Iron Powder and Spellcasters Chapter 400

  Chapter 400 The mountains echo (1)

"...Steel is forged by fire and heavy hammer, and the same is true of this city! From a few thatched huts made of adobe and hay to the steel castle standing by the Rose Lake today, we have experienced countless disasters, fires! War! Famine !"

   "But—my beloved countrymen, remember what I say—no matter what calamity, they have never succeeded in defeating us, not once! In the embers, we are reborn! And stronger!"

"There is a spirit in this city, and in the people who grow up in it, a kind of bravery! Tenacity! Indomitable spirit! It flows in the veins and bones of you, me, and every Solingen. It is It is this spirit that sustains us rebuilding our streets, houses and warehouses again and again as they burn to ashes..."

  A graceful man in a purple suit stood at the top of the steps of the Municipal Palace, where the smoke and blood stains had not been washed away, and gave a generous speech to the thousands of citizens gathered in the Municipal Square.

   His left hand was standing by his waist, and his right hand was waving passionately with the cadence of his tone.

   The dark crowd in the square was like an orchestra, directed by his right hand, giving out rounds of approval and cheers louder than round.

  Standing by the window, looking at the figure on the steps from a distance, John Servette sighed: "I'm still not as good as him."

"As a negotiator, you're more difficult than him—I'm not trying to compliment him." Winters leaned against the window frame and waited until the interval between two rounds of cheers: "But I also have to be honest, Wupper City Long skills, others can't learn."

   Just listening to the impassioned, majestic words echoing in the square, it is hard to imagine that they came from the mouth of a timid mayor who was forcibly dragged from his home by the gendarmerie.

   When the Municipal Palace was bombed, the quick-responding Mayor abandoned the council and his colleagues immediately, and escaped from the Municipal Palace through the secret passage with his guards. He returned to the mansion, and he refused to take another step at the gate no matter what.

But Paul Wupper has this kind of ability: as long as you put him in a gorgeous gown, put on an expensive wig, put a thick layer of powder on him, and then push him to the public, you can do the rest. Don't worry.

"I thought Mayor Wupper was just good at acting." Winters supported his chin and said leisurely: "But I now find that for Mayor Wupper, acting is an instinct that he can't control. He is not good at acting, He's a slave to showmanship."

"Steel Castle now needs a leader who can boost the morale of the people." Servetus instead excused Paul Wupper: "Besides, since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, no one was absolutely free. Granasi Sir, what kind of slave are you?"

"I?"

   This question was a little unexpected to Winters. He thought for a while and answered seriously: "Maybe I'm also a slave to the desire to perform?"

  Servette's eyes were like blades: "Then what role are you playing?"

   "At least in Steel Castle." Winters said slowly: "I played a positive role."

  Servette was noncommittal, still the face lacking in mood swings, and he drew the curtains: "Let's go out for a walk."

Of course    Winters complied.

  Servette led the way, and the two left the Plaza Mayor, neither on horses nor in cars, without guards and without wearing any sashes to indicate their identity. Just follow the street paved with slag, all the way to the south bank of the Rose River.

  Standing on the south bank, looking around, among the charred ruins, some people who did not go to the municipal square to listen to the speech were cleaning up the rubble.

   After the warehouses and shops of the various commercial workshops were claimed, the blockade of the garrison on the south bank was announced—there was nothing left anyway.

   Restrictions on the North Shore were relaxed, markets resumed, churches opened to victims, and some homeless victims were evacuated to villages and towns outside the city.

   Maybe the heat of the embers hasn't dissipated, but Steel Castle is already on its way to rebuilding.

  People wiped away tears, pushed away muck and rubble, and collected the remaining stone and wood. Burnt trees are also continuously transported from the mountain to the city for reconstruction.

   "No matter how many times." Servete looked at the people who looked determined and worked hard, and whispered: "I will be amazed at the will of mankind."

   Winters stood silently, not speaking.

   After a moment, Winters asked, "You have submitted a new plan for the South Bank in the City Council?"

