Gretel raised his head blankly. The dwarf was not tall, and his chest was broad and thick, and the chest was particularly suitable for resonance. A dwarf yelling was like thunder, and a group of dwarves let go of their voices and yelled, good guys, that's a small group of 20 people.
Ten subwoofers were installed in the screening room and fired together...
And they're still in the cave, so the echo effect is super doubled.
It’s so noisy, but I still have to keep smiling...
At this moment, Gretel saw the young dwarf sitting opposite him across the long table. He blinked at him and showed a smile that said "I can't help it, I'm helpless too".
Gretel: "..."
Phew.
It is the most painful thing to have to listen to this kind of meeting with someone who speaks softly and has no qualifications to speak...
The meeting in the morning on the first day, described in modern diplomatic terms, can be said to be "a frank and in-depth exchange of views between the two sides." Grete listened patiently at noon and finally heard something:
Simply put, the Dwarf Kingdom is a resource-based country, and it is a resource-based country that cannot be self-sufficient in food. It relies on exports in exchange for food. This economic structure is inherently dangerous, but the type of exports they export is very single...
Ore, refined ore, and semi-finished products.
Copper ingots, iron ingots, mithril ingots, fine gold ingots, and various metal ingots.
Weapons, armor...
These are the bulk commodities. The other items are all minor items, and their proportion is too low to be worth mentioning.
The price of metals such as copper and iron is low, freight is high, and profits are slim. Exporting metal ingots is somewhat meaningful, but exporting ore basically has no one to pull it;
Adamant gold is too hard, has extremely poor magic-guiding performance, and is difficult to smelt. It is mainly used to make knight equipment. Those knight masters are not as happy to spend money as magicians;
Only mithril was originally the most important export item. As a result, from last year to now, the Magic Council’s import volume of mithril has dropped by half, while the import volume of mithril ore has increased 20 times. In this way, the Dwarf Kingdom has calculated the past year
After making a profit, I found that I still lost money:
"We imported fifty thousand less barrels of ale last year! One year! Fifty thousand less!"
Do you know what fifty thousand barrels is?
That is to say, the miners worked hard for a year and their output increased twenty-fold. Looking back, they drank one less barrel of ale every month!
"You magicians are as cunning as foxes in the snow! You keep treating us as friends and brothers, but secretly, you are trying your best to squeeze out our blood and sweat!"
Gretel: "...cough."
Capital comes to the world...
Thank God, this torture of hearing finally came to an end when noon arrived. Everyone walked to the restaurant, and the young dwarf immediately came to Grete's side and stood on tiptoes as hard as he could:
"Are you Master Nordmark? My name is Gavin, and Master Talbot is my grandfather! Thank you for taking care of my grandfather along the way. Are you free in the afternoon? I will take you to visit the royal city!"
"...I have to ask the Archmage first. You know, I'm just a low-level mage, so I may not be able to wander around."
Archmage Serrano got what he wanted and kicked Gretel out. Anyway, there was an internal meeting of the trade group in the afternoon, mainly for several archmages to express their opinions. Gretel could go out and have a good relationship with the dwarves...
Although the dwarves were not very tall, the royal city was quite grand, with a large piece hollowed out of the mountain. Gavin and Gretel went straight to the center of the royal city, and when they walked out for a while, a heat wave hit them on the spot.
Grete reflexively added [cold and heat resistance] to herself.
Gavin laughed: "It's hot, isn't it? In front of you is the melting pot, which was the lava that [Mage King] Raymond led the Seven Sages to lead from the ground six hundred years ago. The best weapons in the royal city are all produced here.
The most difficult ore to smelt can only be refined with lava from a large furnace."
That's not necessarily true. Isn't the oxygen-blowing converter delicious? Gretel complained silently. Unfortunately, he is not a smelting professional. He had only managed to build an oxygen pipeline with the support of the Magic Council before. Now let him rub it with his own hands, eh
,never mind.
The melting pot is indeed terrifying. Gretel saw a high dome from afar. Under the dome, a huge blast furnace stood majestically, with heat waves rolling. Looking from a distance, countless black shadows were busy on the edge of the red magma.
, the tinkling sound is endless.
For such a big melting pot, the width of the roads around it is naturally very astonishing. Gretel visually estimated that it was at least six lanes wide in both directions, and he didn’t know what to use to draw bright lines on the ground so that everyone would not collide when walking. There were dwarves constantly pushing.
Running around with carts and wheelbarrows, they unloaded carts of goods to the edge of the magma pool and pushed away new goods.
Gretel was still 20 meters away from the magma pool and refused to get any closer. [Resistance to cold and heat] can still withstand it. In fact, the effective range of this magic is said to be from -45 degrees below zero to 60 degrees above zero.
You can stay comfortable. However, you can stay comfortable, but you cannot stay safe!
What if something happens to the furnace? Last time he visited the mithril smelting, he saw that the lava was gurgling and could explode at any time!
Gavin didn't force him, and took him around in a circle and along the circular passage. As he walked, he pointed out:
"This is the Red Iron Hall, where ordinary miners live..."
"This is the Hammer Forging Hall, where the forgers live. The tools we use every day and the mass-produced weapons are all made here..."
"This is the Steel Blade Hall, a military camp and a training area for warriors. Most people are on patrol now. You can come over and take a look in the evening. There are a large number of knights coming back from patrol. It's still very nice to see!"
"This is a trading area, and foreign caravans all live here. There are a lot of people coming here these days, and there are a lot of goods. Come, I will take you for a walk..."
After saying that, he lifted his legs and walked in. Grete followed with Bernard. After walking a few steps, he heard shouts one after another:
"Whale meat! Whale meat is sold cheaply! One pound is a copper! It's so fat and tender that the whole family can eat it for a day!"
...How poor is this, dragging all the whale meat back? When whaling, don’t they only take the whale oil, whale brains, and throw away all the whale meat?
"Derven venison! Walrus jerky! Seal jerky! Dried cod! Authentic products at reasonable prices, large quantities will give you the best price!"
Grete quickly added a bubble technique to himself. Is this dried meat pickled or sun-dried? The smell is too smoky. Don't let it get moldy, right?
"Ale! The best Thunder Ale! Refreshing and pleasant, with bubbles dancing in every sip!"
...Are you sure it's beer and not a carbonated drink? Hey, it seems there is no Coca-Cola in this world...
"Machete! Warhammer! Sword! The best weapons are all available in Jean's Blacksmith Shop for you to choose from!"
Humans, dwarves, barbarians, all kinds of hawking sounds were heard. Gretel walked forward despite the noise, and after passing half the shop, he suddenly heard someone shouting in the distance:
"Listen to the gospel of God! Listen to the teachings of the Lord of Glory! Have Holy Communion!!!"
****
The Mid-Autumn Festival holiday has begun. I wish everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival in advance!
Please subscribe, ask for monthly tickets, ask for recommendation votes, ask for book reviews, ask for all kinds of...