Zhang Tie stood on the outer wall of the castle and watched the construction workers operate a rail trailer to push a huge steam boiler from a material storage area in the distance to the castle gate, and then the rail crane lifted it The steam boiler was slowly hoisted.
Several construction workers from the Changfeng Commercial Group wearing hard hats tied a few steel ropes to the crane to control the balance of the big machine while communicating loudly with the people operating the rail crane on the high platform.
"Slower, slower, slightly to the left, yes, later to the left, okay, continue to lift, continue to lift, that's right..."
The construction site of the entire castle is in full swing, and everyone is busy working on their own. After the main project of the castle is completed, there are still a large number of follow-up projects to be carried out - the most important of which are the installation and installation of the castle's steam power unit and various defensive weapons. Debugging, as well as interior and exterior decoration and greening of the castle.
Although the current castle has some appearance, it is too ugly. It is just a concrete lump without any sense of beauty, with cement and various thick steel components everywhere.
Liu Gong, the leader of the construction team of the Changfeng Merchant Group, and another manager of the Changfeng Merchant Group, accompanied Zhang Tie on the wall of the castle's outer fort to inspect the construction progress of the castle. Zhang Tie looked at it and asked various questions with great interest.
"Is this steam boiler the main boiler of the castle?" Looking at the big guy being lifted into the air by a crane, Zhang Tie pointed at that thing and asked.
"Yes, this is the main power boiler of the castle. The output power is 9,600 horsepower. This main boiler is usually responsible for the power output of the castle's anti-air weapons and two main ballistae. In conjunction with this, there are two more output power slightly A smaller conventional power boiler. The output power of each conventional power boiler is 3,400 horsepower. It is mainly used to drive several distributed strike systems and small crossbows that will be installed on the castle!" After hearing Zhang Tie's question, he was involved. Professional, Liu Gong answered immediately.
Zhang Tie pointed to the tallest defensive arrow tower in the castle, "Is this main power boiler installed under that arrow tower?"
"Yes. The main power boiler is installed in the power room of the arrow tower, and the other two boilers are secured at this location and this location..." Liu Gong pointed to the outer and inner castles.
Zhang Tie couldn't help but feel slightly worried when he thought about the explosions of steam boilers he had heard about before. In this era, apart from the alchemy bombs made by alchemists, steam boilers are the only things that can explode. However, although the explosion of the steam boiler is astonishingly powerful, strictly speaking, it is not actually an explosion. It is just the rapid release of high-pressure steam energy in a very short period of time, which is two different things from the explosion of an alchemy bomb.
But if this thing really explodes, it will be enough to make this castle drink a pot. Zhang Tie is the one who watched the castle being built day by day. Even now, even if he touches the cold, hard and rough concrete walls on the outer castle wall, Zhang Tie still has some unreal feelings in his heart. , I still feel a little illusory about the fact that I will soon own a castle, but there is no doubt that Zhang Tie still has a lot of feelings for this castle.
These feelings. In addition to the astronomical debt of four to five million gold coins that can make ordinary people feel despair, there are also some other things mixed in.
Because there is a cloud character in Lan Yunxi's name, and this place is also called Yunju Mountain, Zhang Tie chose this place to build the castle. Also because owning a castle is a dream that almost every man in this era has had since he was a child, this castle. The future is also the starting point for Zhang Tie's career.
"Will these boilers explode?" Zhang Tie asked seriously.
"Haha, the boiler you are talking about that will explode is an old-fashioned steam boiler. This castle uses a new water tube steam boiler with a relatively complex structure. Its thermal efficiency and output pressure are higher than ordinary boilers, and it is also There is a triple automatic protection switch for water level, temperature and pressure. You can be absolutely assured in terms of safety and performance!" Liu Gong swore and patted his chest.
Hearing this, Zhang Tie finally felt relieved.
"What needs to be considered here now is actually the issue of the guards and personnel stationed in this castle!" Manager Ou of the Changfeng Merchant Group, who was accompanying Zhang Tie, took over, "This castle only needs 20 days at most. It will be completed. After completion, full-effect potions will be produced here immediately. This place will definitely attract many people to spy. To support the complete defense and security system of this castle, at least 70 guards will be needed here. This is still in Qianlong Island, if it is on land, the personnel exchanges will be more complicated. As an important place, the number of guards here will be at least doubled. I wonder what your plans are?"
Zhang Tie pondered for a moment, "I wonder if Manager Ou has any suggestions?"
"The fastest way, of course, is to directly hire armed guards. Changfeng Merchant Group has armed guard hiring services. If you are considering long-term development, you can also directly consider recruiting family warriors!"
