Release that Witch Chapter 74: The great shipbuilding industry

"What, can't afford it?" Roland sat in the office, and the document/secretary, which asked for additional administrative staff and the purchase of sailing boats, was on his desk.

Barov cleared his throat, "Your Highness, that's true. The price of a two-masted sailing boat is between 80 and 120 gold royal, but this is only the cost of the shipbuilding. Even the people on board are more than that. Now, the total price is estimated to be more than 200 gold royal. "

"Did I not say that I don't need a sailor or a helmsman? The captain doesn't need it either, I just need the boat." Roland asked at the table. With Wendy, he did not need so many people to operate the sailing boat. Most river boats are straight sails, and they operate just like raising and lowering flags. The oarsmen and sailors are superfluous, and the helmsman pulls up to try then it will be alright. Anyway, with vector wind, are you still afraid that the boat will not go forward?

"His Highness, there is no such sale, at least not in Willow Town." Barov explained carefully, "You may not know much about this industry. Generally, the owner of a ship is the captain. It may be a merchant or it may be It is noble. After the former recruits its own staff, it will travel between the big town dock and ship or transport goods. In the latter case, an additional captain will usually be recruited to follow the ship for himself. Employees are not paid monthly. , But once every one to three years. "

"Most of the time, ships and people are tied together. If you plan to buy a boat from the captain instead of the men he hires, then he is equivalent to losing his salary. Eighty gold royal payments , Even for the big noble, it is not a number that can be arbitrarily cut off. At the beginning of the month, the raw gems trade with Willow Town is counted. Now City Hall has a total of 315 gold royal balances. If you spend more than half of it on the boat, the next one Your militia team will not be able to pay for this month. "Assistant Minister said in one breath, raised his glass and drank ale.

"Most of the time you say ..."

"Yes," he nodded. "There are two types of situation that will be sold for empty ships. The first is that the businessman urgently needs cash to sell the property. At this time, he will dismiss all the crew and sell the ship as soon as possible. The second is the replacement of new ships, which is well understood. But I have to say that both situation are very rare. "

"Wait," Roland frowned. "You said you bought a new boat ... where did these ships come from?"

"Port of Clear Water, Sea Wind Region, North Cape. Only harbor cities have docks, and only they can build ships."

Originally, "This kind of sale could not be found in Willow Town" means this. Roland was silent for a while, and it was too far to go to the seaport city to buy a ship, and it did not hire crew members. Who helped to get the ship back? "In this case, I will consider it again."

After Assistant Minister retreated, the prince was lost in thought.

Shipping is an irreplaceable part of his strategic plan. Without fast and convenient boat transportation, he would not be able to take the cannon to complete the double-jacket. The troops of stronghold Duke are generally recruiting farmers, Knight and mercenary. The marching speed must not be faster, but they are slower. As Carter said, purely by land, a mud pit can make cannon difficult to walk --. Land transportation in this era is not an asphalt road, not even stone slab. But there were more people leaving, and a path came out. It's fine on a sunny day, and it will be muddy when it rains.

In the end, do you have to make it by yourself?

Roland spread out a sheet of paper and recorded the specifications he needed.

First of all, this is a ship that can transport one to two cannon, plus about 30 people. The ship can be propelled without power. Secondly, the ship travels in the river and requires smooth and reliable, not easy to sink, and shallow draft. Third, to be easy to operate, militia can quickly get started after short-term training.

Combining these points, there is only one answer left ... flat barge.

Before the crossing of Roland, this kind of ship with extremely shallow draught and very low center of gravity could be seen everywhere, almost all the river mains. In the past, those ships that were piled up with river sand or stones and the side of the ship was almost flat with the water were flat-bottom barges. As long as there was a tugboat, they could pull several barges like a train.

After the ship type is determined, the next key point is to choose which material to build.

Roland write three options on paper: wood, iron, cement.

Using wood as a boat is the earliest tree of nautical technology illuminated by mankind. From rafts to sail battleships, from rivers to the ocean, wooden boats can be described as enduring. Unfortunately, Roland does not understand how to use a log to build a punt, and there are no related artisans. If you rely on a few carpenters to harden it, it is likely to be a large raft, or one that may fall apart at any time.

In the case of iron ship, the structure is similar to building a house. The crisscross primary and secondary beams form the keel, which is then covered with iron sheet. When welding from Anna, the overall stiffness is guaranteed. However, this approach will exhaust the already small iron ore reserve, which is less than a last resort. These iron ore are obviously more suitable choices for the production of steam engine and barrels.

Then the cement ship becomes the last option. The -- city wall has been built, and the raw materials are still left. Anna can be calcined once or twice to get enough cement powder. The construction process is also much easier than iron ship. As long as the formwork is used to form the wood, the iron bars used as steel bars are arranged, and then filled with cement. Even in the countryside of his hometown, several cement boats can be built for fishing. Compared to iron ship, which requires regular rust removal and painting, it does not even need maintenance after it is built. It can be said to be cheap and durable. Even if you have n’t learned how to build ocean-going ships and build low-tech river barges, should n’t it be a problem?

With the mentality of trying, Roland picked up a quill and quickly sketched the barge.

...

Scarlet Water River set up a fenced shed.

To facilitate launching, Roland places the shipbuilding site as close to the river bank as possible.

The shed can block snow with shelter. At the same time, two pots of charcoal are burning in the room to avoid the low temperature affecting the effect of cement hardening.

The carpenter's planed wood formwork has spelled out the basic outline of the hull. The bow of the -- is arc-shaped, reducing forward resistance, and the tail is square to increase the load area. The boat is about twenty-four feet (8 meters) wide and has a 3: 1 aspect ratio. Compared to the slender figure of a conventional ship, it is a fat man. There is a brig in the middle. The mast is inserted into the bottom of the ship and connected to an iron beam running through the centerline of the ship. A stump was also set up at the stern as a rudder reserve. Elsewhere, criss-crossed bars of iron were laid.

It doesn't matter if there is no iron wire for lashing, all the intersections of the iron bars are welded firmly by Anna, forming an iron net all over the bottom of the ship.

When the "template" and "rebar" are ready, Roland orders the workers to start pouring.

The mixed cement is poured into the formwork by a pot, with a flat bottom in the middle and a height of about one meter and five sides around it, which is used as the side wall of the shipyard. At first glance, it looks like a large bathtub with a unique shape.

All the people involved in the construction, including Anna, did not expect that this weird thing made of the same material as the city wall was actually a ship.