Magic, steel, heavy industry

Chapter 6 The Poor Town

The existence of Anvil Territory was due to the rich iron ore deposits near the Stag Mountains. As a result, most of the town's residents made a living by mining and smelting iron. They mined the iron ore and sold it directly to the nobles in the west. They didn't earn much gold, but the taxes they had to pay were very high, which led to a kind of structural poverty.

At the same time, due to the difficulty of mining iron ore and the remote location of Iron Anvil Territory, transportation costs are even higher. If the surrounding iron-producing territories were to engage in a price war, they could immediately destroy this fragile industry.

Vilan already knew this on the day he was made a baron and received the lord's decree.

It was precisely for this reason that his older brothers and sisters all disliked this remote and poor territory, and in the end, he was forced to take on this mess.

Auntie, you've really given your nephew a tough time...

Vilan pinched the bridge of his nose helplessly. Although he had guessed that the situation in Anvil Territory was not optimistic, he did not expect it to be this serious.

"What about food? Although we can't be self-sufficient, at least we still have some arable land, right?" he asked doubtfully.

Hans sighed. "Half of this year's grain has been destroyed by bandits and refugees. The remaining grain is not enough to keep the town alive through the winter."

"Bandits and refugees?" Vilan felt a slight throbbing in his temples. How could his territory be filled with such a gathering of wise men?

Hans, still somewhat shaken, gripped his book tightly and raised his voice, "The mayor said that there have always been refugees. The warlords of Casalan in the east are constantly at war with each other, and many people have fled into the mountains, crossed the valleys to the north, and become refugees. They're left to fend for themselves in the wild, but this year they've been particularly brazen, not only stealing grain but also injuring the town's hunters!"

"As for the bandits, it seems they are a group of thieves who appeared about a year ago, but I don't know the specifics."

Hans recounted all the information he had gathered, then leaned forward and whispered, "Young Master Vilan, I don't think this is a good territory. If we can't pay our taxes, the Duke will punish us..."

Vilan gave him a speechless look. "Now that things have come to this, do I have any other choice? My aunt only sent me here because she wanted me to be punished. If I go back now, the Wanshi family will really remove me from their ranks."

"But what if the people starve to death or flee in the winter? What will happen to next year's tax revenue?" Hans asked anxiously.

Vilan shook his head. "Mr. Hans, these are things I need to consider. I just hope you can be more optimistic; it's not time to despair yet."

Sensing the increased emphasis in Vilan's tone, Hans suddenly tensed up. He opened his mouth, then whispered, "Yes, Master Vilan, I will continue to conduct the population count. I just hope that after next winter, we won't have to do it again."

Hans walked out of the study, his eyes suddenly glazing over.

What happened?

He turned and glanced back at the door, his eyes filled with doubt.

Since half a month ago, Young Master Vilan's personality seems to have changed a lot.

He wouldn't have been so resolute before, nor would he have ignored his own opinions, but now... could it be because he became a lord?

Hans left dejectedly, while Wieland sat in the study, scratching his head in disappointment.

"An unfinished project, another unfinished project! Why is my life so miserable!"

With tears welling up in his eyes, he reached out and pinched a strand of his hair, circling it repeatedly between his fingertips. It was as if he had returned to his first internship, when the boss ran away, leaving the project unfinished and causing him to lose even his internship salary.

Now that we've finally become the client, it turns out to be another huge, unfinished project on the verge of collapse.

"Sigh...life goes on, what should I do?"

After gathering his thoughts, Vilan took out his quill pen and began to write and draw again.

"The only advantage of Anvil Territory is its iron ore. Although this advantage has essentially disappeared due to pressure from surrounding territories, that's because Anvil Territory only sells iron ore and doesn't process it further. Once the magic powder experiment succeeds, this single trade model will have to change. Should we start by producing finished ironware? But what should we produce? Agricultural tools or weapons? Since the area across from the Stag Mountains is the Casalan warlord's territory, we can only smuggle weapons..."

As Vilan muttered to himself, he fell into deep thought. His primary concern now was not to launch a sweeping Industrial Revolution, but how to ensure the survival of his poor subjects.

……

In the small town.

Saka, dressed in old leather armor with a dagger hanging from his belt, looked around with great interest.

Not long ago, Advisor Llorente assigned him the task of collecting goblin magic cores. Compared to the taciturn Gey, the talkative Saka was clearly more suitable for this task.

After all, collecting goblin magic cores is a tough job, and if it were Gei, he might obediently do it himself.

Saka, on the other hand, went straight to the town square and set his sights on a few dirty, skinny boys.

"Hey guys, I bet you'd love to have some bread, right?"

He said this with a grin, while pulling two dry, hard pieces of black bread from his waist pocket.

This stuff doesn't taste very good, but it fills your stomach.

Sure enough, longing immediately appeared in the eyes of the boys. They were all ordinary serfs, and their lives were very different from those of free people. Not to mention that food was scarce at the moment, and the temptation of a piece of black bread was very great.

"Sir Knight, what do you need us to do?" A naive boy looked up and asked boldly.

Saka immediately grinned. "A knight? Hahaha, I'm not a knight yet, but maybe I will be in the future. Want some bread? Then go home, get your scythe, and come with me."

The boys exchanged glances, then rushed home one after another.

They didn't even ask what they were going to do; a black bread was all it took to ignite their motivation.

A few minutes later, the boys returned one after another, and Saka was dumbfounded.

"Hey! I didn't say you were supposed to call this many people over!"

"Sir Knight, we didn't say anything; they came on their own..."

The daring boy gripped the chipped sickle, an embarrassed and aggrieved expression on his face.

Behind him, the number of boys and girls had increased from the initial three or four to thirteen or fourteen.

In fact, he didn't say anything. After all, the more people there were, the less bread they would get. However, there were quite a few smart people among these companions who guessed that someone was hiring, so they thought they would come and try their luck, in case the knight needed more manpower.

So the situation turned out like this: being stared at by so many eager eyes, especially since they were all holding sickles and other farm tools, Saka felt uneasy.

"Damn it, since you call me Knight... I'll have to steal Gei's lunch too."