Lorist felt that the wall in front of him was completely different from the wall he had captured. The city wall that I captured was no more than four meters high, and it was made of piles of chaotic stones. The city wall in front of him was seven meters high, and it was a double wall, and the inner wall was at least ten meters high. Even the surface of the city wall is covered with green clay, which is smooth and flat.
After going up to the city wall, Lorist realized that the city wall more than ten meters high he thought was just a row of houses built on the city wall, but the roofs were changed into a sawtooth pattern of the city wall and connected with the city wall. Some of these houses house ordnance, some are the dormitories of the guards, and there is a torn apart siege crossbow in front of a house, which should be the one shot down by Josk's arrow.
Josk had already been waiting on the city wall, and saw Lorist rushing over to greet him.
Lorist said annoyedly: "You are lucky this time, all you encountered were mercenaries who were greedy for life and fear of death. If the guards guarding the city wall were regular garrison troops, you wouldn't be so cheap to take it without hurting anyone." Get off this wall."
Josk smiled and said, "My lord said..."
"Also, don't pretend you didn't hear me from now on, it makes me lose face..." Lorist continued to complain.
Josk laughed.
"By the way, what important things did you find?" Lorist finally remembered his original intention of coming here.
Josk pointed to the front: "It's in the front room, you'll know it after you go and see, my lord."
What Josk was referring to was that there were five large houses in the middle of the city wall that were two meters higher than the sides, and there were several guards standing outside the houses, guarding several prisoners.
The middle one of the five houses is the largest, about six meters long and three meters wide, the same as the houses on the city wall. After entering the door, Lorist saw a large row of wooden and copper gears and a big wheel filling the opposite wall.
"Is this a device for raising and lowering the iron fence?" Lorist asked.
Generally, a relatively large city or some wealthy lords will install a thick and strong iron fence in the opening of the city gate. It will be raised up in normal times, and it will be lowered in wartime after the enemy attacks the city and destroys the city gate to form a new defensive barrier.
Josk nodded.
"Day, is that Viscount Kenmes showing off that he is rich? To spend such a high price to build such a luxurious defensive city wall in this place where no birds can lay eggs, if you want to seal off the Norton family's traffic route to the outside world, what is the price?" It's too big, what exactly does he want to do?"
"My lord, if you turn around, the answer is on your right," Josk said.
Lorist turned around, and on the right was a small suite with large and small maps hanging on the walls of the suite, and a large table in the middle with a large sand table and several castle models on it.
On the big sand table, it is clear at a glance that a mountain city surrounded by mountains and rivers is surrounded by a piece of farmland. Not far from the mountain city is a mine, and next to the mine is a large area of workshops. At the end of the mountain where the mountain city is located is a heavily guarded military castle.
"This sand table is well made, where is this mountain city?" Lorist said.
Josk shook his head: "My lord, I don't know. What I showed you was not the sand table, but the castle model next to it. I think there should be a castle being built here."
Next to the big sand table is a castle model that has not yet been completed and assembled, but the two walls, one long and one short, one in front of the other, quickly let Lorist understand that he is now standing on the long wall in front of the model .
"Oh, this Viscount Kenmes has really invested a lot of money..." Lorist stomped his feet: "Look, the floor and the outside of the city walls are all covered with green clay. It is really necessary to build such a castle." , The green clay alone will cost at least tens of thousands of Jinford. By the way, where did the beard go?"
Green clay is the preferred building material for building palaces and castles in Galintia, and its effect is similar to the cement in Lorist's previous life. The ingredients are also very similar, all are lime, and the clay is roasted into ash and then mixed with fine sand. The difference is that cement is cheap, and green clay is expensive. The cement is mixed with water, while the green clay is mixed with a glue.
Lorist's attendant, Reddy, is from the Roman Empire. There is a famous mountainous area there, which is forbidden by the Roman Empire. Anyone who trespasses will die. Because this mountainous area is the famous rubber vine producing area in the mainland. It is said that the gum vine was not originally a plant of Galintia, but was transplanted by magicians from a subplane world thousands of years ago. These gum vines like dampness and are as thick as a large wine barrel. If you cut a saliva on the surface, a light blue juice will flow out.
This light blue juice looks like clear water, but as long as it is heated, it will become very viscous, and it will be extremely hard after solidification. People use the juice of this gum vine, add ten times the amount of water, heat it, and then stir it with lime clay spun yarn, and it becomes green clay. This is the best bonding material for Gallinthian construction, and it is also the most expensive. A bucket of 100 catties of gum cane juice needs a Goldford. As for the Romon Empire, the annual sale of gum vine juice can earn hundreds of thousands to millions of Goldfords.
