13

24th April 1574

"Hang the core now. We need the counterweight to be quite a lot heavier than the cylinder itself."

With the miners standing idle and watching the peculiar building with a visible confusion on their faces, I continued to order around my workers who turned out to be almost as enthusiastic about this project as I did.

Even though the official purpose of this machine wasn't properly explained to anyone but the craftsmen, it was inevitable that the rumours would appear even amongst the common folk. But while I was happy that everyone was eager to do their part of the work, seeing how some of them acted quite recklessly as if trying to finish their tasks as soon as possible, I couldn't help but start to get slightly worried.

As for the core of the counterweight, it was nothing else than a several iron disk-bound together by chains and nails, making it easy to attach anything to it whenever we decided the weight of the working arm had to be greater.

But the whole process of launching the steam engine started now with the counterweight, but by connecting the long iron pole to the chain nailed tightly to the side of the balancing beam in a way that made only the last two pieces of the iron chain hang freely and allow for some liberty in the movement.

After making sure that the metal rod was properly connected both to the chain and the cylinder, forcibly pushing the balancing beam to the 'in house' position meaning that it was lowered over the cylinder rather than at the counterweight side, a group of workers climbed the top of the cylinder, filling the s.p.a.ce between the plate and the walls with thick ropes soaked in oil and finishing the task by pouring four buckets of water at the very top.

With the ropes isolating the s.p.a.ce below the cylinder plate and the rest of the world above, and water added as the last insurance to make sure there would be no leaks of the gas from the cylinder to the atmosphere nor the air from the atmosphere to the cylinder, we could finally move to the last step.

As the chain was already hanging from the 'out house' side of the balancing beam, all that was left was to hook it with the second iron rod and mounting several pieces of the counterweight looking rather similar to the gym weights with a simplest possible lock in the middle, allowing to simply push them on top of the rod by aligning its small, metal arms with the opening in the weight and then simply turning it around with the metal pipe already protruding right through its centre.

At first, I thought that this would be the hardest step, as we didn't know what was the proper size of the counterweight, but contrary to my belief, as soon as the balancing beam finally started moving to the 'out house' position, we simply waited for it to stabilise before adding two more weights to start with in order to check how much weight could the steam engine lift.

Contrary to the pressure engine that had the capability of moving way more than its own weight, any increase to the size of the counterweight would mean that the burden on the delicate construction of this creation of mine would be even greater, forcing me to risk its isolating rope and water to simply get sucked to the other side of the cylinder if the weight would be too great!

But rather than worrying about the constant uncertainty, I was about to give the signal to load the wood under the belly of the boiler, when I noticed that the miners were already moving aside as if trying to sneak out!

"Hey, where do you think you are going? The best part is about to start!"

Rather than treating them with anger for the fact that they couldn't sit still for a while, I did my best to look like a child, disappointed at its parents for not willing to see the nice house I built in the Minecraft. While I knew that the process of heating the boiler up to the point where it would start producing steam could take a rather long while if they were to miss the moment when the history would be made, not only convincing them to agree to my terms would be easier, but they would never be able to forgive themselves for missing this insanely important moment!

"Sir, with all due respect, the other group is already coming out with the ores. If we don't see something that will crush out entire world-view right now, we will have to sell the ores right away."

Considering how I wanted them to experience something before making their decision, it was only natural that with the lack of any effect after all the time they spent here already, they would start hesitating whether there was any point in lingering around for any longer.

"We will be starting things out right now. Just imagine how long will it take for the water in this boiler to boil properly, and a few minutes later, you will be begging me to repeat the same offer I gave to you already."

From this point on, it would be their own decision whether to stay here or not. I already gave them the chance and all the reasons to stay, and if they decide to go to manage their own business anyway, it would be their loss. The fact that this steam horse was placed right beside their mine would make it easier to improve their workplace first, but with the second mine only about four hundred meters away, transmitting the energy provided by the steam horse could still be done fairly easy!

Right when I turned back to face the steam engine in front of me, I noticed that the belly of the furnace already got filled to its safe brim with the wood, with the older of the two stonemasons approaching me with a burning torch.

"Sir, everything is ready. We splattered some oil on top of the wood to make it start burning a bit easier, so all that's left now, is to start the fire."

After taking one last look at the machine in general and confirming that the two workers were waiting for my orders at the two valves that allowed either the steam to flow into the cylinder or the cold water to be sprinkled, I took a deep breath…

And threw the torch inside!

Yet this heroic and historical move quickly proved to be simply stupid, as the sudden gust of wind caused by the fast movement managed to do its job and extinguished the fire burning on top of the torch, causing me to simply throw another piece of wood inside the furnace!

While I could bet I heard some laughs going off in the distance, another servant quickly lit the next torch and pa.s.sed it to me while trying his best to hide his mocking smile from his face.

Even though he was far better at working hard than at masking his emotions, I was too excited to care, taking the torch from his hand and this time, simply approaching the furnace and placing the burning head of this oversized match to the wood soaked in oil.

And so the fire has started!

Read novel online » Road To The Crown » 131 The Fire Is Lit!

24th April 1574

At first, nothing happened.

But well, that was only to be expected. Starting the fires meant that the water would slowly heat up, only reaching the point of bursting into steam when we would hear the metal of boiler whining under the constant barrage of the inner pressure, signalling that we could finally start the first tests on the engine.

With how there were two valves that operated the supply of both the hot steam and the cold water, we had to figure out the ratios at which they should be turned on and off to connect it with the swinging movement of the balancing beam as to allow this entire machine to work without any other human help than supplying more fuel into its furnace!

Seeing that something was finally going on and how tense the atmosphere was amongst all the workers that were responsible for creating this strange building, even the miners decided to stay and observe the events, joining the fun as the spectators, yet keeping their distance as if worried that this strange thing could suddenly burst in flames.

"Congratulations!"

"User completed his first steam machine without the help of the system!"

"Reached the second level of the steam engineer!"

"Unlocking hidden reward - Control-man!"

Even before this steam horse could start working properly, the system already flooded my mind with a streak of its messages. Yet while seeing that I managed to reach the second level of the steam engineer was nice as it would most likely unlock some new blueprints or even system-crafting for more advanced tools, the hidden reward took my entire attention, as if I understood the meaning behind this reward name, it could solve my current greatest problem!

