You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 241 More Cutting-Edge Technology

Hydraulic forging hammers could not meet the mass production needs of plate armor.

Simply because plate armor has very high requirements for materials.

While a hydraulic forging hammer can indeed hammer out a steel plate, the entire process requires patience and meticulousness, and uneven thickness is prone to occur, making subsequent shaping difficult.

The true method for mass-producing plate armor is through rolling mills (slag mills) and rolls (slag rollers).

Two rollers rotate with a gap in the middle. A steel plate of a certain thickness is passed into the gap, and with the help of the rotating force of the two rollers, the thick steel plate is forcibly thinned.

Roman stayed in Coal Iron Town for half a month.

In the third month of spring, the rolling mill was finally completed—the most basic model, the manual version.

It's not that the technology is inadequate, but rather that the materials are.

Materials are the cornerstone of technological progress.

If the strength, hardness, toughness, and wear resistance of the steel roller are insufficient, then it will be impossible to press out a homogeneous steel plate.

Finally, Roman used magic steel as the material for the steel rollers, which finally met the requirements.

The difficulty in manufacturing it stemmed from two main reasons. Firstly, Roman had an enormous demand for magic steel, leaving him with no surplus; otherwise, he would have already been manufacturing magic steel plate armor on a large scale.

Secondly, Roman didn't subconsciously think about it in that direction; his knowledge didn't involve fantasy material.

Thirdly, a rolling mill consists not only of rolling rolls, but also of a complete frame, transmission device, lubrication system, etc.

This is a complete set of technical concepts.

In other words, a complete rolling mill weighs several tons.

This is considered a miniature rolling mill manufactured by Roman, with a reduced size; otherwise, it wouldn't have weighed over ten tons.

And those large rolling mills weighing hundreds of tons are considered normal.

In an era when even hydraulic forging hammers are not widely used, it is more advanced than a blast furnace and can be considered a cutting-edge technology in a sense.

Of course, if the forging and metallurgical technology of that ancient empire hundreds of years ago was indeed extremely advanced, then that's another story.

After all, Roman couldn't be certain that no one in this world had actually developed another metallurgical system using those extraordinary materials.

In any case, whatever system or technology it is, if it works, it's a good technology.

In a sense, the composite materials he developed, such as superalloys, may not be inferior in strength and hardness to extraordinary materials like Mighty Steel and Orichalco.

This is called turning the rotten into the miraculous.

However, the harsh reality is that, let alone superalloys, Roman couldn't even produce rolls made of chilled cast iron.

Fortunately, they still managed to get the rolling mill built.

This also means that the foundation for mass production of plate armor has been laid.

The best method is cold forging – room temperature steel plates are directly pressed into a thin layer by the pressure of rollers.

Steel plates rolled in this way are superior to hot-forged steel plates in both appearance and quality.

Later, Roman will arrange for soldiers to come to Coal Iron Town in small squads, where blacksmiths will measure their body size and forge plate armor that fits their bodies perfectly.

High-quality steel plates can greatly reduce the blacksmith's failure rate.

In the past, blacksmiths were extremely careful when forging plate armor because the carbon content of steel varied, and the processing techniques also differed, making forging skills extremely challenging.

A single set of plate armor can take a blacksmith a year and a half to complete.

Therefore, the cost is too high and the price is expensive.

Even some third- or fourth-tier superhumans cannot afford a full set of plate armor.

However, once any item is mass-produced, various costs can be significantly reduced.

With the advent of water-powered forging hammers and rolling mills, a qualified blacksmith could forge a set of half-body plate armor that could protect the torso in ten days, depending on each person's body shape, and then carry out processes such as quenching and tempering.

Time and labor costs are greatly reduced.

After confirming that the rolling mill was operating normally, Roman immediately returned to Origin Manor.

Because the first batch of supplies from the Cracked Armor and the Papacy's reparations had finally arrived.

Various gemstones sparkled, refined magic stones resembled stars, and gold and silver coins filled several large boxes.

The sight of that wealth was enough to make one's heart stop beating.

With such a large sum of money in front of him, even Roman couldn't remain rational and calm.

He took a few deep breaths, then turned and sent the gold coins, silver coins, and magic stones to be smelted.

Then he moved the various gemstones back to his bedroom and began to study how to maximize the use of these gemstone resources. The five hundred blue gemstones were of average quality; not bad, but not particularly good either.

This also means that the knowledge that Roman can impart is also limited.

For example, Ruto was taught iron smelting by Roman because he was a qualified blacksmith and had some knowledge of the upstream industries of iron ingots.

Having the necessary prerequisites makes things easier; they act as a lubricant. Injecting knowledge makes things fall into place naturally.

Without the necessary preconditions, it's like forcing a child into a relationship. The object is too big, the size is incompatible, and the process of forcibly inserting it is awkward. It won't hurt, but it won't cultivate the seeds of knowledge; it's commonly known as a miscarriage.

However, after two years of development...

It did cultivate a group of basic talents.

What should we do now?
Basic literacy!

A thorough education on basic literacy!
The administrative capacity of Origin City has been overloaded since last year.

Especially after the Battle of Spring Rain, Roman had to shut down the school in order to keep Origin City running.

There's so much to do!

More than 2,000 soldiers were killed or wounded; some were discharged and others died in battle.

Do I need to complete the discharge procedures? Should I receive the pension?

If you can't read, and I give you a list of identities, but you don't even know the soldiers' names, home addresses, or family relationships, who are you going to give the pension to?

How strong would it take to deliver the message door-to-door?

For Roman, personal character was irrelevant.

If there are complaints from the public, once verified, those with egregious offenses can simply be hanged—it's very simple and brutal.

But if you can't read, there's nothing you can do.

He once stipulated that all administrative staff should carry a literacy book with them and ask Sais and Jimmy for help with words in their spare time.

Gradually, those people also learned dozens or even hundreds of words.

Roman only deployed about fifty apostles into the administrative system.

The army has the largest number of apostles.

There are also apostles distributed among the various production departments.

Finally, there were apostles with no potential, so Roman chose to let them drift.

Roman first selected apostles from the administrative departments, giving each a sapphire to improve their basic literacy.

Then improve the production skills of the apostles in each department.

Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Ministry of Foundry, Ministry of Manufacturing.

Production skills are extremely important; they are essentially equivalent to productivity.

Roman would call it a special kind of brain upgrade.

In the past, Roman barely managed to maintain the situation thanks to the hard work of Barlow, Yagi, Ruto, and others.

These ministers face immense production pressure, and they also have to impart their knowledge to others; they basically have to stay on duty even when they are sick.

It's time to help them share the burden.

The only difference is in production technology and literacy.

Literacy is simply recognizing characters; having some basic understanding is sufficient, and it is a passive skill.

However, production technology falls under the category of active skills...

It would be good enough if they could teach you even one skill.

Suppose Roman taught the process of making tofu.

If you give them another bucket of beans and ask them to make tofu, they'll probably be completely baffled.

What is tofu?
Roman demonstrated it on the spot, and then the apostles suddenly understood.

So this white and tender stuff is tofu.

Apostles who are given knowledge in advance will master the technology more easily than ordinary people.

Two chapters today, more tomorrow.

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(End of this chapter)