Woo woo woo...
Accompanied by the sound of dragon horns that resounded throughout the sky.
The square in front of Gaojiao Fort seemed to be injected with vitality, and the buzz of people instantly reached an extreme.
"All horses and vehicles are not allowed to mess around. They line up to pass in accordance with the order of approval. The better the order you have, the faster you can pass. Once there is a disturbance and delay, you have to wait until the day after tomorrow. If you don't want to delay things, just follow the rules."
"Personnel and cargo list, cargo inspection approval form. If you sell weapons, please prepare a weapons sales license. For adventure groups, please prepare your royal armed charter or royal writ. Travelers who need to carry weapons, please show them in advance. Wait a moment. Someone will check and tie you with a peace knot. If we check it out, it will be a trouble for you and me."
"Once again, casters are asked to report their caster level in advance. We will prepare a special spellcasting certificate for you. Please don't take chances. When you clear the level, there will be professionals who will verify your identity. Screening is carried out. If you fail to report in advance, you will be expelled and not allowed to enter. After entering, you must be careful when casting spells. If you are found to be illegally casting spells, you will be fined at least, and you will be jailed at worst."
"After entering the tunnel, you are not allowed to stay for a long time at will. Pass through as soon as possible. If you have any problems, wait until you get out of the tunnel. Once the tunnel is blocked, you will be fined according to the severity of the case."
"If the inspection passes, it will be released."
In front of the underground tunnel of High Angle Castle, Gavin and the others had fully experienced the strictness of the Kingdom of Cormyr's supervision of weapons and spellcasters. They did not completely prohibit the carrying of weapons, but the arbitrary use of force.
Compared to this, the Rockland side is purely a lawless place. Not to mention the Purple Dragon patrol there, they don't care about carrying weapons at all. Even if they use force in front of them, as long as the target is not a Cormyrian, most of them will. Turn a blind eye.
This also reflects from the side, the Kingdom of Cormyr's confidence in its own internal security. They are convinced that there are no wandering monsters and bandits here, and there is no need for travelers to draw their swords at any time.
The Crown Princess explained: "In order to prevent the underground tunnel from being clogged and to facilitate management, there is a one-way entry and exit, with entry on odd-numbered days and exit on even-numbered days of each month."
"This is indeed a good method when the number of vehicles is limited. But once the number of vehicles reaches a certain level, this method will only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. Believe me, this situation will soon be faced here. The best method is actually It’s about opening up another tunnel, one specifically for entering, and the other specifically for exiting.” Gavin’s judgment was not simply due to his confidence in the path of the conqueror, but also because of the bridge of faith and faith he had established in the goblin frontier. City.
Many caravans who would have taken the high road can come to Gaojiao Fort through the Bridge of Faith and take the east road. Whether it is smooth or safe, the east road still has an absolute advantage in a short period of time.
It is no exaggeration to say that this is the most important land gateway connecting the East and West Heartland regions.
As Gavin frantically expands roads here and promotes commerce in the City of Faith, the importance of this place for business connections will further expand.
"I believe what the general said, but it is so difficult to build a new tunnel." The Crown Princess couldn't help but sigh, "The High Angle Castle Tunnel is 13,800 meters long. Our Kingdom of Cormyr and the Stormhorn Mountains The dwarves of the Silver Clan took a full half century to complete the preliminary survey and excavation work, and it took another half century to open the large-scale traffic. There were several pauses in the middle due to various reasons such as financial resources and war. The manpower invested in it The material resources were beyond the imagination of the world. At that time, the royal family's financial deficit was as high as 150 million gold coins. It took a whole century to turn around. The courage of the predecessors to plant trees for future generations to enjoy, even the ancestors of the Obaisqil royal family, are not everyone. It’s been there for every generation.”
"Thirteen thousand eight hundred meters? Sorry, please forgive my ignorance." Gavin couldn't help but marvel. Although he had been to High Point Castle once before, he had even observed its entirety from a high position under the leadership of the Crown Princess. But I didn't expect this tunnel to be so long.
Such a long artificial tunnel that traverses the entire mountain range would take decades to plan and build, even with a large number of modern tools.
When the Kingdom of Cormyr built this passage, it definitely not only used a lot of strong labor, but also a lot of magic help.
The few achievements he had made in recent times made him look down upon the world's heroes, especially kingdoms like the Kingdom of Cormyr, which had been inherited for hundreds of years. Their heritage was much richer than he imagined.
As for those dark areas that stretch for dozens of kilometers, or even hundreds of kilometers, and can even cross the entire seabed, they are of another nature. After all, most of them are natural forces. Although some of them are the work of underground races, how many of them are there? It was excavated bit by bit over thousands of years, including the dwarven mines and underground fortresses.
"It doesn't matter, the general is just being kind." Crown Princess smiled understandingly and said, "The Storm Point underground tunnel still has great potential that can be tapped. When there are so many trucks that they crowd both sides of the mountain road, we will not only It is in operation during the day and can be opened to traffic continuously at night. At the same time, some work done in Gaojiao Fort will be postponed a few kilometers or more than ten kilometers to be completed by a separate outpost. Gaojiao Fort is only responsible for maintaining the rapid passage of vehicles.
