In the second month of summer, on Midsummer's Day, Margie arrived as scheduled.
This time, the ships brought by the merchant groups far exceeded the capacity of the dock. Many sailboats could only anchor by the river, waiting for the previous ships to unload before docking at the pier.
This made Roland realize that the town's dock needed to be expanded.
Graycastle Industrial Company finally completed its task this month, reducing the scrap rate of parts to 40%, and successfully produced three steam engines before the delivery date. Although the export products produced by the factory were far inferior to the third-generation steam engines currently in use in the town in terms of power, air leakage, noise, and vibration, they were a significant improvement compared to the prototype.
Crescent Bay Caravan brought a team of three hundred craftsmen as per the contract. Roland settled them all in the industrial park on the south bank of the Redwater River. In addition to building a new wooden factory next to the original factory, he also ordered Karl to build a staff dormitory in the park near the river bank. In order to complete this facility within a month, huge logs were transported to the site, and Karl was responsible for technical guidance while Anna did the cutting. The most time-consuming wood processing环节 was completed in just two days. Karl, Anna's former teacher, was stunned by her new ability. In just half a year, this thin and quiet girl had become confident and radiant.
Roland held a lavish dinner at the castle to welcome the merchants.
At the same time, baijiu appeared in everyone's sight for the first time.
"Every time I come here, there's something new. Margie didn't lie to me," Hogg exclaimed, "Even the wine is so different. Compared to this...this..."
"Baijiu," Margie reminded.
"That's right, baijiu! Compared to it, ale and wine are just bland," he grinned, emptying the glass in one gulp, "Your Highness, you must sell me a few cases of this stuff."
"I think it tastes too fiery, fruit wine is more suitable for me," the female merchant said with a smile, shaking her head.
Roland smiled, "It depends on personal taste. Not everyone can accept high-proof distilled liquor. I didn't plan to promote it, just happened to make some for everyone to taste."
In an era where brewing wine was still mainstream, distilled liquor was clearly a rising star with great potential. Like the baijiu, rum, whiskey, and vodka of later generations, all are distilled liquors with higher alcohol content. And above these distilled liquors, a series of cocktail cultures have also been extended. However, for the current Border Town, it is too early to develop this industry.
"Your Highness, I've sent people to collect a lot of information about the things you asked me to do in your last letter," Margie said, "Not much has changed since Everwinter was controlled by the church. However, the resistance of the Wolfheart Kingdom is much stronger. It is said that all the church troops are gathered at Broken Tooth Fortress and have been unable to advance for more than two months. In addition, the King of Dawn sent a messenger to Graycastle, believing that the church's move was not to eliminate witches at all, but to occupy the continental kingdoms. He called on the two countries to form an alliance, expel the church forces, and jointly fight against the Holy City of Hermes."
"How did the royal capital respond?" Roland asked.
"Prime Minister Duke Wick of the court rejected the proposal and also reprimanded the other party for being nonsense." Gamorre shrugged, "This matter has caused a stir in the royal capital, and even the nobles have not reached a consensus. As far as I know, many people support the alliance. After all, the church currently has no sign of returning the ruling power to the heir of Everwinter."
"Tiefco didn't come forward?"
"The Prime Minister's reply must have been at Tiefco's instruction. He himself has now led troops to the East Territory," Marlan's expression was a bit serious, "I heard that a large fleet landed in Seawind County, looting along the coastline of the East Territory, and even the churches were not spared. Many fjord merchants also suffered."
"A large number of refugees have appeared in the East Territory, and Hogg and I have taken in many of them," Margie added, "They said that these looters not only robbed money, but also people. They burned everything they couldn't take away, as if they wanted to turn the entire East Territory into a wasteland. This is a heavy blow to Tiefco, who has just conquered the nobles of the East Territory."
It should have been a happy thing that Tiefco suffered a blow, but hearing that the other party was looting the population, Roland felt a pang of pain in his heart, "Those refugees..."
"Are you interested?" Margie chuckled, "When I saw that letter, I guessed that you might want to buy a large number of slaves to enrich the labor force in your territory. However, compared to the foreign refugees of Everwinter and Wolfheart, these Graycastle people may not be willing to sell themselves into slavery."
"I don't need to use them as slaves. As long as these people are willing to settle in Border Town, they will have food and housing, and they will also be paid for their work," Roland corrected, realizing that this was a good opportunity to expand the population, although the news came a little late, "How many of them are there?"
"Most of the strong refugees have been taken in by nobles and merchant groups. There are still nearly 10,000 people gathered outside the royal capital, but there are more young people and women."
"It doesn't matter, I will send people to select and guide them," the prince decided, "Do I need to deal with the royal capital officials to take them away?"
"No," Margie waved her hand, "They can't wait for you to take these people away. Otherwise, there won't be enough relief food, and if their numbers continue to increase, it is likely to trigger a riot of vagrants."
……
After the dinner, Roland returned to his office and summoned the guard Tasha.
This incident made him realize that his intelligence system was very backward. If he could know about the refugee incident in the first place, he could have prepared earlier and brought more people to Border Town. Currently, his understanding of external information all comes from merchant groups, and the transmission speed of once a month cannot meet the demand at all.
Even if troops are stationed at Longsong Stronghold and outposts are established, they can only monitor the West Territory. If you want to compete for the throne of Graycastle, you must expand your vision to the entire country, even the entire continent.
Roland doesn't have so many loyal subordinates to form a complete intelligence team. Spies and secret agents lurking in various places are even more out of the question. So he plans to start from the basics and arrange for some people to go to the royal capital to collect information gathered from various places. Not to say that he can achieve detailed monitoring, at least he can quickly understand the overall situation and not be so passive like today.
Tasha, who knows the underworld forces of the royal capital very well, is the best candidate for the prince.
"You want me to return to the royal capital with the merchant group?" Tasha was stunned.
"That's right, you have two tasks. The first is to take in refugees from the East Territory for me. I will send a squad of about a hundred soldiers to be responsible for escorting them. I will tell you the detailed screening conditions before the merchant group departs."
"Yes!"
"The second point, after the refugee crisis is over, you will stay in the royal capital and collect information from all over the world for me. You have dealt with the underground rats before, so you should know what to do, and Margie's merchant group will fully support you. The expenses required for the task can be directly requested from them. Unlike the last time I went to the Redwater River area to spread the news about witches, this time there is no limit to the funding." He put a revolver on the table, "Take care of yourself, I hope to hear good news from you soon."
……(。)