"Wow, look whales!"

Some crew members shouted excitedly.

"This is a good sign, Your Highness. There is a legend in my distant homeland that when you go out to sea, encountering a whale is a sign of good luck. ”

At this time, the big salt Shanyin changed back into the previous witch costume, and it seems that the assimilation policy against her has not erased the cultural imprint on her body, but it is also believed that Talia is not a good executor.

Just then, a whale jumped high above the water, and then slammed into the sea, setting off a wave that caused a burst of exclamation from the sailors on board.

Then a song from the ocean spread to the surroundings, warming the hearts of the travelers who had been tormented by the long and boring voyage. Ethereal, poignant, and distant, it seems to be the call of the ancients, and it is as terrifying as the gaze of the abyss.

While everyone was engrossed in admiring the wonders of the behemoth, a discordant voice rang out from the ship.

"Quick! Open the cannon door and everyone goes to combat duty! ”

Friedrich's order, as commander-in-chief, immediately kept the ship busy, and the sailors and middle and lower rank officers began to rush back to their posts to prepare for battle, and even Franz was nervously searching the sea with binoculars for the enemy.

But with common sense, with the size of this fleet, the pirates should not have the guts to attack, unless some of them can't wait to see God.

The maritime corps, consisting of one super-first-class battleship, four quasi-first-class battleships, and more than a dozen other escort and supply ships, is enough to defeat the navy of a medium-sized country.

The only possible threat to the Austrian Imperial Navy in the Indian Ocean was the British.

The Royal Navy deployed 25 battleships in the Indian Ocean, and although the vast majority of them were third-class battleships, it was almost impossible to escape their pursuit through the Strait of Malacca and return to Kampong Son.

Of course, this is only a common sense estimate, and the Imperial fleet, which has been completely replaced with steam power, has been reborn, and its speed is far from being comparable to that of the British sail battleships.

It's just that Franz, who returned to reality, did not notice that there were malicious warships around him, and soon the other sailors also discovered this, and everyone looked at the captain who gave the order with a confused expression.

"Didn't you all see that beast? You must know that we haven't fired a single shot along the way, and if we don't use it, I'm afraid the shells will expire! ”

Friedrich roared, but no one answered.

"Uncle Friedrich, please don't let your unbearable thoughts stain this rare landscape in front of you. These poor animals are no threat to you."

Before Franz could finish his words, Paul Davien, the deputy captain from Venice, said.

"The captain is right! Whales are full of treasures! Whale oil and whalebone are valuable goods! Even if we drag them to Meng to buy and sell them to the British, we will also make money! Captain wise! ”

He was right that the whaling industry during this period was not only quite developed, but also very profitable.

At this time, whale oil is one of the most important means of lighting in the West, and it is also the most important lubricant in the industry. The same can be used in the manufacture of textiles, leather, pigments and varnishes and even soaps.

A gallon of whale oil can be sold for 3-5 florins, but the price fluctuates greatly with supply and demand.

At that time, there were many kinds of lighting fuels, each with its own merits: paraffin, beeswax, lanolin oil, turpentine... However, only whale oil produces almost no smoke when burned, can produce a stable light source, and has no peculiar smell.

Among them, sperm whale oil is the most, it is not only flame translucent, but also has a faint oil fragrance.

The main material of the finest candles used in Schönbrunn Palace is sperm whale oil. Although there are paraffin candles nowadays, due to the limited technical means and the backward process of refining paraffin wax at that time, the price is very high.

Of course, this is only lower than whale wax, and it is still a luxury beyond the reach of ordinary people. In addition, due to the limitations of underdeveloped science and technology, industrial lubricants are mainly refined from whale oil.

If you have a book friend of the Industrial Party, you should understand how great the role of lubricants in industry is. It can even be said that without lubricants, the industrial revolution could not have gone smoothly.

The UK consumes more than 500,000 gallons of whale oil on textile machinery every year, according to the American calculation:

Large bowhead whales are capable of producing more than 300 barrels of whale oil, averaging 150 barrels, much more than sperm whales and right whales, which average 25 barrels and 60 barrels respectively.

(A barrel equals 42 gallons.) ）

In other words, in order to meet the industrial needs of the United Kingdom alone, at least 3,333 bowhead whales must be killed every year, 8,333 in the case of right whales, and 20,000 in the case of sperm whales.

Whalebone was also a very popular commodity in the 19th century, and was used for a wide range of purposes, including but not limited to:

Hats, whips, parasols, tongue scrapers, pen holders, fishing rods, divination sticks, umbrellas, bow ties, crutches, garlands, top hats, straps, folders and paper cutters, wood grain combs for painters, arch supports on the soles of boots, shoehorns, brushes, mattresses, elastic lining on the inner edge of the billiard table. Even the nobles practiced the training swords used by the swift sword.

Of course, these are not the most valuable uses of whalebone, as the usual tutu skirts and women's tights (men also wore tight underwear at the time) were used in the nineteenth century, but the demand was relatively small.

(Whalebone actually refers to whale baleen, not actual fish bones.) ）

Why doesn't Franz know about this kind of baby?

The answer is:

The Austrian Empire was not a normal country, and it hardly consumed whale oil for lighting, as both Galicia and Transylvania had a tradition of using oil.

As for public lighting, the Austrians used gas lamps.

Whale oil is almost unpopular except for the aristocracy and Italians near the sea. The oil used to lubricate machinery is made from a mixture of rapeseed oil and petroleum, and its output can not only supply and meet domestic demand, but also sell well in German states.

As for whalebone, Austria imports large quantities of this raw material from the United States for its perennial use of hats and mattresses for the manufacture of petticoats and underwear.

It was a very strange phenomenon that the whalebones used to make hats and mattresses were a few tenths of the price of the whalebones used to make petticoats and tights, and there was almost no real difference between the two.

With the exception of a few wrongdoers, almost all clothing merchants and tailors opted for cheaper whalebones.

To get back to the point, Franz felt that firing the fish was a disobedient bear child's behavior, and it was unlucky, and there was really no need for his side to do so.

"Uncle Friedrich, the whale is a symbol of good luck. You say yes, right? Miss Sugine. ”

When Franz turned his head to look at the big salt Shanyin, the latter held a knife and fork with an expression of preparing to rush down to cook, and did not listen to the former's words at all.

Franz couldn't help but hold his forehead, he forgot that the woman in front of him was Japanese, probably because she hadn't touched sushi for a long time, and wanted to beat the whale for a tooth sacrifice.

It seems necessary to give her a feast, after all, there are only river fish near Vienna, and there are only two ways to eat them - grilled and fried.

The Austrians are one of the few people in Europe who like to eat freshwater fish, but they also have a very bad perception of fish bones like other Europeans.

The solution is also very simple and crude, that is, directly grill or fry the fish, so as to minimize the hassle of picking fish bones.

(End of chapter)