The exercise on Liugong Island ended the next day, and 24 steamboats returned to the port to moor, and there was also black smoke from charcoal on Liugong Island.

Although yesterday's exercise probably burned tens of thousands of silver, Chu Yun still felt that it was worth it. When there was no war, the steam fleet still had to maintain combat effectiveness at all times.

Ambassadors from various countries were in a complicated mood. They were deeply shocked by yesterday's exercises, and some people still had difficulty falling asleep.

Chu Yun returned to the Weihaiwei Naval Base and met with a group of officers from the Navy Department.

"You have performed very well. I think our Admiralty will build more steamships in the next period of time. The second-generation main ironclad test ship has been almost done."

"The second generation of main ironclad ship? Dahan class?"

"Yes, the first generation of main ironclad ships are the Daqin class. For the sake of cost-effectiveness, we only built two ironclad ships, Huo Qubing and Wei Qing. However, it did not waste the research and development and design costs of the Daqin class ironclad ships, because the Daqin class provides experience for the Dahan class. After you have a rest, go to the Empire Shipyard with me to visit the test ship of the second generation of main ironclad ships."

Chu Yun announced a news to these subordinates. Some people may not know the progress of the research and development of the second-generation main ironclad ship, especially the Fourth Fleet stationed in England, who know very little about the local affairs.

Sun Xu, the commander of the Fourth Fleet, heard that the test ship of the second-generation main ironclad ship had been partially developed, and was somewhat surprised: "Will the second-generation ironclad ship be mass-produced?"

Chu Yun shook his head: "Western European countries are too weak and may not need to mass-produce the second-generation ironclad ships. There is another important reason. Now is the period when steamships are progressing the fastest. It is very likely that the most advanced steamships we are developing now will be behind in ten years. Can you imagine? For the Empire Shipyard, Huo Qubing and Wei Qing, two steam ironclad ships, have fallen behind."

"The progress of the steamship is so fast, which is amazing." Everyone was quite moved.

When the industrialization process begins, the speed of technological progress is not as slow as before, but is changing with each passing day.

In fact, even without the system, it only took less than 50 years from the first steam ironclad French Glory to the first 20,000-ton dreadnought built by the English.

During this period, ironclad ships were constantly updated and iterated. Often, a ironclad ship was facing the point of being eliminated within 20 years after it was manufactured.

This is quite unimaginable because the sailing battleship has not changed much in 200 years.

This is the huge gap between industry and agriculture, and the speed of technological progress is completely different.

After the exercise, the Oriental steam passenger ship carried people from various countries back to Tianjin Wei.

"Where is Mr. Chu? I want to talk to him about something."

"We in the Netherlands may need this kind of steam iron armor. I wonder if there is a way to buy it? We can discuss the price."

When the princes and nobles from other countries on the Dongfang steam passenger ship wanted to find Chu Yun, they found that he was no longer on the steam passenger ship.

An official sent by the Ministry of Rites to receive them said, "My Lord, I will arrange for you to go to the capital. In the next period of time, you can count the goods ordered at the World Expo and prepare to return to your respective kingdoms."

Everyone was puzzled. Chu Yun must have gone to some secret place.

But they had no right to know where Chu Yun was going, and they would never have expected Chu Yun to go to the Empire Shipyard.

The steamship fleet they saw in Weihaiwei and Liugongdao were just technology that was put into practice, while the Imperial Shipyard had newer technology that was not reflected in the old steamship, but was only in the secret dock of the shipyard.

They could not imagine that the steam ironclad ship that surprised them during the exercise was not the latest technology for the Imperial Shipyard.

The Empire Shipyard is located in Dalian Bay. When Chu Yun arrived, it was still a small fishing village. At this time, it became a city with a developed shipyard.

The Empire Shipyard is a joint shipyard formed by the original Shipbuilding Factory No. 1, which merged several other Dalian Bay shipyards.

In order to build a large number of steam ships, there are hundreds of factories of all sizes in Dalian Bay, which specially formed a complete industrial chain and could also obtain a large amount of steel from Anshan.

The "Yun" steam cruiser carried Chu Yun and the officers of the Navy to the Imperial Shipyard in Dalian Bay.

The residents of Dalian Bay are not surprised by the arrival of steam cruisers. For more than ten years, I don’t know how many steam ironclad ships have entered and exited Dalian Bay.

The Empire Shipyard not only produces and manufactures steamships, but also is responsible for repairing steamships, so a large number of steamships are active in Dalian Bay.

The director and other engineers of the Empire Shipyard arrived and rushed to greet him.

Their biggest order was from the Admiralty Department. The 24 steam ironclad ships ordered by the Admiralty Department from the Imperial Shipyard gave tens of thousands of workers a job, and they were supported by the Admiralty Department from top to bottom.

"According to your report, the second generation of steam ironclad ship - the test ship of the main ironclad ship of Dahan class has been completed?" Chu Yun asked directly.

"Yes, we had the idea of ​​providing armor protection for the artillery on the deck of the armored ship a long time ago. Although our ironclad ship had very little casualties in front of Western wooden ships, for the sake of future considerations, we should still protect the ironclad ship as much as possible. The corresponding design concept is the turret."

"Because the caliber and weight of the artillery are becoming more and more amazing, it is impossible to install a large number of artillery on the left and right sides like the sailing warships. In this way, the space inside the ship is insufficient, and the firing angle of the artillery installed on both sides of the ship is very limited. The principle of the steam iron armored ship we design now is to reduce the number of artillery, and use only a few rotatable and powerful main guns and a few faster fire speed secondary guns, which will have higher efficiency."

The director of the Imperial Shipyard took Chu Yun and his group to the secret dock where the test ship of the Dahan-class main ironclad ship was located, and introduced the second generation of the main steam ironclad ship to Chu Yun and others.

Before the technology of each generation of main ships is used, a "test ship" will be built first. The ironclad ship of "General Fu Bo" is the test ship of the two sister ships, "Huo Qubing" and "Wei Qing".

Similarly, before the formal ships of the second-generation Dahan-class steam ironclad ship were built, a test ship would generally be built as an experiment.

If there are any serious problems with the test ship, the losses will not be huge.

The test ship does not have to be as huge as a formal battleship, but it uses the technology of a new ship.
Chapter completed!