Iron Powder and Spellcaster

The Montessori plow, which has withstood the test of spring plowing and summer harvest, is widely used by major refugee farms, and is well-known in Tiefeng County, received a cold reception when it came to the neighboring Wargne County.

The gentry and businessmen from Wargne County who came to visit showed very strong interest in the new plow truck.

However, their enthusiasm is only conveyed "through their eyes and mouth". Once they hear any disturbance, they will tightly cover their money bags and refuse to let go easily.

So, in addition to several manor owners who lived in the suburbs, in order to save the face of a certain gentleman, each of them humiliatingly bought one - Winters suspected that they planned to imitate it privately - and took it home to "enshrine" it;

The rest of the Artemis gentlemen were like lazy donkeys - even though they barked very loudly, if you look closely, you can see that their four hooves are still in their original positions and have not moved at all.

Unless Winters raised his whip and cracked their backs hard, there was no way the "lazy donkeys" would take the initiative.

The merchants who gathered in Warne County in Artemis had the same attitude towards the new plows as the owners of the manor:

As long as they were not allowed to spend money, the kind words of the businessmen could even make Winters blush;

But once they need to spend real money, businessmen will come up with all kinds of excuses, making Winters literally "red in the face."

All in all, Montessori's plow had a bad start in Wargne County. It not only tarnished Winters' "most proud work of his life", but also diluted the joy that Winters gained from spending so much money. It also caused great harm to the people around Winters. It caused unexpected trouble.

Richard Mason was the biggest victim.

…

[Outside Artemis]

"The people of Wargne County won't buy your new plow - what's the use of asking me?" Senior Mason, who waited until the reserve officers walked away, finally broke out in annoyance: "Ask the people of Wargne County!"

The person being asked became angry because of embarrassment, but the person asking the question became calm: "I asked, but I didn't hear a word of truth. They are all false excuses."

"Then ask the locals to ask for you!"

"I searched for it, and the same voice came back." Winters didn't seem to be asking a question, but instead seemed to be solving a problem for Senior Mason: "People in Wargne County don't trust us, and we don't have trust in Wargne County either. Our helpers. So even if we ask the local gentry to seek advice on our behalf, we will only get the same answer."

"伱." Mason corrected vigilantly: "It's not 'us'."

"Senior, it's okay to say this in private. I don't take it seriously." Winters put away his smile and warned the senior with a cold look and a serious expression: "But if others hear it, they will misunderstand it."

Winters' tone made Mason feel confused and at a loss for a moment. When he was subconsciously reflecting on himself, a chill suddenly climbed from his tailbone along his spine to the back of his neck.

"Pretending! You look like a dog!" Mason waved his whip and slapped his apprentice angrily: "You should set an example for me!"

…

In the sentry tower in the distance, a guard responsible for supervising the work of the prisoners couldn't help but sigh to his companions: "The relationship between the two tribunes is really deep."

"Of course." Another guard pretended to be profound and replied: "Back then, my lord slaughtered all the breeding animals that Mason Tribune had spent great efforts to cultivate, and Mason's tribune did not blame him. After searching the whole army, only Tribune Mason can use violence against your lordship."

"Bragging again."

"Oh, when you kill the pig, I am the one lighting the fire next to you!"

…

On the other side, before Winters screamed in pain, Mason was already a little tired.

"So what if the plow truck can't be sold?" Mason put away his riding crop, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and asked with a heavy breath, "Aren't nails selling well?"

Upon hearing this, Winters, who had been whipped calmly just now, suddenly became melancholy.

"Yes." He replied rather ashamedly: "The supply exceeds the demand."

Lord Montagne never expected that the new plow truck, which he regarded as his "ace unit", would be ignored in Wargne County. On the contrary, several trucks of iron nails brought by Bellian along the way would be robbed.

Almost every merchant from Wargne County who came to Artemis wanted to pack as many "Gevaudan Round Nails" as possible when leaving.

The merchants who failed to grab the goods were upset and immediately asked someone to ask: "Will there be another batch of goods? If so, when will it arrive?"

After receiving a positive answer, some merchants who came from afar simply chose to stay in the county temporarily, eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the next "rebel" supply convoy every day.

The old blacksmith Boltan's troubles have been solved. The Gevaudan Iron Works has adjusted its course and is now working hard to make iron nails.

The nail-makers, the nail-sellers, the nail-buyers, everyone was happy—except Winters Montagne.

The work of confidence that gave him his surname was lost to a small iron nail, which greatly affected Montagne's self-esteem.

In the dead of night, Winters also secretly lit an oil lamp and looked over and over at the "Gevaudin Round Nail" in his hand.

Eventually, he came to the conclusion that there was nothing special about them, just ordinary nails that could be seen everywhere—except that they were cheap.

Except...cheap.

