In this era, the percentage of soldiers equipped with armor was very low, around 50%. The percentage of regular soldiers could reach 120%, and the percentage of auxiliary soldiers was around 20%. Soldiers in this era were required to prepare their own weapons and rations on the battlefield. The auxiliary soldiers were usually farmers.
If there was a war between two noble lands, it would usually be a knight leading a dozen squires against an army of farmers. Suhlen's army was not like that.
The regular soldiers of the Kingdom of Florence were equipped with leather armor and iron scale armor. Iron armor could only be worn by a platoon leader. The main reason was that the production cost of iron armor was very high. The Kingdom of Florence did not have a hydraulic forge like the one in North Town, nor a blast furnace, so the production of pig iron was limited. A full set of iron armor was not cheap either.
Suhlen planned to build a blast furnace and a hydraulic forge here to mass produce iron armor. While Suhlen was planning to build a blast furnace, the prison in San Felto City was completed.
The prison was built from a castle. It looked solemn on the outside. All the windows were only the size of a palm and were sealed with iron pillars as thick as a finger. On the high wall outside the prison, there was a sharp iron fence. Just by looking at it from the outside, one could feel the security was tight. The prison had around 80 rooms, and it was sturdy and durable. After the prison was completed, Suhlen came here in a hurry. He planned to bring some officials here for some ideological education.
[Prison: A prison built from a castle. Any criminal will be severely punished here. Eerie Terror + 33, Indestructible + 30, Abrupt Repentance + 28, Mind Interrogation + 33, Strength Suppression + 35, Imprisonment + 33, Spirit Modification + 30, Surrender + 35, City Security + 20, People's Sentiment + 15, Prosperity -3]
"This is the prison we built?" Blacksmith, who was standing not far away, gulped as he looked at the building that gave him goosebumps.
"Looks good!" Suhlen said as he looked at the prison.
"Where are the officials? Are they here? "
"Your Majesty, I've sent someone to inform them. I believe they will be here soon," a guard beside him said respectfully.
Around 10 minutes later, a group of officials arrived outside the prison under the guard's lead.
"Your Majesty!" Although they were a little confused when they were suddenly called here, the group of officials did not show any dissatisfaction.
Suhlen nodded and walked up to the officials. "Many people are wondering why I called everyone here."
"What's so interesting about this prison? We're not criminals. "
"Indeed, you are not criminals, but you are officials. An ordinary person's crime may only affect him or a limited number of people, but you are different. As officials, one of your decisions will affect thousands of people, so I have high requirements for officials."
"The reason I brought you here is to let you see what kind of punishment you will receive if you bend the law for favoritism, dereliction of duty, corruption, and knowingly break the law. It will serve as a warning to you."
As soon as Suhlen finished speaking, there was a commotion among the officials below. These officials were all former officials of San Filto City. According to the conduct of the nobles, one could imagine how professional these people were. Even if they were all wiped out, Suhlen wouldn't be surprised.
"Quiet!" Seeing the chaotic crowd, Suhlen said in a deep voice.
"I don't care about what you did before I came to San Filto City. I wasn't the king at that time, so it wasn't under my control. But after that, you'd better make up for what you did. If you don't listen to me, don't blame me for not reminding you!"
"Alright, now all of you follow me into this prison. Take a good look at the consequences of doing wrong!"
After that, Suhlen led the jailers and the unwilling officials into this gloomy and terrifying prison.
As soon as they entered the prison, they felt a gloomy and cold atmosphere. The entire prison environment was very depressing. The light was dim, and just the corridor made people feel a sense of trepidation. The officials' behavior was even more unbearable.
Different from the prison in Northern Town City, there were a lot of torture devices in this prison. These torture devices seemed to have been used before. There was a lot of dark red stuff on them that looked like fresh blood. A few jailers on the side gave a detailed explanation of these torture devices. They even took out a few pieces of pork to demonstrate.
When they saw the pieces of pork being tortured by various torture devices, the officials' faces turned pale. Their limbs went soft, and they couldn't even stand properly.
Suhlen waved his hand. Two jailers went forward and lifted up the officials whose legs went soft. Who knew that as soon as they lifted them up, the officials started to struggle and cry violently.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please spare my life … I know I was wrong … Please spare my life!" One of the officials thought that the jailers were going to torture him. He was so scared that his face changed drastically. He cried crazily, "Don't come over … Don't come over …"
"Your Majesty, I confess … I surrender … I took bribes from others and worked for them. Your Majesty, please spare my life …!"