"System, activate the control-man function or tool or whatever it is."

Mumbling to myself in a voice low enough to make sure no one would hear me do so, I was ready to be met with a huge disappointment, yet to my surprise, my vision suddenly changed!

What used to look like just a brick tower with its furnace mouth and two valve controls being the only things visible from the outside, now turned semi-transparent, allowing me to take a look into how much steam did enter the system, what kind of general forces were interacting with specific parts of the mechanism, even to the point to see the walls of the boiler slowly turning orange as the amount of steam and the pressure started to build up!

Right when the walls of the boilers started to turn pale red, I heard the first cracking from the machine.

"Release the steam valve!"

Shouting my order in a half-panicky way, I saw a sudden change in my vision, as the steam suddenly gushed towards the raised cylinder, filling the entire free s.p.a.ce while turning the walls of the entire system into a light orange.

Yet rather than looking at the walls, I focused my attention at the isolating filler, waiting for it to turn red.

"Prepare more weights!"

As the orange colour turned more intense, I realised that soon, the influx of steam would have to be blocked. Raising my hand high into the air to let the workers see it, I waited for the first moment when the isolating rope would reach the slightly dangerous level before swinging my hand and shouting!

"Change the valves!"

While if someone would do the job without prior explanation, then both of the valves would be turned simultaneously, yet I already stressed it more than enough to the workers operating them that under no circ.u.mstances, the cold water valve could be open while the steam intake one have yet to close!

"Steam cut off!"

As soon as the worker at the lower part of the machine shouted his report, the other guy controlling the sprinkled turned the handle on top of the valve, allowing a sudden bust o cold water to be sprinkled right inside the chamber filled with hot steam!

In an instant, the steam suddenly cooled down, instantly forcing the cylinder plate to the bottom under the pressure between a partial void and the weight of the atmosphere itself!

Prompted by this move, the counterweight shoot high up to the skies, reaching its upper limit in a matter of just two seconds!

"Change!"

With the water sprinkler now closed, the steam intake was opened once again, allowing the counterweight to plummet back down, yet at a much slower rate than it did raise to the air!

Completely focused on the processes taking place inside the steam horse, I only now realised that the entire surroundings filled with cheers, with a strange silence surrounding the vincity of the miners. Yet while others could celebrate already, I remained focused to the limit of my perception!

With how the steam horse was aimed to operate continuously, making just a single full spin didn't mean its force was exhausted!

"NOW! ADD THE WEIGHTS!"

As soon as the counterweights fell to its resting position, I prompted a group of workers with additional weights to hurry up towards the counterweight and add the iron rings they brought with them. Watching as the steam was filling the inner part of the cylinder once again, as soon as the isolation turned dangerously close to changing from orange to red, I once again swiped my hands to pull all the workers away from the danger zone, before once again ordering the change of the valves.

This time, under the additional weight, the fall of the cylinder was calmer, allowing us to finally calculate the overall strength of the machine.

"Extinguish the fires!"

Seeing that this greatest project of mine so far ended up working just like I wanted it to work, I realised that there was no point in making it do the idle swings, as no other machine benefited from its work right now.

With one more swing happening before the water cooled down enough to stop producing steam, the swinging beam finally returned back to its resting position, allowing the weight to rest on a pile of wood stacked to the perfect height to decrease the burden on the beam while the machine was idle.

"Guys…"

As the steam horse finally stopped operating completely, I made sure to call out to everyone, allowing their joyous faces to focus on me.

"GREAT JOB!"

Read novel online » Road To The Crown » 132 It's Working!

24th April 1574

In one instant, the entire crowd of people which turned silent to hear what I had to say, erupted once again in cheers. Even though most of the normal workers were simply happy that the first part of their work was finished, the craftsmen that watched how this machine managed to turn the fire into a movement that didn't require animals to pull on the ropes, couldn't even begin to cheer with how overwhelming this new invention was for them.

Moving the heavy stuff around, lifting the items to higher floors, increasing the airflow in the furnaces… All of the tasks that required a huge group of people to complete now could be done with this newfound power!

But the faces of the miners provided me with the most fun. Without taking part in the entire building process, they had no way of knowing what was happening inside the machine, making it almost impossible for them to understand just how the heck did that monstrosity move!

Yet from the sight of various people moving various parts around, they couldn't claim that it was the work of a devil, some kind of magic trick designed to cheat them out of their hard earner ore. If that was to be the case, there would be no need for all this crowd, not to speak about the enthusiasm that those people were showing!

"Okay everyone, now that we finished our first project… It's time to work on the blast furnace!"

Even though I still didn't come to an agreement with the miners, if they still opted to decline my offer and sell the ore to the merchants, I was sure that I could strike a deal with those traders and the workers of the other mine.

"As for you guys, do you want to know how this thing works?"

Turning myself back to the miners, I finally decided it was time to talk business. Right after the showcase of the prowess of my invention, but before the drive that took over everyone's mind would die off due to the fact that unless we built anything that could make use of this machine power, it was just a strange ornament marking the end of the old era and the beginning of the time of industrialisation!

"Well… We heard you shout stuff like steam, water and all, so I guess it works on water vapour?"

Only now did I realise that my commands were more than enough for normal people to at least try to understand the basic principle of this machine. Yet it didn't mean they would know how to operate nor build one, so I had no reason to worry about them replicating this entire thing for their own use.

"Yes, without going into the details, you could tell that it works on vapour. But now, can you tell me why would I build this kind of machine so close to one of the mines that were presented to me by the governor?"

For simple people like the miners, unless I explained how would this machine influence their lives, they would only take this machine as something fun, yet useless.

"Seeing how eager you were to buy off our ore… Will it have something to do with our mine?"

With all of his previous arrogance and aggressiveness disappearing after the show and in face of the joyous crowd, this particular miner was far easier partner to talk with. Additionally, with me announcing that the first thing we would build to make use of this machine would be a blast furnace, it didn't take a genius to understand why the haul from the iron mines was so important to me.

"Outside of the blast furnace that we will be building anyway, tell me, how much time you could save if instead of pushing the carts with the ore by yourself, something was to do it for you?"

