Wu Lai made a rough calculation and converted it into the measurement unit he was familiar with. The area of ​​Greendo Island, which was in the shape of a pointed lock, was about 300 square kilometers. It was neither big nor small.

Although he hasn't had the leisure to go on a spontaneous island tour, Wu Lai still got a general idea of ​​the island's conditions from David's report on the island. Generally speaking, Grindó Island is a very beautiful large island - not only does it have long spring and no summer, it also has a pleasant climate and abundant rainfall. The island also has large areas of virgin forests, mountains, grasslands, a large number of rare animals and plants, as well as huge caves, winding canyons, and small lakes and depressions everywhere.

These forests, grasslands, small lakes and depressions store abundant rainwater and even form a large stream that meanders for hundreds of miles. However, they have now been "targeted" by David - he is planning on building a reservoir. After all, the population will increase, and how can he allow these precious fresh water to flow into the sea in vain?

Wu Lai is not paying attention to the beautiful scenery now. Compared with him, Mengbao seems to be more romantic, because it slipped into the forest on the second day after arriving on the island. A lumberjack saw it leisurely lying under a large flower tree and taking a nap.

Wu Lai is concerned about the black iron ore mentioned by David——

The mining area is located at the southern end of Greendo Island. From the exploration situation, the ore body is a thick and continuous ore body with a thickness of 400 to 1,000 cubits. There are two exposed ore belts. The first section is about five miles long and the other section is more than one mile. The exposed width is more than 400 cubits and the average thickness is more than 600 cubits. The reserves are extremely rich.

What made Wu Lai even more delighted was that the iron ore grade was as high as about 60%, and the content of harmful elements such as sulfur and phosphorus was very low. The exposed ore belt was so large that mining was naturally very convenient.

But a problem soon arose - lack of coke.

Coke is a must-have for large-scale smelting. Many smelting workshops in the Assyrian territory use it, but the amount used is not large, because coking is not an easy task. The coal must be heated to a suitable temperature under air-tight conditions, and then go through processes such as drying, pyrolysis, melting, bonding, solidification, and shrinkage before it can finally be made into coke. There are not many craftsmen who can do this perfectly, and there is never a shortage of charcoal on the Assyrian continent, so in many cases, craftsmen use charcoal to smelt metals.

But for Wu Lai, smelting with charcoal can only be a temporary transitional measure. If he wants to smelt on a large scale, he will have to use coke. Otherwise, after a few years, the vegetation and ecology on the island will be almost destroyed.

Large quantities of coke are not available, but large quantities of coal are not difficult to buy - there are several open-pit coal mines on the Kati grassland.

But a new problem arose. The Kati grassland was now occupied by the Hurrians, and the journey was long. It would probably take three to four months to travel back and forth - and this was based on the premise that there was no obstruction.

But nothing could stop Woolley's determination. For the future, he had to mine the iron ore.

"We can try shipping by sea, following the coastline, from here to here." Wu Lai's finger slid across the map on the table. This map was printed as an extra when the Assyrian Complete Book was produced. Although there may be some errors, the outline should be roughly correct. "With the speed of a large sailing ship, it can arrive in thirteen or fourteen days under favorable wind conditions. After docking here, it will take at most three days to reach the first coal mining area in the Kati grassland."

"The problem is that the large sailing ship in Polang Town is now helping us transport people and supplies back and forth. In addition, a ship like this can't carry much back and forth." Guru frowned and said.

"The big sailing ship I'm talking about is not the one in Polang Town." Wu Lai smiled slightly.

A hint of doubt flashed across Guru's eyes.

…

When Wu Lai turned his attention to the forest and the dock, a wave of land reclamation swept Greendo Island, which not only kept the civil servants of the three bureaus of resources, agriculture, and construction busy, but also dragged the Civil Affairs Bureau into the water - the procedures for the restoration of slaves' freedom were now handled by the Civil Affairs Bureau.

It can be said that the citizens were "forced" by Woolley to grant freedom to their slaves, because according to his measures, slaves were not eligible to reclaim wasteland, and land was not distributed to citizens. In other words, if they wanted land, they had to reclaim it themselves. After calculating the cost, the citizens unanimously turned their slaves into tenant farmers, because keeping one more slave not only meant having to feed one more mouth to feed, but also losing the income from two acres of land, which was not cost-effective in any way.

This was naturally what Wu Lai wanted, because he had originally planned to eliminate slaves from Grindel Island. However, he did not expect that he, the lord who voluntarily gave up the farmland on Grindel Island, would still become the largest landlord. Under the management of Lori and Shelley, nearly half of the more than 10,000 slaves that Gulu bought for Wu Lai were given freedom and became Wu Lai's tenants.

