The chapter before Chapter 133 is!
At the door of the workshop, there is a mottled wooden sign with the words "XX Workshop" written on it, but the words are blurred.

Before entering the workshop, Horn could smell the strong scent of lime and stone in the air.

Walk up the stone steps and push open the blunt-angled wooden door inlaid with iron, and a large courtyard will be hidden behind the vines.

The stonemasons were busy in the bright morning light, wearing aprons covered with dust and dirt, their faces covered with dust and their hands covered with mud.

Several stonemason apprentices, sitting at a table, are building a miniature church with wooden sticks and lime plaster.

In the center of the workshop is a foot-operated stone grinding machine. Two laborers are stepping on the pedals to allow a sturdy stonemason apprentice to grind the stones into building components.

"Mr. Casti." The stonemason who seemed to be the agent came over. "The master told me that if you come, just say he's not here."

"Cough, cough, cough..." Casti coughed violently twice. "Okay, let the four stonemason apprentices come over."

Casti gave Horn an apologetic smile. "Although they are apprentices, I guarantee that each of them is up to standard. They just lack experience."

At the agent's applause, four stonemason apprentices gathered around, looking at Horn with curiosity and expectation.

Judging from the expression, Horn realized that Casti and the stonemason probably didn't tell the apprentices where they were going.

Otherwise, why would he have such an expectant expression?

Horn didn't waste any words. He had learned about the stonemason's system before, so he gave them two test questions directly.

The first step is to calculate the facade of the entire building based on the plane of the architectural drawings, which is the basic skill of stonemasons.

The empire's stonemasons did not design them through mechanical deduction, but rather designed and built them using patterns, components, and proportion formulas accumulated through countless experiences.

So normally, as long as they are given a floor plan, they can calculate the approximate elevation, material consumption and working hours.

But if you ask them if they can widen the corridor by one kilometres, they can only answer: No.

The second question was Horn’s personal task: “What weight and number of wedge-shaped arch stones must the vault have to have to ensure its structural stability?”

Maybe a smart person like Sisi will emerge?
After receiving the two test papers, the stonemason apprentices started to do the questions.

The sun was rising gradually, and Horn and Casti, who were waiting nearby, had nothing to do, so they just started chatting.

"Have the first group of refugees to clean up the river arrived?"

"We arrived before dawn this morning." Casti took out a wine flask from his pocket and took a sip of sweet wine. "Your methods are impressive, sir."

"I only manage 10,000 people, and you have to manage 50,000 people."

"No, no, no, I'm just a humble city servant, and I only do a small job." Casti sat on the stone table, "Most of the time, this Jeanne d'Arc Castle can operate on its own."

Horn skipped the topic and continued to ask, "Did the merchants pay for the river cleaning?"

"Yes, the river is blocked and only small boats can enter and exit. Some merchants need to turn over quickly, so their willingness to pay is much stronger than usual."

"Without you, Casti, how could they pay so quickly?"

"Hahahaha, you're joking. You are the one who is..."

As the two men continued to brag about their business, the four apprentices completed Horn's test questions one after another.

Unfortunately, in this round of interviews, Horn did not meet anyone as talented as Sethi.

They all did well on the first question, but the second was a mixed bag.

Some even suggested using rice juice to glue the wedge-shaped stone components together.

Horn picked the most reliable one, a stonemason apprentice named Rogier, and pointed at his test paper: "Let's pick him!"

The other three apprentice masons left dejectedly while the agent went to prepare the contract.

At this time, a formal stonemason ran out from a small building nearby. He picked up the test paper and looked at it carefully.

After looking at it for a long time, he frowned and said, "It's impossible to calculate it directly on paper, right?"

According to his understanding, this required using sticks and stones to build small arches according to the situation, and then testing them one by one in proportion.

"How can this be used to distinguish between good and bad masons?" an apprentice mason muttered. "It's too arbitrary and not fair at all."

The stonemason handed the test questions to several other stonemasons, and the official stonemasons ran in and out of the small building.

After a moment, the agent showed a difficult expression on his face. He approached silently and said, "Lord Casti, could your guest please write down the answer? Otherwise, Master Bos might refuse it because you are insulting and teasing him... You know his character..."

