Chapter 543: Turning Point
When Roland saw Barov again, he felt like he was seeing a different person.
Not only did his expression look radiant, but he also held his chest higher. His steps were firm and resonant, exuding an air of confidence, completely unlike an old minister nearing fifty.
It seemed that he had been enjoying himself these past few days in King's City.
"If I had known this, I should have called you back later," Roland joked.
"No, Your Majesty, even the bustling Dawn City cannot compare to the Neverwinter City that you have built with your own hands," Barov said, stroking his beard. "No matter where I am, my heart is always by your side."
Why does this sound so... strange?
He coughed twice, changing the subject, "How is the situation over there?"
"Rest assured, with my apprentices and the First Army there, even if the newly appointed nobles want to cause trouble, they won't be able to," the Chief Steward said smugly. "I even deliberately loosened the reins on their power struggles, as long as they don't interfere with the normal operation of Dawn City's livelihood matters. I estimate that for a long time to come, they will be fighting over trivial power – after all, before this, they didn't even have the qualifications to enter the City Hall."
"That's a good method," Roland laughed.
He also knew a little about political checks and balances and the art of control, but knowing was one thing, actually implementing it was obviously not as good as these old foxes who had been involved in politics for a long time—even if they weren't the most cunning foxes, they were thick-skinned and ruthless enough. It could be said that Barov was only now displaying his full talents.
Thanks to his status as the king of a country, Roland didn't have to get involved in dirty political tricks himself. As long as he held the personnel, law-making, and military power in his hands, no one would dare to covet his quanbing.
"Your Majesty, may I ask, where did you send Finance Minister Lauren. Moore?" Barov sighed, as if not yet satisfied. "The master of ceremonies in the palace said you did not execute him."
"He embezzled relief rations allocated to the people, colluded with the former Chief Advisor, and also had a hand in forcibly conscripting refugees," Roland shrugged. "His crime didn't warrant death, and he's too old to be assigned to the mines, so I simply exiled him."
"That's really... a pity."
"What, do you want to use him?"
"Of course not, Lauren has quite a bit of influence in King's City, and I'm not sure if those small nobles can suppress him," Barov shook his head with a smile. "It's just that he was my mentor, and he suppressed me for so long. Not being able to see his surprised, remorseful, and pleading expression is a bit of a regret."
Roland couldn't help but laugh. "I think he should move his whole family to the Kingdom of Dawn, maybe you'll have a chance to meet again in the future. Enough about that, I called you back because I want to build a few new factories, which are related to a series of major transformations in Neverwinter City."
"Are many people needed?"
"That's right, otherwise I would just instruct Karl," he nodded. "At least three thousand people are needed."
Barov smiled wryly, "Only you would ask for something like that. Other cities would never have an industry that invests three thousand people at once."
"The good news is that not all three thousand people need to be literate, as long as there are two hundred or so residents who have completed primary education."
"What do you want to build?"
Roland spread the notebook he had prepared in front of him, "A coking plant, a steel plant, and a forging plant."
"Isn't the steel produced by Anna xiaojie enough?" Barov asked.
"It's not that it's not enough, but it's too wasteful," Roland sighed. "Her magic should be invested in more high-end manufacturing, rather than being consumed on the materials for steam engines. I plan to achieve «de-witchification» of basic industrial products this year."
Neverwinter City's industry was now at a turning point. If it didn't seek a breakthrough, it could be said that it would be impossible to move forward, because the power machinery still couldn't do without Anna's material support, which meant that the scale couldn't be further expanded—in fact, steam engines didn't need such good steel at all. The town's first-generation machines were made of cast iron.
Now, all the prerequisites for a breakthrough had been met. With coal mines, coke could be produced, and coke was the main material for large-scale steelmaking. The dozen or so earthen blast furnaces in the furnace area could also supply a sufficient amount of pig iron ingots. Simple converter steelmaking could be used, and then the steam hammer in the forging plant could forge components that other factories could directly process—if this process could be cycled, Anna could be completely freed, and a production process that relied entirely on ordinary people could be achieved.
After Roland roughly explained the main tasks of the three projects, Barov quickly understood the meaning of «de-witchification».
"I understand, but Your Majesty, are these really achievable?" he asked doubtfully. "Without relying on the power of devils—cough, witches, we can also obtain steel so easily? You may not know, in other cities, the price of a piece of forged steel is more than twenty times more expensive than pig iron."
The steel of this era was all hammered out by blacksmiths, one hammer at a time. By repeatedly hammering pig iron ingots, the excess carbon and impurities in the iron were oxidized by the air, thus forming steel. Of course, this process was not only extremely inefficient, but also wasted a lot of raw materials—a lot of iron would fall off due to oxidation, resulting in only one usable piece of steel being produced from several iron ingots. Therefore, a full suit of steel armor was the lifelong pursuit of most knights, and could also be passed down from generation to generation as an heirloom.
In some ways, the method of «a hundred times forging into steel» gave people the illusion that concentration was the essence. Now, Neverwinter City could produce "a lot" of steel, which in the eyes of most people was due to the efforts of witches. Barov's doubts were not difficult to understand, but for Roland, steel was nothing more than iron with different carbon content.
"Of course it's not easy. Whether it's coking or converter steelmaking, it's a technology that requires repeated exploration, but..." Roland paused. "These projects will definitely be realized. At that time, there will be hundreds of chimneys in the industrial area, and the monthly steel output will exceed the current annual output. We will have an inexhaustible supply of steel, bicycles, ships, all kinds of machines, and even houses. Everything you see will be made of steel. It will enter everyone's home, and even ordinary people will be able to use steel utensils and tools."
Barov was stunned for a long time before he responded, "I will draft a recruitment plan and financial allocation for you to review as soon as possible."
"Well, the preliminary preparations for this matter will be entrusted to you," Roland encouraged.
As he walked to the door of the office, he suddenly turned around and bowed again, placing his hand on his chest.
"If I can really see such a world, it will be my honor, Your Majesty."
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