Chapter 187 New Business Group

When summer came, Margaery's riverboat fleet arrived in Border Town.

Roland specially received the businesswoman at the pier, and checked the goods she brought along the way.

The most important thing is the three full ships of saltpeter. Now the gunpowder in Border Town has basically been exhausted, and even the shooting practice of the First Army has stopped. Although the revolver rifle has begun to be equipped with troops on a small scale, it only stays in the practice of reloading and returning bullets, gun maintenance and reloading ammunition. Now with this batch of saltpeter, live ammunition training can finally resume.

In addition to saltpeter, she also brought two shipments of ore ingots as agreed, mainly iron and copper, as well as some greenite ore. It would take two or three days to unload these goods.

Roland also placed the two steam engines in an eye-catching position in the yard, and covered them with red cloth and satin as usual, and tied them with big red flowers for Margaery to accept. As a matter of fact, Westland Industrial Co., Ltd. spent nearly a month stumbling together to piece together a steam engine. This was still based on hundreds of scrapped parts, so Roland had to let Anna go out. Those deviations were not too bad. The parts were reprocessed, so that the second steam engine caught up with the scheduled delivery time.

To Roland's surprise, Margaery did not come alone this time, she also brought a group of merchants from the capital.

After delivering the goods, Margaery and her party followed Roland back to the castle and had a sumptuous lunch in the living room.

"Your Highness, this is Hogg, my old friend, and one of the top mining merchants in the capital." Margaret introduced one by one, "This is Gamol, who belongs to the Crescent Bay Caravan like Marlan. They are mainly engaged in the cross-sea trade between Graycastle and the fjords. They are very interested in steam engines. I have known them for many years, and I am too embarrassed to sell them at a higher price, so I will introduce them to you.”

"Greetings, Your Highness," Hogg said with a big belly and shiny face, "I heard from Margaret that this kind of machine can replace manpower to quickly pump water and transport ore from the mine, and Infinite strength, no need to rest all day? Can you let me see it with my own eyes?"

"Of course." Roland took a sip of the wine. At first he couldn't get used to the sour taste, but now he's getting used to it. "But if you want it to carry ore, you need to install a track system. After lunch, I can take you to the North Slope Mine to experience it.”

"Your Highness, I'm very curious about the use of the steam engine you described. Can it really be installed on a sailing ship to replace the sails to drive the ship forward?" Marlan said, "If it is a three-masted to four-masted ship like a sea ship What about a big ship with two masts? It’s probably not strong enough.”

"Steam engines are the same as horses. Some are powerful and some are weak, depending on the model when they are manufactured. Of course, the machines with high output are naturally more expensive. And one is not enough, and you can use two or four. Taiwan." Roland replied with a smile.

Putting a steam engine on a ship, even the most primitive paddle steamer, involves a complicated system of power, transmission and control. Apart from Border Town, there is no other place in Graycastle that has the technical strength to modify it. The cost of modifying such a ship will inevitably exceed the steam engine itself.

"Since that's the case, the Crescent Moon Bay caravan also wants to order this kind of machine from you." Gamor picked up a steamed bun that had just come out of the cage and stuffed it into his mouth, his eyes narrowed from the scalding of the fragrant gravy.

Sure enough, things flock together, and people are divided into groups. Friends of big dogs are still big dogs. They don't even look at the actual effect, so they just make a decision and place an order, as if they don't care about the golden dragon at all.

Roland shook his head, "It's a pity that Border Town is short of manpower, and the manufacture of steam engines is very complicated. It may be difficult to produce additional machines before completing Margaery's order."

"I can provide you with manpower, Your Highness," Gamol patted his chest, "Whether it's carpenters, blacksmiths, or even shipbuilders, there are quite a few in my port, and they don't have to pay for it!"

"Then let them learn the manufacturing method and use it for you?" Hogg interrupted.

"No! Of course not!" He said with rounded eyes, "How dare I play such a trick in front of His Royal Highness. Ten years, Your Highness," he opened his palms, "I am willing to let them work for you for ten years, The salary will be paid by me. There is only one requirement, that is, the steam engines manufactured by them will be sold first to the Crescent Moon Bay caravan.”

This is an interesting proposal, Roland thought, similar to the technical partnerships of later generations, where he only provides the technology and earns a lot of money. The wages of workers are equivalent to the cost of technology purchases.

"Don't be in a hurry to make a decision. We can talk about these details after seeing the real thing." Roland pressed his hand down, "And I am not the only one worth buying here, there are some things that you will also be interested in, such as this .” He snapped his fingers, and the guard beside him took out a lot of things from the wooden box at his feet, and placed them on the table one by one.

"These are all new products in Border Town, no matter what they are, they are of high quality and fair price, such as the simplest mug," Roland said, pointing to the colorful cups on the table, "light and beautiful, not like crystal cups It’s so fragile. The graphics on it can be customized, and it’s non-stick, so it’s super easy to clean.”

"No water?" Margaret picked up a cup and looked it over carefully.

"You can try it with wine," the prince joked. "After drinking it, you can pretend to be drunk and throw it on the ground. It's mine if it breaks."

"This workmanship, tsk tsk, is really exquisite...I'm afraid every cup can't guarantee such quality?" Hogg with a big belly had already filled himself with wine, and drank it in one gulp, "Eh, the inside is actually dry."

Of course it is dry, it is essentially an ordinary wooden cup, but it is covered with a layer of Soraya's paintings, and the patterns on it are all designed by myself. "It doesn't conflict with the crystal cup, and it is more suitable to appear in the boudoirs of the rich ladies than the formal palace banquets." Roland said, "As far as I know, they are interested in bright colors and beautiful shapes. Stuff never resists."

"I think so too." Margaret nodded with interest, "You seem to have a lot of experience."

"Ahem," the prince coughed twice, "Look at this again. The overall breastplate is completely uniform in thickness. There are two pieces in total, the front and the back, and they are all made of wrought iron. Not to mention lighter than the knight's plate armor, it can be worn by one person. , there is no gap after closing, suitable for caravan guards without retinues to follow. The most important thing is that it is cheaper than plate armor..."

...

After introducing all the products, the merchants couldn't help whispering to each other. Roland simply left them a period of free discussion time, got up and left the hall, and went to the garden corridor to breathe.

"Your Highness, I haven't seen you for a month, and you have added a lot of novelty here." Margaery also walked out.

"Don't you need to exchange opinions with them?"

"No, I don't need to listen to other people's ideas, whether it's products or people." She smiled and shook her head, "The caravan will probably stay here for three or four days, can you... Shall I see the lightning again?"

"Although she didn't recognize you, at least she didn't show any dislike last time, so I don't think there's any problem."

"Thank you!" Margaery said gratefully.

"It's easy to do," Roland smiled. "By the way, since you've stayed for so long, why don't you watch a play? Border Town will hold its first play in three days."

"In a month, you built the theater?" She was surprised.

"Of course not. It's an open-air show, right in the square in the middle of the town, and I think it's definitely going to be different."

"Then respect is worse than obedience, Your Highness." Margaery stroked her chest and lowered her head. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian to vote, your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users, please go to read.)