In other words, Wu Lai will soon be able to experience what it feels like to own thousands of acres of fertile land.

Those who reclaimed the land were not just citizens, civilians and newly freed tenants, but also generals and soldiers. However, the land they reclaimed were all planned reserved areas, or "military settlements" - each soldier was allocated a certain amount of land to cultivate on his own, so as to achieve self-sufficiency of the army.

In addition to military settlements, there were also public settlements - soldiers and civilians took turns to cultivate and manage the crops, and the harvest went entirely to the public treasury. Soldiers and civilians who cultivated the public settlements could get some tax exemptions, and if they did not need the crops, they could exchange them for cloth, money, food, etc.

David was also very busy. Not only did he have to supervise the construction of the reservoir, but he also had to complete the task assigned by Woolley and build the transportation network of Greendo Island - the straight road.

Everything is being carried out in an orderly manner under the overall arrangement of various bureaus...

The pine, teak, eucalyptus, sal tree and cone wood resources in the primeval forests of the island provided a solid raw material foundation for Wu Lai's shipbuilding plan. After determining the wood collection area and issuing the tasks, Wu Lai gathered the shipbuilding craftsmen who came from Polang Town into a large wooden shed next to the dock, and then nailed a stack of drawings to the wall one by one.

"This is the ship I need everyone to build." Wu Lai said with a smile.

The shipbuilders rushed to the blueprints, and soon many of them could not help but utter exclamations.

"Lord, we have never made something with this structure and size before." An elderly craftsman couldn't help but say.

"Just follow the drawings strictly for the construction. As for the size, you will need to build bigger ships in the future," Wu Lai replied with a smile.

After a discussion, the older craftsman said, "Lord, we only have about a hundred people here, which is not enough."

"You don't have to worry about logging and transportation. The workshop will provide you with the necessary parts. In addition, I will give you 1,200 people. All you have to do is tell me how long it will take to complete it."

After discussing for a while, the craftsmen gave an answer: "Lord, to build a ship like this, it will take about one and a half months just to build a dock that matches it. If the raw materials, transportation, accessories, and manpower are all smooth, it can be built in about nine months. If you want to launch it, it will take a year from now."

"A year?" Wu Lai frowned. He originally thought it would be only four or five months at most.

Seeing Wu Lai frown, the old craftsman hurriedly explained and finally added: "Lord, the main reason is that this kind of ship is built for the first time. Although the Lord has given us detailed drawings, many things are also new to us. For example, the structure of the bottom of the ship is very novel. But after the first one is built, the second one will be faster."

"I hope you can shorten the construction period while ensuring quality. As we all know, the construction and development of Greendo Island cannot be separated from external resources. The sooner we have such ships and fleets, the sooner everyone can live a good life." Wu Lai said.

"Don't worry, lord. We will do our best."

…

Time flies, and it seems that in the blink of an eye, a year has passed...

During this year, Greendo Island became more prosperous, and the mainland was also changing slowly but steadily.

Helen finally stabilized all the provinces in the empire and began to turn her attention to the Assyrian territory. In her opinion, all conditions were ripe because the vast territories of Assyria and Annan had chosen to surrender to the emperor, and the two major private territories of Assyria, the fertile Mundo Plain and the Aurelius Basin, also chose to submit. Although the city of Caiked was still under negotiation, there had been some loosening. Helen had reason to believe that as long as she invested a little more money, the Shuman family would surely be in her pocket.

However, what Helen did not expect was that the Duncan family in the Lunvington area not only refused her invitation, but also continued to harass the cities of Assyria and Annan - stealing food, destroying roads, damaging city walls, and spreading rumors...

Helen was very annoyed about this. She understood Qi Yuan's intention. This ambitious old man was gathering population for Lunvington. Because as long as there was a sufficient population base, relying on the vast territory of Lunvington, the Duncan family would be able to deal with the Tianjuan Empire for a long time.

Helen is now afraid of this - a long-term attack without success will not only consume a large amount of national strength, but also cause damage to the stability of the rear.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

At the end of last year, after Helen sent troops to drive all the Hurrian troops into Assyria, she "sent" more than 200,000 Hurrians to Trajan. This was not out of kindness, because these more than 200,000 people were all the elderly, the weak, women and children, who were unable to fight, unable to farm, and were hungry for food.

But Trajan had no choice but to accept it, even though he knew very well that Helen was trying to drag him down. These 200,000 mouths immediately made life difficult for the people of Seneca, Menia, and Catti, because although they chose to rely on the Hurrites, in the eyes of the Hurrites, they were just inferior people and had the obligation to support the Hurrites.

What made Trajan even more headache was that the messenger sent by Helen at that time told him that another group of Hulete and Kimo women and children would be sent over in a few months.

This undoubtedly made Trajan's teeth itch with hatred...

