After the caravan left, Roland breathed a long sigh of relief.
Finally … the treasury was full again.
A total of eight steam engines were delivered to the three Chambers of Commerce, three of which were produced by the Crescent Moon Bay Chamber of Commerce's No. 2 Factory. It had to be said that these craftsmen from the Fjords, whether it was talent or learning ability, were far better than the miners and blacksmiths of Border Town. After mastering the operation of the machine, the quality of the finished products rose sharply. Maybe in another two months, the production capacity of the No. 2 Factory could catch up with that of the No. 1 Factory. Fortunately, according to the signed contract, the revenue from the sale of these machines belonged to Roland.
In addition, he also received a purchase order for a new hydrogen balloon from the Crescent Moon Bay Caravan. Marleen was very interested in this kind of thing that could greatly expand one's field of vision. In addition to a single reconnaissance balloon, he also specially ordered a giant balloon that could carry three or four people, intending to use it to explore the new islands in the Fjords.
In addition to the delivery of the first paddle steamer, the three of them brought Border Town nearly seven thousand Golden Dragons. After deducting the cost of purchasing metal ingots, washing stones, food and other commodities, the remaining six thousand Golden Dragons were enough to support his population expansion plan.
Roland called Barov and Iron Axe into his office.
"Now that we have extra money, it's time to go out and recruit more people." He looked at the two capable men, "This operation will be carried out by the cooperation of City hall and the First Army. You can decide the specific personnel, I will only explain the general content of the task."
"Please say it." The director nodded.
"The recruitment will be divided into two directions, the North and the South."Roland pulled out a map from the table and spread it in front of the two men, "Especially the line from Eagle City to the Port of Clearwater … I suspect that Timothy has already regarded these people as part of Garcia's forces. They are useless people who can be used at will, so you have to be the first to win them over."
"The team sent by City hall is responsible for recruiting nobles, craftsmen and other literate people, while the First Army's main task is to recruit civilians. Unlike the previous propaganda, this time we should be more proactive, do you understand what I mean?"
Iron Axe hesitated, "You mean … by force?"
"Ahem, there's no need to go that far." Roland coughed twice. The Sand Nation's style was indeed simple and crude. "For example, distributing food, actively persuading, paying living expenses in advance, and so on." He glanced at Barov. "You should be very clear about this."
"Of course, Your Highness. When I was in the capital, I helped the ministers and patrols many times to suppress and pacify refugee riots." The latter stroked his beard and said, "Their requirements are very simple. Sometimes, they just want to fill their stomachs. So, there's no need to use money to win them over. Don't even mention that the salary is too generous. The fallen nobles, on the other hand, are much more troublesome. Although they are short of money and no longer have their glory days, they are experienced and knowledgeable, and have high demands. They won't travel thousands of miles with us for a piece of steamed bun. That's why we need to lure them with money and promises. "
Roland clapped his hands twice in satisfaction. "Unfortunately, there are many things to do in Border Town, so you can't go in person. Otherwise, this task would have been successfully completed."
"Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will send my best disciple." Barov laughed, "When the city is built next year, both sides of the Redwater River will be filled with people."
"There will be such a day."
After the two left, Roland leaned against the back of his chair and rested for a moment. He decided to go to the North Slope's backyard to see Anna.
As soon as he entered the door, the first thing he saw was a floor full of metal cubes.
Roland picked one up and placed it in the palm of his hand. They were basically the same size, about five centimeters long and wide. The surface was not smooth, as if it had been squeezed by something. One side was also engraved with a number. For example, the one in his hand was engraved with the number 256.
"How is it, did you find anything good?"
"No. 1057 and No. 2284, one is particularly hard, and the other is very good in both hardness and toughness." Anna greeted him and said, her face brimming with a bright and beautiful smile.
"You've already reached more than two thousand?" Roland said in surprise. He took the record book from Lucia, which was densely filled with data. After finding the number 2284, he found that the carbon content was 0.8%, and the fourth unknown element was 15.2%.
"Well, this is much more interesting than sharpening the gun barrel," Anna blinked her eyes, "Adding other metals into the iron can unexpectedly make its properties change dramatically, I really want to know how these metal balls are combined together."
The exploration that Anna and Lucia were currently doing was a far-reaching work.
Roland first let the little girl decompose the ore into a variety of raw materials, and then let Anna mix them with pure iron according to different mass ratios and smelt them. After making them into a test block, their properties were tested. Through the squeezing and stretching of the black fire, Anna was able to distinguish the amount of magic consumed in each operation, thereby judging its strength and toughness.
The first to add was obviously carbon.
Although Roland knew that the essence of steel was a kind of iron-carbon alloy: with too much carbon it would be pig iron, without carbon it would be pure iron. Only when the carbon content was within a certain range could it be called steel, and even the slightest fluctuation could greatly change the properties of the metal, so the first thing to be measured was the size of this range.
From the records, it could be seen that before 1500, it was simply iron and carbon smelting, but after 1500, it began to add new elements to the foundation of steel. Roland clearly knew that with every additional number in the permutation, the possible results would increase exponentially, this was an extremely long process, so he only let Anna explore this part of the content when the manufacturing task wasn't too heavy.
He gave the two witches a few words of encouragement, then sat to the side, quietly admiring the busy figure of Anna.
Although the autumn sun was still bright, it was no longer as vicious as it was in the middle of summer. He felt warm all over, and a long-lost sense of stability welled up in his heart.
After an unknown amount of time, the courtyard gradually quieted down. He suddenly felt a soft hand placed in front of his forehead, and when he opened his half-closed eyes, Lucia had already disappeared, and Anna was sitting in front of him, "You have something to say to me."
"…"
"Your eyes told me," she said, tilting her head, the ends of her hair hanging down naturally, like strands of translucent golden silk.
Roland hesitated for a moment, and finally shook his head helplessly, "I'm just a little confused, that's all." He roughly explained the population expansion plan to the other side, "Compared to the initial free choice, now in order to seize the time, we have already used some half-tempting, half-coercive means. Although this is to prevent them from being forcibly recruited by Timothy, and finally dying from the erosion of the pills, when I think about it seriously, what I'm doing isn't too far from what he's doing … The only difference is the purpose. "
"The purpose still doesn't explain everything?" she asked softly.
"But …"
"I know what you want to say," Anna covered the Prince's mouth, "You're worried that they won't appreciate your kindness, and at the same time you can't guarantee that your purpose will always be correct in the future. Using the wrong means to achieve the right goal will be misunderstood, or using the right means to achieve the right goal will lead to an irreversible mistake … You don't know whether the right means are more important, or the right results are more important. Am I right? "