MTL - Iron Powder and Spellcasters-Chapter 402 Echoes of the Mountains (3)

   Chapter 402 The mountains echo (3)

  Time is the most ruthless force, it never stops for anyone.

  The night of the fire has only passed a few days. The flames, riots, and attacks have been like broken bubbles. Everyone in it has witnessed its appearance and disappearance, but they can't remember their exact appearance.

   Memories diverged from here, and people began to tell their own version of the story, of cavalrymen who smashed glaciers, fire tornadoes that devoured churches, and conspiracies hovering over cities.

   Either way, life goes on—even if life itself is just a journey of suffering, and Steelcastle has begun to look forward.

  The blood on the municipal square was washed clean, and the furniture and carriages that blocked the river were salvaged.

  With the assistance of the garrison, the temporary rationing system was implemented in Steel Fort, and the shops and markets on the north shore, which were less affected by the disaster, also resumed business.

  The officers of the artillery section of the garrison were urgently dispatched to assist the employees of the city government in surveying and mapping the burnt down old city.

  The city council urgently passed a mandatory decree: it is strictly forbidden for any citizen to rebuild their houses without authorization, "violators will be severely punished", "all reconstruction must wait until the land property rights are clarified before proceeding."

  With the restoration of order, the garrison gradually returned the control of Steel Castle to the city government.

  The Municipal Palace has once again become the government center of Steel Castle, and there is an endless stream of people passing news, sending orders, and petitions.

   And the headquarters of the parish guild across the square from the Municipal Palace is much deserted - the door of this majestic four-story masonry building is closed, and there are no vehicles, horses and pedestrians entering and leaving.

  Steelcastle citizens used to say: Elin Cathedral, the Municipal Palace and the Parish Guild Headquarters symbolize the three pillars of the city - Faith, Power and Wealth.

   Today, faith collapses in flames and storms, and wealth is destroyed in riots and fires.

  Power - The Municipal Palace, which was originally at the bottom, rose with the power of the army and became the real master of Steel Castle.

   However, at this moment, inside the thick and cold stone wall of the guild headquarters, a mass of lava that may change the fate of Steel Castle is brewing.

   "It's **** time now!" The roar of Iron Hand Geisberg almost broke through the door of the Arbitration Hall: "What the **** is wrong?! How the **** can I not tell you!"

  Iron Hand's speech ended with a loud bang with his fist hitting the table and his unwilling roar.

It was followed by an old man's hoarse voice: "No matter what their intentions, that... what the lady said is right. If the battle of Palato is not over, the embargo will still exist for a day. The battle of Tu has been fought for ten years, can we still not start work for ten years?"

   "Why doesn't work start?" Another sullen voice retorted: "Even if the waterway in Palato doesn't work, we can still sell the goods to the Imperials, or transfer them from Vine."

The iron hand seemed to be sitting on a red-hot soldering iron, and suddenly bounced from the chair: "Transfer from Vahn? Who can carry it? All the way to the empire to do business, do you let us crush ourselves? [Broken with anger Tone's blacksmith foul language]!"

   The humiliated forge master also took the blame, not to be outdone, and retaliated with vicious Monta swearing. If it weren't for the fact that the Helvetic people did not have the custom of dueling, the two would probably have splattered blood in the Arbitration Hall.

   Even so, Iron Hand's grief and indignation still echoed between the stone walls: "Why don't you understand? Why don't you understand? This is our chance! A chance to revive!"

At the other end of the    corridor, Winters and Anna are visiting the archives of the guild headquarters.

   The "Baron Couple" should have been waiting for the final reply from the Executive Committee in the reception room, where the fireplace was warm and the hosts warmly prepared hot wine and pastries.

   But Winters was very curious about everything about the Steel Castle Parish Headquarters Guild, and offered to visit the Guild Headquarters, and the host generously agreed.

  The master of the forge, who was assigned to lead the baron couple to visit, stood outside the archives and proudly introduced: "Your Excellency, what you are about to see is the entire history of Steel Castle."

   As the heavy oak door was pushed open, a scent of anthelmintic herbs and musty parchment permeated.

