Chapter 499: The train drove into the Hero's kingdom

The day after the celebration ended, Mr. Horace was sitting in his narrow office, staring at the "Thunder City Daily" on the table with the eyes of a resentful woman.

Until yesterday, he still liked this newspaper very much, until the speech delivered by the Viceroy yesterday was published on the new front page headline.

Do these guys selling toilet paper have nothing else to do besides licking the Royal Family's ass?

Why not pay attention to the fire in Roland City?

It must be said that the fire was also related to the fate of the Campbell Duchy.

According to his past experience, soon another group of begging mud-legged people would move into Her Highness Princess Princess Ailin's refugee camp, and then that woman would unleash her overly exuberant energy on useless kindness.

People who always have gratitude on their lips actually don't thank anyone; for example, Horace clearly forgot who saved his dog life back then.

At this time, there was a knock on the door.

"Dong dong—"

He roared angrily.

"Come in."

His accountant Aierxi pushed the door and entered; the young man was glowing, forming a sharp contrast with the low pressure in the office.

"Good morning, sir! Great news!"

"Good news?" Horace snorted coldly, "Could it be that our Majesty finally found his conscience and closed that damn council?"

Aierxi pretended not to hear the boss's complaints and excitedly slapped an account book on the table: "It's orders, sir! Orders! Our orders... have completely exploded!"

He opened the account book, his mouth like the Prince's rifle, firing without even taking a breath.

"Respected Mr. Sak Jifeng not only wants to dress the Lizardmen of the Janna Continent, but he also doesn't intend to let go of the Lizardmen of Mud City! He also wants to teach them how to take a bath, so towels must also be arranged!"

"Thanks to the settlement agreement signed by the Royal Family with the Kelin Duchy and the Gustav Kingdom, the procurement volume from the Gustav United Kingdom has doubled! Saint Xisi above, our production capacity for the next three months is full!"

Horace had heard of that settlement agreement.

Simply put, it was Gustav borrowing from Thunder City's banks to purchase light industrial products lacking in the Janna Continent, and then paying back with ores found everywhere in the Janna Continent.

Including gold and silver.

The Kelin Duchy seemed to have a lot of these precious metals; it was said that the richest mineral deposits in the Janna Continent were in the hands of that Prince!

Not just diamond mines!

Horace stared at the numbers on the account book, his breathing couldn't help but become heavy, feeling the Duchy's warmth toward him for the first time.

He decided to let Her Highness Princess Princess Ailin go for the time being; he wouldn't "bless" her to get married quickly today—no, better continue blessing her!

"So..." looking at the boss whose mouth was split to the roots of his ears, Aierxi rubbed his hands and said cautiously, "We have encountered a happy trouble, sir. As you can see, our manpower and factory buildings... are not enough."

Horace's just-relaxed expression solidified instantly, and he couldn't help but growl.

"Aierxi, are you crazy? Recruiting people at this time? Didn't you hear the Viceroy's speech yesterday? They are about to vote to let us be slaves for the textile workers! We recruit one more person now, and we will have to raise one more ancestor in the future!"

Aierxi was stunned, confused by his boss's logic for a moment, and stammered.

"But, but, sir, the bill hasn't passed yet, but the orders are real. And our salary is 30 silver pounds, which is already a big chunk higher than the minimum 2000 copper coins stipulated by Bill No. 6..."

Horace's expression stiffened.

He certainly hadn't read the specific content of Bill No. 6 carefully, but if that was really the case, did he really have nothing to worry about?

"I certainly know, but that severance pay... if I can't let them roll away at will, what if they deliberately slack off?"

"This... I, I don't think so? You don't know, your reputation is great now; employees of Horace Textile Factory are praising you for being generous outside!"

Horace was completely stunned this time.

Is that so?

Aierxi coughed and continued.

"And, think about it. If we don't take it, our competitors won't just wait; they will take the opportunity to expand production scale, and then use scale to lower costs, eventually conquering us in price... Now is not the time to worry about Bill No. 6. We must eat all the orders! Another thing..."

Speaking of this, the young man leaned closer, his eyes flashing with shrewd light.

