"Master! This is an ocean-blocking ship of over two hundred materials. It can hold slightly more than two cubic zhang... Although the ship's bottom asures three and a half steps plus an additional half-step, the lower compartnts are watertight. They're divided into sections, so they actually hold slightly less, about three steps..."
"Ah? Gold Shipwright, what did you just say? The cabins are divided, piece by piece? Sealed with wooden grids?... What's the use of that?"
"Uh!... Master, those are watertight compartnts! They are separated by wooden grids to prevent leaks! When the ship is breached, if there's really no ti to repair, you just need to seal off the compartnt..."
Shipwright Kim Sun-su struggled to gesture for a while but found it hard to articulate due to language barriers. He pondered carefully, then pointed to the bamboo poles fortifying the sails, explaining vividly.
"Master, look at this bamboo, bamboo!... Do you know what's inside bamboo? Bamboo is sectioned, and inside there are diaphragms between the nodes, dividing it into multiple hollow sections... The design of this sea ship's compartnts is the sa, like bamboo laid horizontally, divided section by section!..."
"Chief Divine! Compartntalized like bamboo? Separated to prevent leaking? Indeed, indeed! Each section is separate, so even if there's a leak, just plugging that one section is enough... How clever! Your Tribal Priest actually thought of this thod for shipbuilding!..."
"Ah? Master? Shipbuilding is the lowly work of craftsn; the Two Classes do not oversee or participate in it... They only inspect the built ships, and if they're poorly made, they flog the craftsn to death..."
In this era, the design of watertight compartnts, rumored to be inspired by the prior observations of bamboo, appeared only in Chinese sea ships as an "exclusive secret skill." It greatly enhanced the safety of sea navigation and embodied the unique wisdom of the ancestors!
In mariti history, the three most significant contributions of Chinese sea ships to global mariti endeavors are "Chinese lug sails," "watertight compartnts," and "sternpost rudders." Besides these unique achievents, the "deep V" bird-like ship design, also chosen by other ancient mariti civilizations, had been proven over millennia to be the most suitable for seafaring.
Indeed, by the end of the fifteenth century, Chinese sea ship technology was at the pinnacle of the world, though it slowly began to decline.
By the early sixteenth century, when European navigators reached Asia, they were quickly astounded by the design advantages of East Asian sea ships. They swiftly learned and incorporated these designs into the new-style sail ships in the late sixteenth century, much like they adopted the Arab lateen sails...
"Master 님! This shipbuilding technique is exactly like the architectural techniques for building houses! In house construction, the length of the dougong's horizontal timbers is used as the scale. Conversely, in shipbuilding, the length of the keel is used as the asure..."
"The ship's body forms the four walls, the compartnts are the rooms, the vessel tilts like a slanted beam... The mast is a vertical beam, the sails are tiles, covering the ship's top as the sky... The foredeck is the front door, the aft deck the sleeping quarters, the stern rudder a wild chicken canopy... Oh, and finally, the planks deflect water, reducing swaying with fins like house corners, unfearing of wind and waves..."
"Chief Divine as witness! These ship and house building techniques are engrained in my mind. I've morized by heart for many years the proportions of the ship and absolutely cannot forget them. As long as there are sufficient large materials, this ocean-blocking sea ship's design can be magnified using the sa mold. Not just two hundred materials, but four hundred, eight hundred, sixteen hundred materials... can all be built!..."
"Ah! Gold Shipwright, what did you say? You can build larger ships? Even bigger than this large sea ship?... "
Upon hearing this, Scholar Mikki was taken aback, then showed excitent. To him, this ocean-blocking ship, reminiscent of the Kingdom Longship, was already an excellent large vessel. Yet judging from Gold Shipwright's words, this was rely a small sea ship, and he was entirely confident they could be into sothing larger and wider...
"Master 님! Along the way, I've seen three of your longships! They're all so long, so thick, made from such strong cedar wood of whole logs to form the keel, leading to fifteen-step long oar-sailed longships!..."
"This is truly, this is truly, truly a waste of good material, truly squandering excellent resources!... If I were to build, the sa wood would at least form a thirty-step large ship!..."
"Chief Divine! Gold Shipwright, are you truly assured to build longer, wider, and taller ships? The Kingdom has ample manpower and large timber, yet larger longships have never been built..."
Scholar Mikki gazed sternly, studying Shipwright Kim Sun-su's eyes. He witnessed the craftsman's confidence, mixed with the anxiety of the lowly artisan. This was quite an unusual mixture, sothing he had never observed in the Kingdom's craft masters.
"Chief Divine as witness! Gold Shipwright, if you truly have the capacity to create larger sea vessels, I can convince the Southern Shipbuilding Departnt of the Kingdom to allocate manpower and resources to support you in shipbuilding! And if you manage to build larger new-style sea vessels, or even just construct such a size but faster-sailing ocean-blocking ship..."
"According to the Kingdom's reward statutes, you could be promoted to Craftsman Master, automatically becoming a mber of the Divine Revelation Priest! Your status would at least match Military rit Nobility, or perhaps even be jointly recomnded by the Divine Revelation Director and the Chief Minister for elevation to the Kingdom's Hereditary Noble!..."
"Ah! Building a sea ship ans promotion to... Two Classes Noble?… Ah! Master! Master 님!... You're such a noble master, yet you trust soone like to build a large ship… I'm on my knees, bowing in gratitude!..."
Upon hearing Mikki's promise, Shipwright Kim Sun-su took a deep breath, knelt heavily onto the deck, and kowtowed several tis. He then raised his head, face flushed with excitent long anticipated and eager to try. He gazed at the "Two Classes Grand Master" with the expression of a lifelong worshipper finally eting a real deity! This was perhaps the most approachable Grand Master he had ever encountered in his life...
"Master 님! You are like a reborn parent to !... You guide to enlightennt, I would serve you for life as a beast of burden!"
Shipwright Kim Sun-su repeatedly kowtowed, speaking in a flurry of words unintelligible to Scholar Mikki. Translator Watanabe's face also revealed irrepressible envy. After a mont, Kim Sun-su finally opened his mouth, mustering a lifeti of courage to voice a long-desired thought. This idea of building large ships had entangled him ever since he boarded the Upper Country's Sealed Boat of Great Fortune...
"Master 님! Heavens bear witness! This ocean-blocking ship, over two hundred materials, was built with my own hands. Its keel, fifteen steps long, was pieced together from three ten-step tall birch trees. The tallest main mast also used just fifteen-step high birch... anwhile, I've observed the Kingdom longship keels, carved from gigantic cedar trees over twenty steps high and one to two-step in diater!..."
"Ancestor! With such enormous century-old timber to form the keel! Just with these expensive materials alone, one could absolutely build a forty-step long, fifteen-step wide, five thousand material Large Sealed Boat!..."
"Bodhisattva Protect! Of course, constructing the Upper Country's Large Sealed Boat is extrely problematic; without a clear inheritance of building techniques, it surely cannot be made... But as a compromise, Master 님! We could entirely build a large ship of one to two thousand materials according to the construction thod of the ocean-blocking ship!"
"Chief Divine Protect! With such precious wood, don't just construct a fifteen-step long, two-hundred-material ocean-blocking ship... Directly build a thirty-step long keel, ten-steps wide deck, and seven to eight-steps deep vessel... Length, width, height, just double this ocean-blocking ship's construction thod... a sixteen hundred-material large ocean-blocking ship poses absolutely no problem!"
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