Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Launching Ceremony.

‘As expected, the Imperial College team finished first.’

The news of the completion of the steamship was quickly delivered to Kim Ki-woo.

Most of the money spent on research, maintenance, and wages at the Imperial College came from the government budget.

In other words, it was no different from Kim Ki-woo spending his own money.

The success of such a large-scale project should be reported to the owner first.

‘I can’t guarantee success until it works properly after the launching ceremony.’

The Imperial College team must have considered various possibilities in designing and building the steamship.

However, since it was their first time making a steamship, there was a high possibility that problems they had not considered would arise.

Kim Ki-woo stopped his thoughts and called his attendant to give him an order.

“I’m going to attend the launching ceremony of the steamship. So get ready right away. As soon as possible.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The attendant agreed without hesitation.

Of course, it would take some time to prepare for safety, but the delicate glass laboratory and the palace were not far apart, so it wouldn’t take too long.

After all the preparations were done, Kim Ki-woo was able to arrive at his destination in no time.

“Are you the person in charge? I heard you’re very young.”

“Yo, Your Majesty…”

“Ha ha. Don’t worry, lift your head.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

At his words, Delicate Glass lifted his head.

‘He’s full of spirit.’

His eyes were trembling with nervousness, but his spirit was so full that he couldn’t hide it with this tremor.

He was indeed the person who thought of the steamship at a young age, led his team, and implemented the first steamship.

‘It’s like a dream that His Majesty is looking only at me…’

On the other hand, Delicate Glass was so nervous that he couldn’t calm down easily.

Any scholar of the empire would have imagined this moment.

And this was also true for Delicate Glass.

At that moment, the attendant next to him winked at Delicate Glass.

“Ah!”

At this, Delicate Glass came to his senses.

He hadn’t told His Majesty his name yet.

“My name is Delicate Glass.”

“Delicate Glass… That’s a very good name. I’ll remember that name for sure.”

“Thank you!”

“I’m sure the launching ceremony was delayed until I arrived, so let’s proceed quickly.”

“We’re already prepared.”

“Then lead the way.”

“Yes!”

After that, Kim Ki-woo went to where the completed steamship was and faced the first steamship.

“Ho ho.”

Kim Ki-woo looked at the steamship with interest.

It looked quite different from a sailing ship.

‘It’s not that big after all.’

He could see some flaws at a glance.

This steamship was literally an experimental work.

Even if they succeeded in launching the steamship, it would take quite some time and more money to commercialize it.

‘It’s no wonder that the person who made the first steamship before arrival went bankrupt.’

Before arrival, the first place where a steamship was made was America.

Around 1780.

Many engineers in America smelled money from steamships.

This led to competition, and among them, John Fitch succeeded in testing the first steamship in 1787.

However, he went bankrupt in 1790 due to lack of capital and technology.

Of course, the government was the sponsor of the delicate glass’s research, so there was no risk of running out of resources.

‘And they removed the sail part from the beginning.’

Kim Kiwoo nodded.

They didn’t need a sail since they moved with a paddle wheel powered by a steam engine.

It would have taken longer to complete the steamship if they had to consider the sail, so he understood that decision.

Kim Kiwoo suddenly became curious.

“Did you name this ship?”

“Well, I have something in mind…”

As he said that, delicate glass looked at Kim Kiwoo’s reaction.

He was worried that he might have said something wrong.

But Kim Kiwoo just smiled faintly.

“Really? Can I ask what it is?”

“…If possible, I want to name it after the sharp teeth that allowed me to experiment with the steamship.”

“I see. The Sharp Teeth…”

He thought he would name it after himself, but he didn’t.

He chose to repay his favor first.

“That’s fine. Let’s do that.”

Kim Kiwoo agreed generously.

‘He’s carving his name on every major place related to steam engines.’

He made the first steam engine, and the first steamship was his name too.

And he was working hard on making the first steam locomotive right now.

When people looked back on Sharp Teeth in the future, they would probably call him the father of steam engines.

At least he would never be left out of the protagonists of the industrial revolution.

“Then let’s start the launch ceremony.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

As Kim Kiwoo gave the order, the researchers and shipbuilders who were waiting around began to get busy.

Kim Kiwoo watched carefully as the ship floated on the water.

“Wow…”

“How can that ship move without oars or sails?”

It was only natural that many people gathered for the launch ceremony of Sharp Teeth.

The imperial citizens knew the importance of ships, and they were very curious about the synergy between steam engines and ships.

Also, the fact that Kim Kiwoo himself came to attend the launch ceremony was enough for them to have expectations.

There was never a useless experiment among those that Kim Kiwoo attended for a long time.

Looking back, everything that Kim Kiwoo attended was very important.

Thanks to that, the faces of the imperial citizens who saw the steamship floating on the river were filled with anticipation.

After that, they checked the condition of the steamship.

It didn’t take long.

The people who went out for inspection gave them a confirmation.

