Chapter 219: The Backbone of Steel

The crowded roads in the city were packed with people busy making a living. Their figures in gray raincoats looked like chess pieces that couldn’t find their positions in the cool rain, and also like hardworking ants.

On the roof of the grayish-white building in the distance, a few stray pigeons stood there blankly, as if they were full of worries, making the rain seem even more depressing. But the summer rain came and went as it pleased, without any certainty; in the blink of an eye, the dark clouds scattered completely.

The clear blue sky was like a finely polished sapphire mirror, reflecting the colorful fields, looking like a magnificent oil painting. Those white and green jades were vegetables still carrying some water droplets.

And what had turned slightly yellow was a field illuminated by the scorching sun. The pollen of the rye had escaped the dampness just now and was floating in the field, like a light mist.

The silent heat rose from the earth, shimmering, swaying idly and gently, just like fish swimming in a stream. At the same time, the rising water vapor looked like a wisp of blue smoke, and also like white mist. Waves formed around the heat to set it off.

In the distance, on the roofs of those buildings blocking the view, reflections of white or red clouds flashed continuously. These were the water droplets left by the new rain shining like diamonds under the sunlight.

The entire Poitou City had entered the atmosphere of early summer. The trees in the shade were dancing with their branches and leaves, and the weather started to get hot at noon. Idle teenage boys and girls had already put on cool summer clothes.

But the busiest porters were bare-chested, with thick linen pads hanging only on the weight-bearing parts of their bodies. These guys, who looked dull-eyed, clumsy, and had dark shiny skin, formed a strong contrast with those cheerful childish faces and this carefree laughter!

On this afternoon, following the light rain from the previous night, no dust rose from the roads. The branches of the locust and elm trees on both sides, whose leaves had not yet fallen, were dripping with green, very much meaning the clear and mild weather of early summer after the rain.

Very quickly, those little ones who had turned into mud monkeys were dragged back into their homes by their ears, amidst their mothers’ rolling pins and scoldings. The adults were all busy with their own work, and even these children couldn’t be idle; they had their own tasks—either responsible for housework, or the slightly older boys would often help their elders.

Boxes and bags of goods, under the recording and command of the freight station manager, were sorted and loaded onto different carriages. Those carriages would gather into a huge caravan, setting off early tomorrow morning. This journey might be as far as a hundred miles, and the difficulties and obstacles on the road were naturally hard to explain to outsiders. But this melody accompanied by the clatter of horse hooves and the wheels would bring a continuous stream of cash flow.

The circulation of materials not only brought monetary benefits, but also the continuous raw materials and constantly outputted goods. What it brought to the territory was not only material wealth, but the massive amount of labor also consumed the people’s physical strength, and the hope for the future made them more striving in spirit.

With the increasing weight of orders, the security in the territory had also improved a little. The number of quarrels and fights between neighbors showed a straight downward slide. However, the situation of going out drinking at night to relieve stress also became more and more frequent. The Security Squad of the Bolerum Territory had just breathed a sigh of relief for a few days, and had to start facing new challenges again.

Drunkards who were half-asleep could be said to be the best targets for Golden Fingers. It seemed that every day there were such unlucky people who couldn’t find their wallets when paying for their drinks.

Of course, there were also some pickpockets who were not sharp enough and failed, suffering physical friction far worse than before. Alcohol easily made people lose their reason, coupled with the personal experience or what they heard during this period, making the drunkards start to get a bit excited. The number of Golden Fingers who couldn’t get out of bed due to large areas of soft tissue contusion could even be said to exceed the sum of the previous two months.

Fortunately, the shadows under the lights couldn’t cause any major impact after all. The atmosphere of the entire territory was still thriving. The attack more than two months ago, although it cast quite a shadow over the residents in the territory.

But now, that burden had long been thrown behind by everyone. The fact that people are forgetful was sometimes really not wrong at all. However, the correct guidance played a crucial role here.

Groups of migrant workers wearing short coarse cloth and with dark faces carried hoes and shoulder poles, busy on the construction site. In an instant, the clanging sound of chiseling stones, the hey-yo shouts, and the loud work songs formed a majestic symphony.

The golden threads sprinkled by the blazing sun radiated from the corners of the houses, and the rainbow after the rain shone on the strong bodies of the workers. In the golden glow, one could clearly see them chiseling rocks, laying foundations, stacking bricks and tiles, building frames, setting up ladders, and erecting pillars.

They mixed their sweat into the primitive mud, turned their own muscles and bones into load-bearing stone pillars, and cast the stability of the foundation with the cohesion of their will. Their dazzling figures were branded on the adjacent buildings, and their crystal sweat was left on the construction site.

