Chapter 433: New Sounds of Canal Transport

False Song, the southeast corner of Bianjing, the dock at the confluence of the Bian River and the Five Zhang River.

Morning mist had not yet cleared, masts stood like a forest on the river surface, and boats crowded together.

Shouts, work chants, and the dull thuds of loading and unloading cargo mixed with the river's distinctive fishy smell, forming a lively and authentic picture of canal transport.

Minor clerk Zheng He, hand on his waist dagger, picked his way carefully between the slippery gangways and piles of cargo as high as mountains.

He was a low-ranking functionary under the Bianjing Waterway Dispatch Office, responsible for coordinating berthing and cargo movement for this section of the dock.

His post was lowly and his duties many; he spent all day dealing with boatmen, laborers, and merchants, inevitably picking up the air of the marketplace, as if living in a different world from those upright scholar-officials.

At this moment, he was frantic because a batch of urgently north‑transferred military supplies could not be loaded onto ships on schedule.

"What's going on? The canal boats that were scheduled yesterday haven't shown up yet."

Zheng He grabbed a hurrying canal worker, his tone holding back anger.

The canal worker wore a look of helplessness and pointed at the waterway.

"Sir Zheng, it's not that the boats aren't coming; the way ahead is blocked! A few old boats with deep drafts are slow and occupy the main channel, so the boats behind can't get through."

Zheng He tiptoed to look and indeed saw, in the middle of the channel, several wide‑bodied, antiquated canal boats, like clumsy old oxen, creeping forward slowly, with a long line of anxious waiting boats piled up behind them.

He couldn't help but sigh.

The False Song relied on canal transport, needing to ship huge amounts of grain and silk from South of the River to the capital each year.

But the canal boats had seen no major improvements for years; many were still old equipment from the previous dynasty, inefficient and prone to breakdowns.

During the busy canal season, traffic jams on the waterway were everyday fare.

As a low‑level clerk, he might have a thousand ideas, but without authority or funds he could not change anything, only day after day dealing with the endless stream of troubles.

"Ah, if only the boats could be built lighter and with shallower drafts, perhaps…"

He shook his head, dismissed the unrealistic thought, and plunged back into the endless coordination and urging.

Several days later, during his day off.

Zheng He and a couple of colleagues went to a small tavern near the dock that they often visited to drink away their worries.

After a few cups of rough liquor, the conversation naturally turned again to the troublesome canal transport.

"I heard they've built a new kind of boat down in South of the River; its hull seems a bit different, and it runs much faster than the old boats on the canal."

One colleague lowered his voice and said.

"Oh? In what way is it different?"

Zheng He became interested.

"I can't say exactly,"

that colleague scratched his head.

"It seems they made modifications to the bow and the keel of the hull, making it easier to cut through the water. I heard it too from chatting with southern merchants; supposedly the plans leaked from… from a firm called 'South Wind Chronicle,' which seems to specialize in overseas trade and has broad experience."

"South Wind Chronicle?"

Zheng He noted down the name.

He did not investigate the firm's background, just taking it for an ordinary north‑south trader.

But the phrases 'hull modification' and 'effortless water‑cutting' were like seeds that fell into his heart.

A few days later, while sorting a batch of backlogged old files, Zheng He inadvertently came across a fragmented ship‑building sketch whose origin was unknown.

The hull outlined there differed greatly from the present canal boats, especially emphasizing the bow's lines and the hull's structure, with a few blurred notes mentioning 'reducing wave resistance' and 'improving stability,' etc.

Who drew this sketch and how it ended up in the official files is unclear; it looks not so old, yet its ideas run completely counter to the prevailing shipbuilding notions of the day.

Holding this fragment, Zheng He felt his pulse quicken for no apparent reason.

He recalled the tavern colleague's words and the daily congestion he saw at the dock.

A bold idea took root in his mind.

Taking advantage of his position, he quietly sought out an experienced old shipwright he knew, and based on that fragment and his own understanding, combined with years of observing the canal boats' flaws, he secretly drafted a more detailed improvement sketch.

The focus was to optimize the hull form, seeking to boost speed and handling without greatly increasing cost.

He knew that, given his status, directly urging the superiors to reform the canal boats would be tantamount to daydreaming.

But he could try another approach.

He presented this carefully drawn sketch, together with a memorandum he wrote outlining the existing canal boats' defects and gently proposing a trial build of a new prototype to increase capacity, to his direct superior—a veteran of the Waterway Dispatch Office who had weathered many years there and knew well the hardships of canal transport.

"Zheng He, what is this…"

The senior officer looked at the detailed sketch and analysis, raising his head in surprise.

"Sir,"

Zheng He bowed, his tone earnest.