Casti looked at Horn in embarrassment.

Horn didn't say anything. He took out a piece of paper and casually drew a wedge-shaped stone arch.

Horn drew a point at the geometric center of the wedge-shaped stone component, and used a ruler to combine the third unidirectional stress on the diagonal line with the two stresses acting together on the adjacent sides of the parallelogram. In the end, he listed the calculation formula. Since he didn't know the specific data, he didn't calculate it, but handed the drawing to the stonemasons.

After the drawing circulated among the stonemasons, it was passed into the small building next door, and then there was no sound.

"Bring the contract here quickly." Casti was afraid that things might get more complicated if the night went on, so he quickly asked the agent to make a quick decision.

Taking the parchment contract, the agent spread it out on the table.

“The weekly wage for a stonemason apprentice is 5 dinars for ten years.

If during this period, the stonemason apprentice independently designs and completes a building that is recognized by the Stonemason Guild, he or she can be promoted to a master stonemason.

At that time, you need to raise wages, but you cannot offer more than 20 dinars per week. This is a serious violation of guild regulations. Do you understand? "

Before signing a contract with the Stonemasons Guild, the other party must be informed of these things in advance. If the requirements are not followed, the guild can even cancel the contract.

"clear."

The somewhat dull stonemason apprentice, Horn, and the workshop agent each signed their names on the tripartite agreement.

Casti, acting as a notary, also stamped the document and signed his name.

Leaving the workshop filled with the smell of lime, we came to the street.

Horn took out his notebook and wrote Rogier's name on the back of the stonemason.

Then only the engineers are left.

Looking up at the sky, judging by the sun's current height, it's probably only around nine or ten o'clock.

"It's so hard to come to Jeanne d'Arc. Do you want to take a look around?" Casti asked with a smile.

"Then let's go shopping. It's a good time to have lunch."

Jeanne d'Arc was a relatively large city in the Thousand Valleys, not something a country pig like Horn could see.

We will be heading to Black Snake Bay from now on, which has become even more desolate due to years of battles with monsters, demon hunters, the church, and mercenaries.

This period of time was a rare opportunity, so Horn took it to broaden his horizons.

Walking along the canal and the street, on the left is the rippling canal, and on the right are wooden frame houses of varying heights.

Although it was a town, Joan of Arc was not wealthy enough to afford large-scale brick and stone paving.

Only the two cross-shaped Duke Streets have brick and stone paving.

Apart from the port and the small dock, the ground underfoot is still muddy, with only a one-person-wide wooden plank road.

Roadside ditches were filled with colorful wastewater, turning the edge of the canal gray and white.

Weeds and bushes still grew between the houses, men wore leather aprons and had paint stuffed between their fingernails, and women breastfed their babies without any scruples on the streets.

In the mud, you can see the gallows from time to time.

There were rotting corpses hanging there, and a few crows were perched on their shoulders, pecking at the flesh on their bodies.

"This is basically a gathering place for civilians and craftsmen." Casti seemed to be accustomed to the atmosphere here. "If you feel uncomfortable, I can take you to the tavern in the rich area. It's very beautiful there. Every house is painted white, and there are neatly arranged sycamore trees..."

"Okay, shall we go in a carriage?"

Led by Casti, Horn and others returned after a long journey and found the carriage parked at the original intersection.

But there was a man dressed as a servant next to the carriage, rubbing his hands and walking back and forth anxiously.

"Why are you looking for me here?" He asked directly, obviously Casti's servant.

"Master, another ship crashed in the river."

"Didn't they send people to stop them with a boat? Who is this idiot who can't read such big words?"

Hearing that a section of the river that had just been cleared had been hit again, Casti was so angry that he saw stars.

"...Sir, it's the Duke. He was on the deck at the time and slipped and fell into the river... He was just rescued, luckily nothing happened... Sir, sir, what happened to you?"

Casti was awakened by Horn pinching his chin, and he jumped up by supporting himself on the ground.

He no longer cared about anything, took a horse and ran away.

(End of this chapter)