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

Chapter 320 Specific Search (One more chapter)
What is most important in this era?

Of course, it's transportation capacity!

Pirates, relying on their superior longships, launched a devastating attack on the inland regions, seizing control of the area and leaving even the Black Iron Duke helpless.

Why was Gale able to fight for two years before ultimately losing?

Because he could obtain a continuous supply of materials from the rear of the Rift Armored Territory via water transport.

Why did the Jihad Army dare to plan a ten-year blockade of the valley?

This was also because supplies could be obtained through water transport.

To put it bluntly, in any major war, if one side has an advantage in water transport, they have basically won half the battle.

Ships are even more important for commerce.

Roman acquired many longships from the pirates, but they were all old and dilapidated, soon to be obsolete, and would be unusable in another year or two.

His behavior is commonly known as scavenging.

It's very frustrating, but without shipbuilding capabilities, we'll be held back and have to rely on those who do.

Although those dozens of longships were not suitable for commercial transport, most of them were warships, not cargo ships.

However, it still plays a crucial role for Roman, which is facing a shortage of transport capacity.

Each longboat can carry tens of thousands of kilograms of cargo.

Secondly, those warships were relatively light and narrow, making them agile and resistant to wind and waves, which was perfect for the terrain of Silver Dragon Canyon.

It takes thirty to fifty boatmen to pull a typical fishing boat fully loaded with cargo.

Roman, on the other hand, could pull pirate longships with the same load capacity using only two-thirds of the number of barge haulers, and at a faster speed and with greater efficiency.

How much manpower and resources did this save?

Now, Seaburg also has the foundation for independent shipbuilding.

There's nothing more to say.

A large number of ships must be built.

Only with sufficient transportation capacity can we avoid falling into a predicament.

Roman assembled a group of people skilled in shipbuilding, mostly slaves brought from the northern front, as well as Sea Fortress slaves who arrived in Origin City for the first time.

Knowing a little is enough; that's the foundation for understanding knowledge.

With Gweil's blessing, Roman conducted a recruitment drive on the spot.

This was a specific search.

Roman has a chance to recruit everyone to become his apostles. The higher the relationship level, the easier it is to get the goods, but this probability is not absolute.

Even if someone has a 70% success rate in shipping, there is still a 30% chance of them sinking.

This does seem a bit like Murphy's Law.

Without a guaranteed minimum, even ten consecutive losses are considered reasonable.

Because your previous failure does not increase your chances of success next time.

Theoretically speaking, it's perfectly normal for Roman to recruit people with zero relationship points as apostles.

However, as long as there is a chance, Gevil can be useful.

She couldn't guarantee that a high-ranking knight would roll a 6, but she could guarantee that the dice would land exactly on a 6.

It wasn't that they became apostles, but rather that Roman just happened to recruit them.

The former has a higher weight, while the latter has a lower weight.

Through some means unknown to ordinary people, about half of the shipbuilders in front of us have formed some kind of secret connection with Roman.

“I have blessed you. You will carry my will and go to that castle to lay the foundation for my future. I will also bestow upon you glory, wealth, honor, security, and status,” Roman said, standing before them.

He will upgrade these people's brains and instill shipbuilding knowledge in them.

A skyscraper rises from the ground; it's impossible to directly build a large multi-story ship.

Let's start with simple designs, building small boats. Once they've mastered the craft, Roman will unlock more advanced knowledge for them. "Yes, Your Highness!"

For shipbuilders with families, their families would accompany them to the sea fort.

Roman also provides high salaries and benefits to shipbuilders who have no family.

A monthly salary of two silver coins is comparable to that of a knight.

Roman took away 47 shipbuilders this time, and gave the remaining unsuccessful candidates a few copper coins to send them away, saying that this was enough and they would choose again next time.

As for when the next one will be, that depends on the speed of expansion on Neliel's side.

Let's build a hundred long ships that are easy to transport next year first.

……

When Roman saw the shipbuilders off, snow fell and winter arrived.

"Is this winter colder than last year?" he asked, turning his head.

This was the first time in several years that he had spent the winter outside. The basin was warm and comfortable, and people wouldn't freeze to death in winter. But it was a different story in Plenty City. Even in early winter, Roman felt a bit cold.

Since the last recruitment, the strength of the apostles has been greatly enhanced. Roman belatedly realized that he is now almost a third-tier warrior knight, with a strong physique, abundant energy, and a strong resistance to the cold.

In Origin City, you can walk in the snow for half a day in just a thin layer of clothing and not catch a cold.

The castle of abundance was cold and damp, and now the chill was even more intense, as if it were penetrating everywhere, like a cold snake winding across its body. The roaring flames in the fireplace could only dispel part of the uncomfortable feeling. Roman had even considered starting over and rebuilding the estate elsewhere. He was truly tired of this deep, cold, and hard castle.

“Yes, Your Highness,” Shasta replied. She had experienced more than Roman and felt things more clearly.

Such a winter is quite rare in the last ten years or so.

“But you have treated them very well,” she said softly. “They have houses and clothes, and they are all grateful to you.” She had seen with her own eyes how the lower classes greeted him with unstoppable enthusiasm and their respect was more vivid and genuine than when they faced any nobleman or gentleman.

Roman stopped thinking about things that were beyond his control for the time being.

Last year was colder than usual, and this year is colder than last year. The wind comes from the north, and people struggle with the long winter nights until the sun rises.

The residents of Origin City and Abundant City were quite good. He gradually distributed over 100,000 sets of warm clothing to Abundant City, and some people were able to receive two sets of clothes.

A wool sweater, a sheepskin coat, or a cotton mattress.

Those people couldn't relax even in winter, or rather, during this agricultural lull, Roman was able to mobilize even more manpower.

Therefore, this is precisely when development is most rapid.

Because most people had nothing to do but still needed to eat, they had no choice but to work to earn food.

Roman assured them they would have a warm but tiring winter.

By this time, the school and hospital had already been completed.

The earlier the saplings are planted, the better, so they can have warm clothes. The winter time should not be wasted either; Roman needs to train a group of literate children as soon as possible.

The harder one works and the faster one learns, the more rewarded one will receive.

Roman brought in a large number of iron stoves and honeycomb briquettes for these public facilities.

Two iron stoves were placed in each classroom, and the coal stoves greatly increased the indoor temperature.

During this season, fresh milk can be kept for several days without spoiling, and large quantities can be transported over to serve as a nutritional supplement.

Hopefully this winter will pass soon so he can farm properly for another year.

I recommend a book—My Father Jehovah.

Besides his brother Hong Xiuquan, Jesus also had a brother named Gary. Jesus' resurrection took three days, while Gary's resurrection took only three minutes.

Jesus was held captive on the cross by the Romans for six hours, and Galis spent six hours de-urbanizing Rome.

Jesus said: "The kingdom of heaven is for those who share its riches with the poor." Galis said: "The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is a great nation, where everything is equal and nothing is lacking."

Therefore, we can deduce that Garys is either the reincarnation of Jesus or he came to avenge his brother.

PS: Actually, it's the story of how the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was established several hundred years before the Third Crusade.

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(End of this chapter)