"Do you know how to smelt iron?" Winters asked Carlos Sawyer, the younger brother of the great blacksmith Balian, seriously.

Carlos was a little flustered by the thunderous question. He hesitated and hesitated: "Yes... Sir, didn't you agree to rescue my brother and start the furnace again?"

"I asked you if you can?" Winters frowned slightly: "Or not?"

Carlos was forced into a corner and forced himself to speak: "Yes!"

Seeing Carlos's evasive attitude, Winters guessed that this kid was probably not good at school.

In fact, Carlos has another layer of thinking. He is not willing to show his skills before his brother comes back, but he is also afraid that no one will save his brother without proving his worth.

"Relax." Winters sighed: "I will save your brother no matter whether you contribute or not. I have sent people to look for Balian, and there will be news soon. You are not afraid, your brother is

My old subordinate, his friendship with me is much deeper than you think. That’s why Pierre will take you and protect you, so I won’t embarrass you.”

Carlos' nose felt sore and he nodded heavily.

The three Sawyer brothers, Carlos's father and second brother, are no longer here. Everything he did was for his eldest brother to return home safely.

Winters sighed, there is no small blacksmith, a small blacksmith should be able to do it...probably.

Not waiting for time, Winters took Carlos, immediately picked up the gifts, and went to visit the father-in-law of the blacksmith Shaosha.

The name of Shaucha's old father-in-law was, and he had many honors: he was one of the first settlers in Gevaudan, the first blacksmith in Gevaudan, the first president of the Gevaudan Blacksmiths Guild...

When Gevaudin was still just a few thatched cottages on the banks of the Saint-Georges River, the flames were already rising in the forge of Portin.

The history of his forge is even older than the name "Gévaudin".

Boltan did not change his self-made character. No matter how much property he saved, he still worked at the anvil himself every day, so he gained the reputation of "hard-working, shrewd and tough".

Because of his loud voice, sense of responsibility, and resolute approach to work, the blacksmith Boltan gradually became the leading figure in Gévaudin, and his words were no less important than that of another gentry leader, the tobacco merchant Old Priskin.

But it all ended with the accident eight years ago.

Boltan, who was over fifty years old, had his back broken by a hanging beam. He could no longer feel his body below the waist.

The smart and capable blacksmith has since become a useless person who can't even eat, drink or take care of himself.

Everyone in Gevaudan felt sorry for him, but even if everyone's sighs were combined and magnified a hundred times, it would not be worth the mental and physical pain of the old man.

It was at that time that Shaosha, a young blacksmith who worked in Boltan's forge, was adopted as his son-in-law by the old Boltan.

Blacksmith Shaucha became the new master of the forge, and old Boltan lived in seclusion and could not even see him during weekly worship.

But today, an unexpected guest came to the old Boltan house - the military tribune Winters Montagne.

Winters had made an appointment with Chauchat at a different time, but he always arrived early to do whatever came to his mind.

Shaucha and old Boltan were both extremely surprised.

"There is also a distinguished gentleman who comes to see me, a paralytic who is waiting to die." Old Boltan tried hard to hold up his upper body: "It is really a great honor."

The old man is very thin, like a layer of skin hanging on his bones. Years of being bedridden has caused his muscles to atrophy, and his cheeks to be deeply sunken and droopy.

Looking at the old Boltan now, no one would believe that he was once a tall and strong blacksmith with a loud voice, a man who laughed and cursed.

Shao Sha quickly reached out to help his father-in-law.

"No need to bother, let the old man do whatever he feels comfortable with." Winters said frankly: "Actually, I only come to visit if I have something to ask for."

"You can just ask." Old Boltan looked calm: "I will tell you everything I know."

"I want to know everything about the Tiefeng Mine. Where is the mine? What are the reserves? What is the quality of the ore? Can it still be mined? You are the person who knows the history of Tiefeng County and Rewardan best. I take the liberty to ask you. I hope you can

Don’t mind, old gentleman.”

Hearing that "the one who knows the best about Tiefeng County and the history of Gevaudan" made Old Boltan's mood fluctuate a little, but the ripples disappeared under the water in the blink of an eye.

"There are so many things, I don't know where to start."

Winters simply pulled up a chair and sat down, then motioned for the others to sit down as well: "Then I'll ask, and I hope you won't hesitate to answer. Can Tiefeng Mine still be mined?"

"Yes." The old man nodded: "Tiefeng Mountain is a mountain covered with iron. The Hud people only mined the shallow veins, and they did not know how to mine deeper. When we came here, we dug three inclined shafts from the north of the mountain.

, is the so-called Tiefeng Mine.”

Winters nodded and listened, and took out a small notebook: "Then why did you stop mining later?"

