Kays Translations

Chapter 139: Shipbuilding

Since there wasn’t enough iron, would it be better to build wooden ships instead?

Wood was one resource Bianshu Town had in abundance, with the endless mountain ranges to the east and west covered in trees.

Even if Bianshu Town’s carpenters had no shipbuilding experience, with blueprints to follow, they could certainly figure it out after some study.

The only issue was construction time. It was said that the most crucial part of a ship—the keel—required a very long time to fully dry before construction could begin.

And with everyone inexperienced, the first wooden ship would surely take a very long time to complete.

But Owen was eager to dispatch a fleet as soon as possible to purchase raw materials. Waiting so long would inevitably slow the territory’s development.

Neither wooden ships nor iron ships seemed suitable. Troubled, Owen decided to consult Winston.

He sent out an urgent call, and soon Winston’s lazy voice echoed in his mind.

[Haah—Owen, what problem have you run into this time?]

[Winston, I want to quickly form a fleet dedicated to transporting raw materials…]

Owen explained his plan for a fleet, along with his thoughts on building either wooden or iron ships.

[…So that’s the situation. Do you have any good ideas?]

[Since you don’t like wooden or iron ships, just drop both options.] 

Winston replied casually.

[Huh? Then what material do you want me to build ships out of?]

Wooden ships had been mankind’s shipbuilding method since ancient times. Even now, countless wooden ships sailed rivers and seas—they were the world’s primary mode of water transportation.

As for giant steel vessels, Owen had only learned of them from Winston.

One day in the future, vast steel leviathans would roam freely across the waters. What a sight that would be—something Owen longed to witness.

Aside from these, what other kind of ship could there be? For the moment, Owen couldn’t think of one.

[Use cement to build ships. You only need them to transport raw materials anyway.] 

Winston suggested.

[Cement… Oh, right! Cement can be used to build ships too.]

Owen had always considered cement an important construction material, and when thinking of shipbuilding, he subconsciously ignored it.

But if even heavy steel could float, then surely cement could as well.

It all came down to buoyancy—the buoyant force acting on an object in water equals the weight of the water displaced.

So long as the design was properly calculated, ensuring the displaced water weighed as much as the ship itself, a cement ship could float without sinking.

[You’re suggesting cement ships—will they meet my needs?] 

Owen asked.

[Of course. You wanted ships built quickly, didn’t you? Cement shipbuilding is much simpler than wood or iron. With enough cement, you just pour it into molds, let it set, and it’s done.]

And that wasn’t the only advantage. Bianshu Town already had the means to produce cement in bulk. The material was cheap and easy to obtain.

Cement ships were corrosion-resistant, durable, sturdy, and had very low maintenance costs.

In that regard, both wooden and iron ships were inferior.

For example, iron ships required regular rust removal and repainting, which was quite a hassle.

Of course, cement ships weren’t without drawbacks.

Their weight was high, making it difficult to rely on sails for river travel.

But the solution was simple—equip them with steam engines for propulsion.

And without the need for large central masts, more deck space could be used to store raw materials, increasing cargo capacity per trip.

Another weakness was their poor impact resistance, limiting them to certain waters.

But that was no problem at all. Owen only planned to use them to transport raw materials along inland waterways.

After hearing Winston’s explanation, Owen was very satisfied. He had already decided in his heart—cement ships would be built in Border Town.

[That really does meet my requirements. But my folder doesn’t contain any cement ship blueprints.]

[Oh, I’ll have a shipbuilding expert draft the designs and send them to you later.] 

Winston replied.

[I’ll be counting on you.] 

Owen said.

….

The next morning.

Owen summoned Clive to his office and laid out his shipbuilding plan in detail.

“Marquis, you really intend to build ships?!”

Surprise briefly flashed across Clive’s face, though he quickly recovered—he seemed to be developing some resistance to Owen’s unusual decisions.

“That’s right.” Owen nodded. “I’ll need you to issue a recruitment notice later and gather some manpower.”

“But… we don’t have any carpenters here with shipbuilding experience. And then there’s the matter of captains and sailors.” 

Clive frowned. 

“It would be better to just buy a ship from outside, and while we’re at it, hire the captain and crew that come with it.”

“Buy one from outside? That would cost a fortune. Forget it.”

Owen waved his hand, decisively rejecting the proposal.

“What I plan to build isn’t a wooden ship, but a completely new kind of cargo vessel. We don’t need carpenters with shipbuilding experience. I’ll personally oversee everything. As for sailors, that’s not a big problem. The key is finding a captain. If we can’t recruit one locally, then we’ll look outside. As long as they have experience piloting a ship, they’ll do.”

Though Owen himself had no shipbuilding experience, according to Winston, the cement ship blueprints weren’t technically complex. At Bianshu Town’s current technological level, they could definitely handle it.

In other words, Owen should be able to manage this project.

And if worst came to worst, he could always call on Winston for guidance, so there was nothing to worry about.

A ship that isn’t made of wood? Clive thought. Well, so be it—no doubt another of the Marquis’s inventions.

With that, Clive had no further objections. His only duty was to carry out the orders.

“Understood. I’ll see to it right away.”

A few days later, a large fenced-in shed suddenly appeared along the banks of the Wen River.

Shipbuilding sites were usually set close to rivers or seas, making it easier to launch the vessels into the water.

The shed wasn’t only for protection against wind and rain—it also used blazing magic stones to regulate the interior temperature, creating optimal conditions to accelerate the hardening of cement.

Owen first had the carpenters shave down wooden molds and piece them together to form the ship’s basic frame.

The bow was rounded in an oval arc, while the stern was squared off—supposedly to increase cargo capacity.

The vessel was designed to be ten meters wide, with a length-to-width ratio of 4:1.

Generally speaking, the greater the ratio, the longer and slimmer the ship, which reduced resistance, allowed higher speeds, but decreased manoeuvrability, caused more rolling in waves, and left less interior space for cargo.

But Owen’s priority was cargo capacity. Speed didn’t matter—stability did.

And so, Winston had an expert draft the cement ship’s design based on those requirements.

Compared to conventional ships (which usually had a length-to-width ratio of 8:1 or 7:1), the cement vessel was indeed rather “fat.”

But Owen didn’t mind that in the least.

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