By mid-July, Art handed over the army affairs to Odo and Angus, and focused his main energy on the construction of the territory.
In a small wooden hut downstream of the stream next to the wooden castle in the valley, Art and the military priest Robert were preparing a dangerous and unusual black powdery medicine like alchemists. A piece of twine dipped in pine oil was burning toward the black powder from one end.
The wooden house is very empty. There are buckets placed in the four corners of the house. There is a wooden table in the middle of the wooden house. There is a small pile of black powder in the pottery plate on the wooden table. Next to the wooden table, there is a screen that looks like a small window on the top of a giant shield.
Behind the screen, Art and Robert were wearing half plate armor and bucket helmets, nervously looking at the twine that was about to burn to black powder.
The flames followed the twine and got closer to the powder, and Art's heart became more and more nervous.
Finally, the flame caught the powder, but the deflagration or even explosion that Art expected did not appear. The black powder was burned by the flame for a while before slowly burning, and the speed was very slow.
Robert walked out from behind the screen with a disappointed look on his face, took off his heavy helmet, wiped the hot sweat from his forehead, turned to say to Art: "Master Art, give up, it's useless, the power of this black powder potion is "It's not as strong as kerosene."
Matt also took off his stabbing helmet, walked to the bucket in the house and poured water on his face to cool down, "Father Robert, have you really seen that kind of black potion that can explode violently?"
Robert touched the remains of the burnt powder medicine on the table and replied: "Of course, in the name of God."
"That was brought back to the church by a priest who had returned from the Holy Land. He put the black powder medicine into a small fist-sized clay pot and threw it into the fire. The clay pot made a "bang!" explosion in the fire, and the fire was directly blown out, and the firewood scattered. "
"However, the church believes that this potion is a magic witchcraft given to pagans by the devil, and prohibits anyone from using this kind of thing, and the priest passed away soon, so I have never seen that black potion again."
"This potion of yours looks a bit similar, but it is so powerful~"
Robert couldn't bear to hit Art, because during this period, he spent a lot of time in this cabin almost every day to develop this powder, just like a obsessed alchemist.
Matt was indeed quite disappointed in his heart. He thought that the gadgets he had seen in his previous life should not be difficult to make. He had gathered all the materials such as charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter. But the problem was that he really couldn't remember the comparison between the three, or whether there were other things besides these three. The additives are really unclear, and after asking around, everyone knows similar things. The only Robert who has seen this thing has only seen it before...
Matt swept the wooden bowls, clay pots and barrels on the wooden table to the ground in anger, "MD, waste my time!"
Seeing Art's excitement, Robert stepped forward and persuaded with a smile: "It's okay if you can't do it. If you really do it, the church will have to ask you to repent. If not, you will be asked to go to the cross to be roasted."
Art patted the black powder on his hands, walked out of the wooden house door, and ordered the guard Stanley standing at the door: "Pack up all the things inside, put them into wooden boxes and seal them. This room is locked by me, and no one is allowed to enter without my permission."
"Yes, sir!" Stanley replied loudly.
….
The development of the "big killer weapon" ended in failure. If it continues to be developed, Art may be lucky enough to find the best ratio, but there is really not much time left for Art to build the territory. He cannot devote all his energy to this matter.
But every loss must have a gain.
While Art was sitting in a daze in the official room of the lord's mansion with a depressed face, Cooper hurried into the lord's mansion from outside with something in his hand.
"Master, it's done! It's done!!" Before the Coopers arrived, the sound came first.
Cooper has always been calm, and things that can make him excited should be big.
Matt stood up from behind the wooden table and walked to the door of the office, "What is it made of?"
Cooper approached and handed a plate-shaped object to Art with both hands, and replied: "The "bark paper" you asked the workshop to trial is now made! "
Matt had a look of joy on his face and quickly took what Cooper handed over. He looked at it carefully for a while, and the smile on his face faded a lot.
This so-called "bark paper" should be called "straw paper" in Art's memory. It is a very rough paper product. The idea of making "bark paper" came from when he saw several weavers beating and rinsing wool in the most primitive way in the workshop. When the weavers beat and rinsed the wool, a layer of grease mixed with wool appeared in the basin...
However, the plate-shaped object in front of him was very different from what Art had imagined. The "raw paper" in his memory was already considered the roughest, but compared with the thing in front of him, the papyrus was almost as delicate as the skin of a noble lady.
