Struggle in the Steam Age

At around six o'clock the next morning, when Lawrence and Nora arrived at the restaurant of the hotel and were about to have dinner, they heard the report from the hotel waiter that the newly baked warship captain had come to see Lawrence and the others. When Lawrence took Nora to the lobby of the hotel, he found that the captain came to him to ask him about something that he had never thought of before.

You mean our ship needs a name? Lawrence asked a little puzzled. But when I watched your training yesterday, the name was clearly painted with black paint on the bow.

Yes, Your Excellency, you are not mistaken, this ship did have a name in the past. The captain seemed a little embarrassed at first, because he had no experience of speaking face-to-face with a noble like Lawrence, but Fortunately, Lawrence, as an out-and-out aristocrat from a commoner background, spoke very pleasantly, plus the sense of affinity brought to him by Bai Ze's blood. So the captain also slowly calmed down.

But according to the customs at sea, if it is a warship, the name must be changed when the owner changes. Unless this is a warship captured from the enemy, it is not auspicious to keep the original name.

If this is the case, the name should be changed. Lawrence has heard a lot of taboos about sailing on the water in his previous life. For example, when he went to the Zhoushan Islands at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the boss of the boat would not let the fish be turned over when eating. Thinking that this is the case in the world without extraordinary power, then it will definitely not hurt to pay more attention to this aspect in the current world full of extraordinary power.

But when it comes to names— Lawrence fell into deep thought. As a bad namer, he is really not good at naming things. After all, this is our first ship, so we must give it a better name.

Lord, this is not our first ship. Because everyone has gradually become familiar with it through the chat just now, the captain also seemed to relax a lot, so at this time he mustered up the courage to say, This should be our sixth boat out of the five we have on that island.

In the next five or six minutes, the captain briefly introduced the five ships that now belonged to Lawrence. In fact, these ships were listed in the handover list, but Lawrence was busy with other things these days, so he didn't have time to look at the thick handover list.

The five ships that now belong to Lawrence belonged to the entire island before. After all, the main human settlements on this island are all by the sea. Hence the need for ships to link these settlements together. Among them are two passenger and cargo dual-purpose offshore sailboats with a displacement of 180 tons, two port steam barges with a displacement of about 30 tons, and a small steam-powered motor sailing offshore gunboat with a displacement of 75 tons.

After the island was canonized to Lawrence, considering that there was no way for those small boats to cross the ocean and return to the mainland, and these boats were indispensable for the people on the island for a day. So His Majesty the Emperor simply sent all these ships to Lawrence with a swipe of a pen.

That is to say, the hull number of the largest ship we have now is 6. Nora asked excitedly after listening to the captain's introduction.

Yes, miss, if you follow the normal numbering habits, the hull number of this ship should indeed be No. 6. Because the captain had seen the little doll before and knew her identity. So he answered seriously after hearing Nora's question.

Then I happen to have a name here that corresponds to this ship number. Nora raised her head slightly as she spoke, showing a proud expression. How about we call her the Enterprise?

Lawrence was stunned when he heard the name, and then said it to Nora through the spiritual connection. Is this name too strong? I'm worried that our small boat may not be worthy of the legendary name that once fought against a country with one ship!

Don't worry, she must be worthy of this name. Nora responded. Don't forget that the legend is the seventh ship with that name, and the fifth one with that name just happens to be a steam-powered motor-sailer. So I thought it would be a good idea to name our ship that. Omen.

This name is indeed good, with a very good meaning. Naturally, the captain didn't know about the short discussion between Lawrence and Nora, but from his point of view, the name sounded auspicious.

That's it. Lawrence said, took out the paper and pen from the space bag and wrote down an official document, then stamped a seal on it with the seal ring on his finger, and handed it to the captain. Okay, you can go and change the name of the warship on the side of the ship now, I hope to get everything done before departure at 12:00 noon.

No problem, my lord. After taking the official document, the captain stood up and saluted Lawrence, then walked out of the hotel with the official document. And Lawrence and Nora returned to the restaurant to finish their breakfast, and then took advantage of the opportunity that there was basically nothing to do before departure in the morning to condolences to those followers who also lived in the hotel and the 200-strong Earl's Palace Guards .

At 11:00 noon, Lawrence and these followers boarded three pre-rented public carriages at the door of the hotel, and then rushed to the pier in 15 minutes. On the pier, the fleet heading to that island this time has all been prepared and is always ready to go.

This fleet consists of nine ships. Except for the gunboat named Enterprise, the remaining eight are all steel-framed and steel-masted cargo sailboats with a displacement of about 1,200 tons rented by Lawrence from the Imperial Shipping Association. The space in the room was filled with the large amount of goods he was going to take to the island.

According to the previous arrangement, the family members of the retainers and most of the members of the guard who went with these ships this time will take eight cargo sailing ships respectively. Because those ships are bigger and more stable, and the conditions on board are better. Meanwhile, Lawrence, the retainers, and ten members of the guard crowded on the warship to discuss some matters on the way.

Wait until 12:00 noon, after confirming that everyone has boarded the ship. The ships of the fleet untied the cables tied to the pier one after another, pulled up the anchor, and then with the help of the steam barges in the port, they sailed away from the pier and headed towards the sea.

Although there was no one on the shore seeing them off at this time, all the passengers in the fleet came to the deck and waved their hands to bid farewell to the land and their hometown. Because they know that once they leave by boat this time, they may never be able to set foot on the land of their hometown again in this lifetime.

The passengers on the deck did not return to the cabin until the ship was pulled out of the breakwater by the barge and the sails were hoisted. At this time, Lawrence also came to the meeting room on the ship with his retainers.

Sorry, I made you laugh. After entering the meeting room, the butler Bayer apologized to Lawrence. These retainers looked a little depressed, and some of them had red eye circles.

I should be the one who said I'm sorry. Lawrence said gently, After all, it's because of me that I let you leave your hometown, but to be honest, you really don't need to let your family members come with you to suffer. Even if you want to come here We have to wait until our affairs are almost settled before coming here.

You have come here in person, how can we let the family members wait behind. Joseph Knight, who is also the captain of the Earl's Palace, said. To be honest, at least since I was an adult, I have hardly seen nobles willing to open up territories by themselves. Based on this alone, you are already better than more than 90% of the nobles.

You are really overrated. Lawrence smiled and waved his hands, then pulled out a wooden box from under the table in the conference room and put it on the table. Okay, let's get to work, we may be very busy along the way.