Rome Must Fall

"I have discussed this issue with my men in the past two days." Capito replied seriously: "Whether you are making ironware, firing pottery, or firing bricks, you must have charcoal, so you must build charcoal first. kiln, and also build a wood drying room...

There are three charcoal workers in the baggage camp. They "joined" the team when they were in Sarapia. They already have 20 to 30 years of experience in making charcoal. Our Ministry of Works decided to hand over the task of making charcoal to them. "

"Can."

"With charcoal, you can make pottery. There are many more people in the supply camp who can make pottery than there are charcoal workers. There are even several people who can paint vase paintings——"

"Are they from Sarapia too?"

"Some of them are the team that 'joined' in Sarabia, and some are from Pompeii. Our Ministry of Works decided to let them build a large pottery workshop to make pottery for the tribe.

To this end, they have also studied the mud in the Varidosi swamps and rivers in the past two days. They believe that the wet soil here is completely suitable for making pottery, but the color and quality of the pottery will not be known until it is fired. , can further improvements be made. "

Maximus nodded in understanding.

"Needless to say, brick kilns. Those who can make pottery can also bake stone bricks. There are also several brick kiln workers in the supply camp. In addition, our Ministry of Works also plans to build a large furniture workshop. Now the ethnic people have their own houses. , but there is nothing in the house. They need cups, chairs, tables, barrels...

The largest number of craftsmen in the supply camp are carpenters, with 265 people. Among the Segostika prisoners who stayed, more than 20 can do carpentry work, so we can build a very large piece of furniture. The workshop makes all kinds of furniture for the people, and this is more convenient than making pottery and stone bricks. It only requires wood. "

"Um...ok..." Maximus listened carefully.

"However, the iron workshop is more troublesome. Although we brought almost all the people who smelt, blacksmith, and cast iron from Sarapia, they have now become our people and are very willing to work for the tribe.

But first of all, iron ore is difficult to obtain. Although the Noriki people are not far away from us, they are separated by the Yabod and Pannoni people. We can only take a long detour and take the original road into the mountains to reach Is It takes nearly two months to buy the iron ore traded by the Noriki people on the Tria Peninsula, and the road transportation is quite difficult——"

"There's no need to go to such trouble. We can buy iron ore directly from our allies." Maximus said in a relaxed tone.

"There are also iron ores in the territory of the Aldi people?" Capito reacted immediately.

"I heard from Budokaribas that the iron mine is on the foothills to the west, not far from the upper reaches of the Kupa River——"

"Isn't that the place where we entered Ardei's territory after crossing the mountains?" Capito asked.

"I don't know exactly where it is. You can take the time to take a look in the future. Budokaribas told me that because the iron mine is not an open-pit mine, mining is a bit difficult. In the past, the Aldi people exploited the iron mine with great intensity. It's not big, and the iron ore is basically for personal use.

Later, they had a war with the Pannoni, and the number of young adults in the Aldi tribe was greatly reduced. Therefore, the iron mines were almost abandoned in recent years. However, this time we gave them so many Segostika prisoners, and they again Iron mines are back in operation...

I also specifically told Budokaribas that we will need a large amount of iron ore in the future and can purchase it from them. I believe that the Aldi people will increase their iron ore mining efforts in the future. "

After listening to this, Capito didn't look relaxed. He said: "The iron ore problem has been solved, but there are other problems. Spukala believes that although the Kupa River does not look small, it does not flow very fast. If you want the water flow to have greater power to drive the water hammer, you must choose a good location on the Kupa River, divert part of the river water out, and hit the blades of the water hammer with greater force through the artificial height difference... "

"I understand what you mean. Only Spukala can design and build precision instruments such as water mills and water hammers, and he is now responsible for building the bridge and has no time. It doesn't matter. You design the entire iron workshop first, and then Then make plans, and do what you can do with your current manpower. Don’t leave everyone idle. Wouldn’t this save time?”

Maximus said seriously: "I have another suggestion, such as the charcoal kiln, pottery room, brick kiln, iron workshop, and lime kiln... They all need charcoal and are kiln-fired. Can they all be arranged in the Within an area and far away from the stockades and farmland, this not only ensures that these workshops can support each other and obtain raw materials more conveniently, but also will not affect our normal life...

In addition, ironwork workshops need to use a lot of water and produce a lot of slag. Can the used wastewater and slag be discharged into the Kupa River? Because over time, the clear river water may be polluted. ——”

"The leader is right. We will live on the water of the Kupa River from now on. We don't want the water of the Kupa River to turn black one day and we will not be able to drink it." Cornelius said loudly, which resonated with everyone.

Capito had never considered such a problem before, and showed a rare expression of blankness. After a while, he said helplessly: "Even if the water for washing iron ore is not discharged into the river, but discharged to other places, I'm afraid it will still be there in the end." It will flow into the river!"

"I have a way, you can give it a try." Maximus said confidently: "Dig a few more big pits next to the iron workshop. You can put some charcoal at the bottom of the pits to drain the ironmaking wastewater to the first place. Let it settle in a big pit for a while, then discharge it into the second big pit, let it settle for a while, and then discharge it into the third big pit...

In this way, after the wastewater circulates between these large pits, most of the slag is deposited in the pits, and the relatively clear wastewater can be discharged into the river. "

Capito thought for a moment and asked, "Why put the charcoal into the pit?"

"Because charcoal can absorb slag in wastewater, you can give it a try first. If it works, you can use this method to treat wastewater produced by any workshop in the future."

"Okay...I'll let them try it." Capito became interested.

