After the on-site inspection of the North Slope Mine and two consecutive days of negotiations, Roland reached a new trade agreement with Hogg and the Crescent Moon Bay merchant caravan.
Hogg's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw the rapidly operating track-based ore transportation system. He even proposed investing in building a factory in Border Town, specializing in the construction of mine tracks and supporting equipment, with profits split evenly. However, Roland refused—attracting investment is something to do when you have plenty of people. The town currently lacks people, not money.
Hogg was ultimately just a mining merchant. Although he owned several mines and managed an open-pit silver mine in Silverlight City for Count Cambala, all he could offer were miners. Compared to Crescent Moon Bay's strength, which included an island, it was quite lacking. In the end, he signed a contract to purchase ten steam engines six months later, as well as a complete mine transportation system (including tracks and mine carts). Half would be delivered before the Months of Demons, and the rest would be completed the following year.
The Crescent Moon Bay merchant caravan was far more ambitious. Gamorre directly signed a ten-year agreement. When the caravan came next time, he would bring a team of three hundred people, mainly composed of blacksmiths and carpenters. These people's salaries would be paid by Crescent Moon Bay, and Roland only needed to provide accommodation and food. The steam engines they produced in the ten years would be sold to Crescent Moon Bay first, and they could decide to stay or leave after ten years—this point was negotiated by Roland repeatedly.
Without a doubt, there would be confidants of the merchant caravan among these people, and even with this condition, they would definitely try to select people loyal to Crescent Moon Bay as much as possible. Who knows if even half of them would decide to stay by then. But for Roland, skilled workers are always in short supply. Even keeping ten percent would be a win. He was never worried about technical advantages, but rather worried that no one would turn his technology into actual products.
In addition to steam engines, the second major order came from ship modification.
Along with the three hundred craftsmen came two inland river sailboats. The Crescent Moon Bay merchant caravan wanted Border Town to convert them into steam-powered paddle steamers. The modification fee for a single vessel was as high as eleven hundred gold royals, and the two ships combined directly exceeded Margie's steam engine order. In comparison, even though the mug received three orders, the total amount was less than three hundred gold royals—and that was after Roland increased the price tenfold compared to the convenience store. This made him lament the profit difference between industrial products and consumer goods. If mass production wasn't possible, consumer goods were best left to simply meet the needs of the town's residents.
To the prince's surprise, iron breastplates and iron farm tools were neglected. Later, Margie answered his doubts during dinner. "Although your breastplates are indeed cheaper, the production is too low. If resold, each piece might only have a profit of five or six gold royals after deducting transportation costs and taxes. Moreover, your armor is forged by hydraulic hammers, right? Or steam engines... In any case, the price of this kind of armor is very fixed. It's expensive because of the high-quality iron material, not the labor." She paused. "It's even less necessary to buy it for personal use. Sea merchants rarely wear heavy iron armor, whether guards or sailors, as it will quickly sink them if they fall into the water. In most cases, armor is shackles to them, not protection."
"The same goes for farm tools. If you can't get a large amount of cheap iron, even if it's cheap, it won't be much cheaper. Compared with similar local products, it's difficult to form any advantage. Unlike those colorful cups, the price is completely uncertain. If you meet a noble who likes them, you might be able to earn several times the price."
"I see." Roland thought for a moment and realized that it was indeed the case... For commodities with stable prices like armor and farm tools, the cost of materials accounted for a large proportion, making it difficult to lower the price too much. His advantage was that steam engine forging was more efficient than water hammers, but this small price difference was not enough to arouse the interest of big merchants.
Moreover, white plate armor with Soroya's stab-resistant coating was also part of the First Army's equipment replacement. Before the iron production increased, mass sales were impossible.
……
The highly anticipated premiere of the drama arrived quickly.
In the afternoon, the townspeople crowded the central square—and that was after Roland demolished the surrounding old buildings and doubled the area of the square.
To promote it, Roland had issued a notice to the people a week in advance, and also specially ordered the Ministry of Agriculture to send people to mobilize the serfs living in the outskirts of the town to
watch the drama.
As the lord, Roland obviously had the best viewing position. In the direction facing the performance stage, Karl erected a temporary wooden platform. The wooden platform had three rows and could accommodate about a hundred people. Roland sat in the middle of the third level. On one side of him was the Witch Union, next to him was Anna, and on the other side was the merchant group, with Margie being the closest.
The first and second floors were mostly officials and apprentices from the City Hall.
To ensure safety, the people around the wooden platform were all soldiers of the First Army. While watching the drama, they separated the prince's location from the civilians.
It was probably four o'clock in the afternoon, and the heat of the sun had faded. Combined with the cool breeze that Wendy occasionally stirred up, everyone on the viewing platform enjoyed VIP treatment.
Amidst the applause, the actors took the stage one by one.
To be honest, Roland had no idea what the final effect of this premiere would be. After giving the script to Eileen, he hadn't bothered with it anymore. Recruiting people and rehearsing were all done by her and Filin. Now that he thought about it, a newcomer to the theater, who had only appeared on stage once, how much experience could she have? And the friends she brought were probably all supporting actors who couldn't get performance opportunities at the Fortress Theater and had to go to the town.
In other words, this was a new drama directed, arranged, and implemented entirely by a new team.
Fortunately, Roland didn't mind failure. This drama wasn't for ticket revenue, nor was it to promote how excellent the script was. This was an enlightenment of ideological transformation, and it wouldn't be performed just once. If this performance wasn't good, there would be progress next time.
"I know why you are so confident in this performance," Margie exclaimed suddenly, "You actually invited Mei Xiaojie!"
Roland was stunned. "Who?"
"Mei, don't tell me you don't know about this! Good heavens, I saw her performance in the royal capital before I came here," Margie clicked her tongue. "Whether it's grasping the role or creating emotions, she's top-notch. 'The Prince's Love Quest' earned the tears of countless people, and even Kakin. Fais praised her!"
"Who is Kakin. Fais?" Roland flipped through his memory and found that he had no impression of this name at all.
"...Your Highness, are you really from the royal capital?" Margie blinked. "May I ask, who are you most familiar with in the royal capital? Apart from those in the palace."
"'Magic Hand' Yokoe," Roland blurted out, immediately realizing something was wrong.
"Oh," the female merchant gave him a meaningful look. "The most famous huahuagongzi, I heard that just with his hands he can make women never forget him... I understand."
"Just with hands?" Anna tilted her head. "Why?"
"No... it's nothing." Roland rubbed his forehead. "Let's watch the play seriously."(。)