Game of Thrones: I am Dothraki, not a barbarian

Chapter 110 Velvet Mine

Lahalo's reputation in Pentos had reached its peak; wherever he went, people worshipped him. He and his warriors finally managed to squeeze out of the city and onto the Valyrian Avenue, where they quickened their pace.

Three hundred kilometers is not far on the grassland. Three days later, they arrived at the Velvet Hills, about one hundred kilometers northeast of Gedoho. In the distance, they could already see wisps of smoke rising from the hillside, indicating that the mine was almost there.

They rode their horses up the hillside, where towering wooden towers came into view, one every fifty meters. The sentries on the towers were all armed with repeating crossbows, and crossfire could be formed between two adjacent towers.

Between the towers, there are wooden fences more than three meters high, enclosing the entire mining area into a closed space.

At the main gate, Marco Mandak, a former general of the Gold Regiment who had surrendered, was inspecting the people and supplies entering and leaving.

He had a face covered in rashes, and a slave mark that had been burned off on one cheek after he joined the Golden Company, leaving a large hole in his face.

He claimed to be from the once-illustrious Mandark family of Westeros, but mercenaries claim all sorts of things, and nobody cares.

Marco distinguished himself in the defense of the city, so Lahallo promoted him to overseer of the mines. In addition, his past as a slave gave him an understanding of slave psychology, making him a suitable candidate to manage the more than 5,000 Westeros prisoners of war held there.

"Lord Kao!" Upon seeing Lahalo, Marco immediately knelt on one knee in greeting. "It is an honor for you to grace the mine with your presence!"

Rahalo dismounted and looked at the seemingly endless mine wall, a wave of emotion rising in his heart.

The Dothraki, who only knew how to plunder and kill, now owned real estate under his leadership. This transformation from nothing to something gave him a greater sense of accomplishment than victory on the battlefield.

The mining area was filled with the smells of dust, sweat, and metal.

More than 5,000 prisoners of war were scattered in various areas, wearing only simple linen clothes, wooden-soled straw sandals, and iron rings around their necks so that they could be chained and controlled.

“There are 5134 Westeros prisoners of war in total,” Mark explained. “They are divided into squads of 100 men each, with one overseer and two guards. They work seven days a week, 12 hours a day. The squad that performs best each day gets an extra ration, and the squad that produces the most each month gets a day off.”

Rahalo gave Marco a thumbs-up, saying that professional matters should be left to professionals. He didn't understand these details, and if the Dothraki were to handle them, they would probably all be killed in no time.

The mine pit extended downwards in a stepped fashion. The prisoners of war dug down in circles, using pickaxes to chisel out the ore, put it into baskets, and then used a winch to pull the baskets back to the surface.

According to Ma Ke, each miner can extract 30 kilograms of iron ore per day, and 5,000 people can produce about 150 tons of raw ore.

“They need to be fed properly; black bread and barley porridge are essential,” Lajalo said. “Those who behave well get a glass of ale on their holidays.”

Marco bowed. "Lord Kao is merciful."

Not far away, a group of prisoners of war were responsible for sorting and crushing the ore before sending it to the smelting plant.

The smelting plant was the busiest place in the mining area.

The twelve stone furnaces, each about five meters high, smelted day and night. The area housed about five hundred free men, blacksmiths and metallurgists recruited from the surrounding area.

“These blacksmiths are paid one silver stag a day, and their assistants and apprentices are paid five bronze stars,” Marco explained. “As you instructed, that’s double what you paid in Westeros.”

"How's the production?" Rajalo asked.

Each furnace can process 700 kilograms of ore per day, and the twelve furnaces together can process approximately 8.4 tons.

After smelting, 1.7 tons of pig iron can be obtained, which can be forged into 1.2 tons of finished iron. 400 scimitars or 100 breastplates can be forged daily.

However, there weren't nearly enough skilled craftsmen, and the mined iron ore just piled up there.

Rahalo nodded. Craftsmen were a problem; the Dothraki had a bad reputation, and hiring them was not easy. However, he was already quite satisfied with the current production capacity.

