Magic, steel, heavy industry

Chapter 77 Road Repair

In the afternoon, Evan led his team to the workshop area.

After days of non-stop expansion, the workshop's area has doubled compared to before, and it continues to extend into the open space behind it.

Evan had already memorized the layout of the workshop perfectly. Lord Vilan valued the iron smelting workshop the most, which occupied almost half of the area. The remaining half consisted of the carpentry workshop, the stonemasonry workshop, and the textile factory.

The stonemason workshop was a bit strange; the stonemasons there didn't build houses, and they only had two things to do each day.

Making bricks and burning lime.

The bricks were of the finest quality, and Iron Anvil Territory had several large quarries with abundant stone resources, so there was no shortage of stone. However, Lord Vilan had exceptionally high standards for the stonemasons; every brick had to be the same size, and after they were finished, the bricks were simply piled up on the ground and never used.

Another thing is burning lime, which is what Evan can't understand the most. The lime just turns into gray powder, and it is said that the running track of the military training ground was paved with that gray powder.

Ivan was skeptical of this.

He had seen that runway before, and he was certain that nowhere in the Eastern Territory had ever had such a smooth surface.

But he simply couldn't connect the runway with the pile of powder.

"If only we could pave the entire Anvil Ridge with tracks like that, and turn the town's main roads into something like that too..."

Evan was thinking, but the next second, he suddenly realized something and his eyes widened instantly.

"That's right! Road construction! Lord Vilan wants to build roads! The kind that are hard and flat!"

Ivan put everything together and immediately determined the true mission of his group.

A thorough survey of all the roads in the territory will make the road paving project much easier!

If this were to be completed, the entire Anvil Territory would have the best road surface in the world… Evan’s breathing quickened instantly.

He immediately sped up and ran into the workshop area. Just then, Vilan came out of the carpenters' workshop and was talking with Nalf, the head of the carpenters' workshop.

Evan waited patiently to the side, and only after Vilan finished his conversation did he excitedly rush over.

"Lord Vilan, I am Ivan, a newly hired civil servant. May I ask you some questions?"

Vilan paused for a moment, then looked at Evan's hesitant expression and suddenly his expression turned playful.

He remembered the name, and it left a deep impression on him.

That knight fan who sees restoring the family's glory as everything?

Vilan smiled and said, "Of course, is there anything you want to ask?"

"I want to know! Did you ask us to investigate the roads in Anvil Territory so you could turn all the roads into running tracks?"

"A runway?" Vilan couldn't help but laugh out loud. "That's called a concrete road."

"Cement...is it that gray powder produced in the blacksmith's workshop?"

"That's right."

Vilan nodded firmly, and Evan's mouth dropped open in astonishment.

It turns out that the gray powder really can be turned into a road!

Not only him, but his team members behind him also stared wide-eyed, their faces full of astonishment.

Vilan wasn't surprised, after all, cement was his trump card that he had prepared for a long time. There's an old saying: "If you want to get rich, build roads first."

Only with good road conditions can transportation costs be saved. With cement roads, whether transporting ore or goods, it can be done quickly and steadily.

Moreover, cement roads can make money. Businessmen who want convenience and ease will certainly not refuse cement roads, and every time they use them, they incur road maintenance fees.

Therefore, road construction is one of the top three livelihood projects in Tiezhenling, and it is also the construction project that Vilan attaches the most importance to.

Previously, due to a small population and labor shortage, cement production was insufficient, so Vilan had not made any cement, but simply instructed the stonemason workshops to keep producing cement.

Now that the problems of bandits and vagrants have just been resolved, a large influx of people has arrived, making it a good time to build roads. After all, many of the vagrants are unemployed and rely on relief food every day.

Once road construction begins, things will be different. People who have no work can join the construction team. Even if the wages are not high, at least they can fill their stomachs, and I believe many people will be willing to do so.

After Vilan explained it to Evan, the latter's expression became incredibly interesting.

It's incredible, not only because of the invention of cement, but more importantly because of Lord Vilan's determination.

It should be noted that even Ivan from Casalan already knew that Anvil Territory's strategic location in the North was arguably insignificant.

In such a barren frontier region, this lord actually wants to build roads and develop this territory, instead of trying to escape here and go to a more prosperous place.

Evan had never heard of such a nobleman before. After all, even the former Grand Duke of Casalan didn't care whether the roads in his territory were good or not.

This man is truly different from others.

Something new had formed in Evan's heart. He didn't yet understand what it was, but that didn't stop him from giving Vilan a determined look.

"Please rest assured, Lord Vilan, I will definitely complete this mission!"

Vilan looked at him with some surprise. This kid adapted so quickly?

He nodded. "Now that you know my plan, there's no need to investigate other places for now. Let's focus on repairing the main road in the town first. After all, only by truly changing the lives of the people will they support you."

"You mean... you want me to fix it?" Evan looked at Vilan in disbelief.

The latter nodded and patted Ivan on the shoulder. "Keep up the good work, young man. The stonemasonry will fully cooperate with you. Listen to them on the technical aspects. As for recruitment and specific construction plans, you should handle them well. Write a report for Hans every day and get approval before you start working on it."

"Oh my god... Lord Vilan... I really don't know how to say this... Please believe me! I will definitely not let you down!"

Ivan made his promise, then ran back to the city hall overjoyed.

He knew he had made the right bet this time; this was a truly significant achievement! He had to go back immediately to make a plan!

……

"Lord Vilan, do you think he can do it well?"

Llorente stood behind Vilan and asked with a smile.

Vilan watched Ivan's retreating figure, recalling that ridiculous exam paper. "Who knows? If he can do well, then he'll have a candidate for the future Minister of Transportation."

"The Minister of Transport?"

"Sounds pretty cool, doesn't it? Alright, we should head to the alchemy workshop. Valentia has used up all the magic cores the mercenaries got; hopefully, she'll give me a pleasant surprise."

"The mercenaries are indeed very surprised. They don't want to leave anymore. Now they go deep into the Stag Mountains every day to hunt magical beasts. After all, it's rare to see such a generous buyer as you," Llorent joked.

(I'm very sorry, all the drafts have been posted, and there will be no more updates to this book. There's nothing I can do; the performance was so bad that I couldn't bear to look at it. After discussing it with the editor, they also suggested that I cut the book during the free period so as not to waste everyone's subscriptions.)