Extra five
The capital's wharf is in the eastern suburbs, and it only takes half a day to get there by fast horse.
Even though they brought Jiang Wanning with them, the journey was a little slower, and they arrived just after noon.
At this time, countless people had already gathered at the East China Sea Wharf to watch the excitement. Everyone stood at the wharf, looking at the two huge ships that were breaking through the waves from afar.
The maritime merchants of Dazhao were growing stronger, but the shipbuilding technology was progressing slowly. Historically, merchant ships would only sail on the sea for half a year at most, and that was even with some rest stops in between.
It’s not that merchants are afraid of hard work, but large ships are prone to damage in the maritime trade. A good ship that can last for half a year is a rare one. Most of them can only travel around nearby small countries and return home after two or three months.
However, the two Wave-Breaking Ships sent by Lu Shang were different.
Both ships were made of fine iron, and the sails and rudders on board were also made of melted iron.
The shipbuilders at the time could not believe that such a clumsy and heavy behemoth could sail on the sea. It would surely sink as soon as it entered the water.
But Lu Shang insisted on using iron to build the ship, and he spent a lot of effort to obtain so much fine iron from Emperor Showa.
Although he had no knowledge of shipbuilding technology, he was a party A who would make demands. He simply followed the images in the deepest part of his memory and depicted a giant ship that could ride the wind and waves.
Wooden boats can be rowed by human power, but iron boats cannot.
Although Lu Shang knew that steam engines or engines were the best source of power, there was no such advanced gadget in the entire Dazhao, so he could only borrow the wisdom of the ancient working people.
A group of people got together to think about it for several months, and finally decided to use a mechanical device to replace manpower, that is, to place a roller on the top of the oar. Just need to turn the roller to drive the oar. What's more, after a rough test, it actually worked.
In order to avoid waste, the shipbuilder started with a small iron boat the size of a palm. During the process, he melted it down and remade it several times. He also consulted many blacksmiths for advice. It took him a full six months to build a small iron boat that could float on the water.
With this successful case, subsequent progress will be much faster.
The iron boat grew from the size of a palm to half a person's height, then to the size of four or five people, and finally to the size of twenty or thirty people... Because it was the first time for the masters to build an iron boat, even though their skills became more and more skilled, they did not dare to be complacent. They had to proceed step by step, for fear that any wrong step would ruin all their previous efforts.
Just like this, bit by bit, the shipbuilders and blacksmiths spent a whole year to build the giant ship that Lu Shang required.
If they had limited refined iron, and had to melt it down and rebuild it every time they came up with something new, their forging speed would have been even faster. But even this speed was enough to surprise and satisfy Lu Shang.
On the day the huge iron ship was delivered to the dock, it attracted the attention of the people along the way.
The people in the surrounding area thought they could see this divine vessel set sail with their own eyes, but the giant ship docked at the pier and was quickly covered with a layer of cloth. It was left there for another two months until all the boatmen arrived. Only then, on a moonless night, while countless people were asleep, was the thick rope released.
Two huge ships were nominated by the emperor himself——
The Breakers.
During the first two months after the Breaking Waves entered the sea, Lu Shang was restless day and night, fearing that he had done something wrong and the huge ship would sink at sea.
Fortunately, one month, two months, four or five months passed. He asked many businessmen doing business at sea, but he had not heard of any shipwreck. He was relieved.
Emperor Showa was worried that the Breaking Waves would be in danger at sea. Although Lu Shang didn't say it, his worries were no less than his.
But it was he who proposed and led the maritime merchants. If even he showed weakness, I'm afraid people's hearts would be dispersed.
When the scouts at the dock came to the palace and Jiang Mansion to report that two huge ships had entered the near sea, judging by the speed of the ships, they would reach the shore in two months at most.
During these two months, there had been several days of heavy rain and huge waves on the sea, which made the people on the dock worried about the merchant ships. However, after watching for a long time at the dock, they found that although the two giant ships near the coast were affected by the waves and wind, there was no sign of capsizing. On the day when the sky was clear, the giant ships set sail again.
It was also on that day that Lu Shang completely put aside his worries about the Breaking Waves.
When Lu Shang and Jiang Wanning hurried to the dock, they found that the row in the middle of the dock had already been cleared by the imperial guards. Although there was no one in the front, judging from the alert postures on both sides, they knew that an important figure had arrived.
Lu Shang held Jiang Wanning's hand tightly, trying to squeeze to the front to see, but he didn't expect that the people were even more curious than him. They crowded around him, leaving no space at all. Even if he tried hard, he couldn't squeeze to the front.
Jiang Wanning also kept saying: "Please make way——"
"Stop pushing, stop pushing. Who doesn't want to go to the front and see? If you're late, just admit your mistake!"
"That's a huge ship. We've lived for most of our lives and this is the first time we've seen one. Who wouldn't want to get up close and take a look..."
Some people were unhappy about being pushed and started cursing.
Lu Shang and Jiang Wanning had no choice but to stand back and think of other ways.
Just when the two were frowning, they heard a sudden commotion in front of them. They stood on tiptoe and saw that it was a team of imperial guards coming towards Zheng Wang. Facing the gazes of countless people, they walked all the way to Lu Shang.
The leader bowed and said, "I have been ordered to invite Lord Lu and Madam Lu to the dock ahead."
