Please abide by the Basic Law

Chapter 137 Holding the golden rice bowl and begging for rice

Not every country here has a clear national boundary. Most of them are divided into "roughly", "on both sides of the river", and "over this forest". Naturally, not every country can guard the national boundary. For example, The sea is like this, except for the three cities, the place is wild land, there is no road, and the so-called management of people entering and leaving is just a loft in the air. The decree is promulgated, and the implementation depends entirely on self-consciousness. People in the country can't figure it out.

Cecil went in and out of Tambuneta several times very smoothly. This time he was suddenly rejected, and he was a little at a loss. He found Russell and got a big roll of his eyes after asking: "Didn't I say it earlier, Tambuneta Asked us to stop the refining of steel, have you dealt with this matter?"

"...I forgot." There were too many things and no one reminded them, so many knights were withdrawn at once, there was a huge vacancy in the management, and Langdon didn't have time to be Siamese twins with Cecil, "wait Let’s see, how do they know what we are refining?” He was worried that some key technicians had defected, and Damascus steel was still quite “advanced”—compared to local cold weapons.

"Well, why don't you call your technician to ask?" Russell wanted to leave after speaking, he was also very busy, okay?

"Don't!" Cecil felt irritable at the thought of arguing with the flame goblins. Those bastards were talking crazy, and it would take a lot of time. He hasn't figured out how to scold the smurfs who spread rumors, " Just give me a summary."

Russell said unceremoniously: "Did you ask those two women to make a knife?"

"Yes." Now that we have Damascus steel, of course we have to make a Damascus machete. Cecil has never seen it with his own eyes but heard about it. He described it to the girls according to his imagination, and then made this Forget about it, "It's just a knife."

"The shape of the scimitar is a bit strange. The craftsman made it and hung it in the hall of the foundry. A businessman who came to buy a carriage saw it and bought it very much." Russell's summary is really a summary, and he finished the matter in a few words , "The businessman sold this scimitar to the prime minister of a small country in the north. The prime minister used this knife to cut off the king's head and rose up. So far, he has conquered the next door... well, the next door village and the downstream village. More than 1000 people have been killed, and the beating is continuing."

Cecil listened with a dazed expression and still missed the point: "What does this have to do with Tambuneta? Isn't Tambuneta always ignoring the affairs of the north?"

"The king who was killed was quite rich, and he bought a lot of magic protective equipment from Tanbunita, among them was a collar around his neck, which covered level 3 protective magic, and was connected with the collar by the scimitar. Chopped."

Cecil was dazed for a while, and said, "Level 3 is..."

"It's between the middle level and the low level, and it's still low level." Russell told the truth, "Because the equipment is instantly invalid, the mage who made these protective equipment thought that some powerful mage attacked, so he went there and circled. After asking some people, I discovered the scimitar."

Before Russell finished speaking, Cecil also understood: It must be a shocking thing for a mage to find that a piece of magic equipment was directly chopped into pieces by an ordinary scimitar!

"Has this mage reported to Tanbunita?"

"Not only that, he also reported to the Mage Union." Russell said slowly, "I really want to know the expressions of those mages after hearing the news."

"No, what time is this!" Cecil was a little anxious, and after trying to calm down, "Does Langdon know about this?"

"Yeah, he's been dealing with it for a while."

From the looks of it now, Langdon obviously couldn't settle.

Cecil found Langdon in the conference room. Since it became the default property of the "royal family" of Moon City, it has become much cleaner. Basically, no one came, and he didn't appoint guards or attendants. The main reason is that he didn't have time. People, there will definitely be some in the future, and I can't control them now.

"That Damascus scimitar..." Cecil brought up the topic embarrassingly.

"I'm trying to figure out a way to do that. Is your company's project not in a hurry? I can't go to Tabunita temporarily." Langdon asked.

"No rush, no hurry." Cecil hurriedly said, cautiously, "Then what, isn't it troublesome?"

"Not really, it's a good thing from another perspective." Langdon laughed, "You see, although Tambunita sent a warning and blocked you from the country, they didn't do anything else. .If they really feel that this matter cannot be tolerated, they will directly call at the door. Moon City is no longer the stronghold of the Gay Knights, and they have no reason to show mercy."

Cecil pondered for a while and said, "Could it be that they want this steel?"

"Who doesn't want it?" Langdon asked back.

Cecil's eyes suddenly brightened: Yes, who the hell doesn't want this? !

"However, their idea is that only I can have it, and no one else can." Langdon laughed, "You understand."

"This steel, can't they analyze it?" Cecil asked with a hint of hope that he didn't expect bad news to bring good news instead.

"I don't know forging, is the forging process complicated?" Langdon asked.