Whether you make a living as a carpenter or not, people will always use nails. Nails are so widely used and have so many uses that some families even prepare their own set of tools and use their spare time to make nails for their own needs.

But the vast majority of nails are still hand-forged by professional blacksmiths, and while they're not expensive, they're certainly not cheap either.

After visiting the market in Artemis, Winters learned a shocking fact: the round nails sent to him by Balian were only one-third of the price of the square nails made by the blacksmith in Warne County. .

After testing by Winters, although ordinary square nails are stronger than "Gevaudin round nails", the difference is not obvious.

The conclusion is obvious: a small item that every household needs but is a bit troublesome to manufacture has performance that is almost the same as that of competing products and costs only one-third of the price.

Then it becomes understandable that merchants in Wargne County rush to buy the "Gevaudin Round Nails".

Montessori's plow was not unjustly defeated.

Even when they learned that Tiefeng County could manufacture iron nails in large quantities at low cost, some quick-thinking businessmen in Wargne County immediately sensed business opportunities.

They plucked up the courage to come to visit Lord Blood Wolf and asked with trepidation:

"Are you interested in letting your highly skilled craftsmen make something other than nails? For example... wooden barrels?"

That night, the three coopers of Artemis carried a large sum of money and were personally escorted by Pierre, and headed to Gevaudan overnight.

…

[Outside Artemis]

"The round nail is Balian's work." Winters sighed longly: "It's not mine."

Mason sneered: "This time there is no distinction between 'you' and 'us'?"

Winters pretended not to hear anything and crossed his arms: "Actually, I have an explanation..."

Without saying a word, Mason pulled out the blueprint book from his saddle bag and flipped through it intently.

Winters continued relentlessly: "That would explain why the Montessori plow was ignored."

"I don't want to hear it." Mason didn't even look up.

"Senior." Winters asked melancholy, "If you don't listen, who else can I talk to?"

"You can talk to whoever is willing to listen." Mason gritted his teeth, and the veins popped out in his hands holding the drawing book: "Bud, Andre, Father Carman... If you can't find anyone in Wargne County, you can Write to Mademoiselle Navarre and leave me alone."

Winters cleared his throat and said to himself: "This matter is actually similar to 'building a city wall'."

Senior Mason's facial features were blocked behind the blueprint book and he remained silent.

Winters paused for a moment and deliberately whetted the senior's appetite. He waited until the senior almost lost his patience before speaking:

"For the city, the city wall is an expensive necessity. Because too much money was spent on its construction, it cannot be easily torn down and rebuilt. Just like the sea blue city wall, even if it is in disrepair and outdated, the city council can only I am willing to spend a small amount of money every year to repair and renovate it at most, rather than completely redesign it. The result is that Hailan, which is the capital of the Republic, is not as good as the small mountain city on Red Sulfur Island in terms of city defense."

Mason still said nothing. But based on the senior's body language, Winters judged that the senior had listened.

"There is also the fortress in front." Winters continued: "If it weren't for the fact that Artemis's city defense was so unbearable, how could we build a new one? Even if Artemis' city defense was unusable, we would still keep it. It’s down, isn’t it?”

Mason put down the drawing book, looked at the work he had just begun to write in front of him, and sighed: "Yes! If not, how could I have the opportunity to preside over the construction of a fortress?"

"It's just a small star castle." Winters couldn't help but tease.

"You are not from the artillery department." Mason glanced at his junior: "I don't understand the feelings of a 'mason'. This fortress is to me just like those majestic churches are to the ordinary masons who built them. It is far beyond my own existence. s work'."

The more Mason talked, the more he was touched. He simply put away the blueprint book and asked Winters with red eyes: "Why can you name the new plows of later generations, but my surname can only be added to low, dark, and dark?" In a simple wooden house that everyone despises?"

Winters felt the senior's injustice, but he didn't know how to answer. He could only comfort in a low voice: "But no one cares about my plow, and your wooden house shelters countless people."

"Then are you willing to trade with me?" Mason asked.

Winters was silent for a long time and shook his head honestly.

Mason took a deep breath, turned to look at the construction site, and introduced enthusiastically: "So this is my work, the first one. Although it is just a small star castle, it is still my first work in the big city. The first trace on the ground. I may be lucky enough to preside over the construction of something else in the future, but nothing can change its place in my heart. When it is completed, I will proudly name it Fort Mason - just like you will Your new plow is named after the Montessori plow."

"No problem!" Winters agreed without hesitation, and silently crossed out all the names he had prepared in his mind.

Mason calmed down, turned to look at Winters, and asked doubtfully: "You haven't finished speaking yet?"

"What did you say?" Winters raised an eyebrow.

“Why can’t you sell your plow?”