Just like I already pointed out many times over, it was the repet.i.tive and simple menial tasks that this kind of steam engine was the best at taking care off. While as soon as I could create a pressure steam horse, the number of mining carts that could be pulled at once would increase drastically, for now, supplying the blast furnace with ample amount of fresh air and letting the miners focus on mining rather than moving stuff around should lay within the capability of this prototype of mine!

"Have something to do it for us? Does that mean…"

"Yes, as long as we craft a simple tool, we could make this steam horse pull all the carts that you would otherwise have to push all the way from where you are loading them towards the surface. While you have to understand that this would mean that not only we would have to demolish the existing entrance shed and replace it with a place that would allow us to move the ore from the carts to the warehouse easier, but you guys would be also responsible for extending the wooden tracks on which those carts are moving around right now."

While the current rail system was based on incredibly intuitive design when simple, plain wheels would roll on plain planks with only a secure pin located in the middle of the cart and locked between said planks stopped the vehicle from going offroad.

Yet even this design was enough for the steam machine to operate on it. With just a set of simple poles with rollers mounted on their tops, we could attach a set of ropes to the main wheel powered by the steam horse mark one. As long as we added some simple hooks to said rope and attached the minecarts to them, rather than pushing the carts themselves, miners could focus on providing more ore, while a surface team would busy themselves with unloading it on the pile, from which the blast furnace would be fed!

"Sir, while I'm not really sure if I understand the concept, there is no way sir would invest so much time, effort and thought only for the sake of stealing away a few golden coins worth of haul. Where can we dump the ore then?"

Read novel online » Road To The Crown » 133 Striking The Deal With Miners

24th April 1574

With the supply of ore now secured, I turned my attention to the construction site of the blast furnace. Even though everything that we were building here was nothing but a prototype, the respective areas where all projects would be constructed were already drafted and marked on the very first day since we arrived here.

But while everyone was busying themselves with digging out the earth to make s.p.a.ce for the foundations of the blast furnace, I actually approached the steam horse mark one with quite a bit of iron ore on hand.

After making sure that no one was looking, I opened my crafting window and used the materials I had on hand with the already existing steam horse to remake it into a proper one, with both valves controlled by a set of simple levers that would open and close them depending on the angle of the swinging beam.

While this kind of engine was a good start to help with some minor projects, rather than focusing all my resources on this kind of mobile and ineffective machine, I would rather make sure that it would work nicely enough for the governor to praise it and invest his own funds and manpower in my projects, so that when the time would come for the introduction of the mark two steam engine, I would have all the means necessary to produce all the parts for it!

After finishing my job with the steam horse, I moved back to the construction area of the furnace. While the amount of manpower that I could move around increased about by half when the villagers came to work under me, considering how all the tents and materials that they could be made from were already used, instead of instantly putting them to the necessary work, I had to give up on this opportunity and make them craft some basic sheds to sleep in.

But with over a hundred people, digging up a small plot of land that was required for the simple blast furnace wasn't that hard of a task. By the time I finally reached its construction site, stonemasons were already preparing the concrete in the pots while the workers were reinforcing the borders of the ditch with the wooden planks.

While seeing this sight, I realised that there was one, insanely simple thing that could come handy in all kinds of constructions that would be required later. Thanks to the fact that most of the work here was done now, I pulled away twenty workers and one of the carpenters with me.

"Listen up guys, we need to build a s.p.a.cious shed here. Rather than having to manually cut all the logs into the required sized and planks, we can use the steam horse to power up something I called a quicksaw."

In fact, this small project of mine was nothing else but a table saw. By taking a circular iron plate and turning its edge into a set of sharp but thin claws and powering its rotation with the steam horse, carving the blocks of required sizes or even part.i.tioning the entire logs would turn from a long nightmare into work worth just a few seconds of attention!

"Sir, I think I know what you mean, but if we place it vertically as you showed…"

After seeing my cup place my hands on top of one another in the peculiar fashion, the carpenter quickly understood the idea and gathered his guts to reply.

"... then we will only be able to cut the planks. If we want to be able to work on the entire logs, we would need a far greater blade along with something to move the logs around!"

Hearing his words, I realised one flaw of my design prompted by the image of the table saw I had in my head. But just like the man pointed out, if I used the blade with a diameter of about a hand, it would be far too small to cut through the entire log!

"That's true, thanks for pointing it out. So how about we make two cutting tables bearing the quicksaw, one would be used to work on the planks, while the other would be used to turn logs into said planks. But that would also lead us to the sad realisation that you would require quite a lot of help to manage all the wood that would be going through this place. So rather than the question about building the quicksaw itself, I should ask, do you feel you could manage this task?"

Once again, while having a steady and stable supply of the wood in all shapes and sizes could increase the overall rate of all the constructions that would happen in the area, doing so required manpower. And not only that, operating with highly dangerous tools like a table saw mean that rather than moving the people in and out of this place depending on the demand for the wooden products, I had to decide how many of them I could commit to working on it from now on!

"Sir, forgive me asking, but would it be possible to somehow use the steam horse to move the logs around? While carrying the planks between two places is fairly easy, as long as we could somehow pull those heavy logs from the outside all the way through the sets of saws that would cut it to the desired sizes… or rather, if we could make a set of five saws placed horizontally one above the other and push the logs through them, wouldn't that allow us to produce planks with close to no manpower commitment?"

Hearing the proposition of the man who worked in his job for a long time, I realised how simple this idea was, while how much manpower could it save! As long as we had an angled conveyor ramp that would carry the logs inside the building, put them through a set of horizontal saws that would turn it into a set of planks of the desired thickness only to dump them to some kind of storage from which the workers would pick the pieces and carry them to the manual table saw… Out of nowhere, this few simple sentences allowed me to crystalise the entire idea in my head!

"That's a great idea. So instead of debating over it, go somewhere near the forest and mark the area for the shed. Make your group of people provide you with enough wood and bricks to build this shed as soon as possible, while I will try to get those blades from the Sandomir. Seeing how the merchant came to our sh.o.r.e, it would be a waste not to use their presence to fetch some more useful tools!"

As soon as those words left my mouth, I ran towards the sh.o.r.e. Just a single look from the place where I was talking to the carpenter and his group of workers allowed me to see that after the miners denied them the trade, rather than lingering here for no reason, they were already moving on to depart from this place!

"Hey! Wait for a moment, guys!"

Thinking about this, I guess it was the first time when those merchants saw a d.a.m.ned n.o.ble sprinting to them as if his life depended on it!

