Chapter 412 The So-Called New City

At 4:45 pm (16:00), the first flat ice boat loaded with frozen fish slowly left the port from the inland river wharf and headed towards Baihe City along the river.

Many people witnessed the first voyage of this strange ship - compared with those common inland sailboats, its side is even lower than the pier, almost like an ice brick flat on the water, but its size is several times that of ordinary ships, and its length is as long as nine feet, which is definitely the "ship king" in the inland river.

It also has no sails, and it doesn't look very strenuous even if it goes against the river. In addition to the piled up frozen fish on the deck, there is also a black tortoise mechanical beast and a dozen tightly wrapped soldiers. Everyone knows that there has been a large-scale famine in various parts of Shenzhou, and this big ship is the disaster relief team going to Baihe for support, so when it set off, there was a warm farewell at the dock.

"I never thought that it would take only half a day to build a ship." In a corner by the dock, Mo Yun couldn't help but sigh.

Ning Wanjun, who came with her in disguise, was puzzled, "Wasn't the previous ice ship also produced by the Machinery Bureau?"

"This new ship is simpler than the previous batch, so simple that the Machinery Bureau only provided the template and the celestial body parts." Mo Yun shook his head, "In Xia Fan's words, it's just to install a power source on a piece of wood so that it can move."

This is indeed the case. The ice ship used for naval battles at least has a cabin and a front door, while the flat ice ship even saves the concept of a cabin. This type of ship, which seems to be unsuitable for the sea, is surprisingly easy to use in the inland river - there are no surging waves, and the ultra-low side makes loading and unloading cargo very easy. At the same time, the wide hull makes it as flat as walking on the water. Even people who have never been in the water will not feel any dizziness or discomfort when standing on it.

In other words, this type of ship is naturally suitable for transportation.

When Xia Fan came to the door and said that he would build the first finished product and put it into actual operation before dusk, Mo Yun was still very skeptical. After all, no matter how easy it is to make an ice boat, it still takes a day. In addition, it is a new type of boat, so it has to be launched for several sea trials to determine whether it is feasible. How can it be officially put into use before nightfall if it is built in the morning?

The facts still exceeded her imagination.

With the help of Qianzhi and Qianyan, the launching test of the boat hull was completed in just half an hour, followed by two hours of debugging of the rudder and the celestial instrument. Not long after noon, the first flat ice boat had met the requirements for sailing.

Obviously, Xia Fan had anticipated this situation, and one day was even a conservative statement.

Mo Yun realized this only after he realized it.

The question is, how did he come up with such an ugly but effective thing?

Could it be that the listener can not only hear various sounds, but also see the actual scene?

There was a saying in the family of mechanical art that the more powerful the mechanical creation, the more beautiful and moving it is. She deeply believes it - the Xuanwu mechanical beast created by combining her lifelong experience and knowledge is the most vivid example.

But this flat ice boat driven by the celestial telescope... can also be considered a kind of mechanical creation, right? For some reason, seeing its rough and simple shape, Mo Yun didn't want to admit that this was his work.

"If we build it openly, how many of these ships can be built in a month?" The princess's question brought her thoughts back.

"That depends on whether the living dead have enough energy," Mo Yun calculated, "but at least thirty or forty ships can be guaranteed."

"In other words, as long as the inland river can cover the place, I can mobilize a mechanical beast army at any time to rush to the battlefield in a short time. If it is limited to Shenzhou, it may even take only one day?"

Mo Yun thought for a while, "... You can think so."

"I now understand what he means by a brand new city." Ning Wanjun's calm tone concealed a trace of uncontrollable excitement.

"Your Highness?"

Whether it was receiving the news that night, mobilizing the entire city and sending the first batch of aid the next day, or large-scale mobilization of troops and reaching the entire territory of Shenzhou within one day, it was far beyond the imagination of the world, because from common sense, these were impossible things to achieve.

However, Jinxia City can do it.

It is difficult for Ning Wanjun to accurately describe the difference between the two, but she can vaguely feel that Jinxia and other cities in Qiguo are already in different eras.

"Being able to do things that other cities can't even dream of, this is a brand new city." She said word by word.

...

At noon on the third day, the first batch of ground relief troops sent by Jinxia appeared outside Baihe City.

This time point was more than two hours earlier than the scheduled arrival time.

The soldiers didn't have time to rest, and immediately set up camp in front of the East City Gate, made a fire and cooked porridge. This group of Jinxia people wearing uniform uniforms and looking energetic immediately attracted the attention of the residents of Baihe City.

Without the need for publicity from the Affairs Branch, the news that Jinxia City distributed relief porridge quickly spread in the streets and alleys.

"Have you heard? Jinxia's relief team is really here!"

"How much food did they bring?"

"It seems like there are more than a dozen carts."

"Is this enough? There are tens of thousands of people in our city. Even if they are all cooked into porridge, it won't last for half a month."

"That being said, they have enough energy to help Baihe City now, which means that Jinxia itself is not short of food, right? Otherwise, how can they have the time to support us?"

"By the way, what are the conditions for getting porridge?"

“It seems not. Each person is limited to one bowl. Just stamp your hand after drinking it.”

“How about… we go try it too?”

“To be honest, the porridge is quite unpalatable. It’s watery and astringent… If you don’t really have anything to eat, I suggest you forget it.”

Such conversations can be heard everywhere in the city.

Pelican is no exception.

He pretended to be a vagrant, leaning against the city wall and looking at the relief camp in the distance. At the same time, he had confirmed one thing in his heart, that is, the Baihe Affairs Branch has a means of communication with Jinxia City instantly. Any changes that happen here can be known immediately, otherwise there is no way to explain why the relief troops have arrived at the city after only one day and one night.

There are soldiers guarding all around the camp, and there are not many shelters in the suburbs. It is undoubtedly much more difficult to cause trouble here than in the city.

Things have become troublesome.

Pelican knows that panic is the root cause of unrest—famine can indeed create such panic, but it takes a certain amount of time to consume stored food, which is not as fast as floods and epidemics. After all, the former is a gradual expansion process. If he is given one more month, he will surely turn the wildfire in people's hearts into a raging fire that burns the city. But now, the process of this outbreak is suppressed by the relief grain.

The fact that the grain prices of various grain shops did not continue to rise today is proof of this.

Obviously, everyone is waiting to see how far Jinxia City can go.

And this waiting is undoubtedly quite disadvantageous to the Privy Council.

Those grain shops...maybe they can't be kept.