Brian was chased by Eibron to the point that he had no choice but to run back to Hammerforge to seek protection from his son and daughter-in-law. After dinner, Tang En began to discuss the paving of roads with Fiona.
The thousands of tonnes of asphalt brought back from the dwarven kingdom was only enough for the first phase of Ellington's road project. It was only enough to pave the area between the old and new districts of Ellington. It wasn't even enough to connect to the other villages in Ellington.
"My Lord, although we haven't started yet, I believe that this project will cost a lot of money. We won't be able to afford it on our own."
Fiona roughly estimated the cost of paving the roads. She didn't pay much attention to it at first, but after some calculations, she was shocked. According to Tang En's data and the thickness of the paving, paving a square metre of new roads with asphalt would cost about one gold coin!
That didn't seem like a lot.
According to Tang En's plan, the main roads had to be at least sixteen metres wide, and the secondary roads had to be at least ten metres wide. Paving a metre of distance would cost twenty-six gold coins. The total length of the main roads in the old and new districts was about fifty kilometres, so it would cost one hundred and thirty thousand gold coins!
Even now, the incomplete Ellington district required one hundred and thirty thousand gold coins to pave the roads. Not to mention, the total length of the roads in the new district had already exceeded a few hundred kilometres, and there were even roads connecting to other villages and towns!
If they wanted to repave all the roads in Ellington, they wouldn't be able to do it without at least a million gold coins!
If they wanted to connect to other territories and pave the road network, the amount of money needed would be even more shocking. It would be calculated in the tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions! This kind of project would require the power of an entire kingdom to complete. How could a territory like Ellington possibly complete this kind of project? It was simply a pipe dream!
"I never said that I wanted to shoulder it myself."
Tang En didn't seem to care, "Let's just pave the roads in our territory first. As for the roads in other places, after those people come to Ellington, they'll naturally come to us for cooperation. When that time comes, we'll just set the standards and sell the materials, technology, and equipment to make money."
"… I understand!"
Fiona almost immediately understood what Tang En meant. No matter how much he said, it was better to experience it personally. Using a ready-made example to let those people feel the benefits of asphalt roads, they would take the initiative to pave roads themselves.
Tang En was not worried about the funding for the road in the future because he knew that after the benefits of asphalt roads were spread, more and more people would want to build roads.
Think about it. Once you've experienced the smoothness of the asphalt road, who would be able to endure the muddy dirt road once it rained? Or the bumpy gravel road that was extremely bumpy?
What was even more exaggerated was that the asphalt roads also brought about an increase in efficiency. The various large chambers of commerce weren't fools. If the roads were changed to flat asphalt roads, then how much faster would their caravans be? One had to know that time was money. Business opportunities were fleeting. If one could be a step ahead, one could earn a lot of money. If one was a step behind, one could only pick up some leftovers.
"What we need to do now is to build up Ellington."
Tang En said earnestly, "As long as Ellington is built up, all the problems will be solved. There's no need to worry about anything else."
"I understand, but …"
Fiona took out a letter. "Hilton sent back a message from Alinx. Leander, the chairman of the Parliament of Nobles, is secretly searching for any information about you. It doesn't seem to be good news."
Tang En waved his hand indifferently. "Search as you wish. My information has already been placed on the table of the nobles in Alinx."
"Oh, there's one more thing. 'Night Song' sent a message. Chairman Berkley has decided to mobilize the Trade Union to block the Datang Chamber of Commerce. All the members of the Trade Union have agreed to refuse to sell anything to the Datang Chamber of Commerce … My lord, who is Night Song?"
"A little thief who jumps up and down … Humph!"
"A thief? How would a thief know about this … This is not good news. "
Fiona pinched her forehead and felt a headache. "We're still importing food from Kasparmie Castle and Bein. The food industry in these two cities is owned by the Trade Union. If the Trade Union blocks us, we can't even buy food!"
Tang En frowned slightly. "How long can this month's harvest and the previous purchases last?"
"Four months at most. If there's a magical beast attack in winter, or a cold wave, or a war, there'll be a shortage of food."
"Four months … That's the cold month at the end of the year …"
"Yes, there's still two months to the spring harvest of the Month of Dawn."
Tang En was stunned. "If the harvest can't even last until the spring harvest, how did they survive the winter?"
Tina, who came in with tea, could not help but say softly, "My Lord, many people starve to death in Ellington every winter … Everyone doesn't have enough to eat, and they barely manage to survive until the spring harvest …"
Fiona added, "Thanks to the appearance of the combine harvester, the harvest this season is very fast. There's basically no wastage, and there's no loss due to the weather or magical beasts. So, the food production has increased by about 30% compared to previous years, but it's still not enough for everyone's rations."
