Chapter 200: Easier to use than a hoe
The completed factory is located beside the Liquid Crystal River.
Both factories are quite huge in scale, no smaller than a gladiatorial arena. From a distance, they look like two huge beasts sipping river water.
From the appearance, the two are very similar. They both have tall gray-white walls more than three meters tall, guarded by soldiers; except for the sluice leading to the Liujing River, the gate is divided into two, enough for five people. Carriages run parallel to each other.
If you go far enough and look beyond the high wall, you can see the difference between the two.
On the east side, in addition to the factory building, there are five blast furnaces in the wall, which spit out black smoke, and a relatively low but larger charcoal kiln for smoldering coke.
In comparison, the one to the west is a bit unremarkable. Although there are some buildings emitting smoke, it is obviously not as much as the one to the east.
Needless to say, the one to the east is a forging and casting factory; and to the one to the west, no one can tell what is going on inside. Even the workers who went in couldn't get out for a while. .
The factory has started operating, but it cannot be said to be at full speed. After all, even though there are some craftsmen among the transferred citizens and refugees, and there are also some skilled workers in the Snow Maple and Eagle Territory, the overall number is still not enough. .
In comparison, the situation in the blacksmithing factory is better, employing more than 300 blacksmiths; the other factory only recruits less than 200 people, most of whom are apprentices.
The factory was newly established, so of course Raven wanted to come and take a look.
There is no so-called ribbon-cutting ceremony - there is no need to bother yourself with your own industry.
After Lei Wen arrived in Xuefeng Town, he settled in the gray dwarves and the blacksmiths, and then went into the workshop to the west and stayed there intermittently for seven or eight days.
As the administrative officer of Xuefeng Town, Kuman followed Raven and worked there for several days at first, but he really couldn’t understand what Raven was going to do, and Raven saw that he couldn’t help him. , just let him do what he should do.
On this day, Raven took a break from the factory. After lunch, Cuman hurried over to ask for a meeting: "Lord Baron, I have something to tell you."
"Although the things you made are valuable, they are really not worth building a factory, let alone wasting so much time!"
"Don't comment easily on things you don't understand, let alone this time It won’t happen next time.” Raven stretched and said, “There are other things. "
Kuman just wanted to use this to establish a loyal character, and did not want to cause trouble for Raven, so he changed the subject and said: "Yes, first of all, I want to invite the priest of the local church. You go over..."
"Next thing." Raven picked his ears.
The Snow Maple Territory and the Eagle Territory both belong to Lei Wen's rule. As a lord, Lei Wen can give tithes to the Snow Maple Town Church and the Eagle Town Church.
Now that Raven gave the tithe to Lux, it naturally harmed the interests of the local priests, so he wanted to put a good word in Raven's ear through Cuman.
Obviously, this method doesn't work.
Kuman continued: "The next thing is the local school. I would like to invite you to give a speech and set a good example for the children."
"This is not the case. Let’s arrange it for the morning the day after tomorrow.” Raven agreed.
With the construction of the new castle, as an auxiliary building, a school for the residents is also under construction, but the teaching staff is not yet available.
After all, the school is not an orphanage or a charity. Raven also wants to see for himself how the school operates in this era.
He also talked about a few trivial matters, including more than just local businessmen who wanted to treat Raven to a meal, the civilian children who had returned from school wanted to work for Raven, and the local women's federation wanted to ask Raven to inject capital into them.
Pushing away everything that could be pushed away, Raven stood up and said, "Now that we've finished talking, let's go together. I just have something serious to do."
"Where are you going? "
"Factory."
"Still going to the factory?"
"Forging factory!"
Kuman thought for a while, but still followed Raven. He had to find out what the adults like.
The blacksmithing factory is constantly filled with smoke and dust. It has only been less than ten days, and the originally gray-white walls near the blast furnace have been smoked out with a layer of black.
The smell of soot made Cuman couldn't help but cover his nose with a handkerchief. He really couldn't figure out what to see in a factory.
No matter how big it is, it is still a factory!
As he walked into the forging room, a rush of heat hit his face, giving Cuman the illusion that his eyebrows were singed, and his breathing was a little stuffy.
