The first item in the report sent by the Min dynasty Navy experts to the Military Commission was the "characteristics of the German warships." The report made the people in the Military Commission who wanted to attack Yao Bang feel very troubled.
The German Navy used oil-fired boilers and armor box designs. If the shipbuilding experts didn't specifically point out that both had a strong British style, the Military Commission could immediately put the blame on Yao Bang. However, the Min dynasty's shipbuilding experts were very professional, which gave the Min dynasty some insight into the British shipbuilding level. The Min dynasty Navy boasted that it was unparalleled in the world based on material science and warship design. The level of British materials was still uncertain, but the level of British design seemed to have made great progress.
Of course, Vézé could understand his comrades' nervousness, but in history, the armor box, oil-fired boilers, and steam turbines were all developed by the British first. In 1905, the British revolutionized the design of the dreadnought battleship. After seeing the speed and combat power of the Min dynasty battleships, Vézé didn't believe that the British were completely uninspired.
Yao Bang didn't expect the Navy to be so persistent about the previous matter. What was even more unexpected was that the Navy actually sent someone over to talk to Yao Bang about how to collect intelligence on the German Navy. After confirming that the Navy really had this plan, Yao Bang almost wanted to curse out loud. Half a year ago, the Navy went against Yao Bang for this matter. After Yao Bang finally settled the matter, the Navy actually thought of using the relationship that Yao Bang had established with the Germans to find out the inside story of German shipbuilding.
"If you want to talk about this, get your Navy's political commissar to see me!" Yao Bang said angrily.
At this time, Vézé was attending a meeting of the Ministry of Water Resources. The Ministry of Water Resources had done a lot of research in the past few years on the large-scale adjustment of domestic waterways. The first thing that was decided at this meeting was to restore the Dreamy Cloud Lake. The natural environment of the southwest region had been restored, and the water in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River had become clear. Under the erosion of clean water and artificial dredging, two of the nine and thirteen acupuncture points of the Dreamy Cloud Lake had been opened. For the current Min dynasty, a hundred square kilometers of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River becoming a lake was nothing at all. The officials of those provinces all knew what the Military Governor Vaize thought of the Dreamy Cloud Swampland. So what if tens of thousands of square kilometers became a lake? Since it was a policy favored by the commander-in-chief, as long as they cooperated well, they would have the opportunity to be promoted and make a fortune. In the future, he might even be able to leave behind a good reputation as the savior of the Dreamy Cloud Lake.
The Yangtze River Basin could still be considered a natural process, but the Huai River Basin had to rely on manpower. Fortunately, the policy of planting mulberry trees on both sides of the Huai River was implemented. The people could pick mulberry trees and raise silkworms. Therefore, they immediately understood the importance of planting trees and transforming the Huai River. Barren hills and unruly rivers produce unruly people. The people who had suffered for a long time on both sides of the Huai River were very impolite to the unruly people who cut down their own trees. It was common for them to beat the unruly people who were discovered, and it was also common for them to be beaten to death. Fortunately, with the education of the government and the arrest of the public, especially after the mulberry trees were planted, the tree-planting people's actions were gradually not as extreme as before. The dredgers in the middle and lower reaches of the river stepped up their work. Under the scouring of clean water, the Huai River had deepened by more than a meter on average over the past few years. This positive change was still continuing.
Even though the Yangtze River Basin and the Huai River Basin had undergone very good changes, no one in the Water Conservancy Department dared to make a judgment on the Yellow River Basin. The more history they read, the more they understood that the Yellow River had wreaked havoc on the Hebei Plain. If the soil and water conservation problem on the Loess Plateau could not be solved, there was no way to ensure that the Yellow River would not have problems on the Hebei Plain. The Yangtze River and the Huai River could still be scoured by natural clean water, but restoring the old Yellow River required digging a new channel. The amount of work required was astonishing. When the meeting ended, Vézé did not dare to talk nonsense. This was a responsibility that even Vézé felt he could not shoulder.
After the Zhengzhou Water Conservancy Conference, Vézé returned to Beijing. The Military Commission hoped to conduct a comprehensive defense survey of the European countries' shipbuilding capabilities. It was obvious that everyone was quite nervous. This made Vézé very unhappy at first, but when he calmed down and thought about it, Vézé felt relieved. As a person from the lower reaches of history, Vézé was very familiar with the trajectory of history and knew the limits of development. The comrades of the Min dynasty did not have such insight and mentality. It could be seen that the speed of the British Navy's development made the Min dynasty Navy feel a strong sense of pressure and crisis.
"Comrades, I can understand your uneasiness, but this feeling is completely unnecessary. In addition, I would like to ask if you are very dissatisfied with the reduction of military spending in the past few years? "Vézé raised a question that he had carefully considered. Normally, when the comrades of the Military Commission heard Vézé's question, they would instinctively deny it. But now the comrades were like old monks in meditation, not saying a word. It was also a fact that the Navy's military spending had been greatly reduced in the past few years.
Vézé had to let the military have a clearer understanding of the future prospects. "The latest communication equipment and automatic computing equipment are being researched, just like the tube computer we have just completed."
