Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

Chapter 115 A chain-like overall concept

That's how I was kicked out by Lund.

The so-called guest was actually Avustern of the Graymane family. When he was driven out of Whiterun by old Vignar, I was still busy attending banquets everywhere. In the end, he came late after I killed a werewolf. But he was honest and told me directly what he had done.

"The old man told me not to care about Thorade's disappearance anymore. I don't know what he was thinking, but I couldn't let my brother disappear without a trace. So I went to find a few friends and asked them to help me continue looking for him."

I knew that his brother was imprisoned in the North Tower Fortress by the Thalmor. From one of the destinations of this trip to Hafengar, the Rime Rock Cave, you can overlook this small fortress. But I don't plan to help. According to the plot in the game, Avustern will bring two helpers to fight into the fortress with the Dragonborn and rescue Thorad. These two helpers are extremely weak and can't be of any use in the battle; I am not a Dragonborn, so it is impossible for me to be invincible.

This Avustern is a useless and reckless man in the game, and he has not shown any higher wisdom in the other world, but I still chat with him about everything, because he has the surname Greymane. According to him, Vignar and Erlund are both old, and they are looking for their own successors in the family. Vignar's two children have already achieved high positions in the Stormcloaks. In fact, the offensive plan in the direction of Falkreath has always been in charge of Avustern's cousin.

However, this man has suffered a series of setbacks recently. First, Lord Ulfric was ambushed by the Imperial Army during the action plan he formulated, then his two cousins ​​disappeared one after another, and finally his subordinate Torig the Sun-loving surrendered to Falkreath with his troops. It is said that we are not afraid of big things, but we are afraid of things happening one after another. In this extraordinary period of tension, which lord would be so naive as to talk to you about procedural justice, presumption of innocence and other stupid things? You can't explain your problem clearly, then there is a problem. The reason why we haven't found evidence for the time being is that you are too cunning and hide it well. The less evidence there is, the more serious the problem is.

According to Avustern's friends in the Stormcloaks, his cousin has been relieved of his military power and placed under house arrest. His cousin was originally a mid-level leader of the battlefield nurse team, and is now also under custody. To make matters worse, Lillia, the youngest daughter of the Snowhoof family in the Rift Valley, also died in an ambush by the Imperial Legion. Lillia was a member of the battlefield nurses. The subordinates of the Graymane daughter died in a military operation planned by the Graymane son. If you say that the Graymane family does not need to be responsible, then it is probably just burning newspapers at the grave - fooling the ghosts? So the Snowhoof family fully mobilized their connections within the Stormcloaks. Even if they could not put the two to death, they had to peel off a layer of skin from them.

"Then if you just run away like this, won't you put your brothers in danger?"

Avustern tilted his head back and took a long gulp of wine.

"The old man doesn't understand, and neither do you. I'm just a small captain. What's the point of staying here? I can't prove their innocence, and I might even be locked up like them. If that's the case, no one will go to rescue Solard."

Brother, you can't rescue Thorad like this, right? Besides, your family has a bad reputation among the Stormcloaks, and you have no say in the Empire. Aren't you a nobody? No wonder Vignar wanted to send Avustern to Falkreath. The old man must have seen the signs and quickly made the best of a bad situation to spread the risk.

They are all thousand-year-old foxes!

It's not easy for the patriarchs of these big families. They have to think ahead and behind before making any decision. If they meet a fool like Avustern, it will be even more worrying. I am also a small leader now. I have no relationship with Lai Mei. I was so distressed when she was injured that I blamed myself for a long time. What about my own nephew? Think about Danger. He was exhausted to clean up Sidger's ass.

I wanted to learn about Torig the Sunlover from Avustern, but I found that he knew very little about his cousin's subordinate. Vignar's son has always been fair and selfless, and he has paid little attention to his sister and cousin. Avustern himself is average in ability and is not even a middle-level figure in the Stormcloak camp, so he has no chance to meet people at the commander level.

