On the third day after the start of autumn, the Margie Merchants arrived at Border Town's wharf as promised.
This time, the caravan returned to its former scale, with ten sailboats lined up in single file, steadily docked at the pier.
"Respected Prince Roland, it's good to see you again," said Gamorre, a merchant from Crescent Bay, bowing. "Ms. Margie said that the first steamship has been modified?"
"That's right," Roland said with a smile. "However, to ensure the quality of the goods, it still needs to undergo three or four days of sea trials to test the reliability of the power system."
"That's exciting," Marlan clapped her hands. "It will take about that many days for the fleet to unload, so we can wait here. Your Highness, can I board the steamship for a tour during the sea trials?"
"Of course. After all, it's a brand new ship, completely different from the previous sailboats. I'll also have to show you how to operate it. But according to the plan, that's for tomorrow." Roland gestured for them to follow him. "Now, the most important thing is to relax your tired bodies. You haven't had lunch yet, have you? I've prepared a sumptuous banquet in the castle's drawing room."
"Every time I come here, I get to enjoy a delicious meal," Margie said, covering her mouth and laughing. "I'm really hungry now. Those wheat cakes and jerky are as hard as rocks, almost impossible to swallow."
There was no reliable preservation technology in this era, so most of the dry food was really dry and hard, which reminded Roland of canned food. Once light industry developed, manufacturing various delicious and convenient canned foods would definitely be the best choice for long-distance travel and nautical merchants.
……
When the banquet was over, Hogg patted his stomach with a satisfied look. "This bowl of mushroom soup almost made me swallow my tongue. I seemed to taste the flavors of seafood, stewed chicken, and pork bones at the same time. Your court chef is truly skilled."
"I preferred the dessert after the meal, it was called ice cream, right?" Margie said, "I guess it was made with milk and honey, and then frozen into ice crystals with saltpeter. (>>>’)"
"You also need to add some butter and egg whites, otherwise it won't be so soft and glutinous," Roland added. "I wonder what the shipment of saltpeter is this time?"
"Still only one ship," the female merchant shook her head. "The Alchemist Association is still buying saltpeter in large quantities. The Grand Chancellor even sent patrols to assist them in searching for goods from saltpeter production sites. A group of guys with the name of Sage buy things by force like robbers. This ship of saltpeter was still transported from Scarletwater City."
"Then most of the goods shipped this month are washing stones?"
"That's right," Hogg drained the white wine in his glass and poured himself another full glass. "Although the quantity may be a bit large, you personally said last time to get as much as possible, and I kept it in mind. In addition to washing stones, there are also high-quality iron ingots and lead ingots. Recently, apart from you, few towns need these things," he sighed. "The mining business is getting worse and worse reads;."
This is the impact of the civil war, Roland thought to himself. Purchasing power is gradually declining everywhere. If it continues for another two or three years, it will basically be a rhythm of rising food prices and starvation everywhere.
"By the way, has anything happened in the Western Territory recently?" Margie suddenly asked.
"What's wrong?"
"On the way to the town, the fleet encountered a lot of...um," she paused for a moment, as if considering her words, "a lot of floating corpses. They were dressed in rags, just floating on both sides of the river. In addition to the corpses, there were also some broken wooden planks and ropes on the water, as if a ship had run aground and sunk. But there are no reefs in the inland river, so I think..."
"Hmph, that was Tiffeco's fleet invading the Western Territory," Roland pretended to be indignant, and briefly recounted the battle a week ago, "They have received their due punishment."
In order to avoid blocking the waterway and spreading disease, after clearing the battlefield, he transferred Anna and Lily from the town, one responsible for burning the damaged ships, and the other responsible for purifying the river water. And the floating corpses that Margie saw should have been the dead who had drifted away along the river before the end of the battle.
"I see," the female merchant smiled. "It seems that Tiffeco will run into walls on both sides."
"Both sides?"
"There's also Garcia of Clearwater Port. The latest news I received is that the unknown raiders who attacked the cities of the Eastern Territory earlier were Garcia's men. After the Black Sail Fleet looted Sea Breeze County and Golden Grain City, they did not return to the seaport, but went all the way north along the coastline. No one knows where she eventually went."
"Northward..." Roland said in surprise, "She left Graycastle?"
"It seems so. Tiffeco's men found Clearwater Port empty. It is now an empty city," Margie stated. "Since there were many rats among the people he brought, this matter is not a secret in the black market. In any case, now you are the only thorn in his side. Future invasions of the Western Territory may become more and more frequent."
"If you also want to leave Graycastle, Crescent Bay is always welcome," Marlan said.
"That's right," Gamorre patted his chest. "The islands there are enough to hold ten Border Towns. We are willing to provide them to you and your people free of charge."
But you want to hand over the technology of the steam engine and paddle steamer, right? Roland rolled his eyes in his heart. Even if Graycastle couldn't stay any longer, the first person to turn to should be Tilly Wimbledon. But on the surface, he just smiled, "Is that so? If there really is such a day, I will consider it."
"By the way," then he looked at Margie, "I have successfully built two of the reconnaissance balloons you ordered last time."
"So fast?" The latter said in surprise, "Can you take me to see them?"
"Of course, come with me," Roland said, getting up.
……
In the backyard of the expanded castle, there was a hydrogen balloon that had been fully inflated.
Its airship bag is teardrop-shaped, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, with a top diameter of five meters. It is made entirely according to the size of the experimental product and can carry an adult male into the air. The airship bag and ropes are painted with sky camouflage, which, combined with the observer's camouflage clothing, can minimize identification.
"It seems different from the balloon we rode in last time?" Margie carefully examined the new product.
"Because it can be used without witches," Roland cleared his throat and began to introduce how to use the reconnaissance balloon to everyone. "The end of the airship bag has a movable valve, which can be used to inflate and release gas. It is because this alchemical gas is filled in it that it can fly. The inflation method is very simple. Just connect the matching hose to the gas storage tank and unscrew the valves at both ends." After that, he publicly demonstrated the operation process of deflation and inflation.
"How many bottles of gas cylinders does it take to fill a reconnaissance balloon?" Margie quickly grasped the key point.
"Five or six bottles..." This question made Roland a little embarrassed, "At most, it will not exceed seven bottles." The main reason is that the concentration of dilute sulfuric acid used to generate hydrogen in the bottle is difficult to control. It is too wasteful of the laboratory's valuable manpower to distill and purify the sulfuric acid to 98% and then add water to dilute it, so I had to make do with it.
"This kind of alchemical gas is very expensive, right?"
"That's right. It's difficult to preserve and full of danger...I mean, under careless operation," Roland coughed twice, "So the gas cylinders can only be stored for one year, and must not be knocked, disassembled, or burned, otherwise unpredictable serious consequences may occur." He paused, "Although the price is a bit expensive, don't worry, the first batch of gas storage tanks will be provided free of charge by Border Town when you first buy a reconnaissance balloon, and you can also get a sky camouflage reconnaissance suit as an extra gift.".
(。)