The comrades of the military were impressed by the tube computer. In order to shoot accurately with various calibers and types of artillery, it was necessary to accurately calculate and draw a "firing chart". Only by checking the table to determine the angle of the muzzle could the shot hit the flying target. However, each number required thousands of quadruple operations to be calculated, and a dozen people with hand-cranked mechanical computers for several months to complete a "chart". This was only a small part of the military's needs, and a large number of calculations were required in a wide range of fields. After the life of the diode was extended, the Min dynasty began to do computer research. After more than ten years of hard work, there were finally results.
"Commander-in-chief, how big will the new computer be?" The Navy Commissar's tone was not optimistic. The impact of the computer was indeed great, but the Navy was worried about the practicality of this thing. The first-generation computer covered an area of 170 square meters and weighed 30 tons. It used 18000 electron tubes, 6000 switches, 7000 resistors, 10000 capacitors, 500,000 wires, and consumed 140 kilowatts of power. It could perform 5000 operations per second. This thing could not be installed on a warship.
Vézé knocked on the conference table. "The volume will be about this big, 100,000 operations per second, 20 times the current computer, and the power consumption will be 40 kilowatts per hour. It will weigh a few tons. Most importantly, there is no need to worry about the problem of the calculator failing due to the turbulence of the sea. Do you think this is acceptable? "
The Navy had never doubted Vézé. For many years, everyone knew that the Commander-in-chief was the one who could really solve the problem. So after Vézé said this, everyone was stunned at first, and then began to giggle. The Navy Commander, who was not optimistic at all, rubbed his hands like a simple farmer and couldn't help but grimace.
The Min dynasty Navy had decades of history, and everyone was very clear about their own situation. The Navy was a force that relied on accumulation, and all the officers on the entire ship needed to accumulate for a long time. The Min dynasty's current strength relied on the current technology. Warships had a large tonnage, moved fast, and fought fiercely. It was different from the hundreds of years of accumulation in the United Kingdom. It was precisely because they knew their own situation that the Min dynasty Navy was worried about the development of British naval technology. It was precisely because they knew their own situation that the upper echelons of the Min dynasty Navy were well aware of the changes that Vézé's computer could bring to the Navy.
A qualified gunnery officer had to record a large amount of data in his mind, and based on a variety of judgments, he would remember a bombardment parameter. The sea was turbulent, the hull was constantly shaking, and the distance between the ship and the enemy was constantly changing. It was difficult to train a gunnery officer who was as good as a god, and the rate of a gunnery officer who was as good as a god was also very low. If they could calculate the bombardment parameters at any time according to the situation on the scene, the accuracy of the bombardment would be greatly improved. People make mistakes, but machines don't. This change was bound to be revolutionary.
The Navy Commissar was, after all, a political commissar. He asked, "Commander-in-chief, don't you want us to carry out intelligence work against Britain?"
Vézé smiled. "It's not that I don't want to. Of course, intelligence work has to be done. Now I hope that everyone can focus on themselves. It's never the enemy's mistakes that decide things. When we first entered the Indian Ocean, how much did we know about the latest British warships? We only knew after the battle. At any time, we have to improve our strength. "
These words were very steady. The comrades of the Navy looked at each other, and the Commissar said, "Commander-in-chief, we know that you always say it after it's done, and you don't even say it after it's done. For example, things like computers, please give us a preview first. Otherwise, we only look at the military budget and think that the Navy will not develop for the next ten years. Now we know that in the next ten years, the combat power of the Navy will not only improve, but it will also improve a lot. "
Vézé replied calmly, "The army also needs to have their own ideas about scientific and technological progress."
Yao Bang did not know that the matter had been resolved. He was still waiting for the Navy to make a new move. The Navy did not come, but the Japanese did. When the Military Governor Vaize passed through Japan, he talked about the issue of Japanese work visas for the Min dynasty. The Japanese were very concerned about this, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been annoyed for several months.
After negotiations, the two sides finally reached an agreement to establish a communication platform. Yao Bang looked at the final agreement and said angrily, "The Japanese came here to beg for food, and they even asked for conditions. They asked for salaries and the number of people. Absolutely not! "
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had the same opinion as Yao Bang this time. At that time, the Min dynasty had a lot of dirty work to deal with, so they paid a high price and were very relaxed about the number. The Japanese did make a great contribution. Now that the Min dynasty had entered a period of peace, there was no dirty work for the Japanese. And the Japanese even wanted to pay according to the standards of the North American war.
"We will tell the Japanese that the Min dynasty will only provide a part of the job content. Whether there are any units that want to recruit people depends on the needs of the Min dynasty. As for the salary, humph, it is not up to the Japanese to decide. "The person in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also angry.
At this time, Yao Bang also felt the same enemy. He just snorted and signed the document.
About this time, a distinguished guest came to Edo. Although the Japanese received him in a low-key manner, they were very serious. The receptionist received instructions from the top that the distinguished guest did not want to be publicized, so he used the Japanese name 'Tokuhira Taro'. The purpose of Tokuhira Taro's trip was to recruit workers.
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