Chapter 159: The Artisan

With the support of the You'eryuan, Bob sold his own ships directly and then purchased a Cement Ship.

His boldness made Aibu feel somewhat surprised; a brand-new Cement Ship was delivered into Bob's hands, and Aibu did not forget to tell him, "Remember those damaged Sailboats? If you can, when you sail out of the port, remember to tow a few of them out to Xiaoshuiwan."

Bob was also a shrewd man; he frowned and said, "If I tow them out, coal will also be a problem. You know, the power for Cement Ships comes from coal."

"I can pay your expenses, 35 Xide per ship; this is definitely a good deal." Aibu offered a quite decent price.

"Then I must pick some that are easy to tow; don't give me those that have already sunk, that would cause my new ship to have problems too." Bob looked somewhat unsatisfied, "And don't break my Steam Engine; you know that thing alone is worth 3000 Xide."

"I know, I know. How about this: 40 Xide per ship, I really can't go any higher. You just need to help me tow five ships out, how about that?" The power of a Cement Ship is much greater than that of a Sailboat; towing five normal Sailboats is absolutely no problem.

Upon discussing a suitable price, Bob then said reluctantly, "Fine, then I will start tomorrow, and by the way, see if this Cement Ship can sail normally."

"Hehe, don't worry, old pal. I wouldn't sell a ship with problems; even those sailboats, I only sell them after they've been repaired." Aibu patted Bob on the shoulder, "I will deposit the payment into your account before next Wednesday; you know, you can check it at the Chamber of Commerce at any time."

Bob did not expect this business to be so profitable; not only could he pick five suitable ships, but he could also get a commission from Aibu.

He must absolutely not tell his old pal Bulutuo about this matter, otherwise he would definitely get angry and swindle him out of a few drinks.

On the forum, the players were already clicking their tongues at the high price of the ships; everyone had thought cargo ships would be expensive, but they didn't expect them to be this expensive.

Zhongshan Laoren: However, this price is indeed not too high. Our Steel production is limited. If we were to increase Steel production for shipbuilding, the cost alone would rise to over 7000 Xide, and that is assuming we have Tikuangshi.

If we don't have Tikuangshi, the ore cost would increase even more, and adding in production and forging, charging 20000 Xide wouldn't be excessive.

If it's this expensive for us to produce it ourselves, then the price sold by the Wisdom Church would be even higher. Don't forget that one Harvester costs over a thousand Xide. Although expensive, one machine can harvest all the fields in Tana City, three harvests a year. Calculated this way, the nobles won't feel they are losing money; on the contrary, they will feel they are profiting.

If we were to build Sailboats, we don't have suitable wood on hand. The wood at the Coking Plant doesn't even have time to air-dry, let alone build ships.

That would truly be a century-long voyage.

Feng Buxi: Having only accumulated for half a year, we could try Cement Ships. I see that the brick factory could also start firing cement. We need a large amount of limestone; it's not like this stuff doesn't exist around Tana City.

Yunxiao: If everyone wants to do it, we can invest some money and let the Wealth Church find us a suitable mine.

Zhuguli: We must first have a Steam Engine, or oil power. So the question arises, where would we get oil?

Zhongshan Laoren to Zhuguli: My suggestion is still to start with the Steam Engine, or directly overtake by switching lanes and using electric power. In short, Tana City doesn't have that many resources; at least I don't think it's likely that oil exists here as a mineral.

From a geographical perspective, Tana City indeed does not possess the possibility of having oil.

Therefore, the players can only honestly start the manufacturing of the Steam Engine.

Just as those wooden ships were being towed back, the players began to produce the Steam Engine. The structure of this thing is complex if you say it's complex, and not complex if you say it's not; it's just that it requires a lot of materials.

Looking at the blueprints in his hands, Ruide Huai'en was full of confusion. He didn't understand why these Xiahui People wanted to build such a thing; not only was it heavy and clumsy, but it also didn't seem to have any use.