In Galintia, people who have no money buy a piece of earth dragon sebum and turn it into a bonding material to build a house. Although it is strong, the house has a faint muddy smell, which is easy to attract mosquitoes. It needs to be sprayed with lime water and insect repellents every once in a while. . The second is to use a kind of black glutinous rice, boil it into gruel and then mix it with clay lime spun yarn, which is also a good building bonding material. It's just that buildings made of this bonding material are prone to mildew during the rainy season and require frequent cleaning.
The best construction bonding material is green cement, which is as solid as a rock after solidification, and has a delicate fragrance that can repel insects and ants. Lorist has been in Morente City for a long time, which is a big consumer of glue vine juice, so he is no stranger to green glue. This is also admirable to the Viscount Kenmes for using green clay to build the castle in the Northland.
"My lord, Ovekis took half of the bodyguards out to arrest people," Josk said.
"Arrests?"
"Well, it was the slave laborers who built the city wall. The mercenary leader who surrendered said that the materials for making the green clay were not available during this period, so the steward in charge of building the castle asked nearly a thousand slave laborers to collect lime, dig clay and wash The sand is gone. Ovekis led people to capture these slave laborers." Jost explained.
It was only then that Lorist realized that when he came here, he did not see the laborers who built the city, and they all went out to collect building materials.
"Those captives outside are mercenaries? Call the leader in and ask him something." Lorist said.
The mercenary leader who surrendered was quickly brought before Lorist.
What Lorist wanted to ask was about the Norton family.
The mercenary leader thought for a while and replied: "My lord, I have been hired by Lord Kenmes for less than two months. But I heard that about half a year ago, Lord Kenmes sent troops to occupy the mine, and then went to attack Dozens of people died in the Norton family's manor castle, and the confrontation ended without success for more than half a month. Then the viscount began to build the city wall here. When I was hired here, the city wall had just been built. For more than a month, I haven't seen anyone from the Norton family, and I haven't encountered any spies from the Norton family when I sent out to patrol. However, when I delivered supplies to the mine, I heard from the mercenaries guarding there that several More than a month ago, after Lord Viscount retreated, he saw the Norton family, and they left when they found the mine was occupied, and they haven’t heard any news about the Norton family since then.”
"Then those who were in charge of the copper mine in the Norton family, do you know their whereabouts?" Lorist asked.
The mercenary leader shook his head: "I'm not sure about this, but I think they were all thrown into the mine by the Viscount to mine. Last month, more than 1,000 catties of copper ingots were transported over there, so I put them in storage. In the warehouse here."
At this time, there was noise outside, and a guard came in to report that the bearded Ovekis had returned with the slave labor.
Lorist and Josk went up to the city wall on the roof and saw a long snake-like labor team coming towards the city gate in the distance. Next to the team, the guards riding on tall horses and showing off their might, the bearded Ovekis walked in the front. .
It took more than half a day to settle nearly a thousand slave laborers, which also benefited from the fact that these laborers had been slaves for a long time and were more obedient, and their original camps were still there when the city wall was built before.
Lorist called Josk, Sodkamp, Pat, Reddy, and Ovekis to discuss what to do next.
Sedkamp and Pat shouted when they saw the big sand table when they came over. This is the family's territory, and it is the terrain of the Morgan Hills.
"Your Excellency, look, that mine is our copper mine, and here..." Sedkamp pointed to the barracks castle in the lower corner of the sand table and said, "The location of this castle is where we are now. But there is no such thing here. In the mountain city, there is no such a large area of farmland, it should be all forests, and there is no such river... "
Hearing what Soderkamp said, Lorist became interested, and ordered the bearded Ovekis to bring up the captured master builder and chief steward who were in charge of building the castle.
The so-called master builder was a middle-aged man in his forties. He bluntly admitted that the castle model was written by him, but he refused to answer some questions about the details of the castle raised by Lorist, and angrily accused Lorist of taking advantage of others. The despicable act of sneak attacking and occupying his castle site requires Lorist to apologize immediately and leave here, otherwise Lorist will bear all the consequences.
Lorist and everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, wondering if the master builder was mentally ill. In the end, Lorist was amused by the middle-aged man's nagging accusations: "You ran to my yard to build a house for yourself, and I, as the master, came out to stop me, didn't I? Come on, put him Tie it to the flagpole outside and give me fifty lashes to wake him up."
Next came the steward. Sudkamp and Pat recognized this old man with a goatee. He was the chief steward of Viscount Kenmes, named Boris. I met him a few times in the past when discussing the copper mine dispute, but I didn't expect to be appointed by the viscount as the chief steward of the castle.
This Boris with a goatee is a coward. With the screams of the master builder outside being whipped, he stood there trembling and answered every question. Soon, he confessed clearly about the sand table, the reason why Viscount Kenmes built the castle here, and the viscount's family background.
