Lady of the Lord From the East

As soon as Wei Wei came back, she hadn't said anything about the situation of the villa, but Felix gave her good news first.

"The thresher artisans you mentioned earlier made it. After testing, they can thresh an acre of wheat in two hours-I'm talking about an acre and two thousand catties."

"It's done? They're amazing." Wei Wei was a little surprised, but then regretted: "It would have been better if it had been earlier."

A little earlier, this year's wheat harvest can be used, but unfortunately now that the wheat harvest has ended, it is a pity to do it at this time.

After the wheat is harvested, it takes a very long time to separate the kernels from the husks. Even though she taught everyone to use flails last year, it took five days for an acre of wheat to husk.

So Wei Wei had already planned to make a thresher, but she had to hide and tuck her when she first arrived last year, so as not to make herself too conspicuous, but this year she has no such scruples.

So back from the capital, Wei Wei assigned the blacksmiths the task of making wheat threshers.

The thresher was invented by Scottish inventor James Merkel and his son Andrew in the 18th century. Although the time was close to the industrial revolution, the first thresher was driven by horses, and then it was improved to rely on water conservancy. and steam powered machines.

Wei Wei turned over a lot of information, made modifications based on the first thresher, and drew an improved horsepower-driven thresher. She didn't believe that with today's technology, it is impossible to make a steam model. Can't do it yet.

The structure of the thresher is very simple. In order to save the amount of iron, the first thresher made is a wooden shell, with a funnel-like inlet above and two outlets below, one in front of the machine and one in the front. Below, the inside of the thresher is a long roller. A round shaft is installed on one side of the roller, which is connected with the shaft below which is convenient for the horse to pull by a narrow belt. When the horse is connected to the thresher, it runs in place. Automatically starts to tell the operation, the constantly rolling round shaft will form an air flow inside, blowing the wheat husk and straw from the trumpet-like air outlet in front, and the wheat grains will fall from the slide-like exit directly below, complete. Separation of husks and kernels.

With the thresher, the most productive acre of land is now only two hours away, other yields will only be faster.

Of course, this kind of thresher can only thresh, and there is no way to eliminate the wheat bran on the wheat kernels. After all the subsequent wheat kernels are milled by the mill, they still need to be screened by a sieve to obtain pure white fine flour.

However, Wei Wei's thresher has inspired the craftsmen who made it. Felix knows that the craftsmen he has dug back from elsewhere are currently researching methods of sieving surfaces that can be driven by animal or water power, such as making an oversized sieve. , pour the freshly ground flour on top, and let the horse shake the sieve back and forth like a thresher to achieve the effect of automatic stuffing.

However, although it sounds simple, it is not easy for craftsmen who have not learned much, but Felix supports their attempts, and even told them that as long as they can make them, they can do the same thing as a thresher. Living the same is rewarding, and that's probably why the craftsmen are so active.

"It's not too late. Wheat can't be used, but it will be available when the barley is harvested next month."

Barley needs to be hulled just like wheat, and a thresher can also be used. Even rye and oats can be used. It can also be used to thresh rice with a little modification. It can be called a multi-purpose machine.

"That's right." Wei Wei knew that what he said was reasonable, nodded, and added: "But just one thresher is not very useful. Can the craftsmen make a few more before next month?"

Felix smiled: "The structure of the thresher is simple, I asked, the blacksmith in charge of this piece can make at least five more units a month, and if everyone participates, they can also make a hundred units a month. "

Felix has a lot of blacksmiths. Originally, there were several well-crafted blacksmiths in his manor who provided him with weapons and armor, and occasionally took over the work of making farm tools. There will be at least one blacksmith in the middle of the pack. He has already "borrowed" the skilled craftsmen from these people, and dug some from the territory of other nobles. Adding up the total, the blacksmiths who can make armor and weapons are only There are more than 50, and most of these blacksmiths also bring apprentices. Although these apprentices who can be brought have not been apprentices, they have learned some crafts for a few years. Even if they can't make good armor and weapons, they can play some Small objects are still no problem, and the number of people who can add up to a big iron will be doubled.

Of course, because the Count always has something they can't finish, and can allocate time to make a thresher, there are only a few big iron craftsmen with the best skills.

"One hundred units? You let them do it? Do we need so many?" Wei Wei knew that Felix had already made such arrangements after hearing his words.

