The square burst into cheers.
“However, this is equivalent to breaking off relations with Longsong Stronghold, so they will not accept any person during the winter. As a result, this winter, we will all have to stay in Border Town. Most people have been at the west border of our town, there we are currently establishing a strong wall. I know many people are anxious of the invasion from the demonic beasts, but we can block them. I want to tell you, that the demonic beasts are not much more powerful than normal forest beasts. Although they have rough skin and thick meat, they cannot climb walls and they also cannot eat stones. They have a thick skin but they are just a group of easy to aim at targets! ”
“Tell me, my beloved people, are you willing to hide in Longsong Stronghold, living in shacks and starving to a useless death? Or under my leadership will you protect your loved ones and children, guarding Border Town until the last minute? I promise, everyone who stays until the end of the Months of the Demons and protects the other townspeople on the city wall will get a reward of 25 silver royals. If someone sacrifices himself while defending the town, his family will receive a compensation of five gold royals! ”
“Your Highness, we want to fight with you!” Under the guidance of his own people placed in the crowd, more and more people swore to wage war. Seeing the atmosphere surge up, Roland timely ordered to issue lunch. He did not expect that everyone would stay in Border Town. As long as half of the people were willing to stay, he would have a chance to obstruct the demonic beasts from moving forward.
While Petrov was bringing back the message to the six noble families only to be met with laughter, he naturally did not know that the 4th Prince was inciting the townspeople.
“You said that the incompetent prince actually wants to throw off the demonic beasts alone? Daring to build walls before winter, I don’t know, should I praise him for his courage or mock him for overestimating himself?”
“His Royal Highness’ lack of courage is a known fact, when did the 4th prince find his guts? He is just stupid, and nothing more!”
“Yes, he did not even have a stonemason, he is only leaning on piling up unpolished stones and pasting wet mud between it, I’m afraid this piled up stone wall will collapse immediately.”
“Anyway, it’s a good thing. If he flees to Longsong Stronghold, we will be at the mercy of nature. But if he dies in the border town… we can soon end this farce.”
After he had meditated about the problem, the duke suddenly spoke, “Petrov, what do you think?”
Petrov was startled, he did not think that the duke of Longsong Stronghold would ask for his opinion, “Well, I originally wanted to maintain a monopoly, as long as we could get the ore for thirty percent below the market price, it would still be a deal worthy for us, but…” His mind calculated some ideas,” but His Highness does not intend to sell all the ore to Longsong Stronghold, he is even selling the ore for a 50 % lower than the market price, which means, he has plans to make a substantial increase in the ore production next year. As long as they are able to increase the production to the double of the former years, we may earn more than ever before. But he also intends to sell their own production of iron, iron production is hot in demand, and resale would also be very easy. But… these are not the important points. ”
“Oh? What is important?”
“If he can hold Border Town, it would also be very good news for us. We wouldn’t have to focus on dealing with demonic beasts every year, which can save us a huge amount of expenditure. A second advantage would be that the vast amount land between the stronghold and the Border Town will be open for all of us. Whether it be cultivating the land or using it to settle new people, both choices would be good. This could greatly ease the current status of the overcrowded stronghold population.” Petrov recited his ideas one by one, “And the 4th prince will not always stay in Border Town. The fight for the throne will only last for five years, after five years we would get a more prosperous Border Town, and then we could include Border Town into the stronghold. Then the territory of the stronghold would become the third largest territory of the whole kingdom. So my advice is…” He glanced at the Duke, and said carefully, “The stronghold should send staff to help His Highness, and we should collaborate in the defense of Border Town.”
“That’s right,” said the duke, “but those are the thoughts of a merchant, only interested in gains and losses.”
When he came to this point, he straightened his body, his eyes slowly swept to each of the participants and his tone became awe-inspiring, “However, I didn’t get my status of today by weighing all the benefits with the losses. Why do I have to do business with a person who is out of my control? Some rules must be obeyed, and if they are broken the trespasser must be punished. Whether Border Town is prosperous or broken is not important, what is important is that no one should ever think about taking the control away from me — even if he is a prince, he is no exception. ”
Chapter 23 New source of power
“Come on, try to join these two iron plates together,” Roland said.
Anna’s finger pressed on the iron seams. A flame was ejected from her finger, melting the interface at a speed visible to the eyes.
“Reduce the firepower and start again with the reverse side.”
Anna nodded her head and did it once more. The two iron plates were firmly welded together at a 90-degree angle.
Roland carefully examined the interface and found that the effect was just as he had imagined — a perfect weld without any flaws. With a little polishing, the fluid traces of molten iron could rub off. There was no difference with a modern welding technique.
“Very good, Miss Anna, simply excellent!” Roland excitedly exclaimed, “Next, we should also weld this two iron panels together.”
“What is it? An iron… bucket?”
“No, it is a cylinder,” corrected Roland.
“Cylinder?” repeated Anna, puzzled.
“Yes, the cylinder can be filled with air,” Roland pointed to another square piece of iron, “Do you see the small hole above it? The air can enter the cylinder through that small hole, and push the piston. Well, and since the piston diameter is slightly smaller than the cylinder’s diameter, it can move freely inside. “
Even the genius Anna, in front of so many unknown words, had question marks above her head, “these… cylinder, piston and so on, what do they do?”
“They are needed for the purpose of manufacturing a machine that can move automatically.”
The steam engine brought the first industrial revolution, it was the driving force behind human development, completely replacing humans and animals in the workforce.
It was a schematic diagram that each mechanic engineer was familiar with, to describe it in simple words, it was a larger version of a kettle. After boiling the water, the produced steam would be induced into the cylinder. There, it would push a piston that is connected to a pole. Like this, thermal energy was turned into mechanical energy.
The principle was very simple, but it did not mean that it was easy to manufacture. Its difficulty laid in the sealing of the cylinder and piston, as well as the production of the gas pipeline. Without proper metal processing skills and only relying on manual forging, manufacturing a usable cylinder would only be a dream.
However, with the help of Anna’s ability, he could make up for the lack of their manufacturing skills.
After much advance planning, Roland came up with a design using four iron plates of the same size, like this, so the smithy could easily grind it. Then the iron plates would be welded together at a 90-degree angle by Anna. Like this, it was possible to get a highly stiff square cylinder. With the help of Anna, he didn’t need to use the traditional production process. They created first a tubular boring machine, and then post processed it to create a circular cylinder. The other big parts, too, could be divided into small pieces and then welded together. In this way, it was even possible to produce them in a small workshop. In this way, they were able to produce all of the components required for the steam engine.