"Yes." Servetus walked towards the ash pile by the roadside, and said calmly: "The original block on the south bank is centered on the Elin Church, which is randomly layered and wrapped, and the layout of the streets and blocks is illogical. Now that we have the opportunity to rebuild completely, we can never take the detour of the past again.”

   Winters answered politely: "Very far-sighted idea."

Servette watched for a while, and pulled out a carbonized rat corpse from the ashes: "Some people say that on the night of the fire, the rats on the south bank jumped into the Rose River in groups, all freezing to death under the ice. There was no time to escape. Yes, they were all burned to death, not even the rats in the basement escaped. Did you see that?"

   "I didn't pay attention."

   "Hope is true." Servetus buried the rat corpse back in the ash heap again, and said in a low voice: "This may completely cut off the plague of Steel Castle."

   After walking for a while, the two reached the ruins of Elin Cathedral.

  Elin Cathedral was almost razed to the ground in the fire, and only a bell tower that did not want to collapse stood alone at the southern end of the site.

   On the night of the fire, the lead panels covering the roof of the church were melted and flowed down the street. Guizheng hadn't had time to recycle the lead, so at first glance the stone pavement around the church looked like it had been plated with a dull silver.

   Strolling through the ruins of the church, Servetus said regretfully: "What a wonderful cathedral, but unfortunately it is still vulnerable to a fire tornado."

"I can't agree." Winters rubbed the tip of his nose: "The fire tornado is nothing but a tornado. The Elin Cathedral is a stone building. How can a tornado have the ability to overturn the Elin Cathedral? It's clearly inside the church. And the external repair brackets were burned, and the roof lost its support, so it collapsed."

  Servette asked: "Are you there?"

   "Everyone here saw it," Winters replied.

   Servetus didn't go into it. He looked around at the remaining foundation of the church and suddenly asked Winters, "Do you know how Steel Castle started?"

   "Because of iron ore?"

   "Did you see the mine in Steelcastle?"

   Winters thought for a moment: "No."

"The mines are all on the other side of the mountain." Servette raised his hand and pointed to the north of the city: "There is a valley across from Steel Castle, and there is a small town where miners live, called Red Rock Town. After the ore is mined, first It is screened, fired in Redstone, and transported to Steel Castle for smelting."

   Winters asked politely, "You seem to know a lot about mining?"

"My father and grandfather were miners." Servetus's answer was light: "My father lost half the sole of his foot when fighting for Emperor Richard and was forced to leave the army. The pension that Emperor Richard gave him was insufficient. To pay off his debts, he and my grandfather had to sell what little piece of land we had, move from Neushar to Solingen, and mine underground to support our family."

   Winters nodded lightly and listened without speaking.

   "My story doesn't really matter." Servetus stopped and stared at the Rose River in front of him:

   "What I want to ask you is, why is it Steel Castle?

  In terms of natural endowments, although Steel Castle has the power of the Rose River, Redstone Town is closer to the mine. Monta also has iron ore in more than Steel Castle. Why did Steel Castle rise to become Steel Castle?

   Redstone Town, which once had iron ore, is now just a vassal of Steel Castle. There is no iron smelting furnace in Redstone, and even the property rights of those mines are in the hands of the blacksmiths' guild in Steelcastle. Steelcastle blacksmiths can enjoy the wealth brought by the iron smelting industry, while miners in Redstone can only toil in muddy water. Why? "

  Winters remembered the story of "Saint Joseph the Great walked into the workshop and promised the blacksmiths prosperity and prosperity" from the mouths of the citizens of Steelcastle.

   The Steelcastle never doubted the authenticity of this story. They not only told the children, but also made St. Joseph the patron saint of the steel castle, and decorated the scene of "St. Joseph the Great entering the workshop" on every important occasion in the city.

   "Probably a gift from God." Winters said an answer that was always right.

"Wrong!" Servetus said firmly: "Only those who don't know why they are successful will use fate and divine grace to paralyze their rationality. I do not deny the impermanence of fate, but it is undoubtedly true for people to attribute everything to the gods. insult."