But even though there is a large population and a lot of land in Sardinson County, the thresher does not require one machine for every household. It is too extravagant to have one machine in a village, and the villages and towns in Sardinson County are not enough. Fifty, there is no need for as many as a hundred.

But she quickly figured it out: "Do you want to sell the extra machines?"

Felix nodded in appreciation: "This machine has a simple structure, and people can learn it when they see it. We might as well sell it as soon as possible to recover the cost."

Felix is ​​really looking more and more like a businessman now. Wei Wei secretly sighed.

Although the structure of the thresher is simple, even if they replace all the replaceable parts with wood, the amount of iron used by a machine is not low, enough to play three or five sabers, and it is enough to sell enough iron. It only takes three silver coins, and not to mention the craftsmanship and time spent on casting, the general residents can't afford it at all.

There are basically no mineral resources in Sardinson County. All the minerals needed are bought from merchants or other nobles. Although the sale of iron is not restricted in Europe, the price has always been high. In order for an ordinary person to become a knight You need to prepare a full set of armor, weapons and horses for yourself, and this is not enough for a small wealthy family.

If Felix wants to equip the citizens with enough threshers, even the material cost of iron is enough to make several full sets of armor for the knights. He can't afford this price, but if he can get others to do it, why not Woolen cloth?

"So how do you want to sell it?"

Felix, who is not bad for money, said: "Barter, let them exchange iron."

Three times the amount of iron used by the thresher can be exchanged for a thresher. If you want to buy it, it is almost a gold coin.

Wei Wei thinks that he can't do this business: "You also said that the structure of the thresher is simple, you can read it once, and they can buy one and go back to copy it."

"But after all, you have to buy one first, right?" Felix wanted to do nothing more than a one-time sale: "If you can sell one, you will make a profit, otherwise we will lose a lot when they see the structure of the thresher. already."

These threshers are always sent to the hands of the people. Those people in the village are not as easy to manage as the serfs in the manor. I am afraid that they can disassemble the thresher to see if they are curious. The structure of this machine is impossible. Confidentiality, any blacksmith who knows about it can make it, the difference is only in the quality of the craftsmanship and the length of time.

Instead of letting other people get this technology for nothing, they might as well get back to it as soon as possible.

"And it's time for the barley harvest soon. If the merchants don't say it, the nobles are afraid to buy two more for their own use."

No matter how powerful the aristocrats exploited the serfs, they were not stupid, and they were reluctant to use things that could increase productivity, especially those nobles who had a lot of land but few people. They lacked labor and were naturally willing to spend some money to buy a few threshing machines. If the harvesting machine is quicker, if the harvest is finished early and sold early, there will still be a good price. If it is late, when there are abundant grains everywhere, the price will be low, and there may even be situations where grain merchants are unwilling to harvest.

Wei Wei thought about it for a while, then smiled: "Then you can find a few people who can talk about it and take the thresher to publicize it, mobilize their desire to buy, and maybe sell a few more units."

Isn't that what modern salespeople do? They can make you alive if they die, and make customers willing to pay with their mouths.

After listening to her suggestion, Felix left his head and started thinking about who he was suitable for the job, and soon there was a candidate.

"I'll arrange it tomorrow. Dingle has a lot of outsiders now, so it's appropriate to publicize it there."

After talking about the thresher, Felix said one more thing.

He took out a drawing from the drawer, a city plan drawn by Pierre.

This city belonging to Sardinson and Thrott started out small. After all, the two counties combined were less than 50,000 people, and most of these people would not leave their places of residence. The city was built fundamentally. It's useless and wasteful, it's better to develop slowly.

"The original plan was to accommodate a small city of about 10,000 people, without a city wall, to facilitate future expansion."

Although it is a small city with only 10,000 people, the configuration inside is completely according to Wei Wei's vision. There are all public buildings such as hospitals, banks, schools, parks, small shopping malls and other public buildings. Pierre chose the appropriate locations for them. For example, the bank is placed in the center of the commercial street that will inevitably be very lively in the future, the hospital and school are located in the middle of the residential area of ​​the nobles and the commoners, which is convenient for people on both sides to enter and exit, and the park is one on each side, and the nobles are large and can run horses. The horse farm park, the civilian area is a flat grass with a small area, benches are placed on the side of the road, some beautiful flowers and trees are planted around, and because there is no charge, there is no need for a fence, just open a few more. There is a trail for everyone to come and go freely.

In addition, the public security bureau is also one on each side, but it is said to be the public security bureau. It is not the police, but the city guards and sheriffs. There are additional fire stations on the side. These people are naturally the official establishment and will be dispatched by the future city hall. , is currently not available.

