Chapter 229 The opening of the canal
On the third day of November 1028, the entire city of Weissenburg was almost empty, with few people on the streets.
People came to both sides of the Carolina Canal outside the city, either happy or curious, talking about the canal that was about to be filled with water.
Now that the canal has been dug, piers and stone arches have been built for several bridges on the river, grass is planted on the slopes to maintain water and soil, and all navigation lights in the river have been installed.
Today is the first time that wireless communicators have appeared in the eyes of the world. There is a communicator reporting the situation every one kilometer on both sides of the canal.
The largest ship lock of this era stands at the mouth of both ends of the canal, with six lock chambers 8 meters wide and 200 meters long.
Frederick was currently in the sand table room of the ship lock office area at the end of Weissenburg City, listening to the wireless communicator reporting on the situation at each point.
“The situation at the No. 1 observation point is normal.”
“The situation at the Oak City observation point is normal.”
“The situation at the Third Bridge observation point is normal.”
"The conditions at the West Gate observation point are normal."
......
As reports from each observation point came, someone placed a flag representing safety at the corresponding position.
At 9 o'clock in the morning, Frederick ordered: "Attention to all units, attention to all units, start opening the gates!"
Soon there was a huge noise from the gate next to it, and several steam engines The winch is driven to rotate, and the iron chain on the winch slowly opens all the gates on the lock.
Frederick walked to the lock, stood behind the railing, and quietly watched the rushing river water pouring into the river. He could also see many fish being carried into the canal.
In the distance, the cheers from the onlookers on the shore overwhelmed the rolling waves, and many people sang excitedly.
There were footsteps behind him, and Frederick knew who it was without looking back.
He asked: "Afu, how long has it been since I first formally proposed to build this canal?"
Afu replied: "Reporting to the master, it has been five years. ”
"It's been five years," Frederick said slowly. "Five years ago, I thought about escaping to Constantbul and becoming a scholar. Unexpectedly, now I am starting to prepare for the attack on Constantbul."< br>
Afu said happily: "Master has grown up."
The corner of Frederick's mouth twitched. This is the second time Afu said such words this month. The day before yesterday, Baron Adikon He said this when he brought Lilu to Weissenburg City.
He did not stay here long, and left after hearing that the rivers merged in their channels and flowed into Lake Saint-Henri.
Lake Saint-Henri was originally a low-lying area south of the canal. At first, we were worried that the villages there would be flooded because the canal rose during floods. In the end, the Executive Yuan decided that all the tenant farmers in the villages here would be relocated to the newly built Oak City is a city dweller. After people walked, they blocked the surrounding valleys and dug several tributaries from the canal to fill it with water and used it as a large lake to regulate the water source. Later, it became a fishing mecca for fish from the Rhine and Danube rivers.
It is estimated that it will take four days to fill with water. There may be some collapse at the waterside in the next few days. This is normal.
The guests attending the opening ceremony arrived in the next two days. The Archduke of Mainz and the Archduke of Byrne arrived first, and the Count of Delden and others had brushed Danma together on the Elbe River defense line. Many nobles from the kingdom came, including the Minister of Military Affairs from the royal capital, Earl Pisto, and Belle Burke's grandfather, Earl Shakespeare.
Frederick held a grand cocktail party in the castle to welcome the guests.
Many people at the reception knew Baron Adikan. While chatting with him, Count Pisto asked a question: "How long does it take for a cargo ship to get from one end to the other?" Adikan walked along the After walking through the canal, I made an estimate in my mind and gave a number.
After hearing this, Count Pisto said in surprise: "It's so slow. I thought it could be faster."
Adikon explained: "The boat cannot be too fast in the river. It is difficult for it to turn around. If If you go too fast, you will lose control."
Count Pistol looked like he understood, and asked curiously: "What if there are many people rowing the boat desperately?"
This? At that time, Archduke Byrne was chatting with people nearby. After hearing this, he turned around and said to Count Pisto with a smile: "Why don't you just go rowing yourself."
Count Pisto shook his head. Said: "It's not fun just by myself."
Earl Delden and he were both from the royal capital circle, so he smiled and said to him: "Then let's just form a game."
"That's right." Earl Pisto's eyes lit up, "This It should be fun. "
The game that Earl Delden talked about is actually a gambling game. The nobles in Cologne City can gamble on something casually.
Count Pisto was happy to do this, and immediately connected them at the cocktail party, and then found Frederick.
Frederick saw that he was excited when he said it, and many people agreed, so he couldn't refuse.
"Let's do this." Frederick thought of an idea, "Since you want to play, let's have fun."
"Let the competition be arranged on the day of the navigation ceremony. Well... just change it to the navigation ceremony. Let’s have a boat race, from the east lock to the west lock.”
“It’s a harvest festival, and all the boats must be beautifully dressed.”
Count Pistol is just looking for fun. Yes, when Frederick said this, he immediately nodded in agreement: "That's good, leave it to me, I promise to make it lively!"
Frederick complained in his heart, if you are in military affairs It would be great if I could be so caring.
He finally agreed with Count Pistol to handle the matter, and asked Afu to assist, or rather to watch so that the fuss would not go too far.
Count Pisto was very capable, and he turned a canal navigation ceremony into a combination of a boat race and a colorful boat parade.
No matter which event you participate in, you have to pay a registration fee. The rowers will get bonuses, and there will be many billboards hanging on the parade, so no one will lose.
At this time, both sides of the canal were very lively that day. Almost half of the people in Wesson gathered on the river bank to wait to see what was going on.
The first thing to rush out after the horn blew was a dozen racing boats. They were modified from boats in Weissenburg. The flags of the families they represented were placed on the bows and on the bows. On the top of the stick on the side of the ship, there are animals or flowers made of straw, hay and colored paper.
Behind them were the colorful boats of various chambers of commerce. They followed the rowing boats leisurely and leisurely. In the end, they even left behind some rowing boats that rushed too hard at the beginning, making the spectators on both sides of the river laugh heartily.
The boat that won the first place in the end was Baron Adikon’s boat. These men of the sea rowed in the canal just like playing. There is no need to fight, just keep a good pace.
As the ships participating in the ceremony left, the cargo ships that had been waiting for a long time entered the canal and sailed to their new goals.
After everything calmed down, Frederick found a place by the canal and sat on the grass alone, holding his chin in his hand, quietly watching the boats coming and going on the canal. Past.
(End of this chapter)