This is still at the end of winter and the beginning of spring. If it comes to summer, how hot will it be like?
The craftsmen were all wearing work clothes and masks, sweat dripping from their skin, and they were hammering on various shaped and unshaped iron ingots.
In addition to the blast furnace, there are also small furnaces with heater blanks in the factory. Many blacksmiths are surrounding them, some are adding coke, some are sprinkling carbon powder, and some are fine Wear your upper body to blow the bellows.
Upon seeing Raven's arrival, the blacksmiths all saluted respectfully, with uneven movements. Some of them took a while before Raven could even react until Raven was far away, and then continued the work at hand.
This is also the rule in the factory, Raven emphasized it when he came last time.
Iron and fire are always full of dangers. It is not worth injuring the craftsmen and delaying the progress for the sake of false courtesy.
"Lord Baron, you are here!" Suohe wiped the ashes from his face and rushed to Raven to salute: "This is simply a paradise for craftsmen, with all the equipment. You are really considerate. So thoughtful!"
"It's good if it works." Raven smiled: "How's the 'Earth Furnace'?"
Suohe said excitedly: "The structure you had people put up earlier is fine. Bowell and I have started to modify it again. The furnace is being heated. It will be officially put into use in a dozen days at most!"
< br>"Hey, I knew you must have something wrong if you didn't trouble me for ten minutes. Why didn't you tell me when the Baron came?" Bowell trotted over from a distance on his short legs.
Suo gave him a black look: "You also said that you pay attention to etiquette the most, what does it look like?"
"The Baron is here, I will not argue with you." Bowell made a look. Magnanimous gesture: "Since Lord Baron is here, would you like to take a look? The jewelry I designed?”
Leaven promised Sohei to invest in a jewelry store for Buvier, and he did not break his promise. Now the jewelry store is under construction, and Buvier is stocking up the shop and factory. There is also a specially designated workshop for his use.
With this favor, Bowell reluctantly became Sohei's deputy in the large workshop, while he focused mainly on jewelry processing.
"We'll talk about the jewelry later. I came today mainly to ask about the progress." Lei Wen said: "How is the weapon forging going?" Hearing this question, Suo Hei's face fell a little: "This... ...not very optimistic. The skills of these newly recruited blacksmiths are too poor and they cannot make usable weapons at all. It will take at least a few to train them. Months of time."
"Isn't it?" Raven was stunned for a moment and rubbed his chin: "Is there any sample they made before?"
"Yes, sir." Suo Hei turned around and said, "Who is that? Go to the warehouse and take out what I prepared before!"
Soon someone came over carrying two boxes of weapons. Sohei led Raven and others to the table, picked up the weapons one by one and laid them out.
They are the common spears, swords, scimitars, and shields, in groups of two.
It’s not obvious when taken alone, but by comparing them two by two, even Kuman can see some clues: "These are displayed, on the left are all made by you, on the right are all made by the new blacksmith? "
Suohei said: "Lord Baron, you see, even a layman knows that they can't use these things! "
Just tell me, what are you doing with me?
Kuman's face is a bit dark, but I have to say that the appearance of the two is indeed different.
The surface of the weapons made by the gray dwarves looks as smooth as a mirror. If you observe it from a specific angle, you can also see the very beautiful lines on it, and the edges are polished neatly.
As for those weapons forged by ordinary blacksmiths, they appear a bit rough, with uneven surfaces and irregular shapes. In some places, bends caused by insufficient quenching can be seen.
But immediately, Kuman felt something was wrong. He walked forward and picked up a long sword: "Wait, is this the defective product you are talking about?"
Bo Wei I was a little dissatisfied: "Of course, didn't you see it?"
Not caring about Buvel's attitude, Kuman asked: "These defective products...are all returned to the furnace?"
"It will be returned to the furnace after this batch of ore is finished." Suohe said: "A total of They tried to produce it for five days, all kinds of There are more than 600 items in total, all piled up in the warehouse."
"Lord Baron, I finally understand why you insist on coming here. This is just throwing gold coins into the molten metal!" Kuman sighed and looked at Suohei and Bowei You looked confused and sighed: "I have seen the casting skills and vision of gray dwarves, but you, you..."
