Galleon

Galleon

Qin Mo looked at the ship Ximan had cobbled together and sighed inwardly. This would be the first mainstay warship with which he would one day dominate the seas. In his other world, it had borne a resounding name—the Galleon.

The Galleon had been improved from the Spanish Carrack. The main warship of the Spanish Armada, which had ruled the oceans for over a hundred years, had been the great Carrack. And it was the English Light Galleon Fleet that defeated the Armada. From then on, Galleons and the other warships developed from them ruled the seas for three hundred years.

The Galleon's greatest feature was that it moved the traditional forecastle below deck. Its bow was flat and straight, with only a raised sterncastle protruding above the deck. The entire ship sat low along the waterline, its hull supported by a great number of ribs. Its structure was sturdy, and its interior holds were level and spacious, making it convenient whether for cargo or cannon.

The only aspect in which the Galleon fell short of Chinese sailing ships was sail handling. Chinese sand ships and Guang ships used hard sails, which were simple to operate and required few sailors. More importantly, they could sail closer into the wind. The Galleon, however, used soft sails and required many sailors to handle them. Even with fore-and-aft sails, it could only make use of crosswinds, so when sailing against the wind, it had to follow a zigzag course while sailors constantly adjusted the sails.

But a Galleon could have very tall masts and enormous sails, so overall, it was much faster than Chinese sailing ships. And on these troubled seas, carrying more sailors was actually necessary. With too few men, they would not even dare engage pirates in boarding combat. With more men, then... who knew who the pirates really were! Hahaha!

"Ximan, you really are an all-purpose alchemist, haha! When can I take this ship out to sea for a trial? I can't wait any longer." Whether Ximan liked being hugged or not, Qin Mo went right up and wrapped him in an embrace, kissing him as well.

"Perhaps only our Elven Race can handle sails like these. They're far too complicated!" Ximan muttered as he pushed Qin Mo away. The Elven Race's Moon Ships, with their pointed ends, also used soft sails, but their sails were far less complicated and difficult to handle than those of a Galleon.

"No, Ximan. We need more sailors, and we need to earn more money, so that we can find our way home. That is our shared wish, isn't it?" Qin Mo corrected Ximan's misguided notion. In his vision of the future, he would need at least two hundred main warships to run rampant across East Asia. Each ship needed more than a hundred men. Could all those vessels possibly be manned by the Elven Race? That was obviously impossible.

"Fine. I'll first select some people to test it in the nearby waters. If there are no problems, we'll take it out into the open sea."

"Excellent. I'll leave for Fusang in half a month. This time, I'll make it my flagship and have it compete against your Moon Ship."

As the day of departure drew nearer, Qin Mo discovered that the unfinished preparations only grew more numerous. Not to mention the long-term plan of ironmaking furnaces—the refractory bricks had not even begun testing, let alone production, and he did not even know where to find the materials. But an important issue he had overlooked made him want nothing more than to hammer his own head.

The Bright Heart Manual Qin Mo cultivated was one of Great Xia's foremost cultivation arts. In its initial stages, it could temper the body and cleanse the meridians and marrow; in its later stages, it could allow one to transcend the ordinary and enter the sacred. He and Allen had been injured several times during their failed contests, yet their wounds healed on their own within a day at most, and after several days even the scars vanished without a trace. Lin Bo, Uncle Wu, and the other retainers were all formidable as well, leading him to mistakenly believe that every soldier in the world was a cultivator, and that as long as they did not die, their wounds would heal by themselves.

It was only when Lin Bo told him that those who died instantly on the battlefield were the lucky ones, while those who died from festering, suppurating wounds were everywhere, that he learned not everyone had the chance to cultivate. The great clans of Great Xia did indeed possess their own secret cultivation methods, but for commoners, cultivation was harder than climbing to the heavens. Basically, the only path was to exchange military merit with the imperial house for a cultivation manual.

If one accumulated enough military merit, one could apply for a dose of Vital Essence medicine and a copied edition of the Breaker Manual. The Breaker Manual was said to have originated from ancient ruins. Its power was formidable, and its cultivation speed was even more astonishing. It could be said that the cultivation manuals preserved by the vast majority of aristocratic clans had all been refined on the foundation of the Breaker Manual.

Vital Essence medicine was refined from many rare medicinal ingredients. Together with a copied Breaker Manual, it could enable a person to sense the Vital Essence between heaven and earth and guide them onto the path of cultivation. Of course, one's luck and aptitude had to be good enough. If they were not, then failing to sense Vital Essence even after using three or five doses of medicine and studying copied manuals was perfectly normal.

