Release that Witch

“What, can't afford it?” Roland sat in the office, and the instrument that asked for the expansion of the executive and the purchase of the sailboat was placed on his desk.

Barov cleared his throat. "His Royal Highness, it is true. The price of a two-masted sailing ship is between 80 and 120 golden dragons, but this is only the cost of shipbuilding. The people on board are not only that, all The price is estimated to be more than 200 Jinlong."

"I didn't say it, don't need a sailor or a helmsman? The captain doesn't need it, I just need a boat." Roland asked at the table. With Wendy, he did not use so many people to operate the sailboat. Most of the inland river boats are straight sails. Just like the lifting flags, the paddlers and sailors are superfluous. The helmsman can just pull the individual and try it. Anyway, with vector wind, I am afraid that the ship will not go forward?

"His Highness, there is no such sale, at least in Liuye Town." Barov explained carefully. "You may not know much about this industry. Generally speaking, the owner of the vessel is the captain. It may be a businessman. It may be a nobleman. The former recruits people by themselves and travels between the major towns and towns, and trades or transports goods. In the latter case, an agent captain is usually recruited to take the boat for himself. The employees are not pressed. Monthly salary, but one to three years."

"The vast majority of the time, the ship and the people are tied together. If you intend to buy the ship from the captain, not the man he hired, then he is equivalent to a loss of employment. The amount of 80 gold dragons, even for For the big nobility, it is not a number that can be arbitrarily discarded. At the beginning of the month, it was calculated as the original gemstone trade in Liuye Town. Now there are 315 gold dragons in the city hall. If you spend more than half of it to buy a boat, Your militia team will not be paid for a month." The assistant of the minister said in one breath and raised the cup and drank the ale.

"The vast majority of the time you said..."

“Yes,” he nodded. “There are two cases where an empty ship will be sold. One is that the merchant urgently needs cash and sells the property. At this time he will dismiss all the crew and then sell the ship as quickly as possible. Second, replace The new ship, this is very understandable. But I have to say that both situations are very rare."

"Wait," Roland frowned. "You said you bought a new ship... Where did the ships come from?"

“Bishui Port, Haifeng County, North Point of View. Only the port city has a dock, and only they can build a ship.”

It turned out that "it is not possible to find such a sale in Liuye Town". Roland was silent for a moment. It was too far to buy a ship in the harbour city, and he did not hire a crew. Who would help him drive the boat back? "In this case, I will consider it again."

After the assistant minister retired, the prince fell into meditation.

In his strategic plan, shipping is an irreplaceable part. Without the fast and convenient transportation of the ship, he could not complete the double-team with the artillery. The forces of the Duke of the Fortress are generally called for farmers, knights, and mercenaries. The speed of marching is inevitably less than that, but it is slower. As Carter said, purely by the way of the land, a mud pit can make the artillery impossible. The land traffic in this era is not the asphalt road, not even the stone road. However, there are more people who are leaving, and there is a way to make a living. It’s okay on a sunny day, and it’s muddy when it rains.

In the end, still have to build on your own?

Roland opened the sheet and recorded the specifications he needed.

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

Looking at these points together, there is only one answer... a flat barge.

Before the Roland crossing, the vessels with extremely shallow draughts and extremely low center of gravity were everywhere, almost all over the river. In the past, those ships that were filled with river sand or stones and whose ship's side was almost level with the water surface were flat-bottomed barges. As long as there was a tugboat, several barges could be pulled like a train.

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

Roland wrote three options on paper: wood, iron, and cement.

Making ships with wood is the earliest lighting technology tree for human beings. From wooden rafts to sail battleships, from rivers to oceans, wooden boats can be described as enduring. Unfortunately, Roland does not know how to use a log to spell out a punt, and there are no related craftsmen under his hand. If you rely on a few carpenters to harden, it is likely to be a large seesaw, or the kind that may fall apart at any time.

In the case of an iron ship, the structure is similar to that of a house. The main and secondary beams that are criss-crossed form the keel and are covered with iron. If the welding is done by Anna, the overall rigidity is guaranteed. However, this practice will consume a small amount of iron ore reserves, which is obviously a more suitable choice for the production of steam engines and barrels.

Then the cement ship is the last option - the wall has been built, the raw materials are still surplus, and Anna can get enough cement powder if it is calcined once or twice. The construction process is also much easier than the iron boat. Just use the wooden formwork to spell out the shape, arrange the iron bars to be used as steel bars, and then fill in the cement. Even in the rural areas of the home, there are several cement boats that can be used to fish. Compared with the iron boat, it needs 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 haven't learned how to build a large ocean ship, and build a river technical cement barge with a low technical content, shouldn't it be a problem?

Holding a try mentality, Roland picked up a quill and quickly sketched the barge.

......

A fenced shed was built along the Chishui River.

In order to facilitate the launching of the water, Roland will make the shipbuilding site as close as possible to the river bank.

The shed can shelter from the wind and snow, and two pots of charcoal fire are burned in the room to avoid the effect of low temperature on the cement hardening effect.

The wooden formworked by the carpenter has spelled out the basic contour of the hull - the bow is rounded, reducing the forward resistance and the tail is square to increase the load area. The ship is about twenty-four feet (8 meters) wide and has an aspect ratio of 3:1. It is a fat man compared to the slender figure of a conventional ship of 8:1. There are two pairs in the middle. The mast is inserted into the bottom of the ship and connected to the iron beam that runs through the midline of the ship. A stern is also set up at the stern to reserve the rudder. In other places, there are criss-crossed iron bars.

It doesn't matter that there is no wire for lashing. All the intersections of iron bars are firmly welded by Anna, forming a steel net that is spread over the bottom of the ship.

When the "template" and "rebar" were ready, Roland ordered the workers to start the pouring operation.

The mixed cement is poured into the formwork by a basin, the flat bottom is in the middle, and the circumference is about one meter high, which is used as the side wall of the ship. At first glance, it looks like a big bath with a unique shape.

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