King of Mercenaries

Chapter 71: Build a lighthouse dock

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Standing on a high hill by the sea in Te Horenche, a fishing village, looking at the busy Mars waterway in the south, Marin suddenly felt that building a trading port in Te Horenche was a good choice.

"My lord, the Mars Waterway in the south is the main waterway for merchant ships in Amsterdam..." Dalyan, the auxiliary bishop of Texel Island who accompanied the inspection, introduced.

"Amsterdam's merchant ships mainly go out to sea here? I have read the map, and it seems that there is a gap between other islands in the West Frisian Islands. The distance between Bitssel Island and Den Helder is large. Isn't a wider waterway more suitable for going to sea? Is it?" Marin asked puzzled.

"Lord Baron, you don't know something. Although, the distance between other islands is wider than the Mars Channel. However, to pass through those channels, you must pass through a very shallow sea—the Wadden Sea. The Wadden Sea is very shallow, and there are many islands on the sea. Shoals. If you don’t take a specific route, a large ship with a deep draft will easily run aground in the Wadden Sea. However, if you take the Mars Channel, it is not easy to run aground. The water depth here is deeper than most parts of the Wadden Sea... "

"I see. Then, the Mars Waterway is still the main channel for merchant ships from Amsterdam to go to sea?"

"It should be said that it is the only way for the large merchant ships in Amsterdam to go to sea. Those small merchant ships have a shallow draft, and they can easily enter and leave the Wadden Sea just like those small fishing boats."

"How is the size of a ship determined?"

"It's bigger than the flagship 'Santa Maria' led by the Italian Columbus in Spain. It's basically a big ship..." Assistant Bishop Dalyan said uncertainly.

There is no such thing as tonnage in the Middle Ages, so we can only look for reference. Dalyan had been to Spain to visit old friends in the religious circles, and happened to see the flagship that Columbus set off. The fact that Columbus "discovered India" is very famous, so Dalyan is used for comparison.

"'Santa Maria'? That's a displacement of more than a hundred tons..." In fact, Marin has never heard of Columbus's specific deeds in this life. But, he knew it in his previous life.

"Anyway, a ship larger than the 'Santa Maria' is easy to run aground in the Wadden Sea. A ship smaller than it is fine in the Wadden Sea." Dalyan said. He has been in Texel for many years and is almost 50 years old, so he is naturally well-informed.

Marin nodded, indicating that he understood. The "Santa Maria" has a draft of only 1.98 meters, which is incomparable with those sailing ships that often have a draft of several meters. In other words, on the Wadden Sea, the safe draft is more than 2 meters. Of course, that was without a survey route. If specific shoals are surveyed, navigation marks and lighthouses are set up, and a suitable route is chosen, the big ship will actually go the same way.

"Bishop Dalyan, why isn't there a lighthouse here?" Marin asked strangely.

"Lord Baron, generally only large ports will set up lighthouses..."

"Why?"

"Only a large port has a large number of ships entering and leaving, so there is a need for a lighthouse. Like Te Horenche and Den Helder on the opposite side, they are both small fishing villages. Is it necessary to set up a lighthouse?"

"We don't need it, but don't the people of Amsterdam need it?"

"My lord, the people of Amsterdam don't have the right to control the land here. Only the local lord can decide whether to set up a lighthouse. Moreover, the construction cost of the lighthouse is high, and the maintenance cost is also high. Every night, a raging fire must be maintained, and it will It takes a lot of firewood..." Lighthouses need to gas a big flame to make enough light. The firewood has a high flame and high brightness, which is just right. As for coal, the flame is low, and many of them are still inconspicuous blue fires, which are not suitable for burning on lighthouses.

"What about the income?"

"If Te Horenche builds a lighthouse, many ships will definitely choose to dock here. However, Lord Baron, Te Horenche is only a fishing boat dock. To become a commercial port, we must build a few more long bridges deep into the sea The pier." After staying by the sea for a long time, Dalyan has also gained a lot of experience.

"It makes sense, how much does it cost to build a lighthouse? What about the pier?" Marin has little experience with these.

"It costs about 800 gold coins to build a 10-story ordinary stone lighthouse. Afterwards, the fuel consumption per night is estimated to cost 10 gold coins... and if the wharf is built, three long stone bridge wharfs cost 1,000 gold coins. It’s almost there. The main cost is the import of stone materials from outside, as well as the cost of hiring masons and masons... "

"It's only less than two thousand gold coins? It's cheap..." Marin pouted, expressing no pressure.

"Uh..." The auxiliary bishop of Dalyan stopped talking, what can he say when facing a local tyrant...

Marin inspected it and found that Te Horenche is indeed an excellent sheltered harbor with sufficient depth and facing southeast, so it is not easily threatened by the westerly wind on the North Sea.

Therefore, Marin decided on the spot to build a lighthouse and a pier. The lighthouse was built at the end of that hilly peninsula that dips into the sea south of Te Horenche Bay. Under the guidance of the lighthouse, ships can enter the port of Te Horenche smoothly at night. At the same time, the lighthouse can also provide certain directions for ships sailing on the Mars Waterway.

However, his financial administrator, Kohler, is busy looking for the family members of the 400 soldiers, and currently has no time to deal with this matter. Schwartz, on the other hand, is a standard military officer who doesn't understand civil affairs.

As for Marin himself, he didn't have the time to personally supervise the construction of lighthouses and docks...

Marin suddenly felt that it was time to recruit more talents...

In fact, most of the original officials on the island withdrew after Marin took over. Because those people, especially those who are educated, are subordinates of other nobles, and it is impossible to work for Marin. As for the few local officials left behind, it is okay to be a village head or something, but to handle specific affairs, they have to find educated people. First of all, several so-called "officials" in the local area are actually illiterate. In fact, at the beginning, they were all followers of officials sent from the mainland, and they were professionally responsible for running errands.

In the Middle Ages, only the children of nobles, priests and wealthy families had the opportunity to receive education. The servants of nobles also have some opportunities to receive education due to work needs. For those civilians, most of the families are in a bad financial situation, and eating is a problem. How can there be conditions for children to study

Therefore, even if you are selecting talents, you must choose among the children of nobles and children of rich families. As for the priests, they are the Pope's subordinates, and they cannot return to the secular world, and it is impossible to serve the secular lords.

This made Marin start to think about whether to promote compulsory education on the island? However, among my staff, only Schwartz has read the book, and Kohler can also read a few words. But to find a suitable person to be a teacher, there is really no one. I can be a teacher myself, but I am too talented. Moreover, I still have to fight wars and build territories in the future. There are many things to do, and I don't have much time to teach...