When summer arrived, Margie's riverboat fleet reached Border Town.

Roland made a special trip to the dock to receive the businesswoman and check the goods she brought.

The most important thing was the three entire ships of niter. Now the Border Town's huoyào was almost exhausted, and even the First Army's shooting practice had stopped. Although the revolving buqiang had begun to be equipped to the troops on a small scale, it only remained at the stage of practicing bullet changing, qiangzhi maintenance, and reloading dànyào. Now with this batch of niter, live ammunition shooting training can finally be resumed.

In addition to niter, she also brought two ships of ore ingots as agreed, mainly iron and copper, as well as some green vitriol ore. It would take two or three days just to unload these goods.

Roland also placed two steam engines in a conspicuous position in the storage yard, and as usual, draped them with red silk and tied on big red flowers for Margie to inspect. In fact, the Western Region Industrial Company had only pieced together one steam engine with great difficulty in nearly a month. This was still based on hundreds of scrapped parts. Therefore, Roland had to let Anna take action to reprocess those defective parts that were not too far off, so that the second steam engine caught up with the scheduled delivery time.

To Roland's surprise, Margie did not come alone this time. She also brought a merchant group from the Royal City.

After handing over the goods, Margie and her party followed Roland back to the castle and enjoyed a sumptuous lunch in the reception hall.

"Your Highness, this is Hogg, an old friend of mine and one of the leading mining merchants in the Royal City." Margie introduced them one by one, "This is Gammon, who belongs to the Crescent Moon Bay Merchant Guild with Marlan, mainly engaged in cross-sea trade between Graycastle and the Fjords. They are all very interested in steam engines. I have known them for many years, and I am embarrassed to sell them at a higher price, so I brought them here to introduce them to you."

"Greetings, Your Highness," Hogg said, with a big belly and a shiny face, "I heard from Margie that this machine can replace manpower, quickly pump water and transport ore from the mine, and it is also incredibly strong and doesn't need to rest all day? Can I see it with my own eyes?"

"Of course," Roland took a sip of wine. At first, he couldn't adapt to the sour taste at all, but now he has gradually gotten used to it. "But if you want it to transport ore, you have to install a matching rail system. After lunch, I can take you to the North Slope mine to see it."

"Your Highness, I am very curious about the use of the steam engine you described. Can it really be installed on a sailboat to replace the sails and drive the ship forward?" Marlan said, "What if it's a large ship with three or four masts like a seagoing vessel? It probably isn't strong enough."

"Steam engines are like horses, some are strong and some are weak, it depends on the model when they are manufactured. Of course, machines with more power are naturally more expensive. And if one is not enough, you can use two or four." Roland answered with a smile.

Putting a steam engine on a ship, even the most primitive paddle steamer, is a complex system involving power, transmission, and control. Apart from Border Town, Graycastle has no other place with the technical power to modify it. And the cost of modifying such a ship will definitely exceed the steam engine itself.

"In that case, the Crescent Moon Bay Merchant Guild also wants to order this machine from you." Gammon forked a freshly steamed bun and stuffed it into his mouth, squinting his eyes from the savory gravy that burned him.

Sure enough, birds of a feather flock together, and the friends of rich dogs are still rich dogs. They directly made a decision without even looking at the actual effect, as if they didn't take thousands of gold royals seriously at all.

Roland shook his head, "Unfortunately, Border Town is short of manpower, and steam engines are very complicated to manufacture. Before Margie's order is completed, I am afraid it will be difficult to produce extra machines."

"I can provide you with manpower, Your Highness," Gammon patted his chest, "Whether it's carpenters, blacksmiths, or even shipbuilders, I have a lot of them in my port, and they don't even need to be paid!"

"And then let them learn the manufacturing method and use it for you?" Hogg interjected.

"No! Of course not!" He widened his eyes and said, "How dare I play such tricks in front of His Highness the Prince. Ten years, Your Highness," He opened his two 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 the steam engines they manufacture should be sold to the Crescent Moon Bay Merchant Guild first."

This is an interesting proposal, Roland thought, similar to the technical partnership in later generations. He only provides the technology and earns the bulk of the money. Of course, the other party can get the steam engine as soon as possible, and after ten years, they can also get a group of technicians. The salary of the workers for these ten years is equivalent to the technology purchase fee.

"Don't rush to make a decision, we can talk about these details slowly after seeing the real thing," Roland pressed his hand down, "And I don't only have steam engines worth buying here, there are some things that you will definitely be interested in, such as this." He snapped his fingers, and the guards beside him carried a large pile of things from the wooden boxes at their feet, and placed them on the table one by one.

"These are all new products from Border Town, all of which are of excellent quality and fair prices, such as this simplest mug," Roland pointed to the colorful cup on the table and said, "Light, beautiful, and not as fragile as a crystal cup. The patterns on it can be customized, and it is water-resistant and very easy to clean."

"Water-resistant?" Margie picked up a cup and looked at it 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, and it's on me if it breaks."

"The workmanship, tut tut, is indeed extremely delicate... I'm afraid not every cup can guarantee such quality, right?" The big-bellied Hogg had already filled himself with wine and drank it in one gulp, "Huh, it's actually dry inside."

Of course it's dry, it's essentially an ordinary wooden cup, but it's covered with a layer of Soroya's painting, and the patterns on it were all designed by himself. "It does not conflict with the crystal cup. Compared with formal court banquets, it is more suitable for appearing in the boudoirs of those young ladies." Roland said, "As far as I know, they have always had no resistance to things that are brightly colored and beautiful in appearance."

"I think so too," Margie nodded with interest, "You do seem to be experienced."

"Ahem," the prince coughed twice, "Take a look at this, a full-body breastplate with completely uniform thickness, a total of two pieces, front and back, all made of wrought iron. Compared with the knight's plate armor, it is not only lighter, but can also be worn by one person. There are no gaps after closing, making it suitable for merchant guards who are not followed by squires. The most important thing is that it is cheaper than plate armor..."

……

After introducing all the products, the merchants couldn't help but whisper to each other. Roland simply gave them some time for ziyou discussion, got up and left the hall, and went to the garden corridor to get some air.

"Your Highness, in just one month, you have added a lot of novel things here." Margie also followed him out.

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

"No, I don't need to listen to other people's thoughts about the things I like, whether it's goods or people, it's the same." She shook her head with a smile, "The trade caravan will probably stay here for three or four days, can you... let me see 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 a problem."

"Thank you!" Margie said gratefully.

"It's just a small favor," Roland smiled, "By the way, since you are staying for so long, why not come and see a play? Border Town will hold its first theatrical performance in three days."

"In one month, you have built a theater?" she said in surprise.

"Of course not. It's an open-air performance, right in the central square of the town. I think it will definitely be different."

"Then I will respectfully obey, Your Highness." Margie bowed her head with her hand on her chest. (.)