CH 291

In the end, I ended up staying at Cien Villa yesterday. After finishing my training and paperwork in the morning, I will go out for inspections again today.

However, today I’m thinking of going to the shipyard for an inspection. Now that I’ve come all the way to Cien, I want to go there and talk about making a new ship.

“So, I have something to do after this, but what will you do, Big Brother Georg?” I asked.

Researching a new ship type is as important a secret as building a new warship is in modern times. I can’t even show it to my brother, let alone my wives. It’s not about a lack of trust in the other party, it’s a natural consideration of information management. Just because they’re family doesn’t mean you can show them or let them know.

“Hmm… if you’d allow me, I’d like to take a walk around this town called Cien,” Georg said. “I’ll be back with you, Flora when you return from wherever you’re going, so I’ll be inspecting the town in the meanwhile.”

Big Brother Georg’s inspection is just wandering around the city, so I don’t really care. In fact, many people have moved here from Carruthers Territory. No matter how much you limit it to some extent, you can’t control all the comings and goings of people.

Even though my father had stopped the Carruthers Vassals from coming here for no reason, it wasn’t like they were restricting or regulating the highways and ships. If you feel like it, you can go to Caanburg on foot from Carruzan, so it’s not possible to say that there aren’t people who go to Cien or Floren from there. 1

People who enter classified areas or restricted areas will be arrested, but if they just wander around the town’s streets, they are free to, and there are already people with such experience. So naturally my older brother is free to wander around town.

“Understood,” I said. “Then let’s have someone guide you. Umm… then, I’ll have to ask Helmut.”

“As you wish,” Helmut said as he stood in the corner. “Please leave it to me,” he said as he bowed his head.

Even Georg remembered Helmut, who used to be Friedrich’s servant. Regardless of whether they are close or not, the two know each other. If I leave him in Helmut’s hands, Georg won’t have to worry about anything.

“What will you all be doing?” I asked the wives.

“We’ll follow you, Floto,” Mikoto said, giving the same answer as usual.

Of course, they can follow me, but they can’t enter the facility or places where confidential information is being discussed. In the end, if they’re going to be stuck waiting, I think it’s more meaningful to go somewhere else and do some errands at home… well, I won’t force everyone to give up…

I’ve already told them that, but if they’re still saying they’re going with me, then there’s no need for me to say anything. Georg went to town with Helmut, and we decided to go to the shipyard first.

We came to Cien’s shipyard. Everyone else is acting on their own in the waiting room. Currently, the center of shipbuilding is here, so design managers and shipbuilding foremen are gathered around. The next new ship type I want to build is a small riverboat. Cien’s shipyard is basically a large-type shipyard. It’s unsuitable for constructing small ships. Still, I came here is because it functions as a headquarters and all the designers make their offices here.

“Lord Caan, you said that you were having a meeting about the next new ship type, but what are you planning to make?” one of the executives asked, his face uneasy. “Here we are finally on the verge of galleon mass production…”

That’s right. Currently, House Caan is greatly increasing the production of galleons. In the midst of all this, you may wonder what the hell is going on when they say they’re developing a new ship type, too.

Was there something seriously wrong with the galleon? Will all the galleon ships currently in production be canceled? It is not surprising that such concerns arise.

“First of all, I have not found any problems with the galleon so far, and we will carry out all the current construction plans,” I said. “The new ship that we will be researching from now on is a small ship for river transportation.”

“Aah.”

“Is that what it was?”

All the executives sigh in relief. “All galleon ships will be canceled from now on!” they must have thought, or, “A fatal design flaw was found….” whatever this must have been, it had to be important.

“To begin with, since it is a small ship, I think that the shipyards in Caanburg and Floren will be the heart of the production, but since I happened to be in Cien, and all the management and design heads make their offices here, I thought we would discuss the matter here, instead.”

