When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 599: Papermaking Workshop and Direct Casting Monk

The July sun fell on everyone's shoulders. Armand, Fran and the other two were strolling in the workshop area. The dazzling sun made Rufaire hold up an umbrella.

The surrounding trees have basically been cut down, leaving only flat plots of land, where upright wooden sticks and lime powder have been used to mark out areas of varying sizes.

The knights, with heavy shackles on their necks, carried mortar concrete covered in mud and poured it evenly on the sunken roadbed.

This so-called industrial area is located in the suburbs on the south side of Jeanne d'Arc, in the lower reaches of the Ibe River. Standing on the dock under construction and looking south, you can see four new workshops under construction.

With his hands on the pergola, Lufell looked at the row of new workshops and asked, "What kind of workshops are those?"

"That's a papermaking workshop. It needs to use hydraulic machinery to make pulp, so it was built next to the river."

"Four papermaking workshops? Can you get so much animal glue and medicine?" Rufiel, who knew a lot about papermaking workshops, asked with a frown.

"It's probably hemp paper, right?" Venise said with a wink.

The so-called animal glue is paper adhesive, which is made from the skins, tendons and hooves of livestock, while the medicine is used to ensure that the paper is smooth and does not smudge.

After beating the rags and bark into pulp, pour in animal glue and stir to bond the short fibers of the rags and bark into long fibers, and then use a copper wire mesh to scoop out the paper.

Paper is expensive, and the reason for its high price is the bark and the medicine. Different types of bark require different animal glue and medicine formulas.

一刀（500张）上好的金角湾纸能卖到昂贵的2-3金镑，普通的纸也要1.5金镑左右，平民用的最垃圾的麻纸则是100第纳尔每刀。

Hemp paper is paper made from ordinary linen fibers without any chemicals but only with animal glue.

"We have found a new material to replace animal glue and medicine. It is a trade secret and cannot be disclosed."

Abaz asked in a low voice, not giving up, "Alchemical method?"

There was even a hint of pity in his eyes, and Armand nodded.

"Pagan..." Venise groaned in a mosquito-like voice.

"Why do you have such a huge demand for paper?" Ruffier asked a question, then took a step forward and placed the parasol over Armand's head amid the distorted expressions of the other two.

Armand looked up at the parasol and said, "Because the Papal Palace has promoted paper-based office work, each monk in charge of administration consumes an average of 10 pounds of paper per year. We have to compile yearbooks and post notices to nearby villages every month, so the demand for paper is quite high."

Posting notices in villages and communities is the main task of the Court of Truth, and is counted in the targets for preaching and promoting the truth at the end of each year.

Basically, it is all kinds of news and short stories about Langsand County, as well as Horn's own deeds and various policies.

From time to time, the Cheka would make secret visits to nearby villages and communities to see whether the itinerant monks and centurions had posted and read the truth notices on time and in the required quantity.

The Guards were able to expand rapidly and maintain high morale, thanks in large part to these trivial notices.

As he spoke, Armand led a few people into a completed papermaking workshop. Similar to the sugar-making workshop, it also had an assembly line design.

However, it is L-shaped because the corners have to be close to the river so that the water power can be used to make pulp.

Halkin spoke to the workshop manager, then took a stack of Joan of Arc paper from the warehouse and distributed it to the three people.

The moment Rufair touched the paper, his eyes lit up. In the empire, white paper was extremely rare, and only specific tree bark and potions were required.

The paper in her hand was not as white as snow, but it had a light beige color around the edges.

When you touch the surface of the paper with your fingertips, it feels a little rough and thick, and overall it has a texture that seems to be patinated.

Rufair was from a wealthy family and a scholar, and had seen all kinds of things since she was a child. She could basically judge this quality as medium-to-high, and it was the kind that cost 1.5 gold pounds (180 dinars) per knife. "How much is this paper?" Venise asked, holding the edge of the paper upright and observing its hardness and toughness.

Halkin rubbed his hands and replied: "90 dinars per knife, and you can get another 5 dinars off if you sell by ton."

"90 dinars per knife? Can you make money?" Venise stared, "Are you deliberately tricking us into buying industrial vouchers?"