After completing another round of conferring titles, Helen got married and "married" Hatra, who had become a third gender, into the palace. Hatra had no joy or relief on the wedding night, because Helen did not enter his room at all, but even if she did, nothing would be worth pleasing.

The next morning, Hatra, who had been alone in the bridal chamber all night, made a request to Helen: "I want to cross the border to arrest Ulegrind, his relatives and subordinates." The news that Ulegrind had fled back to Assyria and killed Gosmondo had already been passed back to the Hurricane province through spies. There was no reason for Hatra not to know about it.

"Well, it is said that he still has a few relatives in Seneca, but they have joined the Hulett Army. As for Wooleglindos himself, he disappeared after going to Salt Marsh City. If he really wants to hide, no one can find him." Helen answered without taking her eyes off the memorial in her hand.

Seeing her like this, Hatra frowned and turned away...

…

On this day, the weather was fine, and nearly five thousand soldiers and thousands of islanders gathered at the port. The atmosphere was jubilant because the first large sea ship of Greendo Island was officially launched today.

Before today, there had never been such a huge ship on the continent.

The length of this ship is 440 cubits, the width is 185 cubits, it has nine masts and twelve sails, the draft is 30 cubits, and the anchor alone weighs more than 3,000 pounds, so it takes 200 men to set sail.

The shape of the boat is also very fresh, because it adopts a boat shape with a pointed bottom and a wide top, a high bow and a high stern. This boat shape has a high performance of controlling stability in bad seas, and the bottom of the boat is ballasted with earth and rocks, so the stability is absolutely beyond doubt. In addition, it also uses water-stemmed wood and water-shedding boards on both sides - this kind of wood facing the side of the ship can further reduce the amplitude of the hull shaking to the sides.

The ship is divided into four floors. The bottom floor is filled with sand and gravel. The two floors above are large cargo holds for cargo, food, and fresh water, and are the "supply center" for the entire voyage. The fourth floor is the one that reaches the deck. There are 20 gun positions along both sides of the ship's side, but there are no guns there at the moment.

The cabin in the middle of the ship is where the crew live, and above that is the deck. The activity space on the deck is divided into two parts, the front and rear. There is a front cabin at the bow, which is mainly the living and working area for the sailors. The "control center" of the entire fleet is on the rudder tower at the stern. This rudder tower has three floors. The first floor is the helmsman's operating room and medical room. The second floor is the command center, which is also the captain's territory. The top of the rudder tower is the command, weather observation, signal communication and other places.

In addition to the artillery positions and sail-handling capstans on the deck between the front and rear buildings, there are two large spaces reserved for soldiers to practice and move around.

The ship's movement at sea mainly relies on the wind power of the sails and the sailors' paddling. These two important links of the power propulsion system are arranged differently from those on the mainland. First of all, unlike the segmented soft sails used by ordinary sailboats, this sea ship uses a hard sail structure with stays on the sail surface. Although this type of sail is heavy and difficult to raise, it has a very high wind efficiency, which increases the speed of the ship. In addition, the mast does not have a fixed crossbeam, which can adapt to sudden changes in wind and clouds at sea, and can be adjusted flexibly and effectively utilize wind from multiple directions.

In addition to sails, this ship is not equipped with oars, but with long oars on both sides and the stern. These long oars are put into the water and swung by multiple people. The semi-rotation of the oars under water is very similar to that of a propeller, and the propulsion efficiency is high. It can also maintain a considerable speed when there is no wind.

According to Woolley's calculations, the ship, equipped with 300 sailors and helmsmen, 500 soldiers, and sufficient food and fresh water, could transport 1,500 tons of coal to Grindø Island each time. Such a carrying capacity is unparalleled in the world.

The completion of the construction of the ship raised everyone's admiration for Wu Lai to an astonishing level, because everyone knew that this unique and huge ship was drawn by Wu Lai, so Wu Lai was given the title of "all-rounder" in addition to his reputation for bravery, wisdom, and kindness.

Of course, Wu Lai was not embarrassed to say that he had drawn the blueprint of this ship according to the picture on his mobile phone, because it was simply a replica of the "Zheng He Treasure Ship". However, it was also thanks to the huge resources of giant trees on the Island of Grindo that this task could not have been accomplished.

In the end, Woolley named the ship "Shelley" to express his gratitude for Shelley's companionship and help. Shelley was naturally very happy, because naming the first large sea ship of Glyndwr Island after her was not only an honor, but also seemed to show that she was incomparable in Woolley's mind.

Loli was a little upset about this matter, because she felt that she had helped Wu Lai more and cared more about him than Shelley. However, after Wu Lai personally promised to name the second ship after her and to make it a little bigger than the first one, Loli finally felt at peace...