Nowadays, all shipyards are working hard to increase the production of galleons, but the original division was that Cien was supposed to be in charge of large ships for the ocean, and Caanburg was supposed to be in charge of smaller ships compared to those. Floren has to go to the Hermann Sea on its own, so it needs a large ship dock, but Caanburg can manage without it.

Even so, Caanburg also has a dock for large ships, so you can see how large-scale the current production increase system is.

“We need a small boat that can travel up the Dierbe River to the Caan Barony,” I said. “We need it as light and fast as possible, and we can expect a certain amount of cargo… we need a groundbreaking river boat that has never existed before.”

Of course, riverboats still exist today. It’s a small boat like the one Stanislaus gave us on the Havel River.

But it’s a paddle- and pole-propelled boat with a very small carrying capacity. It’s fine if it’s just going around the neighborhood or carrying a small amount of luggage, but it’s too under specification to carry large-scale cargo shipments from the Caan Knighthood to the Caan Barony, or from a sea trading ship on the Dierbe River.

In the first place, even though the rivers around here are calm, deep, and wide, it is difficult for boats without power to navigate. Even if you try to sail, the wind doesn’t always blow well unlike on the ocean, and even if the wind does blow, the direction will change immediately, you will almost certainly crash into the river edge, or run aground on shallow water, making it difficult to maneuver properly.

In the first place, sailing ships with high masts cannot pass unless all the bridges on the way are movable bridges. Even if you make a movable bridge to a large-scale transport hub or a base where large ships pass or replace it with a higher bridge, it’s infeasible to replace all the bridges when there are only going to be small ships passing under or by them.

I think it will take a long time to replace them, but if we were to replace all the bridges before the canals and waterways were completed, we would be overwhelmingly short on manpower, regardless of the budget. Besides, as I said before, there is also the problem of how to obtain the consent of the Lords of each corresponding territory.

If it is absolutely necessary to replace the bridge, we will persuade them to replace it.

We must build hub sites and outposts as far as we can go from the Dierbe River. To that point, the galleon ship will be transported up the river at once. From there, take a small ship to the area near Caan Territory, then take a large ship once you are there.

There are many lakes near the Caan Barony. If you use the lake, you can also use a reasonably large ship. As expected, it’s not unreasonable to operate a galleon ship, but if it’s already a reasonably sized ship, it can be used instead. I’m sure it’s been confirmed. I’ll run a canal where I can’t pass through the waterway along the route.

Hence, it’s possible to transport a large amount of cargo at once with relatively large ships on both sides. Transport that can withstand it must be carried out in this section. If this becomes a bottleneck and the distribution is delayed, there is no point in operating large ships on both sides.

Even in this era, riverboats are used, but they are all too small. Or if it’s too big, they won’t pass under a bridge. It’s just a good enough standard, or rather, the operation beyond the territory is not considered. It’s a nice thought, that they could dive under the bridge in each territory.

“Hmm… I understand your purpose, but…” one of the designers said.

“A ship that goes up a river as quickly as her Lordship pleases…” a foreman muttered.

After all, everyone seems to be having trouble with the power source. If the river is wide and the current is calm, sailing would be fine. Alternatively, it is not impossible to proceed with a paddle or a pole. But it takes too much time to go up the river depending on the weather or human power. Increasing the size to increase the amount of transport would slow the ship down, and as long as there is no suitable power source, simply increasing the size will not solve the problem.

“To make the boat run faster, the draft should be as shallow as possible, and a towpath should be towed by oxen and horses when going upstream,” I said. “The load capacity should be as large as possible without compromising stability. On the way downstream, they can just ride the current, so it’s okay to use oars and poles. It’s also a good idea to have the draft animals only pull the boat through difficult sections.”

“I see……”

“In that case……”

The designers nodded at my suggestion. They tend to think that they have to complete everything with just the ship. In fact, if that’s what I wanted, they would have had to.