   Winters couldn't help but think highly of Mr. Senator. He nodded slightly and asked Mr. Senator to continue.

   "The answer is simple." Servetus stepped on the ground: "It's under your feet."

   Winters raised his eyebrows: "Road?"

   "Yes, the road. Steel Castle defeated Redstone Town by building the road."

   "Please elaborate."

  Servette leaned on a cane and spoke calmly: "In the country of mountains, building roads is a sacred undertaking comparable to building churches. Do you know why?"

   Winters answered without hesitation: "The cost is too high."

"Yes, because road construction is too expensive, it is often only possible to start construction by raising funds from various parties. Since the money is spent, the funders naturally want to ask for a return. Therefore, Monta is full of checkpoints that collect tolls, and even many town councils rely on Tolls are maintained.”

  Although Senator Servette's tone was very disgusting to set card charges, Winters didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

  Because not only Monta, but other republics are also full of Luca, Veneta even joked that the splendid army headquarters was built with tolls.

   "Whoever builds the road will receive the money." Winters said, "It makes sense."

   "That's right, it makes sense." Servetus looked at the mountains and said with some nostalgia: "But the genius of the Steel Castle Blacksmiths Guild is that they built the road and decided not to charge any tolls."

   "Losing business."

"It is indeed a loss-making business, but after using everyone's money to do the most loss-making part of the business, the rest is profit. In this way, even if you go far, the tolls you save are enough to cover the steel castle. The cost gap between the material and the iron material in Hongshi Town.

  Although road construction is a loss-making business, Steel Castle prospered by crowding out and annexing the iron smelting industry in Hongshi Town by relying on the loss-making business. After that, Steel Castle continued to build and purchase roads, and to this day, motorcades entering and leaving Solingen do not need to pay tolls. "

   "Since Redstone Town has iron ore, they shouldn't lack the means to deal with Steel Castle. How could they lose so easily?"

Probably rarely said so many words in one breath, Servette's voice became a little hoarse: "Because their interests are not unified, they don't have a steel castle that can withstand short-term losses, and put their hopes on it. Long-term blacksmiths' guild. So they were beaten individually."

   Winters chewed on Servette's words: "The worst part of doing business with everyone's money?"

   "It's the same with building roads, and so with building the Wupper Canal. Since it's everyone's money, what's wrong with spending it on something that benefits everyone?"

   "Yes, nothing is wrong." Winters crossed his arms and suddenly smiled a little: "But why are you telling me this?"

   The remaining wall foundation whimpered in the wind, but the church inexplicably became more silent.

   "You won, Baron Granasi." Servetus turned his back, looked at the altar after it was burned, and said lonely:

"Steel Castle is not what it used to be. No one supports my relief package. The people who own this city don't want to spend their money on things that benefit everyone. I can only rely on your gold and Silver pushed the reconstruction plan, even if I knew there was something wrong with your identity, I could only turn a blind eye and tacitly allow them to sell weapons to you."

   "So, this time you won, and you defeated us one by one." Servetus turned around and stretched out his hand to Winters: "Enjoy your victory, Your Excellency the Baron."

   Winters calmly took Senator Servette's hand and shook it.

  Servette tried to withdraw his right hand, but no matter how hard he tried, his right hand was firmly held by the young baron.

   "Your Excellency Congressman, have you considered another way to cooperate." Winters slowed down: "A way that makes us and you both winners."

   "In what way?" Servetus no longer tried to take his hand away, but instead narrowed his eyes and looked at Winters cautiously.

   "Why limit our relationship to buying and selling?" Winters paused for a moment, eyes glowing: "Have you considered... investing in us."

[Happy New Year! Everyone! ]

   [I hope everyone will be healthy, safe and prosperous tomorrow]

   [I originally wanted to end the Monta story line today, but I felt that the ending was a special match for "farewell the old and welcome the new", but the result...the result...(covers face)]

   [Thank you for your collection, reading, subscription, recommendation ticket, monthly ticket, reward and comment, thank you all]

   (end of this chapter)

Chapter end