In the second month of summer, on the midsummer day, Margaery arrived as promised.
This time, the ships brought by the merchant groups far exceeded the upper limit that the pier could accommodate. Many sailboats could only be docked by the river, waiting for the ship in front to finish unloading before they could connect to the pier.
This made Roland realize that the town's pier must be expanded.
Graycastle Industries had finally completed its task this month, reducing the waste rate to 40%, and successfully produced three steam engines before the delivery date. Although compared to the third generation steam engine currently in use in the town, the factory produced foreign trade products in terms of power, leakage, noise, vibration and other aspects were much worse, but compared to the prototype engine, it was already a significant improvement.
The Crescent Moon Bay Caravan brought a team of three hundred craftsmen according to the contract, and Roland placed them all in the industrial park on the south bank of the Redwater River. In addition to building a new wooden factory next to the original factory, he also ordered Carr to build a staff dormitory near the river bank in the park. In order to complete this facility within a month, after the huge logs were transported to the site, Carr was responsible for technical guidance, while Anna cut them. The wood processing process, which was supposed to take the longest time, was completed in just two days. Karl, Anna's former teacher, was dumbfounded by her new ability. In just half a year, this thin and quiet girl had become full of confidence and high spirits.
Roland held a sumptuous dinner in the castle to welcome the arrival of the merchants.
At the same time, for the first time, white wine appeared in everyone's line of sight.
"Every time you come here, there is always something new, Margaery really didn't lie to me," Hogg shouted, "Even the wine is so different, compared to this … this …"
"White wine," Margaery reminded.
"Yes, white wine! Compared to it, ale and wine are simply bland and tasteless, "he grinned and drank the wine in his glass," Your Highness, you must sell me a few boxes of this thing. "
"I think it tastes too hot, fruit wine is more suitable for me," the female merchant smiled and shook her head.
Roland smiled, "This is related to the taste, not everyone can accept a high concentration of distilled wine. I don't intend to promote it, I just happened to make some for everyone to taste. "
In the era when brewing was still the mainstream, distilled spirits were obviously a new star with great potential for development. White spirits, rum, whiskey, and vodka were all distilled spirits with high alcohol content, and on top of these distilled spirits, a series of corresponding bartending culture was also extended. But for the current Border Town, it was still too early to develop this industry.
"Your Royal Highness, I've already sent people to collect a lot of information regarding the matter you instructed me to do in your last letter," Margaret said. "After the Church of Everwinter took control of the Kingdom of Wolfsheart, there hasn't been much change. Instead, the resistance from the Wolfsheart Kingdom has become much stronger. It is said that the Church's troops have all gathered at Broken Tooth Castle and haven't been able to take a step forward for more than two months. "In addition, the King of Dawn sent a messenger to Graycastle, saying that the Church's army had gathered in Broken Castle, unable to move for more than two years. He called on the two countries to form an alliance to expel the Church and fight against the Holy City of Hermes together. "
"How did King's City respond?" Roland asked.
"The Prime Minister, Marquis Wyke, rejected the proposal and reprimanded the other side as nonsense." Gamol shrugged, "This matter has caused an uproar in King's City, and even the nobles haven't reached a consensus. As far as I know, many people support the alliance, after all, the Church has shown no sign of returning the ruling power to the successor of the Kingdom of Eternal Winter. "
"Timothy didn't show up?"
"The Prime Minister's answer must have been inspired by Timothy, he himself has now rushed to the Eastern Region with his army," Marlan said with a dignified expression, "I heard that a huge fleet landed in Seawindshire and plundered along the Eastern coastline, even the churches weren't spared, and many Fjords merchants also suffered."
"A large number of fugitives have appeared in the Eastern Region, Hogg and I have taken in many of them," Margaery added, "they said that this group of looters not only robbed money, but also people. They burned everything they couldn't take away, as if they wanted to turn the entire Eastern Region into a piece of white land. This is definitely a heavy blow to Timothy, who has just subdued the nobles of the Eastern Region. "
Timothy receiving a blow should have been a happy thing, but when he heard that the other side was looting people, Roland felt a burst of pain in his heart, "Those fugitives …"
"Are you interested?" Margaery said with a smile, "When I saw that letter, I guessed that you might want to buy a large number of slaves to enrich the labor force of your territory. But compared to the foreign refugees of the Kingdom of Eternal Winter and the Kingdom of Wolfheart, these people of Graycastle may not be willing to sell themselves as slaves. "
"I don't need to make them slaves, as long as these people are willing to settle in Border Town, they will have food and housing, and they will also be paid for their work." Roland corrected, at the same time he realized that this was a good opportunity to expand the number of people, although this news came a little late, "How many people do they have?"
"Most of the strong refugees have been taken in by the nobles and caravans, and there are still nearly ten thousand people gathered outside King's City, but there are more young people and women."
"It doesn't matter, I will send someone to screen and lead the way," the prince decided, "Do we need to deal with the officials of King's City to take them away?"
"No need," Margaery waved her hand, "They are eager for you to take this group of people away, otherwise there will not be enough relief food, and if their number continues to increase, it is likely to lead to a refugee riot."
…
After the end of the dinner, Roland returned to his office and called his guard Theo.
This incident made him realize that his own intelligence system was very backward, if he had known about the fugitives in the first place, he would have been able to make early preparations, and bring more people to Border Town. At present, all his knowledge of the outside world came from the caravans, and the transmission speed of once a month simply couldn't meet his needs.
Even if he stationed troops in Longsong Stronghold and established a sentry post, he could only monitor the Western Territory. If he wanted to compete for the throne of Graycastle, he had to expand his vision to the whole country, or even the whole continent.
Roland didn't have enough loyal people to form a complete intelligence team, and it was even more impossible to find spies and secret agents lurking in various places. So he planned to start from the basics, arranging some people to go to King's City and collect information from all over the country. Even if he didn't have detailed monitoring, at least he could quickly understand the changes in the overall situation, and wouldn't be as passive as he was today.
Theo, who was very familiar with the forces of King's City's Black Street, was the best candidate for the prince.
"You want me to follow the caravan back to King's City?" Theo was stunned.
"Yes, you have two tasks, the first is to help me take in the refugees from the Eastern Region. I will send a team of about 100 soldiers to escort them, and I will tell you the detailed screening conditions before the caravan leaves. "
"Yes!"
"The second point, after the end of the refugee wave, you will stay in King's City and help me collect information from all over the country. You have dealt with the underground rats before, so you should know what to do. Margaery's caravan will fully support you, and the cost of the task will be directly collected from them. Unlike the last time you went to Redwater City to spread the news of the witches, this time there is no upper limit to the cost. " He put a revolver on the table, "Pay attention to protect yourself, and I hope to hear good news from you soon."
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