In the north of Clansia, outside the city of Red Gravel.
The wide gravel road winds through the mountains like a giant snake. The road is extremely flat, covered with thick gravel and there is no mud.
A long convoy was moving steadily along the road. Some of the carriages had calamus patterns on them, indicating that they were the convoy of the Mosyne Chamber of Commerce.
The Mosyne Chamber of Commerce mainly deals in clothing and fur. It started in Virga in its early years, but in recent years it has shifted its focus to the north because it is closer to the Gufia grassland, where the raw materials are produced. The cashmere coats and wool sweaters they produce are also mainly sold in the north.
This caravan was carrying a lot of finished clothing. They would go to Red Gravel City, then follow the Laijian River eastward, pass through Emenas, and transport the goods to the Green Empire in the east.
The Western Continent is divided in the middle by the Mountains of Sighs, with only the Laijian River running through it and the Golden Plains to the south of the Mountains of Sighs accessible. Because the Laijian River is easily defended and difficult to attack, Emenas is also a permanent neutral territory. If Cangcui wishes to attack the Seven Kingdoms of Xuehua, they typically take the southern Golden Plains.
In addition to the carriages of the Mosyne Chamber of Commerce, there were some unmarked carriages at the rear of the caravan. These carriages were carrying some passengers and were also heading to Red Gravel City. Because they were afraid of insecurity on the road, they often paid a sum of money and were then allowed to follow the caravan and be protected by it.
In one of the carriages, there were six people sitting. Some were dozing off due to exhaustion, some were resting with their eyes closed, and some were taking out their packages and carefully checking their luggage.
A girl in a light brown windbreaker leaned against the car window. She was wearing a black skirt and stockings underneath, and her black eyes were looking at the scenery outside.
The tall mountains almost block the entire view. The mountains hundreds of meters high seem to be cut like a cake, revealing the dark red rocks inside. The layers of rocks are of different shades of color, dark red, light red, and brown-red, constantly alternating, like a thousand-layer cake.
At the foot of the mountain, many miners were digging in the open air, placing individual stones into baskets and then transporting them away by oxcart. If I was right, these red gravels were iron ore.
There is a unique open-pit iron mine near Hongli City, which is rich in steel. It is also close to the Blue Stream River. It used to be an important city in the northern part of West Wind. However, since the independence of Ned County, it immediately sent troops to capture this city in the neighboring county province. Now it is also an industrial center planned by Clancia. A lot of manpower and material resources have been concentrated here, and the iron ore output is much higher than before.
"Is this your first time traveling far away?" asked an old man sitting opposite the girl. His face was covered with wrinkles, but his arms were strong and powerful, with many scars and calluses on his hands.
"Yes." The girl nodded.
"You are so brave! I have a granddaughter who is about the same age as you. I dare not let her travel far away alone at her age." The old man sighed.
"Is the security in Clancy okay now?" the girl asked hesitantly.
"Well, compared to when Xifeng was here, the people in charge now are indeed different. In the city, you can see those soldiers patrolling in neat steps every day, and the public security is very good, but it's hard to say in the wild."
"Are there any robbers in the wild?" the girl asked with a little curiosity.
"Yes, those people are originally a bunch of hooligans. They used to eat and drink for free when they were in Xifeng. If you ask them to work, they can't stand it. So they ran away and conspired with those former soldiers and unscrupulous mercenaries to start a business of highway robbery."
"Don't the officials of Clancy care?"
"They care. They will send patrols to clear them out, but these people are local bullies. They run away quickly and often change places. The situation in the mountains is also complicated, so they often escape." The old man's tone seemed a little helpless.
"Is that so..." the girl thought.
"Is Grandpa going to work in Red Gravel City?"
"Yes, the Clansian authorities recently summoned many skilled blacksmiths to Red Gravel City. I heard they're planning to hold a conference to pool their wisdom and improve their craft."
“Isn’t that wonderful?”
"It sounds good, but who knows what the outcome will be. Xifeng has done it before, but the nobles took all the results and benefits, and we craftsmen became even more tired." The old man shook his head.
"That shouldn't happen this time. I heard they will reward craftsmen who come up with effective improvement methods, and also increase the treatment of outstanding craftsmen." The girl said confidently.
"Oh, little girl, you are very sure. Are you from the royal capital?" The old man didn't care much about the outcome of this conference. After all, he had experienced many similar things. It was nothing more than work.
"I come from a small mountain village on the border, but I've been to many places along the way, and everyone's life is better than before."
The girl recalled what she had seen and heard along the way. The smiles on those people's faces could not be faked.
"That's true. The same goes for my kid. He used to make swords for nobles and earned a maximum of 15 silver coins a month. Now he works in a workshop and earns 30 silver coins a month, which is double the amount." The old man laughed heartily when he said this.
"Now that I think about it, I'm really looking forward to this conference. I hope I can still see those old guys from before, haha."
In this way, the carriage slowly turned around several mountains, and a magnificent city appeared in everyone's eyes.
The city is built on the mountain and is divided into several huge stairways. Black smoke billows out of the towering chimneys in the workshops, and deafening roars can be heard from the city. At the foot of the city are several tall water wheels built along the river, with a diameter of about 200-300 meters. Driven by the flow of the river, these water wheels turn, transporting carts of ore and black coal to the workshops in the city, and then some finished steel products are also put into cargo boxes and transported down with the rotation of the water wheels.
There is a wide dock by the river, and some large inland ships are docked at the shore, constantly unloading boxes of black coal and then loading boxes of steel products onto the ships.
As the carriage approached the city gate, the passengers on board could still hear the sounds of molten iron being cast and cooled, and violent white steam was emitting from the chimneys of some workshops.
After entering the city, the sound of steel knocking and hitting can be heard everywhere. There are many black coal slag and mineral powder between the stone slabs on the street, and the air is filled with the smell of coal smoke.
Smelling the pungent smell, the girl couldn't help but sneeze after getting off the carriage.
"How is it? Are you a little uncomfortable? Haha, but people like me have long been accustomed to it and can hardly smell it."
The old man looked at the little girl with black hair and black eyes and smiled before continuing to ask.
"Okay, we've arrived at our destination. I guess I'll have to get busy again, old man. My name is Anbo. If you want to make a sword for self-defense, you can come to me. What's your name?"
"Thank you, Grandpa Anbo. My name is Luo Lan."
The girl waved goodbye to the old man and walked to the other side of the street. There was an open space halfway up the mountain where a beautiful white airship was parked.
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