Roland received the first purchase order for the steam engine, and the transaction amount was the largest so far.
The price of a "bare machine" was 500 Golden Dragon. Two units were delivered in the first month, and then one more every month, for a total of ten units. In the future, technical support, parts replacement, and equipment improvement of the steam engine would require additional Golden Dragon payments. As for the quality after-sales service and the promise of three guarantees, Roland said he had never heard of them.
Barov was the most excited about this deal. In his opinion, anything that could increase the income of the City Hall, whether it was trade or plunder, was worthy of praise. Carter, Scroll, and Nightingale had all raised doubts about this matter. They believed that it was still too early to sell these powerful machines to outsiders. Currently, Border Town didn't even have enough of them to use.
Roland didn't explain too much about this, because he didn't just consider it from the perspective of a lord, but from the position of an industrialized promoter.
It was almost impossible to promote the process of social industrialization with one's own strength, even if he had knowledge ahead of the times. The town's ability to digest was extremely limited. If no one bought the manufactured industrial products, they were no different from scrap iron. It was necessary to let more people join in this revolution to set off a wave of new power applications.
What could he get by selling the steam engine?
Sufficient money, a large number of jobs, and a group of skilled workers – the latter had always been the most important.
This was also the reason why Roland kept the output low.
After Anna's ability evolved, the production efficiency was not the same as before. As long as there were enough raw materials, she could now cut out a dozen steam engines in a day.
But selling such a product was simply "selling" the machine.
If he wanted to drive this industry, he must set up a special team to be responsible for production, assembly, and maintenance. In Roland's plan, he only needed to open a factory and prepare the production tools, such as boring machines, planers, milling machines, and so on, and then hand over the production of the steam engine to the workers. It could be expected that the factory's production efficiency would be low in the early stage, and the quality of the products would be terrible, but slowly, everything would be on the right track. With the mother bed made by Anna, as long as they were familiar with the operation, the output would inevitably rise.
The next step was to use the profits from selling the machines to expand the scale of production and train more technicians. The experienced workers gave the town the ability to produce higher quality products, such as steam trains, steam ships, and so on. Without a doubt, this was a virtuous cycle. The steam engines that he sold could also indirectly create benefits for him. If he used them in the mining industry, he could reduce the price of ore; if he used them in the shipping industry, he could promote trade; if he used them in the textile industry, he could make up for his shortcomings.
Roland was eager to quickly popularize steam power throughout the country – as long as these machines were produced in Border Town. Once he unified Graycastle, it would save him a lot of effort.
He had also considered the possibility of the buyer imitating the steam engine, but the new steam engine would use a round cylinder drilled by a boring machine, plus some deliberately designed complex parts. Relying on the current level of technology, he was afraid that it would be very difficult for them to produce a qualified machine in a short time, even if they had witches who specialized in high-temperature.
To be able to negotiate such a large order and find a channel to sell industrial products, Roland should have been elated. However, he realized that he was not happy at all.
"It's sunny outside, why do you still have a bitter face?" Nightingale crossed her long legs and sat on the desk, holding a plate of dried fish slices in her hands. "Are you still worried about the news from the church?"
When Scroll was not around, Nightingale's behavior was particularly casual, and she often stayed in the corner of the desk and the reclining chair by the wall. To the other lords, this was obviously an affront. However, Roland knew that he didn't care, and she also knew this.
"I've been wondering why the church supported me and Garcia to compete for the throne at the same time, but now I understand. If my guess is correct, I'm afraid that Timothy has also received an invitation from the church. "He frowned.
In addition to the order, Margaery also brought him a lot of information about King's City, one of which greatly surprised Roland. It was that the church had attacked and taken over the Kingdom of Everwinter, and according to Margaery, it seemed that they planned to take a step forward and launch an attack on the Kingdom of Wolfheart. This news was like a bolt from the blue, and it connected all the ominous signs that had been lingering in his mind together.
"Supporting the three of you to compete for the throne at the same time?"
"Not supporting, but consuming." Roland shook his head. "The church doesn't care if the war spreads to the whole country, or in other words, they are happy to see Graycastle fall into internal strife. As for the churches and believers being involved in the war, it is not within the scope of their concern. Graycastle is not as weak as the Kingdom of Everwinter. It has a vast territory and a large number of people, and if they attack it, the Judgement Army will lose more than half. Only after we kill each other will he be able to occupy the Kingdom of Graycastle at the lowest cost. After that, they can have as many believers as they want, and they can build churches however they want. Those pills... are just a well-prepared trap. "
The decree issued by Wimbledon III for the throne was equivalent to giving the church a chance to manipulate the situation. If Graycastle, the Kingdom of Wolfheart, and the Kingdom of Everwinter were destroyed one after another, the only Kingdom of Dawn could not survive alone. The church's real purpose was probably to unify the four kingdoms. Considering the slow transmission of the news and the indifference of the people to the political situation, it was likely that people would only wake up when the church arrived at their doorstep.
This was also the reason why Roland felt anxious.
In this era, there was no basis to establish a united front, and it was a pipe dream to expect the nobles of Graycastle to cross the border to help. When the church's army arrived at the city, the last thing he could rely on was probably the people in the Western Region.
"But you also have a new weapon. The Judgement Army is not much stronger than the ordinary Knight, I don't think they can defeat you."
He remembered that when Nightingale mentioned the huge church, she only felt a sense of fear. Now she had such great confidence in himself, which was slightly beyond Roland's expectation.
He forced a smile, but sighed in his heart. It was not difficult for Anna to produce a revolving rifle. The trial production of a revolving rifle and two revolvers, whether it was the reset trigger or the automatic wheel, were very good. But if the problem of firing bullets could not be solved, the new weapons would have no practical value. In the absence of the development of mercury fulminate, he had to use some substitute materials as the primer.
"I hope the guards who went to Redwater City can bring good news," Roland thought.
At this moment, Lightning, who had regained her usual vigor and was in the middle of her daily training, flew into the office with unexpected news. The flag on a slope in the woods on the east side of Border Town had been changed to blue.
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