...
"There are so many ships."
Steele leaned against the porthole of the poop and looked at the ships coming and going on the Redwater River.
Since they entered the Western Region, the river suddenly became busy, and most of the ships were strange stone ships without sails. According to the captain, they called them paddle steamers, which relied on steam power to move forward. Their speed was not affected by the wind, and they were much faster than sailing ships when sailing against the current. They often ran ahead with a trail of black smoke trailing behind them. As for how the steam pushed the large wooden wheels on both sides of the hull, no one could tell.
But one thing was certain, they were all made by Neverwinter.
Steele estimated in her heart that she could see a paddle steamer almost every half an hour. If they were all carrying goods, then the material absorption capacity of Neverwinter would undoubtedly be astonishing. She learned this from the merchants — the larger a city was, the higher the ability to absorb goods. As long as one stayed on its official road for two days, one could roughly judge how prosperous the city was and how many business opportunities there were. If one was good at communication, one could even analyze the most popular goods in the city.
Obviously, this Redwater River was the most important transportation route in the Western Region.
And the busy river also meant that the propaganda she saw in King's City might not be His Majesty's boasting.
In a short period of time, he integrated the Western Region into a new city, and the number of permanent residents and commercial trade had already surpassed the original capital. And such an extraordinary heir to the throne had a notorious reputation of being ignorant and incompetent, foppish and paranoid … Thinking of these rumors, Steele became more and more curious about Roland Wimbledon.
"Miss Conrad, are you looking at the ships again?" The door of the room was pushed open, and a handsome brown-haired man dressed in luxurious clothes came in. "Do you want to go out for some fresh air? Is it boring staying here all the time?"
"No, it's good here." Steele straightened up and nodded to him. "Thank you for your hospitality."
"You're welcome." He laughed. "I'm lucky to be able to travel with such a beautiful lady like you."
Steele had heard too much of such flattery, but she still responded with a pleasant expression. "If you hadn't lent a hand, I'm afraid I would have been squeezed together with those goods and refugees."
"Of course, I can't sit back and watch this happen." The man sat down opposite her. "No jewelry merchant would want their jewelry to be covered in dust."
He was the owner of the Eternal Spring, the gemstone merchant from the capital, Victor. After the original ship was burned, Steele quickly chose this two-masted ship from the other ships heading to the Western Region. It was not a passenger ship, nor did it accept employment. Instead, it was Victor's private ship. But for the Pearl of the Northern Region, as long as the owner of the ship was male, it was not a problem.
She pretended to be a noble lady from the Northern Region who went to the Western Region to look for her lost relatives. With a few words, she made Victor feel sorry for her and invited her to board the Eternal Spring. Compared to ordinary small sailboats and cargo ships, the Eternal Spring had a comfortable cabin at the stern. Not only was it spacious and bright, it did not have the rotten smell of wood left behind by years of traveling on the waterway. Her master had even prepared two servants for her, but he didn't even accept a single Golden Dragon.
Of course, the only price was that Victor would visit her from time to time to express his generosity and care. But Steele, who was good at mingling in the aristocratic circle, had long been accustomed to this. If the other party was good enough, she would even enjoy the feeling of controlling him.
"Although these ships can move without wind, they're still a little too simple." Victor poured himself a cup of black tea. "I once boarded a paddle steamer and carefully observed it. It's not only noisy, but also very shaky. It's good for hauling goods, but not a good choice for long-distance travel."
"Of course it's not as comfortable as the Eternal Spring." Steele chuckled. "But why do I feel as if they appeared overnight? There weren't such ships in the Western Region before, right? "
"You're right. They appeared overnight." Victor curled his lips. "I used to go to Longsong Stronghold. There was no such strange thing. After just one winter, they're everywhere."
Twenty or thirty paddle steamers were built in one winter? Steele couldn't help but be surprised. As the successor of the Kant family, she naturally knew what it meant. Because a big city needed to digest a large number of materials, its expansion was also limited by the transportation capacity of materials. This kind of fast-producing paddle steamer was obviously an excellent tool to expand the transportation capacity. If it could continuously transport food and commodities from all over the kingdom to the Western Region, the speed of Neverwinter's expansion was likely to be far beyond people's imagination!
As for the noise and tremors? They were not worth mentioning at all.
"By the way, Miss Conrad, don't care about those unaesthetic stone ships. I have something more interesting here. Maybe it can help you pass the time." Victor called a maid beside him and whispered something in her ear. The latter nodded and turned to leave the room.
"What is it?"
"Something that can match your beauty," he said proudly. "It's also my old profession."
The maid quickly returned to the poop with a rather exquisite booklet. Victor spread it in front of Steele. "Which one do you like?"
There were many patterns of bright crystals drawn on the parchment. The brushwork was exquisite and the color was bright. Even the transparent luster was leaping on the paper. Obviously, the painter who drew the booklet was very good at this.
"This is … a gem?"
"To be precise, it's a gemstone." Victor explained carefully. "When I buy them, I set the price according to the standard in the booklet. Compared with the carved and polished jewelry, the gemstone has a different flavor … If you're interested in any kind of gemstone, please tell me. Of course, if you prefer the finished product, I can also go back to the king's city and ask a jeweler to make a jewelry for you. "
Steele casually flipped through the booklet and handed it back to him. "Thanks, but no need."
Victor took the booklet in surprise. "You're not interested in these?"
"I don't know the whereabouts of my relatives. I'm really not in the mood to choose these luxurious gifts. Please forgive me," Steele said in a low voice. If she agreed here, he would also pester her after arriving at Neverwinter, which would not be good for her next action. Although most women would be fascinated by these shiny things, she would rather appreciate the steam engine that propelled the paddle steamer. Compared with the jewelry that only circulated among the nobles, those things were really valuable.
…
Soon after Victor left, a series of long whistles suddenly came from the bow, rising and falling, deep and vigorous … as if a huge fleet was leaving the port.
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