At about six o'clock the next morning, Lawrence and Nora had just arrived at the hotel restaurant to prepare for dinner when they heard the hotel waiter informed that the freshly baked warship captain came to Lawrence and the others to ask for an audience. When Lawrence took Nora
When he came to the hotel lobby, he found that the captain came to him to ask him for instructions on something that he had never thought of before.
"You mean our ship needs a name?" Lawrence asked with some confusion. "But when I saw you training yesterday, the name was clearly painted with black paint on the bow."
"Yes, Your Excellency, you are correct. This ship did have a name in the past." The captain seemed a little embarrassed at first, because he had no experience of talking face-to-face with a nobleman like Lawrence before, but
Fortunately, Lawrence, as an out-and-out civilian-born aristocrat, spoke very kindly, and the Bai Ze bloodline brought him a sense of intimacy. Therefore, the captain slowly calmed down.
"But according to maritime customs, if it is a warship, it must change its name when the owner changes. Unless it is a warship captured from the enemy, it would be unlucky to keep the original name."
"If this is the case, the name should really be changed." Lawrence had 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 allow him to turn the fish over while eating on the boat.
Thinking that this was the case in a world without extraordinary powers, it certainly wouldn't hurt to pay more attention to this aspect in today's world full of extraordinary powers.
"But when it comes to names -" Lawrence fell directly into thought. As a novice, he is really not good at naming things. "After all, this is our first ship, we must choose a good name."
Click on the name.”
"Lord, this is not our first ship." Because everyone had gradually become familiar with each other through the previous chat, the captain seemed to be more relaxed, so at this time he mustered up the courage to say, "
This should be our sixth boat, we have five more boats on that island."
In the next five or six minutes, the captain briefly introduced the five ships that now belong to Lawrence. In fact, these ships were listed in the list of items to be handed over, but Lawrence was busy with other things these days.
There was no time to read the thick lists of items to be handed over.
These five ships that now belong to Lawrence used to belong to the entire island. After all, the main human settlements on this island are all on the seaside. Therefore, there is a great need for ships to connect these settlements together. Among them are two passenger and cargo ships with a displacement of 180 tons.
Use offshore sailing boats, two port steam barges with a displacement of about 30 tons, and a small steam-powered sailing ship with a displacement of 75 tons. Offshore gunboat.
After the island was entrusted 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 every day, His Majesty the Emperor simply dismissed these boats with a stroke of his pen.
All the ships were given to Lawrence.
"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 we follow the normal numbering habits, the ship's hull number should indeed be No. 6." Because the captain had seen the little doll before and knew her identity. So when he heard
Nora answered the question seriously.
"Then I happen to have a name that can correspond to this ship number." Nora said, raising her head slightly and showing a proud expression. "How about we call her Enterprise?"
Lawrence was stunned when he heard the name, and then said to Nora through his soul connection. "Is this name too powerful? I'm worried that our small boat may not be able to bear the responsibility of this year's one-ship battle."
What a legendary name for a country!”
"Don't worry, she definitely deserves this name." Nora responded. "Don't forget that the legendary ship is the seventh ship with this name, and the fifth ship with this name happens to be a steam-powered motor sailing ship.
.So I think it’s a good sign to name our ship after this name.”
"This name is indeed a good one, with a very good meaning." Naturally, the captain did not know about this short discussion between Lawrence and Nora, but from his perspective, he felt that the name sounded quite auspicious.
"That's it." Lawrence said, taking out the paper and pen from the space bag and writing down an official document. He then used the seal ring on his finger to stamp a seal on it and handed it to the captain. "
Okay, now go and change the name of the warship on the side of the ship. I hope to get it all done before setting off at 12:00 noon."
"No problem, Lord." The captain stood up and saluted Lawrence after taking the official document, and then walked out of the hotel with the official document. Lawrence and Nora returned to the restaurant to finish their breakfast, and then took advantage of the opportunity.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to have basically nothing to do before setting off in the morning, I went to express my condolences to the followers who were also staying in the hotel and the two hundred Earl's Palace Guards.
At 11 o'clock at noon, Lawrence and these followers boarded three pre-rented public carriages at the door of the hotel, and then took 15 minutes to rush to the pier. On the pier, the fleet heading to the island this time
Everything is prepared and ready to go.
This fleet consists of a total of nine ships. Except for the gunboat named Enterprising, the remaining eight are all steel-framed and steel-masted cargo sailing ships with a displacement of about 1,200 tons that Lawrence rented from the Imperial Shipping Association.
The space was filled to the brim with the large amount of goods he planned to bring to the island.
According to the previous arrangement, the family members of the retainers and most of the guard members who are going with these ships this time will take eight cargo sailing ships. Because those ships are larger and more stable, the conditions on board are better. As for Lawrence, the retainers
The regiment and ten members of the guard crowded on the warship to discuss some matters on the way.
At 12:00 noon, after confirming that everyone had boarded the ship, the ships in the fleet untied the cables tied to the pier, pulled up the anchors, and then sailed little by little with the help of the port's steam barges.
Leave the pier and drive towards the sea.
Although there was no one on the shore to say goodbye at this time, all the passengers of the fleet came to the deck and waved goodbye to the land and their hometown. Because they knew that once they left on the boat this time, they might not be able to do it again in this life.
Set foot on the land of my hometown.
It was not until the ship was pulled out of the breakwater by the barge and the sails were raised that the passengers on the deck returned to the cabin. At this time, Lawrence and his retainers also came to the conference room on the ship.
"Sorry, I made you laugh." Steward Bayer apologized to Lawrence after entering the conference room. These retainers all looked a little depressed, and some of them had red eyes.
"I should be the one saying sorry." Lawrence said gently, "After all, it's me who made you leave your hometown, but to be honest, you really don't need to ask your family members to come with you and endure hardship. Even if you want to come over,
We have to wait until our affairs are almost settled before we come back."
"You have come here in person, how can we let the family members wait behind." Knight Joseph, who is also the captain of the Earl's Palace Guard, said. "To be honest, at least since I became an adult, I have hardly seen any nobles willing to open up the land in person.
Territory. Based on this alone, you are already better than more than 90% of the nobles."
"You are really exaggerating." Lawrence smiled and waved his hand, then pulled out a wooden box from under the table in the conference room and placed it on the table. "Okay, let's get to work. We may be very confused along the way.