Magic, steel, heavy industry

Chapter 9 The Busy Lord

Going it alone is impossible in the civil engineering industry. Only by integrating all resources, making detailed plans, and working together towards a common goal can we build skyscrapers from scratch.

The same applies to being a lord. Vilan has already treated this matter as a project he has contracted out, and a massive one at that.

Iron Anvil Territory is just a barren border town in the Great North, which is only a part of the Kingdom of Orion, and the Kingdom of Orion is just an ordinary country on this ancient continent.

If Vilan wants to change the lives of the people of Anvil, he will inevitably need more resources and a larger population.

The larger the population, the more arable land is needed, which will inevitably lead to war.

Vilan realized this on his very first day after arriving in the world.

To prepare for this day, he had to work non-stop; in a sense, Vilan was now much busier than his advisors and butlers.

The first step is the planning of the workshop.

This is the first step in integrating resources, bringing all ironware industries under unified management, which can improve efficiency and pool collective wisdom to improve iron smelting standards.

Vilan believed in the wisdom of the masses, and all he wanted to do was to give them some guidance.

"The current mainstream iron smelting method is bloomery smelting, which uses sponge iron for forging. I remember reading in a book before that wrought iron is of high quality, while pig iron is plentiful but brittle, and smelting pig iron requires extremely high temperatures..."

Vilan muttered to himself as he wrote in his notebook.

"Temperature isn't a problem now. With the red magic powder, we can easily control the temperature using a blast furnace and blowers. We just need to experiment a few more times. Once we master pig iron, refining steel won't be far behind. But how exactly do we set up the blast furnace... how do we manufacture the blowers... I don't remember..."

Vilan shook his head helplessly. He had tried his best to search his brain for knowledge, but as a civil engineering graduate student, he really hadn't studied the specific production steps.

"Alright, let's draw a rough sketch first, write down the ideas, and let them do it themselves. A generous reward will motivate brave men. Whoever solves this problem first will get a bonus of 10 gold coins."

The pen tip glided quickly across the page, and Vilan completed a sketch in just ten minutes. He wasn't good at anything else, but he was very good at drawing.

After staring at the sketch for a while, he suddenly remembered something, slapped his forehead, and exclaimed, "Oh no, they can't understand these numbers!"

Indeed, Vilan subconsciously used Arabic numerals, a convenient and quick way of writing numbers that was completely different from how numbers were written in this world.

"No, it is necessary to implement Arabic numerals. We can use them temporarily in the workshops first, and then implement them throughout the entire territory once they are proficient."

Vilan added annotations after the numbers to correspond to the way numbers are written in this world.

It's worth mentioning that the mathematics in this world is not bad; all the formulas for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division exist, only differing in the way the symbols are written.

This is good news for Vilan, since he only needs to introduce a convenient and quick notation system to quickly improve the efficiency of popularizing mathematics, and then all kinds of mathematical geniuses will come to him spontaneously.

Now that we're here, we don't need to leave.

After finishing this task, Vilan carefully put away the sketches, intending to hand them over once the workshop was built.

It was around 8 p.m. when Vilan stretched, picked up the hot goat milk next to him, and said leisurely, "Finally, I can rest for a while."

The next second, the study door was pushed open.

"Lord Vilan, this is Mr. Saka's haul for today. I think you probably won't be able to rest tonight."

Iglesias walked in carrying three small bags, her tone tinged with schadenfreude.

Vilan glanced at the bag, continued drinking his goat milk, and only put the cup back on the table a moment later.

"Miss Igris, could you please knock next time?"

"Excuse me, my esteemed lord, would you mind if I come in again?"

"No need, just give me the things. I have some questions for you."

Igris gave a sly smile and emptied the contents of the bags, revealing a large pile of goblin magic cores. At a glance, each bag contained at least several dozen.

"So many? Saka is quite capable." Vilan was somewhat surprised.

Iglesias's expression immediately darkened. "He would have been even more capable if he hadn't asked me for so much bread."

"What do you mean?"

"That guy hired more than twenty children and even tried to steal the other guards' lunches as payment. After he got caught, he had no choice but to come to me."

Igris gave a brief explanation, and Vilan immediately understood, then gave a helpless smile.

It's not that I blame Saka; on the contrary, I quite approve of his approach. I just find it amusing.

This guy's got some nerve, mobilizing his people to collect goblin cores? He's got some initiative.

"The black bread isn't worth much; it's enough to fill the children's stomachs. Now let's talk about these magic cores."

Vilan held a red magic core in his hand. Although the surface was white, upon closer inspection, one could see that the inside of the magic core had the color and texture of red crystal, which was also a way to distinguish it.

As the core raw material for his industrial development, classification is an indispensable step.

The thought of having to process so many raw materials all by himself gave him a headache.

"Igris, you're a mage, you must know some tricks, right? Do you think there's any way to increase my speed?"

Igris shrugged. "I don't know. I only know the most basic magic."

"I remember your magical talent is fire, right?"

"Not entirely. My flames are somewhat different from ordinary flames, but I don't know if they have any special effects, since I don't have the money to buy higher-level magic cores."

There was a hint of regret in Iglesias's tone. Clearly, she also wanted to explore her magical talent, but without the support of a high-ranking noble, there was nothing she could do.

Because magic cores are too expensive.

If she couldn't afford to buy them, she would have to hunt monsters herself, which was even more impossible for Igris.

Although he didn't get the answer he wanted, Vilan wasn't disappointed.

He took a few deep breaths to regain his composure, and then began to unleash his magical talents.

However, since it was too slow for the pills to come one by one, he simply grabbed a handful and began to feel the magic surging in his palm.

With a snap, all the magic cores in his hand turned into powder. He carefully caught them with a piece of paper before letting out a sigh of relief.

"It really works, but it's a bit tiring."

Vilan rubbed his temples, feeling a slight sense of disorientation, followed by a wave of drowsiness.

As if anticipating this, Igris reminded her, "Using magic requires mental energy; if you consume too much at once, this will happen."

Are there any side effects?

"No, I'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

Iglesias realized what she meant as soon as she finished speaking, and a suspicious look appeared on her face. "You don't actually want to try it, do you?"

Vilan did not answer, but instead grasped another pile of magic cores.

"It has no side effects and can help you sleep. I can't think of anything better."