At the end of April, spring and scenery are bright, and everything is flourishing. Pillars of burning smoke rose across the kingdom. Under the guidance of the village priest, the farmers leveled the land, prepared to plant grain, repaired farm tools, and made various preparations for spring plowing nervously. In order to complete the strict requirements for land reclamation, some villages are even more anxious and have even started farming.
In this busy season, Shulot was not idle either. With two hundred armored guards, he left the river mouth fortress and went straight to the dock on the river bank.
Not long ago, the Northern Shipbuilding Company sent good news. After more than a year of exploration and manufacturing, the first Kingdom galley was finally launched!
The king traveled quickly, stepping on the green grass of spring, and soon arrived at the dock at the mouth of the river.
The craftsmen at the shipyard have already been waiting outside. The leading shipwright master Pukuta has gray hair, an obsidian necklace around his neck, and the robe of a divine priest. Yes, after the establishment of the Northern Shipbuilding Division, Pukuta, as the most senior master shipwright, has been promoted to the second-level divine priest, Knowledger. He actually took charge of shipbuilding in the north and became one of the rulers of the kingdom.
"Your Majesty, Pukuta greets you!"
Pukuta knelt down to salute, and the shipyard craftsmen immediately knelt down. The senior shipwright in the front row also wears the robe of a first-level divine priest explorer. With this status, they can reduce taxes, reduce labor, and enjoy the same status as the village's preaching priests.
Shulot looked at the excited shipwrights in the assembly, smiled and nodded.
"Everyone, get up! Where are all the newly launched boats?"
Pukuta got up from the ground neatly. He straightened his back and smoothed the priest's robe. The overall robe is plain in color, simple and elegant. The left chest is painted with the hummingbird symbol of the main god, and the right chest is embroidered with two small square characters of "Bo Shi" as the symbol of the second-level priest. The senior shipwrights behind him also stood up, revealing the neat "Exploration" on their chests.
The divine robe is of course Shulot's design. In fact, when designing robes for the divine priests, the first symbol that appeared in his mind was the blue "beaker", and the second symbol was the "atom" with an orbit. As symbols of scientific research, these symbols represent the king's ardent hope for the divinely inspired priesthood.
The reason why he broke through the resistance and established the system of divine priests was to attract craftsmen and scholars from various industries, so that they could gain wealth and status through technological research and become the driving force for the development of productivity.
Pukuta confidently stretched out his hand and pointed towards Lake Quetseo outside the dock.
"Your Majesty, please come with me!"
Everyone moved their steps and soon arrived at the lake. The first thing that caught Xilot's eyes was a catamaran canoe. It is made of two small canoes with wooden beam decks and is carefully spliced together.
"Your Majesty, this wind canoe is about 7-8 meters in length. With the two decks, the width is 2-3 meters. It can carry 24 paddlers. If the extended deck is added, the load can be as high as several tons."
Hearing this, Xiuluo nodded. He pondered for a while and asked.
"The carrying capacity of this wind canoe seems to be similar to the kingdom's large canoe warship."
"Indeed!"
Pukuta nodded. He gestured the distance from the bow to the stern and explained.
"However, this kind of catamaran does not require big wood. The kingdom's big canoe needs a tough wood with a height of more than 15 meters and a diameter of 2-3 meters. The preparation of the wood is extremely long. And this kind of catamaran requires small wood of 7-8 meters. That’s it. At the same time, the design of this catamaran makes the boat faster and more stable, and the draft is also very shallow.”
With that said, Pukuta took two steps forward, boarded the catamaran, and explained to the king carefully.
"Your Majesty, please take a look! The foundation of this ship is two canoes made by hollowing out the centers of tree trunks. Then, design an outboard oar rack on each outside of the canoe. Then, connect the two ships with wooden beams. , fixed with tenon joints and copper nails. After completion, a deck was laid between the two ships, the front and rear masts were erected, reinforced with rigging, and sails made of sisal were added..."
Shulot watched carefully, looking at the carpentry workmanship connecting the two ships, and nodded repeatedly. After a while, Pukuta stopped talking and asked expectantly.
"Your Majesty, do you have any divine inspiration that can give you some guidance on the craftsmanship of this ship?"
"Well... this ship is the same from front to back, symmetrical from left to right, and the bow and stern are interchangeable. It is very flexible on the battlefield... The form of the sail can be adjusted appropriately, and you can try both jib and square sails..."
Shulot hesitated for a few words, then asked with a serious look on his face.
"Pukuta, what's the speed of this wind canoe?"
"...Your Majesty is wise."
Hearing this, Pukuta lowered his head and complimented expressionlessly. Then he suggested.
"As for the specific speed of the ship... the apprentice craftsmen at the shipyard are familiar with the ship and can demonstrate it to His Highness."