Having production capacity is equivalent to having the ability to sustain a war effort. He continued, "What if we smelt this iron into steel?"

This required specialized knowledge, which Marco didn't understand. He found an old blacksmith, the very same Jik who had forged the breastplate for Lahalo in Karasa.

When Jik met Rahalo, he was filled with trepidation. Rahalo had restored his civilian status and even offered him a position as a technical advisor with double the salary. Jik was incredibly grateful to Rahalo. He told Rahalo that if all the daily production capacity were smelted into crude steel, approximately 800 kilograms could be produced.

Upon hearing these numbers, Lajalo recalled that a Napoleon four-pound cannon weighed about 300 kilograms, and that the daily production was enough to manufacture two cannons.

However, he could only draw the outline and some scattered knowledge, such as the iron mold cannon-building method and the water cooling method, but it was only a rough outline. If he really wanted to do it, he had to go through repeated experiments and couldn't rush it.

"How many guards are there here?" Lahallo asked.

“There are five hundred men in total. The patrols work in three shifts, the sentries on the tower work in four shifts, and there are cavalry units on the outer perimeter. Anyone who tries to escape will be killed without exception.”

Mako pointed to a row of wooden stakes near the wall, with three corpses still hanging on them, a warning to the prisoners of war.

“The three of them tried to escape the day before yesterday, but they were caught and hanged. Since then, no one has dared to try again,” Ma Ke added. “If they appear in places they shouldn’t be, such as within 30 meters of a wall, they can be shot dead on sight.”

Afterwards, Mako took Lahalo to visit the barracks, where prisoners of war lived in wooden sheds, each shed accommodating twenty people.

Free people have their own separate camps, with four people per room, or a whole family in one room. The conditions are slightly better. In addition to a fixed amount of free food, for a little extra money, they can drink alcohol, eat meat, and even find sex slaves.

After inspecting the area, Lahalo was quite satisfied.

As long as there is war, his prisoners of war will continue to arrive, and production here will increase steadily.

Within five years, Velvet Hills will become Essos's largest iron mine and smelting center, not only meeting his needs but also selling ironware to other city-states.

...

Lahalo rushed back from the mining area and then went to the port area.

This is the area most severely damaged; most of the docks were destroyed by gunpowder, and ruins are everywhere.

All three thousand of Renly's elite men were killed and hung on three thousand wooden stakes beside the dock. From a distance, it looked like a forest, emitting a strong stench of corpses. Passersby covered their noses and trembled with fear.

However, the stench is only temporary. With plenty of sunshine and a strong sea breeze, it will soon turn into dried human flesh.

He shouldn't have been in charge of the dock affairs, but when the dock exploded, three governors who opposed him sued for peace with Robert and went down to sell salted duck eggs with him.

He now holds absolute power in the Governor's Council, his word is law, and his actual power is not much different from that of a tyrant. He has long regarded Pentos as his own.

With popular support, strength, and a glorious military record that shook the world, what could those nobles possibly use to fight him?

Therefore, the situation of "three monks having no water to drink" will not happen here. Those merchant governors are even more enthusiastic than him, believing that the sooner the reconstruction is completed, the sooner trade will resume.

Thousands of workers are clearing the rubble and rebuilding the docks. The most striking feature is the trebuchet catapults.

They were built and installed on the dock, but not as weapons; they were converted into cranes.

"Lord Kaa!"

Upon seeing Lahallo, Golis Edoy immediately rushed over, excitedly saying, "Thanks to your idea for the crane, the project is progressing very smoothly!"

The mercenary from Valantis was emaciated, with blood-red hair curling over his shoulders. A leopard skin was draped over one shoulder, and the golden armlet on his arm was worth a fortune, enough to pay the ransom of a lord.

After Harry Strickland was promoted to head of the Golden Company, Golis took over as treasurer, but is now in charge of the dock reconstruction and will also serve as the tax officer for the Pentos Customs in the future.

How could Lahalo possibly let other governors interfere with such a cushy job as tax collection? He had to line his own pockets!

(End of this chapter)