Read novel online » Road To The Crown » 134 Yet Another Project!

24th April 1574

"Are you by any chance going to sail to the Sandomir right now?"

After approaching the merchant barge that brough a new group of miners to the work and was initially going to get the ore back to the city where it would be smelted, was now forced to go back empty-handed due to my own shenanigans. While others might feel awkward to propose them any trade right after depriving them of the business they most likely were doing on the weekly basis, as long as I could offer them anything of value, they would most likely agree in hopes of recouping the losses.

"Well, we were going to, but due to the miners suddenly abolishing the deal we had ever since this mine was established, we will have to sail somewhere else."

Shrugging his arms, one of the merchants approached the edge of the ship and replied, while not even trying to hide his annoyance at the situation. To be honest, I couldn't really blame him as I was the one responsible for his loss!

"What if I tell you that you could make a great business in the Sandomir?"

Rather than instantly explaining what happened to them and what I had in mind, I decided it would be better to keep them in the dark for as long as possible to make them curious about what was going on inside my head. As long as I could lead them by the nose all the way to the trade deal I could propose them, just the sheer antic.i.p.ation would make it way greater than it would be in reality!

"As long as it will be profitable, I don't really mind. Since it's already past the noon today, we would be able to return only tomorrow, a.s.suming that the stuff you need from Sandomir can be easily obtained."

Just like I thought, rather than keeping his anger and preventing himself from earning a good amount for a simple, two days long journey this man was rational enough to prioritize making money over his negative perception of my person.

"Since I don't really want to part with gold right now as I need to pay my people, tell me please, did you heard the rumours of a new, luxury spice used on the recent Tarnowian wedding?"

Due to the fact that I was rather generous with my money, I could feel how my pouch was getting lighter and lighter with each pa.s.sing day. While I could still easily afford any of the items that I wanted this merchant to fetch me from the city, when combining the costs of all of them, the price might take a bit too big of a bite out of my savings.

"This funny, white powder? How could you ask! While everyone in the town is focused on the beer that appeared there, ask any merchant and they will tell you how sought for this spice is!"

With this sudden idea popping up in my head, I realised that while I was trying my best to modernize both my lands and those local mines, I was slowly losing the grip of my previous investments and ideas! If not for the fact that I spotted some grain on the barge that served as a spark that lit the torches of my memory, I would have to gnash my teeth and steel my soul in order to orderly pay this man for the wares I wanted to buy!

"It so happens that I have a bit of it somewhere in this pile of resources."

Pointing my hand at what was left out of all the wares that we brough from Sandomir after building the entire steam horse and starting all sorts of other projects. Yet even despite how much of it was already used up, it still remained easily visible on the flat plain beside the river.

"If I were to offer you a small pouch of the spice, how much gold would you give me in return?"

Now came the most important part of the entire deal. In fact, all I had on that pile was just a bunch of grain that has not yet been moved to the makeshift granary we made with one of the tents, yet depending on the deal that I might settle right now, the final price of the spice would be forget out of nothing. Since I never sold any of it, only using it for my own purposes, I could literally claim any price I wanted, but if I went too high, this merchant wouldn't be able to pay me up. On the other hand, if I were to offer too affordable terms, the worth of this spice would plummet. That's why, instead of starting with the price on my side, I pushed the responsibility of coming out with the starting cost of the spice to this merchant!

"A pouch? How much does it weigh? The spice inside, I mean."

Just when I thought I won a better position in this barter, I realised my mistake. With no concrete numbers, I couldn't ask for any realistic price connected to the amount I was selling! In this situation, I had only one way out.

"To be frank, I have no idea. How about you find some scale and get down on the land so we could measure it? On my end, I will go and find the pouch."

Seeing the merchant nod to my proposition, I turned around and moved to the pile, lowering myself over the grain while catching a small piece of cloth from the pile of the resources. With my back shielding me from the prying eyes of the merchant or literally anyone else, I sank my hand into the bag with grain and recalled the system from the corner of my eyes.

After going through the extensive menu of various options, I finally found the crafting window for the modern spice, turning the grain held by my hand into a fistful of the spice before throwing it on top of the cloth and repeating the process a few times until I was satisfied with the amount.

Grabbing the four corners of the piece of cloth that would serve as my pouch, I made sure nothing was escaping the hold of this spile container before smashing my own chest a few times with an open hand in order to clean it from the dust that remained glued to it.

"Sir, I brought the scale."

Hearing the shout from the merchant, I took a look at myself to check for the last time whether any of the white dust remained of my clothes as if I was some kind of drug-dealer trying his best to appear like a normal citizen after throwing a bunch of c.o.ke around the garden.

"That's how much I can part with."

Seeing that the scale was already set on the ground and levelled properly, I carefully pulled one end of the cloth from my makeshift sack and poured its content on top of a small tray resting on one arm of the scale.

After adding the weights to the other wing of the scale, the merchant made sure a few times that both of the scale's arms lined up perfectly before raising his head.

"Half of Gryw. Considering how sought after this spice is, I can pay you… Five red goldens!"

Read novel online » Road To The Crown » 135 New Type Of Gold

26th April 1574

Waking up in the morning, I hoped that I could once again sneakily craft some concrete from the limestone blocks, only to realise that rather than waking up by myself, it was one of the workers shaking my arm.

"What's g-goin on…"

With my mind still trying its best to return to the sweet dream in which I was spending quality time with Elia in the modern world, showing her all the wonders of the civilisation, it took me a while to shake the sleepiness off and realise that I couldn't see any sunlight from the small opening between the side of the tent and its pulled opening cloth.

"Sir, they finished the furnace!"

Only when hearing those words did I manage to push my sleepiness aside, shake my head to clear it from the remnants of the dreaming state and properly move out from the bedding made by placing several blankets directly on the hard ground.

While I could easily organise some better sleeping place for myself, I still decided to keep my own tent as spartan as every other sleeping place was in the entire camp. For this small cost of my own comfort at sleeping, I gained quite a lot of sympathy from the workers, allowing me to drive them even harder while they were working.

"Sure, I will be there right away. Go and tell them to prepare everything."

With how some of the workers offered to work through the night to finish laying down the last layers of the bricks, finishing the blast furnace was only to be expected. Outside of the simple, brick structure of the entire building, all that was changed from the commonly known blueprint was the air intake.