"If we recruit fifty new workers now, then Thunder City will have fifty more families relying on you for food. When everyone is hesitating whether to move the factory away, you go against the trend and express support for His Majesty the Grand Duke; even if the Grand Duke doesn't see your contribution, when they elect councilors... they have to think about who gave them bread, right?"

Horace was startled, and his whole body sat up straight from the chair.

He stared at Aierxi, as if meeting this guy for the first time.

This logic was so shameless, yet so impeccable, and he seemed to have been stuck in a dead end—buying off doesn't necessarily have to be buying off upwards; it can also be buying off downwards!

Oh, this damn "new era"!

Horace suddenly felt that the heart that was bleeding wasn't so painful anymore.

After all, buying off guilds requires giving up profits on the price of raw material orders, while buying off workers only requires paying normal wages.

So he actually saved a lot of money?

"... Go do it." Horace tried hard to maintain the dignity of not being angry, not letting the excitement show too obviously, and ordered in a low voice, "Rent the warehouse next door; we must expand production... can't let our competitors earn this money!"

Aierxi nodded excitedly.

"Okay boss! By the way, can you find me a helper? An apprentice will do! You see I do the accountant's work, and have to run business for you, I'm really unable to do both—"

"Recruit two." Horace waved his hand; anyway, big money was spent, and he didn't feel so pained about this little money.

"Obey!"

Aierxi ran out of the door excitedly and respectfully closed the door for him.

Looking at the figure disappearing at the office door, Horace couldn't help but fall into thought.

He found that there were so many smart people around him, even smarter than him, which made him, the boss, a bit confused for a while; how exactly did he make his fortune?

Regardless, letting this guy be an accountant is truly a waste of talent.

Perhaps he should let him be the factory manager.

Leaning on the wobbly office chair, Horace looked at the ceiling covered with a layer of dust, thinking seriously about the future of this factory for the first time.

While he explores overseas markets and looks for where to make a fortune next, Horace Textile Factory must have someone to manage it.

Perhaps, he can appropriately try to expand the factory's management...

The resolution to expand the council was promulgated for a week, and the "generous" Mr. Horace ultimately didn't close his factory.

Just like his textile workers, although they complained about leaving, most of them eventually stayed.

In this era of comparing who is worse, a factory manager with a little bottom line is still much better than those factory managers without a bottom line.

No matter what he thinks in his heart, he is indeed the "good person" who first used silver pounds to pay everyone's salary.

It's the same for Horace in pain.

When he spread out the map and pondered where he should go, he eventually sighed and closed the map.

On the entire northeast coast of the Vortex Sea, there is no place more suitable for running a factory than the Campbell Duchy.

Places more open than it don't have as many people, and places with more people than it aren't as open; even if he had the heart to move the factory away, where could he move it?

This world ultimately belongs to Saint Xisi and the Emperor; unless he moves the factory to hell, human lords are like appetizers that must be tasted.

Not to mention that "Bill No. 6" didn't pass immediately; Grand Duke Edward just expanded the scale of the council, making things that were originally impossible to talk about become negotiable.

What really made Horace feel uneasy were those councilors who were competing for the support of citizens; those liars who sold their souls to the devil were using their glib tongues to the extreme, promising citizens benefits that Thunder City simply couldn't provide.

The newspaper offices in Thunder City were the same, as were those people shouting loudly in taverns, teahouses, and restaurants... they seemed to have become the masters of this Duchy overnight.

The Grand Duke's wallet had never been so keen on public affairs; the cattle and sheep in the farm sat from the table to the side of the table, trying to negotiate with the people who sheared wool and milked cows.

Is this right?

Horace couldn't help but worry that once these mud-legged people tasted the sweetness, they would lead the thriving Campbell Duchy onto a path of no return...

Interestingly, Horace's worry was not his alone; many powerful bankers and large factory owners in Thunder City had similar concerns.

However, unlike a certain miser who hesitated for half a day even when buying a new piece of clothing, their execution and IQ were online.

These guys, more cunning than foxes, wouldn't sit at home and complain; they immediately took action, some looking for suitable candidates, or competing for city councilors themselves.

Edward's act of expanding the council didn't mean he drew a butcher's knife against the rich, just that the cost for the rich to buy the souls of the poor became higher.

