Ore income 325 gold crown,

Fur yield 133 gold crown,

Timber yields 92 gold crowns,

Other gains 127 gold crowns,

Tax 12 Gold Crown......

Flipping through the heavy bookkeeping, Rhodes roughly looked at the expenses and incomes on it, since the ore production was relatively stable, and the furs were obtained by himself and the Norscans hunting, there was no big problem if the two main incomes were not much different, and Rhodes still believed in the loyalty of his steward.

Judging from the books, all the income is okay, that is, the tax, which is miserable. Black Hammer Fort is not a big city, just a small border castle, the people gathered here are poor, in terms of poll tax, there is not much to collect, and the trade tax is even less pitiful, because most of the trade is controlled by the lord himself, Rhodes can not collect his own taxes, so the tax is still the weakest at present.

But in the past two months, the number of civilians who have come to Blackhammer to make a living has increased, which is thankful.

"We need more civilians to come and settle. ”

Sitting in his humble chair, Rod frowned and thought about it.

Population is still key, and Blackhammer is not without resources, but with a lack of manpower and labor. It's a lot like traveling through Russia before the Earth, where the Far East has a lot of resources, but suffers from cold weather and no one settles. Even after the battle of the Tide of Evil, the Norscans joined, Rhodes felt that the number of civilians in his territory was still too small. Not to mention the aristocracy, now, not a single nobleman is willing to settle here.

"Yes, more is needed...... My opinion, my lord, is that the road construction work will be slowed down for a while, and we need more practical things to benefit people's livelihood. For example, raising salaries......"

"No, it won't work. People have a characteristic, they like you to give them a salary increase, however, once it goes up and gets used to it, they take it for granted, and when one day you want to restore the original salary, they will be dissatisfied, and even rebel against you. Civilians are like this, needless to say anything else, if you and I are also ordinary civilians, we are also in this mentality. It's like living in a simple house, moving into a luxurious house, you will get used to it, but on the other hand, living in a big house that is used to luxury, and then moving back to a shabby and dirty small house, you will not get used to it. That's probably the reason, so although salary increases can increase the migrant population in the short term, we can't afford it in the long run. Moreover, Heidelberg and the Ring next door will also be dissatisfied, because as soon as the salary rises, it will not be the people south of Kislev who will emigrate, but our two old neighbors. ”

Rod threw the file on the table and explained with a serious face. The old butler nodded, agreeing with the statement.

He did think simply, and his lordship, he would think about the related interests and follow-up issues.

"I have the most immediate idea. ”

Rod continued, his fingers tapping against the table.

"All the gold coins harvested during this time were invested in the construction of the city walls. "As soon as the walls are built, the people will feel safe, and there will be enough jobs at Blackhammer." The salary we offer is not small. ”

"But the construction of the walls will take time, my lord. If it were a simple wall made of mud and wood, people would not feel at ease. After all, our opponents are beastmen and werewolves...... These beasts may charge and the walls supported by earth will crumble. ”

The old butler replied sincerely.

"I'll take care of this matter, you can just help me prepare three things. ”

Rhodes returned.

"What three?"

"Lime, clay, coal water. ”

"May I ask, my lord, what do you need these things for?"

The old butler still didn't understand, he frowned, and wanted to ask clearly. But Rod didn't want to explain it too clearly, not because he didn't want the old butler to understand, but because this kind of thing had to be seen on the spot to understand......

"Build a wall. ”

Rod replied, a smile on his lips. What he's going to do is actually cement. This kind of rebellious building material has not yet been developed by any race in the entire Old World, and before it is practiced, Rhodes and Muros are talking in vain.

In fact, the manufacturing method of raw cement is not difficult. Strictly speaking, it's not an invention, it's a discovery. Clay and lime are used as raw materials, crushed, batched, and ground to make raw meal, and then placed in the kiln to calcine the mature material, and then the clinker is finely ground with an appropriate amount of gypsum.

If you add water, fine sand, and gravel to mix, you can also make original concrete. If steel bars are placed in it, reinforced concrete is formed. With that, the height of various buildings can be increased by several notches. Of course, Rhodes didn't think that far, because it takes a lot of steel to make reinforced concrete, and with the current level of productivity of Blackhammer Castle, even if it develops for ten years, it may not be able to build a reinforced concrete city.

“...... This ......"

The butler Muros obviously didn't understand what his lord meant, and he looked confused. And Rod just told him to do it.

"You don't have to worry about it for now, just prepare it according to my requirements. ”

Rhodes said.

......

After arranging the work, Mouros began to work on the preparations. Clay is almost made from local materials, Blackhammer is not a castle built on rock or desert, and clay resources are still easy to obtain. And lime is not difficult, not far from the castle is a deep pit mine, which dug up a large pile of waste every day, many of which are lime. It's just that in the past, people discarded them as waste, but now the garbage dug up from the mines has become valuable building materials.

As for coal water, it's not difficult. Kislev lacks all resources, except for many coal mines, and there is no shortage of coal resources at all. And the price is extremely low. Coal water is another form of coal, but in the Warhammer world, this thing can produce high temperatures, and the most troublesome step in calcining cement is high temperatures, and coal water can solve this problem. This thing is even one of the fuel for rocket artillery in the Empire.

Although it is not difficult to obtain raw materials, the amount of work is not small, after all, the amount required is huge, and it is used to build walls, not to build one or two houses. It's costly, and it costs money......

But for the construction of the city walls, this work had to be done again. Everything is worth it for the sake of future population expansion, the big deal is to spend more money and make the workers work harder. To this end, Rhodes transferred some of the workers who were building the road to the convoy and gave it command to Muros.