Lord of Industrialization

On the third day of November 1028, the entire city of Weissenburg was almost empty, with few people on the streets.

People came to both sides of the Carolina Canal outside the city, either happy or curious, talking about the canal that was about to be filled with water.

Now the canal has been dug, piers and stone arches have been built for several bridges on the river, grass is planted on the slopes to maintain water and soil, and all navigation lights in the river have been installed.

Today is the first time that wireless communicators have appeared in the eyes of the world. There is a communicator reporting the situation every kilometer on both sides of the canal.

The largest ship lock of this era stands at the mouth of both ends of the canal, with six lock chambers 8 meters wide and 200 meters long.

Frederick was currently in the sandbox room of the ship lock office area at the Weissenburg side, listening to the wireless communicator reporting on the situation at each point.

"The situation at observation point No. 1 is normal."

"Conditions at the Oak City observation point are normal."

"The situation at the Third Bridge observation point is normal."

"The conditions at the west gate observation point are normal."

…

As reports came from various observation points, someone placed flags indicating that everything was safe and sound at the corresponding locations.

At 9 o'clock in the morning, Frederick ordered: "All units pay attention, all units pay attention, start opening the floodgates!"

Soon there was a huge noise from the gate next to it. Several steam engines drove the capstans to rotate, and the iron chains on the capstans slowly opened all the gates on the lock.

Frederick walked to the lock and stood behind the railing, quietly watching the rushing river water pouring into the river. He could also see many fish being carried into the canal.

In the distance, the cheers from the onlookers on the shore overwhelmed the rolling waves, and many people sang excitedly.

There were footsteps behind him, and Frederick knew who it was without turning around.

He asked: "Afu, how long has it been since I first officially proposed building this canal?"

Ah Fu replied: "Reporting to the master, it has been five years."

"It's been five years," Frederick said slowly. "Five years ago, I was thinking of escaping to Constantbul and becoming a scholar. Unexpectedly, now I am starting to prepare for the attack on Constantbul."

Ah Fu said happily: "Master has grown up."

The corner of Frederick's mouth twitched. This was the second time Afu said such words this month. He said this when Baron Adikon brought Lilu to Weisenberg City the day before yesterday.

He did not stay here long, but left after hearing the rivers merge in their channels and flow into Lake Saint-Henri.

Lake Saint-Henri was originally a low-lying area south of the canal. At first, there was concern that the villages there would be flooded because the canal rose during floods. In the end, the Executive Yuan decided that all the tenant farmers in the villages here would be relocated to the newly built Oak City to become urban residents. . After people walked, they blocked the surrounding valleys and dug several tributaries from the canal to fill it with water and used it as a large lake to regulate the water source. Later, it became a fishing mecca for fish from the Rhine and Danube rivers.

It is estimated that it will take four days to fill with water. There may be some collapse at the waterside in the next few days. This is normal.

The guests attending the opening ceremony arrived in the next two days. The Archduke of Mainz and the Archduke of Byrne arrived first, and the Count of Derden and other nobles who had brushed the Kingdom of Denmark together on the Elbe River defense line came soon after. Young Master, Count Pisto, the military minister from the royal capital, and Belle Burke's grandfather, Count Shakespeare, are also here.

Frederick held a grand reception in the castle to welcome the guests.

Many people at the reception knew Baron Adican. While chatting with him, Count Pisto asked a question: "How long does it take for a cargo ship to get from one end to the other?"

Adiken walked along the canal, made an estimate in his mind, and gave a number.

After hearing this, Count Pisto was surprised and said: "It's so slow. I thought it could be faster."

Adiken explained: "The boat cannot be too fast in the river. It is difficult for it to turn around. If it is too fast, it will be uncontrollable."

Count Pisto looked like he understood, and asked curiously: "What if there are many people rowing the boat desperately?"

At this time, Archduke Byrne was chatting with people nearby. After hearing this, he turned around and said to Count Pisto with a smile: "Why don't you just go rowing yourself?"

Count Pisto shook his head and said, "It's not fun just by myself."

Earl Delden and he were both from the royal capital circle, so he smiled and said to him: "Then let's just form a bureau."

"Yes." Count Pistol's eyes lit up, "This should be fun."

The game that Earl Delden talked about was actually a gambling game. The nobles in Cologne City could gamble on something casually.

Count Pisto was happy to do this, and immediately connected them at the cocktail party, and then found Frederick.

Frederick saw that he was excited when he spoke, and many people agreed, so he couldn't refuse.

"Let's do this." Frederick thought of an idea, "Since you want to play, let's have fun."

"Let's arrange the competition on the day of the opening ceremony. Well... let's just change the opening ceremony to a boat race, from the east lock to the west lock."

"It's a harvest festival that day, so all the boats have to be beautifully decorated!"

Count Pisto was always looking for fun. Seeing what Frederick said, he immediately nodded in agreement: "That's good. Leave it to me. I promise to make it lively!"

Frederick complained in his heart, if only you could be so attentive to military affairs.

He finally agreed with Count Pistol to handle the matter, and asked Afu to assist, or rather to watch so that the fuss would not go too far.

Count Pisto was very capable, and he turned a canal navigation ceremony into a combination of a boat race and a colorful boat parade.

No matter which event you participate in, you have to pay a registration fee, and then the rowers will get bonuses, and there will be many billboards hanging on the parade, so no one will lose.

At this time, both sides of the canal were very lively that day, and almost half of the people in Wesson gathered on the river bank to wait to see what was going on.

The first to rush out after the horn sounded were a dozen racing boats. They were modified from boats in Weissenburg. The flags of the families they represented were placed on the bows, and the tops of sticks placed on the sides of the boats were useful. Straw, hay and colored paper are tied into patterns of animals or flowers.

Behind them were the colorful boats of various chambers of commerce. They followed the rowing boats leisurely and leisurely. In the end, they even left behind some rowing boats that rushed too hard at the beginning, making the spectators on both sides of the river laugh heartily.

In the end, the boat of Baron Adicon won the first place. These men on the sea rowed in the canal just like playing. There is no need to fight, just keep a good pace.

As the ships participating in the ceremony left, the cargo ships that had been waiting for a long time entered the canal and headed for their new goals.

When everything returned to calm, Frederick found a place by the canal, sat on the grass alone, held his chin in his hand, and quietly watched the boats coming and going on the canal.