Chapter 211： Scrap iron

"Snapped!"

Guy Burns was taken aback by a hard slap on the back, and the depressed expression on his face disappeared immediately.

It turned out that Paul saw his dejected look and decided to cheer him up, because he was still needed for many tasks in the future.

"Hey! What are you thinking? The expression is like stepping on dog shit."

Burns blushed.

"Uh... I'm sorry I don't see as far as you do."

"Hmph, you can't hide it from me! Are you blaming me for not letting you build a steam engine?"

Burns waved his hands in a panic, "Don't dare, dare not, my lord, how dare I blame you."

Paul stroked his chin, pretending to be thinking.

"In this way, Burns, you can use some of the resources and manpower of the machinery factory to study the utilization of steam."

"Yes, my lord, I will definitely not... what, did I hear correctly?"

Burns was very surprised. Has the Earl changed his mind?

"You heard me right, but my request is based on the premise that it will not affect the normal tasks of the machinery factory. I recruited you to work, not to satisfy your personal hobbies."

Burns stood at attention and gave Paul a military salute he learned from the army.

"Master Greiman, please rest assured that I will not affect other R&D and production tasks."

Paul put on a serious expression and said: "I hope so, I will keep an eye on you, and I will often check the machinery factory's expenditures on various projects."

Although he was warned by Paul, the depressed expression on Burns's face was no longer seen, and his steps became brisk, and he hummed a little tune as he walked.

Although Paul does not yet use the steam engine, it is still necessary to carry out pre-research and technology accumulation so that he can take it out immediately when he uses it. If his plan goes well, the era of steam will come sooner or later.

Of course, he will definitely not devote too many resources and attention to this aspect.

In addition, he also had an idea - to try to let the natives of this world break through certain areas on their own without his own intervention.

After all, the development of society cannot rely on the foresight of one or two people.

But this process must be long and tortuous.

Seeing Guy Burns' happy look, Paul had a smirk on his face.

Hehe, Burns, Burns, it took eighty-four years from the invention of the steam engine on earth to its practical use, and this does not include the time it took for the invention. I want to see how capable you are, I guess Just one cylinder is enough for you to drink a jug.

Paul made up his mind that he would never intervene in the development of the steam engine until the moment he really wanted to use it.

Everyone talked and laughed all the way, and then returned to Huxin Town by boat.

In the next few days, the ironworks continued to build new blast furnaces, while Paul quietly waited for the sword made by the blacksmith Herman.

However, Paul waited for a piece of news that made him vomit blood. Herman personally came to the Lord's Mansion and reported to him with a gloomy face: the iron smelted in the blast furnace before - was completely unusable.

"The iron we smelt in the blast furnace...is it scrap iron?"

The lord's eyes were wide open, and disbelief was written all over his face.

"I want to go to the ironworks to see for myself!"

The lord's roar could be heard throughout the castle, followed by the slamming of the office door.

…

In the rebel camp in the south of Thorn Fortress, four people sat around a table.

Sitting in the main seat is Samar, the commander of the rebel army, and sitting on his right hand is his assistant mage Scott.

The other two people sitting opposite Scott are both dressed as businessmen. One is a middle-aged man with a mustache, and the other is a young man younger than Scott. He wears an earring on his right ear , always had a faint smile on his face, and he seemed a little frivolous.

"Grand Duke Giles is very dissatisfied with your previous actions. If you can capture the Thorn Fortress, it will be fine, but the result turned out to be loss of soldiers and generals. Not to mention the huge loss, it also dampened the spirit of our army."

The middle-aged man with mustache had a serious tone, conveying Grand Duke Tanlang's reprimand to Samar.

Samar lowered his head, not defending himself at all.

"It's because I'm too greedy for merit, and I'm eager to fight. I'm sorry for the trust the Grand Duke has placed in me."

The middle-aged man with mustache sighed.

"Hey, General Samar, please keep in mind your own mission. The army you lead is just to keep an eye on the Thorn Fortress. When the Grand Duke leads the main force to arrive, it will naturally capture him."

"I will definitely keep this in mind in the future, and never act rashly again."

Scott interjected suddenly: "Please tell Grand Duke Giles that this has nothing to do with General Samar. I was the one who wanted to fight and encouraged General Samar to attack Thorn Fortress. The lost 'Greek Fire'."

The other three were very surprised that he took the initiative to take the responsibility on themselves. Especially Samar, UU Reading was a little moved. Although this dumb-headed young mage named Scott was a little arrogant, he could be said to be daring.

The young man wearing the earring looked at Scott, smiled and nodded towards him, and Scott gave him an unhappy expression.

Samar stood up, "In any case, as the commander-in-chief of this army, I bear the greatest responsibility. After all, I am the one who makes the final decision."

"We are not here to discuss who is most responsible, but to remind you that the main army of the royal family will soon go south. It is estimated that they will start from Jingyao in the first spring of next year."

There was a hint of ridicule on Scott's face, "It seems that even if you burned the granary, you didn't delay the princess for too long."

The middle-aged man snorted, "How long do you want to procrastinate? It has been nearly half a year. After all, the royal family still controls half of the Aldo Kingdom, and the food shortage will not affect them for too long."

Samar asked slightly worried: "How long will the main force of His Royal Highness go north?"

"There are still a few hard nuts to crack in the south. Although their ending is doomed, it's hard to say when."

"So before then, if the royal army arrives, we're on our own?"

"Yes, but..."

A young man wearing an earring interjected, "A group of mages will come to support you."

Scott stood up immediately after hearing this, "As long as more mages arrive, everything will be fine."

The young man shook his head: "Scott, you are going to be arrogant again, have you forgotten the previous lesson?"

"Whispering, I'm free to measure."

"Mr. Scott!" The middle-aged man said with a slightly displeased tone, "I know you have great strength, but the Kingdom's regular army is not vegetarian. I hope you will pay attention to this." 11