"I am a lowly subordinate; I ought not to presume to discuss such major matters. Yet seeing the daily blockages and huge losses in canal transport leaves me uneasy. This sketch is my compilation of scattered hearsay and my own shallow insight; it may be fanciful, but I implore you to review it. If a small prototype could be built and tested, verifying its effect, even if it fails, the loss would be minor."

The senior officer pondered for a long while, his fingers lightly tapping the sketch.

How could he not know the ills of canal transport?

But the bureaucracy is moribund, and innovation meets many obstacles.

But Zheng He's move is not a call for full‑scale promotion; it is merely a trial prototype, with controllable risk.

If it truly works, it would be a notable achievement for both public and private.

"All right,"

The senior officer finally spoke.

"This matter is known to you and me. I will try to pull some funds from miscellaneous accounts, find a reliable shipyard, and build a small boat according to this sketch for a test. Whether it succeeds or not, we'll keep it quiet for now."

Zheng He was overjoyed.

"Thank you, sir!"

Almost exactly as Zheng He left his superior's office.

Chen Dynasty, the tranquil chamber of the separate villa.

Chen Wen was focusing his senses to perceive the 'growth' gradually increasing within his body from the ongoing high-intensity physical tempering (applying the multiplier effect to himself, conducting overload agility and strength training).

Suddenly, his thought stirred slightly.

In Shi Yong, the patch representing the False Song Bianjing area's stagnant and complex Fortune Momentum vortex, at a subtle context related to 'waterway', 'transfer', and 'logistics', seemed to extremely slightly 'jump' once.

A extremely weak Fortune Momentum carrying the meanings of 'dredging' and 'optimization', like a hibernating spring insect, lightly lifted the covering soil and probed out a hint of vitality.

Although this hint of vitality was quickly submerged by the vast stagnant aura, that moment's fluctuation was precisely captured by Chen Wen.

Oh?

Chen Wen gradually withdrew his stance, a flicker of surprise flashing in his eyes.

He did not directly intervene in this matter, merely scattering some 'seeds' of technical thought through the South Wind Chronicle.

Unexpectedly, someone soon caught hold of that seed and attempted to make it sprout.

Moreover, it was in the field of canal transport, which concerns the False Song's economic lifeline.

It seems that within the False Song, not everyone is a mediocre conservative.

He murmured to himself.

At this moment, Qian Gui's figure appeared silently at the door of the quiet chamber.

Your Majesty,

Qian Gui's voice carried a hint of excitement not easily noticed.

A minor clerk Zheng He of the False Song's Canal Dock Office, inspired by the ship design concepts disseminated in the South Wind Chronicle, combined with his own observation, drafted an improved canal ship diagram and has already convinced his superiors to prepare a prototype trial.

Chen Wen gave a slight nod.

Is the source reliable?

Reliable.

Qian Gui affirmed.

This is news returned by an embedded agent we planted years ago in the Canal Dock Office. He did not directly participate, but witnessed Zheng He's process of submitting the draft diagram. According to his observation, the Iron Crow Army's surveillance network, in the field of technology dissemination, especially such grassroots clerks' spontaneous 'technical improvement', apparently has an obvious blind spot. Their focus is more on court factional struggles, border military situations, and those known important historical figures.

Chen Wen walked to the window, looking at the flourishing plants and flowers in the courtyard.

Canal transport, the nation's lifeblood.

He said slowly.

If the lifeblood flows unimpeded, the body grows strong; if the lifeblood is blocked, myriad diseases arise. Our previous infiltration in agricultural tools was to nourish its flesh and blood. Now this attempt in canal transport is to endeavor to dredge its lifeblood.

Although it is merely an insignificant small step, and whether that prototype ship will succeed remains unknown.

He turned around, his gaze deep.

But this means that our technological infiltration has already expanded from military industry and agricultural tools to a more core infrastructure field. Moreover, it is using the internal strength of the False Song itself, nurturing a sapling of reform within its system.

The blind spot of the Iron Crow Army is our opportunity.

Pass the order down: give more attention to mid- to low-level officials like Zheng He who work in practical departments, have ideas, and are willing to act. The South Wind Chronicle may, as appropriate, provide them with some 'inspiration' or 'clues' in a more covert way.

Yes!

Qian Gui bowed, accepted the order, and retreated silently once again.

Chen Wen returned once more to the center of the quiet chamber.

He felt within himself the growth progress faintly increasing due to another successful indirect strategic intervention; his heart was not overly excited, only possessing a calm of everything being under control.

The spark's light has begun to illuminate a broader realm.

The benefit of agricultural policy lies in the foundation.

The new voice of canal transport concerns the lifeblood.

These seemingly tiny efforts, like trickling streams, will eventually converge into an unstoppable tide of the era.