After discussing the distribution agreement, the higher-ups began to discuss more details. The workshop to refine mithril had to be built in San Felto City. Anyone who entered the city would have to go through a strict ascension process. The reason for this was to prevent the wizards from embezzling the mithril during the refining process.
The Mithril mine that Edmund discovered wasn't far from San Felto City. It was about 50 kilometers to the southeast of San Felto City. It was a mountain range. Not only did it have a silver mine, but it also had iron, copper, and coal mines. It could be said that it was an important raw material base for San Felto City.
There was a small town at the foot of the mountain. It had no name, but it was called Quarryton because it was at the foot of the mine. Now, in just a week, this small town had become overcrowded. A large number of miners came from San Felto City.
These miners were originally residents of the slums. They were originally building the city, but Suhlen specially transferred some of them to mine. Due to the blast furnace, the iron ore consumption in San Felto City had increased by several times. In order to increase the supply, they had to increase the iron ore production. Most of the miners were sent to the iron ore factory.
Suhlen and Edmund came to Quarryton together. The silver mine where they discovered mithril was also here. Silver and mithril seemed to have mutated due to the special environment and energy. The physical and chemical properties of mithril had changed dramatically. According to the research left behind by the Arcane Empire, mithril was the product of the mutation of the silver element in the earth's crust.
It usually only appeared in the world or plane where the Elemental Tide had occurred. The distribution of mithril was irregular and very rare, but it was distributed all over the continent. However, the content of mithril was very low. Only those who were lucky could find it.
The most famous description of mithril was that it was as strong as a dragon's scale and as light as a feather. However, even though mithril was extremely strong, it was still half as heavy as iron. It was an exaggeration to say that it was as light as a feather. Mithril was only one-third as heavy as silver.
The real value of mithril was its amazing ductility and magic conductivity. It would never fade after refining, and its physical properties were extremely stable. It was the metal with the highest magic conductivity among all the known metals and alloys. Magic runes made of mithril could be used for thousands of years without worrying about natural wear and tear.
Once in the Arcane Empire, there was a Mithril Mail Armor. This Mail Armor had a strong defensive power and was very light. Every buckle on this Mail Armor was engraved with runes. In addition to having a strong defensive power, it was also enchanted with many powerful spells. It was one of the few powerful armors that would not interfere with the wizard's spellcasting.
This equipment could be said to be a godly item for those wizards, but using mithril to forge an armor was still a very extravagant act. Without considering its conductivity, the hardness of mithril was not the best among the many metals and alloys.
Take Adamantine for example. This type of metal had powerful defensive capabilities. Armor made from it would be very sturdy. Moreover, aside from its excellent Physical Defense, Adamantine Armor also had powerful Magical Defense. Adamantine Armor could also be used to make weapons. Weapons made from Adamantine Armor were very sharp. They could directly ignore 20 points of Defense, and ordinary heavy armor would be easily pierced. Its value was not much lower than that of mithril.
Suhlen brought many workers to Quarryton. After a day of rest, they went to the silver mine located in the mountains. This silver mine was only discovered in San Felto a few years ago. It was only considered an above average mine in the Kingdom of Florence.
Of course, Suhlen did not care how much silver was produced here. After all, the price of one ounce of mithril could easily buy several tons of silver.
Suhlen looked at the silver mine in front of him. The surroundings of the silver mine were very simple. The whole mine was surrounded by a three-meter-high wall. There was a row of simple and low houses next to it. The living conditions were very poor. On the other side of the wall was a luxurious three-story villa. There were only three mines in the mine, and there were only about 200 miners. They were bone-thin slaves with expressionless faces. They looked like they could be blown away by a gust of wind. There were also a large number of strong guards patrolling around the mine.
Suhlen patrolled the mine expressionlessly. The manager of the mine followed him carefully.
"Your Majesty, this silver mine can excavate about ten tons of ore every day. After refining, we can obtain about thirty kilograms of silver …" The manager of the silver mine, Hard, moved his rotund body with a fawning expression on his face. His rotund body was squeezed by the clothes on his body, causing people to worry that the buttons on his clothes would burst open in the next second.
"Your Majesty, it's very windy outside. Why don't you wait in the office?"
