Chapter 155: The New Visitors
Translator:Transn
Editor:Meh
Roland obtained his first ever purchasing order since the manufacture of the steam engine, and the transaction volume was the largest one so far.
The price of a bare machine was 500 gold royals. Two machines had to be delivered in the first month, and then the amount would increase by one every following month, until he reached a total of 10 machines. Technical support, parts replacement, and equipment upgrades would all require additional gold royals. As for after-sales service and a three package commitment, Roland said he had never heard of it before.
Barov was excited about the deal because, in his opinion, any activity that could add revenue to City Hall was worth praising, whether it was trade or plunder. There were also those who opposed to it, such as Carter, Scroll, and Nightingale who had all questioned the deal. They thought it was too early to sell these machines to outsiders, as there were not even enough for Border Town itself.
Roland did not bother explaining too much because he was not looking at it from a lord's point of view. He made the decision as an industrial promoter.
It was almost impossible to push the process of social industrialization alone, even though he had the knowledge to do so. The town's consumption capacity was extremely limited, and the manufactured industrial products were no different from scrap iron if nobody bought them. More people were needed to be brought into this change to set off a new wave of operation.
What could he gain by selling steam engines?
Enough money, lots of jobs, and a number of skilled workers which was the most important.
This was also the reason Roland lowered production.
Anna's ability had improved a lot, and the production efficiency was enhanced. As long as there were enough raw materials, she could produce a steam engine every day.
But selling such products was only "selling" machines.
If he wanted to promote the development of this industry, he had to set up a special team to be responsible for production, assembly, and maintenance. In Roland's plan, he needed to open a factory, making tools for production, such as a plant or mill so that the production of the steam engine was handed over to the workers. What could be expected was that production efficiency would be low in the early stage, and the product quality would be appalling. But everything would improve bit by bit. With the help of tools made by Anna, as long as the workers were familiar with the manufacturing process, the production rate would be greatly enhanced.
The next step would be to expand the scale of production and train more skilled workers about the profits of machines. Experienced workers would give the town the ability to produce more advanced products, such as steam trains, steamships, etc. There was no doubt that this was a virtuous circle. And the steam engines that had been sold could also create benefits indirectly; they could be used for mining, which could reduce ore prices; if used for shipping, it could promote trade; if used for textiles, it could make up for their shortboards.
Roland wanted to make steam engines popular throughout the country, as long as these machines were from Border Town. Once he unified the Kingdom of Graycastle, it would save a lot of work.
He also considered the possibility that buyers might imitate steam engines, but the new steam engine used boring machine drilled round cylinders, coupled with some deliberately designed complex parts. Relying on the current level of technology, it would be difficult to create qualified machines in a short time. Even with a witch like Anna, it would be difficult.
He should have been happy to have such a big order and find the channel to sell industrial products, but Roland was not content.
"The sky is clear. Why are you still unhappy?" Nightingale sat at his desk with her legs up, holding a dish of dried fish in her lap. "Are you still worried about the church?"
When Scroll was not there, Nightingale behaved casually, and the corner of the desk and the armchair were her usual places. For other lords, this would obviously be offensive, but Roland did not care, and she knew it.
"I have been wondering why the church supported both me and Garcia to compete for the throne at the same time, and now I understand. If I guess right, I believe Timothy also received an invitation from the church," he said with a frown.
In addition to the order, Margaret had also brought many pieces of intelligence for him, one of which made Roland surprised. The church had attacked and taken over the Kingdom of Everwinter. And according to the merchant's statement, they intended to invade the Kingdom of Wolfheart. This news came as a shock, as it confirmed all of his suspicions.
"It supports all three of you to compete for the throne?"
"Not support, but exhaust," said Roland shaking his head. "The church doesn't care that the war is spreading to the whole country. Rather they're happy to see Kingdom of Graycastle falling into civil war, and they're not concerned whether the churches and believers are involved in the war. Kingdom of Graycastle isn't as weak as Kingdom of Everwinter, with its vast territory and numerous citizens. If they were to use plain force, the Judgement Army would suffer many losses. Only after we kill each other, will they be able to occupy Kingdom of Graycastle at the lowest cost. At that time, they can have as many believers and churches as they want." "Those pills... are only traps that they've prepared. "
The Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince issued by King Wimbledon III was equivalent to giving the church an opportunity to manipulate the situation. If the Kingdoms of Graycastle, Wolfheart and Everwinter were destroyed, the Kingdom of Dawn might not exist. The real purpose of the church was probably the reunification of the four kingdoms, taking into account the slowness of the message, as well as the people's political indifference. Everyone might come to their senses when facing death.
It was also the reason Roland was perplexed.
In this period of time, they had not developed the notion of a unified battlefront. It would be a disaster to depend on the support of the noble of the Kingdom of Graycastle. When the time came for the church to attack, these few people in the Western Region would be the only ones he could rely on.
"But you have a new weapon. The Judgement Army isn't much stronger than the average knight, so I don't think they could defeat you."
Roland remembered that in the past, when it came to the church, Nightingale was terrified. But the confidence she had nowadays had exceeded Roland's expectation.
He smiled weakly and sighed. [It won't be difficult for Anna to produce revolving rifles that can trial a revolving rifle and two revolvers. Whether it has a trigger reset or an automatic wheel, the performance is excellent. But if the firing problem was not solved, there would be no actual value in the new weapon. In the absence of the development of mercury fulminate, I'll need to use an alternative material to fire the guns.]
Roland hoped the guards would bring good news from Redwater City.
At this point, the momentum was restored, and Lightning flew into the office. She brought unexpected news. On the east side of Border Town, the flags on the soil slope had been replaced with blue.
According to Roland's secretly spread rumors, the agreed communication signal was that a blue flag meant that a new witch had come.