The weapon bureau only took two days to complete, and the attributes were quite good.
[Weapon Bureau: Department for research, development, improvement, and production of weapons. Research Speed + 10, Strive for Perfection + 8, Craftsman Spirit + 10, Work Efficiency + 10]
Although the attributes were not much, the effects were quite good. Suhlen arranged for 30 craftsmen to work on the weapon bureau. The first weapon they were researching was the crossbow.
The crossbow Suhlen had obtained was simple in structure, low in power, short in range, and slow in loading. It had no advantages over the centaur longbows and elven longbows. It was similar to the birch bows used by human archers. This level of crossbow had no advantages at all, so Suhlen planned to research and upgrade it before equipping it.
Of course, even if they wanted to research and upgrade the crossbow, they still needed to make the basic crossbow first. Many countries had crossbows, but they preferred the powerful ballista. There wasn't much research on small crossbows, and the cost of making one wasn't a small sum. Therefore, the popularity of small crossbows in various countries wasn't high.
Normal crossbows were not a threat to knights. In this supernatural world, a knight could wear plate armor and charge back and forth on the battlefield. Normal crossbows could not pierce plate armor at all. Only large ballistae could pose a threat to them. However, ballistae were heavy and difficult to move. As long as they were discovered in advance, the hit rate would be even lower. They were more suitable for siege or defense.
Because he had mechanical control and had made ballistae before, making a small crossbow was not difficult for him. Suhlen asked the craftsmen to help him and made the crossbow according to the blueprint.
As long as the frame of the crossbow was made of metal, this part could be poured directly. The other parts were made of flexible wood, and the bowstring was made of cow tendons and other materials. The bowstring used in the crossbow was tougher than normal bows, so it was made of several pieces of cow tendons. When necessary, iron wire could be added to increase the strength.
With the completion of the last part, Suhlen finally finished making all the parts of the crossbow. After moving his body a bit, Suhlen picked up the parts and started to assemble them. Compared to making the crossbow, the assembling speed was much faster. It only took him ten minutes to complete the crossbow.
In fact, the crossbow in the blueprints given by the system was an arm crossbow. However, the arm crossbow took a long time to load, so Suhlen modified it and turned it into a leg crossbow. It was the addition of a pedal at the front of the crossbow. When drawing the crossbow, one foot stepped on the pedal and both hands pulled the bowstring. It was faster and more labor-saving than using both arms to draw the bowstring.
Suhlen tried to pull open the crossbow and put the special bolt into the crossbow machine. The bolt used by the crossbow machine was different from the bolt used by the bow. The bolt used by the crossbow machine had no feather and was shorter than the bolt used by the bow. After fixing the bolt, Suhlen led the other craftsmen to a weapon testing field in the back.
Suhlen asked the craftsmen to place the targets at fifty meters, eighty meters, one hundred meters, and one hundred and twenty meters respectively. He began to test. He held the crossbow machine with one hand and the handle with the other. Then, he aimed the crossbow machine at the target in the distance and pulled the trigger with his finger.
"Bang!"
The sound of the bowstring vibrating was heard. The bolt instantly shot to the target in the distance and hit the bullseye. Then Suhlen continued to load the crossbow and shoot. Bang, bang, bang. The sound of the bowstring was heard continuously. In a short while, Suhlen shot out more than ten bolts.
Then, he began to check the lethality of the bolts. The bolts on the fifty-meter target directly penetrated the target. These targets were all made of hardwood and were seven centimeters thick. It was not easy to penetrate them. The bolts on the eighty-meter target also penetrated deeply.
On the hundred-meter target, the bolts on the hundred-meter target were very shallow, only about one centimeter deep. On the hundred-meter target, the bolts on the hundred-meter target could be easily pulled out. Basically, the bolts on the hundred-meter target had no lethality. Suhlen used a force of thirty kilograms to load the crossbow. An adult could easily pull it open.
The power was also so-so. The lethality was very strong within eighty meters. At fifty meters, it could penetrate armor. Beyond one hundred meters, the power would plummet. The bolts were different from bows because they did not have feathers and were very unstable. Beyond a certain distance, the power would not be as strong.
However, a thirty-kilogram crossbow was only the most basic. Usually, the crossbow was more than sixty kilograms. At that time, the range of the bolts would definitely be longer and the penetrating effect would be stronger. In fact, a sixty-kilogram crossbow only needed to be strengthened. The main body of the crossbow did not need to be changed.
