In the second month of summer, which is Midsummer's Day, Margery arrived as promised.
This time, the ships brought by the business group far exceeded the upper limit of the wharf, and many sailboats could only be docked by the river, waiting for the previous ship to unload the goods before connecting to the trestle.
This made Roland realize that the town pier must be expanded.
Graycastle Industries finally successfully completed its task this month, reducing the scrap rate of parts to 40%, and successfully produced three steam engines before the delivery date. Although compared with the third-generation steam engine currently in use in the town, the foreign trade products produced by the factory are far worse in terms of power, air leakage, noise, vibration, etc., but compared with the first-generation steam engine, it is already a long way. progress.
The Crescent Moon Bay caravan brought a team of 300 craftsmen according to the contract. Roland placed them all in the industrial park on the south bank of the Chishui River. In addition to building a new wooden factory next to the original factory, he also ordered Carl to be close to the park. A staff dormitory was built on the bank of the river. In order for the facility to be completed within a month, the huge logs were transported to the site, and Carl was in charge of technical direction and Anna cut them. The original wood processing process, which took the longest, took only two days to complete, but Carl, Anna's former teacher, was stunned by her new ability. In just half a year, this thin and quiet girl has Become confident and high-spirited.
Roland held a sumptuous dinner in the castle to welcome the merchants.
At the same time, Baijiu also appeared in the public eye for the first time.
"Every time I come to you there is something new, and Margaery didn't lie to me," Hogg shouted, "even the wine is so different, compared to this... this..."
"Baijiu," Margery reminded.
"Yes, white wine! Compared to it, ale and wine are simply tasteless." He grinned and drank the wine in his glass. "Your Highness, you must sell me a few cases of this."
"I think it tastes too hot, and fruit wine is more suitable for me," the businesswoman smiled and shook her head.
Roland smiled, "It's about taste. Not everyone can accept high-concentration distilled alcohol. I didn't plan to promote it, but I just happened to make some for everyone to try."
In the era when brewing wine was still the mainstream, distilled wine was obviously a new star with great potential for development. For example, liquor, rum, whisky and vodka of later generations were all distilled wines with higher alcohol content, and above these distilled wines , and correspondingly extended a series of bartending culture. However, for the current border town, it is still too early to develop this industry.
"His Royal Highness, I have sent someone to collect a lot of information about the last time you wrote to me," Margery said, "After Yongdong was controlled by the church, not much has changed, but the Wolfheart Kingdom's The resistance is much stronger. It is said that all the church troops gathered in Broken Tooth Castle and could not move forward for more than two months. In addition, King Dawn sent a messenger to Graycastle, believing that the church's move was not to destroy witches at all, but to occupy it. The mainland kingdom. He called on the two countries to form an alliance, expel the power of the church, and jointly fight against the holy city of Hermes."
"How did Wang Du respond?" Roland asked.
"The former Prime Minister, the Marquis of Wick, rejected this proposal and scolded the other party for nonsense." Garmore shrugged, "This matter has caused uproar in the capital, and even the nobles have not reached a consensus. As far as I know, Many people support the alliance, after all, the Church has no sign of returning the ruling power to the successor of Eternal Winter."
"Tifeko didn't show up?"
"The Prime Minister's answer must be at the behest of Tifeko. He has already rushed to the east with his army," Marlan said with a solemn expression, "I heard that a huge fleet has landed in Haifeng County. The eastern coastline was looted, not even the church was spared, and many fjord merchants also suffered."
"A large number of refugees have appeared in the east, and Hogg and I have taken in quite a few," Margery added, "They said that these looters not only robbed money, but also let people let go of things they couldn't take with them. Burning them all down is like turning the entire Eastern Territory into a piece of white land. This is definitely a heavy blow to Tifeko, who has just conquered the nobles of the Eastern Territory."
It should have been a happy thing that Tifeko was attacked, but when he heard that the other party was looting the population, Roland felt a pain in his heart, "Those escapees..."
"Are you interested?" Margery smiled lightly. "When I saw that letter, I was guessing that you might want to buy a large number of slaves to supplement the labor force in your territory. But compared to the foreign refugees from Eternal Winter and Wolfheart, These Greycastle people may not be willing to sell themselves as slaves."
"I don't need to use them as slaves. As long as these people are willing to settle in Border Town, they will have food and housing, and they can also get paid for their work." Roland corrected, he also realized that this was a good opportunity to expand the number of people. Although the news came with a slight delay, "How many more do they have?"
"Most of the able-bodied refugees have been taken in by nobles and caravans. There are still nearly 10,000 people gathered outside the capital city, but there are more young people and women."
"It doesn't matter, I will send someone to screen and lead the way," the prince said, "Do I need to deal with the officials of the capital to take them away?"
"No," Margery waved her hand, "they want you to take this group of people away, otherwise the relief food will not be enough, and if their number continues to increase, it is likely to cause a riot of refugees."
…
After the dinner, Roland went back to the office and called the personal guard Thassa.
This incident made him realize that his intelligence system was very backward. If he could know about the fleeing incident as soon as possible, he could make preparations earlier and bring more people to Border Town. At present, all his knowledge of the outside world comes from the caravan, and the transmission speed once a month simply cannot meet the demand.
Even if an army is stationed in Changsong Fortress and an outpost is established, they can only monitor the western border. If you want to compete for the throne of Greycastle, you must expand your gaze to the whole country, or even the entire continent.
Roland didn't have so many loyal and dedicated staff to form a complete intelligence team, let alone spies and spies lurking in various places. So he planned to start with the basics and arrange for some people to go to the capital to collect the information gathered from various places. Not to mention detailed monitoring, at least you can quickly understand the changes in the overall situation, and you will not be passive like today.
Thassa, who is very familiar with the black street forces in the capital, is the best candidate for the prince.
"You asked me to return to the capital with the caravan?" Thassa was stunned.
"Yes, you have two tasks. The first is to accommodate refugees from the east for me. I will send a team of about 100 soldiers to escort me. I will tell you the detailed screening conditions before the caravan leaves. "
"Yes!"
"Second point, after the refugee tide is over, you stay in the capital and collect information from all over the world for me. You have dealt with underground rats before, you should know what to do, and Margery's caravan will do its best. Support you, ask them directly for the cost of the task. Unlike the previous trip to Chishui City to spread the news of witches, this time there is no upper limit." He put a revolver on the table, "Be careful to protect yourself, I hope I can hear your good news soon."
… (.)