This "bark paper" is made from birch bark, which is made through processes such as pounding, grinding, cooking, pulping, pulping, and sun-drying. Although this "bark paper" is very strong and will not be easily damaged, it is still far from what Art imagined. Not to mention that the color of the paper is too dark and yellow, which affects its appearance. The main reason is that its surface is too rough, and even the thick bark is inlaid on it, making it impossible to write on. It is also too thick, making it inconvenient to store and carry.
"Sir, I know this thing can't be used yet, but it is already an improvement. The tree pulp we fished out before can form boards." Cooper explained and comforted aloud.
Matt calmed down his emotions and showed a smile, "Well, although there is still some gap with my requirements, it is already a big progress. I think your main problems lie in a few places. One is that the grinding is not fine enough. You see, there are strips of thick bark on the paper. You ask the craftsmen to find a way to crush the bark more and grind it finer. The second is The color is too strong. You ask the craftsmen to ask the weavers how they make the wool white. The third reason is that it is too thick. This paper is thicker than birch bark, so why should I use paper instead of just using birch bark? "
"Sir, we tried it. If it is too thin when the pulp is extracted, the paper cannot be formed." Cooper explained.
"That should be because your pulp is too coarse and the cooking time is not enough. Try to improve it."
"Tell the craftsmen who are trying to make paper that if they can use the method I teach as a basis and try to make thin, white and delicate bark paper, I will give them a reward of two hundred pfennigs each. The better the quality of the paper, the higher the reward!" Now that Cooper is in charge of the civil affairs of the entire barony, there are more than a thousand mouths that need food, drink, housing and transportation. He also cultivates fields, purchases supplies, builds workshops, builds houses, pays staff, etc., none of which costs money, not to mention the increasingly large army of gold-eating beasts.
The old man has become more and more stingy recently and is increasingly reluctant to spend money.
"Sir, we give our craftsmen high salaries every month. They deserve to work hard for us. Why do you want to give them extra bounties? You are now in a hurry to expand your army, and there is not much money left for the baron. Moreover, Sarthe has purchased a large number of workshop equipment from Provence. We still need to build workshops. The money is really..."
< br/> "Cooper, I know everything you said. But now I still hope to make this paper and sell it in large quantities to make money. If there is no incentive, the craftsmen are just working hard, when will I be able to make it?"
"It is worth spending more money on the research and development, you believe me! Just do it." Art decided.
Now that Art has made up his mind, Cooper no longer raises objections. "Master, since you have made up your mind, I won't say more. But I have to give you the bottom line. At the beginning of the month, 200,000 pfennigs were allocated to the army for military expansion and military pay for the next six months. The civil affairs side only has 130,000 pfennigs left. This money is not only needed to maintain the territory's daily consumption, but also to build new workshops. I'm afraid it won't be able to support it for a year."
Att is also worried. Now both the military and civilian lines have spread their nets. Not to mention the army, the civil affairs side is very expensive to build villages, resettle residents, reclaim wasteland, introduce workshops, etc., and land taxes, border commercial taxes and even commercial profits cannot fill the gap. Art's bulging money bag is watching it shrink day by day...
"You keep it going first. I have already discussed it with Lottie. I plan to sell the two northern and southern goods shops that were Lottie's dowry, leaving only the shop in Lucese." Art plans to sell the two shops in the west.
One of the reasons is that Art is currently too short of money. Those two shops have to sell for 80,000 to 90,000 pfennigs. If they are lucky, they may sell for hundreds of thousands. This money can support them for a while.
Another reason is that Art and Galvin have the same idea. Once there is civil strife in the country, the two shops under Bernard's influence will inevitably be greatly threatened. Instead of letting the enemy eat them in the chaos, it is better to change them into gold cakes and silver coins in advance and put them in your arms.
Matt also discussed the sale of the shop with Cooper and the others, so Cooper was not surprised. "It is the only way to go. But it is a pity that two milk-producing sheep were killed for stew."
"Cub, believe me, every copper coin we throw out today will be turned into gold cakes and returned to our money bags."
Cooper nodded, preparing to leave and get busy.
"Cooper, Lawrence and Salt will be back with a large amount of workshop equipment in a few days. In the afternoon, you and Geer (the construction adjutant, temporarily responsible for construction) will accompany me to the valley to see if we can find a more suitable place. I think that although the location you selected for the workshop is relatively flat, the water flow of the river next to it is also very slow. It will be difficult to install and use water hammers and waterwheels in the future..."
Cooper left in response.
As soon as Cooper's figure disappeared around the corner, Ron came in, "Sir, the officers at the Officer Academy are going to have a combat training in the afternoon. Chief Odo asked me to come back and ask if you can host it personally?"