At the very edge of the planned outer city, it is separated from the rest of the area by a two-metre-high wall, and operates independently as an industrial area.

A large number of tall earthen kilns and furnaces of all kinds occupy the view.

Egger comes from the modern world, where civilization is highly developed and the social division of labor is extremely detailed, so although he is engaged in metal materials, he does not know much about the source of "smelting...... Fortunately, although the world of ice and fire is backward, it is not a primitive society after all, and the simple operation of restoring metals from ore has long been mastered and improved. As long as there is a little experience of craftsmen, they can command and prepare for the establishment of the smelting area.

The team that went to the origin of the ore in the mountains has not yet returned, but a small part of the "industrial zone" of the post-crown city has already begun: the production of charcoal, the largest amount of material needed for smelting, in addition to ore.

The craftsmen of the Ice and Fire World have already summed up the experience of the high quality of the products obtained by charcoal metallurgy, so before the official start of construction, this preparation has already fed countless new donors: the land grants are not as large as the Wolf Forest or the Ghost Forest to be marked on the map, but one here and one there...... There is no shortage of scattered groves. In the case of a small number of people, although the wood is sufficient, it is quite troublesome to collect.

The measures taken by the principals of Houguan Town were to issue a "wood collection order", allowing idlers who had nothing to do everywhere to collect firewood and bring it to Houguan Town, where the receiver weighed it and sorted it according to dry, wet and wood species, and then converted it into money and paid for it...... Compared with other formal call-ups and jobs, this work is tiring and less lucrative, but fortunately, men, women, and children can go into battle, which makes Houguan Town not have to worry about timber, but can justifiably feed many people, which is also a good thing.

Once the timber is in place, the workers go into battle to sort them according to their length and thickness, build tall hollow pyres, and wrap them with clay on the outside to form an earthen kiln...... The inside is ignited and fired. Furnace extinguishing method - when the fire burns to a certain extent, all openings are blocked, and after the fire is extinguished and cooled naturally, the outer layer of clay is planed open, and the inside is the finished black charcoal.

Simple and repetitive operation, the most time-consuming step is waiting...... But there is nothing else to donate land, and the most important thing is place. After sealing a charcoal pile, the workers can immediately go to another open space to repeat the above steps, and it is for this reason that the scene of many large earthen kilns in front of them is formed.

Everywhere there were workers coming and going, transporting firewood and charcoal back and forth in rudimentary carts. In addition to these front-line laborers, there were also a small but conspicuous number of command and supervisory personnel, and even a few mountain hawkers who came to deliver food, and they brought homemade multigrain porridge and coarse bread that were steaming in the cold air, and even wafting a faint smell of food.

This was by no means a show for Egger to see, the division of labor and cooperation went so smoothly and naturally that one was fully convinced that as soon as the copper ore arrived, it would immediately turn into a metal-spitting industrial behemoth.

"My lord, this is charcoal. It was supposed that he should have shown the smelted copper, but unfortunately there was none, so Yamm had to take a piece of black charcoal and hand it to Egg.

"Hmm. "It's okay to burn charcoal for heating, as for distinguishing the color and quality of charcoal?" it would be too much to look up to him, pretending to knead the black light lump in his hand, he nodded, and changed the subject: "Look, this is much better than firewood, peat, or coal, and this is what you use to heat your house at night." ”

Arya gave him a blank look: "Cut, what's interesting about this!"

"Hehe, indeed, this one isn't interesting. Egger nodded: "Please come to the master in charge of smelting and casting, and take me to meet him." ”

......

Coincidentally, probably because Yam's family used to be in charge of Lannister's mines, and his connections were all in the West, this craftsman who was proficient in everything from smelting to casting and forging was also invited from Lannisport. He looked to be forty or fifty years old, with bronzed skin and a sturdy body, and he looked like he was doing this business.

Egger greeted him and asked for relevant preparations and specific information, regretting and easily discovering that the world had not lagged behind in metallurgy to the extent that a layman could point out or improve.

