When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 746 I Want to Build a New Cold Spring Fort

When Horn does things, efficiency is the most important thing.

According to Spitrochu's arrangement, they would rest on the first day, inspect Cold Spring Castle during the day on the second day, hold a banquet in the evening, and discuss business under the pretext of going out hunting on the third day.

But Shengsun's arrangement was to rest in the morning, inspect in the afternoon, and hold a banquet in the evening to discuss business.

Horn calls it efficient.

The local nobles called it divine gold.

After lunch, Horn drank a large pot of blue coffee and dragged the sleepy Spitrochu out the door.

The workshops and nobles were naturally in chaos as they hastily made preparations to welcome the guests.

Riding on a tall horse, Horn hummed a tune and looked around at the town in front of him.

The residents around also looked up curiously, looking at this noble who came from nowhere.

No one knew who was riding the horse, but the one leading the horse was the titled knight Spitrochu.

Horn had already read the information about Cold Spring Castle from various Cheka investigation reports and books, but he was still very interested at this moment.

This was the first time he had seen it with his own eyes.

The location of Cold Spring Castle was originally a sloping hillside with a relative height of about five or six hundred meters.

However, due to the good river transportation conditions and mineral deposits, it was transformed into a mining transportation town.

The hillside was transformed into a two-story stepped platform, and the river beach area is three stories high.

The cold springs flowing down from the Amethyst Mountains fall down these three steps until they merge into the Silver Line River.

Combined with the various sluice gates and waterways built by the mountain people, a natural drainage and water use system has been formed.

How come there is no such convenient natural stream in the Holy See?
Horn reached out and touched the clear cold spring water. Although it was summer, he could still feel a slight chill.

Wiping the water off his hands on his pants, he raised his head and looked upwards: "Where are we?"

"The dock level," Spitrochu explained, "is where merchants and civilians live.

The second floor is for artisans, but it is also where soldiers live, and the courtyard at the top is for the nobility.”

As if fearing Horne's misunderstanding, the Knight of the White Horse explained, "We arranged you at the dock area because the top floor is difficult to climb and the craftsmen's floor has a pungent smell. On the contrary, the environment near the stream at the dock area is more beautiful.

Most of the nobles of Cold Spring Castle usually live in the docks or country mansions, and only go up the mountain in winter."

Horn didn't care about this, but he couldn't help but say about the houses on both sides and the hillside: "You and Black Snake Bay are located in the south and north, and the climate is very different. You both use steep sloping roofs and stilt houses."

"It's all to protect against rain, snow and moisture. There's nothing we can do about it."

The climate in North Mound County is cool, and even now, at the highest temperature in summer, you won’t feel hot even if you wear a long-sleeved shirt.

Horn estimated that the temperature he felt would not exceed 25 degrees Celsius, but it is common for the temperature to drop below zero in winter.

"So how do you keep warm?"

"Furs and wood."

Horn was stunned. He remembered that the prices of peat and woolen cloth had been lowered.

"Why not peat and woolen cloth? They are cheaper than wood and furs."

Spitrochu hesitated for a moment: "The shipping cost is too expensive, and there are many forests in North Mound County, so there is not much need for firewood."

Horn turned around and confirmed with Cheka beside him: "I heard that the price of firewood in Cold Spring Castle has risen again recently?"

"Didn't you ask for an expansion of production? Burning medicine jars to smelt iron will naturally require more firewood for heating, so the price of firewood will naturally be higher."

The inertia of this tradition is still strong. The heating effect of one ton of peat is equivalent to one and a half tons of firewood. If the peat has been distilled and purified, it can even be equivalent to two tons.

But the locals still prefer to use firewood for heating and iron smelting.

"What about the fur? Why not sell it to a fur trader? It's enough to buy two sets of clothes."

Spitrochu's eyes flickered immediately. Without any guessing, Horn knew that it must be the nobles who were causing trouble.

Without exposing Spitrochu's embarrassment, Horn changed the subject and continued to inspect the craftsmen's floor.

By the time we finished visiting the three-story town and several small manors nearby, it was already evening.

Horn took another shower and changed his clothes, and by the time he arrived at the banquet, he was already "late" by half an hour.

To be precise, he arrived just on time. The etiquette of the nobles was to arrive at least 25 minutes in advance. Arriving on time or late was considered impolite.

The merchants and nobles were all well-dressed, but their faces did not look very good.

The only one who can do such a thing casually is His Majesty the Despotic Prince.

Seeing Horn walk in, the atmosphere was still very cold, and the usually arrogant White Horse Knight had no choice but to step forward and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, our guest of honor, the Patriarch, is here.

His Highness the Patriarch cares about the believers and has been busy accepting their sincere confessions all day. Come, let us toast to His Highness the Patriarch’s diligence and piety.”

"agreed, agreed!"

"Come on, come on."

With some nobles and businessmen creating a heated atmosphere, everyone finally raised their glasses to toast.

Horn naturally raised his glass high and responded: "I was in a hurry and had to compress the time, which made everyone else hurried. Thank you for your understanding."

After taking a sip of wine, the originally dull banquet finally became lively again.

After taking the first sip of the special acorn wine, a wave of heat rushed to his head. Taking advantage of this heat, Horn said loudly: "Everyone, please be quiet."

The nobles, merchants, and dwarf craftsmen who had just turned their attention away all looked over.

Eyes, either wary, curious, or jealous, were focused on Horn.

Horn had long been accustomed to such looks, and announced bluntly: "I am here not only to express my condolences to our soldiers who are fighting bravely on the front line, but also to bring you two good news.

First, I plan to build a total of 150 kilometers of railway trains between the mountainous counties for the transportation of goods.

In this way, even mines and wastelands deep in the mountains can be redeveloped.”

There was a startle in the banquet hall at first, and then everyone looked at each other and saw the golden light in each other's eyes.

They don't care about the so-called function of the rails.

What they care about is the order!

They knew about railroad tracks, which were a big business.

Even if Horn only repairs 25 kilometers a year, that's 500 tons of cast iron!

It’s enough to support more than a dozen smelters. How can I not be happy?

"it is good!"

"Great!"

"Come, let's toast to His Highness the Patriarch."

"Holy grandson will always be healthy!"

The atmosphere of the banquet was instantly ignited by Horn, and the laughter and cheers almost reached the sky.

"Hey, don't worry." Horn still held the cup in his hand and looked at everyone with a smile, "There is a second piece of good news.

Gentlemen, the construction of the Taibo River dam has been completed, and the swamp in the Muddy Field has also been cleared. We have discovered a large amount of gall water and a huge amount of iron ore in South Mound County.

My God, you have definitely never seen the kind of iron ore that has not been mined for thousands of years, and any piece of it can be used as iron.

Guess what? We also discovered a mithril deposit with an estimated total yield of over ten tons!

Coincidentally, the Taibo River Dam can provide a large amount of water power to drive the spring.

So, I expect to build a new smelter in Ni Tan Township, or to be more precise, it is already under construction.

By the way, I also want to build a new city and call it New Cold Spring Castle!

This time I went to see His Excellency the Despot to use her connections to bring in a group of Norn blacksmith immigrants.

I know that you are not happy with my plan to expand steel smelting, so I moved the entire plan to the Muddy Field.

How about this, is this good news?"

"well……"

Compared with the previous earth-shaking momentum, this time's "good" was like the buzz of a mosquito.

No matter they were nobles or dwarves, no one could laugh.

(End of this chapter)