Chapter 226 Business

The air was filled with restlessness.

As soon as the militia returned to Wolftown from the Valley of St. Guis, more than seventy convicts were gathered in the old square.

They were not told what to do, only heavily armed militiamen watched them eagerly.

The waiting process was extremely painful, and some timid labor prisoners had already begun to shed tears.

The labor prisoners also knew that there was a shortage of food in Wolf Town - the militiamen who guarded them only had two pieces of coarse bread for each meal, and the labor prisoners only had one bowl of wheat porridge.

But at least they live a relatively stable life. They have shacks to live in and food to eat. They don't have to kill or rob. Their daily work is to chop down trees, burn charcoal, and build houses.

But the current posture looks like they are going to be completely eliminated.

"My father said." A man said to the person next to him in fear: "Whoever the Magyar nobles want to kill, give him a shovel and let him dig a hole. When the digging is as deep as one person, he will dig the soil from above. Fill it back..."

"Damn it! Just look at it! I...I won't wait to die!" The person who answered was also trembling.

Someone shouted in despair at the militiamen: "What on earth do you want to do? Why torture people? Give them a good time!"

The militiaman held his weapon expressionlessly, and no one answered him.

The man wanted to continue shouting, but suddenly shut his mouth tightly because he saw the Montagne resident officer walking towards them.

Winters walked into the town square. He noticed the strange atmosphere, so he waved his hand to appease everyone: "Everyone, sit down and talk."

He also found a tree stump to sit on, but no one moved.

Winters repeated the command good-naturedly: "Sit down."

Like a sickle cutting through a wheat field, the people in the square all dwarfed and sat on the ground with a clatter.

"How many of you are landless laborers or sharecroppers?" Winters didn't like to talk nonsense and asked straight to the point: "Hands up."

Hands were raised one after another. Only two of the more than seventy people present did not raise their hands.

Winters asked the two men, "Are you two homesteaders?"

"No, sir." The tall and thin man shook his head quickly, and his answer was very logical: "My brother and I are brick-burners. No one buys bricks anymore, so our brothers have no choice but to flee, and then... Coming to you."

"what's your name?"

"Sean, Sean Bricklayer."

Winters nodded, remembered this person in his mind, and asked: "As far as I know, there are more than 200 households of hired workers and tenant farmers in Wolf Town alone. Where did the people who fled the famine go? They all became bandits. ?”

The convicts were at a loss, and some were muttering quietly.

In the end, it was the potter Sean who gave an unexpected and reasonable answer: "Gévaudin."

When there is no food anywhere, people will follow the food. Wherever there is food, there are people.

Where in the entire Jevaudan region has the most food now?

It is the city of Gevaudan.

It is ridiculous to say that in February, Gévaudin had to send troops to recruit soldiers.

Five months passed in the blink of an eye, and Gévaudan no longer had to worry about the source of troops.

Because most of the refugees have gathered with their families in the city of Jevaudan, begging to become soldiers to earn a living.

Therefore, recently the Rewardan garrison has only sent out a food collection team, but no more recruiting teams.

Winters asked again: "Except for these two bricklayers, all of you were originally farmers?"

All the labor prisoners nodded.

"If I provide you with land." Winters asked with piercing eyes, "Are you willing to farm in Wolf Town?"

There was an uproar in the town square, and the convicts were stunned and muttering among themselves.

"Quiet." Winters patted his palms lightly.

The town square suddenly became deathly silent again.

"Are you willing? Or not?"

An old man with gray hair stood up bravely and plucked up the courage to explain: "Sir, it's not that we don't want to farm. It's just that you gave us the land, but we can't farm now..."

"Old man, please sit down and talk." Winters asked, doubtful, "Why can't we plant?"

The old man was still standing. He organized his conversation for a long time before he said: "Sir, how can any long-term worker not want his own land? But the farming season... has passed."

The old man continued to explain with gestures for a long time, and only Winters, a sea blue man, understood what the other party meant.

To put it simply, farmers in Plato generally adopt a rotating farming system, with two agricultural cycles per year.

The planting cycle of staple food is from autumn of this year to early summer of the following year, and winter wheat is mainly planted.

The planting cycle of supplementary grains is from spring to autumn, with oats, rye and beans mainly grown.

If you have extra corner farmland, grow some vegetables to supplement the table.

It’s early August, right between two agricultural cycles and missing the farming season.