   The introducer sneezed, left the lantern outside the door, covered his nose, walked to the wall, and opened the sealed window. Fresh air and sunlight poured into the room together, and Winters was able to see the whole picture of the archives:

   The nearly two-person-high wooden frame extends from the floor to the vault, and the same size of the wooden frame fills the corridor-like archives.

The narrator's fingertips moved from the front to the end of the room: "From the initial charter issued by Bishop Elin to the Swordsmiths Guild, to the contract to witness the merger of the Swordsmiths Guild and the Sharpeners Guild, to the head office Proclamation of the founding of the guild. All the important documents of the Blacksmiths Guild and the Head Guild are here, kept in chronological order—the originals.”

   Winters nodded as he listened.

   Just looking at the appearance of the baron listening intently, the interpreter almost thought that the other party came to the guild headquarters today, the main purpose was to visit, and the negotiation with the executive committee was a trivial matter along the way.

  …

  About an hour ago, Baron Granache and his wife visited the headquarters of the Steel Castle Guild. They were greeted by all the executive members of the Blacksmiths Guild who had arrived early.

   However, the next development was beyond the expectations of the executive committee members: the one who really explained the plan to the masters of the forge and answered the question was not the "famous" Baron Granasi, but the more mysterious Baroness.

   At the very beginning, the forge masters looked at the too young and too beautiful baroness with contempt, doubt and distrust.

   But as the other party spoke, the atmosphere of the Arbitration Hall gradually became serious and heavy.

  Anna first briefly dissects the predicament of Steel Castle:

  Plateau's war will not end, and the Steel Castle will only decline day by day;

   One and the other, even if it can persist until the end of the war, the dominance of Steel Castle will be seized by other iron producing areas;

  The city prospered because of the waterway, and it will die when the waterway is cut off.

"As long as the trade ban persists, even if we can buy all of your inventory now, it won't stop Steelcastle's iron industry from shrinking in the future. It's a reality, and sad as it is, it's bound to happen. Of course, there's always Some ways of circumventing the ban, such as smuggling. But if you take the risk into account, the expected gain from smuggling will always be… a loss for you.”

  Anna said softly: "So, please be sure to seriously consider the olive branch we throw."

   Winters' proposal has been forwarded to the Executive Committee through Senator Servetus, and Anna does not need to go into specific plans. Anna came before the executive committee today, both as an ultimatum and as a last-ditch effort.

"It is no longer just exporting iron tools, but manpower; no longer just exporting resources, but exporting technology. No longer just exporting commodities, but exporting..." Ana said here, and suddenly stopped, she thought for a long time , and finally selected one of the most accurate ancient words: "[wealth]."

The forge masters of the    Blacksmiths Guild looked at each other, unable to understand the unfamiliar pronunciation in each other's mouth.

  Anna smiled and explained: "That is the sum of all movable and immovable properties."

  …

   The quarrel of the Arbitration Hall was clearly heard in Winters and Anna even across the corridor. The master of the forge who was in charge of the reception looked a little embarrassed, and explained the history of Steel Castle even more diligently.

  Anna leaned close to Winters, and with a little unease and apprehension, whispered, "Is it not good enough for me just now? I'll try to talk to them again."

   Winters patted Anna's hand on his arm, and the closer he got to the last minute, the more relaxed he became: "Just let them quarrel with the result themselves."

   He then joked: "But honestly, your speaking level is really not good. If you have time, I will teach you."

  Anna gave Winters a calm look.

   "You're acting too rationally and imagining the other person too rational." Winters sighed: "But you have to know that most of the time, people don't make decisions with reason."

   "Sorry." The narrator who walked in front turned around and asked embarrassedly, "What are you asking?"

   "Nothing." Winters asked with a smile: "I heard that the guild headquarters keeps records of all forge transfers? Also in this archive?"

"Forge transfer?" The interpreter was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted, pointing to the wooden rack against the wall: "Oh, yes, it's here too. It's on that row of racks. According to the regulations, all forge transfer All of them must be filed in the guild, otherwise they will not be counted.”

   "Can I take a look?" Winters asked.

   The instructor looked embarrassed: "Sorry, those who are not members of the Blacksmith's Guild can't view those files."

   "Okay then." Winters didn't insist, and continued to chat with the narrator: "I'm still a little curious, how many registered forges are there in Steel Castle now?"

