Chapter 242 New Domain of Architecture

The awarding ceremony lasted until noon, and Roland, who was the awarder, commentator and host, was exhausted by the end. Fortunately, the ceremony finally ended successfully amid the ringing of bells and gun salutes at noon. ??????????????? Back to the castle sweating profusely, just stepped on the third floor, he saw Anna leaning against the door of the office with a smile on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"You'll know when you go in," she blinked her beautiful lake blue eyes.

It couldn't be some prank show, Roland pushed open the door in a daze, and then froze on the spot—there were twelve witches standing neatly in two rows, with Scroll and Wendy at the front. Seeing the appearance of the prince, everyone raised their skirts, bowed their knees, and saluted.

"Ahem, you guys are..."

Shujuan was the first to speak, "Your Highness, your actions have proved everything you said. The sisters are very grateful for this. No words can describe our gratitude. Please let us continue to serve you in the future."

"So that's it," Roland breathed a sigh of relief, "I thought you were going to bid farewell collectively."

"Pfft," Wendy couldn't help laughing, "How is it possible, Your Highness, this is the holy mountain that witches dream of. As long as you don't drive us away, we hope to live here forever."

"And this is what I want to see... In fact, you don't have to be like this. I'm not only helping you, but also helping myself. Don't be too serious, I prefer your relaxed appearance."

"Hmph, I just said there's no need to be so formal," Lily snorted, "Look, he still thinks we're taking us too seriously."

"How can I say that, didn't you agree just now?" Mystery Moon muttered in a low voice, "Traitor!"

"Okay, let's go to the dining room first, Your Highness still needs to change clothes." Scroll helplessly held his forehead, "By the way, Miss Anna said that you have been sleeping late recently? Please take care of yourself. Before that goal is achieved, you Don't fall down."

"Don't worry," Roland smiled, "I'm in good health."

After the witches filed out, only he and Anna were left in the office.

"Why, do you want to thank me too?" Roland teased her.

"Well... I want to say the same as them," Anna raised her lips, "No words can describe my gratitude." "

"Then...hope to live in Border Town forever?"

"Not always."

Roland was startled, his heart skipped a beat, "Why?"

"Because you won't stay here forever," Anna tilted her head and said, "...and no matter where you go, I will always follow you."

A warm current surged in his heart suddenly, since the day he met her, her thoughts have never changed. Whether facing the invitation of the Mutual Aid Society or the critical moment of fighting against evil beasts, she always chooses to stand with herself.

At this moment, Anna suddenly took two steps forward and hugged him gently.

"Wait, I'm sweaty." Roland reminded.

The girl didn't answer, but put her head on his chest, as if wanting to write down the taste, she took a deep breath. He finally gave up his plan to push her away, and put his arms around her fair neck, not letting go for a long time.

...

After lunch, Roland took a cold shower and quickly got back to work.

He called Carl Vanbert, spread out a detailed map of Border Town, and pointed to the location of Chishui River, "I want to build a bridge here."

"Not a pontoon bridge?" Carl thought for a moment and said, "Please forgive me, Your Highness, the Chishui River is nearly 100 meters wide. It is almost impossible to build a stone bridge. Even if it is an arch bridge, it can only cross it at most. One-third of the distance, and the water flow of the Chishui River is so great that the bridge piers can't stand at all, and even a stone pile as thick as a person will be washed down... Except for the raft crossing and the pontoon bridge, there is no bridge on the entire river. "

"It's not a stone bridge, but a bridge of steel," Roland explained. "There are three spans in total, and the pier in the middle will be dealt with by witches. You only need to set up its approach bridge in place in advance. But I asked for a slope at the head of the bridge. Raise the entire bridge so that river sailboats can pass without the mast touching the bottom of the bridge."

"Isn't that setting up the bridge to the sky?" Carl was surprised.

"It's only about six or seven meters above the ground." He drew a schematic diagram of the three-span iron bridge on the sketch, "In order to better open the south bank and build the dock in the future, there must be a bridge on the river that will not affect the passage of ships. Although the pontoon bridge is simple, it is equivalent to blocking the river, which is not good for subsequent development."

The first army expedition's trip to the capital gave Roland a lot of inspiration - he found that the rivers in Graycastle extend in all directions, and the major cities are basically built next to several major rivers. If we start domestic operations in the future and have several shallow-water heavy gunships, it will definitely be a sharp weapon for providing fire support and conquering land—after all, the power of naval guns known for their calibers is far beyond that of field guns. To build a ship, he must first have a dock, so the plan for a steel bridge came into being.

"But I don't have experience in building similar bridges..." Carl seemed a little hesitant.

"Me neither." Roland shrugged. "Just treat it as the first time to explore slowly. You can build a bridge on the bank to test it. If there is no problem, move to the Chishui River," he told the other party by the way. The construction concept of integral prefabrication and one-time hoisting is "just like installing a water tower, with hummingbirds to reduce its weight, and your student Anna to help assemble and weld, it will not be difficult."

"As you ordered, Your Highness." He nodded.

"Besides, there is another very important project to entrust to you," the prince moved his finger to the castle area, "I plan to expand the size of the backyard to enclose all the open space on the high ground, and build a three-story building here." floors."

If everything goes well, Tilly's five witches will arrive in Border Town next month, and there are no more guest rooms in the castle. Although it is possible to change it to a three-person room temporarily, there will always be more and more witches in the future, and it is impossible to make do with it forever. The superior living environment and all kinds of novel and comfortable experiences are also one of his strategies for retaining witches. Whether it is the ancient people's difficulty of changing from luxury to frugality, or the modern sugar-coated cannonball theory, a beautiful and comfortable life can always make people addicted to it .

"A three-story...brick house?"

"It's not exactly a brick house," Roland smiled. "Its name should be called a brick-concrete structure. The roof pillars and roof beams are made of reinforced concrete, just like human bones. This structure can make the house If it is built higher, it will be no problem to add four or five floors in the future.”

"Reinforced...concrete?" Carl repeated, bewildered.

“It’s a mixture of cement, sand and stones, and steel bars are implanted in the middle to enhance its bending resistance,” he said. “Of course, the exact amount of each ingredient needs to be strictly tested. Stronger than natural bluestone."

Theoretically speaking, this kind of thing has a very large room for flexibility in quality, and it is also concrete. The cement bought in the countryside and configured by itself is completely different from the metering configuration of the mixing station. The same is true for steel bars... When some people build their own houses on the homestead, they don't even put pebbles, or use iron wire or bamboo chips instead of steel bars. starting process.

And he also planned to follow suit. After all, it was only a three-story house, and it would be difficult to collapse no matter how cut corners were made.

In addition, he hopes that through the Witch Residential Building Project, Karl can master this perfect building material that can change shape at will, like artificial stone. As one of the development directions of the construction industry, concrete occupies almost half of the country. He is not proficient in architecture, and what he knows is the superficial knowledge he learned from the countryside. Therefore, it is the right way to broaden the vision of the mason and lead him on the right path.

"Um...does this take me to groping too?" he asked.

"No," Roland smiled slightly, "I can teach you this." (To be continued.)