The intense heat of the molten iron shone on the men, making their faces flush red.
"Incredible!" Mariana exclaimed, covering her red lips in amazement. "I never imagined that iron smelting could be so... magnificent!"
She simply couldn't find a more suitable word to describe the scene before her.
Throughout her long life, Mariana has seen many things and considers herself quite knowledgeable.
But in her memory, the iron smelting process was nothing more than the following: the blacksmith built a furnace with mud, which was at most half a person high, put iron ore in it and burned it. After a certain period of time, he turned on the furnace from below to let the molten iron flow out. After it solidified, he forged it with an iron hammer and finally got a small iron ingot.
Compared to what's in front of me, it's like playing house.
Catherine stared wide-eyed, then murmured, "How much iron does such an ironworks produce in a year?"
She expressed her amazement with a question, but Paul, who was eager to show off, certainly wouldn't let the opportunity pass.
"About two thousand tons!"
"Two thousand... tons?" Catherine and Mariana's eyes widened simultaneously.
"Ah, more or less!" Paul was secretly pleased with their expressions, but his face remained nonchalant.
"Paul, you're not kidding, are you?" Catherine asked, frowning.
As a former general in the royal army, she was once very concerned about the iron production in the royal territory, since the army's weapons, armor, and equipment all depend on iron.
Catherine once had a rough estimate of how much iron could be generated in the royal territory each year.
Three thousand tons!
And now, Paul is telling him that this ironworks alone can produce two thousand tons of iron a year, which is two-thirds of the total annual output of the royal territory.
As we learned from previous exchanges, this was not the only ironworks under his jurisdiction.
That's not how you make a joke.
"Haha, anyway, you'll be in Alda from now on. If you don't believe me, you can keep an eye on this place every day."
The look of surprise on her face was what Paul wanted to see; the corners of her mouth curled up almost imperceptibly.
"Then... what is your total output? I mean, all the ironworks combined!"
Mariana asked again, and you could clearly hear a slight tremor in her voice.
"Let me think... Hmm... The data the statistics committee gave me last time... was about 30,000 tons."
This is getting more and more outrageous! This data almost made Mariana faint.
Nathan was completely baffled by the fascinating expression on his mother's face. He didn't usually pay attention to these things, so he had no idea what an annual iron production of 30,000 tons meant.
Taking advantage of the moment when Paul and Catherine were walking ahead, he tugged at Mariana's sleeve and whispered, "What? Is 30,000 tons a lot?"
"More than just a lot?" Mariana answered him softly but with emphasis. "Do you know how much iron Gabella produces each year?"
"How many?"
"You've really wasted all these years! Although there's no accurate count, I estimate it's between three and five thousand tons. Every time the Empire purchases military equipment, it causes the price of ironware within its borders to rise significantly."
Nathan stuck out his tongue. "Is the difference really that big?"
In fact, he, who had always revered magic and paid little attention to social production, did not realize what this gap meant.
Many people believe that if you lack something, you can just buy it at the market. As long as you are willing to spend money, countless merchants will rush to meet your needs. Goods are like crops growing in the ground, existing in this world all along.
Time ticked by, and they toured the entire ironworks in awe before embarking on their journey back to Lakeheart Town.
Catherine, riding her horse, felt a pang of emotion; perhaps Paul truly was a pacifist.
What would other lords do if they received 30,000 tons of iron every year?
Perhaps he would equip his entire army with superior weapons and armor, then launch a rebellion, not to mention the powerful firearms. Cannon.
Thinking about this, she couldn't help but ask, "What is all that iron used for every year?"
Paul shrugged. Thirty thousand tons of iron wasn't much. In the late 18th century, the annual iron production in Britain had reached two hundred thousand tons, and the technology level was about the same as that ironworks.
"In many fields, such as machinery manufacturing and tool manufacturing, things made of iron are more robust and durable than those made of wood. Agricultural tools such as plows, sickles, and hoes, as well as everyday ironware such as pots, stoves, and hammers, are much cheaper here than in other places. Small tools like sickles are just readily available consumables for farmers here."
"Building stronger bridges, you'll see many iron bridges when you visit Northwest Bay. Other buildings in recent years have also used a lot of iron, and iron beams and frames have enhanced the stability and height of the buildings."
"There are also the skeletons and components used in shipbuilding, which greatly improve the strength and durability of ships, which is crucial for merchant ships that need to sail long distances."
"We also export a lot of ironware, for example, to Horn Bay."
As they happened to pass by a section of railway track being laid, Paul pointed to the construction site where work was in full swing. "Wood cannot support the heavy carriages. The railway tracks are made of steel. If the railway experiment is successful—not in terms of technology, I am very confident in this regard—and if the benefits brought by the railway can exceed the investment, it is foreseeable that the demand for steel in the whole society will surge."
At this moment, Mariana and Catherine both had an idea: give Paul some time to build an army, and maybe the orcs really wouldn't be a big deal to him.
"What is that?" Nathan, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.
He was pointing to the sky from his horse, his surprised expression as if he had seen something incredible.
Mariana and Catherine looked in the direction he pointed, and their pupils dilated the next second.
A huge, colorful sphere... or more precisely, a teardrop-shaped object that was thick at the top and tapered at the bottom, was slowly drifting across the sky.
The workers who were laying railway tracks nearby also saw it, stopped what they were doing, and started pointing at the unidentified object in the sky and discussing it.
The object drew closer, sunlight filtering through its surface and casting dappled patterns of light and shadow. The surrounding clouds seemed to make way for it, like a star that had fallen from a dream.
Those with good eyesight gradually discerned that a delicate basket was hanging below the item, and a figure could be vaguely seen moving around on it.
This is... man-made!
Everyone held their breath, a sense of indescribable shock and curiosity welling up within them. They couldn't look away for a long time, as if the world had stood still at that moment.
The mysterious flying object moved leisurely across the azure sky, eventually disappearing into the distance.
Then they heard Paul say, "That's a hot air balloon. It seems the experiment was a success."