Rather than using standard bellows, we mounted a set of three sets of fan blades mounted on a simple, thin pipe, that was later connected to the flywheel powered by the steam horse right beside it. With this done, as soon as the basic fire would start burning inside and lodge itself in the charcoal, we could turn the fire under the steam horse on and start pumping crazy amounts of fresh air right inside the burning chamber, supplying more than enough air for the burning process to reach greater temperature than ever achieved elsewhere!

As I moved out of my tent, rather than going directly for the furnace, I took a swing by the stockpile, where ten different clay forms was waiting for their first use. Since I wasn't going to make a proper pressure steam engine right away but rather it's cut in a half prototype that would allow me to measure the distance and lengths of the required parts, and adjust everything before going for the real thing.

The moment I came back, the workers finally received the signal they awaited for and started throwing iron ore and charcoal in turns, slowly but steadily filling the entire thing almost all the way to the top.

With a simple, wooden structure placed inside, as long as the entire furnace would remain idle, all the ore and charcoal would remain above the firing place. Only when the fire would properly start below the wooden construction, would the flames reach this bonus fuel, turning it into even more charcoal while allowing the entire thing to properly start.

Due to the fact that the amount of ore we had was limited rather than allowing us for a continuous supply of it, this furnace would work only for as long as both the fuel and the iron ore would be supplied to it, forcing my people to waste a lot of time cleaning it after it would be extinguished.

That's why, rather than doing a test run and wasting quite a lot of resources, all kinds of moulds, forms and stacks were prepared to let the liquid metal form into the desired shape rather than forming a nice, metallic pool right beside the furnace itself.

"Start the fire!"

With my forms already placed beside all the other ones prepared by the workers, all I really had to do was to witness the process of the furnace heating up before I would be able to go back to sleep. After all the overtime work that those people put into finishing it if I were to ignore this important moment when the steam horse would for the first time supply the furnace with fresh air!

Yet the reality turned out to be really boring.

Thanks to my own additions to the steam horse, outside of constantly throwing more and more wood under the belly of the boiler, its swinging beam made sure that all the valves would open and close in the perfect timing, turning the rod with fan blades on it with a constant speed.

In just a few moments, as soon as the charcoal properly lit up, the entire process started, slowly but steadily leading to the first drops of molten metal pouring out of the special hole at the bottom of the furnace… Or rather would do it, if something like this could happen in a matter of just a few minutes!

Bored to no end, I couldn't tell that I wasn't enjoying the sight of my inventions turning into a reality, yet when thinking about standing in front of this h.e.l.lishly hot furnace and just watching as nothing would happen for hours, I would much rather prefer just going back to my bed!

"Sir, we finished the shed! Now we only need the blades and we will be able to connect the entire thing to the steam horse!"

Just before I could turn around on my feet and head back to the sweet wonderland of dreams, another group of workers approached me just as enthusiastically, forcing me to stay awake for even longer.

"Okay, let's go see it."

Yet rather than letting me deal with yet another mundane tasks of seeing how the efforts of the workers under my guidance were coming to the fruition, one more report reached my ears.

"Sir, there are ships coming our way!"

Read novel online » Road To The Crown » 136 Annoying Success

26th April 1574

While traveling on the horseback through the night was simply impossible due to how high of a risk it posed for the horses to trip, doing so on the river wasn't that much of a trouble. As long as one was willing to waste his manpower of people constantly making sure that the sh.o.r.e was far enough while the waterway was deep enough, moving through the river was pretty feasible.

Yet, with how only the merchants were scheduled to come soon with the supplies from Sandomir that would let the development of this place finally reach the stage on which I could produce most of the simple stuff locally rather than relying on the external source for all sorts of products, I couldn't help but wonder what made them go for such lengths to travel overnight!

Was it the Governor's influence or direct order backed up with enough gold to convince them it was a worthy investment of their time after a.s.sessing the risks? Or maybe they somehow sneaked enough peaks at what was going on back when they came here for the last time to realise the potential that this place held in both the short and long term?

Just like later ages would prove in a rather brutal way, industrialisation was a process that could be compared to a sink for the resources during its growth stages, inducing a huge growth and development to all the areas subjected to its influence, only to turn into a complex and efficient machine literally s.h.i.tting out more wares than the local population and traders could move and use for themselves, forcing the governments to look for the new ways to dump all of the products made in the urbanised areas.

Yet with no compet.i.tion in place that could compete with anything produced by my projects, I didn't have to worry about saturating the market, as my aim, in the long run, was to invest a huge portion of the product back into the development, only leaving enough wares for the others to buy.

In this way, while the areas in which I would invest, rather than ever facing the problem of spreading their products around the world, would simply dump this task on the others while turning into a forced modernisation drive for literally the rest of the world! By the time I would move from the steam engines to the diesel ones, I would open the gates of my factories and dumb all the remaining stock in the hands of those interested of replicating my steps.

Did someone want to buy the blueprints for the efficient blast furnace? Sure! But by the time he would build one, my lands would be already using industrial-grade arc furnaces! Did someone want to build his own table saw? Not a problem! But by the time it would be completed, my lands would already have fully automated production of planks in all shapes one's heart could desire!

Even though some might think that this entire situation would only start to really happen when I would reach some later stages of developing the industrial technology, but just from the simple fact that even before the governor could see the steam horse mark one operating, I was already doing everything I could to fine-tune the details for the pressure steam horse engine so that I could have it done before either Elia or Jan would finally reach this place proved that as the technology would be put in use, the speed of progress would only accelerate!

"Have someone go and greet the merchants. If everything went as I hope it would, they will bring all sorts of tools that we were lacking those past few days. While I hope it won't happen, if there will be any problems, feel free to call for me."

Rather than wasting my time by dealing with those profit-oriented bunch, I would much rather see the forms filling up with the liquid metal even if one droplet at a time, or even just go to my tent and catch up on my missing sleep.

As for the missing materials, with how even I never expected to finish the first type of steam horse so soon, I simply didn't bother myself with ordering them back when I was in Sandomir myself. With the limited s.p.a.ce on the barges that took us to this area, there was no way to fit all the chains, blades and other elements that would allow me to replace the fragile parts we made on the spot from what we had on hand.

