After the caravan left, Roland let out a long breath.

Finally… the treasury was full again.

The steam engines delivered to the three merchant guilds totaled ten units, three of which were produced in the No. 2 Factory, which was built with the assistance of the Crescent Bay Merchant Guild. It had to be said that these craftsmen from the fjord were far superior to the town's miners and blacksmiths in terms of talent and learning ability. After mastering the operation of machine tools, the qualified rate of finished products rose sharply. Perhaps in another two months, the production capacity of the No. 2 Factory could catch up with the No. 1 Factory. Fortunately, according to the contract, the sales revenue of these machines belonged to Roland.

In addition, he also received a new hydrogen balloon purchase order from the Crescent Bay caravan. Marlene was very interested in this thing that could greatly expand her field of vision. In addition to the single-person reconnaissance balloon, she also specially customized a giant balloon that could carry three to four people, intending to use it to explore the new islands in the fjord.

Together with the delivery of the first paddle steamer, the three brought nearly seven thousand gold dragons in revenue to Border Town. After deducting the cost of purchasing metal ingots, washing stones, and grain, the remaining six thousand gold dragons were enough to support his population expansion plan.

Roland summoned Barov and Iron Axe to the office.

"Now that we have surplus money, it's time to recruit more people from other places." He looked at the two capable men, "This operation will be carried out jointly by the City Hall and the First Army. You decide the specific personnel yourself. I will only explain the general task content."

"Please speak, Your Highness," the steward nodded.

"Recruitment is divided into two directions, the North and the Southern Territory." Roland took a map from the desk and spread it out in front of the two, "Especially the line from Eagle City to Clearwater Port… I suspect Tiffeau has regarded these people as part of Garcia's forces, useless people who can be wasted at will, so you have to win them over first."

"The team sent by the City Hall is responsible for recruiting nobles, craftsmen, and other literate people, while the main task of the First Army is to recruit civilians. Unlike the previous focus on publicity, this time the means should be more proactive. Do you understand what I mean?"

Iron Axe hesitated, "Are you saying… forcibly pulling them over?"

"Ahem, there's no need to go that far," Roland coughed twice. The style of the Sand people was indeed simple and crude. "For example, distributing food, proactively persuading them, paying living expenses in advance, etc." He glanced at Barov. "You should be very clear about this." (advertisement)

"Of course, Your Highness. When I was in the royal capital, I assisted ministers and patrol teams in suppressing and appeasing refugee riots many times," the latter stroked his beard and said. "Their requirements are very simple, sometimes just to fill their stomachs. Therefore, there is no need to lure them with money, and even don't mention overly generous salary conditions. On the contrary, they will become suspicious. Impoverished nobles are much more troublesome. Although they are now short of money and no longer glorious, they are knowledgeable and demanding. They will not travel thousands of miles with us for a piece of steamed bun. At this time, we need to use money and promises to lure them."

Roland clapped his hands in satisfaction, "It's a pity that Border Town has a lot of affairs, and you can't go there yourself. Otherwise, this task will definitely be completed successfully."

"Don't worry, Your Highness, I will send my most proud disciple to go," Barov laughed. "When the city is built next year, it would be good if residential houses are all over both banks of the Redwater River."

"That day will come."

After the two left, Roland leaned back in his chair to rest for a while, and decided to go to the backyard of the North Slope to see Anna.

As soon as he entered the door, he was greeted by metal blocks all over the ground.

Roland picked up one and placed it in his palm. They were basically the same size, about five centimeters long and wide, and the surface was not smooth, as if it had been squeezed by something. A number was also engraved on one side. For example, the one in his hand was printed with the number 256.

"How is it? Any good discoveries?"

"No. 1057 is particularly hard, and No. 2284 is very excellent in both hardness and toughness," Anna greeted him with a bright smile on her face.

"You've already done more than two thousand?" Roland said in surprise. He took the notebook that Lucia handed over, which was densely filled with data. He found line 2284 and found that the carbon content was 0.8% and the fourth unknown element was 15.2% after the number.

"Well, this is much more interesting than sharpening gun barrels," Anna blinked. "Adding other metals to iron can actually make its properties undergo earth-shattering changes. I really want to know how these small metal balls are combined together."

The exploration that Anna and Lucia are currently doing is a work of far-reaching significance.

Roland first asked the little girl to decompose the ore into various raw materials, and then Anna mixed and smelted them with pure iron in different mass ratios to make test blocks and test their properties. Through the extrusion and stretching of Blackfire, Anna could distinguish the amount of magic power consumed in each operation, so as to judge its strength and toughness.

The first thing added was obviously carbon.

Although Roland knew that steel was essentially an iron-carbon alloy: too much carbon is pig iron, no carbon is pure iron, and it can only be called steel when the carbon content is within a certain range, and even a little fluctuation can greatly change the metal's properties, so the first thing to measure was the size of this range.

It can be seen from the records that before number 1500, they were simply smelting iron and carbon, while after number 1500, they began to add new elements to the steel. Roland knew that every time a number was added to the permutation and combination, the possible results would increase exponentially. This was an extremely long process, so he only allowed Anna to explore this part of the content when the manufacturing tasks were not heavy.

He encouraged the two witches and sat aside, quietly admiring Anna's busy back.

Although the autumn sunshine was still bright, it was no longer as harsh as in midsummer. He felt warm all over, and a long-lost sense of stability surged into his heart.

He didn't know how long it had been, but the courtyard gradually became quiet. He suddenly felt a soft hand on his forehead. Opening his half-closed eyes, Lucia was gone, and Anna was sitting in front of him, "You have something you want to tell me."

"…"

"Your eyes told me," she tilted her head, her hair naturally drooping, like strands of translucent gold silk.

Roland hesitated for a while, and finally shook his head helplessly, "I'm just a little confused." He told the other party about the population expansion plan in detail, "Compared with the initial free choice, in order to seize the time, I have already used some semi-lured and semi-compulsory means. Although doing so is to prevent them from being forcibly conscripted by Tiffeau and eventually dying from the erosion of pills, but when I think about it carefully, what I am doing is not much different from him… The only difference is the purpose."

"Can't the purpose explain everything?" she asked softly.

"But…"

"I know what you want to say," Anna covered the prince's mouth, "You are worried that they will not appreciate it, and at the same time, you can't guarantee that the purpose will always be correct in the future. Using wrong means to achieve the correct purpose and being misunderstood, or using correct means but causing irreparable mistakes… You don't know whether the correct means are important, or the correct result is important. Am I right?"

"Don't worry," before he could answer, Anna had already stepped forward, cupped Roland's face in her hands, and whispered in his ear, "I'm here… I'll keep a good eye on you."