Testing the Large Ship with a Ten-Thousand-Jin Capacity

Yan woke up from a deep sleep early in the morning. He lay there without getting up immediately. A deep, dreamless sleep had left his mind exceptionally clear, and the fatigue from the past few days had vanished. He took a few deep breaths and could feel his chest filling with strength. His muscles were relaxed yet in place, and he felt as if he had been rejuvenated.

"Today is a good day," Yan murmured to himself, a smile unconsciously creeping onto his lips.

He sat up, put on his linen clothes, which his mother, Qingye, had specially made for him. The few clothes he wore in the Valley Tribe had faded from washing, but this one was new. Yan carefully tied the hemp rope around his waist, washed up briefly, and pushed open the door. The morning breeze rushed in, carrying the unique fragrance of grass and trees from the Fire Tribe Valley. Yan was about to take a deep breath of this fresh air when he froze.

A large group of teenagers stood at the entrance.

Gubang, Daya, and Zhuangchai stood at the front, followed by more than a dozen core members of the Youth Team. These youths all had excited expressions on their faces and their eyes were sparkling, but Yan could tell something was wrong at a glance—many of them had obvious dark circles under their eyes, looking like giant pandas from later generations. Yan guessed that many of them must have been so excited that they hadn't slept all night.

"Boss! You're finally up!" Gubang was the first to rush up, his voice trembling, "We've been waiting for you for ages!"

Yan glanced at the sky; the sun hadn't risen yet. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "You guys... you didn't sleep all night, did you?"

Daya scratched his head sheepishly and chuckled, "Brother Yan, how could we sleep? The thought of seeing the massive ship launch today kept me tossing and turning; all I could see when I closed my eyes was the ship. Eventually, I just gave up sleeping, got up, and started sharpening my weapon. I came over before dawn."

Zhuangchai leaned over, his voice low but unable to hide his excitement. "It's not just us, many brothers can't sleep!"

Yan looked at the group of teenagers, feeling both amused and touched; he understood their feelings. He patted Gubang on the shoulder. "Alright, don't stand here anymore, I'll be right there, just wait a moment."

He turned and went back into the house, took a piece of leftover dry rice from last night and ate it as he walked. When he came out again, the boys had spontaneously lined up in two rows, looking at him expectantly.

"Let's go," Yan mumbled, taking a bite of his rice ball.

A large group of people headed towards the Fire Creek River. Along the way, they encountered many other tribesmen also making their way to the river. Everyone greeted each other, their faces beaming with anticipation. Yan noticed that many of them were carrying dry rations, clearly intending to eat as they watched from the riverbank, not wanting to miss any details.

"Boss, do you really think that ship with a carrying capacity of 10,000 jin can carry 10,000 jin of grain at once?" a boy named Xiaoshi couldn't help but ask. He had joined the Fire Tribe's Youth Team later and hadn't fully adapted to the Fire Tribe's "generous spending."

Before Yan could answer, Gubang blurted out, "Of course! My father, Dabang, personally supervised its manufacture; how could it be fake!"

"Really?" the other boys exclaimed in surprise.

"Why would I lie to you!" Gubang puffed out his chest, and as he spoke, the group had already reached the bank of the Fire Creek River. At this moment, the bank was densely packed with people, roughly estimated to be at least tens of thousands. The elderly, women, and children—almost all the tribespeople who didn't have urgent tasks to do today had come.

"Wow, there are so many people..." Zhuangchai exclaimed.

Yan led the youths through the crowd. Seeing it was Yan, everyone made way for him, and some even greeted him warmly, "Young Master Yan is here!" "Yan, this big ship will definitely be a success today!"

As Yan responded to the greetings from his tribesmen, he walked towards the front of the dock, where his father, Jianshi, his mother, Qingye, his uncles, Jianya, Dali, and Dabang, along with other high-ranking members of the tribe, were already gathered together talking.

"Father, Mother, uncles and aunts," Yan stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

Jianshi turned around, saw Yan, and a look of relief appeared in his eyes. "You've rested well? You look great."

"I slept very well," Yan said with a smile, then looked at the others, "Everyone arrived so early."

Qingye walked over and gently straightened Yan's collar. "Today is an important day for the Fire Tribe. Your Uncle Dabang led people to the boatyard for a final check before dawn."

Yan looked at Dabang. The workshop's head seemed unusually energetic today. Although he had deep eye bags, his eyes were sharp, and he stood up straight, intently staring at a huge object covered in burlap on the riverbank.

That's a heavy-duty ship with a carrying capacity of 10,000 jin (approximately 5,000 kg).

Although covered with burlap, its enormous outline was still visible. Compared to the two-thousand-jin and five-thousand-jin cargo ships of the Fish River, it was simply a behemoth.

"Yan, you've come at the right time." Jianshi Shi waved. "You're knowledgeable, so keep an eye on things during the trial run and see if there's anything we've overlooked."

"Yes, Father," Yan replied solemnly. Although he was not in charge of the actual construction, he had seen various ships in movies and books in his previous life, and with his understanding of primitive shipbuilding during this period, he could indeed offer some suggestions from a different perspective.

