Liu Tan said: "I have this idea."

Lu Xuan was shocked: "How are we going to transport this? By the Yellow River?"

Liu Tan thought about the Yellow River's course, then the current weather, then waved his hand and said, "No, no, this won't work. Hey, I'm just asking, it's been several months, they should have some results, right?"

Lu Xuan said nothing, just watched him send someone to question the Mohist disciples.

The residence of the Mo family's disciples was basically gloomy at this time. They looked at the various models they had made and felt that none of them could meet the requirements of the King of the Northern Territory.

What Liu Tan asked them for at that time was a river ship and a sea ship. The river ship should be able to carry about 5,000 people, and the sea ship should be able to carry about 7,000 people.

And all kinds of supplies must be taken into account, which is simply a fantasy for the ship technology of this era.

Moreover, they don’t know the difference between a river ship and a sea ship, and these children have never seen the sea.

After seeing Liu Tan send people to inquire, they all trembled and felt that they were not far from death.

Mo Shi couldn't bear to see them like this, so he said, "I wonder if Your Highness has the time to see me."

The young eunuch didn't really embarrass them, but simply said, "I'll go back and report."

After hearing this, Liu Tan laughed and said, "He's trying to plead for mercy."

But he was in a good mood today, and he hadn't originally held any hope for the children of the Mo family. He just wanted to teach them a lesson. If they really couldn't do it, then forget it. He couldn't let people spend the New Year with a sad face.

Mo Shi happened to come over, so he just gave them a beating and let them go. Even if he really wanted to build a boat, he couldn't rely on these people.

However, what surprised him was that when Mo Shi came, he brought a lot of bamboo slips and documents.

He was visibly stunned when he saw Lu Xuan and Liu Tan sitting together intimately reading a book.

When Liu Tan saw him, he said, "Sit down. What are those things you brought?"

Mo Shi came back to his senses and quickly said, "These are some of the records of our recent ship designs."

Liu Tan was a little surprised: "Then why are there bamboo slips?"

Mo Shi smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "I was used to using bamboo slips before, but I only discovered that I could use paper later."

"Hmm? Didn't you live in Chang'an before? Chang'an should be a place where paper is more common, right?"

Mo Shi hesitated for a moment and said, "The paper from Chang'an...is more expensive than the paper from Shuofang."

And the most important thing is that Liu Tan pays them a salary. In the past, they only had some pocket money on weekdays, which was not enough to do anything. Buying paper was the most luxurious thing.

Anyway, they are not scholars, and it is easier to use paper to make mechanical devices than to use bamboo slips to record them. After all, paper is still a bit fragile. But no matter what, it is just an excuse for self-consolation.

Now that they have money, of course they want to use paper, so isn't that a change?

After hearing this, Liu Tan frowned slightly. The price of paper in the Northern Border Country has dropped a lot, but he didn't expect that it was not popular in Chang'an. But it was understandable that there were few paper workshops there, and Liu Tan would not be there for a long time. He handed the workshop over to Chen Ajiao, who didn't care about that little money, so... if he really wanted to lower the price, he would have to cooperate with others.

He put the matter aside for the moment, raised his chin and asked, "What did you come up with?"

Mo Shi said with some embarrassment: "Your Highness's request, we really can't do it. Even the current building ship may not be able to meet such a request."

"A building ship? No, we don't want a building ship. The flaws of a building ship are too obvious. It's too high and easily capsizes. It's not suitable for long-distance voyages. At most, it can only be used inland or near the coast. It's useless."

Mo Shi knew Liu Tan must have done research in this area. He couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "But the best ship in the Han Dynasty can only accommodate about 3,000 people at most. Your Highness's request... is really..."

Liu Tan said, "How can it be called invention if it's not pioneering and enterprising? If you just want the best tower ship, what else can I ask you to do?"

Mo Shi replied in a low voice: "We are useless and have failed to achieve what His Highness requested."

Liu Tan laughed: "Show me your information."

In fact, he also knew that the previous requirement was quite high. The most likely reason he built the boat was to take Liu Che out to play. Before, they went boating on the lake, so next time he would take him for a walk along the Yellow River.

It would be very interesting for the latter to take a cruise trip, go down the Yellow River, and then go ashore near the estuary.

Such a cruise ship does not need to be able to carry so many people. The most important thing is stability and the ability to carry cargo.

So Liu Tan originally planned to relax the conditions for them, but when he saw Mo Shi and their information, he couldn't help but be a little surprised.

