Three days later, Roland received a positive response from the Honeysuckle's eldest son, Ken.

"I am willing to continue serving you, and so will the Honeysuckle family," he bowed. "I will convince my father; he and the other major families... are not quite the same."

"Is that so?" Roland felt instantly pleased. "That's for the best."

"These days, I have witnessed the amazing changes taking place in your territory... perhaps, this is the city I have been hoping for," Perot said frankly. "If Honeysuckle can also become so prosperous, my father would certainly not mind the family becoming one with the new city."

This sentence moved the prince slightly. The initial purpose of calling the other party over stemmed from two points: first, it seemed more sincere to explain such a major event in person, and second, to observe his attitude towards the transfer order. He didn't expect it to have this effect. He nodded. "Of course, as long as we give it time, every piece of land in Graycastle can become a comfortable home for the people."

"Then I will return to the fortress as soon as possible to tell my father this news."

"And the other four major families, as well as all the nobles of the Western Region," Roland added. "Any family willing to accept this condition, New City will accept them without prejudice. You can hold a banquet in the fortress castle and spread my words."

"You mean, let me inform them?" Perot was taken aback.

"That's right," the prince smiled. "This time... you will be my ambassador."

"As you command, Your Highness," the Honeysuckle's eldest son saluted, hand over his chest.

Just as he was about to leave, Roland stopped him. "By the way, you did well with the witch matter. There is no need to hide it anymore. Now that universal education has been achieved, those who still have expectations for the church and are stubbornly deluded can be completely cleared out of the Western Region. You decide how to do it specifically."

"Yes."

After Perot Helmond withdrew, Roland stretched and continued to look at the overviews of various projects statistically compiled by the City Hall.

Affected by the heavy snow, the King's Road had been suspended, and the construction of residential buildings had also slowed down, basically only doing some interior decoration work. Fortunately, the large number of earthen kilns built by Lotus before she left basically met the needs of the subsequent refugees. Even if the number of refugees continued to increase, it was only necessary to cram more people into each kiln – which was precisely the advantage of the heated kang.

According to the construction department, at least 60% of the workers are currently idle, making some temporary recruitment issued by the City Hall popular, such as clearing snow from streets and transporting ore in the blast furnace area. If it were in other cities, it would be an incredible phenomenon to have so many people enthusiastic about work during the Evil Moon. It should be known that winter is the most difficult time for civilians. Most people stay at home, relying on the grain stored in autumn to survive. However, in Roland's eyes, seeing so much labor idle always made him feel unwilling. He pondered what he should do to make full use of them all.

After all, the Margaret Merchant Association had dragged away the last batch of steam engines this year, and the City Hall had plenty of money and food. He had a lot of plans to implement.

Thinking of this, Roland asked the guard to call the Minister of Construction, Karl Vanbert.

After explaining his ideas, Karl couldn't help but widen his eyes. "You want masons and bricklayers to build ships for you?"

He nodded and said solemnly, "That's right. The location will be near the pier. Temporary workshops will be built with wood, and braziers will be lit indoors to ensure the temperature. After construction, they can be pushed directly into the water."

"But Your Highness, how could they possibly know how to build such things?"

"Of course they will, just like building the Witch Building," Roland took out a piece of paper and drew a diagram to show, "Support the formwork, lay the steel bars, pour in the concrete... I will guide you on how to build the first ship, and you will be responsible for supervising the subsequent ships. This way, all the workers can be utilized."

Karl looked at the sketch doubtfully. "This is... a basin?"

He couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth. "That's right, a huge cement basin."

Since Karl didn't participate in the construction of the Little Town, it was not surprising to have such an idea. In fact, ships have experienced several changes in shape during the long process of development, and there is not much inheritance between them. Roland naturally knows nothing about designing a classical wooden ship with a keel, but building a cement ship is essentially no different from making a model with mud, as long as it can float. The same is true for steel ships. Due to the progress of welding technology, most modern hulls have abandoned the practice of laying keels, and instead use sections of steel boxes spliced together. The bottom plate is stressed as a whole and does not need to master the manufacturing method of wooden ships in advance.

Regarding the new batch of cement ships, he had been considering it for a long time - whether it was mining coal resources near the snow mountain or transporting refugees, a batch of inland river ships with higher load capacity was needed to perform the task, so the shallow draft flat-bottom design was still the most suitable choice. Compared with the conservative design of the Little Town, the new ship's hull can be longer to increase the speed while ensuring load and stability. At the same time, in order to reduce the construction difficulty, Roland finally decided to use the sternwheel propulsion system. This had been tested on wooden boats, and the craftsmen were easier to use.

"Your Highness, how many people do you plan to invest in building this... cement ship?" Karl asked awkwardly.

"Gather all the idle workers, like building residential buildings, you can start several ships at a time."

In this way, even if the newly assembled steam engines in the factory cannot be sold, they will have a place to use. The kiln area can also continue to burn cement non-stop, which can be described as multiple benefits. When next year comes, if they can have a large fleet of cement ships, the First Army will have reliable logistical support no matter where they attack.

After explaining this matter, Roland planned to go to the castle's back garden to take a look.

The olive trees and grape vines planted by Leaf provided shelter from the wind and snow. If they didn't have work at hand, the witches would usually practice their abilities in the garden, and the newly arrived Blank Paper should be no exception.

According to Wendy's report, her ability is neither like controlling temperature nor like material restoration. It has little effect on other objects except water, which makes Roland quite curious. Now that three days have passed, the little girl should no longer be as timid and shy as she was when she first arrived. It would be better to go and observe it in person.

As soon as he entered the garden, Roland noticed a strange thing.

The line of sight was lush and green, as if completely isolated from the white world outside - olive trees are evergreen trees, and there are vines entwined between the branches, so it is not surprising that snowflakes cannot float in, but these plants are too vibrant. Moreover, unlike the silent forest, even though there is no cold wind blowing, every plant and tree is swaying gently, orderly and rhythmically.

He originally thought it was an illusion, but as he went deeper, he saw the branches of the olive trees drooping down, as if bowing to himself, and the grass at his feet falling to one side, as if welcoming his arrival.

This feeling gave Roland a creepy feeling, goosebumps rose on his back, and he felt that he was not walking in the garden, but walking inside a huge creature.

The whole garden was like breathing.