As soon as the diplomatic mission left, Rhodes called Alves and asked the little dwarf to draft a letter for him to write to his "friend" far away in the Border Prince's Territory, the inventor of the continuous artillery gun - Hiram Fer.
The content of Lal's letter is very simple and clear, which is to reach a cooperation agreement with Vral and jointly monopolize the export trade of continuous cannons.
"Are you afraid that this person will steal business from you?"
While Alves was writing the letter in official terms, he asked Rhodes with a smirk. Over the years of dealing with this great lord, he had already become familiar with the tactics of the Lord of Blackhammer Castle, and he would play hard to get. In fact, Rhodes really wanted to kill him.
The continuous fire cannon was sold to the Empire. Although this thing is very good, with the Empire's engineering technology and espionage methods, it will be obtained sooner or later. Before then, it is really important to sell it at a good price. However, you cannot agree to the other party all at once.
, this will directly lower the price. Maintaining a proud attitude, and at the same time exaggerating and publicizing the actual combat power of the continuous fire cannon will help to increase the price.
However, there is still a key point to be resolved before doing this. That is the original inventor of the continuous-fire cannon-Flar. This guy is a genius in mechanics, and at the same time, he also has several continuous-fire cannons in his hands.
If he knew there was business to be discussed here and came to do business again, his plan would be ruined. So Rhodes wrote to him in advance to prevent this from happening.
"That's what I mean. But it's actually a win-win situation for us to do this and him. Flar should also thank me. If we hadn't used the continuous fire cannon in actual combat and achieved brilliant results. Who would want to buy such a heavy guy?"
Rhodes walked back and forth in the room, thinking about the answer.
"Then should I add anything else to the letter? Apart from cooperation in raising prices?"
Alves asked with a smile after finishing writing the draft.
"No, this is the most important thing and the only thing I need to tell him. Although I have only met him once, I know that this guy is a pragmatic person and he can run faster than anyone else if he has interests."
Come on. Even if it’s a brother, he won’t help with anything that’s not beneficial.”
Rhodes frowned and said.
…
Winter passed quickly, and another spring ushered in Blackhammer Castle. The melting snow brought abundant fresh water, causing the water level of the Winter Spring River to surge. Fortunately, the dam upstream regulated the water flow, which affected the river and the water in the river.
The car didn't have much impact.
Standing on the bank of the Winter Spring River, Rhodes was thinking about a new big project. It was indeed a big project, and the amount of the project was even greater than all the previous projects combined. He planned to build a three-level city wall.
Enclose the entire old and new city.
Since the last time he experienced the Norscans' lightning-fast invasion southward, Rhodes realized that this town needs a strong enough defense line to ensure its safety. Otherwise, once darkness comes again and he is too late to organize a manpower defense,
In that case, years of accumulation may be wasted.
However, after three years of development, today's Blackhammer Castle is no longer the small town it was back then. There are at least six to seven thousand people living in this town, and the scale of the entire town is far larger than that of an ordinary castle. Most of the buildings are
If it is built outside the second-level city wall, it will not be protected by other fortifications. If a third-level city wall is to be built, the scale will not be comparable to that of the second-level city wall.
With the current size of the town, it would take a city wall stretching for more than ten kilometers to be completely closed. The amount of work and cement required would far exceed the Blackwater Dam. And the third-level city wall that Rhodes hopes to build is even larger than this.
Several times. After all, Black Hammer Castle cannot just stay at the current level of development. According to the current development momentum, the population will increase by at least 20% every year. In a few years, the urban population here will double again. Then
At that time, new urban buildings will be built outside the city wall. In that case, the outer city wall will lose its meaning and value again. Therefore, the third-level city wall that Rhodes will build will be based on the development of the city wall in the next twenty years.
Built to standards.
This will be a long-term work. Such a huge project, with no direct economic benefits, cannot be completed in a short period of time. Therefore, Rhodes plans to build slowly over several years. Planning is necessary.
For several days, Chief Engineer Brown has been running around with Rhodes. In the territory of Blackhammer Castle, how to build this long three-level city wall is a science. It must pass through rivers, hills, and mining areas. How about these areas?
Avoiding or taking advantage of it is all knowledge.
Rhodes' idea was that the three-level city wall would cross the Winter Spring River, be built along the coastline, then go to the edge of the dark forest, and finally turn a corner in the mining area and close up from the lower reaches of the Winter Spring River. The hills in the northwest corner were used for
Build a watchtower. If possible, the tower will be built to the highest standards. In the future, continuous cannons will be installed on it. Even if pirates or other countries' fleets attack, there will be no fear.
It's just that this kind of idea and this kind of plan are too advanced for the current Black Hammer Castle. According to Rhodes' plan, the area of territory protected by the city wall is equivalent to the size of old Erengrad. Erengrad
Before the German rebellion, the total population of the city was about 100,000. Now, the total population of Blackhammer Castle is no more than 8,000. The scale is really incomparable. In addition to the old Erengladri, there are many floating people living there.
In dark and damp basements or small attics, the space is highly utilized, making the accommodation capacity of old Erengrad far more than the actual population. If a comprehensive census is conducted, it is estimated that the actual population of Erengrad will be close to thirteen
to 150,000. Therefore, there is actually a huge gap between Blackhammer Castle and the original Erengrad.
But that's how Rhodes does things. He always plans ahead. Just like the construction of sewers, they are also planned according to ten times the population. And a special plumber patrol team was set up to ensure underground safety. This was actually inspired by Paris, France in his previous life.
The impact of urban planning was that when Paris had only 100,000 people, city officials planned and constructed the sewer network of the entire city based on a population of one million. So, hundreds of years later, when other cities were suffering from sewer blockage and other problems
While the problem was a headache, Paris's drainage system was functioning well, and the entire city's underground was like a maze. Although the current Blackhammer Castle is smaller, the principle is the same. Many cities actually evolved on the basis of castles.
Finally, after more than a month of on-site inspections and engineering measurements, Chief Engineer Brown gave a draft of the "Three-Level City Wall Construction Plan for Blackhammer Castle". According to the draft, this magnificent and huge three-level city wall will be built.
, with sufficient funds and manpower, it will take at least ten years... Rhodes flipped through the entire construction plan and signed his name under the plan. According to estimates, the construction of the city wall will be almost as large as the population.
The expansion speed is synchronous. If there is no large-scale war, the size of Blackhammer Castle will expand to the size of a medium-sized city in ten years. By that time, the outer city wall will be completed, just enough to protect the old and new city areas.