"Bodhisattva! Heaven! Chief Divine!... A giant Yun Shan log, forty steps tall and two or three steps in diater, as the keel for shipbuilding?... Is this... is this real? Master, are you joking, or did I hear wrong? Such a giant log is unheard of, a rarity seen once in decades!"
"Five years ago, when the Great Emperor Chenghua of the Upper Country passed away, Emperor Hongzhi ascended the throne... The tributes and gifts transported by the Two Classes masters to Gyeongsang South Province on the ocean shielding ships to the Upper Country were just goods from two sea ships: 100 taels of gold, 1000 taels of silver, 400 pieces each of silk and cotton cloth, 600 sheets in total of sable fur, deer skin, otter fur, and leopard skin, 60 dragon-patterned mats and floral mats, 20 boxes of aged ginseng... And besides these, the most expensive tribute was an 800-year-old Korean wood (oak), thirty steps tall and one or two steps in diater, used as the beam for the Great Emperor's new palace!..."
"Chief Divine appears! A log thirty steps tall was already able to serve as the top tribute for the Great Emperor of the Upper Country!... As for a log forty steps tall and two or three steps in diater, even if you search the entire Ming Dynasty of the Upper Country, it would be impossible to find one even for a fortune! Even the Great Emperor of the Upper Country could not afford it when building palaces!"
Upon hearing Scholar Miki's promise, shipwright Kim Sun-su swallowed, trembling. Familiar with dinsions, he could imagine the 50-ter-tall and 3-ter-diater giant log's majestic appearance. However, he couldn't imagine the price this thousand-year-old Divine Wood would command in Korea, Wa Country, or Ming, places lacking such giant logs! Perhaps this giant wood's value was beyond pricing...
But using such miraculous material as Divine Wood to build ships or houses, even in the Ming of Upper Country, which craftsman dare imagine? And which shipwright or carpenter could resist such temptation?...
"Ah! Great Priest! Are you joking with ? Does such Divine Wood really exist? And... is it truly intended for to build ships with?"
"Chief Divine bears witness! Gold Shipwright, it indeed is a piece of Divine Wood, a sacred tree worshipped for hundreds of years by the southwestern Tekos Tribes, possessing great height and robust divinity! When you reach the Southern Shipyard in the Kingdom, you will see it upon arrival!"
"Ah? Ah this... Senior noble! Master! If such Divine Wood really exists... using it just to build a two-thousand-ton Big Ocean Covering Ship, isn't it a waste?"
Seeing the dinsions clearly written by the Great Priest, shipwright Kim Sun-su felt his knees go weak, bearing a mountainous pressure on his shoulders. If he squandered such Divine Wood carelessly, it would incur heavenly wrath and perhaps even be struck by lightning! And if this was traced back by the Gel Nation's King, wouldn't it an losing his head? They say Divine Wood possesses spirit, needing great fortune to suppress it...
Shipwright Kim Sun-su was bewildered, pondering for a while, then hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed several tis.
"Senior noble! Senior noble! I... I'm scared... Perhaps... I should start constructing with ordinary large wood, beginning with smaller, eight hundred-ton sea ships to practice... What style of ships are the shipwrights under your command skilled in? I shall first collaborate with the master craftsn from the Gel Nation of Upper Country, and attempt to build a few ships..."
"Uh?... Practicing with eight hundred-ton sea ships? The skill level of the Kingdom's shipwrights?..."
Upon hearing this soul-touching inquiry, Scholar Miki touched his nose, montarily at a loss. He glanced at the sea and sky of the East, recalling the bustling Southern Shipbuilding Departnt with thousands of civilian workers and recalling the open air constructions of twin-hull canoes and one hundred-ton oar-sailed longships, sowhat awkwardly replied.
"Ahem! The Kingdom's Southern Shipbuilding Departnt, directly under the Capital City Divine Revelation Place, is vast in scale, capable of mobilizing manpower and material resources from two counties in the South. Within the Departnt, solely civilian workers chopping wood, burning charcoal, building kilns, and processing timber number two thousand! And various craftsn and apprentices, they number in the hundreds... As for the specifics, you will see them upon arrival there!"
"Ah? A shipyard with a scale of two thousand people! Wouldn't that be larger than the shipyard at Jianghua Island in the Capital Region?! Just like the legendary Longjiang Shipyard of the Upper Country... Given my modest skill..."
