Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1511 - 1056: The Gold Shipwright’s Lament—What Beasts They Are!

"Chief Divine's protection! One, two, three, four! Chief Divine's protection! One, two, three, four! ...Phew! Ha!... After all this hustle, finally pulled it up..."

Snow fluttering, on the frozen Little Deer Lichen River, a thick layer of snow accumulated, blending with the snow-covered riverbank, almost indistinguishable. However, at this moment, on the frozen ice river, a six or seven zhang long, over a zhang wide ship-shaped deep pit appeared. The five-masted ocean-blocking ship originally on the ice river had already been pulled to the snowy riverbank by dozens of people exerting force together.

"Chief Divine! This five-masted large ship looks about the same size as the Kingdom's ordinary longship. But it has three decks, a high hull, no oar places on the sides... Does it rely entirely on wind power for navigation? ...Sss! The structure inside this ship really looks extremely complex!"

Exploration Captain Zuwaro boarded the ocean-blocking ship, wearing a curious face, observing the ocean-blocking sea ship he had never seen before. Beside him was the shipwright Kim Sun-su, bent over cautiously, with a gold talisman hanging around his neck. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Unfortunately, the two couldn't communicate due to the language barrier; Zuwaro looked around casually, while Kim Sun-su gestured explanations, trying not to let the dignitaries feel he was useless...

"Chief Divine's guidance! Five masts, some long, some short, what's the logic behind it?"

This ocean-blocking sea ship, representing Song Dynasty maritime technology, was most distinguishable by the five upright masts. The middle three were very tall, while the ones on both ends were rather short. And the hooks on those masts seemingly meant to hang oblique sails; only the sails on the ship were all stowed away, so it was unclear how they were hung or how wind power was utilized.

"Your Grace! These masts, with the main mast high and the forward and aft masts low, can hang both straight and oblique sails. Between the masts, you can also hang various sizes of horizontal sails... Simply put, the wind always changes, and so must the sails to harness all directional winds properly!... As for the specific sail shapes—square, shovel-shaped, triangular—the sail maker Park Sun-pan is the expert; Your Grace can inquire him..."

"Chief Divine! The steering at the stern seems much better than the Kingdom's... a lot!"

Zuwaro nodded, half understanding, and followed the line of masts towards the stern of the sea ship. At the stern was a complex-looking rudder that was clearly larger and more intricate than the rudimentary rudder of the Kingdom's longship. Beneath the rudder, it was attached to a sophisticated wooden panel fan through a several-meter-long wooden rod, making it easy to adjust the course.

"Your Grace! This is a panel rudder! Wooden, paneled, straight rudder!... Your Grace, look, by just turning it a bit, the panel below also moves, making it quite easy to maneuver! But one must use good wood, solid wood!"

Seeing Kim Sun-su's indication, Zuwaro curiously turned the panel rudder at the stern. It was indeed very flexible, seeming to leverage the principle of a lever, with no effort at all. Then he moved to the bow of the sea ship and examined two heavy horn-shaped anchors. These anchors were embedded stone wooden anchors with dedicated anchor rope wells beside them. The ship had more than one anchor position, estimated to be three at both the bow and stern.

"Interesting! Embedded stone wooden anchors! I thought they were like the Kingdom's bronze anchors!"

Zuwaro muttered softly, fortunately, Kim Sun-su, the shipwright, didn't understand, otherwise, he'd surely scold the Kingdom's "extravagance beyond limits."

During this era, Li's Chaoxian naturally used Ming Dynasty's copper coins, and rice prices were similar to those in the Ming Dynasty's north. But Ming Dynasty long lacked copper, while its food production was high, making rice prices significantly cheaper compared to Wa Country.

A full-quality copper coin in Ming Dynasty's North or Korea could buy two or three shi of rice without much issue. While throwing one or two hundred jin bronze ship anchors into the water could amount to tens of copper coins, enough to buy dozens or hundreds of embedded stone wooden anchors!

