Chapter 328
After nearly half a month of long journey, Wells finally arrived at the Northwest Bay with the convoy. To his surprise, this place was not as desolate and dilapidated as he had imagined at the beginning. Although the population density was not as high as in the south, it did not give people the feeling of being deserted.
After entering a land called Emden, the towns along the way gradually increased, and the pedestrians met on the road did not look as pale as the pedestrians met before.
"This is one of the richest territories in the Northwest Bay. It used to belong to the Kent family. Not long ago, the Kent family failed in their attempt to seize the title of Duke of the Northwest, so this land is now managed by our Earl Paul Graman. The people here didn't live as well as you see now. The former lord, Martz Kent, was a cruel and inhumane guy. Now my earl has exempted them from a large number of exorbitant taxes, so they can fill their stomachs."
When resting along the way, Wells heard the leader proudly boasting about his lord, the earl he was going to serve for five years. So this lord is a good guy, definitely better than the guy who would imprison himself at the city gate for a little thing.
The further north you go, the better the road condition becomes. It is wide and flat. The carriage is not as bumpy as before, and there are more and more business travelers on the road.
Finally, the team arrived at the end of the journey-Lake Heart Town. It is called a town, but in fact its scale can be called a small city. It can be seen that it has not been developed for a long time, because many buildings are very new.
This small town completely overturned Wells's inherent impression that Northwest Bay is a barbaric place.
The streets are clean and tidy, paved with bluestone slabs, with little garbage on the road and no odor. This is better than the royal capital Jingyao, which makes Wells very incredible.
Pedestrians are bustling, and their words, behaviors, and demeanor are completely unlike those in the countryside. He heard all kinds of accents here, even foreign languages. Oh! There is even Jiaowan language. Even the Jiaowan merchants who are "the ends of the earth" in Wells' eyes have come here to do business.
There are constantly carriages loaded with goods coming in and out. It seems that the business here is developing well. What makes Wells even more amazed is that pedestrians and carriages consciously drive on the right side of the road, so that people and cars walking towards each other go on each side, greatly reducing the chance of road congestion.
"Maybe staying here for five years is also a good choice." With this idea in mind, Wells followed the team to the city hall to report. The team was filled with all kinds of people, including blacksmiths, mechanics, teachers, etc., but he was the only alchemist. On the way, Wessel was in a very bad mood and had little interaction with others.
The town hall of Lake Heart Town is located in the center of the new city area on the south bank of Weiss Lake. Before, Lake Heart Town was directly managed by the Government Council, but since it took over the Emden, the Government Council separated a special town hall to manage Lake Heart Town, and the office was moved from Lake Heart Island to the new city area on the south bank.
The government officials of the town hall arranged temporary accommodation for them and also gave them a sum of money for their expenses in the past few days. After wandering around the city for a few days, Wells made a lot of new discoveries. It turned out that many new things that have been popular in the capital in the past six months-such as the exquisite porcelain that the nobles flocked to, the new type of paper that scholars loved, and various [printed books], were actually produced here.
"I didn't expect there would be such a place in the Northwest Bay." Wells sighed again, it seems that the rumors are not credible.
One day when he returned to his residence, the dormitory manager handed him a letter from the city hall, saying that he had been assigned a job and asked him to go to the city hall the next day. When he went there the next day, a government official took him to a saltpeter workshop or factory and announced that he was appointed as the factory's [Chemical Technology Instructor]. Wells had no objection. Coming from a family of alchemists, he was no stranger to saltpeter, so he started his new job.
His daily job was to monitor the workers' work, ensure that no wrong operations occurred, inspect the quality of the products, and train apprentices, which was quite enjoyable.
Wells was quite dedicated to his work. He was proud of his identity as an alchemist and had his own professional ethics. He used his knowledge to optimize the saltpeter boiling process and won unanimous praise from the factory.
There were several other [instructors] in the factory, all of whom were alchemists collected by Count Graman from all over the place. Wells not only exchanged experiences with his peers (in fact, he was a little contemptuous of the level of these peers), but also inquired about all aspects of this factory. According to others, this saltpeter boiling plant was the property of the Earl's family.
"Why does Earl Graman need so much saltpeter?"
"It is said that it is to supply the Earl's ice making plant. Oh, by the way, speaking of ice making, the Earl also invented a delicacy called [ice cream], which is made of ice chips, cream and honey. You can buy it and try it. Selling this kind of thing in summer can make the Earl a lot of money."
Wells was a little confused. Can the money from selling snacks offset the cost of boiling saltpeter? If a lot of ice is needed, can't it be collected in winter and stored in the ice cellar? As much as you want. Is it worth using expensive saltpeter to make it now?
But Wells didn't want to go into it. After all, the Earl was the boss. It was his business to use it as he wanted, as long as he could pay himself on time.
Speaking of salary, the Earl treated him well. Considering that he was a "senior talent" from the capital, he was given three silver coins a month, and the saltpeter factory also provided food and accommodation. It was said that the employees in the various industries opened by the Earl were treated very well. Whenever recruiting workers, a large number of people rushed to get in.
If it was Wells who had opened a shop in Jingyao before, three silver coins would really not be in his eyes. But that ancestral shop had been smashed to pieces, because of that humiliating public display, his reputation in the capital circle was also gone.
And this is the Northwest Bay, and three silver coins a month are enough for him, a single person, to live a good life.
Wells is not dissatisfied with his current life. His long-term plan is to slowly save a sum of money and open an alchemy shop after the contract with the Earl expires. The location is in Huxin Town. He is very optimistic about the prospects of this small town.
No mistakes in one song, one post, one content, one content, one book, one bar, one 6, one 9!
Back to the present, the reason why Wessel was drinking in the store angrily was because of another [Insult] he had just received in the Lord's Mansion...