On the third day after the beginning of autumn, the Margery Chamber of Commerce arrived at the border town dock as promised. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

This time, the caravan returned to its former size, and ten sailing ships lined up in a column and docked steadily at the trestle.

"Your Royal Highness, we meet again," said Garmor, a merchant of Moonmoon Bay, bowed, "Lady Margaery, the first steamship has been transformed?"

"That's true," Roland laughed, "but in order to ensure the quality of the goods, it will need to go through three or four days of sea trials to test the reliability of the power system." ”

"It's really exciting," Marlan clapped his hands, "and it will take almost so many days for the fleet to be unloaded, and we can wait here." May I ask Your Highness, can I board a steamship during the trial voyage?"

"Of course, it's a brand new vessel, very different from the previous sailboats, and I have to show you how to operate it. But as planned, these are tomorrow's contents. Roland gestured to follow me, "The most important thing now is to relax your tired body, you haven't had lunch yet, have you?" I've prepared a sumptuous feast in the castle hall. ”

"Every time I come to you, I have a good meal to enjoy," said Margaery, smiling, "and I am indeed hungry now—the wheat cakes and jerky are as hard as stones, and they are hard to swallow." ”

There was no reliable preservation technology in this era, so dry food was mostly really dry and hard, which reminded Roland of canned food. After the development of light industry, the manufacture of all kinds of delicious and convenient canned food was definitely the best choice for long-distance travelers and seafaring merchants.

......

When the feast was over, Hogg patted his belly with a satisfied face, "This bowl of mushroom soup almost made me swallow all my tongue, I felt as if I had tasted the taste of sea treasures, stewed chicken, and pork bones at the same time, your court chef is really skilled." ”

"I prefer the dessert at the end of the meal, which is called ice cream...... Isn't it?" said Margaery, "I guess it's made of milk and honey, and then frozen into ice crystals with saltpeter." ”

"I have to add some butter and egg whites, otherwise I can't make it so glutinous," Roland added, "I wonder how much saltpeter will be this time?"

"There's still only one boat," the businesswoman shook her head, "the Alchemists' Guild is still buying saltpeter, and the Prime Minister has even sent patrols to assist them in scavenging the salteryards. A group of men with the name of a sage are no different from robbers, and this ship of saltpeter is still transported from Chishui City. ”

"Then most of the goods shipped this month are washing stones?"

"That's right," Hogg said as he drained the liquor from his glass and filled himself again, "it may be a bit much, but I remember what you said last time, try to get as many as you can." In addition to washing stones, there are also fine iron and lead ingots. Few towns have needed these things lately but you," he sighed, "and the mining business is getting worse and harder. ”

This is the effect of the civil war, and Roland thought to himself that the purchasing power of various places is gradually declining, and if it continues for another two or three years, it will basically be the rhythm of rising food prices and starvation everywhere.

"By the way, what's going on in the West?" asked Margaery suddenly.

"What's wrong?"

"On the way to town, the fleet encountered a lot of ...... Well," she paused, as if considering the wording, "a whole bunch of floating corpses. They were dressed in tatters and floated on both sides of the river. In addition to the corpses, there were also some broken planks and ropes on the water, as if a ship had run aground and sunk. But there are no reefs in the river, so I thought ......"

"Well, that's Tifeco's fleet invading the West," Roland said, with a look of indignation, briefly recounting the battle a week ago, "they've been punished as they deserve." ”

In order to avoid clogging the shipping lanes and spreading the disease, after clearing the battlefield, he brought in Anna and Lily from the town, one to burn the damaged boats, and the other to purify the river. The floating corpses that Margaery saw were supposed to be the dead who had drifted down the river before the battle ended.

"I see," the businesswoman smiled. "Looks like Tifeko is going to hit a wall on both sides. ”

"Both sides?"

"And Garcia in Clearwater Harbor - the latest I've gotten is that the unidentified raiders who attacked the cities of the East are none other than Garcia's men. After the Black Sail Fleet ransacked Seabreeze County and Golden Harvest City, she did not return to the harbor, but went all the way north along the coastline, and no one knew where she ended up. ”

"Going north,......" Roland wondered, "she's leaving Grey Castle?"

"It seems like this at the moment, Tifeco's men have swooped down in the blue water port, which is now an empty city. Margaery stated, "Because there were a lot of rats among the people he brought with him, it wasn't a secret in the streets. In any case, you are the only thorn in his side now, and the invasion of the West may become more and more frequent in the future. ”

"If you want to leave the Grey Keep, you're always welcome at Moonmoon Bay," Marlan began.

"That's right," Garmor patted his chest, "there are enough islands there to hold ten frontier towns, and we are willing to provide them to you and your people free of charge." ”

But to hand over the steam engine and paddle steamer technology, right?" Roland rolled his eyes in his heart, even if the Grey Keep couldn't stay any longer, the first person to choose to go to should be Tilly Wimbleton. But on the surface he just smiled, "yes, if there really is a day, I will consider it." ”

"By the way," he then looked at Margaery, "I've already managed to build two of the Scout Balloons you ordered last time." ”

"So fast?" said the latter, in surprise, "can you show me there?"

"Of course, come with me. Roland stood up and said.

......

In the castle's expanded backyard, a fully inflated hydrogen balloon sits.

Its air sac is droplet-shaped, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, with a diameter of five meters at the top, and is made exactly the size of the test specimen, and can carry an adult man into the air. The airbags and ropes are painted in sky camouflage, and the observer's camouflage is used to minimize recognizability.

"It doesn't seem like the last balloon we were in?" said Margaery, looking at the new product.

"Because it doesn't need a witch to use it," Roland cleared his throat and began to explain how to use the Recon Balloon, "the balloon has a movable valve at the end of the air bag that can be filled in and out of the gas - it is this alchemical gas that makes it fly." The method of inflation is very simple, just connect the matching hose to the gas tank and unscrew the valves at both ends. After speaking, he demonstrated the operation process of deflation and inflation in public.

"How many canisters do you need to fill a scout balloon?" Margaery quickly got to the point.

The question of "five or six bottles ......" made Roland slightly embarrassed, "no more than seven bottles at most." "The main reason is that the concentration of dilute sulfuric acid used to generate hydrogen in the bottle is difficult to control, and it is too wasteful of valuable manpower to distill and purify the sulfuric acid to 98% and then dilute it with water, so it has to be settled.

"This alchemy gas is expensive, isn't it?"

"That's true. It is difficult to preserve and full of dangers...... I mean, if you don't handle it carelessly," Roland coughed twice, "so the canisters can only be stored for a year, and they must not be struck, dismantled, or incinerated, otherwise unpredictable and serious consequences may occur." He paused, "Although the price is a bit expensive, don't worry, when you scout the balloon for the first time, the first batch of gas storage canisters will be provided free of charge by the border town, and you can also get an additional sky camouflage scout suit." ”

. (To be continued.) )