For example, using the hemp rope to power up all the mechanisms connected to the steam horse was… a bad idea to say the least. If the resistance offered by the receiving machines was a bit too big for the rope to handle, rather than moving it around, it would simply slide on it with not enough traction to keep it moving.

On the other hand, when using a simple chain to connect any two machines together, just by adding small pins to the wheel that powered the entire thing, I could make sure that as long as the chain held itself together, the two machines would continue to work to the best of their ability!

But as my thoughts once again roamed free through all the tasks I had to finish and the perspectives on the development for the future days, yet another shout forced me out of my dreamlike state back into the harsh reality.

"Sir! I think you should come here right now!"

Just what could've happened for those craftsmen that went to meet with the merchants to call me out so soon? Even a single look to the river was enough for me to realise that the ships didn't stop their travel yet, so how come there could be any troubles requiring my attention?

Was I simply too nice to my workers and craftsmen working under me to the point they started treating me as their equal that they could call to even the simplest of tasks?

With the slight anger slowly helping me to push the thoughts of my warm bed aside, I made my way to the sh.o.r.e, only to freeze in place as soon as I saw a familiar face lingering atop the ship's deck.

What the h.e.l.l was he doing here?

Read novel online » Road To The Crown » 137 Nature Of The Local Developmen

26th April 1574

"Welcome, your governorship!"

Even before the ship could come to a halt, I lowered my head at a sign of respect and greeted the most important person standing atop the ship's deck. While I was greatly surprised by him visiting not only so quickly, over a week earlier than he was supposed to by his own words, but what was the most upsetting was that he dared to travel through the night!

I said that swimming in the rivers was far safer than moving by the horse through the night, but that didn't mean it was completely safe either! With how fast the Vistula river flow was, rather than using it's to the fullest potential, the staff on board would have to rather slow the ship down in order to have the make sure the voyage would be safe than using the flow to travel quickly.

"h.e.l.lo there, Mister Mike!"

Hearing my welcome, the governor waved his hand at me and replied, but due to how unstable the ship was during its stalling period, we had to limit our interaction all the way to the moment when their vessel came to a complete stop, allowing the people on board to get down on land.

"It's a surprise to see you so soon to be sure, my lord, but a welcome one. It just so happens that we started our first project using the steam horse, so you are in for the perfect time to inspect how it works!"

While I didn't expect him to visit so soon, seeing how at least a single project outside of the steam horse was already working in its full swing, I could hope that the influx of the money and manpower could come even quicker!

"That's actually a great idea. To be completely honest, I came here mostly due to the reports of the merchants. Hearing how you forced me to pay for quite a lot of stuff, I didn't really have any other option than to come!"

Back two days ago, when I first settled the deal with the merchants, outside of exchanging the spice for the gold that would allow me to pay all the wages and still keep some money on myself, I told the traders that all the stuff that I required would be paid for by the governor, along with pa.s.sing him a letter informing about the progress of our development.

With how I painted the steam engine in the bright colours for him back when we talked about my ideas, it was only to be expected that he wouldn't waste an entire week waiting if the prototype was already finished!

"Woah."

Even before we reached the distance from which all the details could be seen in the darkness of the late-night, thanks to the fires burning under both the blast furnace and the steam horse one could still make out the shape of the major parts of those two buildings.

"To be honest, I couldn't really believe that you could build one when I first heard about it, or that you could do it so fast when those merchants came to report to me…"

As soon as we reached the foothold of the steam horse, the Governor simply stood and gazed at it with his mouth open. From the excited shouting right beside us I could tell that the iron from the blast furnace finally started flowing out and filling the forms, yet rather than controlling how was my model going to turn into hard reality, I knew that it was more important to accompany the main sponsor of this endeavour.

"So, how does this thing work exactly?"

After taking his time to simply adore the automated movement of the steam horse that seemed to move all by itself if one were to take the workers constantly feeding its furnace with fuel out of the picture, Jan finally turned his head to me, seeking an explanation.

"Sir, it's actually quite simple. In the resting position, the arm is pulled to the left, creating a lot of s.p.a.ce in the cylinder hidden behind those bricks. As one of the valves opens, the free s.p.a.ce in the cylinder is filled with the vapour all the way to the point when the other valve opens up, sprinkling cold water inside the cylinder."

Just as I was about to explain the next steps, I realised that in order to do so, I would have to introduce the concept of the atmospheric pressure as it was the main factor that provided the energy that would be turned into the movement!

"In short words, hot steam takes more s.p.a.ce than normal water. Just like it happens to the gunpowder if we could reverse the process of burning it, as there is not enough stuff to fill the enclosed cylinder, its pulled down by the reverse explosion of sorts…"

In the end, I had to simplify the process even more to avoid falling into the trap of exposing more advanced technological knowledge. While the stuff like the pressure was something that even the middle-grade school kids knew in my timeline, I wasn't that sure whether this concept was popularised in this age already.

"So that's it… And that wheel on its left side?"

Pointing his finger towards the flywheel forced to spin around by the simplest crank mechanism possible, Governor asked yet another question. Considering how this scheme of turning the up and down movement into a rotational one that could be used more efficiently for my needs would be implemented in all types of engines that would appear in my lands from now on, this was something that had to be explained anyway.

"It only serves one purpose. As you can see, my lord, the steam horse can only move its arm up and down. Since we wanted to use it to turn the fans supplying the blast furnace with fresh air, I came up with the idea of using this sort of wheel. As for the blast furnace…"

With how the steam engine was as grand of an invention as simple it was when it came to what it did, I was much more interested in introducing this improved kind of furnace, capable of increasing the smelting rate of the ore from a pitiful score of the single-use bloomery furnaces still supplying the majority of the local iron production in the Commonwealth!

"... If everything will go as planned, then in just a few moments, I will be able to present an instructional prototype of the new model of a steam horse, not only way smaller and cheaper than the one we are seeing in front of us, but also capable of providing much more energy!"

Initially turning around in order to bring the governor to the casting area filled with all sorts of forms in order to check on the one that would provide me with the model of mark two, pressure steam engine, seeing how Jan remained in his place, I had no other option than to stop myself and wait for his reaction.

"You see, when you first told me about all those wonders, I really didn't believe anything of this sort could be done. After all, if something like that would be possible, someone else would come up with this idea long ago - that was the way of my thinking back then. But looking at how quick you are with not only introducing those new inventions but putting them in proper use, I'm now convinced."