This was not armor; it was clearly some kind of machine, and it seemed to be related to power.

Building it was also quite complex, and even the data needed to be precise.

The little apprentices like him were all stripped to the waist, hammering away with all their might, while Zhongshan Laoren was watching the whole time, fearing that something might go wrong.

Using so much refined Steel to manufacture it, it was clear these Xiahui People were going to make something extraordinary.

"Don't worry, I will tell you everything you want to know. This is a technological advancement." Unlike the Wisdom Church, the players had no reason to hide things from others; after all, for the players, it's not like higher-tech things don't exist.

So for something like a Steam Engine, Zhongshan Laoren was itching to just shove the blueprints to Ruide and then wash his hands of the whole thing.

"I know, I mean, this is simply a miracle. I can roughly tell that this is a big guy that uses heat to push the machine. Where are you planning to use it? Industrial machinery, or on a Ship?" Ruide shook his head, "You have to know, if it were something made by the Wisdom Church, there would more or less be some Runes, but there are none on this machine of yours."

"Runes?" Zhongshan Laoren gasped, "You mean to say that a machine with added Runes would be more powerful?"

"I'm not clear on that, but there must be Runes. Many machines also require people from the Wisdom Church to redraw the Runes for maintenance. I'm not too clear on the specifics; after all, I'm not a person from the Wisdom Church." Ruide said embarrassedly, "But this machine of yours, it is truly a crystallization of wisdom. How should I put it, this is the real machinery."

Indeed, this thing was originally real machinery.

"I'm saying, if, if the Artisan Church saw this machine of yours, they would definitely mock the Wisdom Church fiercely; after all, this thing is pure machinery." Ruide became more and more excited as he spoke, "However, I am not a person from the Artisan Church. Their income system is very strict, and most people can't become a real artisan."

To think there would actually be an Artisan Church.

No one mentioned this in the Royal Capital, and Ye Laoshi had been in the Royal Capital for so long and had never seen news about the Artisan Church in the newspapers.

"Looking at your expression, you must have never heard of it? This is not strange. The Artisan Church is now called the Craft Association, responsible for the Patent applications of manufacturers, but most of the time, the applicants are people from the Wisdom Church. As time passed, the Craft Association lost its missionary nature; they cooperate more with the Wisdom Church and have become a vassal of the Wisdom Church." Ruide said with some regret, "However, they take on apprentices every year, it's just that they don't take them after 25."

It was clear that Ruide was still brooding over this matter.

It made sense; as a blacksmith, even if he wasn't a Believer of the artisans, he would still look forward to having an artisan lead him.

At the same time, the Wisdom Church couldn't possibly produce products by themselves; they needed the assistance of artisans.

Never expected that while other churches were busy proselytizing, the Artisan Church was shrinking itself.

Even becoming a direct vassal of the Wisdom Church.

Zhongshan Laoren decided to start a separate post about this matter; perhaps he could dig up some useful plot.

"Regardless, I think this is a masterpiece. After all, you were able to manufacture such a magical item without the help of Wisdom. What should I call it?" Ruide looked at the blueprints and said with some excitement.

"It's an Engine, um, a Steam Engine. You reminded me, perhaps we can go and submit a Patent." Although submitting a Patent would let others discover this Engine and carry out imitation.

But for the players, this was not a problem.

Besides, the Wisdom Church might not even look favorably upon this thing.

It's just that he didn't know how to apply for it.

It seems he would have to go find the brothers from the Wealth Church for help again.

……

The return journey was quite smooth; the voyage originally scheduled for three days actually completed a round trip in three days.

Because there was no cargo on the ship when returning, the speed was faster than usual.

This batch of goods also sold for a good price in the Port City; a batch of wrought iron, plus a batch of handicrafts, earned a total of 800 Xide. After deducting costs, the net profit for one trip was 100 Xide. It could be said that if they made a few more trips, even if they bought a Sailboat, they might be able to recover the cost in half a year.

