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

Chapter 62 Forging Experience +1
Roman went to the blacksmith's shop today.

Lax thought Roman was there to inspect the work and prepared to go up and give a report.

Unexpectedly, the lord took the hammer from one of the blacksmith apprentices and used it himself. The apprentice stood by, bewildered, watching Roman swing the hammer.

There was a loud "clang"!
The red-hot iron ingots were slightly deformed by the hammer blows.

"Ah this..."

Lax was completely stunned.

It felt like the hammer wasn't hitting an iron ingot, but rather his head.

I know you want me to train qualified blacksmiths because you have a lot of work and want them to compete with me for business, but is it really necessary to go out and do it yourself?
Lax stared blankly as Roman swung the hammer several times.

Each time it was a powerful, loud bang, with sparks flying everywhere.

Roman said, "Lax, how did I do?"

Lax replied truthfully, "I don't think it's appropriate."

"That's true. I'm still a novice when it comes to blacksmithing."

"I mean your identity."

In any case, it's really unnecessary for nobles and blacksmiths to compete for business.

Roman raised his chin and said, "You think I can't be a blacksmith?"

"is not what it means……"

What else can I do? Whatever makes you happy.

Lax informed Roman of the current progress of the work on the ironworks.

“These iron ingots are of very good quality. So far, we have forged 60 pickaxes, 30 hoes and 15 flathead wedges.”

Each pickaxe weighs 3 jin (1.5 catties), each hoe weighs 2 jin (1 catties), and each iron wedge weighs 2 jin (1 catties).

Nearly 300 kilograms of iron were consumed in total.

Unlike the heavy plows that Lax had previously forged.

Although those things were extremely large, there were not many of them, and their structure was simple.

The most difficult part is the plowshare, because it needs to be very sharp.

But its sharpness is only enough to split the soil, not for cutting vegetables.

However, sharp tools such as pickaxes and hoes are different. Each pickaxe must be hammered thousands of times and reforged dozens of times by heating, otherwise it cannot withstand high-intensity mining tasks.

This is where the saying "forged through countless trials" comes from.

These twenty or thirty people spent several days forging these tools, leaving them exhausted and breathless.
Roman said, "The salt mine is enough for now. Lax, have everyone stop. You need to forge other things next."

The shovel goes without saying.

This thing is a powerful tool for infrastructure construction and must be forged. It can easily increase the speed of road paving by 30% to 50%.

Roman needs at least several hundred shovels, both square-headed and pointed, to ensure that everyone has one.

Secondly, Roman was very concerned about the rise in wheat prices over there.

That batch of spring wheat will be ready for harvest in a little over a month, and we can't do without the right farming tools.

Some things can't be done without preparation in advance.

Roman drew up new farm implement designs for Lax.

It was a straight iron knife, one meter long and five centimeters wide, and its shape was very similar to a guillotine.

This thing is called a saber.

A strong adult can harvest four or five acres of wheat a day with a scythe, which greatly saves labor.

Roman's task for Lax was to forge 100 sabers within a month—this was just the blade; once forged, it would be fixed to a woven fabric resembling a winnowing basket, so the carpenter Vickers also needed to come over.

Roman himself wanted to forge something else.

……

[Forging Experience +1]!
He found an anvil and began his journey of crafting the artisan god.

Lax was also paying close attention to Roman's actions.

There was no way around it; he was the highest-ranking person in the entire blacksmith's shed. Although blacksmiths held a relatively high status in this era, and most of them had excellent relationships with the local lords.

The more skilled a blacksmith is, the higher his status will be.

Noble lords often treated blacksmiths well, so the situation of high-level professionals was naturally different from that of commoners.

But I've never seen noblemen personally go out and compete for business.

[Forging Experience +1]

Is Mr. Roman forging a kitchen knife?

[Forging Experience +1]

However, his forging technique was very clumsy, and he clearly had never forged iron before. I would advise him to become a nobleman instead, as not everyone can do blacksmithing.

[Forging Experience +1]

...It looks somewhat decent now.

[Forging Experience +1]

Ok?
[Forging Experience +1]

Uh huh huh? ? ?
Lax watched as Roman transformed from a novice into a confident and experienced blacksmith in just one afternoon.

From initially hitting the hammer randomly to hitting the exact spot every time, it all started.

In the end, a gleaming kitchen knife was forged.

While it wouldn't be accurate to say it could cut a hair in two, it's certainly of excellent quality.

Roman was fairly satisfied with the five points of forging experience he gained in one afternoon.

He was quite proud of his innate blacksmithing physique.

Roman examined his first kitchen knife, found a wooden handle to attach it, and then, under Lax's stunned gaze, left the blacksmith's shed.

Back to Origin Manor.

Roman presented the kitchen knife he had crafted that day to Chef Bob.

"You've been quite diligent these past few days. Keep up the good work. This is a reward for you; I made it myself."

Chef Bob started learning to cook from his father at the age of six and worked in the Grand Duchy for twenty years. Despite his large belly, he looked like he was in his thirties or forties.

He thought to himself that giving me a day off was more important than anything else.

Bob was skeptical of Roman's claim of "personally crafting" the work, but that didn't stop him from being thrilled to have Roman's appreciation.

Roman did it on a whim. He didn't expect to kill Bob with a kitchen knife.

But it's still possible to get Bob to continue working for him without complaint.

During dinner, Sais reported to him on the details of the day.

The road construction targets have been met.

Roman wasn't surprised. He had made some predictions about the paving progress in the morning. He was sure that 500 meters could be paved before dark. In the early stages of road construction, the speed was relatively fast because the transportation of materials was not difficult. However, the latter half became more difficult, requiring the transportation of building materials back and forth.

It's not convenient at the salt mine either.

Because of road construction, salt mine workers could only drive around the area.

Fortunately, the previously paved road was wide and did not significantly affect transportation.

Roman picked up the fried chicken leg and slowly chewed on the meat. He said to Seth, "I've asked Lax to work overtime to make a batch of shovels. The road paving speed will get faster and faster in the future."

"I want to have this road completely repaired before the summer harvest."

Roman set this goal.

Seth shook his head and said, "I'm afraid there won't be enough manpower in other areas."

Roman said calmly, "It's alright, more slaves will be sent to Sig Town in the future."

Seth advised, "Too many slaves are not a good thing for you."

"why?"

“They are refugees, homeless, landless, potential destabilizing factors, and each with their own agenda.”

(End of this chapter)