Imperial Crown

The completed factory is located beside the Liujing River.

Both factories are quite large, no smaller than the Colosseum. From a distance, they look like two giant beasts drinking from the river.

From the outside, the two are very similar, with gray-white walls over three meters high, guarded by soldiers; except for the sluice leading to the Liujing River, the gate is divided into two doors, enough for five carriages to run in parallel.

If you walk far enough and look beyond the high wall, you can see the difference between the two.

In the east one, in addition to the factory building, there are five blast furnaces inside the wall, spewing black smoke, and a relatively short but larger charcoal kiln for smoldering coke.

In comparison, the west one is a bit mediocre. Although some buildings are smoking, it is obviously not as much as the east one.

Needless to say, the east one is a forging and casting factory; and in the west one, no one can tell what is going on inside, and even the workers who go in can't get out for a while.

The factory has started to operate, but it cannot be said to be running at full speed. After all, even though there are some craftsmen among the transferred residents and refugees, and there are some skilled workers in Xuefeng Territory and Xiongying Territory, the overall number is still insufficient.

In comparison, the situation of the forging factory is better, recruiting more than 300 blacksmiths; the other factory only recruited less than 200 people, most of whom are apprentices.

The factory was newly established, so of course Raven had to come and see it.

There was no so-called ribbon-cutting ceremony - there was no need to torment yourself for your own industry.

After Raven arrived in Xuefeng Town, he settled the gray dwarves and a group of blacksmiths, and then went to the west workshop, staying there for seven or eight days.

As the political official of Xuefeng Town, Kuman followed Raven and was busy for several days at first, but he really didn't understand what Raven was going to do. Seeing that he couldn't help, Raven let him do what he should do.

That day, after Raven had taken time off from the factory and finished lunch, Kuman came over in a hurry to ask for a meeting: "Baron, I have something to tell you."

"Those things you made are valuable, but they are not worth building a factory, let alone wasting so much time!"

"Don't comment on things you don't understand easily. Forget it this time, and don't do it again." Raven stretched lazily: "Anything else?"

Kuman just wanted to use this to establish a loyal personality, and didn't want to make things difficult for Raven, so he changed the subject and said: "Yes, first of all, the priest of the local church wants to invite you over..."

"Next thing." Raven dug his ears.

Snow Maple Territory and Eagle Territory are both under Raven's rule. As a lord, Raven can give tithes to both the Snow Maple Town Church and the Eagle Town Church.

Now that Raven has given tithes to Lux, it naturally harms the interests of the local priests, so he wants to say good things to Raven through Kuman.

Obviously, this method doesn't work.

Kuman continued, "The next thing is the local school. I want you to give a speech there and set a good example for the children."

"That's no problem. Let's arrange it the day after tomorrow morning." Raven agreed.

With the construction of the new castle, a school for the people is also under construction as an ancillary building, but the teaching staff has not yet been settled.

After all, the school is not an orphanage or a charity, and Raven also wants to see the operation mode of the school in this era.

He talked about a few trivial matters, including but not limited to local businessmen who want to treat Raven to a meal, civilian children who have returned from school want to work for Raven, and the local Women's Federation wants Raven to inject capital into them.

After pushing away all the things that can be pushed, Raven stood up: "Since we're done, let's go together. It just so happens that I have something to do."

"Where are you going?"

"Factory."

"Go to the factory again?"

"Forging factory!"

Kuman thought about it and followed Raven. He had to find out what the adults like.

The forging factory was filled with smoke and dust. In less than ten days, the originally grayish-white walls near the blast furnace had been smoked out black.

The smell of coal smoke made Kuman cover his nose with a handkerchief. He really couldn't understand what was there to see in a factory.

No matter how big it was, it was still a factory!

When he walked into the forging room, a wave of heat hit him in the face, making Kuman feel as if his eyebrows were burnt and his breathing was a little stuffy.

This was still in late winter and early spring. If it was summer, how hot would it be?

The craftsmen were wearing work clothes and masks, sweat dripping from their skin, hammering at various formed and unformed iron ingots.

In addition to the blast furnace, there were also small furnaces for heating blanks in the factory. Many blacksmiths gathered around, some adding coke, some sprinkling carbon powder in, and some blowing the bellows with their upper bodies naked.

As soon as they saw Raven coming, the blacksmiths saluted respectfully, their movements were uneven. Some of them took a long time to react until Raven walked away, and then continued with 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 hurting the craftsmen and delaying the progress for the sake of false courtesy.

"Baron, you are here!" Sohe wiped the dust on his face and rushed to Raven to salute: "This is simply a paradise for craftsmen. There are all kinds of equipment. You are so thoughtful!"

"It's good to be able to use it." Raven smiled: "How is the 'Earth Core 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!"

"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 Bai glanced at him: "You also said that you pay the most attention to etiquette. What does that look like?"

"The Baron is here, I won't argue with you." Bowell made a magnanimous gesture: "Since the Baron is here, would you like to see the jewelry I designed?"

