Chapter Forty-One: The Checklist of Plans

The vessels in question are steamboats, and the vehicles are trains. The reason is simple: both can be powered by steam engines, and only sufficiently large machines have the surplus capacity to accommodate such heavy, cumbersome equipment.

While automobiles are not impossible to build, they would require a magical power system. This would inevitably make them luxury goods for the wealthy; while they might be profitable, they would fall short of the influence and utility Su Ziye seeks. Perhaps, if time permits, he might attempt to build a prototype or two, but that is entirely off the table for the immediate future.

However, trains and steamboats are truly worth the effort, as the world’s current transportation capacity is a massive bottleneck. While there are established road systems, they were designed for horse-drawn carriages, relying primarily on livestock and supplemented by human-powered carts and barrows. Transport capacity is severely limited; a day's journey rarely exceeds one hundred kilometers, and in poor weather, it may not even reach fifty. Trains, with their high capacity, are an indispensable component of industrialization.

Yet, before trains, steamboats are even more urgent. Building a train is simple enough, but laying tracks is a major challenge. Su Ziye has no way to lay hundreds of kilometers of rail; in fact, he only intends to build a line connecting to the coal source. He had already checked the book on coal in his possession, which happened to mention several open-pit coal mines near Star-Shatter Lake, the closest being only thirty kilometers from the instant noodle factory. Thirty kilometers of track is neither long nor short, but steamboats require no such infrastructure.

Why did water transport flourish in ancient times, and why has maritime shipping become the king of logistics today? It is simple: wherever there is water, there is a path. Rivers are natural thoroughfares, whereas land routes require immense human and material resources to construct. Thus, where there are rivers, there is the flow of people and wealth.

The sea is an even more vast and boundless road, allowing one to reach any corner of the world. Before humanity truly mastered the skies, the sea was the world's greatest gift to mankind. As it happens, Star-Shatter Lake is a massive body of water—hundreds of miles in circumference. It is fed by multiple tributaries and leads directly to the western ocean. To the east, it connects to the Sacred Lake, a distance of only twelve hundred miles. The capital of the Lanye Empire, Blue City, sits upon that very lake—an island far more expansive than Yeye City.

What does this mean? It means that by merely controlling the shores of Star-Shatter Lake, one sits upon a golden waterway that can reach nearly every major city in the Lanye Empire. The value of developing steamboat shipping far outweighs that of railway tracks. Such geographical conditions are so uniquely gifted that no other region on the continent possesses water transport potential comparable to the Lanye Empire.

Yet, to this day, the development of vessels in the Lanye Empire remains primitive. Star-Shatter Lake belongs to Yeye City—or, more accurately, to the Academy. Most vessels on the lake require the Academy's permission, a policy dating back to a long siege a century ago, when the Academy viewed every ship on the lake as an enemy. Even today, this policy has not been fully abolished. Because Yeye City possesses an ice-crystal passage connecting the lake floor to the outside world, most personnel and supplies are transported through this tunnel, leaving surface transport as a mere supplement that the Academy ignores.

Simply put, there are only three types of vessels on Star-Shatter Lake today: a small number of sailing ships, which are slow and strictly regulated; pedal-powered galleys, which are stable but slow and labor-intensive; and, finally, small fishing boats and canoes, permitted only for local villagers to fish within ten miles of the shore under the supervision of the Bury-Snow Society.

Su Ziye pondered quietly. He had already mentally listed his objectives for the coming year. Steam engines come first, as they are the foundation for everything else. Next are the railways and trains, connecting to the coal mines—the steam engine will provide the power to drain the mines and transport the coal, which in turn fuels the trains. Then come the steamboats; while the railway provides a steady stream of coal, the steamboats are what he truly desires.

He would grasp the power of shipping. With coal and steamboats, he could circulate goods throughout the Lanye Empire along this golden waterway. By then, millions of gold leaf herbs would be within his reach. If he achieves this, he will have realized all his goals.

After that, it will be time for the "rewards": spinning machines, looms, gunpowder, automobiles, concrete, and large-scale blast furnace iron smelting. Su Ziye does not necessarily need to fully realize all of these, but he must conduct small-scale experiments. If he ever manages to return to the Steer Empire, these will be his vital tools for changing the world.

Just as he was thinking this, someone tapped him gently on the shoulder. Su Ziye turned to see Liu Ru standing behind him.

"I knew you were here," Liu Ru sighed.

"Is something the matter?" The Ye Tower library was very quiet, and Su Ziye instinctively lowered his voice.

"Of course there is, and it is a very important matter. That is why I had to come find you to make a decision," Liu Ru said, looking at him. "This is not the place to talk. Let's go outside."

Su Ziye nodded and followed Liu Ru out of the vast library of Ye Tower.