"Recruit family warriors!" This suggestion moved Zhang Tie's heart.
Manager Ou smiled and said, "Being able to own a castle and such a net worth already qualifies you to recruit family warriors. As long as the conditions are favorable, there are many free warriors who are actually willing to find a promising family and master to join them and take a bite." We have a stable life, so it is not difficult to recruit family warriors!"
"If this is the case, the loyalty of these newly recruited family warriors will be a problem!" Zhang Tie said.
"The loyalty of newly recruited family warriors needs to be cultivated, but if you purchase slaves and slaves directly, as long as you let them see hope, loyalty can be easily cultivated."
Since arriving in Huaiyuan County, this is the first time Zhang Tie has heard that slaves can be bought and sold here, and the term slave trade is quite new.
"Are there still slaves in Huaiyuan County? Also, what is a slave trade?" Zhang Tie asked with interest.
"There are no slaves in the entire Jinyun Kingdom, or there is no such mechanism to force the production of slaves, but Jinyun Kingdom and Huaiyuantang do not prohibit slaves and human trafficking. Many countries on the Hawaiian subcontinent recognize slavery. There are many countries on other continents that recognize slavery. The trade of people and slaves is a very important way of population mobility and exchange between continents and countries. The so-called slave trade refers to voluntarily giving up and selling one's personal rights and selling one's own rights. Those who actively sell themselves to others as slaves and maids are common in both Huaiyuan County and Jinyun Country. After all, not everyone in this world can live a nourishing and valuable life. Some people can't even eat. Food and survival are both problems. When you meet such a person, he is willing to sell himself for a chance to eat and survive. This kind of thing that you and I are willing to do, no one can control!"
After hearing this. Zhang Tie was silent, thinking of the General History of the Human Race that he had been reading in the past two days. According to the General History of the Human Race, human beings had actually been claiming to be the most advanced in technology and civilization before the catastrophe. Serfdom had actually always existed, but it was just changed. Got a nice one. It’s just a name that can confuse people even more.
Before the Great Cataclysm, serfs in human society existed in many countries. They were typical in some so-called democratic countries that implemented apartheid. Those serfs did not have any means of production of their own, nor did they have any political rights. They had no Right of free movement. There are no property rights and sometimes even their bodies are not theirs.
They have been restricted to working silently on land that does not belong to them all their lives, and they have endured all kinds of injustices imposed on them all their lives - economic exploitation, political oppression, and personality discrimination. Sometimes, under the powerful In front of the bulldozers driven by violent machines, their dignity of life and property are inferior to those of dogs. According to the price calculation of this era, serfs in some countries of that era were killed and their lives were taken away at will. The compensation their family could receive was only about twenty to thirty gold coins. At that time, the price of many expensive dog breeds easily reached thousands of gold coins, and there were many dogs worth hundreds of gold coins.
Consider that slavery existed in various forms before the Cataclysm, then. In this day and age, it’s no surprise.
Zhang Tie suddenly felt relieved and felt that reading more books would indeed broaden his horizons.
"Um...is there such a thing in Huaiyuan Hall?"
"This is a joke. If all the descendants of Huaiyuantang have become slaves and sold themselves, then what will the clan do? What will the family do? As a descendant of Huaiyuantang, even if it is the worst, the family will also have a share of support. , otherwise, if you want to work, there is not much problem in finding a job to make a living through family connections. This kind of people who are willing to take the initiative to be slaves are strictly managed in all Chinese countries, and those who come from big families There is no body-trading slave named He Da, and no one dares to buy such a person!"
"Where can I buy slaves and slaves in Huaiyuan County?"
"The largest human trading market in Huaiyuan County is in Stargazing City. It is also managed by the family. The price of ordinary slaves and body slaves is only about 50 gold coins. Children are cheaper, and beautiful women and those with skills are cheaper. Physical men are more expensive, and slave warriors above level six generally cost more than 600 gold coins." Manager Ou explained.
"Are there many people buying and selling slaves in Huaiyuantang?"
"Haha, rich families basically have a few
Zhang Tiexin thought about it and made a decision at once. He smiled and said, "Since the Changfeng Merchant Group has ready-made armed guards, let's hire eighty guards first. Let the castle operate first. It’s from Huaiyuantang, so I can rest assured, I’ll go to Yunzhou City to see it when I have time!”
Manager Ou also smiled, "Since we want to hire armed guards from the Changfeng Merchant Group, I will bring the agreement tomorrow so you can take a look first!"
"Is it expensive?"
"It may be expensive to others, but to you, it's just a drop of rain!" said Manager Ou.
