I'm not a lord

Chapter 161 Declaring War on Lynn

Lynn had already had two previous experiences exploring long forests, and this time, with a local guide familiar with the terrain, he was naturally on his way.

In just one day, his team advanced a full twenty kilometers westward.

The former Baron of Red Creek was fond of hunting, and these two guides often accompanied him on hunts, so they were quite familiar with the forest area.

Along the way, Lynn overcame numerous obstacles and discovered several open-pit stone quarries.

However, stone ore is abundant in Baihe territory and has little value.

Moreover, after walking these twenty kilometers, we arrived at a mountainous area that even the guide was unfamiliar with.

After a brief search, Lynn quickly found the so-called 'Red Creek' on the edge of the mountains.

In reality, they are just two reddish-brown streams in the woods.

Upon closer inspection, one can see that there are almost no living organisms in these streams, and the banks of the streams are sparsely covered with vegetation.

Lynn's knowledge told him that the iron content in the water was inhibiting the growth of organisms.

If you simply go against the current, you'll most likely find the iron ore you're looking for.

After a night's rest, Lynn led his team to continue traversing mountains and valleys with the help of pixel maps.

As they followed the stream into the mountains, he found a guide and asked, "Didn't the previous baron of Red Creek ever consider exploring the upper reaches of the stream?"

The burly guide replied, "Sir, the previous barons of Red Creek Territory have all explored the upper reaches of the stream. It is said that the baron before him even found traces of iron ore, but he eventually abandoned the mining. As for the reason, I don't know."

Lynn could guess why the previous Baron of Red Creek hadn't mined iron ore.

The reason for not mining is simply that the profit is not enough, or that they cannot win against market competitors. Mining and smelting iron is not as cost-effective as simply buying it directly.

The iron mine in Chixi Territory is located deep in the mountains. To mine it, a large amount of manpower must first be used to build roads.

Repairing the road is only the first step; a sufficient and stable workforce is also needed to mine the ore and carry it down the mountain.

The total population of Chixi Territory is only about five thousand. Conscripting a large number of serfs to mine would seriously affect agricultural production.

Moreover, serfs were very resistant to mining work, which was highly dangerous. Forcing serfs to mine would easily cause them to resist, which would be counterproductive.

After all, serfs had land to cultivate and a stable income from food, so who would be willing to take the risk of mining?

Even if they actually make money, the lord won't share much with them.

The serfs in the White Bear Territory were initially quite resistant to mining salt.

Lynn managed to gather enough deserters to set up the salt mine.

Moreover, even if Chixi Territory were to actually open mines and produce iron ingots, it would be difficult for them to compete with the iron ingots produced in Jingtie Territory in terms of price.

When he was a bandit leader, Lynn spent some time in Mirror Iron Territory.

That place really is a territory that grew out of an iron mine.

Many mines were located along the riverbanks, and the iron extracted from the mines could be smelted into ingots and immediately loaded onto ships for transport to Sanhe City, making transportation extremely convenient.

Therefore, the price of iron ingots in the North has never been high; a ton can be bought for a mere twenty gold coins, and the quality is excellent.

Unlike Chixi Territory, where finding a mine requires trekking through mountains and rivers and venturing into barren lands, the transportation aspect alone is completely defeated by Jingtie Territory.

Another major obstacle to developing the iron and steel industry in Chixi Territory is the lack of skilled miners and iron and steel workers.

Both mining and smelting require a certain level of technical expertise.

If you send a bunch of serfs who have farmed for half their lives to smelt iron, without expert guidance, it will take at least two generations to improve their skills, and you'll be wasting the labor force that farmed the land.

Of course, none of these were problems for Lynn.

He has the technology.

He has no shortage of labor.

The serfs were indeed unwilling to mine.

No one would willingly live in a wasteland where they can't afford to eat!

Lynn is now worried about how to settle the High Cliff tribe, who are about to submit to him.

This tribe had twice the population of the lowland tribes, and even if some of the old, weak, sick, and disabled died during the migration, there were still at least seven thousand people.

Lynn's plan is to recruit four hundred archers from among them, and with their families, that would make up two thousand men.

The remaining five thousand people cannot all be sent to farm. There are not enough farm tools or draft horses, and they themselves do not know much about farming. If they are asked to reclaim wasteland, it will take at least three years to reap any harvest.

Baihe doesn't support idlers, and Lin En wouldn't support them for three years for nothing.

Moreover, the Gaoya tribe needs an adaptation process to integrate into the territory; they cannot be allowed to live among the local serfs directly.

