Chapter 72: Chapter 71: Two Factory Prototypes

The effects of the Curved Plow were immediately obvious. If it could be implemented throughout Mountain Forest Town, ensuring every village had several, or even a dozen, plows, then whether for reclaiming wasteland or tilling fallow fields, it would save a great deal of manpower and resources.

Ronin could then reassign the surplus labor to other production activities.

Moreover, this method of deep plowing, paired with the Ridge Cultivation Method Ronin was about to enact, would absolutely raise Mountain Forest Town’s crop yields to a new level!

But clearly, to achieve widespread adoption, the production issue had to be solved first.

The only blacksmiths in Mountain Forest Town were Carlos and his son (who was still an apprentice). Unable to cast the plowshares, Carlos had to hammer them out one by one. This made the production speed for the plowshares and moldboards rather slow.

As for the plow’s body, its construction wasn’t as complex as making weapons and armor from Black Iron Wood. Even an apprentice as mediocre as Lam could handle it. Finding a few people to practice a few times shouldn’t be a problem, especially since Mountain Forest Town had plenty of birch wood.

“Carlos, I purchased a ton of wrought iron on my last trip. I need you to forge at least thirty of these Curved Plows for me.”

The reason for thirty wasn’t a lack of iron, but rather a lack of oxen in Mountain Forest Town.

Mountain Forest Castle had only twenty-four Black Water Buffalo for plowing. Including the few owned by individual tenant farmers in town, the total was about thirty.

“Oh, heavens! Thirty of them?”

Carlos’s eyes widened in shock. He had never taken on such a large order.

“Yes, and this is just the initial batch. We’ll need to forge more later.”

Ronin added, “I will provide the wrought iron and wood, and I’ll also assign four men to assist you. You can choose to become my exclusive blacksmith or serve me as one of the Free People of Mountain Forest Town. Either way, I will pay you for your work.”

“Of course, if you choose the former, I’ll pay you a daily wage of 10 Copper Coins. Your son, Baal, is a Blacksmith Apprentice. If he works for me, I can offer him a wage of 3 Copper Coins per day.”

The wages for artisans were typically high. In other cities, hiring Carlos would likely cost more, but in a backwater like Mountain Forest Town, the price was naturally a bit lower.

Carlos hesitated.

It was only natural for a subject to serve their Lord. But as things stood, he could take on work from the Lord while also earning money from odd jobs for others.

But if he became Mountain Forest Castle’s exclusive blacksmith, he would generally only be allowed to serve the Lord.

’Still, the wage the Lord is offering is really high.’ He considered himself lucky if he earned 10 Copper Coins a day for even ten days out of the 336-day year.

“Lord, I’m very tempted by the wage you’ve offered. I just need to know, when would you typically pay me?”

Ronin shot Chahar a look, and the steward immediately understood.

“Rest assured, Carlos. The Lord is the most benevolent of rulers. He never delays anyone’s payment!”

As he spoke, he pulled out the 1 silver and 68 Copper Coins he had just received that morning. He said, showing it off, “See this? The Lord settles the previous month’s wages for everyone on the sixth of each month.”

The nearby Cowherd, Gallon, and the others also took out money from their pockets.

Chahar continued, “Just this morning, the castle servants, the Professional Knights and Mages, and the Guards—all of them—were paid in full for the previous month.”

He stressed, “Remember this: the Lord is the most benevolent, trustworthy, and kindest of all nobles, bar none!”

Ronin felt a little embarrassed by the praise, but he was also surprised. ’Why are they all carrying their money around? Isn’t it inconvenient to have it jingling with every step?’

Seeing this, Carlos hesitated no longer. He immediately gave a formal bow. “In that case, Carlos is willing to become your exclusive blacksmith.”

“Excellent! I won’t treat you unfairly.”

Ronin laughed. “And if you’re willing to train apprentices, I’ll give you an extra 5 Copper Coins a day.”

Carlos’s eyes lit up. “I’m willing, my Lord!”

Ronin looked at Gallon. “Go tell Wilson to pick three men and one woman from among the slaves. Remember to choose ones who are a bit clever, who look like they can learn.”

“Also, have Wilson tell the slaves that as long as they are willing to serve me diligently for ten years, I can grant them a measure of freedom and allow them to become my Peasant Slaves.”

“Yes, my Lord!” Gallon accepted the order and ran off.

Carlos looked at the Lord before him with some surprise. “You are truly a benevolent man!”

’Benevolent?’

’To Ronin, it was merely a way to give them a goal and some motivation. Besides, ten years is a very long time.’

“Carlos, I’ve noticed your forging is too slow. Later, I’ll teach you a new iron-smelting method that will let you produce farming tools much more quickly!”