Moreover, crops will not mature overnight. If you want to farm, you must at least have grain reserves that can last for one agricultural cycle.

"Even if we plant winter wheat, we will all starve to death before the wheat is fully ripe." The old man became more and more sad as he spoke: "The land here is all sticky, and it takes four horses to open up wasteland." Plow, otherwise we can’t even turn over the soil. We don’t have horses or plows. Even if you give us land, we can’t open up wasteland..."

The remaining farmers nodded.

Winters listened carefully. He didn't bring a pen, paper or inkwell, otherwise he would have written it down.

He had considered this issue, but he had not considered it so deeply - because he did not understand farming at all.

After the old man finished speaking, he wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand.

After listening to the old man's words, Winters had made up his mind.

He took a deep breath, then exhaled deeply, and asked sincerely: "If I give you land, give you cattle and horses, give you plows, and give you enough grain to last until next year's wheat harvest, and give you everything you need... …how?"

The old man was stunned, as were the other farmers, and even the surrounding militiamen were stunned.

The old man's voice was trembling: "Give it to us forever? Or... just like before, we will be tenants and long-term workers?"

"To you forever." Winters said calmly and firmly, "As long as I am still here."

…

It’s noon on the fourth day after returning to Wolf Town from the Senges Valley.

In the barracks, Winters was sawing wood.

He was shirtless but wearing a pair of gloves, which looked extremely funny.

But you can’t do without gloves. Working without gloves will cause blisters—this is Winters’ labor experience.

He had mastered sawing wood, pushing forward slightly and pulling back hard.

Winters's arms moved back and forth like a machine, and the sawdust fell down with a "swish". The two others together couldn't work faster than him.

Erlun worked hard to gain a little fat for him, but now it's quickly lost again.

Compared with when he first left school two years ago, his figure has not changed significantly, and he has even lost some weight, but his muscle lines have become more symmetrical and obvious.

Pierre rode into the military camp and immediately spotted the centurion among the people working there.

He waited quietly until Winters finished the work at hand before speaking: "My mother invites you to my house for dinner."

Winters took off his gloves and replied with a smile: "Okay, but I have to wait until I change my pants."

Winters was now wearing a pair of worn-out rough work trousers, the original color of which had been soaked with sweat.

"Scarlett also asked me to measure your size. She wants to make you some clothes."

Winters smiled and shook his head. He walked to the bucket, picked up the bucket, and drank the salt water.

Not satisfied with just drinking, he poured the remaining water in the bucket over his head.

"Phew!" Winters wiped his face, laughed and splashed Pierre with water: "There is nothing more comfortable than drinking water after finishing work."

Pierre helplessly wiped the water droplets from his face.

Winters grabbed his shirt: "Samkin! Tamas!"

"yes!"

"I'll leave this to you!"

"yes!"

"Let's go!" Winters called to Pierre: "Go and see the blacksmith."

The Wolf Town Military Camp is diagonally across from the old church site and next to the town square.

The military camp at the moment was like a large construction site, with militiamen and labor prisoners working everywhere.

The previous seventy-odd labor prisoners had been pardoned by Winter, and the current laborers were the thirty-odd accomplices in Senges Town.

Wolf Town is rich in forest resources and there is no shortage of wood.

Winters is not short of manpower either. He has many "slaves" - although they are nominally called labor prisoners.

He could neither let the prisoners go, nor kill them indiscriminately, nor could he keep the prisoners in vain.

Winters' current solution is this: He provides food and shelter for the captives, who work for him and lose their freedom.

They are called labor convicts in name, but they are essentially slaves - but at least they still have one life left.

There are men and resources, but Winters only lacks food and tools.

Therefore, Winters immediately thought of the old blacksmith Misha.

Misha was lame in one leg during his service and was not drafted. As a result, he became one of the few remaining men in the village of Dussa.

Winters personally found Misha and asked him to come out again.

The ruins of the blacksmith's shop were cleared and the tools that were still usable were collected.

New wooden houses were quickly rebuilt on the original site, and the extinguished forges were rekindled.

Carlos, a young blacksmith, takes over from his brother and works as an assistant to old Misha.

Accompanied by the pleasant sound of "ding, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, clang", steel swords were forged into axes, jigsaws and heavy plows, while poor quality iron tools were beaten into nails.

Anyone who sees this scene can understand why blacksmiths occupy an important position in rural society.

Because human civilization needs tools, and tools are inseparable from blacksmiths.

The two blacksmiths, an old man and a young man, are busy from sunrise to late at night every day, and the demand for the tools they produce is still in short supply.

So the bricklayer brother was sent by Winters to Misha as his assistant.

In Winters' view, it was a pity to leave skilled craftsmen to farm the land. But he didn't need bricks now, so he had to ask the bricklayer brother to work as a blacksmith first.

The remaining refugees are working hard to clear land in preparation for winter wheat sowing in late September.

Except for the horses, all the large animals in Winters' hands were handed over to them.

Steel plows dug furrows into the hardened earth, and rows of wooden houses sprung up like bamboo shoots after a rain.

Wolf Town has been reborn amidst the ruins and is regaining its vitality bit by bit.

All of this makes Winters proud and happy from the bottom of his heart.

He is finally no longer a monster who only destroys, kills and destroys, he becomes a builder and creator.

But all of this made him feel worried and scared.

He placed double sentry posts on the road to Gévaudan and sent three reconnaissance cavalry towards Gévaudan.

Wolf Town is too isolated, and no matter how hard Winters tries, the outside intelligence he gets is very limited.

He was even considering going to Gévaudan himself.

But now, something else occupied his mind.

"Hey, when will the end of using human power to saw wood?" Winters complained to Pierre: "The efficiency is too low."

Pierre led the horse to follow Winters and suddenly asked: "There is nothing more comfortable than drinking cold water after working. Isn't that what you said?"

"That's not the same thing." Winters changed the subject lightly: "I'm going to build a water-powered sawmill."

"Where did the water come from?"

"Isn't there a river outside the town center?"

"The water is so shallow, is it possible?"

Winters was quite proud: "You don't understand this, right? The water truck first lifts the water into the reservoir, and then uses the reservoir to drive the paddle. No problem."

"oh."

"Why don't you feel surprised?"

"oh!"

Winters laughed, laughing and sighing suddenly.

He said distressedly: "Without the caravan, we can't buy anything, not even graphite. I went to work last night to draw the drawings of the sawmill, and I still used the inventory given to me by Lieutenant Colonel Jessica, and only the remaining A little bit. Sigh, I wonder how the Lieutenant Colonel is doing now?"

Hearing this, Pierre also sighed.

"What do you think, we find Lieutenant Colonel Jessica and take him to Wolf Town for retirement?"

"OK."

Thinking of the lieutenant colonel, Winters felt a little sad. He gritted his teeth and said, "I have to go to Gevaudan."

"I'll go with you." Pierre said without any hesitation.

"No, you have to stay." Winters laughed: "If I'm not here and you're not here, Wolf Town will collapse."

While walking and chatting, the two arrived at the blacksmith workshop.

Misha and Sean, the bricklayer, were forging nails. Sean's brother was sweating profusely and pulling the bellows. Carlos, the young blacksmith, was missing.

"Where are the Carlos people?" Winters was a little surprised: "Don't he want to see me?"

"Who knows?" Old Misha said helplessly: "The child and Vashika are mysterious. I don't know what they are doing."

While Winters was getting dressed, he asked the old blacksmith casually: "What do you think of this boy Carlos?"

"This kid... is pretty good." Old Misha shook his head and smiled bitterly: "The craftsmanship is also good, but it is much worse than his brother. His brother is calm and can sit still. Carlos has a smart mind and a lively temper."

Winters nodded, cleared his throat, and yelled, "Washika!"

Vasya's voice echoed not far away: "Coming! Coming!"

Big Clever and Little Clever ran back to the blacksmith shop out of breath.

Their clothes and trousers were covered with mud, as were their hands and faces. They looked like they had just been fished out of the mire, with only a pair of eyes showing.

"Are you two playing in the mud?" Winters didn't know whether to be angry or laugh.

Vashika said happily and dancing: "We have prepared a big gift for you!"

"What gift?"

"Guess what?"

The next second, there was a boot mark on Vashika's butt.

"What gift?"

Vashika didn't dare to talk nonsense anymore, and brought back a wooden board from outside the workshop as if it were a treasure. On the wooden board was a hand-shaped clay cup.

Even the clay is wet and not yet fired.

"Look! That's it!" Vashika said with joy, "With it! You won't have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of your life! I immediately thought of dedicating it to you!"

Everyone was confused, and Winters's face became more serious.

Pierre couldn't help but lectured: "Vasya! Stop making trouble! Why are you..."

