Road to the Crown

Chapter 270: Innovativness

8th August 1574

"As you might guess from the fact that the final blueprint is not yet tested, the factory will still take a while to properly start, but most of the machinery is already in place, used to manufacture the parts we used in the prototype you just saw, sir."

From the very moment my foot stepped inside the simple looking but grand in its size building, I knew that it implemented the most modern solutions that the development officers managed to assimilate into mining town's architecture and designs. From the way the conveyors were run alongside the wall of the entire factory, through an entire side-building serving as the unloading station for the prototrains that could reach this place via the sect of rails, all the way to the damned walkways that allowed one to oversee the entire production from the elevated position.

"I see that you didn't slack off while building this place. Would you be so kind as to remind me, what are the city shares in this place?"

Despite openly announcing how Henry was the first and currently most successful private investor in the entire area of future New Tarnow, there was simply no way that I would allow him to fully control the military plant like this one. Even if his production would limit to the trains and automated carriages alone, the importance of this project still forced the city to participate both in the costs, and the control of this place.

"Twenty-five out of a hundred are on my name, fifteen more was invested by several nobles that followed my advice while the rest belongs to the city. Also, we are planning to expand the factory for an entirely new plant, where the trains will be produced. Sadly, we still have to wait for all the required specifications before we could start the construction for the plant. But for now, let's focus on the current moment, rather than allowing ourselves to waste away with our heads in the clouds. After you, sir."

In spite of how short we knew each other with Henry, he already reached the point where those occasional sirs, were appearing only for the sake of the crowd of people that followed us. If we were to be alone, I could already picture how heated his introductions of all the clever solutions he implemented in this place would be, without any time to waste on the stupid and unnecessary formalities!

"Go on, sorry for stopping you like that."

Summing up my reaction with just a slight smile and excuse, I lowered my head to this commoner. If I wanted to bring the change to the world and the commonwealth, I had to start by giving the example myself! 

"As you might see, the tracks are the very first part that will be created once the working model will be picked"

The presentation of the factory went for quite a long time. Going from one box-like area filled with all sorts of tools to the other one, I could confirm that there was only one thing that all of those places had in common. With the exception of the very last few boxes where it was all about assembling the fine parts and connecting them together, every single box was connected by a set of stone pipes to a huge melting pot located near the roof of the entire factory. 

It seemed that rather than allowing anyone else to produce even the simplest parts for the design, they were going to just order the steel and iron slabs from the mining town, melt them locally and cast them all in each respective box!

While I would never say that such factory design would be optimal, with how this would be the most important technology in the coming months if not years, before the automated carriages would turn common, the secrecy of its production was of the utmost importance, making me swallow the bitterness of how inefficient and risky that sort of approach was. 

"I'm quite satisfied with how it is all wrapped up, but I want you to modify one thing. Rather than making each separate box be responsible for the casting, modifying and then assembling the necessary parts, I want you to set two, three or as many as possible new plants that will be solely responsible for producing those parts. In other words, rather than putting everything into a single factory, I will direct more funds to your side so that every single step will be done in another part of the plan. Right now, just a single faulty element of the system would result in the entire production stalling, and this is something that we want to avoid."

Right now, rather than there being a lack of concrete, I could say that from the numbers that I received from the development officers, there weren't enough buyers for it!

All the ongoing projects in the New Tarnow, that damned project of the city wall, the ongoing construction of the fortress, and now the construction of the biggest military dedicated area in the entire damned continent were still far from sapping the production capabilities of my cement factories!

If not for the fact that all the projects that the city, or formerly myself had a hand in, would offer the preferential prices for the resources, I could already name myself as the richest man in the entire country, if not the continent. But rather than forcing myself to pay for the increased construction costs of all the future projects just to pocket the additional price of the concrete, I knew that allowing the free growth of everything that could sooner or later contribute to the development of my lands was a far better idea!

"It will be done, sir. I wanted to keep everything within one building, because I didn't want the new workers that have yet to be proven loyal, to steal the information about how those wonder machines are being built, hence this overly cautious decision of mine."

Taking my previous words as scolding, Henry lowered his head with a clear look of disappointment in his face. While I was sure that he understood my point, it was easy to see that he still hoped to receive some praise for clearly ingenious idea for continuous casting of all the parts on the go!

"You did well, so don't lower your head as if you were guilty of something. Treat my words as advice for the future rather than scolding. But for now, I will have to excuse myself. There won't be any point in building the barracks if the new, modernised form of the army won't be implemented there in the first place!"

After saying my farewells and receiving some help to get back to the open area, I cast a quick look at the enormous building from the outside once again. If I thought that the wood factory was already big enough to rival some of the supermarkets of the future, this automated carriage factory would be enough to rival some of the smaller industrial buildings of the modern era already!

If only I could come up with all the Oil industries required to turn this currently nearly worthless resource into the powerhouse of the energy market it was in the future, I could see how the country as a whole would reach some monstrous levels of the growth!

But everything had to be done step by step. Like the old local saying, that managed to survive all the way to the modern times, taught - the city of Krakow wasn't built overnight! 

With all my current matters regarding this military factory already settled, I used both my crane and Al's help to reach the construction site of the barracks. Due to the evergrowing number of newcomers, always willing to join the higher paying position of workers, during the time that I spent touring the factory, nearly a half of the entire wing of the barracks appeared. Even if all there was to them were bare walls made with still wet concrete, it was still a great sign of the speed at which my people could build new structures!

"Al, Elemo, listen up. I'm sure you saw how many improvements every single aspect of the New Tarnow had to go through before it actually turned out to be any good. Am I right?"

Rather than going on with a monologue like I liked to do so with the development officers, with the matters strictly regarding military, I couldn't allow myself such one-sided interaction. Unless those loyal retainers of mine could perfectly understand the idea behind of what I wanted to convey to them, the entire point of putting them at the front of the new, modernised army of mine, would be completely lost!

"Sir, does that mean that you are going to modernise the army? I'm sorry if I didn't use the correct word, but I hope I conveyed what I have in mind."

Quite surprisingly, it was Elemo who spoke up first. With his introverted nature, I expected the extrovert Al to actually take the lead!

"You did it correctly, and yes. While I can be proud of the level that my current armies can achieve, it's not something that I want to regard as the absolute top of what real training can achieve. As such, I want you to understand one major thing that will be the very core of those new armies of mine."

Unable to hold myself from taking the tensing break, I changed my position a bit, moving the centre of my body weight away from my injured leg and resting it on the crane.

"For the entire first month of the training, the new batch of soldiers will be only taught two things. Physical prowess, and discipline!"