After the caravan left, Roland let out a long breath.
Finally... the vault is full again.
A total of eight steam engines were delivered to the three chambers of commerce, three of which were produced in the No. 2 factory assisted by the Crescent Moon Bay Chamber of Commerce. It has to be said that these craftsmen from the fjord are far superior to the miners in the small town in terms of talent and learning ability. And the blacksmith, after mastering the operation of the machine tool, the qualified rate of finished products has skyrocketed. Maybe in two months, the production capacity of the second factory will catch up with the first factory. Fortunately, according to the signed contract, the sales revenue of these machines belongs to Roland.
In addition, he also got a new hydrogen balloon purchase order from the Crescent Moon Bay Caravan. Marlan is very interested in this kind of thing that can greatly expand his vision. In addition to the single-person reconnaissance balloon, he also specially customized a A giant balloon that can carry three to four people and is intended for exploration of new islands in the fjords.
In addition to the delivery of the first paddle steamer, the three brought a total of nearly 7,000 golden dragons to Border Town. After deducting the cost of purchasing metal ingots, washing stones and grains, the remaining 6,000 golden dragons are enough to support started his population expansion plan.
Roland called Barov and Iron Axe into the office.
"Now that I have spare money, it's time to go to other places to recruit more people." He looked at the two capable generals, "This time the city hall and the First Army will cooperate to execute the operation. You decide the specific personnel, I will only explain. About the content of the task."
"Please speak." The chief nodded.
"Recruitment is divided into two directions, north and south." Roland took out a map from the table and spread it out in front of the two of them, "Especially the line from Eagle City to Clear Water Port... I suspect that Tifeko has regarded these people as Being a part of Garcia's forces is a useless population that can be spent at will, so you have to win them over first."
"The team sent by the city hall is responsible for recruiting nobles, craftsmen and other literate people. The main task of the First Army is to recruit civilians. Unlike the previous propaganda, it should be more proactive this time. Do you understand what I mean?"
Iron Axe hesitated for a moment, "You mean... forced pull?"
"Ahem, there's no need to do that step," Roland coughed twice, the sand people's style was really simple and rude, "such as handing out food, actively persuading, paying living expenses in advance, etc." He glanced at Barov, " You should know this very well."
"Of course, Your Highness, I have assisted ministers and patrols many times when I was in the capital to suppress and appease the refugee riots," the latter said, stroking his beard, "their request is very simple, sometimes it's just to fill their stomachs, Therefore, there is no need to use coins to win over, or even mention that if the salary conditions are too good, they will have suspicions. A piece of steamed bun has traveled thousands of miles with us, and only then do we need to lure us with money and promises."
Roland clapped his palm twice with satisfaction, "It's a pity that Border Town has a lot of business, you can't go there in person, otherwise this task will be successfully completed."
"Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will send the most proud disciples there." Barov smiled, "It would be good to wait until the city is built next year, and there will be houses on both sides of the Chishui River."
"There will be such a day."
After the two retreated, Roland leaned back in the chair to rest for a while, and decided to go to the backyard of the North Slope to see Anna.
As soon as you enter the door, the first thing that catches your eye is the metal squares all over the floor.
Roland picked up a piece and placed it in the palm of his hand. They were basically the same size, about five centimeters long and wide. The surface was uneven, as if it had been squeezed by something. For example, the piece in his hand is engraved with the number 256.
"Well, is there a better discovery?"
"No. 1057 and No. 2284, one is extremely hard, and the other is excellent in hardness and toughness." Anna greeted them and said, with a bright smile on her face.
"It's more than 2,000 numbers?" Roland was surprised. He took the notebook handed over by Lucia, which was densely filled with data. Find the line 2284. After the number is found, the carbon content is 0.8%, and the fourth unknown element is 15.2%.
"Well, this is much more interesting than cutting the barrel of a gun," Anna blinked. "Mixing other metals into the iron block can actually change its properties drastically. I really want to know how these metal balls are. combined."
The exploration that Anna and Lucia are currently doing is a far-reaching work.
Roland first asked the little girl to decompose the ore into a variety of raw materials, and then Anna mixed them with pure iron according to different mass ratios and smelted them. Calculate the amount of magic power consumed by each operation to judge its strength and toughness.
The first addition is obviously carbon.
Although Roland knows that steel is essentially an iron-carbon alloy: it is pig iron with more carbon, and pure iron without carbon. Only when the carbon content is within a certain range can it be called steel, and even the slightest fluctuation can greatly change the properties of the metal. The first thing to measure is the size of this range.
From the records, it can be seen that before No. 1500, it was pure iron and carbon smelting, and after No. 1500, new elements were added on the basis of steel. Roland knew that for every additional number in the permutation and combination, the possible results would increase exponentially. This was an extremely long process, so he only asked Anna to explore this part of the content when the manufacturing task was not heavy.
He encouraged the two witches and sat aside, quietly admiring Anna's busy back.
Although the sun was still bright after the fall, it was no longer as hot as the summer season. He felt warm all over his body, and a long-lost sense of stability welled up in his heart.
After a while, the courtyard gradually became quiet. He suddenly felt a soft hand on his forehead, opened his half-squinted eyes, Lucia had disappeared, and Anna was sitting in front of him, "You have something to tell me."
"… "
"Your eyes told me," she tilted her head, her hair hanging down naturally like strands of translucent gold.
Roland hesitated for a while, and finally shook his head helplessly, "I'm just a little confused." He explained the population expansion plan to the other party in general, "Compared to the original free choice, now in order to seize the time, I have used some It is a method of half seduction and half coercion. Although this is to prevent them from being forcibly recruited by Tifeko, and finally die from the erosion of pills, but seriously, what I did is not too far from him... The only one The difference is only in purpose."
"Doesn't the purpose explain everything?" she asked softly.
"But… "
"I know what you want to say," Anna covered the prince's mouth, "you are worried that they will not appreciate it, and at the same time you can't guarantee that the purpose in the future will always be right, and people will be misunderstood by using the wrong means to achieve the right purpose. , or the right means made irreparable mistakes... You don't know whether the right means is important, or the right result. Am I right?"
"Don't worry," before he could answer, Anna had already moved closer, cupped Roland's cheeks with both hands, and whispered in his ear, "I'm here... I'll take good care of you." (.,, Your support is my greatest motivation.)