Chapter 401 Ironworks Visit

The sound of clanging and clacking in the workshop was endless. The workers had started working as usual. From time to time, someone looked at the gate, where Mr. Erkins paced anxiously with his hands behind his back.

When will the Earl bring people over?

Just as he was thinking about it, a young man ran over panting, "They are coming! Boss, they have left the Lord's Mansion."

This was an employee who was arranged by Erkins to keep an eye on the island. He came to notify as soon as there was any movement over there.

"Okay!"

Erkins hammered his palm and shouted, "Come here! Come to greet! The Earl is coming!"

Several senior managers in the workshop quickly ran out at his shout and stood in a neat row.

Then dust was raised in the distance, and three carriages rushed over here under the escort of a team of inner guards.

In a blink of an eye, they arrived at the door. The door of the middle carriage opened, and Earl Graman and two people whose clothing styles were obviously not local came out one after another. They must be the big customers from Jiaowan.

Erkins immediately put on a smile on his face, ran to the carriage in small steps, and said in a humble tone: "Mr. Earl, distinguished guests, welcome to Erkins' iron foundry." As soon as he finished speaking, the workshop managers standing in a row bowed in unison, as if they had rehearsed many times.

Paul raised his hand, "Erkins, there is no need to say polite words, take us to see the place where weapons are made in your workshop."

"Yes, yes, Mr. Earl, please follow me."

Everyone followed Erkins into the workshop and visited everywhere accompanied by the endless clanging sound.

"This is where we make swords."

"This is where we make spearheads."

...

Gaius and Queller had never been exposed to blacksmithing, so they didn't notice anything new about the work process in the workshop.

But they must strictly control the quality of the final product.

"Mr. Erkins? Can you show us some finished products? And we want to test them."

Erkins immediately responded: "Of course no problem? Please follow me to the warehouse."

Everyone came to the warehouse, where rows of wooden boxes were lined up.

Gaius walked up and picked up a long sword at random. He carefully measured it and handed it to the family guard next to him, asking in Jiaowan language: "What do you think?"

The guard had sharp eyes, a strong body, and a few scars on his face. He looked like a tough guy.

He silently took the long sword, flicked the blade with his fingers, and then performed a few thrusts and slashes.

"Not bad!"

The guard said this in Jiaowan language and returned it to Gaius.

"Well, good." Gaius showed a satisfied expression and put the long sword back to its original place.

Anyway, it's for the big soldiers, that's enough.

Erkins turned his head and quietly asked the Horn Bay language translator found in the town overnight: "What are these two Horn Bay guys whispering about?"

"Uh... the one in front asked how the sword was, and the one behind said it was okay." The translator answered quietly and honestly.

What? Erkins was extremely indignant. Do the Horn Bay guys have good eyesight? The products produced in my workshop are all top-quality goods. They can be ranked in the entire northwest region.

But he just cursed in his heart, and his face was still smiling.

Paul didn't mind it much. The trade in Horn Bay was developed, and the people there could come into contact with goods from all over the world, so their horizons were naturally high.

The Northwest Bay had just started large-scale contact with the outside world. In the long years before, it had been sitting in the well and watching the sky, which was quite arrogant. As a craftsman, no one was willing to admit that their skills were inferior to others.

The guard in front of him could follow the eldest son of the family. He must be an elite in the Foster family. He had used countless good swords and knives. It was a great honor for him to say "OK".

He asked: "Sir Foster, what do you think? Do the weapons produced in our northwest overseas meet your needs?"

Gaius nodded: "If they are all of this quality, it's okay."

Erkins on the side immediately patted his chest and guaranteed: "My most expensive guest, please rest assured that Erkins's workshop will never pass off inferior goods as good ones. We have always followed the teachings of Lord Graman and strictly controlled quality."

Gaius asked with interest: "Quality control?"

A novel word.

"Oh, it's the whole process from raw material control, production and processing, product manufacturing, finished product testing to finished product storage, and after-sales quality tracking and resolution, including complete quality control and management processes."

Paul explained to him.

Gaius thought for a moment, "If you can really be so rigorous, it would be great. The Horn Bay Alliance will never be stingy with money."

"Please rest assured." Paul and Erkins responded at the same time.

Gaius asked again, "Do you produce armor here?"

"Yes, follow me."

The owner of the workshop led the way, and everyone came to the workshop where armor was made.

A huge forging hammer on a machine rose and fell, forging the metal material into rough plates, and then the craftsmen swung the hammer for fine processing.

Queller asked curiously, "Interesting, how does such a big hammer move?"

Gaius replied proudly, "Let me tell you, it is driven by the power of water flow."

"Like a waterwheel?"

"Oh... you can think so."

Gaius has applied for a patent for the hydraulic forging hammer. Other workshops have to pay a sum of money if they want to use it. Even the Earl's machinery factory is paying him.

No mistakes, one post, one content, one 6, one book, one bar!

Paul looked at Gaius's smug look and complained in his heart: "Humph, I was one step ahead. Wait until I get the rolling mill out..."

But what made him happy was that from the rangefinder of the previous surveying team to the current hydraulic forging hammer, the seeds of folk inventions have begun to take root and sprout.

Gaius suddenly thought of something: "By the way, can you produce high-quality steel plate armor here?"

"Steel plate armor?" Erkins hesitated and said, "We have such technology."

"How is the output?"

"Oh... You know, steel is not easy to obtain, so it is not our main production target."

Gaius was a little disappointed, "Okay."

But it was also expected. Even if he was not familiar with martial arts, Gaius knew how precious a set of plate armor was. It could be a family heirloom.

Paul, who was standing next to him, had an idea: "Steel? Now that iron supply is no longer a problem, it seems that we should be able to make further progress."

He made a plan silently.

The group visited Gaius's workshop for a whole morning before it ended. Paul invited the Foster brothers to the lord's house for lunch, and then arranged for someone to send them back first, but he stayed.

"Erkins."

"Yes, Master Earl."

In the office, the owner of the workshop stood respectfully beside Paul.

"As far as I know, your workshop seems to be taking orders from the shipyard."

"Haha, yes, Lord Earl."

Driven by the profits of maritime trade and the deliberate guidance of the State Council, the "big construction" trend has been set off along the coast of the Northwest Bay, and large and small shipyards have been established one after another.

Nowadays, shipbuilding is mainly based on wood, and the demand for wood has increased sharply, but the wood needed to build a good ship needs to be prepared several years in advance, and some wood even needs to be dried for up to 6 years after shaping.

The original shipbuilding industry in the Northwest Bay was not well developed, so naturally there was not much wood reserve, and the little reserve was quickly consumed.

In order to cope with this situation, in addition to spending a lot of money to purchase wood from other places for emergency, the shipyards also began to pay attention to the reserve of wood.

As a result, the price of wood began to rise sharply, driving the growth of the logging and wood processing industries, and a series of timber mills sprang up.

But shipbuilding not only requires wood, but also a large number of metal components, so many ironware manufacturing plants have been enriched.

In addition to wood and ironware, canvas is also in great demand.

Not only the three territories of Alda, Bayerding and Emden under Paul's control, other territories have also joined the supply chain.

Manufacturing is booming throughout the Northwest.

"Remember, your workshop must give priority to meeting our local needs, and don't work for them first just because the people of the Horn Bay pay more."

Paul felt it necessary to remind these capitalists who have not yet fully grown their wings.

"Yes, yes, Lord Earl, I will definitely follow your instructions."

Erkins responded hurriedly.