The witch thought I am a Demon God-Chapter 70 - 69 Future Planning for the Territory and

Chapter 70: Chapter 69: Future Planning for the Territory and Deep Study of Magic_1

Chapter 70 -69: Future Planning for the Territory and Deep Study of Magic_1

After having dealt with the Assassins and the Sons of the Forest, the next step was to formally organize my territory and take inventory of my possessions.

Once a wandering prince fleeing all around, Ivita had become the lord of some rather sizeable lands.

While this was still a territory within a mountain pass, it was a vital route nonetheless.

Ivita instantly set up seven toll booths in his territory for collecting transit fees. Within a week, these stations built with wood and brick were essentially up and running.

There was no choice, after all, his land originally didn’t have much in the way of agriculture or handicrafts.

What’s more, it was completely wiped out after it was targeted by the Sons of the Forest.

Furthermore, after this destruction, the original population of thirty to forty thousand dwindled to a barely ten thousand.

And still, people were fleeing each day.

Primarily due to the fact that lime had been spread over the farmlands of all fourteen villages under Baron Moro’s domain, and all their buildings were destroyed.

Without farmland, what would people eat?

Moreover, the replacement of their ruler caused people to lose faith in the barony, hence the phenomenon of mass escapement of serfs occurred.

No less than a hundred people were still fleeing the territory every day.

Most ran to the nearby towns, villages, and cities while a few sought refuge in the territories of neighboring feudal aristocrats.

Ivita had some Knight Griffins make a symbolic attempt to stop the peasants from running off, but he didn’t really go out of his way to do so.

Those who were meant to stay would stay.

Those who wanted to leave, let them. In the future, there will be plenty of time for them to regret it.

Only after becoming a lord did Ivita realize it wasn’t all enjoyment, it was duty.

For those who were ambitious, this responsibility was a joy itself.

He had to undertake the responsibility of providing his people with sufficient food and drink, and even pave the way to wealth.

Ivita had come to realize the agricultural route was futile for his territory.

The only viable path now was to foster trade and industry.

Presently, the Ambros plain was about to be plunged into the cloud of war.

So, what was the most profitable venture at a time like this?

That was, of course, the weapon trade.

However, selling weapons required a systematic blacksmith training institution, which currently wasn’t an immediate possibility.

So, Ivita turned his attention to something with a much lower entry barrier – iron smelting!

Selling raw materials!

He could build a blast furnace to melt pig iron, then adopting mature heat treatment technology, he could produce cast iron.

Cast iron was a weapon material that surpassed any on the market during this time.

Although Ivita had encountered the red steel of this world before,

The red steel may have come from a more magical source, but it had the potential to surpass nearly all the steel materials on earth in quality.

However, the iron primarily used in this world was still pig iron and sponge iron, pure iron only appearing very rarely.

If he could produce cast iron in Baron Moro’s territory, it wouldn’t be long before the barony would become one of the few indispensable cities in Ambros.

More importantly, Baron Moro’s territory inherently possessed a moderately sized iron mine.

The mine was one of the main sources of income in the territory.

However, before you could make pig iron from iron ores, a few groundbreaking technologies were required.

Firstly, the reciprocating bellows.

Secondly, furnaces that could heat up above 1500 degrees.

Lastly, the iron-carbon reduction technology was essential.

However, to heat a furnace above 1500 degrees, mature firebrick technology and a heat storage room (for generating hot air) were necessary.

Ivita knew that if he wanted to climb the technology tree step by step, it would take a lot of manpower, funds, and time.

This was not something that could be accomplished overnight.

Even if he knew the outcome, simply reverse-engineering it would require ample manpower, resources, and time.

Therefore, he planned to use the earth blast furnace of ancient China, which operated at temperatures between 1200 and 1300 degrees.

If operated properly, this kind of blast furnace could be used to produce porcelain in the later stages.

The reason why ancient Europe couldn’t produce cast iron and porcelain was that their furnaces could not maintain temperatures above 1200 degrees.

The temperature is the key!