Winters raised the corner of his mouth in embarrassment and immediately explained to the rare audience who took the initiative to ask questions: "Actually, plows, like city walls, are necessities, and they are not cheap 'big items'. As I said before, absolutely Most farmers in Wargne County already have plows at home, and rather than spend money on a new plow truck, they would rather continue to use the old one - even if it doesn't work."

"The refugee farms in Tiefeng County are just the opposite. We take care of the plows and draft animals. Farmers don't have to spend their own money, so they are naturally more willing to use good ones. Moreover, most of the draft animals currently used in the refugee farms are Herd horses, so using old-style plow trucks would It's inconvenient." Winters frowned worriedly: "On the other hand, in Wargne County, farmers either continue to use Plattum horses or simply use oxen. The old plow trucks can still be used, so why buy new ones?"

Mason rolled his eyes: "Oh, so you know it, so why are you still bothering me?"

"Knowing it is one thing, being able to solve it is another thing." Winters remained calm and flipped the page of the senior's accusation lightly: "The lack of draft animals will eventually lead to a reduction in food production, do you agree?"

"You should ask Bud about this." Mason replied rigorously: "I don't know much about farming either."

Winters ignored the senior's excuses, looked at the horizon, and analyzed in a daze: "Suppose there is a farmer who lacks suitable draft animals and plows. This year's autumn plowing is one-third or even half less than in previous years. It’s still possible for them to survive on a small land, right? They may starve and may have to borrow money, but they will still survive tenaciously, I believe.”

Mason raised his eyebrows and asked tentatively: "Are you asking me?"

"But what we want is not that they can 'barely survive.'" Winters said seriously: "What we want is that they live in abundance. Only in this way can they provide us with excess food so that we can support the army and Government. Otherwise, we will have to compete with them for what little pathetic output they have, turning the majority's 'bare existence' into a mass famine."

"so what?"

"So to solve the problem, we must deal with both draft animals and farm tools at the same time." Winters tapped his elbow lightly: "The gap in draft animals can no longer be solved within Plato, it can only be found from the outside - from He The problem of farm tools is not only plows, but also many farm tools suitable for Palatuma, but not suitable for Hede horses. There are too many, and it is impossible for farmers to buy them all at once, so I plan to..."

Winters blinked: "Give it to them."

"Free gift?" Mason laughed dumbly: "Are you going to make a loss-making business?"

Winters stretched out on the horse and said calmly: "Then it depends on whether it is more important for us to 'make profits' or to 'restore agricultural production in Wargne County.'"

"I understand." Mason sighed sadly: "You didn't want to ask me from the beginning, you just wanted to find someone to listen to you. Use the way to explain your thoughts to another person to clarify your own thoughts. "

Of course Winters disagreed: "You are my conscience! Senior."

"So 'conscience' can grow outside the body?" Mason snorted, "So you don't have a 'conscience' inside your body now?"

Winters pretended not to hear anything. He squinted his eyes and looked at the road between Lushan and Anya River. He suddenly raised his whip and pointed at the smoke in the distance: "I guess Pierre is back!"

…

At the same time, outside the south gate of Artemis.

Pierre reined in his horse vigorously, and the accompanying light cavalry stopped behind him one after another. None of the cavalry surpassed him because of poor horsemanship.

He glanced at Vaska, who whistled knowingly and led the light cavalry slowly towards the military camp on the outskirts of the city.

Only Pierre and three passengers were left outside the south gate.

"Mr. Matiya." Pierre said goodbye politely: "I will send you here. See you later."

"Thank you very much." Old Ma Jiya took off his hat and bowed his head deeply in return.

[Additional note: nails]

[In modern society, nails are no longer valuable items. Today people have access to a wide variety of nails very cheaply. But what is very counter-intuitive is that in the era of handicraft industry, nails were a necessity that was not expensive alone but was used in large quantities, so the overall cost was high]

[Just imagine that ubiquitous box of a hundred nails, each one requiring

The blacksmith first heats the thick iron rod, forges it into a thin iron rod, then cuts it into small iron rods, then pierces it, grinds it, and hardens it... The whole process can only be completed with hands and simple tools. You can probably understand its meaning. How outrageous the price will be]

[Nails before the 16th century were relatively thick and long square nails. It was very difficult for blacksmiths to hand-make the thin wire nails that are common today]

[So in the Thirteen States Colonies of North America during the British era, people would burn their old houses before moving, just to recycle the nails (when the old houses could not be sold in time)]

[On the other side of the ocean, in Scotland until before the Industrial Revolution, nails were used as a de facto currency]

[Even in ancient my country, nails were widely used instead of mortise and tenon joints entirely. "nail" in oracle bone inscriptions corresponds to "ding", which is one of the earliest Chinese characters recognized so far]

[Many of the things that are readily available today were counter-intuitively expensive before the industrial revolution unleashed productivity, such as cloth, energy, and clean water. Nails are just one of them.]