Raven promised Sohey 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 the shop, and a workshop has been designated for him in the factory. 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." Raven said, "How is the weapon forging going?"

Hearing this question, Suo Hei's face fell a little: "This... is 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 several months to train them. time."

"Isn't it?" Raven was stunned for a moment and rubbed his chin: "If there are any samples they made before, let me take a look."

"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 Cuman can see something: "These are displayed on the left side, all made by you, and on the right side, are all made by the new blacksmith?"

Suo Hei said: "Lord Baron, you see, even a layman knows that these they made cannot be used!"

Just say it, what are you doing with me?

Kuman's face is a little dark, but I have to say that the appearance of the two is indeed different.

The surface of the weapons crafted 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.

Those weapons forged by ordinary blacksmiths 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 stepped forward and picked up a long sword: "Wait, is this the defective product you are talking about?"

Bowell was a little dissatisfied: "Of course, didn't you see it too?"

Not caring about Buvel's attitude, Kuman asked: "These defective products...are they all recycled?"

"When this batch of ore is finished, it will be returned to the furnace." Suo Hei said: "They have been trying to produce it for five days in total. There are more than 600 pieces of various kinds, all piled in the warehouse."

"Lord Baron, I finally understand why you insist on coming here. This is just throwing gold coins into molten iron in vain!" Cuman sighed, looking at the confused faces of Sohey and Bowell, and sighed: "I have seen the casting skills and vision of gray dwarves, but you, you..."

As he said that, he looked at Raven. After getting Raven's consent, he brought the sword to the two dwarves and said, "Yes, a long sword of this quality can easily chip when cutting people, and it has no effect on armor. But it’s still a sword after all!”

"It's better than killing people with a hoe!"

"Just this long sword, do you know the price on the market?"

Sohey and Buvel looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time.

Cuman said: "One point thirty-seven gold coins!"

"How much!?" Suo Hei was shocked: "Just, just about two pounds of broken iron pieces, is it worth so much!?"

He knew that the price of weapons on the market was high now, but he didn't expect it to be so ridiculously high. You must know that the steel sword he casts on weekdays only costs six to eight gold coins!

"The price of the spear is not as high as that of the long 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 were lost!"

Sohey and Bowell were both frightened for a while. With so much money, even if they exchanged it for Angel Tears, they could drink it for a month!

Suo Hei 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 impossible 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 still a matter of holding hands?

Raven waved his hand and said with a smile: "It doesn't have to be like this, you can just let the new blacksmiths make this kind of weapon. There are no orders yet. The products are 37-shot, 3-length swords, and 7-length guns, which are the best sellers. "

"As for you, you should just make fine products for me honestly - these are all for my own army, so don't be careless!"

Suo Hei immediately agreed, and then greeted loudly: "Hey, you idiots, come here, there are skills in making garbage, let me teach you!"

Coming out of the factory, Cuman said: "Lord Baron, there is a question I don't understand."

Raven asked: "You want to ask, since the equipment is so valuable now, why don't you let the gray dwarves forge inferior weapons and make a buck?"

Kuman didn't expect Raven to see his thoughts. He was stunned for a moment and continued: "Yes, Baron, the market will always be saturated. It's better to make a lot of money first, and then slow down and slowly equip your army."

"If I were a pure businessman, I would do as you said." Raven said lightly: "But I am a lord."

"Merchants make money to make money; lords make money for the development of the territory."

Speaking of this, Raven stopped and glanced at Kuman: "One day in the future, maybe you will become a lord. There is one thing you have to remember."

"Making money is a means, not an end."

"Don't let the development of your territory stagnate for the sake of temporary profits. Time can't be bought back with any money!"

Hearing these words, Kuman stood there and swallowed his saliva.

Baron Raven's words went straight to the essence of the problem, and while he admired him, his heartbeat began to speed up.

Does this mean that I may also become a knight?

Looking at his look, Raven smiled slightly and quickened his pace.

Being a leader and painting cakes for people, this feels pretty good!

For a period of time, the forging factory, which was lifted from restrictions, became hot. Five blast furnaces spewed black smoke day and night. The blacksmiths showed great enthusiasm and worked overtime to produce weapons. Ore was transported in and slag was transported out of the two gates every day.

With the full efforts 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 stabilized at around 200 pieces per day.

Winter is gone and spring is here, and it is early April.

Except for a few shady places where it is rare to see the sun, the snow has melted away. Under the moisture of the spring rain, tender grass and tree buds have emerged one after another. The migratory birds heading south have also returned here, chirping on the eaves and roofs, adding a lot of vitality to the spring.

On April 2, a mighty convoy arrived at the Eagle Territory.

The youngest son of the Slater family, now the Viscount, Hyde Ota Slater took off his helmet, and heaved a sigh of relief, but also showed dissatisfaction:

"Raven, you better really give me the surprise you said!"

...