Chapter 677: Chapter 449: Ships
Both staying in Lishi City, there’s really no rush to retire from the military for now. After all, with so many top craftsmen around, plus the chance to use coal for forging, not everyone’s got this opportunity.
If you don’t take advantage of it, it’s a waste.
Xiaomi listened and thought it was a good idea.
"You’re doing well in the barracks. There’s nothing much to do at home now. I’m so bored staying home every day."
Primarily, hunting was getting a bit dull, and Anning Village was far from other towns, making her too lazy even to go out shopping.
Wei Ziang felt helpless. He wanted to bring Xiaomi along, and General Song and the others probably wouldn’t oppose.
But it was all men on his side, with many of them working shirtless. It wasn’t suitable for Xiaomi to go there.
However, Wei Ziang soon thought of another matter.
"Xiaomi, didn’t you say you wanted to go to sea someday?"
Xiaomi nodded: "Yeah, but it’s still a long way off. Why the sudden question?"
Wei Ziang chuckled: "I’ve been asking around, and found out the Xuyu Dynasty has coastal cities and fishing boats, but they haven’t ventured too far into the sea."
"Apparently, the sea is very rough, and Xuyu’s fishing boats are fine on rivers and lakes, but they get capsized at sea almost instantly."
Xiaomi blinked at him: "Big brother, what are you trying to say?"
Wei Ziang thought for a moment: "Xiaomi, why don’t you spend the next few years studying big ships? I remember there’s a book about the history of steamships in the space."
"Going to sea isn’t that easy. First, you need a big ship, enough sailors, and weapons to defend the ship. Even then, you have to test it several times near the coast before gradually going further out."
Evidently, Wei Ziang hadn’t just casually asked around but had thoroughly and seriously researched this.
"Getting all this ready could take decades at most, a decade at the least—definitely not something done quickly, especially building the ship, which requires many craftsmen for research and manufacturing."
"However, if Xiaomi starts studying now, she could openly share the experience and methods from the book when the time comes."
Listening to Wei Ziang’s explanation, Xiaomi was a bit dazed and murmured to herself: "It takes that long, huh."
Waiting for decades... when will that be?
Wei Ziang couldn’t help but chuckle: "Don’t tell me, Xiaomi, you thought you could just set off to sea as soon as you reached the shore?"
Xiaomi laughed awkwardly: "Not exactly, but I didn’t think it would take that many decades; I thought it might be a matter of a few years."
Wei Ziang shook his head but didn’t say much. However, he stopped his horse.
"There’s nothing much to do these coming days. Why don’t you let me into the space, Xiaomi? I’ll organize the books we might need, and we can look at them here."
It’s only the 26th. The house is almost tidied up, so there’s nothing they need to do. As for preparing for the New Year, there’s no rush.
Whatever needs to be prepared, and when, is up to their parents, and sister and brother Ze will follow and help since they’ll have their own families next year, needing to handle many things themselves.
As for the two of them, they’re quite free.
Upon hearing Wei Ziang’s suggestion, Xiaomi’s eyes lit up: "Alright, let’s find a place. You go in first and organize the books, then we can look at them together later!"
In the distant mountains, people were working and training, so they could see what was happening here at a glance.
If a person suddenly disappeared, someone might notice it.
They found a small forest to slip into. They hunted often, so no one would think much of it.
After getting a little deeper, Xiaomi grabbed Wei Ziang’s hand, focused her mind, and sent him into the space.
Though Wei Ziang couldn’t control the things inside the space, Ling’er was there, so nothing to worry about.
After about five minutes, judging it was probably enough time, she reached her Spiritual Sense into the space and indeed saw Wei Ziang holding a stack of books and quickly got him out.
The landing spot wasn’t right; Wei Ziang twisted his ankle slightly on a stone he remembered from when he was a child, but he quickly steadied himself.
Xiaomi was so startled she grabbed Wei Ziang’s arm: "Big brother, are you alright? I didn’t notice there was a stone there just now."
Wei Ziang shook his head: "I’m fine. Let’s find a place to read."
They found a sunny spot with stones and sat quietly to read the books.
When Xiaomi collected materials back then, she followed the mindset of "never miss anything" and secretly packed anything she came across. There was plenty of space, enough to store it all.
As for what she packed back then, she didn’t know. She would only rummage through the space to find things when she needed them.
In this world, everything piled together, barely categorized into things to eat, things to use, raw or cooked.
As for the books?
Forget it. It’s already pretty good having them neatly placed instead of just strewn about.
It wasn’t until Ling’er appeared to help classify and organize everything that it all started to look decent.
But even so, Xiaomi hadn’t carefully looked through these things. Flipping through the books Wei Ziang took out, she was curious and surprised.
There were a dozen thick volumes, all about various types of ships, from rubber rafts to cruise ships, even structural diagrams of ancient sailing vessels!
Xiaomi glanced through and suddenly understood.
"Big brother, you want me to study shipbuilding now so I can understand these things and when I mention them to others in the future, I can speak with some authority, and it’ll be clear that I’ve genuinely thought it through myself—not just spouting things off the top of my head. Is that right?"
The knowledge recorded in these books was indeed extensive. Sharing just a little could benefit shipbuilders immensely.
But if she just took them out directly, it wouldn’t be right. Even pretending to know, she had to appear knowledgeable at the very least.
Wei Ziang nodded: "Exactly, you can’t just recite it like a textbook. You need to understand what everything is, how it should be done, and what’s important."
"Once you have some grasp of these things, speaking about them will make others naturally believe you more readily. Plus, knowing these things will help you judge the quality of ships in the future."
They were planning to set sail, not just float around a small river or lake. The demands on a ship would be much greater.
If none of them knew much about ships, they might not tell if someone sold them a faulty one.
Primarily, Wei Ziang himself would likely be in the barracks for the foreseeable few years. If the masters learned the principle of firearms, they’d probably stick around Lishi City.
When that happens, he’d have even less time for ship studies.
When all is considered, Xiaomi was more suitable for this. She not only had time and resources but also felt bored.