Zhang Tie laughed loudly and enjoyed the compliment. He found that as long as a man has money, he can gain more respect.
It feels really good to have money!
In the next half hour, Zhang Tie walked around the castle with great interest, looking at the construction progress of the castle, especially staring at the various pipes laid in the castle to connect several steam power units. After looking at it again and again, I finally came to Black Dragon Town with satisfaction, and prepared to go to the island dragon cave to condense Centipede's seventh-level war spirit totem.
The weather today is very good, the sun is shining brightly, and the gift given to Lan Yunxi two days ago was not thrown out of Fengqi Pavilion by Lan Yunxi. This makes Zhang Tie very happy, feeling that life has reached this moment. Love and career are starting to move in a good direction, becoming more and more prosperous. I just visited my own castle again, and Zhang Tie is in a good mood today...
People come and go in Heilong Town. It was more lively than before. Zhang Tie first went to the pharmacy that Yang Yuankang and the others opened in Heilong Town that sold full-effect potions. He found that it had just reached noon and the pharmacy had already closed. There was a sign on the door of the pharmacy. There is a sign hanging - our store has sold out all full potions today and will open at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. The sale is limited to six pieces, and each person can purchase only one piece, so please queue up to buy!
Although the sign was hung up, and the number of full potions that could be sold here tomorrow was clearly stated, there were dozens of people queuing up outside the store. Some people simply waited outside with benches and blankets, chatting while waiting.
Seeing Zhang Tie poking his head at the door of the store, someone in the queue shouted, "Boy, if you want to buy the full potion, go to the back and queue up. I didn't see so many people waiting here..."
"Let me ask. Hasn't it been made clear here that only six full-effect potions will be sold here tomorrow? What's the use of a lot of you queuing up here?" Zhang Tie glanced at the long queue questioningly.
"Ha, if it doesn't work tomorrow, there's still the day after tomorrow. If it doesn't work the day after tomorrow, there's still the day after tomorrow. Anyway, as long as you wait in line for three or five days, it will always be your turn. Here, you can purchase a full-effect potion with eight gold coins each and add it as you like. We can sell one or two gold coins, and we are all ordinary people on the island. If we had to do other things, it would be so easy to make money! You can earn one or two gold coins just by queuing for a few days!" He just called The man in the queue who lives in Zhangtie replied.
"Yes, I heard that this full-effect potion was made by an alchemy master in Qianlong Hall. He just takes some time to prepare a few potions every day, which is enough for us people to earn for a year!" The human said.
Master of elixirs. When did he become a master of elixirs? He was not even a herbal medicine apprentice. Zhang Tie secretly felt a little funny. The information in Qianlong Hall was a little distorted when it was transmitted to the outside.
"Let me ask you again, who do you sell these potions to after you buy them?"
"Of course they are the women who came to the island!" The guys in the queue looked at Zhang Tie like they were idiots, "Don't you know, although the women who came to the island are very powerful, as long as they say Judging from the effect of this full-effect medicine, each of them is no different from the ordinary women at home. They are full of words about how to whiten the skin and rejuvenate it, anti-aging, etc. That day I met a woman. She added three gold coins to a bottle of Manjushahua, and she bought it without batting an eyelid, and she seemed to think it was very cheap!"
"Then why don't you add a few more gold coins!" The people next to him also regretted it.
"I didn't know that girl was so rich..."
Amidst a lot of discussion among the scalpers of the full-effect potion, Zhang Tie left from the door of the store. Women, women again, why do these women look like flies one after another when they hear something that can make them beautiful and young? It was like a rotten egg. It was like this in Lingtianyuan. Unexpectedly, it would be like this after leaving Lingtianyuan. If this continues, the full-effect potion that I made will become a cosmetic only for girls.
The stores opened by Yang Yuankang and others are like this, so it goes without saying that the situation of Ma Aiyun and the others is not much better. I heard that the store Ma Aiyun and the others were looking for in Lanlong Town was not open at all. The potion has been completely digested by the girls in Lingtian Academy. Where else can the medicine flow out
Zhang Tie estimated that this situation would have to wait at least more than a month after the fermentation of the batch of potions he brewed was completed, before the situation would get better.
However, Zhang Tie was happy to see the success and was secretly proud when he thought that the things he made were so popular with girls. This would give him another reason to get close to Lan Yunxi in the future.
After leaving the pharmacy here, Zhang Tie casually walked around Black Dragon Town. With his mental power and perception that were far beyond ordinary people, he immediately discovered an abnormality.
Zhang Tie felt that he was being followed...