Suhlen looked around the mine and nodded. "Okay, send someone to send over some of the ores from the silver mine."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I'll send someone to do it right away." After sending Suhlen and the others to the villa, Harde immediately sent someone to collect the silver ores. About ten minutes later, a basket of silver ores was sent over.
Suhlen picked up a piece of silver ore. It was about five kilograms in weight. Its surface was gray, and it did not have the bright color of silver. It did not look very eye-catching at all. This was a normal phenomenon. Metals like silver would oxidize in the air. The silvery-white silver was mostly freshly smelted. After a while, it would turn black.
Most silver coins in circulation were made with other metals. Since pure silver was soft and didn't wear well, some copper would be added. For example, the ratio of silver to copper in the coins produced in North Town City was eight to two. Twenty percent of a silver Nar was copper, but the price of a silver coin was calculated according to one hundred percent pure silver.
The silver coins minted in Northern Town were very beautiful and heavy. They were very popular during trade, much more popular than the silver coins minted in the Kingdom of Florence.
A silver coin minted in this way could earn at least 15 percent of the profit. That was why silver Nar was a very profitable business. Apart from silver Nar, Kinnar was also a very profitable business. Gold was softer than silver, so it was easier for it to be damaged in the process of circulation. Therefore, copper was also added into the minting process of Kinnar. The ratio was 85 percent and 15 percent respectively.
It could be said that a mint was like a hen that laid golden eggs. Currently, the mint in Northern Town made more than 20,000 Kinnar in a month.
The coining workshop in the Northern Town City used hydraulic coining machines to forge the coins. The forging speed was fast, the process was simple, and the cost was low. The silver Nar pattern was clear and delicate, which was much more advanced than the technology used in Florence. Su Lun had planned to set up a coining factory in San Filto City.
There was nothing special about the silver ore in front of him. Suhlen put it down after a simple inspection. He then continued to search for other silver ores. A basket full of silver ores weighed about two hundred pounds. Suhlen and Wizard Edmund began to inspect it. Soon, Suhlen found an ore that was different from the others.
It was a piece of ore slightly bigger than a fist. The surface of the ore was also gray, but there were some small silvery-blue particles on the surface. These particles reflected some light under the sunlight. Suhlen nodded slightly and put the silver ore aside quietly. He then continued to search among the other ores.
Two hundred kilograms of ores was not a lot. After about fifteen minutes, all the ores had been checked. The two of them found three pieces of ores with silvery-blue granules from the pile of ores. The total weight of these ores was only about five kilograms.
These ores were naturally Mithril ores, but the amount of Mithril in them was pitifully small. This was basically the normal distribution of Mithril ores. Legend had it that a single Mithril vein was discovered in the era of the Arcane Empire, and the amount of Mithril in it was unbelievable.
Because Mithril ores were very scattered and rare, it was possible to excavate all the Mithril in such a silver mine, and the final amount of Mithril ores would only weigh a few dozen pounds. Therefore, it was very difficult to steal Mithril ores.
After confirming that this silver mine was indeed associated with Mithril ores, Suhlen was relieved. Next, the whole silver mine was taken over by Suhlen's men. For this Mithril mine, Suhlen deliberately transferred thirty soldiers from his private guards. These soldiers would be the guards of the silver mine. At the same time, the original manager of the silver mine was sent back to the prison in San Felto City for reform. Cain was re-appointed as the manager of the silver mine.
Next, the silver mine needed to be transformed. At least, the simple and primitive production method of carrying the ores on one's shoulders had to be more advanced. Two rails would be laid in the mine to transport the ores. The passage would also need to be widened and various easier to operate mechanical tools would be added.
Originally, the workers in the mine were slaves. Their enthusiasm for work was very low, and the food was very poor. The work was also carried out under the beatings and beatings of the foreman. Of course, their work efficiency was pitifully low. Suhlen naturally would not do that. He was going to use a method of quantitative production, and set a minimum standard for everyone to collect ores every day. After the minimum standard was set, everyone would have food to eat.
Of course, the food was better than before, but it was only enough to cover the basic consumption. There were also different levels above that. Once the number of ores collected reached a certain level, they would receive corresponding treatment. As long as they worked hard, they would have meat for every meal.
In addition to these, Suhlen also stipulated that as long as the workers worked in the mine for three years and collected a certain amount of ores during this period, they would be able to obtain the status of a free person and be rewarded with ten silver Nars.
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