How many common soldiers spent their entire lives in a cycle of accumulating military merit—exchanging it for military merit rewards—then accumulating more military merit—then exchanging it again, repeating the cycle until they fell, all in pursuit of that sliver of opportunity to change their own fate and their family's fate.

Without medicine and a copied manual, one would need a high-level cultivator willing to expend the Vital Essence they had painstakingly cultivated to guide and initiate them. As for sensing the Vital Essence of heaven and earth through the methods recorded in the Breaker Manual and successfully absorbing it for oneself... that would not make one a genius, but a monster.

Qin Mo had been guided onto the path of cultivation by Qin Lan from childhood. Even many of the commanders among his retainers had swiftly become cultivators with Qin Lan's help. But human strength had its limits; Qin Lan could not turn every soldier into a cultivator. Thus, not every soldier possessed a powerful body like Qin Mo's. Modern first-aid kits for disinfection and suturing were therefore indispensable treasures for plundering homes, robbing travelers, and fighting bloody battles.

Qin Mo summoned Lin Bo again and told him to find several reliable hands. Hearing Qin Mo speak in that tone again, Lin Bo's eyes began to gleam with the light of gold. He was nearly beyond caring about silver now. They were earning more than ten thousand taels of silver a day, and the number was still growing. He had practically gone numb.

An alcohol distiller was simple. Heat water over a fire, then use the steam to heat low-proof liquor. Because alcohol had a lower evaporation temperature, the alcohol in the liquor would evaporate first. Then, when the alcohol vapor passed through a condenser pipe immersed in water, it condensed into liquid—high-proof alcohol. Continuous cycle distillation could produce alcohol of even greater strength.

When Qin Mo brought out alcohol that could no longer be made any stronger, Lin Bo and the several old men could no longer hide their drool. If not for Qin Mo's status as heir apparent, they would already have begun fighting and snatching it from one another.

Seeing how greedily they stared, Qin Mo could only pour each of them a cup to satisfy their craving. This stuff wasted too much grain. Perhaps further improving the distiller would be a feasible solution.

"Cough, cough... cough, cough!" A violent bout of coughing interrupted Qin Mo's thoughts. Tears streamed down the old men's faces and snot ran freely from their noses. If their faces had not all been flushed red, one might have taken them for a group of consumptives.

"When I poured you the liquor, did you think I didn't see those disdainful looks in your eyes? You just thought I was stingy, didn't you? I simply didn't tell you how incredibly strong this liquor was. Choke to death, you lot with rotten words in your bellies." Qin Mo's malicious delight was thoroughly satisfied.

"Uncles, elders, alcohol's greatest use is not for drinking. It is for disinfection. After wiping it over a wound before bandaging or suturing it, it can prevent swelling and suppuration. Its secondary use is warding off the cold, but that merely exhausts one's strength. Once the liquor's effect wears off, one will feel even colder."

"Good liquor... good liquor." The bunch of old fogeys did not hear a word Qin Mo said. They had all come down from the battlefield and were all drunkards who loved strong liquor. Even earth-shaking matters could not compare to good wine. Their eyes shone as they stared at the wine cask in Qin Mo's hands.

"Lin Bo, during the northern campaign, this alcohol is for military use only and must not be used recklessly. Our family foundation is still shallow, and producing this alcohol consumes too much grain. We cannot harm the livelihood of our people because of a craving for drink."

The old men said nothing, staging a silent protest. This was the first time such a thing had happened. Before, no matter what Qin Mo foolishly tinkered with or messed around with, they had supported him without principle. But this time, they all looked at him with aggrieved faces, as pitiful as wives who had suffered abuse.

"Fine. One cask a month. You can divide it among yourselves, but you must dilute it with water before drinking, or it will harm your bodies."

"Rest assured, Young Lord. We'll only drink one cup a day. We won't delay the Young Lord's great affairs. Hehehe!" The household generals chuckled slyly. Lin Bo, in particular, smoothly slipped the wine cask from Qin Mo's hands without changing expression. The movement was so natural and fluid that Qin Mo could not help wondering whether Lin Bo had often pinched Qin Lan's liquor in the past.

"Tomorrow, gather several of the boldest veteran soldiers—preferably old military doctors. I'll explain the specific procedures for treating wounds."

Qin Mo helplessly watched the group of drunkards huddle together and whisper among themselves, deeply suspecting that this cask of liquor would not survive many days.