Chapter 46 Fleet

October 8, 1866, Venice.

Hechingen Shipyard.

Today is Ernst's second time in Venice. Unlike last time, it is already October, but the weather is transitioning from hot to cold, so the temperature is relatively cool and comfortable.

Because I received the news the day before yesterday that the fifth new boat has been built, and now the boat Ernst ordered has been built at the dock and is waiting to be launched.

So this time Ernst came to participate in the launching ceremony of his own fleet. The Hechingen shipyard has been receiving other orders, so it cannot wholeheartedly build ships for Ernst. Each cycle can only leave one shipyard for Ernst. After all, only in this way can the shipyard run smoothly.

This time Ernst was led by the employees of the Hechingen Shipyard to the dock of the shipyard with ease, accompanied by the ship's designer and technical director.

I saw a huge sea-going ship parked beside the dock. The surrounding wooden frames had been removed. As the water channel was closed, water flowed from the water pipe channels on both sides of the water channel to the middle. Slowly, the big ship rose with the water level. Floated.

"There are currently five such ships. They are all sailing wooden hull ships, equipped with steam power, and the structure is completed by senior ship designers..."

Ernst stood on the shore and listened to the technicians' explanation. These five wooden boats were technically quite good. After all, they were experienced and easy to operate by the crew on the sea.

"If a ship wants to go to the Far East and drift on the sea all year round, will it be safe and reliable?"

"Boss, don't worry. Our workers have relied on this craft all year round. We don't dare to be sloppy in workmanship and material selection. As for the design, we have learned from the most mature and reliable solutions, with only some minor improvements. , but will not threaten the safety of the main body of the ship."

Although the staff's guarantee may not be worth a penny, it still gives Ernst some comfort. Ernst is still afraid that they will mess up. Every year, there are some boat accidents caused by bold innovations of designers.

As long as the shipyard staff operate stably according to the mature experience of the current era, safety will be better.

Now that he has a ship, he shouldn't be allowed to enter work mode and create profits for himself. The first thing is to recruit personnel for the fleet.

Ernst ordered his new assistant Eric.

"Eric, we will start preparing for the recruitment of crew members for our first ocean-going commercial fleet the day after tomorrow. We can publish recruitment advertisements to the Venice area."

"Be sure to find these old masters who have traveled ocean routes to lead the way, and other sailors will be recruited from the locals."

"Yes, boss!" Eric replied.

"Also, these five ships are just the first to solve the problem of a batch of our instruments going to East Africa. You have to do a good job of coordination."

Ernst planned to order a batch of machines to the colony, machines for weaving sisal, threshing machines, and some basic machines.

Some materials are still processed locally and then exported. The profit will be higher, and the shipment of goods will be more convenient.

…

While Ernst was planning the ocean-going fleet, Prince Constantine was mobilizing connections and looking for marriage partners.

On Prince Constantine's desk were information about various families, many of which were information about aristocrats from the German region. In this era, the German region was the incubator of European aristocrats, and many European nobles came from the German region, so The targets chosen by Prince Constantine also focused on Germany.

In addition to Germany, some nobles from Sweden, France and Russia in Northern Europe are also under consideration.

"This is not good. He is too young, he is too old, his family status is too low, he has a disease..."

After picking and choosing, Prince Constantine finally settled on three companies. After thinking about it, he decided to wait for Ernst to come back before making the final decision.

…

After Ernst visited the launching ceremony of the ships, he listed the five ships under the name of Hechingen Ocean Trading Company.

The main focus is trade from Europe to East Africa and then to the Far East. Whether it makes money is secondary. The current purpose is to reduce costs. After all, the Dutch charges are not cheap. The most important thing is to make it easier to control the colonies.

At present, the Suez Canal has not yet been opened. Let these sailors become familiar with the ocean routes first. At the same time, continue to expand the size of the fleet and wait for the opening of the Suez Canal.

After the opening of the Suez Canal, the distance from Europe to East Africa was shortened by more than half.

As long as you start from the Mediterranean Sea, enter the Red Sea through the Suez Canal, enter the Indian Ocean through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and go south along the coastline, you can reach East Africa.

Fleets in the Gulf of Aden can decide to head east to the Far East or south to the colonies, while fleets returning from the Far East or East African colonies can dock at ports along the Mediterranean coast. Transport goods from the Austrian region back to Prussia by land.

Now, we can only continue walking along the long coastline of western Africa. This is good, so that the newly recruited sailors can become familiar with their work and environment.

"Eric, one more thing. Go to the market and investigate whether there are any second-hand ships for sale. Five ships are still too few. We need to speed up the progress and see if we can expand the fleet to more than ten ships."

"Yes, boss."

Eric wrote everything down and prepared to complete it piece by piece.

Five sailing ocean-going ships were on a trial voyage on the Adriatic Sea. Ernst stood at the bow of the ship, feeling the sea breeze. Ships were coming and going on the Adriatic Sea, and various whistles were ringing in his ears.

The sea water was relatively calm, and tiny waves were gently lapping at the outer wall of the ship. Ernst could not feel any strong vibrations, and his first experience on the ship was quite comfortable.

In the future, this fleet will sail for a long time on the road to the East African colonies. Europe and East Asia are just two ends that provide human and material resources for the development of the East African colonies. East Africa is the real focus of Ernst's heart.

Sorry everyone, I let the trolls shut themselves up yesterday, which resulted in me being in a bad state today. It took me a few hours to finish this chapter, but the effect was not good. I really am not in the mood to change it anymore.