   "Iron smelting furnaces, forging furnaces, and heat treatment furnaces are all included." The interpreter thought about it carefully: "There are about 400 of them."

   "Has it always been so much?"

   "Of course not." The interpreter replied with a smile: "Only a few seats at the beginning? Gradually more and more."

   But he then added: "But in the last thirty years—at least twenty-five years in my memory, the number of forges has not increased."

"why?"

   "Why else." The narrator's tone was rather complicated: "The guild is no longer allowed to register new forges."

   "So it is." Winters responded with a smile and asked, "Where should I visit next?"

  …

On the other hand, in the Arbitration Hall, the Executive Committee still failed to reach a consensus.

"You can't just think about eating meat, but also about the risks!" Someone persuaded bitterly: "Haven't you thought that they might turn their backs on people? What if they keep their promises? Warlords! We give them skills and wealth, and if they are defeated and perished, what will we do?"

   "They don't want you to contribute, nor do they want you to contribute. As long as you do it!" Iron Hand shouted back on the spot: "You don't even need to contribute, as long as you agree to do it!"

   The other party asked back: "Isn't Churen the one from Steel Castle? Not a member of the Blacksmith's Guild? Not our blacksmith brother?"

  The Iron Hand replied sarcastically, "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry I found out so late - so you care so much about the blacksmith brothers in your workshop who get paid!"

   Finally, old Schmid couldn't listen anymore, slapped the table and scolded: "Enough!"

   Both parties in the dispute stopped talking, and the Arbitration Hall fell silent for a while.

  Iron Hand held it back for a while, but he couldn't help it. He stood up against the table, looked at the other forge masters, and gritted his teeth:

"I'm just going to tell you one thing—if you're picking up gold in a cesspit, don't **** want face! Don't you understand? It's a no-brainer business for us! We don't have to pay anything! We As long as you agree to relax the restrictions on the guild oath, you can get a huge industry for nothing—maybe the industry of Steel Castle in the future!

  You keep talking about risk, risk, risk! But why don't you think about revenue? Think! Produce ironware directly in Palato! Sold to both sides of the war! Possibly even more than we earn at Steelcastle! If you don't take risks, why eat the most juicy and plump meat? ! "

  Iron Hand looked at the executive committee members in front of him, was silent for a moment, and said coldly: "Even if all the blacksmiths sent out died in Palatu, at least we don't have to worry about how to pay them. No?"

   This candor speaks directly to the darkest corner of everyone's heart, making the other forge owners shudder.

   "Shut up!" Old Schmid smashed the long table and shuddered: "What **** are you talking about!"

   Iron Hand snorted and sat down without changing his face.

   After a while, someone whispered again: "In the past, when someone defected, the Executive Committee came forward to offer a reward to hunt them down. Now the Executive Committee has to endorse the person who broke the guild oath, and everyone will not be convinced."

The iron hand's anger flared up again, and he spat fiercely: "Back then, the oath-breakers lured away so many traitors, why didn't I see you alone dare to speak? I was the first to say that I would offer a reward for the heads of those traitors, Didn't you all tremble with fear by the oathbreakers? Now you are holding the guild oath not to let go! Bah!"

  The iron hand who completely tore his face was not something that other people present could resist at all. The person who just spoke was scolded speechless and closed his mouth embarrassingly.

  Old Schmidt saw this and looked helplessly at the end of the long table, and at Senator John Servette, who had not spoken: "Your Excellency, please say something."

   Servetus was silent for a moment, then stood up slowly.

  …

  [Reception Room]

   "Sorry." John Servette nodded slightly towards the baron couple with guilt on his face: "Can you give us another day. We will definitely give you an exact answer tomorrow."

  Winters smiled, got up and was about to leave: "No problem."

  Anna dragged Winters, sat in the same position, and insisted: "Can you tell me why you need an extra day?"

   "This matter is too important for the Executive Committee to make a decision."

   "Who else is there?"

  Servette pursed his lips: "All forge masters."

   [work early, so there may not be a very stable update recently, sorry]

   [Thank you for your collection, reading, subscription, recommendation ticket, monthly ticket, reward and comment, thank you all]

   (end of this chapter)