After two days of field visits to the North Slope mines and two days of negotiations, Roland reached a new trade contract with Hogg and the Caravan of Quarter Moon Bay.

Hogg's eyes were about to fall out when he saw the orbital ore transport system in action. He even put forward an application to invest money to build a factory in a border town, specializing in the construction of mine tracks and supporting equipment, and each of the profits was half of the profits, but Roland refused - attracting investment is something that can only be done when there are many people, and what the town lacks now is people, not money.

Hogg is only a mining merchant after all, although he owns several mines, and he also manages an open-pit silver mine for the Earl of Kerbal in Silverlight City, but the only people he can get out of it are miners, which is much worse than owning an island in Moonmoon Bay. In the end, he signed a contract to order the same ten steam engines in half a year, as well as a complete mine transportation system (including rails and minecarts), half of which would be delivered by the Demon Moon, and the rest would be made up next year.

The Quartermoon Bay caravan was much more aggressive, and Gamore signed a ten-year contract. When the caravan came next time, he would bring with him a troop of three hundred men, consisting mainly of blacksmiths and carpenters. The honorariums for these men were paid by Moonmoon Bay, and Roland was only required to provide lodging and food. The steam engines they had produced in ten years were sold to Moonmoon Bay first, and after ten years they voluntarily decided to stay—something that Roland negotiated repeatedly.

There is no doubt that there will definitely be caravanseraismen in this group of people, and even after adding this article, the other party will inevitably choose people loyal to String Moon Bay as much as possible, and I don't know if half of those who decide to stay at that time will be left. But for Roland, skilled workers are always not enough, and leaving 10% is earned. His concern was never about technological superiority, but about no one coming to translate his technology into an actual product.

In addition to the steam engine, the second big order came from the modification of ships.

Along with the three hundred craftsmen, there were also two river sailing ships, and the String Moon Bay caravan hoped that the border town would convert them into steam-powered paddle steamers, and the cost of a single transformation was as high as 1,800 gold dragons, and the two together directly exceeded Margaery's order for steam engines. In contrast, the mug, despite three orders, was less than three hundred gold dragons - and this was even when Roland raised its price ten times that of a convenience store. This made him feel the profit gap between industrial products and civilian goods, if it could not be produced in large quantities, civilian goods would simply meet the needs of small town residents.

To the prince's surprise, both the iron cuirass and the iron farming implements were left out in the cold. Later, at dinner, Margaery answered his doubts, "Although it is true that your cuirass is cheaper, the production is too small, and if you resell it, you may only have a profit of five or six gold dragons per piece, minus the transportation costs and taxes." And your armor is forged from a hydraulic hammer, or a steam engine...... In any case, the price of this armor is very fixed, and the price is high in good quality iron, not in labor. She paused, "It's even less necessary to buy it for your own use, for the seakeepers, whether they are guards or sailors, rarely wear heavy iron armor, which will cause them to sink quickly when they fall into the water." Most of the time, armor was a shackle to them, not protection. ”

"The same is true for agricultural implements, if you don't have access to a lot of cheap iron, it's not much cheaper, and it's hard to get an advantage over similar local goods. Unlike those colorful cups, the price is not fixed at all, and if you meet a favorite nobleman, you may be able to earn several times. ”

"I see. Roland thought about it and found that this was indeed the case...... For goods such as armor and agricultural implements, which are at a stable price, it is difficult to keep the price down too much when the cost of materials is the majority—he is cheaper, and forging in a steam engine is more efficient than water hammer, but this difference is not enough to arouse the interest of the big merchants.

Moreover, the tabula rasa armor with Zoroya's stab-proof livery was also part of the First Army's redress, and it was impossible to sell it in large quantities before the iron production increased.

......

The much-anticipated theatrical premiere day is fast approaching.

In the afternoon, the townspeople surrounded the central square, which was even after Roland demolished the old buildings around it and doubled the square size.

In order to play a propaganda role, Roland began to issue an announcement a week in advance to inform the people, and also ordered the Ministry of Agriculture to send people to the outskirts of the town to mobilize serfs to watch the play.

Roland, as a lord, clearly has the best viewing position. Directly in the direction of the performance stage, Carl erected a temporary wooden platform, which had three rows and could accommodate about 100 people, and Roland sat in the middle of the third floor. On one side of him is the League of Witches, next to him is Anna, on the other side is the Merchant Order, and the nearest is Margaery.

The first and second floors were mostly occupied by the officials and apprentices of the town hall.

To ensure safety, the people around the wooden platform were soldiers of the First Army, who watched the play while isolating the prince's location from the civilians.

It was about four o'clock in the afternoon, the heat of the sun had faded, and the cool breeze that Wendy rolled up from time to time made everyone on the stage enjoy the VIP treatment.

Amid the applause of the crowd, the actors took the stage one by one.

To be honest, Roland was completely unsure of what this premiere would achieve in the end, and after handing over the script to Erin, he didn't care about it anymore, whether it was recruiting people or rehearsals, she and Filmin were all busy. In retrospect, how much experience can a newcomer to the theater have if she has only appeared on stage once? And the friends she found are probably all actors who went to the town because they couldn't get a chance to perform in the fortress theater.

In other words, it's a new drama that is all directed, choreographed and implemented by a team of newcomers.

Fortunately, Roland doesn't mind failure, and the play isn't about ticket revenue or promoting how good the script is. It was an enlightenment of ideological transformation, and it was performed more than once. This time it didn't work well, just make progress next time.

"I know why you're so confident in this show," Margaery exclaimed, "and you've invited Miss May!"

Roland was stunned, "Who?"

"May, don't tell me you don't know about it! God, I saw her perform in the royal capital before I came here," Margaery smacked her lips, "and she's top-notch in terms of character and emotion." "The Prince's Quest for Love" has earned many people's tears, and even Caquin Fez's praise for her!"

"Who is Cajun Fez?" Roland flipped through his memory and found that he had no memory of the name in his mind.

“...... Your Highness, are you really from the royal capital?" Margaery blinked, "I take the liberty of asking, who are the people you are most familiar with in the royal capital? ”

"The Demon Hand," Roland blurted out, immediately noticing that something was wrong.

"Oh," said the businesswoman, glancing at him meaningfully, "the most famous playboy of all, I have heard that a woman can never forget him with just one hand...... I get it. ”

"By hand?" Anna tilted her head, "Why?"

"No...... It's nothing. Roland raised his forehead and said, "Let's watch the drama seriously." (To be continued.) )