The temporary shipyard by the Chishui River was crowded with people.
Everyone knows that a strange kind of boat is being built in this wooden shed. Its shell is like a huge bathtub, made of gray cement. Once that kind of thing solidifies, it is no different from stone, and it is thrown into the water. Except for a thud, not even a shadow could be seen.
The craftsmen who came to work here gave it an apt name: the bathtub boat.
Today is the day when the first two prototype ships are launched.
The crowd of onlookers can be roughly divided into two categories. One is the residents who have newly joined Border Town. They are quite curious about the news, or they are unbelievable. fishermen and sailors. The other category is the local residents. They have long been accustomed to the various miracles created by His Highness. They have also heard of the previous "Small Town". They gathered here in the light of snow, just to meet the prince they worshiped. Your Highness.
Kakusim is the former.
When His Royal Highness posted the news and the new recruitment order on the notice board in the square, he said that he would come here to have a look no matter what. Vader had no choice but to ask Mr. Carter for a leave of absence and accompany him to come here with someone who was unfamiliar with him. In addition to the heavy snow accumulation, he was really worried that the other party would go to the place where the crowd gathered, if he was accidentally caught. Pushing and falling is an almost irreversible injury to the elderly.
"You underestimate me too much, child," the old man waved his hand, indicating that he didn't have to follow him. "I have also experienced strong winds and waves. Although I am old, my body is not much worse than yours."
"Yes," Vader said disapprovingly, "I've already asked for leave anyway, so it's too late for you to say anything. I just don't quite understand why you have to watch this thing go into the water? Isn't it a ship?"
"But you said it was made of gray stone," Kakusim shook his head. "Can a stone the size of a bathtub float on water these days?"
It's all my fault, Vader thought to himself, when I was chatting with him, I somehow talked about the announcement in the square, "Perhaps Your Highness is just exaggerating, a wooden boat is probably partly made of that kind of cement, right? "
"That's even more impossible," the old man insisted. "Just think about it, when was this wooden shed built?"
"It seems to be... over a month ago."
"Yes, it was before you were recruited as a police officer. When we moved into the inner city of the town, it was still an open space!" It only took half a month to build the first ship?"
"Uh, what's wrong?" Vader asked in confusion.
"Of course not!" shouted Kakusim, "in the name of the god of the sea! I have never seen a boat that can be built in just half a month, it doesn't matter the size, as long as it's a sailboat, it's just processing the ribs. It takes more than a month, and it needs to wait for the wood to dry completely before bending it with steam, which is extremely troublesome and impossible to complete in a short period of time.”
Vader asked in surprise, "How come you are so familiar with shipbuilding...?"
"I used to be a captain, child," the old man sighed. "When I was young, I used to carry a large amount of cargo and traveled through Haifeng County and Bishui Port, as well as the Kingdom of Dawn and the Fjord Islands. Later Because of a few things... it got to this point."
"You never told me that before." He widened his eyes.
"You never asked, child." Kakusim shrugged.
"Okay," Vader turned his attention to the shipyard, "so what you are really curious about is the technology that your Highness can build a sailboat in half a month."
"No captain would be curious," he said, stroking his beard. "If His Highness didn't lie, do you know what it means? In just a year or two, he can make all the rivers in Greycastle run up to him. fleet."
Vader's heart moved, "Are you going to..."
The old man smiled, "I can't keep eating your porridge for nothing."
"Of course His Royal Highness won't lie," someone suddenly said beside him, "and it's not a sailboat either."
Vader turned his head, the speaker was a young man with an accent like a native of the Westlands, "Not a sailboat?"
"Yes, it can sail without a sail, and it is faster than any sailboat." The other party said proudly, "Have you ever seen a steam engine with white fog in the mine? It can easily drag a basket of ore. The kind that comes out of the mine, these cement boats are powered by it, and according to His Highness, they are all steam boats!"
"Can you sail without a sail?" Kakusim questioned, "Boy, what are you talking about, if a boat doesn't have a sail, it can only be rowed by an oarsman, and this speed cannot be compared to other Sailing boats. Besides, they haven't been launched yet, and you haven't even seen them before, so how do you know they can move?"
"Of course I've seen it," the young man grinned. "You are new foreigners, so it's normal not to know. In summer, I rebuilt a steamship for the caravan across the strait. But that's normal. The boats are still made of wood, not as durable as these stone boats."
Vader wanted to say something, but the other party's eyes suddenly lit up and he pointed in the direction of the shipyard, "Look there, His Royal Highness has come out!"
There was a burst of cheers from the crowd, and all raised their hands in greeting to their lord.
Prince Roland boarded the temporary wooden platform beside the shipyard, said a few words of congratulations, and then announced the launch of the new ship.
In the cadence of slogans, the workers dismantled the side of the wooden shed facing the Chishui River, and a 40-meter-long gray hull slid down the river bank along the snow and plunged into the icy river.
Vader raised his heart. He almost thought that this thing would sink directly to the bottom of the water, but he didn't expect that after the rest of the boat entered the water, the bow of the boat was lifted up again, and a large bunch of water splashes were also set off.
The crowd erupted into enthusiastic applause again.
"God, it really floated," Kakusim was stunned for a moment, "but, is it really made of stone?"
Vader also had the same doubt. The surface of the bathtub ship looked too smooth, like finely polished granite slabs, but there were no traces of patchwork on it, and the whole hull was integrated. The undecked cabin was so shallow that no one could sleep at all, and the bottom was so flat that the mast couldn't be fixed at all, and it was, as everyone said, a bathtub.
But no matter what, His Royal Highness did build the ship within half a month.
He looked at Kakusim and found that the other party's eyes flashed with enthusiasm.
"I want to apply for the position of captain," said the old man.
(.)