If there is still no way to meet the demand, we will start by increasing vehicle speed. As long as this aspect is improved, the pressure on the tunnel can also be relieved. "
The Crown Princess fully demonstrated her wit, turning her head and coming up with several feasible strategies to relieve stress. This was much more time- and effort-saving than Gavin's method of digging a new tunnel.
"Changing the means of transportation is indeed a very feasible strategy." Gavin agreed. "In the later stage, the method of towing rail cars can be used for short-distance rapid transportation."
No matter how fast a truck pulled by livestock is, its speed is relatively limited, and it is far less powerful than mechanical power for digging. This kind of mechanical power does not only refer to steam boilers and oil engines, but also magic power, and other things are not mentioned for the time being. Needless to say, what the goblin warlocks are researching in the Land of Three Rivers is an out-and-out magic furnace that uses negative energy as its power source.
As for the golems, they are not common in Faerûn, but they are definitely not uncommon. They all use imprisoned elements as the core of their energy supply. They are out-and-out perpetual motion machines - at least they do not require artificial energy supply, they come directly from the elements. The plane draws energy.
"Traction railcar?" Crown Princess' interest was piqued. "Are you talking about the self-propelled railcar that the dwarves use to transport minerals in their mines?"
Whether it is large conveyor belts, railway tracks, or rail cars, they are very frequently used in dwarf mining, especially the latter, which can be seen in slightly larger dwarf mines. This is related to their relatively limited population. They must try their best to It saves manpower and naturally promotes research and development when there is demand.
On the human side, due to cheaper manpower, including the existence of various slaves, there are not many mining companies that are willing to spend a lot of money to build railway tracks and railcars. Even Gavin's Black Well Iron Mine is currently using Enlightenment Trees to assist. Transporting ore, rather than building rail cars, after all, their development time was too short, their financial resources were relatively tight before, and they had not had time to upgrade their equipment.
"Yes." Gavin did not hide it, and directly presented the idea of the train, "It's just larger and more numerous than the dwarves' carriages, ranging from dozens to hundreds. , as long as the traction force is large enough, it is easy to travel hundreds of kilometers per hour, and crossing the underground tunnel is only a matter of ten minutes, but the cost is relatively high."
"No matter how high the cost is, it is far lower than digging a new Storm Point underground tunnel. If you can create another miracle in the City of Faith and increase the trade volume of the entire East Road tenfold, this matter must be brought up Schedule." When she said this, the Crown Princess couldn't hide the anticipation in her eyes as she fell on Gavin.
All this they say is based on a substantial increase in freight volume.
Without this major premise, everything would be a fantasy. Who would spend a lot of money to build something that is not needed?
If those mines produce enough iron ore every day, even the stingiest slave owner will consider updating the ore transport equipment, because if they don't do that, they will have a grudge against money.
"I'll do my best." Gavin's answer seemed a bit arrogant to outsiders.
But the Road of the Conqueror gave him sufficient confidence. Whether it was to obtain more road power or to obtain more wealth, he would run endlessly on the road of building roads and promoting the development of commerce.
Maybe he will have a hand in the Kingdom of Cormyr's renovation of the Stormhorn underground tunnel in the future.
"Your Highness, the road has been cleared and you can enter the tunnel." A middle-aged man wearing purple dragon armor quickly came forward.
This man's name is Lajos Sargent, the garrison general of Fort High Point.
This is one of the benefits that the Crown Princess personally welcomes. Not only is the green light given to them at High Point Castle, but also along the way.
"Thank you, General Lajos, General Gavin, let's go."
Not only the Crown Princess is accustomed to this kind of first-mover privilege, but also the business travelers waiting to pass, and Gavin enjoys it happily.
Equality has always been just a beautiful fantasy, not to mention the kingdom of gods. Even the gods themselves are divided into three levels, let alone mortals.
If you blindly seek equality for the sake of equality, that would be foolish behavior. Gavin only promoted fairness and justice in the army of conquerors, but he never shouted the slogan that everyone is equal. This thing will not work in Faerûn in a short period of time. , is not conducive to one's own rule, and is not conducive to one's future belief collection.
The Kingdom of Cormyr's defense of this underground tunnel is also exemplary. It not only has an outer fort that relies on the mountain, but also an inner fort with three floors inside and three floors outside. There is also a steel door with a thickness of no less than 30 centimeters in the innermost part. The thick cast-in-place door guard must be raised and lowered by a huge noose.
The width of the tunnel is much wider than Gavin imagined. At least the entrance is more than eight meters, and the height is more than five meters. Even the floor-type chariots of the conqueror army can walk side by side here, let alone Riding on horseback.
The lights are bright here, but there is no trace of smoke.
Because what is used here is not ordinary lighting, but an immortal flame attached to the cave wall.
This is a two-ring evocation spell that allows the attached object to permanently emit flames equivalent to a torch. Gavin often uses this method for lighting in the kobold territory.