Old Boltan sighed deeply: "The ore from the Iron Peak Mine... is the poisonous ore that the blacksmiths call it. You may not understand, but Shaosha and this little guy should understand."

The old man pointed at Carlos with his chin.

Although Winters did not introduce Carlos, the young blacksmith was still identified by the old man at a glance.

"Poisonous ore is bad ore." Carlos said in a lower voice: "It is not good to smelt iron. It needs to... remove the poison."

Hearing the compound word "detoxification", old Boltan's eyes flashed with suspicion.

But the old man didn't get it straight and continued: "Hematite, black iron, and magnets are the best for smelting iron. Purer rhombus can also be used, and brown iron can also be used. But if it contains too much yellow iron and crystalline iron,

The smelted iron is not good. It is brittle and easy to break."

Winters listened and took notes. There were so many blacksmith jargons in the old man's mouth that he barely understood them.

But the old man was in a lively conversation, and Winters thought it best not to interrupt.

Old Boltan recalled the past: "Tiefeng Mine is also considered a rich ore, because the ore is too toxic, so only in the first few years we used the ore produced by Tiefeng Mine to smelt iron. Later, the iron bars from Steel Castle came in, and the iron

Feng Mine has gradually declined."

"Is it still possible to resume mining?" Winters asked seriously.

"Of course." The old man smiled lightly: "The ore is in the mountains, what can't be mined?"

"I'll tell you the truth, old man." Winters said frankly: "I want to restart the Tiefeng Mine and open a furnace to smelt iron."

"Why bother?" Old Boltan was half leaning on the bedside: "Wouldn't it be a good idea to buy steel castle bars?"

Winters answered truthfully: "We can no longer buy steel bars. Now all the blacksmiths in Tiefeng County are using their stocks. If this continues, I'm just waiting to die."

As soon as he finished speaking, the small room suddenly became quiet.

…

The steel castle Solingen is located in the Republic of Monta, nestled among the shaded mountains.

Therefore, the way of transportation for steel castle ironware and iron bars entering Plato is "waterway", all the way down the river to the Jinliu River.

To transport it to Tiefeng County, you need to start again from the Jinliu River, first to Mirror Lake, and then upstream along the Dajiao River until you unload the ship at Shouzi Port in Shouzi Lake.

In peacetime, of course there is no problem, but now Blue Rose and Red Rose are at war.

The power of Blue Rose lies between the control area of ​​​​Red Rose and the Monta Republic.

Want to transport it to Jinliu River?

At the level of Blue Rose, Steel Castle's goods cannot pass - as long as Arpad has no problem with his mind, he will immediately cut off Steel Castle's iron delivery to Red Rose.

What's even more tragic is that even after passing the Blue Rose level and the Red Rose level, the king's castles will not just watch the looming New Reclamation Province receive iron supplies.

Even if you can pass the Red Rose level, there will still be a new reclamation army!

Tiefeng County is currently under a triple blockade, with each level becoming more stringent.

Let alone ready-made bars of iron, even a grain of iron slag cannot be transported.

And there are so many places where Winters needs to use iron right now.

Farming requires agricultural tools, and agricultural tools require iron;

Winters had to build houses for the refugees and soldiers, and he needed tools, and the tools also needed iron;

He also had to rearm his army as much as possible - he couldn't just let his soldiers fight with short spears, right?

He wants armor, swords, spears, and muskets, all of which are made of iron.

Winters, who won the battle, sadly discovered that: this land can make tables and chairs, make clay pots, grow grain, grind flour, and make paper, but not a pound of iron, a foot of woolen cloth, or a piece of armor.

make.

Tiefeng County is a completely backward agricultural frontier county. Its business is not very developed and it only has a small-scale handicraft industry.

The large estate economy resulted in poverty for everyone except the estate owners.

In the past, Tiefeng County made a living by selling crops and buying things she could not produce.

But now, Tiefeng County's logistics channels with the outside world have been cut off.

There are only two paths before Winters: either sit back and wait for death, or fight hard and become self-sufficient.

…

"So that's it." Old Boltan pondered for a moment: "Then I can understand your eagerness to restart the Tiefeng Mine, but it's not easy."

"This matter is not just for my survival." Winters said seriously: "A wise man told me, 'The more money circulates, the more money there is.' Have you heard of it?"

"No, shouldn't money become less and less as it circulates?" Old Boltan's voice was deep.

Winters preached this story every chance he got: "For individuals, money circulates less and less. The longshoreman gets paid and goes to buy bread. The baker earns money and goes to the mill to buy flour. Every time the money changes hands,

It will all be reduced a bit. In the end, only a small part will end up in farmers’ pockets.”

He originally quoted Anna as saying: "But when a baker earns money, he can support his family. When a miller earns money, he can also support his family. Every circulation of money makes the city and even the country more prosperous.
To be continued...