The next day, Neverwinter welcomed the fourth holiday after the beginning of autumn, which was also the first weekend in mid-autumn.
Since there were no legends about the creation of a new era in this world, for most people, they had to be busy at all times to fill their stomachs. Ever since Roland announced the rule of having one day off every seven days, the people had attributed this gratitude to him. Being able to have a complete day of rest without having their wages deducted, what else could they be picky about with such a benevolent and loving lord?
Especially the refugees from other places, after experiencing the living environment in Neverwinter, all of them were determined to settle down here. Even the propaganda about demons in City Hall could not stop this momentum. Compared to hunger and poverty, even the threat of demons became less important.
However, Barov's report showed that after the official promotion of the rest day system, the production of Neverwinter was not affected much. The main reason was that the rest day system was not compulsory, and many people chose to continue working to earn extra pay. On the other hand, the trade activities in the city had increased significantly. Every weekend, the square area was always overcrowded. Not only local businessmen, but also foreign businessmen would choose to set up stalls and sell on that day. The rest of the time, they would buy specialty products of the Western Region and resell them to other places.
A year ago, this kind of weekly flow of goods was unimaginable. But now, with the increasing number of cement ships, the pace of trade became faster and faster. In large inland cities like Redwater City, people could even eat fresh sea fish soaked in ice from the Shallow Port. In the past, the nobles and merchants there could only eat salted dried fish at most.
Because of this, Roland decided to hold important lectures, demonstrations of achievements, and all kinds of award ceremonies on rest days. He wanted to use the habits of the masses to further promote the liveliness of commercial trade. As the saying goes, wool comes from the sheep's back. The extra pay could be completely recovered from the sales tax and consumption. It was a strategy that killed many birds with one stone.
Today was no exception. The remaining warmth of summer had not dissipated, and there was a gentle breeze blowing in the cloudless blue sky. Obviously, it was a good weather for traveling. The streets were crowded with people. From the dock area of the inland river to the northern wall of the city, the figures of the subjects could be seen everywhere.
The difference was that this time, they were not there to buy a few pounds of good meat from the Convenience Market, but to witness the king's new invention.
It was the first trial run of an unprecedented means of transportation, the "train".
Jewelry merchant Victor was also one of them.
After learning about the promotion in City Hall, he even left a big deal to his subordinates and boarded a cement boat from the old king's city to Neverwinter overnight.
Victor was undoubtedly one of the people who had been strongly affected by the changes in the Western Region over the years. When this place was still a remote town, he had already visited the lord of this place. He did not have much of an impression of the person in charge. He only remembered that the person was a middle-aged nobleman with a bloated body, and he was complaining that it was his turn to manage this barren land. If he hadn't occasionally been able to get one or two high-quality raw gemstones from the other side, he estimated that he would have stopped at Longsong Stronghold.
Even so, Victor visited the Western Region at most once a year. No matter when he came, this border town was almost the same as the previous year, dilapidated and decayed. But in the last three years, he came here more frequently, especially after Roland Wimbledon announced the construction of the city, and he basically came here once a month.
The Western Region of Graycastle seemed to have become another world.
Here, a day was no longer a day, but a month was no longer a month, but a year. Otherwise, it was hard for him to explain the rapid changes in Neverwinter.
Victor walked into a tavern facing the street, and the owner immediately greeted him with a smile. "I knew you'd come, so I specially reserved a seat on the third floor by the window for you."
He took out a silver royal and threw it to the owner. "Take me there."
"Yes, please follow me."
As a regular customer of this tavern, Victor naturally did not choose to squeeze with the civilians on the street. Although there were many people gathered on the third floor, at least he had a much wider view.
The people around him were already in a heated discussion about today's exhibition.
"That narrow street is the road the train is going to take? It's too far from the Central Square and the residential area. "
"Street? Ignorant. That's called a rail system, which is used in the mining area. " Then someone sneered. "Since it's not for people, of course it should be farther away from crowded places. Do you think the train is a carriage?"
"Are you talking about the stuff laid in the mines of Silver City?"
"Yes, it was originally produced here, so it needs to be used with a steam engine."
Victor could not help but join in the fun. "I've seen a trailer pulled by a steam engine. Its advantage is that it doesn't care about the terrain. If it's on flat land, mules and horses can completely replace it. If that's the case, City hall won't advertise it as a 'cross-era transportation tool', right? "
"Maybe it's just a gimmick." Another person muttered.
"Go away." Immediately there was a burst of uproar. "Is this your first time in Neverwinter? His Majesty never boasted in this aspect. "
That person was not convinced and wanted to say something more. Suddenly there was a loud whistle in the distance.
"Woo — — —"
"It's coming, it's coming!" The room suddenly became noisy. Everyone leaned out of the window and stared unblinkingly at the side street of the Castle District. Some of the prepared people even took out a telescope from their bosoms.
Victor also looked toward the source of the sound —
He saw a long black dragon slowly moving out from behind the blocked houses and gradually reflected in the eyes of the crowd. It was huge, and its head was like an iron barrel on wheels. The top of the barrel was spewing out gray smoke, which was no different from the steam engine.
Next to the front of the train, there was a four-wheeled carriage. The carriage was pulled by two groups of horses, and it was moving at the same speed as the train. It looked like they were competing with each other. However, because the carriage was full of ores, it was very difficult for the horses to take a step, which could be seen from the coachman's constant whipping. If not for the iron wheel hub, the carriage would have been crushed.
As the full appearance of the train gradually came into view, Victor could not help but feel goosebumps on his back.
Behind the front of the train were many carriages. Each of them was almost as big as four or five carriages, and they were also full of ores. Judging from the weight, it was probably as big as a river sailboat.
The problem was that it was pulling several carriages at the same time!
People's exclamations could be heard continuously!
"Four... the fourth one!"
"Five!"
"There can't be more, right?"
"Oh my God, there are six!"
"It's coming out, the seventh one!"
The monster-like front of the train dragged a total of seven carriages at an extremely stable speed through the open space in front of the castle.
Victor also had an answer to the question in his heart.
A steam engine fixed at the entrance of the mine to pull mining carts in and out was completely different from a steam engine that could move autonomously.
The latter meant that wherever the railway was built, a large amount of goods could be transported there. Weight was no longer the bottleneck of land transportation. On the contrary, compared to shipping, its transportation capacity was more powerful. If His Majesty wanted to, he could even empty a city in a short period of time.
Victor, who was born in a merchant family, naturally knew the importance of transportation. It was not without reason that most cities were built near rivers. The emergence of such a means of transportation would bring infinite possibilities to the flow of resources. It was not an exaggeration to say that it would transcend time.
He felt an indescribable throbbing in his heart, which was both satisfaction and loss. He felt that he was witnessing history, but at the same time, he was abandoned by history. In other kingdoms, the lords were still indulging in sensual pleasures. They still traveled by horse and mule carts, and their roads were still paved with bricks and full of mud.
But they were completely unaware of it and were used to it.
A thought emerged in Victor's mind.
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
