When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#296 - Broken keel

"Translate that. What does 'surprise' mean?"

Dragging a chair over, Hohn plopped down, resting his leg, still in a splint, on the table.

Silof pushed her wheelchair to her usual workbench, and from the oak surface, she picked up a white hollow tube.

"Here!"

"Translate that," Hohn said, leaning back comfortably, looking lazy.

Silof, rarely showing human emotion, rolled her eyes at Hohn: "Surprise means we've found the material for the bone flute that repels giant spiders, and we can mass-produce them."

"That's quite a surprise," Hohn said, immediately sitting up straight. "How did you discover it?"

"While copying a book, I suddenly noticed it mentioned a material called 'Crushed Dragon Bone,' which comes from the Dragon's Slumber Mountains."

"Crushed Dragon Bone? Sounds like the name of a sword."

"The 'crushed' prefix here is an adjective, not a verb. Your cultural literacy seems a bit low."

Silof joked as she explained to Hohn.

This material, called Crushed Dragon Bone, is actually a mineral that must be mined from the mountains.

The flute isn't carved from bone at all, but molded from crushed Crushed Dragon Bone that has been calcined.

Crushed Dragon Bone itself has very weak alchemical properties, so it has characteristics similar to fluorite, meaning it has extremely low environmental requirements for alchemical reactions.

So low that even being blown by natural wind will cause an alchemical reaction, though it will consume the alchemical properties of the material itself.

Aside from being regarded as a sacred object by the Dragon Worship dwarves, this mineral is basically useless.

"Crushed Dragon Bone is a hard material. I suspected it had properties similar to gray spar, and could be powdered by calcination.

So we secretly calcined it and found it really worked. The bone flute made from it can also repel giant spiders."

Hohn was stunned: "Why did you have to calcine it secretly?"

"Because my old man objects. In the Dragon Worship faith, Crushed Dragon Bone is considered part of the body of the Primordial Dragon. 'He who burns the bone shall be burned by dragon's breath.'"

Standing at the workbench, Harken used a small knife to enlarge the small holes on the bone flute:

"But it doesn't matter. As long as we don't tell him to his face that we're burning Crushed Dragon Bone, he'll pretend he didn't see it."

Seeing the surprised look on Hohn's face, Harken explained with a grin:

"My generation of reformist dwarves is different from the traditionalist dwarves of three hundred years ago.

Back then, for faith and ideals, we took our gear and lived in the deep mountains for three hundred years.

What did we get?

The population decreases every year, the beer is as weak as horse piss, the money is all earned by smugglers, and we live worse than bandits. No one wants to live that kind of life anymore.

Just after the end of the Hundred Years' War, our elders tried to reconcile with the Empire. The content was long, but simply put, it was asking to be let off if we behaved.

But the Empire only opened the borders and still refused to allow Dragon Worship dwarves to live on the plains. Gatherings of more than 10 dwarves would be captured as slaves."

Blowing the powder off the dragon bone flute, Harken said calmly: "Your Excellency, I'm following you because I don't want to live like that. I just want to drink, eat meat, and bed women."

Taking the dragon bone flute from Harken's hand, Hohn took a deep look at this dwarf who had abandoned higher pursuits.

Looking down, he turned the dragon bone flute in his hand and asked Silof, "According to you, this flute should only be usable by wizards. How do the priests use it?"

"That brings us to its second characteristic," Silof said, turning her wheelchair to face Hohn. "I don't know if it was discovered by the church or another secret society.

The dragon bone flute, when exposed to ghostwood incense, inexplicably triggers an alchemical reaction.

At this time, depending on the flute sound played, it can emit strange sound waves that drive away giant spiders, and can maintain this effect for half a day.

The priests of the Blue Blood Monastery used this method to drive away the giant spiders around the orphanage."

"You mean even ordinary people can use the dragon bone flute?" Hohn asked, looking down at the dragon bone flute with some surprise.

If that were the case, then the Wild Spider Forest, which had previously prevented population movement, would become an easy road.

The Crushed Stone Plains wool transport plan would also become a reality.

But this would expose this valuable area that could resist the Edict Knights.

Or, after removing the Wild Spider Forest, build a fortress at the original strategic pass?

Anyway, the current mortar production capacity is far greater than demand.

If infrastructure doesn't bring convenient transportation, then it's quite difficult to recover costs overall.

Silof pointed to Harken next to her: "No, it's not just that."