"After refining the copper, what are you going to do with it?" asked the craftsman casually, "Although the copper is still worth a little money, it is in chaos now, and what is more scarce is good steel for weapons...... Moreover, your land is too far away from the south, and you can't make a lot of money by transporting things over and selling them. But if you can find tin ore, I can still help you get some bronze, which is not much worse than iron. ”

"If you can find tin ore, it is naturally the best, and the procurement cost is too great. Iger shook his head: "This matter can be taken slowly, the first batch of copper smelted, I plan to use it to mint coins." After all, coins don't have any requirements for toughness, hardness, or anything like the material. ”

"What? Indeed, pure copper can also be coined. The craftsman's eyes widened, "But it's not a matter of materials, minting ...... But what the king wants to approve of, can you get permission?"

"Not yet, but I'll settle the matter. Only copper coins are minted here, and the name is called tokens. It is mainly used to pay labor remuneration and allowances to the residents and night watchmen of the land grant, and the value is set at the same level as the copper cents without considering the outflow of the land grant...... In this case, how much copper, molding, and casting is required for each copper coin, can you handle it?"

"I have to admit that I've never made anything that small in copper. The ease on the questioner's face disappeared, and he shook his head depressedly: "But it shouldn't be difficult, after all, it's just that." You give me enough tools and time to try a few more times, and I will always succeed. ”

After a pause, he continued, "What about ...... What kind of designs and words are to be printed on that so-called 'token'? Does the Night's Watch have a coat of arms, or whose face is it?"

If you really want to print someone's face on the coin, it is none other than Egger's own, but that kind of arrogant and rebellious thing, just think about it, it is impossible to come to the truth: "This, you can discuss with the person in charge of the logistics department, just show me the final plan, everything is based on the principle of simplicity and ease of minting." Anyway, we only mint copper coins, and we still use silver deer and gold dragon to go up, so it doesn't matter. ”

"yes, I see. ”

"One more thing, Master. Egger lowered his figure, "I invited you to give away land at a high price, but I don't just want you to help us get the smelting started. When you have time, you can also teach us a lot of skills and skills in your head, and you can rest assured that our people will never go to the south to compete with you for jobs in the future, but teach them, and I will pay you here to be absolutely generous enough for your life. ”

The craftsman from the Westside took a surprise look at Egger, and thought that the legendary Alien Slayer still had a lot of ideas...... But it was naturally impossible for him to respond to such an in-depth request in one bite, just nodding his head and not saying anything.

Iger didn't expect to let others pass on his life's skills by empty words, as long as he gave enough money, he was not afraid that he would not do anything at all...... Besides, now that a person is on his own territory, if he really doesn't know each other, if he can't be soft, he can also come hard.

After some more small talk, Egger said goodbye to the group and left the industrial area, and passed through the inner city gates, streets, and wooden bridges to the small island in the middle of the pocket lake, where he had housed the pyromancers he had taken from King's Landing.

......

If there is any knowledge that can help him occupy a big advantage in this world just at the level of popular science, it is gunpowder. To this end, he began to reserve and brew talents and technologies early...... After two years of getting acquainted with and using various means to recruit these pyromancers, he finally managed to "control a force that is obedient and completely his own", and can begin to gradually push this mass killing weapon onto the stage of history without worrying that it will immediately become someone else's pocket.

The pyromancers have been in the land grant for nearly two years, and they have always enjoyed the highest level of treatment in Houguan Town, and they have gradually become accustomed to the climate here, and they are no longer dissatisfied with grumbling and bent on leaving. In addition to preparing and storing wildfires all day, they have also begun preparations for the manufacture of gunpowder according to Igger's covert instructions.

Entering the tower surrounded by water and with the highest level of security and secrecy in Houguan Town, in a room like a chemical laboratory filled with all kinds of bottles and cans, Iger saw several fire sorcerers who he hadn't seen for a long time.

After enjoying the privilege and respect of Houguan for long enough, these alchemists, who had lived like rats after the fall of the Targaryen dynasty, regained some of their complexion and self-confidence, and two of them even grew their hair back.

"Good afternoon, wise men. Egg greeted with a smile, "Please, what you have prepared, are you done?"

"That's it. The wise man of Harlem said: "Except for the nitrate, which is a bit troublesome, everything else is as much as it wants, and it is not rare at all." ”

The so-called prepared things are naturally charcoal, sulfur, and nitrate...... The materials needed to make the most primitive black powder are gone.

Needless to say, the best black charcoal smoldered out of the outside industrial area can be ground into powder.

