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

Chapter 88 Spring Plan
Roman improved farm tools, sieved seeds, and applied fertilizers, freeing up a large amount of labor from the land.

But this workforce is still not enough!

He needs people!
The slave ships were far from meeting Roman's demand for labor.

Therefore, he set his sights on Kangdeling, a hundred kilometers away from Sige Town.

The land ruled by the Earl of Conde.

Located on the edge of the Black Iron Kingdom, the land is vast, half of which is barren mountains and wilderness, and the territory is relatively fragmented and incomplete.

Its population is between 30,000 and 50,000.

Kantland doesn't have many special products; its main output is grain, making it a proper agricultural territory.

Some time ago, merchants from Sig Town traded salt for a large amount of grain in Kangde Territory.

The grain from Kangdeling was transported to the upper reaches of the Bro River, and the grain ships passed through the Silver Dragon Gorge to reach the town of Sige.

In the past, there was sporadic trade between Condry and Sig, with each side keeping to itself.

By now, Earl Conde must know that Sig is a salt-producing area.

Roman didn't believe the count had no feelings for him.

Coincidentally, he also had some ideas.

Roman plans to launch a surprise attack on Kande next year to plunder its population.

The conditions in Sige Town are not yet ripe, and we need to plan patiently.

Roman named the project "Project Spring".

He is eager to implement the plan before the end of next spring.

Therefore, he needs a well-trained and fearless elite force.

When the spring plan is implemented next year, this army will need at least 400 qualified soldiers, including 200 heavy-armored units.

They do not engage in any production; they exist solely for war and conquest.

Roman would provide them with the best equipment and logistics.

Looting is definitely going to happen!

Everything will get better once the population increases.

To ensure the progress of the "Spring Plan," all the labor force in Sig Town will have an exceptionally tough time in the second half of this year.

But it's okay, next year someone will come to suffer with them.

Only war!

Only plunder!

Roman clenched his fist gently, his heart surging with emotion.

Seth was unaware of Roman's plans, but he was astonished when he heard that armor for 400 people was to be forged before the end of winter.

Having iron ore does not mean you can smelt iron.

According to current iron smelting methods, this would take forever to complete.

The current resources simply cannot support a project of this size.

The steps are tedious and require a lot of manpower.

Roman, however, had made up his mind and was always decisive in his actions.

He had just returned from the wilderness and hadn't even rested for a moment before he immediately got up and left Origin Manor, quickly arriving at the blacksmith's shed.

You can imagine how hot it must be in the blacksmith's shed during the sweltering summer.

As soon as Roman entered, he felt a wave of heat.

It's much hotter here than outside, and there's a constant clanging and banging noise.

Several barrels of beer and herbal tea were soaking in the river next to the waterwheel, keeping it cool and supplying their water needs.

Those tall, muscular blacksmiths stood intently in front of their forging hammers, shirtless and sweating profusely, constantly turning the red-hot iron ingots with iron tongs, using the weight of the forging hammers to forge them.

"Lax, you have a new mission. Are you happy?"

As soon as Roman entered, Lax came to greet him.

He didn't quite understand the humor in Roman's words, but he could hear the passion in them and knew that another job had come, so he said, "Just give the order." In this fiery blacksmith's shed, he felt as if he had found his purpose and home in life.

Originally, I worked as a blacksmith to make a living. Now, watching the hammers rise and fall, sparks fly, and shapes are forged, I feel a unique sense of beauty. I vaguely understand what the professional spirit of a blacksmith is.

Roman first asked, "How many kilograms of iron are left?"

“One thousand catties,” Lax estimated.

These days, they have been using forging hammers day and night to forge countless kinds of farm tools, especially shovels. There are more than enough shovels for every person in Sige Town.

The problem is that the women and children cannot use these farm tools.

Nowadays, most farm tools are idle, waiting for someone to use them.

Roman clenched his fist. "A thousand catties... Good! Forge all of it into weapons. I want 400 sets, and two hundred iron-inlaid shields!"

When he said the second half of the sentence, he made a victory V shape with his fingers.

Lax was not surprised by Roman's order.

In fact, he had long been wondering when Roman would ask him to forge weapons.

In this era, forging weapons for nobles was arguably the ultimate destiny of a blacksmith.

Roman was the most unconventional of all the nobles, as he was willing to use large amounts of iron to forge farm tools rather than weapons.

In recent days, he has only forged two steel swords, far from large-scale forging.

“These iron ingots may not be enough.” Lax was somewhat troubled after hearing Roman’s detailed requirements.

Roman demanded extremely high standards for the shield.

The shield's main structure is made of wood, and when standing upright, it is U-shaped with slightly backward-curving sides. It is 1.6 meters high, 1 meter wide, and 5 centimeters thick. A 20-pound sheet of iron is completely embedded in the surface of the wooden shield, so the overall weight is very likely as high as 40 to 50 pounds.

The fantasy human race has high potential, and such a heavy and huge shield can definitely be used. The way to use it is not to lift it up, but to put it on the ground.

However, it was definitely inconvenient to move around, as they were heavy infantry units. Roman needed them to carry 70 to 80 pounds each, using these special shields to deal with the conquering knights—light infantry also had light shields.

Water-powered forging hammers can't forge plate armor, but forging a sheet of iron is relatively easy.

However, the consumption of 200 shields is huge, with each shield requiring 20 jin of iron, which would cost 4000 jin in total.

Not to mention weapons, such as steel spearheads, scimitars, and short swords, which consume steel, some weighing one or two pounds, others two or three pounds.

These commonly used weapons can only be used for a year or two at most before they need to be replaced, and naturally wear and tear and combat consumption are major problems.

Training a fully armed soldier has always been extremely expensive.

Roman understood this principle well.

So he promised, "Lax, go for it. We'll soon never have an iron shortage again, never again."

Lax was immediately struck by these words; their meaning was far from ordinary.

"really?"

Lax swore he hadn’t been this excited when Roman said he’d found the salt mine.

He can afford to eat salt, but he really can't afford to forge iron.

Roman said lightly, "Of course, we still need to buy iron ingots from others first."

"Forge the armor first. Don't rush the heavy shields. I want Vicki to arm my warriors with the best wood!"

He left the blacksmith's shed with great interest and went to the woodworking shop, where he explained his needs to Vicki.

Roman seemed to have inexhaustible energy.

After arranging his future plans, that afternoon he herded hundreds of laborers to the designated road-building site, much like driving livestock.

They wielded sharp axes and machetes to cut down the bushes and trees, and then used shovels to level the land.

Herbal tea and beer were delivered here in a steady stream, and he also sent someone to ask Garin for a herbal formula to repel insects.

Roman outlined their task schedule for the day, instructing them to advance 1 kilometer before the end of the day.

However, this work only lasted two days.

Roman's high spirits were dampened by a downpour.

(End of this chapter)