At this moment, Dabang turned to Jianshi and said, "Chief, everything is ready. The hull has been checked three times and everything is confirmed to be in good condition. The log tracks have also been laid, and we can launch the boat at any time."

Jianshi Shi nodded, glanced around at the tribal leaders present, and then looked at the densely packed, eagerly waiting tribespeople behind him. He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Then let's begin. Let the tribespeople see what kind of ships our Fire Tribe can build!"

"Yes!" Dabang's eyes flashed with excitement as he turned to the shipyard craftsmen and shouted, "Uncover the cloth! Prepare to push the boat!"

The craftsmen responded in unison, quickly climbing up the scaffolding and beginning to untie the hemp ropes binding the ship. As the hemp cloth was slowly pulled down, the massive ship, capable of carrying tens of thousands of kilograms, was finally revealed to everyone.

"Wow--"

A gasp of amazement rose from the shore.

"Wow, it's huge..." the Gubang murmured, its eyes wide with amazement.

"It's much bigger than the Fire Tribe's ship with a carrying capacity of five thousand catties!" Daya whispered to Yan.

Yan carefully examined the new ship. From its appearance, the craftsmanship was indeed solid, and the structural proportions were also very reasonable. He paid particular attention to the design of the waterline markings and the center of gravity, as these were key to the stability of the large ship.

"Push the boat into the water!" Dabang gave the order.

The craftsmen, who were already prepared, began to work. They used thick wooden levers to pry open the logs at the bottom of the boat, and hundreds of people shouted in unison as they exerted their strength.

Hey-yo! Hey-yo!

The heavy boat began to move slowly, sliding down the laid-out sloping track onto the river. The logs creaked under the weight, and everyone's hearts were in their throats.

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, the bow of the boat entered the water first, creating a huge Langhua. Then, the entire hull slid into the river, and the river water surged up instantly, lifting the boat.

The moment the boat entered the water, it rocked violently from side to side, and a chorus of gasps erupted from the shore.

"It's going to flip!"

"Stay calm! Stay calm!"

Yan's heart was in his throat, but he soon discovered that although the boat was rocking a lot, it was like a roly-poly toy; it would start to right itself after rocking to a certain angle.

Sure enough, after a while, the swaying of the boat gradually decreased, and it eventually floated steadily on the water.

"It's done!" Dabang shouted first, his face flushed with excitement.

A deafening cheer erupted on the shore as the tribespeople jumped and embraced each other. Many elders even wiped away tears of emotion; to them, it was nothing short of a miracle that their tribe could build such a large ship.

But this was only the first step. Dabang quickly calmed down and directed several small boats to approach the large ship. The craftsmen boarded the large ship and began to carefully check whether there were any leaks in various parts of the hull.

"Report! The bow is dry!"

"Dry the stern!"

"Dry on the port side!"

"Dry on starboard!"

Reports came one after another, each one making the people on the shore even more excited. Yan also breathed a sigh of relief—the waterproofing hurdle had been overcome, which meant that the sealing process of mixing tung oil, hemp fiber, and lime was very successful.

Next came the load test. The small boat began to load the prepared stones, sandbags, and other materials onto the large ship. Yan noticed that Dabang had designed a very clever load distribution scheme. First, he evenly laid heavy objects on the bottom of the ship, and then gradually increased the load, observing the changes in the waterline.

"Waterline to mark one point!"

"With a load capacity of approximately two thousand kilograms, the ship is stable!"

"Waterline at mark two!"

"The load capacity is approximately 5,000 jin..."

Dabang gave loud instructions from the shore, while the craftsmen busied themselves on the ship. Yan carefully observed the entire process, secretly admiring Dabang's mastery of the simple wisdom of ship load balance through long-term practice.

The test continued until noon. When the sun was directly overhead, the ship was loaded with the equivalent of 10,000 kilograms of weight, and the waterline reached the full load mark, but the ship remained stable.

"Chief!" Dabang trotted up to Jianshi, his face beaming with barely suppressed excitement. "Waterproofing test passed! Unloaded stability test passed! Half-load test passed! Full-load test passed! Now only the final flight test remains!"

A relieved smile appeared on Jianshi's face. He patted Dabang on the shoulder. "Thank you for your hard work. Your shipyard has done a great job."

"There's one last thing," Dabang said modestly, "We need to actually sail it around the Fish River to confirm the new ship's performance in flowing water and under different wind speeds."

At this moment, Dali, who had been unable to contain himself any longer, suddenly jumped out. "Big Brother! Let me bring the team for the flight test this afternoon! I can't wait any longer!"

His anxious look amused everyone. Qingye also smiled and glanced at Dali, saying, "Look how anxious you are, the boat isn't going to run away."

"Sister-in-law, you have no idea," Dali rubbed his hands together, his eyes fixed on the large ship on the river, "For the past few months, I've been thinking every day about what our own 10,000-jin heavy-duty ship will look like. Now that it's finally built, I want to be the first to board it and take the helm! Let me try, I promise I'll sail it out steadily and return safely!"

Jianshi looked at Dabang: "You're the person in charge, what do you say?"