"Tsk, what are you talking about?" Halkin shook the paper in his hand, "It's 85 dinars, it's 85 dinars for everyone.

Hehe, let me tell you, with the price of 85 dinars, we can still earn 25 dinars. There are 10 paper pickers in this workshop, and each paper picker can produce 400-600 sheets of paper every day.

Each workshop can produce 1 ton of paper per month, which is 400 dollars, equivalent to a profit of 83 gold pounds, and an annual income of nearly 1000 gold pounds.

Otherwise, why do you think we dare to issue bonds with a 10% interest rate? There is a reason for this! "

Venise couldn't help but ask, "Why did you only build four? If you build more, even if you sell them outside, it will bring in a lot of income."

"Hey, our Holy Grandson is a man of high moral character and does not compete with the people for profit." Halkin said with a laugh.

But Lufel exposed him at a glance: "Papermaking is a technical job. They can only recruit about 40 papermaking craftsmen. Unlike sugar making, it does not require much technology and can be expanded.

However, there are three to four million people in Qianhe Valley, and even the citizens should be around 15 to 25. It shouldn't be difficult to find a hundred or so papermaking craftsmen, right?"

"In fact, the buildings in the industrial zone are all for civilian use. They are workshops jointly established by the Papal Palace and the Magdeburg Chamber of Commerce. In several important county towns, there are royal papermaking workshops or papermaking workshops for the Salvation Army's military dependents." Armand explained.

"These directly affiliated paper mills basically do not sell paper to the outside, but purchase it at cost price internally. If there is too much, they will store it, and if there is too little, they will purchase it from outside.

Their wages are relatively low, but they are guaranteed income regardless of drought or flood, and they are also allocated free housing. If the financial income of the order in the area is relatively high, bonuses will be given to the workshops with the highest efficiency and output at the end of the year. "

"You said that the priests gave bonuses to the craftsmen?" Venis scratched his ear. "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"

"Of course." Armand looked at Venise meaningfully with his eyebrows twitching. "In Langsander County, war monks, administrative monks and foundry monks are all monks, without distinction of high or low."

“Moreover, the budget allocated by the Central Congregation for the following year is allocated based on the financial income of the local congregations in the previous year.

If it is not spent, the central budget for next year will be reduced, and the local orders will definitely tend to spend it all. "Following Armand's words, Halkin explained with a bitter face, "The Papal Palace workshop treats the foundry monks so well that the papermaking craftsmen have all gone to the Papal Palace."

At present, there are relatively few papermaking craftsmen, and various places need to implement account bookkeeping and tax statistics, and the demand for paper is relatively large, so Horn can do this.

When the number of people increases in the future, he will not be able to monopolize almost all industries in the entire Langsand County like this.

The fact that Halkin only recruited 40 does not mean that there are no other papermakers in the Thousand River Valley, but that there are only so many papermakers who are willing to accept the Saint Grandson and the Saint Daughter.

Even though the entire Thousand River Valley fell into the hands of the so-called Patriarch Horn, the power of church propaganda remained in some closed areas and even in urban areas.

Some citizen craftsmen thought that the Pope's Palace was a scam and that the conditions were too good to be true, so they were not willing to come at all. There was even a rumor that "the Pope's Palace tricked craftsmen into working as slaves in Langsander County."

Before the reform of perpetual leasehold and 100-household districts was fully implemented, I am afraid that most farmers and craftsmen would be unwilling to accept Horn's leadership.

After all, no matter how you look at it, there is a witch by his side!
But Lufel felt that the future was promising. If they could defeat Leia's army and the money rolled in, who would care about the witch? Or there would always be people who didn't care!
Otherwise, she could also write a letter and ask the family to send someone to invest?
Just invest a few thousand pounds, you won't feel bad if you lose.

Of course, this was entirely rational and had nothing to do with Armand.

"Well, do you want to continue watching?" Armand asked Ruffier.

Thinking about it, Lufell shook his head and said, "It's almost noon, the sun is too hot, let's go have lunch first, then you bring the clockwork gun and the target, and play with me here for a few rounds."

(End of this chapter)