Magic, steel, heavy industry

Chapter 17 Cement Project

"Lord Vilan is the rightful owner of Anvil Territory. As a citizen of Anvil Territory, how dare you disrespect Lord Vilan? According to the laws of the kingdom, you should be hanged."

A cold yet angry, weathered voice rang out. Even Vilan hadn't expected that the first to agree with him would be that stubborn old Hans.

However, upon closer examination, it makes sense. Hans was the most protective of noble dignity, so when Wieland steered the matter toward disrespect for the lord, Hans was naturally the most furious.

At this moment, not only did his eyes widen, but he also slammed the book in his hand heavily on the table, the heavy sound immediately shattering Dean's psychological defenses.

"No...that's not it...I absolutely have no complaints against the lord..."

"Then why did you cause trouble for Lord Vilan?!"

Hans roared loudly.

Dean's face turned even paler, and in his panic, he no longer had the courage to act.

"I admit, I wanted the soup, but I didn't want to dig up a corpse; it stank too much. That's why I wanted to steal his magic core. He was just a serf; why should he get to drink the soup? It should be given to us free people!"

Dean's heart pounded, and he almost screamed as he spoke the truth.

Faced with the prospect of being hanged, it seems that telling the truth is not so difficult after all.

However, it was this sentence that shocked Vilan the most.

He looked at the serfs, each of them bowing their heads, not daring to meet Dean's gaze, but their clenched fists and clenched teeth proved that they were angry.

The time is ripe for this; Vilan doesn't want to cause a riot right now.

He coughed lightly and said calmly, "Mr. Hans, Mr. Dean is, after all, a free man. How can he be hanged over such a trivial matter? However, robbery is absolutely forbidden in my territory."

Vilan's tone gradually became more forceful until everyone gently raised their heads.

"I have decided to put Dean Farelt on trial in the name of the Lord of Anvil Territory."

"Your actions have seriously affected my governance. You should be hung at the town gate for three days. Saka, you're in my hands now."

"Yes, my lord!"

Saka finally got his revenge. It was that bastard who caused the loophole in his work, so he had to find the most "comfortable" position for him.

Dean was terrified. He had never expected this outcome. The thought of being hung up for three days completely broke him.

"Lord Vilan! Please let me explain, I truly did not disrespect you!"

However, Vilan was unwilling to listen further. He simply waved his hand, and Saka dragged the howling Dean away.

The guards, trained for many years, were not someone Dean, a lazy good-for-nothing, could defy.

"Mr. Hans, is my approach acceptable?" Wieland asked symbolically.

Hans shook his head. "Of course not. There are no sheriffs in Anvil Territory. Lord Vilan's handling of the matter was entirely in accordance with the laws of the kingdom."

Sheriffs? That's something you only find in big cities and fortresses. In this barren territory that nobody cares about, the lord basically has the final say.

Vilan smiled, then felt something was missing.

Why is there no applause or cheers?

He walked down from the platform with some disappointment, just then a burst of crisp applause rang out.

Everyone looked over in astonishment; it was Igris.

Unlike the serfs' incomprehension and apathy, Igris firmly applauded for Vilan.

……

"Lord Vilan, I am proud of you."

Beside the square, Llorente smiled and applauded for Vilan, but after only two claps, he changed the subject, "But is this really a good thing? The anger of the free people seems to be directed at you."

Vilan shook his head. "No, you overestimate those guys. Besides, I only punished him by hanging him for three days, and I didn't even fine him any gold coins."

"You seem quite disappointed?"

"Of course, what I need most right now is gold coins. Alright, there shouldn't be anything else here, let's go back and hear about your achievements these past two days."

Vilan couldn't wait to return to the castle. The reason for his excitement was, of course, because Llorente was about to report on something that concerned his old profession.

cement.

This is a technology tree that Vilan must unlock, and it's also the one he's most familiar with.

If civil engineers don't dust their work, then what's the point of their time travel?

Soon, Llorente began his report in the study.

"Lord Vilan, as you requested, I inquired with all the artisans in Anvil Territory. Only three of them had ever worked with lime in Silverflow City, but they only participated in a part of it and are not considered masters."

"As for the most important limestone, that's not difficult to obtain. There's a quarry in the nearby mountains where limestone can be extracted."

"Of course, there's also river sand. The Amber River, which flows from the Stag Mountains, has enough sand, and it just happens to pass through Anvil Territory."

Llorente investigated all the intelligence that Vilan wanted, and the results greatly excited Vilan.

"That's enough. As long as those three people know what lime is, I'll write three contracts right away. You can help me give them to them and recruit them into the workshop. Their wages will be the same as those blacksmiths."

Vilan excitedly pulled out paper and pen and quickly finished writing the contract.

As long as they can produce cement, he doesn't mind giving these craftsmen more bonuses.

Of course, it's impossible to expect them to produce cement out of thin air; the steps still need to be written out.

To be honest, Vilan wasn't very confident at first. After all, the industrial base of this world was practically nonexistent, and it would take at least several years to produce cement of acceptable quality.

But now he no longer has this problem, thanks to the appearance of the magic powder.

The toughness of gray magic powder is a perfect match for cement.

Therefore, he chose the simplest cement production method.

The first step is to burn limestone into quicklime, which naturally requires the participation of red magic powder to ensure sufficient temperature.

The next step is to slake the quicklime. This step involves adding water. Adding more water results in lime paste, while adding less water results in lime powder.

Finally, mix lime powder and river sand in the correct proportions to form mortar. You can also add some clay powder to improve strength and durability. Then you can use the mortar to build bricks and stones.

The cement produced in this way is very different from modern cement, but it is also the most likely to be realized today.

Even so, the actual production process of this cement is fraught with difficulties.

Fortunately, Vilan's advantage is that it can produce magic powder in large quantities. As long as gray magic powder is added in the last step, it should be able to cover up the shortcomings in the previous steps.

After finishing the contract and detailed production steps, Vilan breathed a sigh of relief and handed all the pages to Llorente.

"Give these to those three craftsmen and tell them I want to see results within a week."

Llorente silently took the paper, glanced at its contents, and then suddenly locked eyes with Vilan.

"Lord Vilan, if I may be so bold, where did you learn all this strange knowledge?"