Lu Shang moved his mouth and wanted to ask a question but the emperor came. He glanced at the people around him and swallowed his words. It was not until he reached a place with few people in front that he asked in a low voice.
The leader didn't say anything, just nodded slightly and gave a silent answer.
As for the common people who were left behind, they only then realized that the person who had just squeezed for a position with them was actually an official. Judging from the attitude of the officers and soldiers, he was probably an official of high rank!
Let’s not talk about what other people think for now.
When Lu Shang and Jiang Wanning arrived in front of the dock, they felt the sound of the waves on the sea getting louder and louder. The huge ship flipped over with its huge oars, and the waves it raised were as high as four or five people.
As the giant ship got closer, the people on the dock quickly retreated, and finally only two or three hundred boatmen were left, waiting to help the merchant ship dock.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the two Wavebreakers, one in front and one behind, finally tied the ropes.
The next moment, a black sail was suddenly raised on the boat. There were words on the front and back of the flag. The front was the word "Zhao" written in a flamboyant style, and the back was the word "Polang".
When countless boatmen emerged from the boat, they shouted in unison: "We are back——"
The people on the dock were all silent, just looking up, their hearts pounding.
Until Lu Shang saw a familiar face, he was the first to wave and shouted again: "Welcome home!"
Immediately afterwards, all the people on the dock raised their arms and the sound of welcome reached the sky.
On the lighthouse not far away, Emperor Showa, dressed in a dark uniform, stood with his hands behind his back, his face full of pride. He suppressed his inner pride and said in a deep voice, "My dear ministers, you can see this! This is my Wavebreaker!"
Looking behind him, there were actually dozens of court officials following him. Any one of them would be a powerful figure who could shake the world.
These elderly ministers were all shocked by the divine objects and were speechless for a moment.
Emperor Showa ignored them, but turned around and took the hand of the beautiful woman sitting beside him, saying softly: "Xiaoxiao, come on, I'll take you to see our ship."
The woman who was replaced by Xiaoxiao covered her face and chuckled: "Okay."
Seeing that the emperor and empress had both left the lighthouse, the remaining ministers came to their senses. No longer caring about being shocked, they just picked up their clothes and hurriedly chased after them, fearing that if they were a step slower, they would miss some important scene.
When Emperor Showa, the Empress, and a group of ministers arrived at the dock, the two Wave-Breaking ships that had docked had already lowered their planks. The captain and the helmsman got off the boat first, and another group of boatmen were carrying the year's harvest down.
Before Lu Shang could greet Zhan Shunan and others, he saw Emperor Showa walking from the side.
Although he had never seen the empress, he could guess a little from the emperor and his demeanor. Seeing that they were all dressed simply, he wisely did not reveal anything and just bowed slightly.
This was the first time Jiang Wanning saw the emperor and empress. After a moment of hesitation, she followed Lu Shang to pay her respects, then took a step back and hid half of her body behind Lu Shang.
However, before she could breathe a sigh of relief, she saw the empress let go of Emperor Showa's hand and walked towards her.
When Jiang Wanning came back to her senses, the Queen was already standing before her, smiling and saying, "This must be Madam Lu, right? I wonder if Madam Lu could accompany me. This huge thing is really making me stunned."
Jiang Wanning had completely reacted and felt a little embarrassed when she heard this, but it did not prevent her from talking to the queen.
She said, "This is the first time I've seen these two huge ships. I've only often heard my husband mention them. If you're interested, I'd love to tell you about them."
"That's great." The queen agreed happily.
When Lu Shang saw Jiang Wanning leaving, he couldn't help but pay more attention to her. But when he looked again, he saw that the imperial guards had already come over and were quietly protecting her and the queen. Only then did he look away.
At this time, Emperor Showa could not help but show off his huge ship to the pedantic old ministers he brought with him.
Lu Shang just followed Emperor Showa and occasionally added a few words, but no matter what he said to Emperor Showa, it would only cause the other party to exclaim in surprise, and then there would be many incredible things.
While they were talking, the boatmen had already unloaded a lot of cargo.
Zhan Shunan had already received Lu Shang's signal. After ordering his men to move the goods down, he directly opened the lid of the box, revealing the countless dazzling gems to the public.
Emperor Showa glanced aside inadvertently and became speechless.
There were hundreds of boxes of gold, silver, and gems, some of which were already made into jewelry, some were unpolished jade, and there was even an exquisite ornament as tall as a person, all made entirely of gold, silver, and jade.
Even though Emperor Showa had seen many rare and precious treasures, he was still stunned by these things.
After the jewels, there are many silks, books, calligraphy and paintings, vegetables, fruits, grains and foods, everything you can think of.
Even if there is no room left on the dock, only less than one-tenth of the things on the ship will be taken off.
When they moved to the back, they found something delivered to them by Zhan Shunan himself. He opened the small box and revealed something silver inside.
While others were still puzzled, Lu Shang said in surprise: "Could it be that this is a steam engine?"
Zhan Shunan nodded: "Exactly, this is a steam engine, it is said that it can drive the machine automatically."
Emperor Zhaohe and the others hadn't yet grasped the meaning of these words, but Lu Shang had already taken the steam engine with great curiosity, stroking it carefully for a long time, his eyes shining as he said, "Your Majesty, with this, our Great Zhao will surely be on the road to true prosperity!"
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