Originally, they only needed to buy off the leaders of various professional guilds, or buy off the few families that had monopolized the guilds hundreds of years ago to win everything, but now the presence of guilds was further weakened, and they had to buy off more people.

Perhaps the original version of "Bill No. 6" still couldn't pass; after all, many things in it were too advanced for this era.

But even a compromise amendment was enough to bring a few rays of warmth to the slums that had just survived the winter.

If Princess Princess Ailin's policy platform was the continuation of ancient feudal jurisprudence under the illumination of holy light, the embodiment of the "warmest side" of a Charismatic leader—that is, the lord has the obligation to protect his people from hunger and cold.

Then Edward used his iron-fisted means to lead his people to a colder and more realistic land—

Future Campbells will no longer fantasize about the master's mercy, but look for new social relationships and order in the game of civilization.

Everyone can be a priest.

Or a lord.

In the spring of 1054 of the Aus calendar, humanistic thought appeared on the northeast coast of the Vortex Sea for the first time; this was something the "God of Machinery" forgot to bring to his people.

On this day when ice melted and snow thawed, Grand Duke Edward Campbell, full of ambition, and Raman, who had just been promoted to "Corporal," were both thinking about the future of the Duchy.

Everything had just begun.

In the early spring of 1054 of the Aus calendar, the late-arriving sunlight finally melted the frozen soil in the suburbs of Thunder City.

The smoke of the civil war had just dissipated, and a trace of bloody coldness still remained in the air, but the moist land had begun to emit the breath of new life, waiting for diligent farmers to sow seeds.

However, arriving here earlier than the farmers was Prince Kelin, who returned to Thunder City from Gladstone Castle with Edward.

At this moment, on this piece of land that had just thawed, two railway tracks laid on sleepers were like ugly scars, passing through the plowed fields.

This was the newly planned industrial zone in the far suburbs of Thunder City, but the vast majority of factory buildings hadn't started construction yet. The only creation visible on the horizon was a black monster made of steel and brass, lying at the end of the tracks.

It had a huge chimney on its head, and black smoke and white mist were rolling above the heated boiler.

Behind it hung five flatbed carriages, piled high with heavy stones and wood—that was cargo that would require at least a dozen heavy horse-drawn carriages to barely pull!

Edward was wearing a dark blue formal suit without any medals, his hands behind his back, calmly examining the novel creation before him.

"... Prince Kelin, my dear friend, you invited us here just to show us... this brand new steam engine?"

There was a trace of polite curiosity in the Grand Duke's voice, and also a trace of faint non-committal.

He was no stranger to steam engines; at least half of the cargo ships coming and going in Thunder City were equipped with this thing. However, putting a steam engine on wheels and installing it on tracks was something he was seeing for the first time.

This was truly a novel idea.

It was said that Dwarves also had tracks, but they mainly used them for dragging ore in mine shafts, and usually only had one.

Yan Andes, standing beside Edward, also had the same thought, but his confusion was much more tactful.

"It looks, indeed, more exquisite than the one on the ship... perhaps His Highness the Prince hopes to show us its unusual aspects."

Luo Yan smiled gently upon hearing this. He didn't explain, just raised his hand and waved gently toward the steel monster.

Several Lizardman players saw this and immediately took action, throwing coal into the boiler with shovels, and then pressing down the lever controlling the valve.

This NPC had been acting for a long time, finally letting them move!

Mission reward in hand!

"Woo—!!"

A loud whistle suddenly pierced the tranquility of the suburbs.

Under the gaze of Edward and Andes' astonished eyes, the chimney above the steam boiler instantly spewed out denser black smoke and white mist!

The connecting rod began to rotate with effort, driving the huge steel wheels, making a heavy friction sound of "clatter, clatter" on the tracks.

Subsequently, in the astonished gaze of the two, the steel beast slowly moved forward!

Its speed was very slow, but it carried unstoppable power, dragging the five carriages behind it that weighed ten thousand jun, making the whole earth shake because of its awakening!

The expression on Edward's face finally changed completely, unable to maintain his previous calmness anymore, and an astonished gaze was carved into his eyes.

He hadn't seen big scenes, but the scene before him still completely subverted his imagination!