We are very aware of the cost of the Eternal Flame. Even if we put aside the employment fee of the caster, this thing requires at least fifty gold coins, because it requires fifty gold coins of ruby powder as the casting material to be evenly sprinkled on the casting location. Used to ignite this magical flame.
If it comes with one or two pieces, even an ordinary businessman can afford it.
But don't forget, this is a tunnel with a length of more than 11 kilometers. There will be one every ten meters, crisscrossing on the walls on both sides, which means there will be one every five meters. This alone, this A tunnel requires an investment of more than two million (the materials consumed and the caster's hiring fee, even the war mage trained by the Kingdom of Cormyr, still need to spend hiring fees, it is nothing more than the internal price, which is relatively cheap).
The use of magic in this tunnel goes far beyond that. After entering the tunnel, Gavin clearly felt that their horse speed had increased to a higher level. Even if they were trotting, they still felt like they were running fast, as if there was an invisible big hand pushing behind them. They move forward.
Before Gavin could ask, the Crown Princess took the initiative to explain: "This is another important reason why the Storm Point underground tunnel enters on odd days and rises on even days. When it was built, it resonated with the Magic Network and formed In the wind channel, if there is a tailwind, the speed will increase by one level, and if there is a headwind, the speed will decrease by one level.”
Gavin suddenly realized, "This wind channel is not static, but reverses every twenty-four hours. On odd days, it blows from west to east, and on even days, it blows from east to west?"
If this is the case, the regulations of the Kingdom of Cormyr are reasonable and the convenience here will be utilized to the extreme, and those businessmen will naturally be very willing to accept it.
"Yes."
"The creation of this wind channel is not related to the ventilation of the channel, right?" Gavin boldly guessed.
For this kind of long underground tunnel, ventilation is the top priority. If there are no good vents, people can be suffocated to death when they reach the deepest point, let alone pass through it on a large scale.
"That's right." Crown Princess admitted openly, "When we first designed this place, we didn't prepare any additional vents. They were all solved with magic. I didn't expect that it would lead to such a unique magic effect, so there is never any need to prepare for it here. Suffocating and worrying, the wind here does not come from the outside, so the effect is constant, but it is just a novelty when you see it for the first time. It won’t take long before you feel suffocated, monotonous, and boring. Let’s Start accelerating, there will be people patrolling here every half hour, there won't be any obstacles on the road."
"Running wildly in an underground tunnel is not an experience that everyone has. Let's get started." Gavin responded enthusiastically.
Since Tynarasta said this, it means that this tunnel is a straight road, at least without any sharp turns or obvious changes in width.
"Drive!" Princess Crown didn't give in. She lightly knocked the horse on her crotch and started running from slow to fast.
drive! drive! drive!
Others followed.
When I started running, the uniqueness of the wind ducts in the Storm Point underground tunnel was fully revealed. The horse under my crotch felt like it was half running and half flying.
After this incident, Gavin became much more cautious about his words during the rest of his journey. He no longer easily expressed his opinions on many things before seeing the whole picture. Being slapped in the face was second of all, but the main reason was that his suggestions were not necessarily timely. .
After all, Gavin's thinking on many things is still based on the mundane, and both magic and divine arts are used to break the limitations of the mundane.
On the contrary, the Crown Princess did not take this matter to heart. She was very talkative and seemed to like to lure Gavin to talk. She was very proficient in war tactics, humanistic customs, magic skills and governance concepts, and she had her own unique ideas. A set of mature ideas.
At first, Gavin didn't listen to much, but when he slowly discovered that the Crown Princess had no specific purpose and was just chatting, he no longer had so many worries. After all, he had talked to Ms. Strategy face to face. Trading, how can you be afraid of a princess?
The best thing about Hai Tian Kuo Lun was that he couldn't feel the passage of time. When he came back to his senses, they arrived at the village of Shilp, their first stop in the Kingdom of Cormyr.
Shilp Village is located at the intersection of the Carantaire Road (the name of the section of the East Road in the Kingdom of Cormyr) and the Oriole Road. It is a typical commercial town. Most of the people in the village are engaged in business. To make a living, all the buildings are built along two commercial roads, most of which have stone commercial signs. There are shops below and residences above, and the two are perfectly integrated.
"Is this why you chose to stay here?" Tenarasta asked, looking at the bush ball in her hand in disbelief.
No wonder she was in disbelief. There were at least three hours until sunset, enough time for them to drive another fifty kilometers.
The shrub ball in her hand was about the size of a burly man's fist. It looked like a ball of bronzed miniature cabbage leaves, but it was a little more woody. At first glance, it looked like it was carved.
This plant is called stike bush. Although it is edible, it does not taste good. It is said to be greasy, bitter and has a strong smell. However, it is currently the most popular fish bait in Faerûn, and all living in freshwater and Aquatic life in the ocean—from the silver carps that swim in schools in the creeks to the dragon turtles—love it.
And it also has a strange characteristic. Any living creature that eats this plant will lose all ability to generate or release electric current within a certain period of time. Therefore, the stike shrub is highly valued for controlling and capturing electric eels. , causing its price to rise steadily.
(End of chapter)