This lively construction scene was exactly the civilian district of Poitou City that was being rebuilt. After two months of construction, the original streets were widened, and the cobblestone roads full of nostalgic atmosphere had turned into current stone slab roads.

The construction process moving westward made those houses that had been completed early the focus of the residents’ attention.

The original long street was curved and narrow, and next to the street, crowded together, were mostly old wooden houses. Their uneven roofs and dilapidated forms, only that intimate proportion and scale, were the memories of home.

And the current three-story small buildings, with the bright tones of white walls and blue tiles, and the three-dimensional external pillars made of earth and stone gave people a majestic feeling. The most important thing was that the road was wide, and the originally gloomy and damp atmosphere had long been blown away by the flowing fresh breeze.

After the gloomy atmosphere was swept away, the entire block had a brand-new feeling compared to the past. It was like changing from the small citizen who originally sought stability and did not seek change, to the entrepreneurial youth who are constantly struggling now.

The first batch of residents who returned had nothing but praise for the houses! The government’s actions and responsibilities gave the residents of the entire territory heartfelt trust during that darkest time.

Every day people came here to watch the construction. Not only the disaster victims who hadn’t moved into their new homes, but also residents from other blocks, and even merchants or travelers passing by here.

This plan formulated by George and his contribution not only stabilized the hearts of the people in the territory, but was also an effective external advertisement. The image of “never abandoning, never giving up” and the responsible style spread wider and wider with the journeys of these people.

Following this, the number of Freemen applying for settlement in the Bolerum Territory during this period became one and a half times that of the past. Although there was no explosive growth, it was a good start at least. Unfortunately, the number of 60 to 70 people per month was still a drop in the bucket for relieving the labor shortage!

But at least water was coming, wasn’t it? And what came was high-quality mineral water! The three newly opened blacksmith shops in the city were recruiting apprentices, requiring half-grown boys over fourteen years old with strength in their arms.

Now, a long line formed in the alley of the workshop area. After all, a blacksmith was not only a craft for survival, but also a decent job. Although their work objects were mainly iron practical items: knives, pliers, door locks, horseshoes, pots and pans, various farm tools… and at the same time putting horseshoes on horses, in the hearts of young people, it was simply the perfect combination of creativity and strength! The bare upper body and strong muscles gave people the feeling that it was a very masculine profession.

Regardless of those intricacies of image and psychology, if just two or three small blacksmiths cooperated with each other, they could make nearly ten thousand nails every day. With their hands, they cut bundles of iron wire, hammered the tips, and flattened the heads, extremely skillfully. With the current consumption of the Bolerum Territory, of course, whatever was produced was consumed. Whether it was the repair of houses or the construction of ships, both were major consumers of iron! After deducting consumables, each blacksmith could also earn nearly one Gold Coins.

The petty citizens were often short-sighted, and the current hot situation was enough to make them yearn for it.

At the same time, blacksmiths also made swords, of course, this required better steel. Blacksmiths with superior skills could make helmets and armor that were both fitting and exquisite. Although it couldn’t be said that weapons could win the world, a side without sharp blades often easily found itself at a disadvantage. So from a military point of view, blacksmiths were very important. Although they were respected, their social status was not considered high, but they won in stable income.

Of course, this low social status was also compared with the Noble class. Among the Freemen, the status of senior blacksmiths was extraordinary. Even in the Knight’s Manor of the Kingdom of Coruz to the south, the blacksmith was the only non-noble member who did not need to salute. In remote and ignorant places, some people even thought they possessed some kind of magic power.

And in the Commercial Republics further away, iron products were often combined with architecture. Outdoor balcony railings, gates, fences of courtyard walls, indoor stair handrails, door handles, door locks, fireplace mantels, etc. Blacksmiths often made iron products according to drawings, and their pattern designs were very exquisite, and some iron products could be called works of art.

When in Karada, George had once seen such products. Although in the eyes of many blacksmiths, this approach was considered a crooked path, it did not hinder the other party from living comfortably.

For the blacksmiths who came to the Bolerum Territory to settle down and start businesses, George welcomed them with both hands. Just the fact that it greatly accelerated the construction of the territory was enough to make George smile even in his sleep. What’s more, it could also serve as a talent reserve for the possible wars to come.

If they really waited until the flames of war ignited, the transportation of materials might not be as convenient as it is now. Even for the goods that successfully arrived, the rising price might be high enough to make people despair—this kind of thing had not never happened in history.

At a time like this, increasing one’s own supply capacity appeared particularly important. The Bolerum Territory was closely adjacent to the Baron West Territory, which had several large iron mines. Not making good use of such resource conditions would be punished by heaven. Besides, during a great war, the loss of weapons and armor would also far exceed daily use. Relying on the original blacksmiths for maintenance work alone, I’m afraid, would be inadequate.

