With our riches, the Vikings would be back. We slaughtered them on a previous raid near Wendon, but it had been long enough that some idiot would want to try again. I thought of him as Eric the Hopeless.
That didn't mean I took him lightly. The best defense against Eric and his ilk was to not let them come ashore. For that, we needed a Navy. It didn't have to meet twenty-first-century standards. The fifteenth century would do.
I transcribed two books for the woodworkers to begin with. Cornwall had no ship-building industry, so woodworkers had the best chance of building our first ships. The two types were schooners and galleons.
The schooner had multiple uses. On a fast hull, and a good ability to windward was useful for privateers, blockade runners, slave ships, smaller naval craft, and opium clippers. Packet boats (built for the fast conveyance of passengers and goods) were often schooners.
Not that I intended to have anything to do with slaving or smuggling opium. Any opium carried would be purchased for medical purposes. I wasn't naive enough to believe it wouldn't be abused.
These ships would be used for patrolling for Vikings and anything requiring a fast passage. I consulted on the design but wasn't involved in the daily work. We decided upon fore-and-aft sails on each mast. There would be two masts, the front shorter than the second one.
The schooners would be built first. Once we had a small fleet of five schooners, we would start on our first galleon. Easier said than done.
It would take a huge learning curve to build a galleon. Even though I had the plans in my head and could transcribe the methods and drawings, there were many fiddly details that weren't in the books.
Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships. The galleon was a true deep-water ship. It could be used as a warship or cargo ship. They generally carried three or more masts with a lateen fore-and-aft rig on the rear masts, was carvel built with a prominent squared-off raised stern, and used a square-rigged sail plan.
With these ships, we could open up the entire world. I thought briefly of the California gold fields and other famous finds. We were doing fine, and having too much gold would cause problems. Like those encountered by Spain when they had the riches of the New World.
What I really wanted the galleons for was to transport the raw materials we needed for the next steps in our industrial revolution. We needed oil and rubber more than gold and silver. Sugar and spices wouldn’t be bad, either. Potatoes would be nice to have. I was getting tired of bread.
We might have a galleon in five or six years if we started now. I was probably being optimistic, but we would try.
Another thing we needed for our fledgling navy was cannons. A well-handled schooner with two small cannons could take on any Viking long boat. Our ships would hammer them from a distance while they tired their rowers chasing us.
We were going with lighter and more accurate muzzleloaders, cast in bronze. Capable of firing balls or stones weighing up to 60 lbs. that would be mounted on truck carriages. We cut square gunports in the hull to allow heavy cannons below deck.
We were also going to have breech-loading swivel guns. The swivels were small iron guns with short range that could be aimed and fired by a single person. These would be hailshot pieces, small muzzle-loaders with rectangular bores, and fin-like protrusions used to support the guns against the railing and allow the ship structure to take the force of the recoil.
We had the powder, we didn’t know for certain which would work, blackpowder or gun cotton based. The most difficult thing would be to cast the cannon and then true the bore. Tom Smith told me this would be an easy fix. All I had to do was throw money at it.
I think I will have to increase his taxes. I was just kidding, but he was now the second richest man around. Me being the first.
A week later, I had a council meeting. My top advisors had some unpleasant news for me.
I had overestimated what could be accomplished with our current manpower. I could forget about galleons, and caravels would be a stretch.
The railroad was de-railed. Even if we got a steam engine to work, there was no way we could produce the amount of steel needed for tracks.
We also needed to figure out what to do with the crossbow factory. It had been closed, and all the workers retrained to work in the rifle manufacturing plant. There weren't enough workers to accomplish all I had set out. We decided to hold the building for future projects.
Another issue was not all of my people could adjust to the new life. Some wanted to stay on their little farms and live a quiet life. That is until they were sick and needed the new medications.
There was an influx of people from the Saxon territories, but not enough to solve our problems. The new people didn’t have the education needed to work in our new industries, and few were skilled workers.
These unpleasant truths set my world exploration plans back. No spices from the Indies or gold from the New World. While I didn't like it, I had to recognize that all could come crashing down if I overreached.
Once I acknowledged they were correct and that I had to slow my exploration and expansion plans down, we discussed what we could accomplish with the resources at our disposal.
We had all the resources we needed except for people. Not only bodies but educated bodies.