Cecil recalled the girls' reports, and said: "It's complicated, and it's an experience job." Isn't that right, there is no temperature agent here, and there is no carbon detection method, everything depends on the experience accumulated by the forger. Observation and a certain talent, "Even if you succeed this time, you may fail the next time. The more you do, the higher the success rate."

"Then it can't be analyzed." Langdon said, "Analysis magic can analyze what elements are here, but we can't know how they are combined, unless there is backtracking magic, but the cost of backtracking magic is too high, and even if backtracking Now, as you said, this is a work of experience and cannot be reproduced accurately."

Hearing this, Cecil was sure that there was a new economic growth point in front of him. Compared with the "Banquet Etiquette Company" who didn't know how effective it was, Damascus Steel had already proved its value through technology beyond the local level!

Damn, I'm begging for a golden rice bowl... Wait a minute, shit!

Before Cecil had time to speak, he turned around and ran, and was stopped by Langdon within a few steps: "What are you doing?"

"Why do businessmen enter the foundry?" Cecil asked anxiously, "It's not safe! No, I have to quickly set up a special research center, and it can't be combined with other ones. People coming and going are too chaotic. Already!"

"Don't worry, I've sent someone to you." Langdon held Cecil's wrist, unable to break free.

"Who?" Cecil couldn't think of a suitable candidate.

"Mrs. Class's family."

Cecil's eyes lit up: "The Tuhai people have arrived?"

The Tuhai people still have some poor ghosts floating on the sea, in order to save the money of Might and Magic, but there are some old and weak who can't stand the cold and have a little savings. Those who want to arrive early and work part-time still spend the money of Might and Magic. Within a short period of time, they arrived at Yuecheng smoothly.

The current person in charge of personnel issues is Langdon, and the leadership is familiar with people. The default is which area everyone is good at. Let Langdon manage personnel issues. It is not a big problem with the gods or gods. The other is that he has the widest network of contacts, including Owen, a master healer, who has to give face. Naturally, he knows enough people, so early detection and early prevention.

Langdon noticed that the Tuhai people had arrived, and after a little inspection, he immediately found a few Tuhai people who had arrived secretly. For some reason, he picked them out and threw them all into the newcomer training class.This class was established by him. He appointed some of the earliest settlers in Ebo, and divided a newly built small building outside the second ring road. During the day, the newcomers attend classes and listen to the rules, and go back to the first ring road to sleep at night. There is no restriction on wandering around. However, if he dared to escape from the three-day training class, he would be treated as a wild man or a spy.

Fortunately, the people in Tuhai are quite witty. After being caught, they will go to class honestly, and some people will also catch the sneaking compatriots. In the past two days, a group has been trained, including the two of Mrs. Klass. elder sister.

Before Cecil arrived at the foundry, he felt that something was wrong. The originally quiet foundry was noisy, and there were people who obviously did not have a "Smurf" accent.He rushed in and found a group of businessmen spitting around the flame goblins, spitting out flattery one after another. The flame goblins squinted their eyes, grinned their mouths to the ears and put their hands behind their backs, enjoying themselves.

Cecil really wanted to ask "Where's the girl?", but with too many people, he could only look around, and accidentally found two people who didn't fit in.

These are also two girls, one dressed as a young lady, wearing a cumbersome and complicated floor-length skirt. There is no pannier like that of the European Middle Ages here, but the complicated patterns and decorations are quite similar.She was holding a handkerchief made of magic cloth, and while waving it, she kept complaining to the maid beside her: "Didn't you say that Master Claire will be here soon? People? Are your eyes not working? This ghost The place is too cold and it's so hot inside, my god, is this a place for people to stay?! Why are you dating here? A bunch of lunatics!"

The maid lowered her head, blushed and said nothing.The young lady seemed to be very angry, she kept complaining about the past, and looked at the door from time to time, her eyes full of expectation.

The merchants turned a deaf ear to the behavior of the young lady and the maid. They had obviously figured out why these two people came here long ago. Cecil noticed them because this "lady" once punched Mrs. Klass from her home. to the street.Their location happened to block the door of a casting room. If he remembered correctly, in order to observe steel under bright natural light, Helen and the foundry's daughter chose this casting room that was especially close to the door.

Mrs. Class's sisters are very professional. If Cecil hadn't seen them, it would be impossible to think that these two delicate women could tear people apart with bare hands. He walked over slowly, and as soon as he approached, he heard "Miss" shouting loudly. : "I can't stand it! Wait no more! You stupid maid, you can't even pass a word!"