They should first settle around the iron mine, exchange ore for food, and gradually adapt to their new life in a semi-closed environment.

Just like the lowland tribes, they first had to mine salt and send their people to join the army before gradually integrating with the White Bear Territory.

Another major advantage of having the High Cliff tribe mine iron ore is that it can prevent them from being held hostage by Three Rivers City or Mirror Iron Territory.

Lynn is about to officially begin a trade war with Three Rivers City, and he will not be able to obtain a large supply of iron ingots until he takes over the city.

The iron mines of Chixi Territory are the source of his confidence in waging war against the city.

After a day of traversing mountains and valleys, Lynn finally found an iron ore mine in the western mountains of Red Creek Territory.

This is a high-quality open-pit limonite mine, located in a depression on a hillside at an altitude of 700 meters, more than 30 kilometers away from Chixiling Castle.

The iron ore mine is surrounded by a series of reddish-brown water-filled pits, like red gems embedded in the hillside.

The area around the puddle was bare, with almost no vegetation.

Seeing Lucas bend down and curiously scoop out a handful of red water, Lynn immediately warned, "Don't drink it, this water is poisonous."

Lucas sniffed the water and replied, "Sir, I was just curious and wanted to smell it. This water has a rusty smell, which is strange."

“This place is an iron mine, so the water naturally has a rusty smell.” Lynn looked around and found that the open-pit iron mine was not small, with the exposed surface spanning seven or eight meters and extending all the way to the end of the hillside.

Lynn's [Gathering] skill has now been upgraded to level four.

Based on the knowledge provided by the skill, he knew that this limonite was generally formed by the oxidation and weathering of other iron ores and was commonly found in the shallow layers of the earth's surface.

This type of iron ore has a relatively low iron content, but its advantage lies in its loose texture, which makes it easy to smelt. Simply crush the ore, dry it, and then alternately stack the ore and charcoal in a simple vertical furnace. After heating, you can obtain what is known as 'bloom iron'.

Because of its porous sponge-like shape, it is also known as sponge iron.

By repeatedly heating and forging sponge iron to remove impurities, high-purity low-carbon wrought iron can be obtained, which is the iron ingot that Lynn bought from Three Rivers City.

This smelting method is relatively primitive and not very technologically advanced. Due to insufficient furnace temperature, it can only reduce iron ore to sponge iron with more impurities, and cannot be smelted into high-purity molten iron.

Lynn has now mastered the technology of blast furnace iron smelting, and can melt iron to cast ironware.

Cast iron smelted in a blast furnace is high-carbon iron, which is hard but tough, and cannot be forged into weapons and armor by blacksmiths.

To decarburize it into forgeable low-carbon wrought iron, several steps are required.

There are many prerequisite technologies to activate during this period, and it also requires a high level of worker proficiency.

Given the limited level of handicrafts among the peasants and local serfs, it was practically unrealistic to develop blast furnace iron smelting in a short period of time.

Anyway, bloomery iron is not unusable. With the help of a hydraulic forging hammer, bloomery iron can still take advantage of its low carbon content.

After discovering the location of the limonite ore, Lynn did not stop and embarked on his journey home that same day.

Two days later, he returned to Red Creek Territory as scheduled. A messenger from River Swamp Territory also arrived, bringing with him the latest news from the Three Rivers City Council.

Surprisingly, the city council made concessions this time, agreeing to relinquish some pricing power to Lynn, allowing them to slightly increase the purchase price of raw materials such as grain by referencing market price fluctuations.

Taking rye as an example, the purchase price in a normal year is 8 silver coins per 300 kilograms.

The city council is now willing to offer 12 silver coins, a 50% increase, hoping Lynn will sell grain at that price.

In addition to the city council's heartfelt letter, the messenger also brought a message from old Albert:
"My lord, the city council has sent three groups of representatives in the past week, all of whom wanted to meet with you, but Mr. Albert blocked them all at the River Marsh Territory. Mr. Albert also asked me to tell you that the three iron chains are almost finished and can be installed."

By authorization from Lynn, when he was not in the Marshlands, old Albert had the right to handle some of his domestic and foreign affairs.

Old Ai did not disappoint him; he not only stalled the city council representatives but also completed the Hengjiang Iron Chain on schedule.

"Tell Albert to proceed according to plan. Also, have him drive all the city council representatives away. If the grain purchase price doesn't triple, then there's no point in them coming back!"

Now that the chains are in place, Lynn no longer needs to be polite to Three Rivers City.

Three times the grain price is the best offer he can make; take it or leave it.

Of course, if Three Rivers City could really tolerate such high grain prices, Lynn wouldn't mind selling some to them.

Because high grain prices are equivalent to starvation, they can still throw Sanhe City into chaos.

He can also take the opportunity to make a lot of money, so why not?

After a brief rest in Red Creek Territory, Lynn headed north to Green Lake Territory the following day.

According to the established plan, he will travel overland through Green Lake Territory and Shallow Beach Territory, all the way back to White Bear Territory.

This was also his first return to White Bear Territory since he declared himself Earl of White River.

In a way, White Bear Territory could be considered Lynn's second hometown. He was very familiar with every tree and blade of grass there, and he personally supervised the construction of a large number of buildings and projects.

Moreover, there are two important matters waiting for Lynn to handle in White Bear Territory: the relocation of the armor workshop and the resettlement of the High Cliff tribe.

When he arrived in Green Lake Territory to begin his inspection of the territory, the Three Rivers City Council also received his latest terms.

"Triple the price of grain? Why doesn't he just rob people? Even robbery doesn't bring in money that fast!"

Mayor Jürgen launched into a tirade against Lynn at the city council meeting, and the council representative he brought back from the swamp also got a good scolding from him.

"You bunch of good-for-nothings! Negotiating with a local lord is such a simple matter! You can't even handle this properly and you still have the nerve to come back? I think you might as well just jump into the Baihe River and feed the fish!"

The representatives all kept their heads down and dared not utter a sound.

They were also in a difficult situation, as they hadn't even been able to meet Lynn this time, leaving them with no way to use their negotiation skills!

It was the more lenient head of the brewing guild who spoke up to dissuade them: "Alright, this has nothing to do with them. This Lynn is just a bandit leader who doesn't understand business at all. All he knows is that food prices will rise during wartime."

The black-robed priest from the Three Saints Sect sneered, "I think he doesn't understand how terrifying the city is. Sanhe City has the exclusive trading rights to the Baihe region. If he doesn't want to sell, let him keep it for two years, until it gets moldy and spoiled, until it fattens up with rats, then he'll know the pain."

The fat, rat-like grain guild leader retorted, "Two years? I don't think he'll live more than two months! His Excellency the Duke has recently conquered three cities in succession, and he'll be crowned king in another month! At that time, crushing that traitor Lynn will be easier than crushing an ant!"

The city council was in an uproar, with the vast majority of councilors believing that Lynn was just a grasshopper in autumn and wouldn't last long.

But they cannot avoid the current problem: how to fill the gap in food and timber?

The importance of food goes without saying, while timber is the city's primary fuel and building material.

Without charcoal, most of the city's handicraft workshops had to shut down, including the most important brewing and forging industries.

Moreover, charcoal is indispensable to the daily lives of the residents.

Jürgen did have a solution to this.

"There's nothing to panic about. Even if we leave Baihe Territory, Sanhe City will still be Sanhe City."

The city's existing grain reserves should last until July without any problem, at which time the farmland in the western suburbs will be ready for the autumn harvest. However, this grain can only meet the city's needs, so the brewing guild will have to endure some hardship for now.

Timber is also easy to obtain; the Duke has already conquered four earls within the Crown Territory, and we can purchase timber from those territories. They will certainly be happy to trade with us.”

The brewing guild in Sanhe City exports tens of thousands of barrels of ale every year, but this year, due to the food shortage, this business deal is definitely off.

The head of the brewing guild resembled a wine barrel and was nicknamed "Wine Barrel." His temperament was as smooth as a wine barrel. A bitter smile appeared on his face: "My brothers in the guild understand the city's difficulties. We just need to reduce taxes a bit this year and next year."

Mayor Jürgen immediately stated: "The wine guild will be exempt from all taxes until the food supply returns to normal."

Three Rivers City has a long tradition of unity. When faced with a threat from White River Territory, the city councilors quickly put aside their differences and united to resist the enemy.

After emergency consultations, Jürgen, as mayor and chairman of the city council, issued an order: "Since Lynn is not sincere, there is no need for us to negotiate with him any further!"

Starting today, Sanhe City will suspend all trade with Baihe Territory, dispatch a fleet to block the Baihe River, and prohibit any ships from entering or leaving Baihe Territory!

At the same time, issue letters of privateering to all captains within the city, permitting anyone to plunder White River Territory in any way! And pardon all their acts of plunder!

Sanhe City's methods are not limited to trade blockades.

The merchant ships in the city were all armed, and since there was no business to be done, they might as well start looting!
Just as merchant ships at the docks were heading north to the White River Territory, Leon's messenger arrived at the Duke of the Valley's residence with a personal letter from Lynn.

(End of this chapter)