Since the Angles were pushing the Saxons out of their land, we could gain people by welcoming them. Then, we would have to open schools and provide for the families while they were being educated.
We decided in the next three years, we would annex all of Wessex, Kent, and Sussex counties. Our northern border would be a line drawn from Dereham to London. This would leave us facing Mercia, but we weren't quite ready to take them on. We may have had the weapons. But they had the manpower.
I had to chuckle a little. The western anchor of our northern border would be Dereham. I got that information from a twenty-first-century map. I had no idea what existed in the geographical location now. Later, I discovered it was a small village that had been there for some time. There was even a Roman road going from Dereham to Winchester.
Looking at the map, that road made little sense, but why it was built was lost to time. It wouldn't be a lot of use in our plans. We would have to build a whole new road system.
One thing we had gotten very good at was laying out and building roads. The crews were all experienced, and we had continually upgraded their equipment. My next planned upgrade was steam-powered tractors.
We couldn't make enough steel for railroads, but we could make tractors for farming and general hauling. I couldn't wait for the first steam shovel. As a kid, we always called excavators steam shovels, even though true steam shovels hadn't been used since before I was born.
This equipment, while not solving our manpower problems, would somewhat ease them.
After our meeting, I made a mental note to check up on the steam engine development. They had two problems left to solve. Riveting the boilers so they wouldn't blow apart and the fit between the moving parts. It had to be a close fit with a gasket that could withstand heat and pressure.
I decided to take a walk and see what was going on in the village of Owen-nap. It seemed busy, and most people looked cheerful. I saw no signs of poverty. The town streets were clean, with no evidence of night soil being dumped.
At the edge of town, a group of children were running wild, Catherine among them. They were playing Crows and Saxons, the local form of Cowboys and Indians. Rather than saying Cornwall's, they were Crows after our coin's nickname. It did sound better, especially for a game.
I mentioned it to Eleanor when I got home. She told me our six-year-old daughter was in trouble. She had been caught earlier in the day playing Lady Agnes.
Stupid me didn't put it together.
"What is Lady Agnes?"
"Lady Agnes and her nurses examine the young children."
"Oh…Oh!."
We didn't have Doctors, only nurses. My little girl had been playing Doctor,
"Who with?"
"Tom Smith's son."
"I better go talk to Tom."
Not that I would have much to say, but I would have used anything to get out of this conversation.
Tom was still at his office and hadn't heard of our kids' misadventure. We both decided to go to the tavern and let our wives handle the situation.
Tom and I ate at the tavern and got home late, thinking it would get us out of this.
That worked well for me until I got home. It also worked well for Catherine. I was now the one in the doghouse. Somedays, you can't win.
I didn't see what the big deal was, we lived in a farming community, and every kid here had seen the animals at it.
The big deal was that I had left my wife to give the 'talk'. At that point, I set the shovel aside and stopped digging.
"Yes, ma'am."
Even that was the wrong thing to do, as she knew I was trying to limit my damage. We had been married long enough; she was on to me.
Manning up, I said, "I had better go have a talk with Cathy."
"I would think so."
Her tone of voice told me any other decision would have been a bad one.
I went to Cathy's room.
Janet Farmer was guarding the door as usual. Johanna Farmer, her nurse, was in the room holding a sobbing Cathy's hand. I wondered where these two had been when the deed was done?
I was smart enough not to ask that question.
I spoke up, "Cathy, we need to talk."
Little Cathy opened her red-rimmed eyes and looked at me. She had a snotty nose and looked miserable.
"Yes, Daddy, I have been bad."
Being the stern disciplinarian I am, my heart immediately melted.
"I hear you have been playing Lady Agnes with a boy."
"Yes, Daddy."
I wish her lower lip wouldn't quiver like that.
"You are not allowed to do that anymore until you are married."
"Yes, Daddy."
"I'm serious, we might have to take your pony away if you do it again."
From the sheer look of panic, I knew she had got the message.
"Yes, Daddy."
I bid her goodnight.
As I was leaving the room, I heard a loud whisper.
"It worked just like you said it would, Nurse. Now, may I wash the onion from my face."
I stumbled on the threshold while Janet Farmer smirked at me.
I think I was set up all the way around. They all had to be in on it.
I don't know how or when, but I will get even. Revenge was going to be tricky as there was a small child involved.
It will be a dish served cold.