"By the way, I remember that there was a large knitting team in the baggage camp. Straw sandals, tunics, luggage, tents... They made a great contribution to our team. Now that we have settled down, you can do the work How is the ministry planning to arrange them?"

"Chief, I was just about to tell you about this. Most of the weaving team are women. They all registered their marriages a few days ago. From now on, they will work with their husbands to cultivate the fields and take care of the family. Where can they go? Have some spare time to make these things.

Besides, the ethnic people now have land and houses. They can grow hemp, raise sheep, knit straw shoes, weave wool, and make coats... I think the knitting team can be disbanded. "

Maximus was noncommittal and asked: "What are you going to do with the transportation team, another large team in the original baggage camp?"

"Chief, I still say what I said. Now that we have settled down, they have all divided their land, so the transportation team can be disbanded, and all the pack cars can be handed over to the Ministry of Property."

Maximus looked at the others. Asked: "What do you think about disbanding the weaving team and transportation team?"

Volenus said first: "I think Capito's approach is right. We have now settled down, and the weaving team and transport team have lost their role. It is right to disband the team and let them farm with peace of mind. Packing cars are handed over." Leave it to the Ministry of Property, and those beasts of burden such as cattle, horses, and donkeys can be handed over to our Ministry of Agriculture and later leased to the people for farming.”

Cornelius immediately expressed his dissatisfaction: "Your Ministry of Agriculture has taken away all the livestock, leaving only the pack cars for us. What's the use? Let's put them in the warehouse to get moldy?!"

Pigris stood up and said loudly: "I object to disbanding them! Although each household can weave clothes and make shoes by themselves in the future, this takes time and is not as good as the weaving team. It is better to keep the weaving team. , let them continue to make things, and then sell them to the tribesmen at low prices. In this way, the tribes make money and the tribesmen save time and can concentrate on farming. Isn’t it great?”

"Pigeris, you have a good idea, but you have to understand that since the people can make it themselves, they won't spend money to buy it. Moreover, the people in the weaving team now have their own land, and they will no longer be willing to buy it for free. How can we force them to work for the tribe?”

Volenus looked at Maximus and reminded him seriously: "Chief, this is not only a matter of team formation. The blacksmiths, potters, and charcoal workers mentioned by Capito before... they have also been allocated land. , I’m afraid they would rather farm land for themselves rather than work for the tribe.

Even if there are a few people who like to forge iron and make pottery, if they waste their fields and have poor harvests, they will be punished by the tribe, which forces them to focus on farming. "

Capito's expression changed drastically. In the past few days, he had been busy thinking about how to build bridges and workshops, and had completely failed to consider this fundamental issue that threatened the Ministry of Works. His mind was suddenly in a mess, and he didn't know what to say.

"This problem is actually easy to solve." Maximus' words immediately gave Capito hope. The young leader said calmly: "The fields must be distributed to everyone. This It’s a promise we made before and it can’t be changed!

But ethnic people who have skills such as blacksmiths, carpenters, pottery workers, and charcoal workers are actually more willing to do what they are good at instead of working hard to farm. And they probably don’t know how to farm, so We must provide them with such convenience, so that they can own land without worrying about farming and can concentrate on doing what they like. How to deal with it? It’s very simple, the tribe comes to help them farm—”

Tribes help them farm? ...Some people in the hall were confused, and some were thoughtful.

While enjoying the attention of everyone, Maximus explained patiently: "The reason why I want to set up the reserve nation level in the twenty-nobility system is to make these reserve nations Help the tribesmen who have no time to farm farm the land.

Our reserve people are now Skodisci. When they were slaves in the Segostika tribe, they mainly farmed the land. Let them farm the land for the craftsmen who cannot farm, so that the craftsmen can focus more. For blacksmithing and pottery making, this is the best of both worlds.

It’s not just the craftsmen who work for the tribe, like me, like you, and the members of various departments... All the tribal officials are busy working for the tribe and don’t have time to farm their own land, so they also have to Prepare the people to farm the land for you. "

Maximus's words solved the worries in the hearts of everyone present. Volenus was the first to speak out the common sentiments of everyone: "I think the leader's idea is very good! Now we have more than 8,000 reserve people, and there will be more in the future. Some Skodisci slaves came over the mountains from Broch to join the tribe, and there would also be some Segestica captives who were persuaded by their wives to choose to become pre-peoples...

In this way, the number of prepared tribesmen in our tribe can reach 10,000, which is more than enough to farm land for all the formal tribesmen working for the tribe. The remaining people can also be used to assist, open up wasteland, build roads, and build houses... "

Everyone agreed, but Karina had some doubts: "I feel... Let these preparatory people farm the land and work for us, but they get nothing. It seems... like slaves."

"Carina, how could you say such a thing!" Pygris shouted immediately.

"Hey, Pigris, what are you talking about!" Frontinus immediately stood up to defend his wife.

Pigris immediately softened his tone: "What I mean is that the reserve tribesmen are protected by tribal laws just like us. No one can harm or insult them. Their food, use, and housing are all provided by the tribe, and they are absolutely protected by tribal laws." It’s not bad. Although they won’t get anything for their hard work in two or three years, after that they can become official ethnic minorities and be given land and houses...

We have all been slaves, and we should be very clear that the lives of our tribal tribesmen are as good as heaven and earth compared with those of the slaves who were tortured. Are you right, Karina? "

Karina didn't speak, just nodded.

"Who said that the reserve people will not gain anything from their hard work in the past two or three years." Maximus glanced at the crowd and said with a serious expression: "The reserve people have worked hard, so they should be rewarded. obtain, so as to mobilize their enthusiasm.”