After a moment of silence, the governor finally spoke, raising his head and looking at me with a determination seeping out of his eyes.

"When I first saw what you ordered, I was worried you wanted to enslave the workers with those chains and force them to work hard in order to fake how would this steam horse work. That was also the main reason why did I came here myself. But just by looking at how everyone is so enthusiastic, despite working through the night, I have no other doubts. Tell me then, what do you need to keep the work going here?"

Finally, the moment I have been waiting for has come! Not only I could now rob the Governor out of most of his wealth and put it into much greater use, but the limits on the progress set by the lack of manpower could also finally be lifted. But most importantly, with how Jan now knew that all my ideas weren't just the projections of a crazy man's mind, I could negotiate the absolute ownership of this piece of land!

"Sir, the answer is simple. The more resources and manpower I have on hand, the greater the effects will be. But at the same time, the more men will come here, the harder supplying them all with food will turn out to be. That's why, before even discussing what I need to keep developing this land, I would like to once again ask you this daring question I posed all the way back in Pilzno."

Taking a moment to not only build the tension but also prepare myself for the daring words that I would utter in just a moment. After all, most of the times, the land could switch hand only when someone distinguished himself on the battlefield and was rewarded by the King himself, or when inheritance came to play its inherent role. Receiving a land just for the economical deeds was something that never happened in the history of the Commonwealth before!

"Sir, I would like to have this land placed under my own jurisdiction, with all the profits that would remain after reinvesting in this place itself, split evenly between the two of us."

Read novel online » Road To The Crown » 138 Unexpected Visi

26th April 1574

"Starting from a high horse, I see."

Instead of instantly providing me with a reply, the governor only muttered those few words before sinking into the sea of his thoughts. After all, I couldn't expect him to suddenly give me even more land that was currently his own, especially after he ruled the ownership of Ropian in my favour.

It wasn't only about the potential loss of the tax income from those lands or even the decreasing number of farms that would provide more grain for him to sell in the northern ports. It was about my sudden growth in power!

As the descendant of the formerly major house, just uniting the three cities in one, a long line of land could put my neighbours on the edge, as if the trend continued, it would be their land that might catch my attention later. If the governor were to suddenly gift me even more land in a different area, not only my local neighbours would start eyeing my growth, but so would almost every n.o.ble of who would turn green from envy when seeing my sudden raise!

"Sorry, brother, but while I want to support you as much as I can, ceding this land directly to you… Even if I did, I'm worried you would simply not be able to face the consequences. The best I can do is to sign this land off for you in my testament while abolishing all the taxes for all your current projects. Does that sound all right to you?"

While the governor had his reasons to put this kind of offer forward, when thinking about it from the perspective of someone who knew what kind of turmoil was about to start on this lands, it seemed like an even better idea than what I intentionally wanted!

As long as this land would de jure belong to the governor, while all the de facto rights would stay on my side, no minor n.o.ble would dare to go against this place! No matter how far I would go in poaching the serfs from their lands, forcing them to sell me the food rather than selling it off in the northern ports or doing literally anything else, being nothing but a proxy for the governor, they would be unwilling to risk their entire wealth and name only to get even with me!

"Ah, speaking of taxes, my lord, I think I might have an idea that will allow this place to earn the gold we will need for the future expansions by itself. Just like we discussed all the way back in Pilzno, local n.o.bles prefer to buy all sorts of stuff from the foreign merchants, rather than allowing local producers to earn their rightful keep. I guess with all the chains that I ordered, the set of strange circular blades didn't escape your attention?"

While initially the wood factory was intended to supply all the planks and wooden blocks that my future projects would require, thinking about this in a more realistic way, I couldn't rely on the governor to provide all the funds that this place would gobble like a starved outcast!

With the blast furnace in place, casting more of those sawing blades would be as easy as cutting a piece of the breed in half with an executioner's axe, allowing me to expand the wood factory to an unimaginable degree!

As soon as just a few of mark two steam horses would start their operation, I could turn this side project of mine into the greatest manufacturing plant that would exist in the entire continent, turning the entire nearby forest into a constant stream of furniture that could be sold cheaply to any buyer interested!

"Yeah, I was quite curious about their use you imagined, and since I didn't really trust your wits at that time, all that came to my mind was some kind of elaborate torture tool for the unruly workers…"

Hearing the Governor's reasoning, I had to rest my hand on the steam horse's bricked wall, only to jump away from it when my entire inner palm blasted my mind with a sudden burst of pain. In my daze, I forgot that this thing was constantly heated up to a rather high degree!

"Sir… With all due respect, what did you hear about me to have such an image of my personality in your head?"

Taking a moment to calm myself down and get used to the stinging pain in my hand, I raised my head back to look at the governor.

"Anyway, those blades are going to be used in this small shed that you can see being built right over there."

Pointing my hand at the nearby structure still under construction by the same team of workers that I a.s.signed to the lone carpenter, I already could imagine how it would look in the near future. Or rather, instead of expanding it from its pitiful size that it was intended to have right now, I would push some of the manpower to prepare proper foundations and set the walls to be made either with concrete or the brick, so that this cash plant could be at least several stories high!

"In short words, I want this place to take the huge logs, pull them on special holdings through a set of moving blades so that at the end of the line, nothing more but nicely cut planks in all kinds of required sizes will be ready to be turned into furniture! To be honest, as long as the second type of the steam horse will be put to use, it's even possible to simply place the logs at the starting location, allow the building to work on it by itself and receive a finished product at the ending location!"

As long as proper machinery would be put in place, there would be no need for anyone but a small crew to work in this entire, future plant. Outside of making sure that all the machines were working properly and eliminating all possible problems before they would lead to the stalling of the entire manufacturing process, all the steps of cutting the wood into required sizes, nailing the parts in a set sequence and even polishing it to add a nice shine to the wood, all of those steps could be fully automated!

"I really want to see it happening. From how fast you are developing this place already, how long do you think it would take for the first items that we could sell to be produced?"

Instead of joining in my futuristic enjoyment, the Governor once again pulled me back to the ground with his precise question. Just like he mentioned behind the lines of his words, it didn't matter what I could achieve in the far-off future. All that mattered was whether I could produce something that would sell in a relatively short time so that rather than sinking more and more of his savings into this project, it could start earning for itself!

