Struggle in the Steam Age

"The northern route is the most dangerous of the common routes that have been developed." As the Viscount Surrey who has stayed in the Northern Islands for several generations, he naturally knows what is going on here.

"Leaving aside the various monsters that have a strong impulse to attack all objects floating on the water, the constant ice and snow in that area is enough to make it difficult for a large number of ordinary ships to pass."

"Before the birth of these steel-based ships, if you want to sail on the northern route on a daily basis, you can only rely on some extraordinary people on board or simply magic ships to pass safely."

"It sounds like this route should be difficult to travel in those days." Lawrence shrugged.

"Of course, the cost of a Transcendent or a magic ship of sufficient level is not low," Viscount Surrey said.

"Therefore, even 50 years ago, there was only one ship going to our side every month on average, which is not as convenient as it is now."

In addition to these passive defense measures, the North Wind has some active defense measures. For example, there is an armored lug on the lower deck on both sides of the side of the ship, and a magic cannon that can rotate 180 degrees is placed in each lug.

In addition to this, the ship also had six state-of-the-art 76mm barrel guns placed on each side of the lower deck.

"Actually, at the beginning, there were more weapons on this ship than this." Seeing Lawrence staring curiously at the armored 120mm cannon protruding from the earstand, Baron Surrey explained.

"In addition to the current armament, there were ten 76mm guns on the upper deck where we were at that time, but they were removed later."

"Removed? Is this because this route is safer than in the past?" Lawrence asked Baron Surrey after looking curiously at the artillery below.

"Almost, at least this route is indeed safer than in the past." After being asked by Lawrence, Baron Surrey was stunned for a moment, and then said.

"Because just seven years ago, a northern triton kingdom had to abandon their homeland because of the extinction of the submarine volcano. And the new homeland they found happened to be on this route."

"So we quickly contacted them and asked them to help provide enough cover for a large part of the northern air route at the cost of providing the various materials they needed."

"And the development of my territory is also related to the migration of this underwater country. It is because of the existence of this murloc kingdom that the territory I am in has development value."

"Understood." Lawrence nodded. He knew that this territory called Surrey produced coal, a commodity with a very low unit value. If, as in the past, only high-level extraordinary people or magic ships could run this route, then the cost would offset the cost. All the advantages of being in a coal mine.

"However, there is actually another important reason for the reduction of the artillery of this ship, that is, when the ship is sailing on the northern route, the waves on the deck are too severe." Viscount Surrey pointed to the dismantled guns on the upper deck. Bit explained.

"In those sea areas where the sea conditions are relatively bad, a large amount of seawater will flood the deck and freeze when the ship is driving. In this way, the artillery on the upper level is no different from the decoration."

"So after more than a year of experimentation, the shipping company simply canceled the upper cannon and the supporting ammunition depot. This will not only be able to transport more supplies, but also lower the center of gravity to make the ship more stable."

"The most important thing is that in this way, the total displacement of the ship will be reduced, which in turn can increase the speed by nearly one knot compared with the past. This is more conducive to the safety of the ship's navigation."

Just as Lawrence and the others were talking about something about the ship, a siren sounded. Then the steam sailboat called Beifeng was pushed out of the port area by a port steam barge.

After leaving the port, the North Wind quickly ignited the steam engine and raised the sails, and then drove towards the east like an arrow leaving the string.

When driving in lakes and rivers, the boat was only half-sailed in consideration of safety issues, and the boiler was not turned on to the maximum power.

However, when the entire ship left the mouth of the Hudson River and sailed into the northern seas, the North Wind immediately put on its full sails and turned the ship's steam engines to maximum power.

"How long will it take us to reach our destination?" Lawrence asked the Viscount Surrey next to him, watching the large amount of waves brought up by the fast sailing boat shattered into piles of white foam on the bow.

"If everything goes well, three days will be enough." The Viscount said in a low voice. "Because this ship can sail with high power all the way, and now our wind direction is downwind, so it should be able to reach my territory in the shortest time."

Because the temperature was really low this season, Lawrence mainly discussed the details of his territory with Mr. Viscount during the next voyage.

In just three days, the two of them sorted out more than 30 pages of documents about this territory.

"I finally know how you almost completely changed your island in less than a year." When standing on the bow of the ship, the target island could already be seen. Viscount Surrey said to Lawrence while packing up those documents.

"To be honest, the details we sorted out in these three days are almost the same as the details about the territory that I sorted out in the previous three years."

"The most important thing is that you also brought up several directions that are very important to the territory, but I have never considered them before. Seriously, this reminds me that as a lord, I still have a lot of obvious defect."

"This is actually caused by our different origins." Lawrence shrugged his shoulders and said, "So when we look at a problem, we naturally have different views on the same thing, and then we will come to different opinions from different angles .”

"For example, there are questions about the next step of your island's development. You did consider the issue of sustainable development. But you ignored the thoughts of ordinary people about your plan."

"Yes, as nobles we have the right to issue orders to our own people. But at least I think it is best to let them know what we are going to do next when formulating policies related to them, so that we can do it The decree goes up and down smoothly, and at the same time, some unnecessary obstacles can be reduced as much as possible."

The gap between nobles and nobles even exceeds the overall gap between nobles and ordinary people. Some nobles exploit their people regardless of life and death, but some think that it is a noble who leads their subjects to live a good life. core responsibilities.

The Viscount Surrey is naturally the latter, but because of his background, he has too much idealism when facing difficulties in this area, so there are naturally some loopholes in the plan. That's why Lawrence showed an excited expression when he put forward some of his own opinions.

"However, these are just some minor issues. The real core is whether you have the intention." Lawrence said to Viscount Surrey with a smile.

"For example, I don't really understand the industrial layout on my island, but I can go to the Agricultural Church to help me complete such a similar plan."

"You're right, but members of the Agricultural Church are not so easy to please—" Viscount Surrey smiled wryly. Although he is an aristocrat, this kind of marginalized aristocrat really lacks enough contacts, so it is difficult to find members of certain churches to help.

In particular, his territory itself is not very good at developing agriculture, which further increases the difficulty of inviting members of the Agricultural Church.

"I can help you with this." Lawrence shrugged and said, "At least I have a very good relationship with the Church of Agriculture, and I should be able to help you invite a work team from the Church of Agriculture to come to you."