Viscount Kenmes was born in a merchant family, and his father was the chairman of the largest construction chamber in the former Krissen Empire. During the civil war, his father took refuge in the second prince, donated money and goods, and became one of the second prince's pockets. After the establishment of the Kingdom of Iberia, Kenmes' father and the second prince negotiated, and at the price of 200,000 goldfords, the Viscount Kenmes became a territorial nobleman and obtained the territory in the Northland.
With the territory, the Kenmes family invested a lot of development funds and established a manor castle and immigrant towns in the Red River Valley of the territory. As the former chairman of the largest construction chamber in the empire, Viscount Kenmes' father had very keen eyesight. He believed that the Northland would have a long period of chaos due to the ambition of Grand Duke Lukins and the enfeoffment of the nobles of the new territory. Although the Kenmes family has a territory in the Northland, the Red River Valley Manor Castle in the territory has no danger to rely on, and it is easy to fall when attacked. So the Kenmes family sent a large number of surveyors to conduct a large-scale survey of the territory and surrounding areas, and finally found that the Morgan hills in the Norton family's territory connected to the Kenmes Viscounty was the place to build a castle and lay the foundations for the land. The best choice for the century-old foundation of the Kenmes family. In order to win the Morgan Hills, the Kenmes family bought the officials in charge of enfeoffment and demarcation, and assigned the location of the Norton family's copper mine to the territory of the Viscount Kenmes. This provoked a dispute with the Norton family, intending to seize the Morgan Hills and build a castle while the Norton family was in trouble.
Boris with a long goatee said that although the castle model has not been assembled, all the design drafts and renderings are ready and placed under the table. After the castle is completed, it will be able to accommodate 10,000 people. The Kenmes family will move here as the base of their family. As long as there is a garrison of 3,000 people, even ten times as many enemies will not be able to capture this castle.
As for the mountain city on the sand table, it is a town that the Kenmes family plans to build after building the castle here. It can accommodate a population of 50,000 to 60,000. It mainly develops resources such as copper mines, lumber yards, and quarries. After the forest next to the town is cut down in the future, the land will be leveled and connected with the wilderness for reclamation. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland will be obtained. At that time, farms will be set up and irrigation facilities will be constructed. Even if the North Land is cultivated once a year, it will be enough to ensure the supply of food.
In order to realize this grand development blueprint, the Kenmes family plans to invest 300,000 goldfords and spend five years laying a century-old foundation for the family. It's just that they didn't expect Lorist to show up less than four months after the plan started.
"Do you know how the Kenmes family plans to deal with the Norton family?" Lorist asked.
Butler Boris said: "The master and the young master once discussed that they are not going to destroy the Norton family, because the Norton family is at the front, which can be used to attract the attention of the mountain barbarians. The family can then develop in a safe and secure manner." If necessary, the master is also ready to give some support to the Norton family, so that the Norton family can resist the invasion of the mountain barbarians. The master also said that he appreciates the force of the Norton family, and may be able to make the Norton family a vassal of Kenmes in the future .”
"Why did you send troops to attack the Norton family's manor castle six months ago?"
"That's because the young master heard that Baron Norton, the head of the Norton family, had passed away for half a year, so he sent someone to discuss with the Norton family, whether it is possible to sell the Morgan Hills to the Kenmes family, so that the relationship between the two families can be ended. Disputes. But the envoys sent by the young master were insulted by the Norton family. They tore up the letter from the young master, saying that they would not sell an inch of the Norton family's territory. Let our young master not think about it and drive the messenger back. So the young master In anger, he sent troops to attack Norton's family castle, but he failed to take it down. That's why the young master decided to implement the plan immediately, and by the way, he could trap the Norton family in the north, and when they couldn't bear it, they would naturally beg the young master for mercy." Goat replied Boris the Bearded.
"By the way, what happened to that master builder?" Lorist thought of that middle-aged man with a sick mind.
"My lord, Master Siropa is the most famous architectural art master in the Kingdom of Iberia! In the past two years, he presided over the design and construction of the Rose Palace for the second prince, which won unanimous praise and was praised as a genius art master who built miracles." , is highly valued by the second prince. This time, the master spent a lot of money to invite the Master Siluoba to come here to design the castle and town for the young master. Now that the design draft has been completed, he will leave here and return to the king after the model is finished. All. Uh, this Master Siropa is rather arrogant. In the capital, he doesn’t even pay attention to those dukes and marquises who walk in the palace. If the adults treat him like this, and beat him with a leather whip, it will cause trouble. It's a big disturbance." Boris said very tactfully.
"Hehe..." Lorist laughed. That master builder was really mentally ill. He didn't pay much attention to those dukes and marquises walking in the court, because they were all nobles with honorary titles and had no strength. To be so arrogant and rude in front of the nobles of this territory is purely asking for trouble.