Although these Mo disciples were a little more cunning, they were qualified to travel alone or to serve as the Mo vanguard to explore the way to the Northern Border. At least they had very solid knowledge. He originally thought that these people knew little about ships, but he didn't expect that they could actually make a decomposition diagram of the current ship, and note what each part was used for, and then find ways to improve it.

Not to mention, Liu Tan actually didn't know much about these things. The most he had done before was to play with various ship models. At that time, because he liked to assemble them himself, he had some understanding of the components of the ship. Of course, this understanding was limited to knowing what shapes those components were and where they should be installed.

Moreover, due to the limited size of the model, what is assembled is just the appearance, and the internal structure is not there at all.

Liu Tan had previously drawn the shape of the ship and some of its components, so now he simply compared them to see if there were any differences.

Mo Shi, who was sitting below, saw Liu Tan pull out a piece of paper. Although he couldn't see the whole thing, he could vaguely see some outlines.

Based on his understanding of His Majesty the King of the North, this blueprint should have been designed by His Majesty a long time ago.

So... His Highness asked them to build ships not simply to punish them, but because he really wanted to improve the ships?

For a moment, Mo Shi couldn't help but feel ashamed of his previous petty thoughts, and at the same time he also wanted to see what the ship designed by His Majesty the King of the North looked like.

The things made by this prince are always eye-catching. The purpose of the Mo family sending Mo Shi is to squeeze the living space of the Gongshu family, but Mo Shi has his own purpose - he wants to get inspiration from the King of the North.

However, Liu Tan was so engrossed in watching at the moment that he could only stare quietly.

Lu Xuan, on the other hand, was more relaxed. He moved closer to Liu Tan and looked at him curiously.

Because he had lived in the Western Regions since he was a child, he didn't know much about ships. The last time Liu Che came to the Northern Border, it was his first time on a ship, let alone understanding the structure of a ship.

The Wusun Kingdom indeed did not have any use for ships, but he was still very curious.

Liu Tan and him leaned their heads against each other and whispered something to each other. Most of the time, Lu Xuan was asking questions and Liu Tan was answering.

Liu Tan looked at the data pictures of these ships and compared them with the ones he drew according to the model pictures in his mind. He felt that the shape of the ships had not changed much. Generally, changes were accompanied by the advancement of theoretical knowledge and a deeper understanding of nature, so he knew how to make the ships sail steadily and safely on the sea.

As for the cargo capacity and long-distance sailing capabilities of ships, they are also accompanied by technological development, or more precisely, changes in the power system.

In the beginning, when everything was dependent on manpower, no matter how much it was changed, it was limited. But when it came to the steam age, all technologies began to make great progress.

However, a steam engine cannot be made just by knowing its principles. It requires the development of the entire industry and more sophisticated processing.

It’s not impossible to make it by hand, but even if it is made, it will eventually become a toy for the nobility or even the royal family.

Because it is too expensive to build one.

After Liu Tan finished reading, he handed his own drawing to Mo Shi and said, "Take a look."

Mo Shi nervously wiped the sweat from his palms with his clothes, stretched out his hands and respectfully took the thin piece of paper. His attitude was so pious that even Liu Tan felt a little embarrassed.

Mo Shiang had already memorized most of the other ship information, so at this moment, he could immediately compare this blueprint with his own.

After reading it, Mo Shi hesitated and said, "Your Highness, this boat... has no oars or paddles, how can it move?"

Liu Tan: ...

Well, he said something seemed to be wrong.

When he was playing with models, ships had already become powered by fuel to push propellers forward, so why would there be a need to leave space for oars on the hull?

But there was no such power in this era, and he could not create a steam engine and a propeller. The most important thing was that even if he knew the principles, it would take some time to research and produce these two things.

Liu Tan coughed lightly. "This is my oversight. You only need to look at the shape of this drawing. This is just my initial attempt to stimulate further discussion. It's not perfect. All you need to do is learn from it and make improvements."

Mo Shi didn't believe what Liu Tan said about throwing out some ideas.

The drawing shows the complete shape of the ship, both from the front and from above, and it looks very complete and harmonious.

As a mechanical engineer who has been immersed in mechanical arts since childhood, Mo Shi may not understand many scientific theories, but he is born with an aesthetic appreciation for machines.

The boat has smooth lines and its parts fit together perfectly. It was definitely not a casual drawing.

Mo Shi even felt that this thing should have a real object, because if it was just a blueprint, there would definitely be some places that would be uncertain and would be marked out, but the King of the North showed absolute confidence in the blueprint.

He smiled at Liu Tan and said, "I know."

Liu Tan felt something was amiss when he saw his expression, but he didn't want to dwell on it any further, so he simply asked, "By the way, speaking of propulsion, why don't I see any sails on the boat you designed?"