"Your Excellency, have you noticed anything special about the clothes I'm wearing?" Harken asked with a grin, showing off his clothes and spinning around in front of Hohn.

To restrain his son, Brock, who became a senior executive in the Autumn Dusk Island industrial zone, arranged for Harken to be a textile supervisor.

This is also the reason why Harken is here.

Hohn reached out and touched Harken's sleeve.

A soft and comfortable sensation rubbed against his fingertips. The texture felt like silk but also like cotton.

It was rougher than silk and softer than linen, and felt very strange, similar to the texture of cotton.

"What is this?"

In front of Hohn, Harken didn't continue to play coy and said directly: "When I was in charge of the textile workshop, I thought, spider silk is silk, flax is silk, why can't spider silk be woven?

So I found Robert, an alchemist from the White Mountain Hermitage, and we really researched it.

We first experimented with jumping spider silk and found that although jumping spider silk is good, it is too thin and the yield is very low.

Jumping spiders are very aggressive. Even when the flute is played, they will violently counterattack or even die from stress if touched.

Cow spiders are much more honest. They will run away after the flute is played, and rarely exhibit aggressive behavior in the flute's environment.

Although cow spider silk is not as strong as jumping spider silk, it is more abundant and thicker.

A cow spider can produce about a pound of spider silk per day, of which about half a pound is usable, and its thickness is similar to the finest combed golden wool.

But compared to wool, this spider silk is lighter, softer, stronger, and more elastic than wool."

Hohn immediately widened his eyes: "You've mastered the method of taming giant spiders?"

Harken's face showed an embarrassed expression, and he said with a smile: "Not yet. Both cow spiders and jumping spiders are too violent and cannot be controlled.

The methods used to train livestock are useless to them. We captured three cow spiders and two jumping spiders, and they all died..."

But if we find a suitable method, this cloth will definitely make a lot of money!

This spider cloth is light and warm, and it can't be worn out no matter how much you wear it. It's very useful for wiping feet, wiping mouths, or making clothes.

Besides silk, this is the best cloth I've ever seen."

Looking at Harken and then at Silof sitting next to him, Hohn suddenly understood: "You're here to ask me for research funding?"

Silof didn't hide it: "Yes, this is the first project of our Papal State Royal Academy of Theology, and we hope that His Holiness the Pope will support it."

Slowly exhaling, Hohn rubbed his throbbing temples: "Okay, write a project proposal and submit the samples. I estimate I can approve 200-300 gold pounds of research funding for you."

"So, this project is considered...?"

"Attached to, um, attached to the Senate, let's say it's semi-private." At this point, Hohn suddenly felt a little dazed.

Now there is a mortar workshop, a mithril workshop, a furniture workshop, etc.

Currently, the production end under his command has achieved above-average production efficiency under alchemical industry, assembly lines, and scientific management methods.

However, the vigorous and rapid development of the production end has led to a problem that Hohn did not expect, which is insufficient consumption.

Simply put, there is no market, and things cannot be sold.

After the flood, there was a famine everywhere, and food prices soared.

After most people spent their consumption on necessities (food and cheap clothing), the market for daily necessities began to shrink.

This is the reason why the workshops in Jeanne d'Arc Fort went bankrupt this year due to the backlog of goods that could not be sold.

For this reason, Hohn even suspended the production of the Autumn Dusk Island textile workshop.

He handed over orders for Salvation Army uniforms and spears to local workshops in Jeanne d'Arc Fort.

Because their production efficiency is lower, they need more laborers, which can provide more jobs and maintain the stable order of Jeanne d'Arc Fort.

But this kind of market prosperity maintained by military orders is an abnormal prosperity.

In the case of a shrinking local consumer market in Langsand County, the best way is to export.

But the problem is that North County to the east of Jeanne d'Arc Fort, although an ally, is extremely poor.

Even if you want to go to North County to reach Norn, the transportation cost is extremely high in the small plateau terrain of North County.

To the south is Knight Ibe of the Golden River Township, who belongs to the church's forces. Now they have blocked all roads and refuse to allow any merchants to enter or exit.

Lower River County to the west is like the Ibe Knights, belonging to the church's forces, and it is impossible for Hohn to open a gap.

Only Kasha County in the southwest, which suffered the least damage, borders the Kingdom of France and Black Serpent Bay.

It seems that whether it is food or the economy of Langsand County, it must be used as a springboard through Kasha County.

In a few days, I have to talk to Martin.