Although Avustern complained about being exiled to Falkreath, he didn't seem to intend to just lie down and do nothing. Vignar sent him to find a partner for the family, but the old man was staying in Whiterun, so how could he care about what this guy was doing outside? Avustern came here just to say hello to me. He was not interested in the family's affairs, and would continue to look for Thorad's whereabouts.

"If you want to track down Thorad's whereabouts, it would be best to focus on what Vigna has given you."

Avustern rolled his eyes strangely, and there was a pure and pure stupidity in his eyes.

"Vigna asked you to find possible partners for the Graymane family. There happens to be an undeveloped iron mine next to my small castle. Many of the people mining here are captured soldiers of the Imperial Legion. I'm not sure if any of these prisoners know..."

Avustern jumped up from his chair, knocked over the bottles on the floor and rushed out.

I came to Lund's office again. Poor little Lucia was finally freed. After sorting out the documents in her hands, she bowed and left. Lund took out a small half bottle of wine from the cabinet, poured a glass and handed it to me.

"The room is full of paper, so I didn't let them light a fire. Have some wine to warm yourself up. But don't drink too much, I have something serious to discuss with you."

The room in the castle has this shortcoming, the walls are all cold stone, and the windows are very small. Now it is the chilly season of spring, there is no fire in the house, and the cold dampness is like a cunning insect, picking the seams of human bones to drill. But what you said, Lund, do I look like such a greedy person? I took a sip of wine, put down the glass, and waited for Lund to speak.

Lund's report was clear and coherent. Everything was going fine at the Tiger Traders' Storehouse. The Madelan Caravan purchased some specialties from Southam Island from Windhelm, including the local ash crops. Lund thought I might be interested, so he bought them and stored them in the warehouse. The mines also began to receive ransoms from various territories, but currently it was mainly the families of the captives who raised money to redeem the captives. General Tullius had not yet expressed his opinion.

The miners discovered two iron ore veins and the associated coal mines. As expected, the snow mouse alarm successfully detected the colorless and odorless poisonous gas in the mine, and Rund had arranged for people to set up ventilation ducts.

"According to Lord Horik, this poison gas can not only suffocate people to death, but can also explode, which is very dangerous. But as long as it is discovered in advance, it can be discharged by connecting hollow logs into pipes. I think the mentality of the Rich people and prisoners is not very stable. If an accident occurs, it will be difficult to deal with, so we will suspend mining first and resume it after confirming safety."

The poisonous gas that Lund mentioned should be gas, and the main component is probably called methane or something. This thing is actually a very good fuel, and it can also be made by fermenting garbage such as human and animal feces or crop straw after harvest, which is commonly known as biogas. My Chinese ancestors learned to collect and use this magical substance very early, turning garbage into treasure. At the same time, Europeans were still dumping feces and sewage on the streets. This advanced and environmentally friendly sustainable development concept is at least a thousand years ahead of the self-proclaimed civilized white monkeys.

Look, it was right to resist sleeping in chemistry class...

"Have you ever thought about collecting the gas and using it as fuel?"

Lund was no longer surprised by my peculiar focus.

"No. Gas is not easy to collect. Once released, it will escape. And I am not sure whether this poison gas can be burned safely. What if it explodes when it encounters fire?"

Lund is good in every way except that he is too timid. Of course, what he said makes sense. There is no rubber or plastic in Skyrim, and I can't find a suitable sealed container. What did the textbooks say about collecting biogas? It seems that it is about digging a biogas tank or something, which is a big project. And Lund will definitely not agree to dig under the castle, after all, this thing has the risk of explosion.

Headache……

It is said that the protagonists of time-travel novels are all equipped with tricky and weird black technology. Forging steel, making metal, making guns and cannons are just like daily life. They can quickly ascend mechanically and attack with dimensionality reduction. But when it came to me, I could only cook a few home-cooked dishes. I almost got killed by Rigel when I was refining lard. I finally made a name for myself, but I couldn't even make biogas. I was thinking that one day I could ask the great and merciful Namo Gatling Bodhisattva to turn 3,600 times in one breath to save the predestined people. It seems that there is no hope.