Of course, although they didn't say it, Pierre didn't forget to give out a place to a future church.

And these public buildings are just blanks on the map, because Wei Wei has their outline drawings. Pierre also saved time to design. He only needed to find a good location for each building, set the basic architectural style for the houses in the noble area and the poor area, plan the land area, and then design the appearance of the city hall, except The last one was quite a challenge for him, and the others were easy to come by.

Who makes Wei Wei's preferences so clear, as long as the tone is neat and symmetrical, the performance on the design drawing based on this is to write names on grids of various sizes, and then draw a representative building, which is simpler than the ones he painted before. .

"This is the floor plan of the city. These are the outline drawing, internal structure drawing of the city hall, and house style drawings of the noble area and the civilian area." Felix took out several drawings.

Wei Wei first looked at the drawings of the city hall. It was a huge Gothic-style building. It was a three-storey building as a whole. The tower is a five-storey minaret. There is a viewing platform at the same height as the building. There is also a clock pattern near the top of the tower, representing a clock tower.

"He probably designed it after seeing this." Felix pointed to the pendulum clock in the study, "I seem to have specifically asked Raymond to make sure it can be done."

With such a first clock tower in the world, it's hard to think of a city hall that is not famous. Besides, Pierre is indeed a designer who is good at designing and building churches. The building he designed is like a Gothic church. Its grandeur and sophistication, typical of pointed arches, ribbed vaults and flying buttresses, and Wei Wei's villa inspired him with its huge arched window ridges, coupled with the curvilinear balconies, this building is definitely called A work of art means that if it can be passed on to future generations, it will definitely be listed as a cultural heritage.

Looking at the internal structure, Pierre did not design the first floor as an area that can be used for public activities according to Wei Wei's requirements, but directly for various government departments, but in front of the city hall is the square and behind the garden. Design is not necessary, and in the internal structure diagram of the first floor, there are benches for people to rest in the corridor, and it is also very convenient for the residents to do business.

This is the design of the banquet hall on the second floor. Obviously, Pierre is very aware of the nobility’s preference for holding banquets. Even the buildings used for official business do not have a downstairs section, so there are also matching kitchens and lounges. Very complete.

As for the third floor, it is the office area of ​​high-level officials. Like the first floor, these office areas only roughly divide the size of the rooms, and it is not his responsibility to arrange the specific arrangements.

After all, even Wei Wei has not figured out how to plan government units.

Wei Wei is very satisfied with this city hall. She likes Gothic-style buildings very much, and Pierre's design completely hit her heart, so there is nothing wrong with it.

After seeing the city hall, the house drawings in the noble district seemed mediocre and even a little perfunctory - it was almost drawn according to Wei Wei's villa, but the details were slightly modified to be more in line with the aesthetics of the nobles.

"This shows that he likes your villa very much." Felix said: "Of course I like it too. It is the most comfortable house I have ever lived in, even the palace can't compare."

The wheel is gorgeous, Wei Wei's villa can only be regarded as ordinary, but the comfort level can indeed surpass most houses. After all, her design is mainly based on comfort, and the decoration also tends to be home-style, and the nobles who pay attention to luxury They are completely different, and Felix would find it perfectly normal to live comfortably.

The slums are even simpler. They are all two-story houses with triangular roofs, small windows, and the gray stone walls are strong but not very beautiful. Wei Wei imagined it. Rows of gray stone houses stand on both sides, neat and tidy, but have a sense of outdated. For a new city, it is not so good, and the size of the stones is actually different, and it is still not neat. .

"It's better to change the stone to brick, the red wall looks much better than the gray."

"But bricks are more expensive than stones. If you use bricks to build a house, ordinary civilians may not be able to live in it."

The difficulty of mining stone makes the price of stone unaffordable for ordinary people, and the price of brick is even higher.

Although bricks are easy to make, the preparatory work takes a lot of time, and the final firing requires a lot of wood, so the price of bricks is actually higher than that of stones.

When Wei Wei heard this, she could only say: "Then put more effort into the decoration."

She took a pen and added a small flower stand outside a few windows, with plants and flowers, and flowers and trees at the gate on the first floor.

"The street can be widened according to the needs of horses and carriages in the middle, green belts on both sides, and the sidewalks in the inner side, with green plants as embellishments, does this look better? And separating the road from the sidewalk, also It can reduce the occurrence of accidents.”