Next, he planned to use ancient Chinese techniques of ‘stir-frying’ steel and iron casting to produce decarbonized cast iron.

As such, Ivita first tasked Black Wolf with gathering the craftsmen within their territory, and only those blacksmiths who signed contracts swearing lifelong allegiance to Ivita.

Then, he drafted many blueprints and asked Rayli to go to the nearest city to purchase a dry pot, fire-resistant clay, and charcoal.

Actually, if coke could be used instead, it would be possible to maintain a temperature of 1300 to 1400 degrees.

However, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Ivita needed speed, and without the resources and manpower to invest, he had to keep things as simple as possible.

When he summoned the old witch and told her his plan, wanting to discuss it with her, she was appalled.

Inside the study.

The Hearthstone Grand Witch looked at the blueprints that Ivita had drawn. Although these blueprints were not quite standard in terms of scale, they still appeared quite impressive to her. “These…”

“If it could really be accomplished as you say, producing cast iron of superior quality…”

“These techniques alone could be exchanged for several Earl’s territories.”

“I never expected you to be so profound.”

Ivita nodded, tapping his fingers against the table, saying, “An Earl’s territory can be acquired through one’s strength.”

“It’s better to keep this technology in our hands.”

The old witch realized belatedly, “Yes indeed.”

Your highness, if your technology can be actualized in our territory, its strategic significance would rival that of the Sakura Dragon Tree,”

“And bring wealth the Sakura Dragon Tree could never provide!”

“By then, I wouldn’t be surprised if this Baron’s territory ascended to a Viscount’s territory in Ambros’ ranking system.”

The old witch said with an odd expression, “And it would also benefit your magical power. Inventing a groundbreaking technology is in itself a way to acquire magical power.”

“It’s just that most witches and wizards are too eager for quick success and benefits and are far removed from ordinary people.”

“They practically lack the patience to think for ordinary people day after day.”

“Moreover, only wizards with an extremely rare talent could absorb such power. They are even rarer than wizards that can absorb the power of war.”

“But I believe that you might be able to absorb this power.”

Ivita thought about the sky-attribute magic power given to him by the Taiyi Supreme God and nodded.

To improve his sky-attribute magic, managing a territory seemed to be a more direct method.

Moreover, the rapid increase of his destruction-attribute magic had gradually started to slow down recently.

Looking at how things turned out later, the damage curse Ivita placed on the Treant leader, Ji, unexpectedly became contagious.

This was precisely why the Son of Forest’s troops suddenly broke out with a plague.

But it seemed that the Sons of Forest were beginning to suppress the plague and would likely overcome it soon.

After all, that was just a spell equivalent to the strength of a formal wizard.

If his level was a little higher, Ivita guessed, the plague might not have been so easily resolved at this moment.

Ivita said, “The energy within me is starting to lose balance. I have too much war and destruction power; and due to managing a territory, my sky-attribute magic is increasing.”

“However, I still need to find other sources of magical power for thunder-attribute, fire-attribute, and Rain Dragon-attribute magic.”

The old witch pondered for a moment. “If there’s no other way, we can hunt magical creatures with corresponding magical attributes on the Ambros plains.”

Ivita said, “But that’s not the best source of magic. If possible, I want to do well in every aspect.”

The Hearthstone Grand Witch gave a bitter smile in her heart- that was six kinds of magic sources.

If each one was of the best quality, how powerful would this wizard be?

Even now, the intensity of Ivita’s magic seemed off-key.

Ivita said, “Also, I should try to learn some magic now. I have to learn six Destiny Magics, after all.”

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“Do you have any suggestions?”

Just as the Hearthstone Grand Witch was about to speak, the door to the study was pushed open. The Griffin Knight entered with a letter, saying, “Sir, we’ve received an urgent reply to our request for recognition sent by carrier pigeon to Ambros. However…”

The Griffin Knight had a strange look on his face, “There are actually two replies, and they’re from two different people.”

“One is from the city council of Ambros, and the other is from the Compulsion Viscount of Winchester.”