Seeing me sitting there in a daze, Lund thought I had given up those crazy ideas, so he brought the topic back to the mine.

There was another reason why Lund was in no hurry to get the mine into production: he needed me to decide what to do with the ore that was mined.

The simplest way is to sell the unprocessed ore directly, and leave the refining work to the professionals in the blacksmith shop. There are blacksmiths in Falkreath, Riverwood, and even Whiterun, so there is no need to worry about sales. The disadvantage of this is that it is not possible to sell it at a high price. In addition, the unsmelted ore is obviously much heavier than the iron ingot, and the logistics pressure is greater.

The Bloodthrone Fortress is located in a remote area and has been in a state of abandonment, so the roads are in a dilapidated state. I once hired a group of Rich people to clean up the area, but it was barely passable. Later, it was not until Lund took over that a road capable of transporting stone was built on the basis of the original winding mountain road. At present, our stone sales are limited, and this road is barely enough, but if we expand production in the future, coupled with the sale of iron ore and coal, the transportation capacity will definitely be insufficient.

There is another problem that must be considered. Last winter was very dry, with almost no heavy snow, which is very rare in Falkreath. If the precipitation returns to normal levels this year, the mountain roads will become muddy and slippery, adding great risks to transportation. Falkreath is a basin, and the roads on the edge of the Bloody Throne are very difficult to travel. It is not as difficult as going to heaven, but at least it is as easy as going to hell.

Lund suggested that we start smelting iron ourselves. Because there are a lot of pine trees around our territory, and coal can be produced in the mines, so there is enough fuel for ironmaking. If the coal is used to make iron, there is no need to find customers to buy coal. Even if the unused coal is sold, the price can naturally be raised with less sales, and the pressure on the transportation end can be relieved. Lund's plan is to collect the waste slag after ironmaking and use it to pave roads. The roads are easier to travel, which in turn can promote sales, allowing the territory's economy to enter a virtuous cycle.

Another benefit of smelting iron by ourselves is that if more iron ore is discovered in the future, we can set up our own blacksmith shop based on the smelter and forge weapons and farm tools with the iron we mined. The basic principle of business is that the higher the added value of the product, the higher the price, so selling ore is not as good as selling iron ingots, and selling iron ingots is not as good as selling iron utensils. The closer the manufacturing plant is to the raw material production area, the lower the cost and the greater the profit margin.

Lund further explained that mining, smelting, road construction, and even the possible blacksmith shops in the future are all jobs that require a large number of workers, which are so-called labor-intensive industries. Once these industries are established, they can absorb a large number of people and further drive other industries that provide services for them. After a day of hard work, miners must have a place to drink and brag, right? Merchants who come and go for trade must have a place to rest temporarily, right? With more people living here, there must be someone to provide them with necessities such as clothes and food, right?

There is limited arable land near the Blood Throne. To support a larger population, we need to import a large amount of various materials. Our products are also bulk commodities. In addition to the goods coming in and out of the Tiger Merchants' Warehouse, the existing winding mountain road is close to saturation. Lund's long-term plan is to open up the mountains to the north of the Blood Throne and build a high-quality official road directly to the Pinewood Watchtower.

All these plans fit in with my previous idea: to increase the population of the Bloody Throne and turn it into a new settlement.

This is a chain-like overall concept.

I was so moved by the future that Lund described that I couldn't help but grab the wine glass and take a gulp, only to find that it was empty. Lund took out the bottle like a magic trick and filled it up. Before I could pick up the glass, he stuffed a complicated document with several pages into my hand.

"You drink it later, take a look at this first."

This is a list of jobs in the mine. Lund marked the job content, degree of danger, etc. in detail, and wrote a number after each job. Simply put, the greater the workload and the more dangerous the job, the larger the number. I flipped through a few pages, put them aside, and took a sip of wine.

"I don't know anything about the mine either. You can handle it yourself."

Lund looked helpless, turned to the last page of the document, and pointed to the last line of words at me.