Sulfur...... Coincidentally, it was inevitable that the craters on Dragonstone Island were all over the place, and it was brought back to be simply melted, filtered, and distilled to obtain a barely pure sulfur, which was not difficult for pyromancers who could even fractionate light oil.

But on the last item, the pyromancers had a hard time: things like sulfur and charcoal were already familiar and used in the world of ice and fire before Egger crossed over, and everyone knew it, but Nitrate - Westeros had no Chinese medicine and alchemists, and people had no idea about it.

"We now know that there are these things on the walls of stables, toilets, cellars and caves, and it's easy to purify – just soak in hot water and filter it, but the problem now is that there are so few of these sources that they can't match mass production. ”

"Where's the saltpeter mine?"

"No one has ever heard of this thing! Now that you can tell what its ore looks like and where it is usually distributed, you can give me any hints. ”

How did Egger know? He was not a geology professional or enthusiast before he crossed over, and he didn't know that he would need to make gunpowder one day! He scratched his head, realizing that things were not as simple as he imagined, and that just knowing one sulfur, two nitrate, and three charcoals were two different things from producing gunpowder and bringing a world into the age of firearms.

"Then what should I do, I will send people up and down the Seven Kingdoms to buy the frost that naturally forms in people's toilets and stables?"

"That's all there is to it for the time being. It's just that we still don't understand, how can these three things be the nemesis of the aliens? Although they can all be burned, there is no magic in them, and don't we have a more powerful wildfire?"

The so-called alien nemesis, of course, is just a statement made up by Egger, and most of them will use this as an excuse to buy saltpeter in the Seven Kingdoms in the future...... Mixing it with obsidian fragments to make a dragon crystal fragmentation bomb, and even cooperating with a copper cannon that may be cast in the future, is Egger's real plan.

"Where's the stuff?"

Darker Wise took out three large jars, each containing three kinds of raw materials: "This jar of nitrate was scraped from the wall of the cellar in the Alchemist's Guild Hall by our assistant who was still in King's Landing, and after purification, it is only half a jar, if it is really the nemesis of the Stranger, then you have to save some of it." ”

This half jar must have at least a few catties, which is not a lot, but considering that the entire Alchemist Guild Hall can only be scraped out in a building as large as that, this is really a very expensive resource.

If it is used to shoot cannons, it will disappear as soon as it sounds.

It seems that this war against strangers and the dead will probably have to rely on existing things like wildfire.

......

Iger took a small pile of all three materials with a piece of paper and carried them out of the non-fire-prohibiting laboratory.

"Here, here's the interesting thing you wanted. ”

The group followed him to the rest room, which was separated by a few walls, where Egg folded the paper containing the gunpowder, shook it, crumpled it, and threw it into the fireplace for heating.

With a slight explosion of "boom", the originally stable fire instantly increased several times, and the flames that changed color pushed the heat and sparks and even briefly poured out of the fireplace, startling the accompanying Yam, the pyromancers, and Arya.

"That's that...... What is that!" Arya's unhappy face was probably pretending, and when she saw this unprecedented scene, she suddenly couldn't keep her face anymore and screamed excitedly.

The girl just thought it was funny, and several of the pyromancers were completely shocked.

They have been studying how these three things can restrain the strange spirits for the past two months, and they don't understand it when they toss and turn in the laboratory where fireworks are strictly prohibited, and now they know that these three things are to be mixed together and then ignited!

Deflagration, of course, they've seen it, and they know it: if this reaction takes place in a closed container and environment, it can form an explosion.

Wildfires can explode under the right conditions. But you know, what has always prevented wildfires from officially putting them into military use is their difficulty in transporting and being unstable! Now, a completely solid solid, extremely stable and easy to transport when exposed to flames and heat, and lightweight, can also form such a violent reaction! What this means, no better than the pyromancers who once served the Targaryens, and this is what they have been pursuing for centuries - chemicals that can be used as weapons!

Once this thing is known to the nobles and kings of the South...... Spring is coming for the pyromancers!

"Thank you for your hard work and efforts in the past two years, starting tomorrow, Houguan Town will be restricted in a stricter way. Of course, Iger knows better than them the changes this thing can bring to the world, and he has already prepared for all the secrecy work: "This thing called 'gunpowder', I hope that until the end of this war, is a secret that belongs only to the Night's Watch." ”

——