But my point of view is different. I’m a politician, so if a bridge is in the way, I can say that I should replace the bridge rather than consider if the ship could go under it. If there is no power and it is slow to go up the river, it can be said that it is better to improve the towpath along the river and let the cattle and horses pull it.

Rather than relying on their design for everything, it’s my job to fix the conditions if they aren’t favorable.

“In some areas, they will be replaced with movable bridges. Relatively large ships that can pass in those areas, and small rapid boats that will be used in sections where it is infeasible to replace bridges and improve waterways,” I said. “That’s about it, but if you have anything you can think of from the perspective of a designer or a foreman, please let me know.”

I simply think that two types of ships, one for large ship-friendly paths and another for the smaller version, are fine. But when you actually try to design and operate them, different ideas and problems may arise.

“Oh, and if there are any other problems or areas you would like us to improve, please let me know,” I said. “There is no need to think about the current waterway. If the waterway is narrow, we can widen it. Let’s think with that kind of flexible response.”

“Hmm…”

“Then how about here…”

“No, that would be…”

Everyone came up with ideas, including design and operation. If there is anything, they will not hesitate to make a request to me. It’s a good environment. What I need to do is expand waterways, build canals, replace bridges, and develop transport hubs and bases. I need to build a riverport on the way.

Large ships will enter up to a certain extent from the Dierbe River. We need a port and a transport hub for that. On the Caan Barony side, the river itself is narrow, so it must be expanded to secure a waterway and dig a canal. However, since the lake can be used, a large ship can also be operated there.

We also need horses and cows to pull the boat. It is difficult to prepare dozens of them all at once. You can only increase it gradually, so you need to prepare early.

It’s hard to rush up a river in a boat without some power. Therefore, the method of pulling the boat along the towpath along the river with oxen, horses, and human power has been used since ancient times.

It’s not very developed here. I’m not saying there’s no such thing, but there’s no such thing as long-distance or large-scale travel using them. The problem is that the ships were often just going back and forth within a narrow range. There are few that pass from the sea to the inland.

On top of that, they’re not particularly large or rushing to get it done fast, so it’s mainstream to row slowly with a paddle or a pole. That won’t hold up to the large-scale transportation I want. Therefore, we will build a station in the middle of the waterway and manage the cattle and horses.

Horses are fast, but they are not good at carrying heavy loads. Cows are good at carrying heavy loads, but they are slow. I wish I could raise both cows and horses there. If you want to pull something heavy, use an ox, and if you want something light and fast, use a horse.

Can I open a ranch or a farm around the port building…? But most of them end up in other territories, so it’s difficult. I’ll ask the Lords to allow me to raise cattle and horses on a ranch, but should I ferment the feces before carrying them out? Since it will be used as fertilizer, should I just let it ferment and let the cows and horses carry the finished fertilizer?

The problem is horse management. If cows and horses are used only for climbing, they will soon accumulate upstream. It seems that there is little demand for descents, but how to move cattle and horses while making effective use of them…

Well, I didn’t dare mention it just now, but above all, the biggest problem is whether or not permission can be obtained from the Lords of each region. No matter how much we use them, even if it’s good to use the river, I wonder if we can get permission for the ranch and the station building…

Even if it can’t be pulled by cattle and horses, or if a port can’t be built, the boat itself will still have a paddle and a pole. In the worst case, the boatmen may have to row themselves. After telling them that, they will start designing the ship.

Here again, the number of cases that must be negotiated with the Lords of the Rivers has increased. Anyway, the design of the ship will not be cleared in one shot, and several kinds of ideas will come out. It will be necessary to verify the stability, so we will have to make several prototypes and repeat the experiments.

For the time being, we decided to have them start the design and then proceed to trials. In the meantime, I need to talk with the kingdom and the River Lords and obtain various permissions.

Even though I just came to the shipyard on a whim, I ended up doing more work on my own… I can’t help it. This, too, had to be done. Let’s think that it was good to be able to start early.