After a few days of screening, those blacksmith shops selected a few new apprentices from the best. That furnace used for forging iron blanks was the partner these young men would need to stay with for a long time to come. At the connection of the furnace, there was a large hand-pulled bellows, mainly used to control the temperature and intensity of the fire, generally called controlling the heat.

For the newly arrived apprentices, besides moving things, the most arduous work was that. It was also the first craft to learn and the easiest to master. The furnace that never went out all year round and the black smoke that constantly emerged might accompany these little guys who still looked a bit childish for their whole lives.

The sound of “ding ding dang dang” kept coming from the blacksmith shop, which was the sound of the master and apprentice starting to forge finished products. A blacksmith who had just arrived generally brought one or two senior apprentices. The main job of the apprentices was to use a large iron hammer five or six times larger than their master’s to help the master beat the iron blank heated by the furnace fire into the required shape for making tools. Of course, in the final stage of tool forming, there was no work for the apprentices; quenching and shaping with a small hammer were the tools that tested a blacksmith’s skills the most.

Watching the sparks bursting from the hammer and the red-hot metal on the anvil, George felt that the pressure he had endured before was worth it: ‘Yes, these are the senior technicians of this world, these are the metal process engineers of this world. This is the representative of the advanced productive forces of this world! Unlike the mystery of Mages which is high above and difficult to approach, this is the technology that can truly benefit all people. When the number of blacksmiths increases, I will step forward to form a blacksmith union. Rely on these experienced old craftsmen to start improving the craft. In the future, the weapons of our territory warriors will definitely not lose to others. But suddenly these few blacksmith shops appeared, the charcoal used for iron smelting originally seems not enough.’

Generally speaking, the fuels used for iron smelting were charcoal and coal. However, because the requirements for fuel were relatively high, only about ten kilograms of coal in one hundred kilograms of coal could be used for iron beating, and the charcoal that could beat iron was often called iron charcoal. Charcoal performed obviously much better in this regard, but in terms of output and cycle, it was often not as practical as using coal—the “Greenpeace” of this world was not peaceful at all, the ferocity of the extremist Druids was known to all.

As for the coking process for coke, George, a Transmigrator, did not have any understanding of this technology which was almost essential for every transmigrator. Although he knew it was the product made by heating bituminous coal to 950-1050℃ under the condition of isolating air, going through stages of drying, pyrolysis, melting, bonding, solidification, and shrinkage. But what about the process flow! What were the key controls! And the most basic what type of kiln body to use were all problems that needed to be solved one by one. Even if a top student in modern metallurgical chemical industry traveled over, he couldn’t solve this problem in a short time!

After all, the preconditions for the two were completely different. What was used at that time was modern high technology, and here, even using the indigenous coking method of World War II had considerable difficulty. Moreover, this kind of backward and heavily polluting craft was often not taught in current academies anymore. The time spent converting those theoretical data into operable production processes was a lot!

The various processes that needed to be paid attention to in the production process needed repeated experiments. Heaven knew how his peers in those novels George had read back then managed to do that. Anyway, George himself did not have such divine powers.

What he could do was only to point out the direction for those craftsmen in the territory. Then provide relatively sufficient material conditions for their research and development. After that, there was only a long wait. This topic, which had started since last year when there was a fiscal surplus, had been progressing slowly so far. It seemed that there was a bit of a meaning of a “within this lifetime” series in it!

‘I learned since I was a child that the steel industry is the backbone of a country. Although that was a saying after industrialization, it might not be the case in this world! Otherwise, I wouldn’t be so happy just because of the arrival of a few blacksmiths. I hope that one day, the steel output and pig iron output of our Bolerum Territory can truly meet our own needs! If it can become famous for excellent metals, then I must let my descendants write letters and burn them for me!’ George, who sensed that the road ahead was difficult, revealed such a bitter smile far away outside that blacksmith shop.

Of course, loss and gratitude were not the main theme of George’s life. He quickly controlled his emotions and signaled the carriage to drive out of the city. As a Lord, George shouldered the responsibility and trust of the entire territory. He could not show any weakness in front of people, even at the funerals of the warriors he got along with day and night, he could not make a single cry.

In this country that advocated iron and blood, George could be arrogant, could be rampant, and could even be cruel, but weakness was absolutely not allowed. This would make the subjects distrust the territory, and then affect the control of the entire territory.

The endless stream of caravans and pedestrians passed by George’s carriage. He was now going to routinely check the work situation of the port.

After the beginning of spring, the ice at the northern port thawed, which once caused the cargo throughput of Morbihan to continue to slide. Of course, in George’s view, this belonged to a normal phenomenon. However, recently, with the continuous spread of the territory’s reputation, this cargo throughput actually started to rise again. For George, this unexpected joy definitely needed to be kept thoroughly by doubling his efforts!