Without the intervention of magic, cargo that would require a dozen horse-drawn carriages to pull was dragged by this machine... so easily?

This was too incredible!

"This is the steam technology of the Gustav United Kingdom," Prince Kelin's voice sounded beside him at the right time, introducing in a gentle tone, "Their steam engines can not only travel in the sea but also run on land. And for a creation like this that can cross mountains and ridges, they call it... 'train'."

Speaking of this, Kelin's voice carried a trace of regret.

"It's a pity that this railway is too short, and I can't show you its full speed. If there were long enough tracks for it to accelerate, it could reach fifteen kilometers per hour at its fastest."

"This speed doesn't sound very fast; our supply carriages can do the same." An official following beside Edward couldn't help but say after hearing this.

Luo Yan nodded with a smile.

"Of course, as far as I know, the postal carriages in Thunder City can run even faster, but I believe anyone with eyes can see that its advantage is not speed, but persistence. Even the fastest steed can't stand running for several consecutive days, but it can run non-stop until the end of the tracks."

The officers standing behind Edward whispered.

Especially Sir Wei Sili, who looked at the train with burning eyes, almost as if he had seen a miracle sent down by Saint Xisi.

If this thing could be used to transport ammunition, his advocated military concept of superior firepower would undoubtedly rise to a new level!

They could even be bolder, mounting larger-sized mortars on the train, deploying at any time, firing at any time!

"Saint Xisi above..."

Andes adjusted his monocle; the face that had finally recovered from the shock was now full of fanaticism.

"The cargo capacity of this thing... this is simply comparable to cargo ships on inland rivers!"

He wasn't a soldier, so he didn't think about mounting cannons on the train.

Instead, however, he saw the potential hidden in the carriages that was enough to change the economic map of the Duchy!

If this thing was really as magical as Prince Kelin described, the farmers of Gladstone Castle could sell their freshly picked vegetables to the port of Thunder City!

Instead of borrowing ox carts from the lord's servants, spending a whole day going to nearby market towns, and wasting the fruits of labor on the bumps of the journey!

Once the farmers of the Valley Plains could exchange their sweat for money, not only would their lives be improved, but the cost of living in Thunder City would also decrease accordingly.

Although selling two more bundles of cabbage wouldn't make them rich, it was better than having nothing before.

Not just agricultural products, but also the clay, ore, forest resources of the Valley Plains, and even labor itself could all be connected together by this steel corridor!

The only thing that worried him was the cost; wood was fine, but the steel used to lay the tracks didn't seem very cheap.

With his back to the increasingly heated whispers behind him, Edward remained silent, but his gaze flickered violently.

What Andes and Sir Wei Sili could see was also what he saw at this moment, but what he saw was much further than the two.

The economic and military potential were just duckweed floating on the water; what he saw more from the tracks was the political potential!

If this railway could connect Thunder City, Campbell Castle, Gladstone Castle... and all the core territories of the Duchy together, it would mean that the decrees, officials, and armies of the Royal Family could reach any corner of the Duchy within a few days!

His reforms would no longer be limited to Thunder City, and farmers living in remote mountain villages could also directly benefit from his reforms.

Once the farmers of the Valley Plains no longer needed to rely on the authority of nobles, but could move freely on the land of the Duchy, they would also be liberated from ancient feudal obligations.

And this would shatter the foundation of local noble separatism!

The link between Campbell Castle and the localities would be unprecedentedly close, and even the Twilight Province outside the Torrent Pass would be included in the Duchy's railway map!

Edward took a deep breath, hiding the excitement in his heart.

He turned his head to look at Prince Kelin and let out a heartfelt exclamation.

"The Gustav United Kingdom is worthy of being a divine kingdom favored by the Dragon God; there are really many good things there. If it weren't for the long distance, I would really like to go and see."

Luo Yan smiled, thinking to himself that it's better not to.

The most beautiful thing in this world is distance.

Once he really arrived at the coast of the Janna Continent, he would definitely be as disappointed as the guys from the Templar Knights.

Where is there any gold there?

There are quite a few cornfields, and they were all planted by their own hands.

"... Your Highness, any miracle on earth, if it can be passed down through the ages, is created by the hands of mortals. That is not a miracle bestowed by the Dragon God, but a miracle of mortals. I believe that what the Gustav Kingdom has, the Campbell Duchy will soon possess."