"No!" Winters stopped Pierre: "Let him speak."

"Vasya didn't mean to offend you..."

Winters ignored the others and looked directly at Carlos: "Say it!"

"Montagne!" Carlos said with great enthusiasm: "This is a blast furnace!"

There was no need for Carlos to explain. While others were still confused, Winters had already figured out that this "clay cup" was actually a miniature model of a smelting furnace.

Although the workmanship is very rough, the bellows, filling port, and discharge port are all there are.

"I've seen a blast furnace." Winters asked Carlos directly: "Have you ever studied iron smelting?"

"Learned."

"Who can teach me?"

"My father."

"Your brother can do it too?"

"Sure."

"Can you build a stove?"

"meeting."

"Understand craftsmanship?"

"Know a little, my brother knows best."

Winters and Carlos were answering questions and talking very fast.

There are a total of seven people in the blacksmith workshop. Except for Winters and Carlos, four of them can't follow the conversation at all. Only Pierre can still vaguely understand it.

"Where does the charcoal come from?"

"If you have wood, you can burn it."

"mine?"

"Allow me to speak to you privately."

"Can you do it yourself?"

"I want my brother."

Winters sighed: "We really need to get your brother back quickly."

Carlos nodded desperately.

Winters took Pierre, Vashica and Carlos to a deserted area outside the blacksmith shop.

"Tell me, where did the iron ore come from?" Winters asked, "Since you took out this thing, you must be prepared."

Carlos didn't expect Winters to be so direct, so he looked at Vashika.

Vashika quickly answered: "Centurion, do you know why the Red River Department is called the Red River Department?"

"Why?" Winters had an ominous premonition.

"The Red River is the Hanlan River. Whenever heavy rains in spring and summer cause flash floods, the water of the Hanlan River will be as red as blood, so it is called the Red River!"

"go on!"

Carlos licked his lips and made up his mind and said: "In the Republic of Monta, there is also a Red River. The Monta people call her the Rose River. The Rose River... is right next to the Steel Fort."

Winters narrowed his eyes: "You don't want to tell me that the Red River Department guards an iron mine, and you don't know it, do you?"

"Shallow mines are different from deep mines!" Carlos said anxiously: "The red color of the Rose River comes from the iron ore sandstone washed away by rain. Both Hanlan River and Rose River originate from the Shade Mountains, and both change color when encountering flash floods. , then it is very likely that there are iron ores in the upper reaches of the Hanlan River."

"How to explore deep mines?"

"Go to Steel Castle to hire a prospector! You can hire them if you pay them!"

"How to mine?"

"There are people who can mine it, and the equipment can be bought from Steel Castle!"

"How to transport it to Hanlan River after buying it?"

After questioning and answering, Carlos was backed into a corner. But when he heard this question, he suddenly asked: "Sir, where do you think the iron from the Hede tribes comes from?"

"What do you mean?" Winters narrowed his eyes.

"Hurd Moor connects to the Republic of Monta."

"But across the mountain."

A subtle sneer appeared on the corner of Carlos's mouth: "Across the mountain...can't we take the caravan?"

Winters vaguely figured out something. He laughed loudly and spat hard: "Fuck!"

Pierre and Vashka didn't know why.

"What do you want?" Winters asked Carlos seriously.

"I want my brother to come back and come back safely."

"Okay! It's settled." Winters ordered Vashika: "Call Ciel."

Soon, Vashika brought Ciel over.

"Ciel, you go to the Red River Department." Winters made a quick decision: "Vashika, pick two people to accompany Charles."

"yes!"

"Bring me a message to the White Lion."

"What words?"

"Tell him." There was an indescribable emotion on Winters' face: "The transaction continues."

[The story of Chihebe, Chihebe, and Chihe is also revealed]

[The history of blast furnaces is still very long. At least in Winters' time, this smelting method already existed and was used in production. That’s why Winters had seen a blast furnace—he’d seen it at Victory Arsenal. But many things in industry do not lie in principles - the principles are very simple, but in processes and specific procedures]

[Book friends can take a look at<Alliance Map 1.0>, although it is not The forces of Hurd are drawn in, but it can also be seen that Hurd Wasteland is adjacent to the Monta Republic, only separated by mountains. ]

[My previous debts have also been paid. Now I have no debts and I feel relaxed]

[Thanks to book friends for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation votes, monthly votes, rewards and comments, thank you all]