Of course, this didn't mean this price could be maintained forever, so the players still cautiously chose to tow these repairable ships back to see if they could be reused.

At the same time, the players were manufacturing some Cement Ships or Steel ships, and in the future, they might be able to sell ships directly.

These ships that were towed back were soon reported by the local newspaper in Tana City, and those nobles received the news at the first opportunity.

These Xiahui People actually bought a batch of ships used for transport directly from the Port City.

If they were transporting supplies from the Port City, although it would be a bit slower, the cost would be lower.

Thus, in Andrew's office, the number of representatives of the nobles increased.

"I heard you purchased a batch of ships. I don't know if you need crew members; we have a group of guys here who used to be fishermen. These serfs aren't good at farming, but sailing should be no problem for them." Bulu of the Wealth Church began to sell the serfs, "Those nobles look down on these serfs because they can't farm, so I can sell them to you for a bit cheaper."

"If you need cargo, we happen to have a batch, and we have our own warehouse. You only need to transport it; you don't even need to help with the loading, as we have enough serfs. Yes, you only need to give them a small cabin. One transport can earn you 25 Xide; this is definitely a bargain!"

"I wonder if you are willing to open a route from Tana City to other parts of Rierna? You just need to make a loop on the sea. We can charter the ship for 50 Xide per trip!"

"How much do you charge to transport cargo to Banbu'er? We have a large batch of Grain to be transported to Banbu'er..." a gentleman said, "I know this requires passing through Gannaer, and the risk is very high, so I am willing to pay 200 Xide, as long as you can deliver this Grain to Banbu'er."

It was unexpected that the port would be so easy to reopen; this was all due to the rising prices of the Train. Although ships are a bit slower, their price advantage has increased significantly compared to the Train.

Especially in situations where not that many regions have a Train.

Zhuguli: After consulting with Bob and Bulutuo, I discovered that our port is truly very useful. Just think about it, the Federal water system is quite developed. Whether it is inland transport or sea transport, the areas that can be reached are more numerous than those reachable by Train. Take Miracle City Rielna for example; it possesses a large amount of coral and gold products and is the most developed region for gold product trading in the Federal, but there is no Train route that can reach Tana City directly. If one wants to go to Rielna, one must first go to the Royal Capital, and then take the Texin from the Royal Capital to Rielna. One trip alone costs 100 Xide... and if there are many people, the price will be even higher.

Zhongshan Laoren: If we can build Steel ships, it will also save a lot of time. The river channel in Tana City is still quite deep; operating ten-thousand-ton cruise ships is not a problem.

Players have already started posting maps on the forum, and then began researching the water system and road network of Tana City.

It must be said that the subsequent batch of translation-type players brought a large number of research-oriented players to this game. These new players made outstanding contributions during this update, which made Chen Zhi feel a bit restless.

Unfortunately, he cannot reach that far. At most, he can currently observe the surroundings of Tana City, 30 kilometers away from Port City. As for Gannaer, he does not yet have the ability to reach it, though he can monitor a few more villages on the road.

However, he feels that if the players can find some more extraordinary Magical Items and he devours them, he might be able to monitor even more places.

By then, even without stepping out of his house, he would be able to see what the Royal Capital looks like and why the barbarians always want to attack Tana City.

At the same time, You'eryuan finally finished editing their post and published it.

The full view of Port City finally appeared before everyone's eyes. Chen Zhi also used the other party's eyes to edit a video. This video looked very magnificent; the entire Port City was almost filled with ships everywhere, and the people also had darker skin than the people of Tana City.

However, compared to Tana City, it was not that lively. After all, Port City is only a transit-type port, and compared to Tana City, it is even closer to the border coastline; 60 kilometers further north is another country.

Zhuguli: Damn, I know now why You'eryuan let me edit the post as I pleased. Is it because you think the content of the post I edited wasn't rich enough?

You'eryuan: Because I took advantage of the night to go to the bar and ask for a lot of information. Why, do you think you can have more comprehensive information about the Storm Church than I do?

(End of this chapter)