothing more than roasted over fire. The outer layer is dark and burnt, but the meat inside is still raw, fishy and hard. Even the fish and shrimp were sour and spicy. The red wine was sour and bitter when I tasted it. The taste was really hard to swallow.

However, there are also some Yi people who are more keen on the oriental delicacies in the restaurant, but the way they look when they eat them is ridiculous. Because I couldn't use chopsticks, I used my knife and fork to mix up a plate of delicious dishes until they were pulpy. I even felt like eating and grabbed them directly.

What a waste of money in my pocket!

Spencer Compton, Baron Wilmington, Minister Plenipotentiary of England, was very angry at the fact that he attracted so many people's glances and onlookers wherever he appeared on the ship, and considered it an offense to him.

As the third son of the 3rd Earl of Northampton in the Kingdom of England and Speaker of the House of Commons, Spencer Compton has a high status and is highly respected and complimented everywhere in the country. How could he meet such a person? A situation of people watching and commenting wantonly.

Even after his close friend, the new King George II, came to the throne, he was once invited to replace the First Chancellor of the Exchequer (i.e. Prime Minister) Robert Walpole and take over the government, almost becoming the most powerful man in the kingdom, able to decide The fate of millions of people in the Kingdom.

However, in order to end this most painful war for the Kingdom of England, he had to endure a long and arduous journey to the East, and in a humble and humiliating manner, he went to meet the emperor of the Qi Empire and asked him to lower his power. and reducing some of the harsh peace terms, thus giving the kingdom a decent armistice.

However, along the way, from the Canary Islands to Qi's South African territory, then to India, and finally through the Strait of Malacca, arrived at Batavia, and finally boarded the Qi passenger ship to the Hanzhou mainland. He and the attachés of the mission We encountered unimaginable sufferings, rough seas, hurricanes and heavy rains, unaccustomed to the climate... Oh, and there was also the vague contempt shown by the Qi people along the way.

Since October last year, diplomatic representatives from Qi and Britain have held more than ten rounds of talks in The Hague, but they have been unable to reach an armistice agreement.

The price the Qi people ask for is too high!

Not only must they cede several tropical islands in the British Caribbean, they must also force the Kingdom of England to withdraw from Ireland and allow it to establish an independent country. What is even more unacceptable to England is that it actually wants to grant an amnesty to the old tyrant King James III, allowing him to return to Scotland, become the King of Scotland, achieve a certain degree of autonomy, and then jointly form the Kingdom of Britain with England (the United Kingdom established the Kingdom of Britain as early as May 1707, 5 , Queen Anne issued the Act of Union, merging the Scottish and English parliaments, and the two kingdoms gave up their independent status).

There are also war reparations of 20 million pounds, full opening of the domestic market, reduction of import and export tariffs, and granting super-national status to Qi's merchants and goods. The king admitted his mistake and apologized to Qi for initiating the war without authorization... There are many things, which add up to thirty The remaining balance, but any one of them is difficult for the Royal Government to accept.

The people of Qi not only want to dismember the Kingdom of England, but also empty out the kingdom's wealth, and then destroy the kingdom's fragile industrial base. If it is forced to accept it completely, the kingdom will fall into a situation of no return. Not to mention that it will no longer be able to achieve influence (interference) on the European continent, I am afraid that it will completely become an insignificant marginal country.

But if the fight continues, the royal government will inevitably be dragged into an endless abyss, and there will be no glimmer of victory in sight.

At the beginning of the war, many countries seemed to be happy to see the defeat of the Kingdom of England. Spain wants to wash away its shame, France wants to avenge itself, Sweden is deeply jealous of the kingdom's past backstabbing, and Prussia wants to use the Hanover State to get involved in the crisis in England to expand its influence in the German region.

Even the Kingdom of Portugal, its former little partner, was eager to get rid of the shackles and influence of the English at this time, and was ready to submit to the Qi country. After ensuring that Brazil's interests would not be seriously damaged, it even gave up some overseas territories in Africa and the Atlantic. All in exchange for Qi's armistice.

Looking around, it seems that there are not many partners in Europe who are helping the Kingdom of England. Russia was beaten by Sweden and retreated step by step. The capital, St. Petersburg, had been besieged for more than a year, and the Caucasus was completely occupied by the Qibo coalition. After Prince Eugen defeated the Ottoman Empire's counterattacks several times, the Austrians seemed a little weak, so they stopped large-scale military attacks. While consolidating the occupied territory, they were also looking for opportunities to negotiate peace with the Ottomans.

The Venetians were even worse. After the Qi people came to their senses, they united with the Ottoman Empire and launched a fierce attack on this small country from both sea and land directions. The Venetian navy was sunk and damaged dozens of ships. Not only did it lose the Adria They controlled the sea in Asia and lost all the territory on the east coast. The city of Venice was also besieged by the Qi navy. They were in panic all day long. It was only a matter of time before they were defeated and surrendered.

When the Kingdom of England was in internal and external troubles, we must be very grateful to the hard work of many English diplomatic envoys. Through constant lobbying and persuasion, as well as the exchange of major benefits, the French successfully changed part of their position and actively intervened in this war. In the process of mediating matters.

Subsequently, the Netherlands, Danes, Poles, Austrians, as well as the Kingdom of Genoa, Sardinia, and Portugal all came forward to ask Qi to stop the war and restore the existing security situation in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean regions.

Possibly feeling the pressure from the United Christian World in Europe, the attitude of the representatives of the Qi peace talks also showed some relaxation, saying that they could make certain concessions on the terms of the peace talks.

In this context, as the King's close friend, Speaker of the House of Commons and Speaker of the Privy Council, Spencer Compton was entrusted by His Majesty the King and the Parliament to go to the mainland of Qi in the name of the Kingdom's Plenipotentiary Envoy to meet with The Emperor of Qi and the Prime Minister of the Cabinet had direct contact and consultation on the armistice between the two countries.

Every day the war goes on, the losses of the Kingdom of England will increase one point, and it must end as soon as possible.

May God bless our kingdom!

(End of this chapter)