The blacksmith froze, thinking he must have misheard. But seeing the Lord’s serious expression left him confused.

“My Lord, my methods for smelting and forging were all learned from my father.”

Carlos explained, “My father’s master was a famous blacksmith in Wushan City. Please believe me, the techniques he passed down to us are the most advanced!”

Artisans, after all, always stubbornly believe their own techniques are the best.

Carlos was telling the truth, however. The current technology for smelting and forging was indeed just as he described.

Ronin just smiled mysteriously. “With my method, we can smelt iron into a liquid state and cast the farming tools directly. It’s much faster than forging them.”

“My Lord, is that some kind of Mage technique?”

Carlos wasn’t surprised by the term “molten iron.” “Legend says only Mages can control the kind of high-temperature Flame needed to melt steel. Such a Flame is not something we Mortals can wield!”

’So that’s a thing?’

Ronin was a little surprised. ’I wonder what Level of Mage can control a Flame like that?’

“Don’t worry, Carlos. If I can design a farming tool as efficient as the Curved Plow, I can certainly teach you a way to make molten iron.”

Ronin was very confident. “Until then, just keep forging the plowshares and moldboards and assembling the Curved Plows your way.”

After explaining what needed to be done, Ronin had the Cowherd take the Curved Plow back to the castle. He and Chahar then headed to their next destination: the home of William the Carpenter.

Black Iron Wood was indeed difficult to work with. In the past half-month, William had managed to produce four Ironwood Shields, three Ironwood Long Spears, and one Ironwood Chest Guard.

Ronin tested them and found the strength of all three pieces of armor met his requirements. They were perfectly suitable for the regular Guards. The Ironwood Shield, in particular, could probably even be used in clashes between Intermediate Knights.

The only piece that felt off was the Ironwood Chest Guard. It looked like a single piece of wood with a hole carved out of the middle. A Guard would put their head through the hole, and the board would hang on their body, with the hanging sections protecting their chest and back.

The design was simple, but it felt uncomfortable and rather stiff to wear.

“My Lord, relatively speaking, the Ironwood Long Spears are the easiest to make, followed by the Ironwood Chest Guards and Shields.”

William the Carpenter explained, “I also thought about using Black Iron Wood and Flax Rope to create a suit of Zha Armor, which would be more form-fitting and less stiff than the Chest Guard, but it would be far too time-consuming!”

He shook his head. “Working alone, I doubt I could even finish one suit of Ironwood Armor in a month!”

Ronin was very interested in the Zha Armor William had mentioned.

The Ironwood Chest Guard was too crude. It was acceptable for the regular Guards, but the Zha Armor could definitely be worn by people of a higher rank or Level.

Correspondingly, the selling price would be higher as well.

Last night, Ronin had already planned to assign fifteen male and two female slaves to the Ironwood Workshop. Now, considering that making Zha Armor required cloth and the work of assembling armor plates, he decided to assign another five female slaves.

William only needed to teach the slaves how to assemble the armor plates. It might take some time, but once they learned, he would have a large workforce at his disposal.

After some discussion, he and William finalized the product line for the Ironwood Workshop. Initially, they would focus on Ironwood Shields, Ironwood Long Spears, and Ironwood Chest Guards. Producing a single suit of Ironwood Armor each month would be sufficient for now.

At the same time, Ronin also extended an olive branch to William, asking him to become Mountain Forest Castle’s exclusive Carpenter. He offered William and his apprentice son daily wages of 17 Copper Coins and 4 Copper Coins, respectively.

Of course, Ronin also required William to take on apprentices.

With the precedent set by Carlos’s deal, William agreed with almost no hesitation.

And with that, Ronin’s two workshops were tentatively established.

The next step was production.

According to Ronin’s plan, the goods produced would first be used to arm Mountain Forest Town before being sold to the outside world.

As for the Ironwood Armor, the unique properties of the Black Iron Tree meant that outsiders couldn’t replicate it, so Ronin could sell it without worry.

The Curved Plow, however, was a different story. It didn’t involve any particularly high-level technology. He believed any reasonably skilled blacksmith could easily replicate it after buying one.

If Ronin spent a great deal of time building up a large inventory, he might sell some initially, but imitations would quickly appear on the market. In the end, he might not be able to sell his remaining stock even at a discount.

Besides, Ronin currently lacked the capacity for rapid production and stockpiling.

He would reconsider the issue later, once he had optimized the iron-smelting technique and could mass-produce plowshares and moldboards through casting.

Therefore, he didn’t plan to focus on selling the physical Curved Plows for now. If he was going to sell anything, it would be the blueprints themselves, perhaps for a couple of large one-time deals.

After all, knowledge has value, too.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep