I'm not a lord

Chapter 209 Medals of Honor and Bronze Mortars

After the military conference concluded, that afternoon, Lynn summoned Linus, the president of the Three Rivers Foundry Guild, and two skilled foundry craftsmen to the western outskirts military camp.

Casting techniques were widely used at this time.

From the massive bronze doors and bells of churches and monasteries to everyday items such as candlesticks, wine glasses, and brooches, the craftsmanship of casting can be seen everywhere.

In fact, given the current minting capabilities of Three Rivers City, Lynn could even open his own mint.

They collect the old gold and silver coins, mint new coins with their own portraits, and incidentally collect a large sum of seigniorage.

Seigniorage was a significant source of income for the great nobles at that time.

Because gold and silver coins lose weight due to wear and tear during circulation, they need to be melted down and recast periodically.

Gold and silver don't have high melting points, so minting coins isn't difficult; the challenge lies in securing the protection of those in power.

In the process of minting new coins, whoever controls the power to mint coins can take this opportunity to collect seigniorage.

In simpler terms, a fixed tax was levied at a certain percentage of the currency's value when it was minted, usually between 10% and 30%, depending on the greed of the nobles.

More complex methods involve secretly adding base metals such as copper and lead during coinage, allowing them to plunder large sums of wealth without anyone noticing, with hidden tax rates reaching as high as 50%.

The cost, of course, is currency devaluation, soaring prices, economic collapse in the territory, and widespread public discontent.

After all, people aren't stupid; they'll naturally notice when there's too much inferior currency in the market.

They would spontaneously collect the full amount of old coins and only use the inferior new coins.

This is the most basic law of Gresham's Law: Gresham's Law.

Fortunately, the nobles of the Northern Kingdom are relatively honest and rarely engage in underhanded practices when minting coins; at most, they collect a fixed amount of seigniorage.

Therefore, the value of the Northern currency has remained relatively stable, thus maintaining price stability for over a century.

The current surge in food and a few other commodity prices is due to the impact of war, and has little to do with currency.

Lynn summoned Linus and the others not to mint currency for taxation, but to mint medals.

"Look at these blueprints, can they be built?"

Inside the military tent, Lynn handed Linas a detailed blueprint for a bronze medal.

"Sir, give us a week, and I guarantee we'll satisfy you."

Linus and the craftsmen glanced at the blueprints and said there were no problems.

The object in the design drawing was a thick, round copper plate, less than the size of a palm, with patterns of laurel branches, longswords and shields, and giant bears engraved on the front.

Several lines of text are engraved on the back, which appear to be a brief account of the Battle of Mikawa Castle and its specific date.

In terms of production difficulty, it is not high at all. Copper is relatively soft and very easy to carve.

If mass production is required, an inverted template can be carved first, and then sand casting can be used, which is similar to the process of casting copper coins.

This is precisely Linus's specialty.

The large, exquisitely designed bronze bell in the Sanhe City Cathedral was made under his supervision, and he succeeded on the first try. Making some patterned bronze pieces would be a piece of cake for him.
Lynn immediately ordered, "Then make one hundred as soon as possible. The front design must be exquisite, and the lettering on the back must be clear. I want to use these medals to reward soldiers who have made meritorious contributions in the war."

The creation of bronze medals was Lynn's initial attempt to establish a merit system.

Currently, his army maintains high morale mainly by distributing large plots of land, granting free citizen status, and providing high salaries and rewards.

But if you rely solely on material incentives, then there's not much difference between them and mercenaries.

Over time, soldiers will naturally evolve into mercenaries, and will even become unwilling to work unless they are rewarded.

This situation is historically documented and even quite common.

Lynn needs to use some higher-level, spiritual rewards to keep the soldiers motivated and loyal.

The laurel branch on the front of the medal symbolizes victory and glory, while the bear and sword and shield represent courage and strength.

The inscription on the back records a brief account of the battle and its time. The name of the recipient is also engraved when the medal is awarded, which is an affirmation of the recipient's achievements.

At that time, Lynn will also hold a grand medal awarding ceremony in the army to publicly commend brave soldiers who have made outstanding contributions in the war.

He would even send messengers to the hometowns of the recipients so that their elders and fellow villagers would know about their glorious deeds.

In the near future, Lynn also plans to launch regular flights between Three Rivers City and the counties of White River Territory, using public vessels to transport passengers and goods.

When the time comes, these award recipients will be able to travel back to their hometowns by boat to visit their families free of charge, and their families will also receive gifts and condolences from the local government during holidays.

By employing multiple approaches and maximizing both material and spiritual rewards, there's no need to worry about soldiers being unwilling to fight bravely on the battlefield.

Issuing medals to ordinary soldiers, and hundreds at a time, was something Linas and his men had never heard of or seen before.

Even if they are not soldiers, they can understand the weighty honor that this medal symbolizes.

Then Lynn handed them another set of blueprints: "What about this? Can it be made too?"

"Sir, what is this? Is it a bell?"

Linus took the blueprints and looked at them carefully several times, but still couldn't figure them out.

Overall, the thing in the drawing looks a bit like a miniature bronze bell, but its bell walls are too thick, the cavity in the middle is too narrow, and the bell body is too short and stout, so it definitely can't be rung.

"Just tell me if it's possible to make it? Using the lost-wax casting method, I think it shouldn't be too difficult."

Lynn clearly asked the craftsmen to build cannons, specifically large-caliber, short-barreled muzzle-loading bronze mortars.

This type of artillery looks like a chubby little guy. It has a relatively low rate of fire, a short range, and an arc-shaped trajectory. It is mainly used in siege warfare or trench warfare.

The nobles of the North are keen on building sturdy castles, many of which are built against mountains and by water, making them extremely difficult to conquer.

Especially in the area of ​​the Duke of the Valley, almost every castle is built on a mountain, and no matter how many soldiers you have, you won't have enough to fill the gaps.

To facilitate future expansion, Lynn has already accessed the gunpowder and artillery technology trees through the Lord's Game panel.

Before mortars specifically designed for siege warfare, even the most fortified castle is nothing more than a thicker target.

Moreover, at that time, there were no sloping city walls in the North that could defend against artillery fire.

However, due to the relatively underdeveloped handicraft industry in the North, Lynn could only have the craftsmen try to make the simplest bronze mortars first.

Generally speaking, if one can cast a bronze bell, one can also cast a bronze mortar.

These two items not only share the same casting principle, but also use almost the same materials, differing only slightly in the ratio of copper to tin.

Lynn didn't explain much to Linus. The data on the blueprints was detailed enough, including the material proportions and specific processes for casting the cannon, and even the thickness of each structure was accurate to the millimeter.

As long as an identical wax model is first sculpted according to the blueprints, and then the bronze mortar is cast using the lost-wax casting method, there is a high probability that nothing will go wrong.

Linus frowned and looked at the blueprints again. After whispering something to the two experienced craftsmen, he replied:

"Sir, it is certainly possible to make it, but you must give us at least six months. After all, the craftsmen have never cast this before, so mistakes are inevitable. Moreover, it is the rainy season now, and we must wait until the rainy season ends before we can start making the molds."

The lost-wax casting process offers very high precision, but the drawback is that the molds need to be air-dried in a dry and ventilated place for three to six months, making it impossible to start production during the humid rainy season.

Moreover, since this was the first time the craftsmen in the foundry guild had made a mortar, they were bound to create multiple wax models to allow for more room for error.

"Then it's up to you. Do your best to build it. If you succeed, you'll be rewarded handsomely."

Lynn is currently the lifetime president of the Craftsmen's Guild, so ordering these craftsmen around is just a matter of giving an order.

Moreover, the two vice presidents he appointed were quite capable.

In less than half a month, the two of them had set up the headquarters, and set up multiple departments, including secretaries, accountants, auditors and other functions.

Lynn only needs to submit the orders to the headquarters, and professionals will compile and summarize the expenses.

Next, he met with the blacksmiths' guild leader and five experienced craftsmen in the military camp.

"Have you thought it through?"

Lynn asked these craftsmen to consider learning how to forge plate armor in Chixi County.

Under Eric's supervision, the large armor workshop in Chixi County has been completed, with not only a supporting dam built, but also a full thirty hydraulic forging hammers.

If production is ramped up, the monthly output of plate armor and plate suits can reach more than 20 sets, which is four to five times that of the past.

Everything was ready except for the blacksmith.

Lynn glanced over and saw that all six people had their star ratings and attribute values ​​displayed, with the lowest being three stars.

In terms of attribute values ​​and characteristics, these people are in no way inferior to Eric, the strongest blacksmith in White River Territory.

It's no wonder that Mikawa City is famous for its iron forging; the high-quality iron ingots from the Mirror Iron Earl's territory are truly nourishing.

However, no matter how high the attribute values ​​are, if you want to forge plate armor, you still need to learn the specific process and understand the forging techniques first.

Eric was personally trained by Lynn before he gained the ability to forge plate armor independently, and that was for half-body armor excluding arm and leg armor.

The arm armor and leg armor are quite difficult to make; even if Lynn were to make them himself, it would take him nearly a month to create a set.

He currently needs to increase the production capacity of half-body armor, at least to arm a battalion of 500 heavy cavalry before he has spare capacity to consider manufacturing full-body plate armor.

Therefore, Lynn needs more skilled and experienced blacksmiths.

One of his main objectives in conquering Sanhe City was to acquire the city's blacksmiths.

Three days ago, he officially issued an order to the Handicraft Association to send five blacksmiths and twenty apprentices to Chixi County to forge armor, with food and lodging provided and the treatment being extremely generous.

"My lord, they are all willing to offer you their absolute loyalty!"

President Isaac of the Blacksmiths' Guild gave the reply on behalf of the five craftsmen.

Isaac currently holds several positions: he is a member of the city council, the executive vice president of the Craftsmen's Association, and oversees hundreds of blacksmiths of all ranks in the blacksmiths' guild.

The five blacksmiths he prepared for Lynn were among the most outstanding in the guild, possessing most of the existing forging techniques in the North and even capable of crafting the core structure of catapults. They were the absolute core of the guild.

At first, Isaac was very distressed when he received the order to be transferred, but he had no choice but to submit due to the lord's power.

Two days ago, after witnessing the terrifying defensive power of plate armor in the military camp, he immediately realized that this was a huge opportunity for the Blacksmith Guild of Sanhe City to take off again.

Lynn showed him the damaged plate armor that had been stabbed by Count Blackwood.

Although the front of the plate armor suffered an extremely terrifying impact, it was not pierced. It was only dented inward by a few centimeters, and a small hole was broken at the center of the dent.

Thanks to the force-absorbing effect of the arc-shaped breastplate, coupled with the defensive capabilities of the inner chainmail and armored clothing, the cavalrymen wearing this plate armor only suffered some internal injuries and were able to recover completely after a period of rest.

That day, Lynn stood fifty meters away and fired three arrows at the damaged plate armor with his crossbow.

The impact site only showed minor scratches and dents.

A crossbow that could easily pierce chainmail at this distance was completely helpless against this damaged plate armor.

After watching Lynn's demonstration, an incredulous Isaac even tried shooting two arrows himself, but the result was the same.

He went completely insane.

Compared to this plate armor, the chainmail armor that the blacksmiths' guild used to forge was utterly inferior.

Comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges; they're not even in the same league.

If the blacksmiths' guild in Three Rivers City were to master the forging techniques for such armor, one can imagine that orders from all over the Northern Kingdom would pour in like snowflakes!
Originally, Isaac planned to send two senior blacksmiths, plus several intermediate blacksmiths, to deal with the master.

After witnessing the terrifying defensive power of the plate armor, he immediately brought out all of his core blacksmithing skills.

The twenty apprentices who were assigned to the group were all intermediate-level blacksmiths, making up half of the guild's intermediate and senior-level blacksmiths.

If he didn't have multiple positions, Isaac would even have liked to go to Chixi Territory in person to learn advanced technology.

No, this isn't a study trip, it's a pilgrimage!
Seeing Isaac's devout and excited expression, Lynn knew exactly what he was thinking.

But it didn't matter; he wasn't afraid of his technology being leaked at all.

Given the level of transportation these days, the speed of technology dissemination is inherently slow.

Even if they were allowed to learn it freely, it would take at least ten years for the knowledge to spread throughout the North.

“Very good, then let’s sign this contract. I will arrange for a boat to take you to Chixi County tomorrow.”

Lynn pulled out a parchment contract with a beaming smile, looking just like a human trafficker.

According to the contract, these blacksmiths were required to work for Lynn for five years before they could leave.

Even though it was a contract of servitude, they didn't hesitate to press their fingerprints on the parchment.

For them, all known forging techniques were already mastered, and the unknown advanced techniques were worth their five years of dedicated effort.

As the saying goes, "If one hears the Way in the morning, one can die content in the evening."

(End of this chapter)