Chapter 343 Wooden Hull, Steam Power
As they spoke, the group had already walked from the entrance to the deepest part of the Shipyard.
This area faced the coast and, like the entrance, pierced through the wall, with the opening connecting the interior to the exterior docks.
This design not only facilitated the launching of ships but also allowed Steamships to enter the Shipyard directly for repairs.
The mooring area was filled with a cacophony of sounds, a stark contrast to the quietness of the previous stretch.
Dozens of people were gathered at the pier, commenting on the ships floating in the water.
Quan Yue, seeing this, shouted loudly towards the front, "Factory Head Jiang!"
From the crowd, a particularly thin figure turned to look at them.
Noticing it was Quan Yue, he immediately jogged forward and bowed excitedly to Quan Yue and Quan Li, "Family Head, you've finally arrived! We've just finished preparing for the test.
But, who are these two?"
This person was none other than Jiang Jun, the disciple of the factory head who had been poached from the Hanhai Shipyard.
He was also the current Factory Head of the Quan Family Shipyard, and it was because of his presence that the Quan Family Shipyard's technological development had been so rapid.
Therefore, Quan Yue had entrusted Jiang Jun with the task of building Steamships at the first opportunity.
Before Quan Yue could introduce him, Quan Yi stepped forward and shook Jiang Jun's hand, saying, "Hello, Factory Head Jiang, my name is Quan Yi. I've heard of your reputation back at the Blazing Fire Academy."
Factory Head Jiang looked at the robust Quan Yi and his facial features, roughly deducing Quan Yi's identity.
The look in his eyes changed several times in a very short period.
From initial surprise to disbelief, and finally to admiration.
He held Quan Yi's hand slightly trembling, and said excitedly, "Young Master, I've been waiting for you for a long time.
The Steamship blueprints you designed have truly opened my eyes, completely overturning my accumulated shipbuilding knowledge.
If it weren't for the Young Master being busy with other matters, I would have wanted to visit you long ago to learn about your design concepts."
Jiang Jun's eyes were filled with admiration as he looked at Quan Yi.
At the same time, he adopted the posture of a junior, showing a desire to learn from Quan Yi.
Quan Yue added from the side, "Xiao Yi, every time I come, Factory Head Jiang asks me about you.
Now that you've finally met, you might as well have a good exchange with Factory Head Jiang."
"Of course, Factory Head Jiang's contributions to our Quan Family are obvious to all, and in terms of shipbuilding skills, I am far inferior to Factory Head Jiang, so I need to learn a lot.
However, didn't the Factory Head invite us here today for something more important?"
As Quan Yi spoke, he shifted his gaze towards the pier.
Jiang Jun patted his forehead and said, "It's all my fault for being too excited, please forgive me, Young Master.
I invited everyone here today to show you our initial results.
Please, follow me."
Jiang Jun led the group through the crowd to the edge of the pier.
There, a typical medium-sized wooden sailboat was docked.
"Huh? Isn't this just an ordinary sailboat? It doesn't seem to match the drawings on Xiao Yi's blueprints at all?"
Huo Wu looked at Jiang Jun in confusion.
Indeed, the ship's design was not much different from that of ordinary wooden sailboats.
The only difference was that a thick, slender iron pillar stood next to the ship's mast.
Apart from that, there were no Steel Plates attached to the outside of the ship, which was completely different from the image of the steel behemoth that Quan Yi had described.
However, Quan Yi's attention was not on the appearance, but on the surface of the water.
Seeing the extending shadow beneath the water, the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up.
"Xiao Wu, don't just look at the surface of things. This ship is not as simple as it looks."
Quan Yi then looked at Jiang Jun, revealing an expression of approval.
Afterward, he said to Jiang Jun, "Since Factory Head Jiang has summoned us, you must have made preparations.
Without further ado, why doesn't Factory Head Jiang show us the special features of this Steamship?"
Jiang Jun had been paying attention to Quan Yi's actions, and from Quan Yi's expressions and movements, he knew that Quan Yi had noticed the ship's special qualities.
Joy also appeared on his face.
He immediately began to direct the crew around him.
Several men surrounding the ship boarded in an orderly fashion.
A burst of noisy footsteps echoed on the deck above.
Jiang Jun then walked towards the ship and said, "It's not very clear from here, why don't you all come aboard to observe?"
Everyone naturally wanted to observe the ship's condition up close, so they followed Jiang Jun onto the ship.
However, as soon as they boarded, they saw that the crew members were not manipulating the masts, but instead, they were diving into the space below the deck and hurriedly transporting some kind of supplies down there.
Quan Yi and the others followed Jiang Jun's steps into the space leading below.
As soon as they approached, a scorching heatwave hit them.
They saw that the space below the deck was completely different from the exterior.
Inside, more than half of the space was filled with metal-forged machinery.
And those crew members were carrying sacks in their hands, piling a huge amount of coal into a large Boiler.
The crew members were each in their positions, with some responsible for shoveling the coal they brought in into the Combustion Chamber of the Boiler.
In just a moment, the heat from the burning coal filled the entire space.
The heat carried by the burning coal heated the large water storage device above.
The smoke from the combustion was discharged outside the ship through the exhaust pipes.
That thick iron pillar standing outside the ship was the exhaust pipe connected here.
With the addition of a large amount of coal, the heat in the Combustion Chamber quickly heated the water tank above.
Before long, accompanied by a sharp Steam whistle.
Countless interconnected gears, driven by Steam, slowly rotated, and the complex and disordered massive metal structure seemed to form a perfect unity at this moment.
Showing everyone its special mechanical beauty.
Jiang Jun explained to everyone, "We don't yet have the experience and ability to perfectly replicate the Steel Steamship provided by Young Master.
However, I discovered that taking out the Steam power unit separately and installing it on a wooden frame is completely fine.
Therefore, our Shipyard and the Forge have jointly completed this Wooden Steamship."
Quan Yi couldn't help but applaud upon hearing Jiang Jun's explanation.
"This kind of adaptability is very rare for craftsmen.
Worthy of being Factory Head Jiang, to think of a point that even I didn't notice."
Jiang Jun felt a sense of recognition in his heart upon hearing Quan Yi's praise.
However, Jiang Jun was naturally introverted, and he humbly said to Quan Yi, "No, the Steam engine and the overall structure were completed by Young Master and the blacksmiths of the Forge. I am only doing the assembly work.
It's not worth Young Master's praise.
Now that the Steam engine has started, why don't we move to the deck to get a more intuitive feel for how this ship will move."
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