Shulot nodded in agreement. The two stepped off the boat and replaced them with two teams of 24 apprentice craftsmen as oarsmen. Soon, Pukuta waved the command flag with his own hands, and the apprentices puffed up their cheeks and rowed towards the lake with all their strength. From time to time, the boat would turn flexibly, even switch head to tail and row backwards.
The king stretched out his arm and measured with one eye closed, roughly estimating the speed of the ship.
"The paddlers pushed forward as hard as they could, and the maximum boat speed was 20 kilometers per hour, which is about 6 meters per second. Of course, this boat speed can last for a moment at most, and the normal traveling speed should be half of the limit. The water flow of Lake Quetseo Basically stationary, the speed of the ship with the downstream and countercurrent should be subtracted from the current speed. The rotating sail can use the wind to appropriately save the physical energy consumption of the paddlers..."
"Generally speaking, this is a flexible and stable small ship, similar to the Polynesian catamaran. It is mainly used in rivers and lakes. You can also try to sail offshore. It can also carry archers on the deck for water battles."
After looking at it for a moment, Shulot nodded with satisfaction.
"Pukuta, you did a great job! This kind of ship is low-cost and can be manufactured on a large scale to supplement the kingdom's navy. I will reward all craftsmen!"
Then, he looked to the other side of the dock and asked impatiently.
"That large long ship is the newly launched galley?"
"Exactly!"
Pukuta nodded proudly. He first waved the command flag to signal the wind canoe to return. Then, he personally led the king to the brand new galley.
"Your Highness, this is the result of the shipbuilding department's efforts for a year. A powerful warship that has never appeared in the kingdom, the Crocodile God's Galley!"
"...The Crocodile God's Galley?"
"Yes! Its shape is as graceful as the crocodile in the Leman River, and it is as strong and brave as the crocodile! And its speed is far faster than the crocodile!"
Shulot stopped, narrowed his eyes, and looked at the "huge" ship in front of him. The galley was much larger than he had expected. Its shape is long and slender, with a very shallow draft, like an enlarged version of a giant canoe. There is a long mast in the middle of the ship with a sail hung on it.
"...Isn't this the Viking longship? The 'Skei' that rides the wind and waves..."
"Your Highness is wise! Riding the wind and waves on the crocodile god's longship!"
Pukuta stood nearby and raised his head proudly after listening to half of it. He stretched out his hand and introduced to His Majesty.
"Your Majesty, this galley is about 20 meters long and 5.5 meters wide in the middle. It can accommodate 40 oarsmen on both sides of the hull. The middle of the ship can carry 40 soldiers or 30 tons of cargo! Its top speed is even Exceeding the Wind Canoe, the average speed is 10-16 kilometers per hour!"
"A warship that can accommodate 80 people, has a load capacity of up to 30 tons, and an average speed of 5-9 knots!"
Hearing this, Shulot was a little moved. He immediately stepped forward and carefully inspected the structure of the ship. Pukuta also stepped forward and explained everything proudly.
"Your Majesty, according to your guidance, we first selected a large oak tree more than 20 meters long from the shipyard inventory as the main keel that runs through the front and rear. It took several months to process this oak wood alone! Then, the craftsmen They spent several more months relying on the main keel and tenoning the keel frames on both sides to build symmetrical bows on both sides and fixing them with copper nails. After all this was done, the craftsmen could rivet the deck to the frame. and adding supporting ribs..."
"Further back, I personally erected the mast and sail mast in the center of the galley. They are 10 meters high! At the stern of the ship, according to the stern rudder idea you mentioned, I set up two fixed rudder oars. It is easy to turn. Then, after constant testing and adjustment, I finally completed this 'giant ship' that had never been seen before, and named it the Crocodile God Galley!"
Pukuta introduced his masterpiece with an aura as powerful as a crocodile.
Shulot listened attentively and said nothing, just nodded. Although this kind of longship had been widely used by the Vikings more than a thousand years ago to shuttle through the waves of the North Sea, in this era, in the world of Central America, it was indeed a powerful "giant ship" that had never been seen before. ", the navy that can crush all the ministries in the world!
It wasn't until Pukuta finished speaking that the king handed him his kettle and said with a smile.
"Pukuta, why don't you let me show you something?"
"Okay! Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Pukuta unscrewed the kettle and took a few sips. It turned out to be hibiscus tea with honey added, which was sour and sweet and very thirst-quenching. After finishing the drink, the old shipwright waved his hand.
"You, you, you... all go up and row the boat and demonstrate it to His Majesty!"
Forty apprentices then boarded the ship. They sat on the wooden piers on both sides of the ship with their backs to the bow. The apprentices held wooden oars several meters long in their hands, stretched their legs slightly, and stepped on the edge of the wooden pier in front to gain strength. On the side of the ship on both sides, there are small racks specially designed for placing wooden oars. If in wartime, a row of shields can be tied to the sides of the ship.