"Eh! How is the ship's main keel segmented and pieced together? And these supporting parts beside it, section by section, like centipede legs, what are they?"

Zuwaro leisurely descended to the bottom of the ship's cabin. He tapped and touched around, walked and observed. Soon, his eyes widened, his facial expression full of disbelief, finally uttering an exclamation!

"Chief Divine! The keel structure at the bottom of this ship is as intricate as a precision spider web, so complex! While the Kingdom longship compared to it is like a branch beside a spider web..."

This ocean-blocking ship, similar in size to the Kingdom longship, had an extremely complicated keel structure. Its central axis was a segmental central keel, astonishingly assembled from three short keels tightly joined together!

Surrounding the central keel were short connecting support side keels and ribs. The side keels were longitudinal, the ribs were transverse, with one for every step. All the frameworks were interconnected tightly with precision wooden tenons and iron nails. Upon close inspection, these dense keel structures appeared to support each other according to some Divine Law, resembling a complex yet orderly web!

"Chief Divine's guidance! Such complex structures!... Why don't you use a single, whole large wood to make one central keel? And replace these small side keels with several large woods?... Use one to replace them all with large wood!... That might make shipbuilding a lot easier, right?!"

Watching Zuwaro's gestures, the shipwright Kim Sun-su widened his eyes, pondered for a while, then couldn't help but shake his head and laugh.

"Your Grace! You've never built a ship, so you don't know. These central keels and side keels are the bones of the ship! And ship bones, like human bones, must withstand winds and waves, resist pressure and tension... Not just any wood will suffice; needs top-quality hardwood, such as century-old teak and elm!"

"Like this ship, using three segments of keel, each segment only needs hardwood of hundreds of years. While the dozen side keels only require decades-old hardwood. If as you say, using one whole seven or eight zhang long fine wood, it would need at least several centuries! But such old fine wood is so expensive and rare, who would be willing to use it for building this two or three hundred liao sea ship!"

"Haha! Your ship's keel is made too complex... Chief Divine bears witness! Our longship has only three keels! One at the center, two at the sides. Each one made from spruce logs twice the length of this ship, crafted whole! ... Praise Your Majesty! This is Your Majesty's Divine Revelation, enabling us to create unprecedented giant ships!"

Zuwaro displayed a confident smile again, gesturing triumphantly to tell the shipwright Kim Sun-su.

"Just three keels for the bottom! This long! This thick!... Then surround the keel with large panels, fill them with sturdy copper nails, and it can withstand the huge waves of the Far North Sea! That keel is so solid that when such gigantic waves smash in, it wouldn't leave the slightest crack!"

"Oh Guan Yin Bodhisattva! What are you saying, Your Grace?! Two? Twice the length of this ship? From here to this wide?... Ah! Thirteen zhang long and one zhang wide giant woods? How many did you use? One? Three?!... Three giant woods to build this ship? To build this two or three hundred liao sea ship?!"

Finally understanding Zuwaro's meaning, the shipwright Kim Sun-su instantly turned red-eyed, his eyes fiercely trembling, his bent waist straightening abruptly, almost jumping up on the spot!

"Thirteen zhang long century-old giant woods to build this kind of ship?! Used three!!"

Shipwright Kim Sun-su shouted, staring intently at Zuwaro, at this moment, the instinct of a senior shipwright suppressed all his awe and fear. His face initially showed unbelieving astonishment, followed by blank confusion, then inner rage, finally turning into deep-seated sorrow. He couldn't help but retort loudly, even his eyes became moist, unable to hold back tears!

"Oh, Guan Yin Bodhisattva! These prodigal beasts!... That could make thousands-liao big ships, the treasure ship dragon bones, used three?!... Such grade woods, to build this kind, using three?!... I've never even seen one in my life!... Woo woo woo! Truly beasts, beasts!!..."