Chapter 279: Changing Methods

Sinuoli could understand the excitement of Master Mason; since the War of the Beard, the Mountain Kingdom had been in a state of contraction. For thousands of years, no new fortresses had been started; at most, there had been some repair work. In recent years, the representative works of master architects had basically been the buildings of Humans.

"The news that you are going to build a new city has spread throughout the mountains, and the old bones in the relevant guilds are all willing to come and contribute their strength."

The Mason further told Sinuoli a piece of good news: although there were plenty of precedents to follow on how to build a fortress, experienced builders and designers could greatly accelerate progress and reduce waste.

"Good, that is truly excellent!"

The Lord laughed out loud. The architects had not specifically contacted him, nor had they put forward any extra demands; the saying "the world gathers in response, winning grain and following like shadows" was nothing more than this. Sinuoli saw the former tavern owner and knew that the Mason's family had sold their property and moved their whole family to the Southlands.

"However, this has also brought some problems; we old fellows have different ideas among ourselves." Seeing that Sinuoli was about to walk into the work shed, the old Dwarf pulled him back and added a sentence.

"Clatter!" Sinuoli lifted the curtain in front of the work shed and strode straight inside.

"Old thing, I'm telling you! Only big-nosed Goblins would build a castle like this!"

"Hmph! The inferior engineering you do for the bean-sprouts is as short-lived as they are!"

"My craft is passed down from the honored Grungni! No one here knows more about building fortresses than I do!"

Seeing Sinuoli, who held the final decision-making power, enter, the several old Dwarfs who were arguing at the conference table shouted even more enthusiastically. Judging by their beards, the youngest among them was likely over two hundred years old.

"This is Master Peiniya, from Karak Izor; many of the Canyon Kingdoms' immigrants in Tongshanbao came from his hand. This is the Iron Wall Master from Karaz-a-Karak; you know, a hundred years ago, during that great war against Chaos, the northernmost Karak-Flag was once destroyed, and he presided over the restoration work."

The Elder Mason first introduced the two on the right side of the table. Sinuoli nodded to them in greeting; judging by their attire, these two masters were standard "Karak Dwarfs."

"This one is the rising star of our architectural world, Master Ainuoke. Thanks to you and the Ancestor Gods, Gulu failed to invade our mountains; he waaaghed into the Empire, among which the City of Guns, Nuln, suffered the most severely."

The Elder Mason then turned to the Dwarf on the left. He seemed to be the youngest among the four masters, and his attire carried a distinct Human style, while the empty seat next to Ainuoke was clearly the Mason's.

"Master Ainuoke was commissioned by the various Elector Counts of the Human Empire to preside over the reconstruction of Nuln, and he rushed over immediately after completion. The current city of Nuln is much more reasonably laid out and sturdier than before!"

Master Mason and Ainuoke had roughly similar views, and he spoke a few good words for this rising star.

"So? Everyone has been discussing how to build this without reaching a result, and my fortress has just remained on the design drawings?"

Sinuoli pulled over a chair and sat down. His voice was very low, and the Lord felt a nameless fire burning in his heart. No wonder Ouyin had not reported the progress; he had previously thought that repairing a city was not a difficult task for Dwarfs, and it should have been under construction by now.

"Building a fortress requires a complete preliminary design. Taking Karaz-a-Karak as an example, even if the Ancestor Gods built it themselves, they spent..." The Iron Wall Master brought up the original legend.

"Indeed, the Everpeak was designed for a long time, but that was the first mountain fortress of the Old World, the heart of the Mountain Kingdom. But what is the Tumobao I want? Just a standard fortress!"

Sinuoli tried hard to control himself. He considered himself diligent in both lives; since crossing over, he had either been fighting in the north and south or honing himself. But such a life was clearly not his ultimate pursuit; he did not want to, and did not have the ability to, do everything himself.

"Everyone, time is very urgent. You should be clear about the situation in the Nan Shijie Bianyuan Shanmai; for a long time in the future, there will not be such sufficient manpower and resources." Sinuoli took out his plan.

"I have many construction projects in these five years, and they are all very urgent. Tumobao is the most critical part of them; without security, how can there be development? Do you know the Huosiren Huankeng below the plateau? For those who haven't seen it, I will arrange for a Helicopter to take you for an aerial view."

"But..." Master Peiniya still wanted to argue.

"This is my place, and I provide the manpower and material resources. Now I just want to see the results." Sinuoli paused, his lips moved twice, and he finally threw out the heavy words.

"Being the designer of this new city is something worth praising, and it will be remembered by history. But if, and I mean if, someone deliberately hinders the progress, he can only join the construction as a laborer."

Once these words were spoken, the master architects, their assistants, and other craftsmen who had been arguing fiercely in the work shed all lost their voices.

"Have I made myself clear enough?" Sinuoli narrowed his eyes and scanned the clansmen around him.

"Understood." After half a pipe's worth of silence, Master Mason broke the dead silence. Once this was said, it was as if the vacuum-like environment in the work shed had been depressurized; many people seemed to lose a certain luster on their faces.

"That's good. Try to speed up the construction period. When the time comes, Jiliuguan will transport another batch of cement, and if used in combination, the effect should be quite good."

Sinuoli put forward his own requirements and suggestions. He had a vague premonition that there would not be much time left for his territory to develop in peace.

"Whew!" Pulling open the door curtain and walking out of the work shed, Sinuoli looked at the setting sun. He felt that in the few minutes of going in and out, he had undergone quite a change.

It wasn't that he hadn't thought about using methods like bidding, project initiation, and defense to find the most suitable design, but for one thing, his own architectural knowledge was meager, and hiring outside experts was not feasible because the experts were already bidding. For another, time was tight, a large number of civilians were on the way, and he needed the fortress as a defensive pivot.

"Ouyin, in the situation of great development, the way of doing things also needs to change." Sinuoli said to the civil official. Dwarf society is patriarchal due to its small population, but this was failing to keep up with the times.

"We must attach importance to efficiency and results. When necessary, we need to take back the delegated power and let the clansmen know who they should listen to. I think highly of you; don't let me down."

As Sinuoli spoke, he looked out at the sky. He realized that with the application of new technologies, cooperation among the Dwarf Realms would increase in the future. He could rely on his prestige to suppress differences when he was present, but he could not be present at every moment.