Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1561 - 1102: Upper Country Sea Ship Technology, Shipbuilding Standards, 1,600-Liao Big Ocean Covering Ship!

"Lord! That construction method is a type of shipbuilding mold; it's the form and rule of shipbuilding. Each type of ship has a fixed style, as well as mnemonic verses for inheriting the method... Uh... You don't understand? How should I put it, each type of ship has a fixed style, but no fixed dimensions. So the shipwrights remember the construction method, memorizing not the exact length and width, but the ratio of the components, like this many parts to that many parts..."

"Ah! Forgive me, Lord, my words are clumsy, and I still haven't made it clear. Let's talk about this Ocean Shielding Ship!... This sea ship's construction method was passed down to us from the Upper Country Ming. I, together with several shipwrights, participated in the construction of this ship, and have memorized the construction method..."

"You ask how exactly it is constructed? Uh, let's put it this way, before building a ship, you must have a measuring ruler first! All construction methods have a ruler! A ruler!... Use the length of this ruler and the memorized mnemonic verses, which is the ratio of other components, to determine the specifications and materials of each part of the ship... And this ruler is the keel of the entire ship!"

The sun was shining brightly, the sea ship was sailing on the ocean, surrounded by vast waters, and to the north was a faint island chain. Shipwright Kim Sun-su respectfully bowed on the ground. Then, he stood up and started explaining with caution and gestures. However, the languages of both sides were not fluent, relying more on gestures and actions.

Seeing the kindly face of the Lord Priest nodding continually, Kim Sun-su's voice gradually grew louder, and his gestures became more enthusiastic. Whenever he talked about shipbuilding, which he'd been engaged in for twenty years, his usual timid demeanor vanished. At this moment, his eyes radiated confidence, and his slightly raised chest looked as if he had completely transformed.

"Chief Divine Witness! Look at my steps! Count my steps!… One, two, three... fifteen!... From the bow to the stern is precisely fifteen steps! Fifteen steps, that's the keel of this ship, the ruler of this ship!"

"Fifteen steps for the keel?... Shipbuilding ruler?..."

Scholar Mikki blinked, his face thoughtful. The "steps" used by the Western Sea Tribe were unexpectedly the same as the scale of the Divine Revelation of Your Majesty, roughly two steps each, about 1.3 meters. And a keel of fifteen steps is about 20 meters long, which is basically consistent with the length of a longship.

It's worth noting that the "material" calculated in East Asia shipbuilding is a definite unit of volume. Each 100 units of displacement volume weighs about 30-40 tons. And this Ocean-Shielding Ship of 200 units carries approximately between 70-80 tons.

"Lord! According to the Ocean-Blocking Sea Ship's construction method, the keel is the ruler, then three masts are determined. The middle main mast should be slightly shorter than the keel length, remember ten out of eight, which is twelve steps long (15.6 meters). And the bow mast is two out of three of the main mast, which is eight steps long (10.4 meters), leaning forward. As for the stern mast, it's half of the middle main mast, which is six steps long (7.8 meters), leaning backward..."

"Uh, you ask why the bow mast leans forward and the stern mast leans backward... It should be to lean a bit, to adjust the sails using the wind, cooperating with the main mast?... You see, even Sail Maker Park is nodding, so that's it!..."

At this point, shipwright Kim Sun-su saw the puzzled scholar Mikki, thought for a while, and then extended his right hand. Next, he folded his thumb and ring finger, raising the remaining three fingers for everyone to see. Witnessing this, Monk Soldier Watanabe felt a pang in his heart, as his sacrificed left hand's severed finger faintly ached.

"Lord, look! This index finger is the bow mast, the middle finger is the main mast, and the little finger is the stern mast! Their straight leaning length and angle are roughly how these masts should be built... You ask why? That's how the old masters taught us back then, teaching us to remember it this way!..."

"Chief Divine Radish bless!... After confirming the three masts, use the masts to determine the sail width. The width of these three sails horizontally must never exceed one-third of the main mast's height, which is under four steps wide (5.2 meters), and the height is the same as the masts... You ask why? Because when the three sails join together, they cannot be longer than the keel! These are all fore-and-aft sails on the ship, and when the fore and aft sails turn, they can't touch each other and cause interference..."

"As for the maximum width of the ship body, it's one out of three of the keel length, which is five steps (6.5 meters). And the shape of the bottom of the ship also has a saying: 'on top flat like a cross, below sideways like a blade. Cut through the water like a knife, sailing through waves quickly!'..."

Shipwright Kim Sun-su was gesturing the shape of a blade while describing the mature "V-shaped hull" of Song Dynasty-style Chinese sailboats. And the result of designing the hull this way not only makes navigation fast but also naturally reinforces the bottom of the ship, resisting sea winds and waves. Of course, such a deep "V"-shaped bottom also means the ship's draft is very deep.

"The height of the hull below the deck is one out of four of the keel length, on this ship it is... uh, three and a half steps plus another half in height (5 meters), the draft is usually around two steps (2.6 meters)..."

"What? Below the deck, the ship height is close to four steps? Half more than the longship... Could it hold over ten thousand pounds then?..."

Understanding the words of the shipwright, Scholar Mikki showed surprise. He looked at this sea ship with extremely ordinary materials but advanced design, his face revealing expectation and longing.

The design of this sea ship, with the hull height being a quarter of the hull length, indeed allows for much more capacity compared to the Kingdom's flat long oar-sailed ships. And it sails fast with wind power, requires fewer crew members, and needs less food and water... Compared to oar-sailed longships, this is a faster and more suitable ship for nearshore voyages!..."