Chapter 295 Output of the Mortar Workshop

"Puuuuuuu—"

Streams of black, smelly water gushed out of the tank of the Holy Wheel Pump, and the water level in the swamp on Autumn Dusk Island slowly dropped at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Walking on the road leading to Autumn Dusk Island, Horn looked to both sides.

The originally barren wilderness is now filled with beastman laborers and local villagers.

There is already a lot of abandoned land on Qiumu Island, and it can be cultivated again by simply removing the bushes and tree roots in the land.

However, over a long period of time, the soil on Qiumu Island has been gradually becoming acidic, so you can see someone behind constantly throwing lime to change the acidity of the soil.

Following behind Horn, Martin stared curiously at the scene of beastmen and humans living in peace on both sides.

He really didn't expect that there was such a paradise in this Black Bone Swamp.

After passing several mounds, the guide leading the way suddenly walked to one side and walked from the main road to the muddy ground next to it.

"What's wrong? Why did you suddenly take a detour?"

"Your Majesty, the road ahead is being repaired."

Following behind the crowd, Martin's eyes were fixed firmly on the ground beside him.

Nearly a hundred beastmen and local villagers used wooden barrels to pour gravel into the dug tunnel, picked up a wheelbarrow, and dumped half a wheelbarrow's worth of mortar into it.

Then the beastmen laid and pushed in nearly a hundred stones the size of a human head, piling them on the mixture of mortar and gravel.

Walking a little further ahead, there are seven or eight alchemists standing on the roadside, constantly throwing iron powder and using alchemical rituals to catalyze its quick drying.

It is said to be quick-drying, but it still takes about four to five days to dry completely.

Seeing Horn coming, Witt, who was directing the construction, came to Horn happily wearing an iron helmet.

"Your Majesty."

"Is this the road you want to build?" Horn pointed with his whip at the mortar road being built nearby.

"Yes, I think it's OK to harden the roads inside the city, but it's difficult to transport goods to the docks."

"Talk to me."

"We estimate that the main road will be 1000 meters long and 8 meters wide, with an estimated construction volume of 3200 cubic meters, 658.3 tons of mortar, 914.2 tons of sand, and 1828.5 tons of stone."

Horn paused, turned around and asked Witt, "What is the current output of our mortar workshop?"

Witt turned his gaze to Sachis who was standing beside him. Sachis answered fluently, "Mortar Workshop is organized into groups of crucibles, with three alchemists in each crucible. There are currently 3 crucibles in total.

Each crucible can produce 8 tons per day. If there is sufficient raw material, the total output of 10 crucibles is 80 tons per day, or 2400 tons per month. "

"How much?" Before Horn could speak, Martin beside him called out.

Since Kasha County borders Black Snake Bay, the transportation of mortar is very cheap, and Martin has some knowledge about this.

In his memory, a normal mortar workshop produces 1-2 tons per day, and a normal output of about 10 tons per month for 700 workshops is normal.

How did they do that?
Martin didn't keep this question to himself and asked Horn directly.

"Because they use a small workshop model. Everyone works together to do all the processes. There are always people waiting, and there is always not enough." Horn poked a small hole in the mortar floor with his hand. "We have a dedicated person in charge of each process. It's an assembly line operation. The warlock only needs to think about how to make cement faster and better."

Seeing that Martin didn't understand, Horn just smiled and said, "I'll take you to visit it later, and you'll know... Hey, you know a lot about this mortar, right?"

"Yes, we often use mortar as a building material over there. Black Snake Bay is right next to it, and the price is very cheap."

"How much does a ton of mortar cost?" Martin scratched his head. It was obvious that he knew nothing about these mundane matters that were too close to life. His companion next to him responded, "It depends. When it's expensive, it's about 80 dinars a ton, and when it's cheap, 40 dinars is enough."

So based on the median of 60 dinars, 2400 tons would be 144000 dinars, which translates to 1200 gold pounds.

If Horn's mortar workshop could be sold to the outside world, after deducting costs such as labor and materials, the net profit would be about 900 gold pounds per month.

At present, this figure can only meet domestic demand rather than external demand. There is still a backlog of nearly 1800 tons of mortar in the warehouse.

"However, since the war monks have returned home one after another, our mortar orders have increased significantly," Sachis explained.

Horn could probably guess the reason. After obtaining a large amount of spoils and money on the battlefield, the war monks were eager to live in better houses.

If you want to build a house, mortar is a good choice because it is close and cheap.

We arrived at the Mechanical Palace, stood on the hillside and looked towards the town. The ruins on the edge of the town were visibly much fewer.

As for the hastily renovated Insula apartments, they were renovated spontaneously by the residents.

Several war monks followed the priests of the prayer house, measuring the land in the ruins, apparently in preparation for building houses.

Four months ago, this place was still a ruin. Four months later, it has become a vibrant town.

"Mr. Martin, please stay in the town first. I'm going to the Mechanical Palace."

After saying goodbye to Martin, Horn shook the reins and quickly came to the Mechanical Palace.

Looking inside through the gap in the gate under the gable, Horn could still see a figure sitting in a wheelchair.

"Shilov." Horn threw the whip and reins to the groom who was leading the horse beside him, and strode into the Mechanical Palace.

The head that was originally lowered suddenly raised up. Although Horn could not tell what emotion was on that expressionless face, he could tell from her erected ears and the tail that was spinning like a propeller.

Putting the book on her knees, Shilov turned her wheelchair rapidly, as if she wanted to pounce on Horn.

But when she got closer, Shilov pinched the wheel rim, slammed on the brakes, and stopped in front of Horn.

"Oh, that's great. You've learned how to drift." Horn showed her his big white teeth.

"Long time no see, Horn." Shilov crossed her arms and grabbed her skirt. "Where's Jeanne? Didn't she come?"

"She needs to stay in Jeanne d'Arc, just in case. I will give her a day off. She will probably come next week or the week after next." Horn took out a pair of shiny things from his pocket and handed them to Shilov.

Shilov's eyes lit up, and her tail stood up like an antenna: "What is this?"

Although she was naturally interested in shiny objects, Shilov still didn't understand Horn's intention.

Horn smiled and explained, “This little gift for you is called a crystal cover.

Later, you can drop a drop of water from the Moon Pond on the film, cover it with a cover sheet, and then use the microscopic divination spell, maybe it will be useful. "

Previously, Shilov had always said that when her divination spell saw the subtle world of living things, it was either a bunch of blurry colors crowding together or a hazy black shadow.

Horn had always suspected that the samples were too thick for light to penetrate and were not colored, which made them difficult to see.

In order to analyze the composition of the water in the Moon Pond, Horn specially found some highly transparent crystals from the monastery's jewelry.

This way, maybe Shilov will be able to see clearly.

"Thank you." Shilov put the cover carefully and solemnly away, "I will make good use of it."

"By the way, didn't you say in your letter that you had a little surprise? Where is it?"

(End of this chapter)