For a moment, the entire prison was filled with cries and shouts. Suhlen was also shocked by the scene in front of him. He didn't expect the prison to be so effective. He had only seen half of it, and the officials in front of him couldn't take it anymore.
Seeing these officials begging for mercy, Suhlen was very pleased. Since these people were willing to surrender, Suhlen had no reason to refuse. He directly asked someone to record their crimes. Of course, before the records were recorded, all the officials had to walk through the entire prison. Of course, those officials who were so scared that their legs went soft were also forced to walk through the prison by the jailers.
After going through such a baptism, the officials became very honest. They recounted all the crimes that they had committed in detail. For these people, those who had committed less serious crimes would continue to be promoted. Of course, they would have to make up for all their previous crimes. They would have to double the amount of money that they had accepted and correct their violations. For those who had committed more serious crimes, they would be removed from their positions after the collection of the stolen goods.
Seeing that the prison was so effective, Suhlen was relieved. Then, he made a rule that all the officials in San Filto City had to come to the prison once every six months for ideological education. The officials from Northern City were very familiar with this rule. As for the officials from San Filto City who had just visited the prison, they didn't dare to have any objections. They were afraid that Suhlen would throw them into the prison.
It was also from this day onwards that the prison in San Filto City became a sword that hung over the heads of all the officials. Because of this, the prison also became a terrifying place in San Filto City that could stop children from crying.
With the prison, the efficiency of the officials in San Filto City doubled. All the excuses in the past disappeared. The operation of the City Hall became very smooth. All the government decrees issued by Suhlen were implemented seriously. It was no longer as superficial as before.
Suhlen was very satisfied with this change. The most direct manifestation was that the tax revenue had increased by half. The number of people in San Filto City had also increased from 60% to 75%.
It was also from now on that Suhlen truly controlled San Filto City.
Another thing that was worth being happy about was the furnace in the blacksmith workshop. After some construction, the furnace was finally completed.
Speaking of which, the technical level of the blast furnace designed by Su Lun had only reached the level of the earthen kiln in the 1960s of his previous life. It was impossible to make steel, but it was possible to make pig iron.
The furnace in the blacksmith workshop was erected in the backyard. The furnace was made of refractory bricks and was cylindrical in shape. However, the two ends were slightly thinner. The furnace in front of him was six meters tall. It wasn't built according to the blueprint of eight meters tall. The main reason was that the workers weren't skilled enough.
However, a six-meter-tall furnace wasn't small. This furnace was filled with ores and dyes. It could produce thousands of pounds of pig iron in one steelmaking. In order to make the blast furnace stronger, Su Lun specially blessed the blast furnace with hardening. The refractory bricks on the blast furnace were also blessed with fire resistance by Su Lun, which could reduce the burning of the blast furnace by flames.
At the same time, Suhlen drew runes on the inner wall of the furnace to increase the temperature of the flames. This could increase the temperature of the flames and melt the ores faster. To put it bluntly, the whole blast furnace was a magic item.
A mine cart was used to feed the furnace. It was directly transported through the rails. The rails were connected to the furnace's inlet. The whole design used a pulley block to reduce the strength. There was also a large bellows next to the furnace. It was used to ventilate the furnace and transport oxygen.
When the air was transported, there was also a heating device to preheat the air. This way, cold air wouldn't enter the furnace and lower the temperature. With this preheating device, the furnace's temperature could be directly raised by 200 degrees.
The furnace was about the same height as the walls of the blacksmith workshop. In order to prevent earthquake collapse, Suhlen also installed fixed parts around the furnace to make it more stable. After the furnace was built, it was natural to try it out first. The workers around couldn't wait to try it out.
Under Suhlen's order, the workers immediately pushed the prepared iron into the furnace and then ignited the charcoal. The orange flame rose instantly, and the surrounding temperature began to rise rapidly.
Originally, the charcoal could only be heated to 800 or 900 degrees. However, after using the furnace, the temperature would be further increased. In addition, Suhlen also drew runes to increase the temperature of the flames and preheated the air. Finally, the temperature in the furnace directly broke through to 1,600 degrees.
Such a high temperature could completely melt the iron ore.
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