After finishing speaking, "Miss" walked towards the gate, but the maid hurriedly tugged at "Miss"'s sleeve, begging her to wait a little longer, otherwise Master Claire would definitely blame her.The two started arguing not far from the merchant, which attracted many people's attention. Cecil took the opportunity to sneak into the casting room. As expected, Helen and the foundry's daughter were there, but they were not at all interested in the farce outside. , staring at the casting furnace.

"Then what..."

As soon as Cecil opened her head, Helen turned her head back and gave a fierce "shh", and then turned her head away again. The hearth reflected her disfigured half of her face flushed red, but she didn't care about it at all, only nervously Stare at the companion.

Cindy, the daughter of the foundry, was staring intently at the bright hearth. Suddenly, she stretched out her strong arm wearing a leather glove, picked up a handle, and lifted a crucible full of molten steel from the hearth. The pot was half full. She was tall, with a ferocious face, clenched teeth, and the muscles on her arms stretched like hills, and she poured molten steel into the mold steadily.

At this time, there is no mechanization, everything depends on people.

Cecil retreated to the door as soon as the molten steel came out. There was no way, the temperature was too high. He was sweating profusely standing at the door, and the side exposed to the light was in pain. I really don’t know how the girls endured it.

The bright molten steel has obviously been processed through multiple processes and can be directly put into the mold. Cecil waited for a while, seeing that the girls were still staring at the mold, there was no time to wait, so he had to clear his throat.

Cindy turned around with a surprised expression: "Your Majesty, when did you come?"

"Uh, it hasn't been long." In front of the hardcore girl, Cecil always felt a bit vain, "It's like this, don't come to the workshop these days..."

Before the words were finished, the girls shouted together: "No!"

"What?" Cecil was taken aback.

"The steel arrowhead is almost ready, and the hundred steelmaking is also on the horizon." Cindy took out a knife-like thing from the furnace and put it on the iron stove, "I tried to control the temperature of the furnace, thanks to Helen, Coupled with Bailian, this one can almost succeed! Don’t stop, Your Majesty! I am also very interested in the machete and saber you mentioned!"

"Yes, you can't stop, Your Majesty!" Helen shouted, "Just try a few more times and you will surely succeed!"

After you have all created the crucible, why are you still tinkering with the troublesome stuff of steelmaking!

Of course, Cecil didn't dare to say this. For a moment, he felt like a foolish king. Facing a group of loyal ministers, he only wanted to repair the garden...

"This is the second time I've made a sword!" Cindy said excitedly, "It turns out that weapons are so exquisite, and there is such a process as polishing, my father didn't know before!"

Cecil said unexpectedly: "Doesn't your father make weapons?"

"No, how can civilians be allowed to make weapons casually?" Helen was silent for a while, and said with some emotion, "It's only you."

Probably unable to stop it, Cecil could only say: "Then you all have to be careful these days, and don't get close to strangers."

"Don't worry!" Cindy said immediately, "I won't go out at all!"

"Me too!"

"What about life?"

"Someone will deliver the food!"

"What about going to the bathroom?"

The two girls looked towards the corner together, there was nothing there.

"In fact, human excrement can also be used for exercise!" Cindy said happily, "It will produce some interesting reactions!"

"..."

Cecil bowed down, told them to pay attention to their health, and then left. After going out, Mrs. Class's two sisters had disappeared, but there was a man who looked familiar.

The two met each other, and the man continued to stare at the Smurfs surrounded by businessmen as if he didn't see him. He felt relieved—this is Mrs. Klass' brother.

Cecil left in a sneaky way. Few merchants had seen him, and naturally no one chased him. The Smurf was enjoying his flattery, and he raised his chin to the sky without noticing anything.

That's fine, let these people pay attention to the Smurfs, and return the glory to the girls when a special research workshop is built in the future.

In the next period of time, Cecil received many requests from businessmen to meet, most of them were for Damascus steel. Obviously, the news had leaked, and it wasn't just Tanbunita who knew the goods.

Langdon said that it will take some time to deal with this matter, mainly to find out the attitudes of the various forces and how to maximize profits. The news from Burton is very annoying: Then I will not pay the servant subsidy, anyway, you have Good stuff, you can afford it if you earn more money.

"Those servants still get subsidies?" Cecil asked in surprise.

"Yes." Langdon said, "Burton is trying desperately to take advantage of us."

"Who told you to ask for four kings?" Moye lazily said, he has to work now, but he is the most idle of all, "There is no king who can have four Wang rides."

"My kidneys are good, can't I?" Cecil finished cursing angrily, then turned to Russell and said, "Can you bear it? That's our money! Ours! Seven hundred mouths to eat!"

Russell smiled sinisterly: "Don't worry, it's not ours, I don't want to, it should be ours that can't escape."

Langdon smiled slightly and said, "Be careful."

"rest assured."