“There is no problem!”

“That’s great!”

The researchers were able to relax a bit as they passed one hurdle.

But the experiment was just beginning.

It was only a success if the steam engine and the paddle wheels on both sides worked properly.

“I will order them to operate.”

“Good.”

After Kim Kiwoo nodded, black smoke rose from the steamship in a few moments.

Thump thump thump.

And after making a unique sound of a steam engine,

Whooosh!

The paddle wheels on both sides began to rotate.

The lower part of the wheel was submerged in the water, so the steamboat moved forward by the rotational force.

“Wow!”

“Wow, wow, wow!”

“It’s moving! It’s really moving!”

“My goodness. I’ve never seen a boat go so fast.”

This sight was shocking to the people who were watching the launch.

It was because they realized that they could sail faster with the power of the steam engine, not with human or wind power.

“Ah…!”

The researchers were even more impressed.

They felt a surge of accomplishment as their nervousness was replaced by relief.

‘We really did it.’

Delicate Glass looked up at the sky without a word.

The blazing sun seemed to bless his success.

Kim Kiwoo patted his shoulder and muttered.

“Congratulations. You’ve achieved a great feat. The history book of the empire will record you as the creator of the first steamboat.”

“…I still have a long way to go.”

“That’s a good attitude. It’s true that this level of steamboat is not enough for commercialization.”

They had to increase the size of the boat and the cargo capacity to enter the era of steamboats.

“I hope you will continue your research until you commercialize the steamboat. Don’t worry about money and focus on your research.”

“I’ll do my best!”

Delicate Glass’s eyes burned with passion as Kim Kiwoo said this.

‘I hope it will be commercialized soon.’

It was hard to operate deep-hulled boats in the rivers of the mainland.

There were many shallow places in the river.

But the steamboat could solve this problem.

And its speed was incomparable to that of a sailboat…

Kim Kiwoo wished that many steamboats would fill the rivers and lakes of the empire as soon as possible.

***

“This is all thanks to you, Master.”

“Don’t say that. It’s all because you led your team well that you got such results.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to form my team without you, Master. And I wouldn’t have thought of the steamboat if I hadn’t heard your concept of the steam engine car.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

Delicate Glass visited his home to share this joy and then came straight to the imperial college.

He had been studying under Nalkarun Ibal for quite some time.

He continued to express his gratitude to his master.

For Delicate Glass, Nalkarun Ibal was his benefactor in life.

“I heard you’re going to keep your lab running.”

“That’s my plan. The first experiment was successful, but there’s still a lot to be done before I can commercialize the steamboat.”

“You made a good decision. You’re young, so you can achieve more things.”

“I’ll live up to your expectations, Master.”

Nalkarun Ibal smiled bitterly as he looked at the young man in front of him who was full of passion.

‘So this is how it ends up.’

He could have made excuses.

After all, Delicate Glass’s lab started operating much earlier than his.

And his experiment on the steam engine car was before the launch of the steamboat.

‘Of course, it failed.’

He had three experiments so far, but none of them yielded satisfactory results.

‘It’s hard. It’s hard.’

It felt like he was going through the same situation as when he failed repeatedly in his steam engine experiments in the past.

‘I expected this to some extent.’

His steam engine car experiment was in a complete mess.

The first problem was that the steam engine was too heavy.

If they loaded this huge steam engine, it would be practically impossible to carry anything else.

Moreover, to operate the steam engine, they had to keep feeding it coal from above.

But that was not the only issue.

‘They can’t turn the direction.’

To change the direction to the left or right, they had to adjust the speed of the wheels.

This was possible with a rama cart, which relied on the power of a rama, but not with a steam engine.

They were researching this, but they had not made any clear progress yet.

‘And it’s hard to stop, too.’

They had no brakes, so they had to wait until it naturally stopped.

But they couldn’t change the direction either…

As a result, the first steam engine car they used for the experiment crashed hard into a wall and was damaged beyond repair.

It was the first car accident in history.

The third experiment they conducted recently was somewhat better, but it was still far from satisfactory.

“Master. Are you all right?”

Seeing his master’s sharp-toothed expression worsen, Delicate Glass asked him right away.

He sighed deeply.

“Phew. It’s really hard to improve the steam engine car compared to the steam ship. Even if we continue the experiment like this, I don’t know if it will ever be good enough for commercial use.”

“…I’m sorry. I was too excited and rude.”

“No, no. I’m sorry. I feel like I’m ruining your good day.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Haha. You have your own research, don’t you? You don’t have to do that.”

“No, I do. I want to repay you for your kindness, even a little bit.”

“You’re so stubborn.”

But Delicate Glass was very persistent.

He kept persuading his master.

“Then let me stay for a while before I start my research on improving the steam ship.”

“Thank you, master!”

As a result, Sharp Tooth reluctantly accepted his earnest request.

But he didn’t know then.

That this decision would change the history of the steam engine car.