After a field visit to the North Slope Mine and two consecutive days of negotiations, Roland reached a new trade contract with Hogg and the Crescent Moon Bay Caravan.
Hogg's eyes almost popped out of his eyes when he saw the orbiting ore system that was running so fast. He even put forward an application to invest money to build a factory in the border town, specializing in the construction of mine tracks and supporting equipment, and the profits were divided into half, but Roland rejected it - attracting investment is something that can only be done when there are many people, and the town is currently lacking It's people, not money.
After all, Hogg is just a mining businessman. Although he owns several mines and manages an open-pit silver mine for the Earl of Kerbala in Silver Light City, the only miners he can take out are miners. The strength is much worse. In the end, the contract he signed was to order ten steam engines after half a year, as well as a complete set of mine transportation system (including rails and mine carts), half of which would be delivered before the month of the demon, and the rest would be made up in the coming year.
The Crescent Moon Bay caravan was much more vocal, and Gamore directly signed a ten-year contract. When the caravan came next, he would bring a team of three hundred people, mainly composed of blacksmiths and carpenters. The remuneration for these people is paid by Crescent Moon Bay, and Roland only needs to provide accommodation and food. The steam engine they produced in ten years was given priority to sell to Crescent Moon Bay, and they voluntarily decided to stay after ten years—this was only negotiated by Roland after repeated negotiations.
There is no doubt that there will be caravan confidants in this group of people. Even after adding this one, the other party will definitely choose people who are loyal to Crescent Moon Bay as much as possible. At that time, half of the people who decide to stay will not know. But for Roland, skilled workers are always not enough, leaving 10% is earned. His worry was never about technological superiority, but about no one coming to turn his technology into an actual product.
In addition to the steam engine, the second big order came from ship renovation.
Along with the three hundred craftsmen, they also brought two inland sailing boats. The Crescent Moon Bay Caravan hoped that Border Town would convert them into steam-powered paddle steamers. The cost of transforming a single boat would be as high as 1,800 golden dragons. Directly surpassed Margery's steam engine order. In contrast, although the mug received three orders, the total amount was less than 300 golden dragons—this was even when Roland raised the price ten times that of the convenience store. This made him sigh with emotion about the profit gap between industrial products and civilian products. If mass production is not possible, civilian products should simply meet the needs of town residents.
To the prince's surprise, the iron breastplates and iron farm implements were left out. Later, during dinner, Margery answered his doubts, "Although your breastplates are indeed cheaper, the output is too small. If you resell each piece, after deducting transportation costs and taxes, there may only be a profit of five or six golden dragons. Also, your armor is forged by a hydraulic hammer, right? Or it is a steam engine... Anyway, the price of this armor is very fixed, and the price is more expensive in the quality of the iron, not in the labor. She paused. "It's even more unnecessary to buy it for yourself. Marine merchants, whether they are guards or sailors, rarely wear heavy iron armor, which will make them sink to the bottom quickly when they fall into the water. Most of the time, armor is very difficult for them. shackles, not protection."
“The same is true for farm tools, if you can’t get a lot of cheap iron, it won’t be much cheaper, and it’s hard to get any advantage over the local equivalent. Unlike those colorful cups, the price is completely uncertain, touch If you go to a noble you like, maybe you can earn several times."
"So it is." Roland thought for a while and found that it was indeed the case... For commodities with stable prices such as armor and farm tools, it is difficult to reduce the price too much when the material cost is the largest - he is cheap because the steam engine forging ratio is cheaper. Water hammer is more efficient, but unfortunately this difference is not enough to arouse the interest of big businessmen.
Moreover, the white plate armor and Soraya's stab-proof paint are also part of the first army's refitting. Before the production of iron has not increased, mass sales are impossible.
…
The much-anticipated theatrical debut day is coming soon.
In the afternoon, the townspeople surrounded the central plaza, and this was after Roland demolished the surrounding old buildings and doubled the area of the plaza.
In order to play a publicity role, Roland started to issue an announcement a week in advance to notify the residents, and also ordered the Ministry of Agriculture to send people to the outer residential areas of the town to mobilize the serfs to watch the play.
As the lord, Roland obviously has the best viewing position. In the direction facing the performance stage, Carl set up a temporary wooden platform with three rows of wooden platforms, which could accommodate about a hundred people, and Roland sat in the middle of the third floor. On one side of him is the Witch League, next to him is Anna, on the other is the Merchant Corps, and the closest is Margaery.
The first and second floors are mostly city hall officials and apprentices.
In order to ensure safety, the people around the wooden platform are soldiers of the First Army, who isolated the prince's position from the civilians while watching the play.
At this time, it was about four o'clock in the afternoon, the heat of the sun had faded, and Wendy's cool breeze from time to time made everyone on the stage enjoy VI-like treatment.
Amid the applause of the crowd, the actors stepped onto the stage one by one.
To be honest, Roland had no idea what the final result of this premiere would be. After handing over the script to Irene, he didn't care about it, whether it was recruiting or rehearsing, it was all up to her and her. Filin is busy. Looking back now, how much experience does a newcomer to the theater have only one appearance on stage? Moreover, the friends she found were probably all the actors who went to the town because they couldn't get a chance to perform in the fortress theater.
In other words, this is a new play directed, choreographed and executed entirely by a new team.
Fortunately, Roland doesn't mind failure, and this drama is not for ticket revenue, nor is it to promote how good the script is. This is an enlightenment of thought reformation, and it is performed more than once. It didn't work well this time, but it's okay to make progress next time.
"I know why you are so confident in this performance," Margery exclaimed suddenly, "You actually invited Miss May!"
Roland was startled, "Who?"
"Mayy, don't tell me you don't know about this! Oh my God, I watched her performance in Wangdu before I came here," Margery smacked her lips, "whether it's her grasp of the role or her feelings. She is top-notch in building. "The Prince's Quest" has earned countless tears, and even Kajin Feith is full of praise for her!"
"Who is Kajin Feith?" Roland flipped through his memory and found that he had no memory of the name at all.
"...Your Highness, are you really from the Royal Capital?" Margery blinked, "I would take the liberty to ask, who is the person you are most familiar with in the Royal Capital? Except in the palace."
""Magic Hand" Yorko," Roland blurted out, and immediately realized that something was wrong.
"Oh," the businesswoman gave him a meaningful look, "the most famous playboy, I heard that with just one pair of hands, a woman can never forget him... I see."
"Only by hand?" Anna tilted her head, "Why?"
"No... It's nothing." Roland raised his forehead and said, "Let's watch the show seriously."