After that, I don't know what method Russell used, but Burton still sent the attendant allowance, and attached a small note: Pensive men are not welcome.

Russell calmly fired a magic fireball and burned the note to ashes.

The matter of Damascus steel could not be dealt with for a while, so Cecil turned his attention to internal affairs.

The construction speed of the second ring city wall suddenly accelerated, and the powerful Tuhai women played a key role. They spoke highly of the work of building the wall.

"Oh, you can get so much money for building walls? It's still calculated according to the workload?! That's it, I'm going to earn money from His Majesty the King of Qiongyue City!"

"Get out of the way, this section within ten meters belongs to my old lady, anyone who dares to come over will be shot!"

"Hey—tui! If you touch my mother's saliva, it's my mother's wall! Climb for me!"

After a few words, the construction site was in a mess, and the foreman who came to mediate was punched away, until a person in charge with giant blood came and separated the women, kicked them all out after scolding and fighting, the construction site Calm was restored.

In less than a month, the second ring city wall was completed ahead of schedule, and only two urns on the opposite corner of the cross were completed. The rest can be done slowly, and the wooden doors will be installed first.In this way, the second ring can live.

The jubilant residential construction projects began to spread in a large area. Except for a small number of people who continued to finish the city wall project, everyone else was rushing to build houses for the winter, and they praised Cecil's practice of continuing to exempt land rent.

"When did you start collecting taxes?" Russell chased after Cecil and asked, "I don't collect taxes here, and I don't collect taxes there. Are you going to start your own business and use the profits to support the whole city? You don't need money for your research." Is it?! Don’t you need money for infrastructure?”

What Russell said was the truth, Cecil didn't dare to answer, he couldn't slip away, he couldn't get angry, so he had to let go of his mind and go in one ear and out the other.

Just when Russell's nagging reached its climax and began to mock the development of the lingering relationship between Cecil and Langdon, the head of the food department of the "Banquet Etiquette Company" came and said excitedly: "Your Majesty, we have made black tea. !"

The tea god left such a large tea making manual, which can be regarded as a solution to the urgent need.Black tea is made after the tea leaves are kneaded, then added water and compacted to let it ferment—in fact, it is not considered fermentation, it should be an oxidation process—and then it is determined whether it is completed according to the volatilization and color of the tea.

"Following the instructions in the manual, we divided the tea leaves into different types, each with a different fermentation time and water content. After drying, the taste was indeed different. After selection, these three teas tasted the best. Green tea has less astringency, is softer, and blends better with milk!"

Cecil specially made ten white magic cups for the young man, which contained three cups of black tea and three cups of milk tea. He quickly flattered Russell, "Are you thirsty? Come and moisten your mouth."

Russell sneered, sat down unceremoniously and drank all six cups of tea, leaving Cecil and the young man stunned.

After finishing drinking, he pointed to the two cups: "These two cups are the best, the other differences are not too big, there is only a little, and you can't drink it if you don't taste it carefully." After finishing speaking, he left, leaving only a handsome back.

The young man looked at Cecil and said, "Uh, you...wait a little longer?"

"You can make a few more cups." Cecil said dumbfounded.

The young man quickly brewed another six cups, and Cecil agreed with Russell after drinking it, but he always felt that there was something missing in the milk tea.

"Is there no sugar in the milk tea?" Cecil asked.

"You can put sugar, but it's very expensive." The young man said.

There is sugar for sale in Tanbunita, and Cecil bought a lot when selling food at the magic fair, but it is indeed expensive, or should we grow it ourselves?

Now when encountering anything that cannot be afforded, Cecil's first thought is: Let's make it ourselves!

Of course, there was sugar in ancient China, but there was no white sugar. White sugar needs beets and sugar cane. Cecil doesn’t have these two things now, and I don’t know where to find them. I can only ask someone to find them.It is more realistic to use honey, which is available on the grasslands, but the quantity is really pitifully small. I wonder if there will be more in the tropical area of ​​Tuhai, and the taste of honey is also different.

Cecil is not fond of sweetness, but the pleasure brought by sweetness cannot be replaced by other seasonings.

What is sweet?

"Have you ever eaten candy?" Cecil asked casually.

The young man said: "No, eating sugar directly is too extravagant."

"No, I mean some kind of sugar, something sweet," Cecil explained.

"Sweet... Honey?" The young man thought for a long time, and said, "Put honey in the bread and bake it, it's very delicious, if you can spread the fried bread, it should be even better, but unfortunately, oil Croutons are only available in Moon City, but Moon City doesn’t use much honey.”

"Because honey is expensive, then a small piece of honey is enough..." Cecil suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

Fuck, maltose!

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Now start looking forward to National Day...