After Suhlen tested the crossbow and confirmed that there were no problems, he let the craftsmen research and design the bolts. Suhlen did not plan to participate in the research and design. If he did everything himself, what would the craftsmen do? As a Lord, he was very busy. He only planned to take some time to take a look at the weapons research institute and give some advice if there were any problems that he could not solve.
When Suhlen established the weapons research institute, the corresponding training in the barracks had already begun. The militia system in North Town was now established. The militia was different from professional soldiers. The militia had a very low salary. They had at least five days of training per month. The rest of the time, they worked as usual.
The militia's training had also been changed. It was now about formations and getting familiar with all kinds of commands and flags. In fact, military training was mostly about formations. Whether it was spearmen or archers, they all needed to know how to arrange formations.
The soldiers in North Town City were currently training the crossbowmen in a phalanx. Once the crossbows were made, they would be able to fight very quickly. The soldiers did not need to go out to fight. They would usually stay in the city to defend.
The crossbowmen needed the support of other troops when they went out to fight. The crossbowmen were only powerful when they were in a tight formation. Without a formation, or if the formation was loose, the crossbowmen were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
At the same time, the crossbowmen needed other troops to protect their flanks. Otherwise, they would be ambushed from the back. The current militia in North Town City did not have the mental fortitude to do so. North Town City now had the security force, the regular army, and the militia. The total number of soldiers was over ten thousand. The total population of Suhlen's territory was less than one hundred and fifty thousand. Of course, this did not include the goblins, kobolds, and other slaves.
This ratio was already very high compared to the surrounding countries. The salary of the North Town City army was also higher than that of the surrounding countries. The finances of North Town City were a little tight. Originally, the income of North Town City was enough to support so many soldiers, but there was too much work to do in North Town City.
The most expensive thing in North Town City was all kinds of projects. Although many materials could be produced in North Town City to reduce the cost, many magic materials could only be bought from merchant caravans. For example, the magic materials shipped from the Roland Via City Alliance would cost at least twice as much here.
Moreover, many magic experiments required the consumption of gold. Gold was a commonly used material in alchemy, and Hathaway was also a huge consumer of gold. According to the statistics of some wizards, a legendary wizard could consume several tons to a dozen tons of gold in their lifetime.
For example, the magic gold that wizards made was a substitute for fine gold. It required a lot of gold to make. Thorium, which was used to replace mithril, was also made with silver.
Building a wizard tower would cost at least a few million Kinnar. By now, most of the wealth in Suhlen's treasury had been used up. Luckily, there were still gold and silver mines that were still being excavated. Every month, there would be a large amount of gold and silver coming into the treasury. The restoration of the secret realm had slowed down, so Suhlen decided to build the wizard tower first.
Since he was ready to establish a duchy, Suhlen was also preparing to issue his own currency. The currency exchange in this world was very messy. There were more than 30 kinds of gold coins, and they all had different weight and weight. The most valuable gold coin was the wealth coin issued by the Church of Wealth.
Because of the high quality of this gold coin, it was very popular throughout the continent. Merchants loved to collect this kind of wealth gold coin the most. On the front of the coin was the portrait of the Lady of Wealth, and on the back was the emblem of the Church of Wealth. It could be said that because of the pursuit of wealth, the Lady of Wealth had a large number of followers.
Maybe it was because of the money, but most of these people were just ordinary followers. There were not many devout followers or fanatics. Those merchants were all speculators, and it was very difficult to make them believe in a god wholeheartedly.
Suhlen was going to make the coins with the wonders of his territory printed on them. As for why he did not put his own face on them, Suhlen felt too ashamed. Also, because of the technology, the face on the gold coins was not very clear. Of course, because the Church of Wealth was rich, they used divine spells to help. However, Suhlen did not have that many wizards to help him make the coins.
He was going to print the image of the Arc de Triomphe on the gold coins, and the face value of the gold coins on the front of the coins. At the same time, he was going to simplify the exchange rate of the gold coins. One gold coin for eighteen silver coins, one gold coin for thirty-six silver coins, these stupid exchange rates would all be eliminated. He was going to exchange the coins at a rate of one to ten, but the weight of the gold coins had to be controlled. He could not lose money.
Unifying the exchange rate would make it very convenient for ordinary people to trade. The Northern Citadel was definitely going to develop its business. Suhlen would not purposely make things difficult for him.
The Northern Citadel already had experience in making coins. Now, they were just changing the coins of the Kingdom of Florence into the Northern Citadel's coins. In fact, gold coins were rarely made of pure gold. Pure gold was too soft and easily deformed. Therefore, some other metals were mixed in to increase the hardness.
PS: Suhlen is going to establish a duchy. Asking for the name of the duchy. The Northern Citadel is too out of character.
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