King of the North: My Lord's Diary Weekly Summary

Thinking about this, Ronald's emotions unconsciously changed.

His feelings towards Wayne now weren't admiration or a slight fear of his meticulous planning; they came from the bottom of his heart...

worry.

After glancing at his two remarkably composed colleagues who were silent, seemingly deep in thought or waiting for Wayne's next move, Ronald finally stepped forward, just as he had done during the previous meeting when the bandits invaded.

"Lord Wayne...are you sure you've made all the plans?!"

Iron ore veins are indeed an astonishing fortune—but we're not strong enough to acquire them yet...

If the Duke or other lords in the area were to find out, it would be a life-or-death disaster.

Moreover, the wasteland east of the Ice Scar River is not suitable for secrecy work—the path to its north, the mountains to its east, and even the plains to its south are frequently traversed by members of other lords' alliances.

Seeing Ronald's worried expression, Wayne showed no displeasure at his questioning—even though Ronald was overly impatient.

"Ronald, don't worry. The fact that I'm talking to you about this now and have been planning this for so long means I definitely have my own reasons."

Now, I will tell you about my plan. As for anything I may have missed—anything that is not feasible—you must point it out to me as soon as you find it.

This is an absolutely crucial matter. If we do it well, we will have enough power, wealth, attractiveness, and special status when the barbarians invade in winter!

This also means that we will completely escape the situation of being treated as expendable resources.

Upon hearing this, the three deputies immediately held their breath and focused their attention—although none of them truly understood the concept of "consumables," they were ready to listen to Wayne's plan.

"call."

Wayne let out a soft breath—after all, it was his first time being a lord, and he was trying to control his emotions.

"First of all, the miners and transporters must be carefully selected—they must be loyal, strong, and intelligent."

There are definitely people like that in our village, mainly selected from Ronald's training camp and the group of craftsmen led by Morris.

There are also many young people from the wolf clan who meet the criteria—we've been getting to know them and selecting them together over this period of time.

I want to go through several rounds; I don't want any mistakes to occur on crucial matters.

Secondly, there is the work of mining and storing.

Of course I know that Ethan and many lords of the Alliance will use this route, or even come here to spy on us—but as fellow members of the Alliance, they don’t dare to go too far.

Raymond, weren't defensive fortifications already being prepared to be built on the east side of the river? I'm asking you to guard that area for me.

If absolutely necessary, we may, at our discretion, directly eliminate any spies who might threaten our plans.

Wayne trusted Raymond's strength—his own 16 points of physique were considered close to the second tier, so with Raymond's 17 points of physique and 15 points of spirit, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was at the peak of the first tier!

After a pause, Wayne continued to explain the core of the plan—mining: "Didn't Ethan send people here without even giving me a heads-up before I was out?"

We just happen to be building a clock tower and fortifications—so we'll use the stone and other building materials we'll be saving up for this.

Raymond, I demand that you establish comprehensive fortifications along the east bank of the river and build an intimidating clock tower, but…

The buildings constructed within the fortifications, specifically in the central area on the east bank of the river, should be hollow.

In terms of appearance, it can imitate a large bunker or castle—but as long as the appearance is flawless and the interior ground area is large, it can be made to look like a real bunker or castle.

Let us, the people in charge of mining, begin construction within these central 'castles'!

The iron ore that was mined was stored inside the stone fortress during the day. After the night patrol, it was all transported by wooden boat and secretly stored in the cellar of the house south of Gordon Village!

Of course, that cellar also needs to be expanded—ideally, it should be connected to Glenn, Yudo's, and their studio basement.

Thus, the process from excavation to storage is complete.

As for their use, we have blacksmiths; as long as we don't use armor, no one will inspect our weapons—nor do they have the authority to!

The more the three listened to Wayne's plan, the more alarmed and excited they became.

They hadn't expected that the plan would remain so complete and secretive under such harsh external conditions—when other lords could send people at any time.

However, there are still gaps in the feasibility of the plan.

Raymond raised a question: "My lord, your plan is mostly feasible, except for two shortcomings in the mining stage."

"Great, tell me."

"First, I can guarantee the stability of the stone fortress, even if the land beneath it is not standard rock strata—I can guarantee that the stone fortress will not be torn apart."

However, this would consume stone, and the original stone fortress could no longer be used as a mining area—but it could still be used as a defensive building.

I know that since you are so determined, wasting a little stone is nothing, but the flowing layer is not the only risk - iron ore is often associated with groundwater, and if you continue to dig vertically deeper, you will soon encounter groundwater.

We don't have high-powered water pumps, so drainage has to be done manually—and in the mine pit, which is tens of meters deep, the workers would suffocate without forced ventilation.

Raymond glanced at Wayne and continued under his gaze, "Secondly, extracting the ore is also a major problem—we need facilities, or at least large rope hoisting works, to transport the ore."

As expected of a strategist skilled in setting up defensive fortifications, Raymond possesses exceptional expertise in geography and underground construction.

Wayne nodded: "If even you think there are only these two problems, then this plan is feasible."

Raymond, a rope sling job, you can do that, right? What do you need?

Hearing Wayne's words, Raymond understood his attitude: "Don't worry, sir, the territory has enough timber, and the shallow iron ore can also be utilized—as long as you can entrust some of the carpenters and blacksmiths to me to lead, these problems can be solved."

The most important question is still the first one.

My current solution is to first excavate downwards when there are rock strata under the two stone forts that can be excavated normally. When groundwater or ventilation problems are encountered, the underground tunnels under the two stone forts that are reasonably located and not far from each other will be opened up.

In this way, the ventilation problem will be completely solved by adopting a specially designed double-opening design.

However, therein lies the problem—opening the mine tunnel beneath the two stone fortresses would result in the rock strata of the central passage being torn apart.

Even adding more load-bearing columns than needed cannot counteract the shear forces on the left and right sides—the safety and durability of the mine will be compromised.

Upon hearing this, Wayne, who had been frowning, suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

This is the last and biggest problem, but he seems capable of solving it!