"Then I'll take your word for it," a smile appeared on Edward's face, "I hope the Queen of Gustav won't mind you bringing such interesting things to the human world."

Luo Yan said happily.

"This is not a weapon; I don't think she will mind."

Edward looked happy.

"Very good!"

Seeing that His Majesty had asked all the questions, but didn't ask the question he cared about, Andes hurriedly asked on behalf of his Majesty.

"What about the cost? Prince Kelin, this thing... shouldn't be cheap, right?"

"No need to worry about the cost," Luo Yan smiled slightly, continuing with confidence, "Thunder City's steel production is enough to bear the construction of the railway. And the order for building the railway can, in turn, drive the expansion of steel mills. The only thing to worry about is the land; after all, the railway will pass through a lot of land with owners."

"Land, is not a problem."

A calm smile hooked on the corner of Edward's mouth.

In the civil war that had just ended, he held a massive amount of land confiscated from rebellious nobles in his hands; he just needed to pick where he needed it.

The train in the distance whistled and drove back; the Lizardman players on the train not only showed their excellent driving skills to their Demon King but also performed a turning technique.

They used a reserved Y-shaped track to stagger the locomotive and the carriage, then used a steam winch to turn the extra section of track around, and reconnected the locomotive to the tail of the train, pulling the cargo back intact.

This set of smooth operations stunned those engineers from the Royal Mechanical Power Plant who ran over to join the fun.

So steam engines can be played like this?!

Could it be that Gustav is actually the God of Machinery?

This is too blasphemous...

Edward didn't think so; although the God of Machinery is sensitive, the steam engine itself is not a sensitive existence.

The Empire had been using it for a long time, just without more research.

He walked happily to the boiler of the train, looked up at the ferocious steel beast at close range, turned his head to look at Kelin and said.

"Thank you for bringing such incredible things to the Campbell Duchy... Go ahead and do it, Prince Kelin! I promise you in the name of the Royal Family that we will provide all necessary support for the laying of this railway! We will always be your strongest backing!"

Getting Edward's promise, a smile appeared on Luo Yan's face, and he nodded happily.

"At your service, Your Highness, although I am not an expert in this area, I can introduce professional talents to you."

"Oh?" A look of surprise appeared on Edward's face, "Where is that person?"

"Right on the train."

Luo Yan pointed to the few Lizardman players on the carriage; they were waving excitedly toward this side, as if excited that the Demon King finally looked at them.

They were players from the "Graveyard Railway Group."

Strictly speaking, that was a joint-stock limited company that landed at the same time as the "Kelin Mining Company," and the time of establishment was not much different from the latter.

The railway from Beifeng City to Disaster Castle was built by these professional little players; this wave belonged to "export to domestic sales."

Edward was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting it to be Lizardmen.

But thinking about it, the Gustav Kingdom itself is a kingdom of Lizardmen; if the engineers aren't Lizardmen, could they be humans?

He instantly felt it was reasonable again.

Just as Luo Yan was introducing his "subordinates" to Edward in the capacity of Prince Kelin, Vivian not far away was pouting in dissatisfaction, kicking the stones on the side of the railway.

She had been in the human world for more than a month, and still hadn't seen the woman who cheated her first embrace from her brother's hands.

Although her brother's integrity was very reassuring, she couldn't help but worry if her brother was intentionally hiding something from her.

Out of boredom, she couldn't help but mutter.

"I don't know what's so surprising about these stupid humans; isn't this thing the same thing outside Black Wind Castle?"

It seems that this railway is what pulls ore to the Magic Tank Factory.

Her grandfather was quite interested in this big toy, and it seemed he even introduced one to the real Kelin Duchy, used for transporting minerals produced by the Kelin Duchy.

But she wasn't interested in this thing.

A mere five carriages, she could pull them too!

Looking at his sister who started competing with the train for no reason, Nan Fu, following beside, smiled weakly, not daring to make a sound, let alone answer.

Honestly, he didn't know why his big brother wanted to move this technology to the rear of the human world, but presumably Councilor Luo Yan must have his own plans...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 500 =====