Shipwright Kim Sun-su's eyes widened, imagining what such a shipyard would look like. But obviously, his imagined scene was vastly different from the one Scholar Miki reminisced about...
After a while, Kim Sun-su regained his senses, again kowtowed loudly a few tis and once more voiced his soul's inquiry.
"Senior noble! Senior noble! We've been drifting on this barren and icy Far North Sea for more than a month, at least traveling east for five or six thousand miles... During this five or six thousand-mile journey, amid this vast sea, apart from a series of desolate islands, hundreds or thousands of islands populated by wild people... not even a decent village is visible!"
"Chief Divine bless! The further east we travel, the farther... Not only I, but also other sailors and craftsn, are filled with fear and confusion... Where exactly is this powerful Gel Nation Kingdom, of which you and other masters speak? And this Southern, grand shipyard of which you speak, how far is it?"
"Hmm? How much farther?"
Upon hearing this, Scholar Miki touched his chin, estimated for a mont before stating several precise and sowhat ethereal, distant numbers, representing the recorded journeys and distances he had ticulously noted down along the way. Saying these numbers, then writing them on deck, left the present Korean and Wa Country individuals pale and dumbfounded...
"Chief Divine bears witness! One or two days eastwards from here is the Divine Land Port in the Kingdom! According to Stonefirm, this section of the Divine Initiation Archipelago's journey, from the westernmost Divine Twins Smoke Harbor to the easternmost Divine Land Port, mirrors your previous journey, roughly five or six thousand miles."
"Thereafter, Divine Land Port is the starting point of the Divine Initiation Archipelago; from there to Whale Harbor at the Far North Coast's start, there are seven Kingdom Ports, six journey segnts, each being over a thousand miles... The entire Far North Coast's sea route is roughly six to seven thousand miles."
"From Whale Harbor in the far north of the Western Coast, down to North Bird Stone Village, at the southernmost of the Western Coast, there are also seven ports, six journey segnts, but each is only seven or eight hundred miles... The entire Western Coast's sea route is only about five thousand miles."
"Lastly, traveling south from North Bird Stone Village, past the Lerma River's estuary, finally reaching the Tarsas River estuary's Trout Town... This is the Highland Tribes' West Bay coast, shorter again, only four thousand miles of sea route."
"So, Chief Divine bless! Overall, starting from the Far North Peninsula of the Divine Revelation Continent, journeying through the five or six thousand miles of the Divine Initiation Archipelago, six or seven thousand miles of the Far North Coast, five or six thousand miles of the Western Coast, then through four thousand miles of the West Bay Coast... sums up a journey over twenty thousand miles! Twenty one thousand miles of new sea route!"
"Chief Divine's blessing, granting us the Divine Power of wind! This Ocean Shielding Ship of the Wind God has unparalleled divine speed, having traveled a quarter of the journey in just over a month... Now, continuing without pause through three tis the distance, which is over four months' ti... you will reach the journey's end, the Kingdom's Southern Long River!"
Speaking of the "twenty thousand miles of Divine Exploration," Scholar Miki's eyes sparkled with excitent, even a profound fervor from his soul. He glanced at the entire Ocean Shielding Ship, starting with a smile at the bewildered captives, then turned towards the excited Kingdom's Warriors accompanying the ship.
Throughout this journey, having experienced such a Divine Revelation exploration and witnessed each of His Majesty's prophecies, faces of the Kingdom's Warriors revealed fervent devotion and eager anticipation! Listening to Miki narrating the return journey, everyone was excited beyond control, loudly praying to the Chief Divine.
"Praise the Chief Divine! Praise the Divine Revelation's Majesty!... May the Chief Divine bless! May the divine wind of the sea assist!... May we return to the Kingdom soon!"
Undoubtedly, once everyone brings back this newly designed sea ship, precision information of the New Continent, and these captive craftsn and sailors to the Kingdom of the Lake... The generous rewards from the Kingdom and even sacred recognition from the High Priesthood are certain and ample!
"Ha ha! Praise the Chief Divine! Calculating it this way, this kind of wind-propelled sea ship is truly extraordinarily fast!"
"With around half a year, it'll complete the journey we previously traveled for two entire years! This truly is the blessing of the Chief Divine! I can hardly wait!"
"Chief Divine bless! Up ahead is the Divine Land Port! Upon arrival there, I shall hold a grand feast, letting everyone celebrate, uplift spirits!"
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