320: Chapter 320 Xu Fu's Excitement!

Xu Fu was also among those in the party.

He had long been interested in the steam ironship that Zhao Fusu wanted to build.

"Greetings, Your Majesty the Paramount Leader."

Upon seeing Zhao Fusu, Zhongli Wei and Ouyang Feng bowed respectfully to him.

"Mhm."

After a slight nod, Zhao Fusu went straight to the point and asked, "How is the development of the steam ironship coming along?"

"The first-generation product has already been completed,"

Zhongli Wei said, "however, it hasn't undergone sea trials yet, and the hull's sealing has not been tested."

Building a ship is just like building a car; it's not enough to just finish it.

It also requires extensive testing to verify if the machine's operation is stable under various working conditions.

Ouyang Feng said, "We were planning to launch it for testing today."

"Then it's a perfect coincidence."

Zhao Fusu smiled and said, "Take me to have a look."

"Understood."

Zhongli Wei and Ouyang Feng led Zhao Fusu to the dry dock of the Wei River Shipyard.

The steam ironship was built inside the dry dock.

Zhao Fusu looked at the steam ironship, which was about 45 meters long, over 9 meters wide, and had a displacement of 100 tons.

This was Great Qin's first steam ironship, and its cost was no less than a thousand pieces of gold!

Zhao Fusu felt a twinge of pain building this steam ironship; he had invested too much money into it.

He had to admit that shipbuilding was a gold-swallowing beast!

Not to mention in ancient times, even in the modern era, building ships is not something small nations can manage.

Besides testing a nation's industrial capability, it also burns through money tremendously.

If automatic cannons were installed to turn it into a warship, the money-burning would be even more severe under a high rate of fire.

"When the cannons roar, gold flows by the thousands" is not a joke!

"What a massive ship!"

"Is the entire hull made of metal?!"

Xu Fu touched the hull.

"Correct."

Zhongli Wei and Ouyang Feng nodded and said, "The ability of this steam ironship to withstand wind and waves is far greater than that of a wooden ship."

"According to the design blueprints, this ship can sail 240 kilometers in 32 hours, whereas a regular sailing ship would take four days and nights for the same journey!"

Xu Fu's face was full of excitement.

His eyes shining, he said to Zhao Fusu, "Your Majesty the Paramount Leader, with this steam ironship, can't we significantly shorten the time it takes to reach Japan?"

"Currently, when we go from Great Qin to Japan, it's mostly during the summer, utilizing the southwest wind to sail eastward."

"Returning from Japan to Great Qin happens in the winter, utilizing the northeast wind to sail westward."

"Our voyages rely too heavily on wind direction."

"If the wind direction is unfavorable, besides the sailing time being greatly extended, we might even be unable to set out and have to just wait!"

"Mhm."

Zhao Fusu nodded slightly.

Xu Fu knew more about this than he did.

Xu Fu continued, "Departing from Cixi Port and crossing the East China Sea to the east is the shortest route directly to Japan."

"Mhm."

Zhao Fusu nodded; he had calculated that the straight-line distance from Cixi Port to the Shimane Tribe region was 1,100 kilometers.

"But wooden ships have weak resistance to wind and waves. Although this route is shorter, the risk is too high."

Xu Fu sighed, "We would need to directly face the deep sea and the unpredictable wind and waves of the East China Sea."

"Therefore, we can only take a detour."

"Our fleet needs to head north along the coast of Great Qin, cross the Yellow Sea, pass through Gija Joseon, and then head south across the strait to reach Japan."

"My round trip was very smooth, as I happened to sail with the wind both ways; that's why it only took one month to reach Japan and another month to return."

"If we encountered storms, headwinds, or even no wind at all, it would take much longer—at least double the time!"

Zhao Fusu nodded, remembering that historical records of the Japanese missions to Tang China listed sailing times between 30 and 70 days.