"This is mainly because the population of Ellington has increased by a lot recently, almost several times, but the planting area of food has not expanded. On the contrary, we've increased the planting area of peppermint and two other herbs, so the problem suddenly erupted."
"What about the food rationing system?"
"It can last for another month until the Month of Frozen Ice next year."
Tang En knocked on the table. "In other words, even if the food rationing system is implemented, we have to at least get enough food for everyone in Ellington for a month before winter."
"Yes, but considering the problem of stability, it's best to buy two months' worth of food."
Fiona said helplessly. "Although we've managed Ellington well, in fact, it's very fragile now. At this time, you, our Lord, are the most important. As long as you can solve our problem, then Ellington can continue to develop. If you can't solve a problem, as long as there's a little pressure and a little setback, Ellington is likely to collapse."
"After all, most of the people who come to Ellington now are poor refugees. These people risk their lives to come all the way to Ellington just to have a full meal. Once they know that Ellington can't even provide food in winter, then who would want to stay here?"
Tang En smiled and nodded. "I know, don't worry, food is not a problem."
"Laugh! You can still laugh! "
Fiona was about to go crazy. "Now, where are you going to find people to sell food to you? Even if they are willing to sell, once they know that the Trade Union has blocked the news, they will definitely take the opportunity to blackmail us to raise the price. We can't afford that! "
"It's a secret."
Tang En waved his hand. "I know about the food problem. Let's put it aside for now. Let's go back to the previous problem, which is paving the road."
"Is there anything else? The cost calculation is clear … Oh, right! "
Fiona clapped her hands. "Although you keep saying that asphalt can be used to pave the road and is a good thing, you haven't said how to pave the road."
"Well, it's quite simple, but it still needs some training because it requires the cooperation of two types of machines."
Tang En smiled. "I'll start researching the pavers and rollers in the afternoon, but the production after that … our spare parts factory's production capacity may not be able to keep up. There's a serious shortage of production capacity."
"It's not a shortage of production capacity!"
Fiona sighed again. "The lathe and stamping machines you came up with are very convenient and can be used to expand production capacity. But … … we don't have that many people right now! In the spare parts factory, the workers on the production line are so busy that they can't even move. There's still construction going on outside. How are we going to find people to use? "
"Speaking of using people, we are currently short of people. But if we recruit more people, our food shortage will become even bigger. Right now, it's an endless cycle that can't be broken. Unless we can solve the food problem, we can only recruit refugees with ease."
"Besides, Sir Lord, we are now rebuilding Ellington. At the same time, we also need to do irrigation works, repair roads, improve mining, reform agriculture, and expand our business … … Don't you think we're taking too big of a step?"
Fiona stared at Tang En and said, "To be honest, any one of these things would be enough to leave their name in history. But Sir Lord, you are bringing them out one after another. Moreover, I keep feeling that under your leisurely face, there seems to be a hidden anxiety. Is it just my imagination?"
"Of course."
Tang En said with an innocent face, "What's there for me to be anxious about? Don't forget that I'm a mage. Even if Ellington is ruined by me, I can just leave. Don't tell me I have to stay here and be buried with them? Oh, of course. Don't worry. If I'm going to leave, I definitely won't forget to bring you along. "
"Sir Lord … …"
After hearing Tang En's words, Fiona and Tina could no longer remember what they were discussing just now. Their eyes were immediately misty. They were so touched that they wanted to rush up and give him a kiss immediately.
"It's about time. You two stay here and sort out the documents. I'll go think about the road roller first."
Tang En got up and left the study with a smile. As soon as he closed the door, the smile on his face disappeared. He couldn't help but mutter, "A woman's intuition is really scary … … She can even feel this?"
"Sir Lord? What are you talking about? "
Tang En's face turned serious and turned around, "Eh? Marlene, you changed your hairstyle? You look really beautiful! "
He was very clear that women, especially women who were full of curiosity, were very dangerous creatures. If there was an attribute of "beautiful" on top of this, it would be even more dangerous.
But fortunately, this kind of creature had a very fatal weakness. That was, they were unusually emotional and liked to ignore normal logic.
Therefore, it was easy to divert their attention.
"Ah, Sir Lord, is that true?"
Marlene's curiosity was immediately diverted. She happily turned around and then asked shyly, "Then … … Am I beautiful or is Tina beautiful?"
"Both are beautiful … … I have something to do so I'll go out first. You can continue with your work."
Marlene's voice was very sweet. Most people would not be able to control themselves. Tang En smiled at her and then hurriedly left the mansion.
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