Dabang hesitated. His original plan was to wait until all the tests were completed before letting a high-ranking person like Dali experience the ship. But seeing Dali's Dali and knowing that Dali was indeed a good swimmer and had solid and experienced boating skills, he relented and said, "Dali, the static tests of the new ship are all done without any problems, but we may encounter various situations during the voyage. If you really want to go, you have to promise me a few things."

"You say! A hundred pieces are fine!" Dali patted his chest Dali.

"First, the ship must carry at least ten experienced sailors; second, the first voyage should only be a test run on a calm section of the river near Fire Creek Mouth, avoiding the rapids; third, if any abnormality is detected—even the slightest unusual noise—the ship must immediately return; fourth..."

Dabang listed seven or eight points of attention, and Dali listened Dali, nodding repeatedly. As soon as Dabang finished, he immediately assured him, "Don't worry, don't worry, I've remembered them all! I'll definitely do as you say!"

Seeing that Dabang reluctantly nodded, Dali was so happy he almost jumped up and turned to gather more people.

"Wait," Jianshi called out to him, "Eat your meal first, it won't make a difference if you're in a hurry."

Indeed, the sun had risen to noon, and the tribespeople had gradually dispersed to eat, but as they walked, they talked about the massive ship with a carrying capacity of ten thousand kilograms.

"Did you see that? Such a big ship, floating steadily on the water!"

"I heard it can hold 10,000 jin of grain at a time, that's a lot..."

"With this boat, we can transport grain to the Valley Tribe much faster in the future!"

Yan walked back with the core members of the Youth Team. Gubang excitedly gestured, "Once this boat is officially in use, I definitely want to apply to work on it! Working on such a big boat would be so impressive!"

"You think it's that easy?" Daya was more rational. "We'll definitely have to choose the most experienced sailors, so we still need to train hard."

"I'll practice then!" Gubang retorted, "I'm a really good rower now!"

Yan listened to the boys' argument with a smile. He knew that the significance of this ship went far beyond transportation. It was a symbol of the Fire Tribe's powerful technological capabilities, a source of confidence for the tribe, and a crucial asset for facing future challenges.

Lunch was simple, but everyone ate quickly. Dali practically wolfed it down, finishing in just a few minutes. He wiped his mouth and rushed out to gather the others.

Jianya ate quickly too. He put down his chopsticks and said to Jianshi, "Brother, I'm going to organize people to pack the pottery. Two days is a tight schedule, I need to hurry."

"Go ahead," Jianshi nodded.

Jianshi himself also had to return to the council hall to deal with the backlog of affairs. Now that the tribe had grown in size, there were all sorts of things to decide every day—what to plant on which piece of land, what raw materials each workshop lacked, which branch needed support... a multitude of things to do.

After finishing his meal, Yan went to the Youth Team's training ground. Although most of the youths had gone to watch the fun in the morning, some were still training. Yan checked the training records for the past few days and chatted with the core members who stayed behind about the new team members' adaptation before turning to the shipbuilding workshop.

The workshop was still bustling with activity. Although the 10,000-jin ship had been launched, the shipyard's tasks were even heavier—it needed to summarize experiences, optimize processes, and prepare for mass production. When Yan found Dabang, he was discussing something with several old craftsmen.

"Yan, you've come at the right time," Dabang beckoned him over, "We were just discussing how there are a few improvements we could make if we were to build a second 10,000-jin ship. Take a look."

Yan leaned closer and listened carefully to the craftsmen's discussion. He then offered several of his own suggestions, such as adding longitudinal keels to the bottom of the ship to strengthen the structure and adding fenders to the sides of the ship to reduce wear and tear when docking. These suggestions caught the craftsmen's attention, and they began to discuss their feasibility.

When Yan came out of the boat shop, it was already past noon. He went to the stable to bring out his two beloved horses. Yan rode Chasing Wind towards Fire Creek Mouth. When Yan climbed a high slope on the bank of Fire Creek Mouth and looked towards the Fish River,

On the wide surface of the Fish River, the massive ship, weighing tens of thousands of kilograms, was slowly moving. Its size was particularly striking on the Fish River, like a moving Little Mountain. The sails were already raised, billowing in the wind and propelling the ship smoothly. On the side of the ship, a dozen long oars were working in unison, splashing up white Shuihua.

Dali stood at the bow, hand on the mast, head held high and chest out. Even from this distance, Yan could imagine the smug expression on his face. The ship sailed smoothly into the distance, gradually becoming a black dot in the distance. The tribesmen on the banks of Fire Creek Mouth were reluctant to leave, still excitedly discussing the massive ship weighing ten thousand catties.

Yan stood on the high slope, letting the wind caress his face. He looked at the ship that represented a new height for the Fire Tribe, and a complex mix of emotions welled up in his heart—pride and satisfaction. Before long, Yan rode his horse around and headed back towards the Fire Tribe Valley.

As the sun set, the first massive ship of the Fire Tribe, weighing tens of thousands of kilograms, reappeared at the Fire Creek River dock. It had completed its first test voyage and returned safely.

When the boat docked, Dali was the first to jump off, his face beaming with barely suppressed excitement. "It's done! Everything's fine! This boat is absolutely no problem!"