"To be honest, if we want to sell something, we could produce cast sabres as soon as we improve the mining process, meaning that in about a week or two, not only we could replace this furnace with even better one, casting steel sabres or even uniform guns would be entirely possible!"

Read novel online » Road To The Crown » 139 Monetary Side Of The Things

26th April 1574

"Okay then. Now that we know what you will be aiming for, I will make sure to forward this offer to all the parties that might be possibly interested. As for the price…"

If we were talking business, then the worth of the wares produced by my furnaces was of the utmost importance. With how most of its elements were made out of simple steel, as long as I could improve the quality of the metal produced by my furnaces, most of its cost could be decreased from even tens of red goldens to just a few of them.

But the problem here wasn't in casting the proper shape or readying it for the use. Just like with working around the wood, with enough effort and steam engines in place, automating the process of casting, cooling and sharpening could be done. The worst part when looking at the sabre from an industrial point of view laid in finishing the handle off with a material that allowed for a good grasp of the weapon!

Yet just like in modern times, if something would pose the trouble for the automation, I could simply outsource it to someone else!

"While this is just a rough estimate, I think we could get a raw sabre for about one or two red goldens. That would include all the costs of ores, smelting and casting it, all the way to sharpening. The problematic part is finishing the handle off. As long as you could find a bunch of craftsmen that could focus only at this task alone, then from tens of ducats that the sabres can cost right now in their pure state without any decorations, we could lower their prices to just a few red goldens!"

As I was saying those words, my mind was already wandering through all the possible arnments that my future plants could produce. While making a pistol required one to just get a barrel, firing mechanism and the handle done, I didn't see any reason to make this outdated technology if I could invest in more advanced types of weapons!

If only I could push forward the creation of the fused ammunition…

But wait, didn't I already create the great way to do it?

What if I replicated the concept of my reaper guns in form of a mix between a carabine and revolving gun?

The greatest hurdle to overcome while creating fused ammunition was developing an element or mixture that could serve as the ignition mechanism for the gunpowder loaded inside. But what if I simply ignored that step, created a simple, iron casing, as thin as it could get, hammer the bullet at its top, loaded the gunpowder to the back and cover it with oiled paper?

With the abundance of the wooden dust that would come out of the sawing plant, creating simple paper ma.s.s was as easy as it could get. Just by enriching it with a bit of oil to make it just a bit more resistant to the moisture while increasing its burning potential would make for a great igniting plate! While it would still have to be fired with a burning match, it was a problem that all kinds of armies had to face!

"Your face is changing rapidly. Did you thought of something?"

Seeing the ongoing transformations of my expression, Governor stopped me from diving even deeper into the field of my imagination. But the excitement that took over my mind was simply too great to be calmed down by a single question.

"Sir, you surely remember those reaper guns, do you?"

As the concept behind those early type of machine guns and my idea for a personal weapon was basically the same, it was easier to simply point out at something that already existed and explain the intended changes rather than explaining the concept from the scratch.

"Yeah, I even fired them a few times to see their potential, and I have to admit, as long as you could improve the production of gunpowder as well, then it would change how all the wars will look from now on. After all, no one will find enough suicidal people to line against those machines of death!"

Hearing the confirmation from the governor, I asked him to come with me. After reaching my private tent, I grabbed one of the free pieces of parchment and the loose piece of charcoal, kneeled right on the ground and started drawing.

"We won't make any big changes to the design. But just by taking a single barrel, that we can easily cast with the technology we already have on hand, locking it in line with the ignition mechanism by just two pieces of wood and adding the trigger that would push the burning match to the shoot rather than using a pedal, we could turn those heavy and hard to move around cannons, into something that all of the soldiers could be equipped with!"

After sending a glance towards the simple blueprint I drew on the paper, Governor kneeled in front of it and after thinking for a while, raised his head to line up his sight with mine.

"But you are still how are you going to make the bullets? From what I saw when testing the shots you gave me, they were all made with oiled cloth! While it pains me to say it, we don't have enough cloth to produce it on a scale large enough to provide enough munition for even a single battle."

Hearing Jan's input, I was too excited to even try to hide the proud smile from my face. With just a few more swings of my palm, I drew a simple design for the bullet casing, the bullet itself and its firing mechanism, before explaining the entire concept.

"So you want to do it like this! But what about the casing? If it will be shot along the bullet itself, won't it decrease its reach due to the added weight?"

Once again, stunned by how smart this man was to point out something that even a man from the future like me forgot to even consider, I thought about it for a moment, before adding a few lines to the design of the magazine that would once again, go from the top of the gun to the bottom, only allowing one to shoot when it was perfectly lined with both the firing pipe and the barrel itself.

"That's actually pretty simple. We will make the holes in the magazine a bit smaller than the casing, yet big enough for the bullet to pa.s.s. This way, the casing will remain in the used magazine, allowing us to melt it down and reuse it later on!"

In fact, when thinking about the design, I already realised that I could do a small improvement to the barrel itself! As long as it would be rifled, not only would the accuracy of the weapon improve, but so would the range at which it could be shoot!

"Sir, right now, I have simply too many ideas roaming through my head. For now, I will do my best to start the production of the simple sabres. As soon as I will have enough free time on my hands, I will make sure to focus on creating this new kind of gun. On the other side, if we want to have any chance at promoting this weapon, we will need an insane supply of the gunpowder itself. Do you think you could increase the local production with your own influence?"

Since I was now focused on the industrialization of the lands rather than making use of all the newly implemented inventions into their military aspect, I simply couldn't waste my time on increasing the production of the gunpowder. As long as it would be done with the standard means available to the governor, even if only a small amount, those new rifles could enter the local market and earn us quite a lot of gold!

"Yes, it won't be that much of a problem… But you said something about creating a portable steam horse, didn't you? Would you mind showing the prototype you spoke about to me? As long as I could bring one or two machines like that to the sulfur mines, I'm sure the production of the gunpowder would skyrocket!"

Only now recalling the fact that my half-sized model of the mark two engines was most likely already done, I quickly stood up and cleaned my clothes from the dirt that attached to them while I was kneeling directly on the ground.

"Sure thing, sir. Follow me."

Read novel online » Road To The Crown » 140 How To Earn From Industralisation

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