Felix watched her drawing, and added colors to the picture in his mind. The gray house with green plants and bright flowers was indeed much more beautiful than the street with only the house.

"Go and talk to Pierre yourself, you can do the same with other receivers."

Wei Wei said a little embarrassedly: "I said before that I want to draw those public buildings, but I haven't started a painting yet, so I'll find him after I finish the painting."

"It's not really urgent. Those public buildings can't be built at the beginning, especially places like banks. It's enough to vacate the land. It doesn't matter when the painting is done."

Wei Wei was taken aback: "Aren't you going to run a bank by yourself?"

This time, Felix was stunned. Running a bank, he didn't seem to have considered this issue.

But it is true that the banking industry makes money. There is something here for Sardinson, his territory, he does not hold all the currency in the territory himself, why should it be handed over to others?

Felix touched his chin and pondered: "You are right, I should really think about this."

Wei Wei nodded and joked: "Yes, state-owned banks are the most trustworthy. You are the lord here, so everyone can use the bank you open with confidence. Otherwise, someone from other places will come and run away after collecting the money. manage?"

It is unlikely to run away with money, but there is indeed a certain risk in handing over your money to others, and the person behind the bank can easily know his family background, which is also very annoying.

"But we have opened our own bank. Even if the citizens are willing to buy it, the foreign merchants may not be willing? When other banks settle in, our own bank may not be able to rob others."

Banks are basically for businessmen, they don't want to put money in, and they're wasting their efforts.

"Moreover, several banks cooperate with each other, so the bills of exchange they issue can be used nationwide, and even some people receive them abroad. We jumped in rashly, fearing that no one would welcome it."

Wei Wei raised her finger and pointed downstairs: "Don't they all say that there is a church background behind the bank, isn't there a ready-made person here, don't they want to cooperate with us? Use their relationship to join us in it, It should be ok?"

Felix felt that what she said was reasonable. The Pope didn't know if it was possible, but Bishop Umberto could try it.

"Let me tell you, you really have to think about this, the economic lifeline should still be in your own hands, and don't be afraid that you won't be able to open it. The banking business in my hometown is rich, I remember some, look back Sort it out and write it down for you to read.”

The big deal is to stay up late and work overtime to read books. Anyway, she's already used to it, so it's not bad.

Seeing that she was so positive, Felix became more and more moved, and said that he would go and talk to the people in the church.

Afterwards, he really went to Bishop Umberto, who heard that he intended to cooperate with the church to open a bank—although it was just an empty plan for now—and that he wanted to cooperate with them, Bishop Umberto was very happy.

"Don't worry, I'll write a letter to make arrangements. Don't look at us as doves and weak, but we actually have some rights within the church."

Weak doves are compared to hawks, but they are still very bluffing to the outside world. Since the church can support the Templars to run banks, they can of course support Felix, and Felix opens a bank in his own territory. It doesn't affect other people's business, they can all allow other banks to open in the same city as themselves - such as the capital city - is it going to prevent the master of Sardinson from opening a bank in his own territory? ?

If they did that, they would be the first to lose, but don’t forget, Felix is ​​now a big customer of the major banks in the capital. He can support a lot of people with his monthly running accounts. The reason is to offend him. Generally speaking, he will no longer deposit money in their bank in the future. This is a big loss.

Bishop Umberto thought clearly in his heart, knowing that Felix just didn’t understand what was going on, but he didn’t understand it. In fact, it wasn’t difficult at all. Instead, he and the Pope took advantage of Felix. With the introduction of the banking industry, the share of the income that belongs to the church will naturally belong to them.

Felix was also satisfied with Bishop Umberto's reply, and he gave him a friendly smile, saying that if this happened, they could add some other cooperation.

He even directly invited: "Recently, our county has researched a new thresher, which can improve the efficiency of wheat threshing. I wonder if Your Excellency Bishop is interested in visiting with me?"

Of course, Bishop Umberto would not disagree: "Of course, I am very happy."

Then Felix led him to the performance of the thresher. By the way, he said that this kind of machine has just been developed, and they only have this one, but he can send one when the new one is ready. Give it to him as a thank you.

"It will definitely be done before you leave."

For such a gift, Bishop Umberto just wants to say that the more the better, the more the better, not just a machine, not to mention its use, as long as it can be imitated, it can be sold.

Of course, if he wants to sell, he will sell it in Italy, and he will not compete with Felix for business. He still understands this.