As he said that, he looked at Raven and got With Raven's agreement, the sword He took it in front of the two dwarves and said: "Yes, a long sword of this quality can easily cut people, and it can't do anything against armor, but it is still a sword after all!"
"It's better than cutting with a hoe. Very helpful! ”
"Just this long sword, do you know how much it costs on the market?"
Sohey and Buvel looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time.
Cuman said: "One point and thirty-seven gold coins!"
"How much!?" Suohe was shocked: "Just, just two pounds or so of broken iron pieces, worth So much! ?”
He knew that the price of weapons on the market was high, but he didn’t expect it to be so high. He usually only casts steel swords for six to eight gold coins. !
"The price of the spear is not as high as that of the sword, but the price of the shield and the scimitar are not low." Cuman sighed: "Fortunately, the Baron came early. If it had been later, it would have been in vain if I really had to remake them all. Eight or nine hundred gold coins have been lost!”
Sohei and Buvel were both frightened. With so much money, even if it were exchanged for Angel Tears, they could drink it for a month!
Suohei expressed his position with red eyes - although his eyes were originally red -: "Lord Baron, don't worry, starting from today, we will go all out to forge this weapon!"
It is said that it is not easy to learn well, but it is easy to learn badly.
It is not possible to improve the craftsmanship of the gray dwarves in a short period of time; but if they are asked to make such inferior products, isn't it better to just hold it in hand?
Raven waved his hand and said with a smile: "It doesn't have to be like this. Just let the new blacksmiths make this kind of weapon. There are no orders yet. The products are three-to-seven, three-to-seven growth swords, and seven-to-one growth guns, which are the best sellers. "
"As for you, you should just make fine products for me honestly - these are for my own army, no carelessness is allowed!"
Suo Hei immediately agreed, and then loudly. Greeting: "Hey, you idiots, come here. There are skills in making garbage. Let me teach you!"
Coming out of the factory, Cuman said: "Sir Baron, I have a question. I don’t understand.”
Raven asked: “You want to ask, since the equipment is so valuable now, why don’t gray dwarves also forge inferior weapons and make a fortune?”
Cuman didn't expect Raven to see what he was thinking. He was stunned for a moment and continued: "Yes, Lord Baron, the market will always be saturated. Why not make a big fortune first, and then slow down and slowly equip your army?" It’s too late.”
“If I were a pure businessman, I would do what you said.” Raven said lightly: “But I am a lord.”
"Businessmen make money to make money; lords make money to develop their territory."
At this point, Raven stopped and glanced at Kuman: "There will be One day, you may also become a lord. There is a saying you must remember.”
“Making money is a means, not an end.”
"Don't let the development of your territory stagnate just for temporary profits. No amount of money can buy back time!"
Hearing these words, Cuman stood there and swallowed.
Baron Raven's words pointed directly to the essence of the problem. While he was filled with admiration, his heartbeat began to speed up.
Does this mean that it is possible for me to become a knight?
Looking at his appearance, Raven smiled slightly and quickened his pace.
It feels pretty good to be a leader and paint cakes for others!
For a while, the forging factory after the restrictions were lifted became hot. The five blast furnaces were breathing black smoke day and night. The blacksmiths showed great enthusiasm and worked overtime to start producing weapons. The gates on both sides opened every day. Ore is transported in and slag is transported out.
With the full work of more than 300 blacksmiths and apprentices, the factory can produce about 150 inferior weapons every day, and as time goes by, the output is still rising, and finally stabilizes at two per day. Hundreds of pieces.
Winter turns to spring, and the time comes to early April.
Except for a few shady places where sunshine is rarely seen, the snow has melted away. Under the moistening of spring rain, tender grass and tree buds have sprouted. Southbound migratory birds have also returned here, hanging on the eaves, The roof is chirping, adding a lot of vitality to the spring day.
On April 2, a mighty motorcade arrived at the Eagle Territory.
The youngest son of the Slater family, now the Viscount, Hyde Otta Slater took off his helmet, heaving a sigh of relief but also showing dissatisfaction:
"Raven, you'd better You can really give me the surprise you said!”
……
(End of this chapter)