As the command flag waved, all the apprentices pulled the wooden oars to paddle the water and push the boat forward. Then, the wooden oar rises out of the water, moves through a half arc under the push, and falls into the water again to paddle. Repeating this cycle, the long boat pierced the water like a sharp arrow and rushed forward!
"Haha, okay, very good!"
Seeing the longship moving rapidly, Shulot waved his arms excitedly and laughed heartily.
The emergence of this longship means that the kingdom has finally broken through the limitations of the times and has the first type of ship that can truly sail on the sea! The Baja California Islands, the Isthmus of Panama, even the Caribbean Islands, the Inca Coast...the magnificent maritime world and the endless hope for the future have finally opened their arms to the king.
After a while, Shulot turned around with satisfaction and looked at Pukuta who was also excited.
"Pukuta, I want to reward you generously! Witness the Lord God! From today on, as the head of the shipbuilding department, you are the third-level divine priest and wood driller! Within the kingdom, your status will be the same as the second-level hereditary The nobles are equal and granted 2,400 acres of land!"
"Ah! Praise the Lord God! Thank you, thank you for your generous reward!"
Pukuta was stunned and overjoyed. He suddenly fell to his knees and paid homage to the king. From then on, his family jumped up and completely entered the ranks of the upper-class nobility, joining the kingdom.
Hearing such a reward, the craftsmen behind also became red-eyed. Shulot glanced at them and made a generous promise.
"If the shipbuilder develops a new ship, all craftsmen will be rewarded! The kingdom will give you gold, silver, gems, cotton and cocoa! And in order of merit, the best three will be promoted to the second level of wood drillers, and the next seven will be promoted to the first level. Explorer!”
Low exclamations sounded among the craftsmen. The king's reward is extremely generous! As long as they obtain the position of priest, the craftsmen can change their status and become a member of the ruler of the kingdom. This is the smooth road to change your destiny!
Shulot looked at everyone with a smile, hope flowing in his heart. Then, he asked again expectantly.
"Pukuta, how did you study the sand ship scroll I gave you?"
"His Majesty..."
Pukuta hesitated for a while and said bluntly.
"Your second volume of ship plans cannot be produced by the shipbuilder."
"Um?"
Shulot frowned slightly and looked at Pukuta calmly.
The heavy pressure hit me, making my knees weak. Pukuta gritted his teeth, straightened his back, and shook his head affirmatively.
"Your Majesty, the shipbuilder cannot understand the flat keel you are talking about, so he can only slowly explore and try. Shipbuilding is a job that relies on experience and technology. Without experience and technology, if you can't build it, you can't build it. Unless there is something more powerful. Master Shipwright joins.”
Speaking of this, Pukuta looked confident. In his opinion, the only people in the world who could surpass the people in the lake in shipbuilding technology were the Maya tribes in the far east. Among the people in the lake, there is definitely no one who can surpass him in shipbuilding.
"The only way is to keep trying to build new ships, and then improve and rebuild after trial and error. I have carefully studied the ship type you mentioned. If I want to have a rough finished product, it will take at least ten years to start!"
Then, Pukuta paused, looked at the king's face, and said cautiously.
"Your Majesty, in my opinion, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the current Crocodile God's galley. The shipbuilding company is confident that it will continue to improve and make it bigger, faster, and stronger! As long as you can always provide sufficient manpower , wood and copper..."
Shulot was silent for a moment and let out a long breath. He also understands that the shipbuilding industry is the industry that requires the most accumulation and is the most difficult to overtake in corners. And now relying on the copper materials and craftsmen of the Kingdom of the Lake to be able to build catamaran canoes and Viking longships is already a huge improvement, and can even be said to be the pinnacle of the world's shipbuilding industry!
The king showed a gentle smile, stretched out his hand, and held Pukuta's shoulder.
"Pukuta, do it well and think carefully! Professional people manage professional departments. Since the shipbuilding department is in your hands, you should practice more shipbuilding and accumulate more wood. You don't have to worry about the consumption of materials. As long as I am here, the kingdom will I will always support you! I still say that the shipbuilding industry is very important, and the kingdom’s broad future lies in your hard-working hands!..."
"Your Majesty, you are the real sun!"
Hearing this, Pukuta's old face showed rare admiration. He knelt down, bowed his head deeply, performed a ritual of allegiance, and handed his hair to the king.
Shulot looked solemn, stretched out his hand, and held the old shipwright's gray hair. The old and the young are opposite each other, but they are like horses and horses, and the king and his ministers are in love with each other. The nautical era of the American people is waiting for these two to start!
