AWDC Chapter 92

“How’s it feel to be back in the familiar atmosphere of the Datar Plateau?” Jim asked cheerfully.

“It’s great. There’s just something about this wide-open space.”

“It means that even if you run away, this place will always be here for you.”

Jim was teasing me about being exiled from the capital. I’m grateful to have a friend who can joke like that.

“And another thing. I finally found what you asked me to look for.”

Jim said, handing me a black stone.

I had surveyed the area east of the desert to build a road through the mountains for the desert development. At that time, I found a strangely black-tinged area in a region that was nothing but pebbles. Upon closer inspection, the black pebbles and sand were undoubtedly derived from coal. I was convinced that there had to be coal buried somewhere in these eastern mountains, but at the time, the desert development took priority, and I had no choice but to leave the coal as it was. I had asked Jim, who became the superintendent of Datar Village, to investigate these eastern mountains.

“There’s no mistake. This is coal. We’ve found something amazing.”

“I’m sure it’s true since you say so, but is this really valuable?”

I can understand Jim’s skepticism. It’s not that people in this world didn’t know about coal. However, burning coal directly produces smoke, and its firepower is too strong and difficult to handle, so it was hardly used. In Japan, coal only began to be used after the Meiji era. Before that, firewood and charcoal were the only fuels for cooking. When you look at the mountains depicted in ukiyo-e paintings from the Edo period, they are mostly bald. This is explained by the fact that wood was cut down from the nearby mountains, resulting in bald mountains. The mountains of Japan today are covered in green, but it is said that this is because petroleum and coal began to be used as fuel, and it became unnecessary to use wood for fuel.

I’m aware of the pollution caused by burning coal and oil, but I now believe that digging up coal is more effective than using the wood that is currently growing for fuel.

“Where was it?” I decided to conduct an on-site investigation immediately.

It was much deeper into the mountains than the area I had surveyed before. At one corner of the mountain, a cliff stood, and black stones were exposed within it.

“It’s quite deep in the mountains. You really found it.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have searched if you hadn’t asked me to,” Jim said, acting as if he deserved praise.

At first, I was also diligently going into the mountains, convinced that coal must be buried somewhere. However, as I took up a position in the capital, I had no choice but to give up and entrust the matter to Jim. It’s been nearly 10 years since Jim became the development manager of Datar Village. While drawing water to the desert and expanding agricultural land, he had his idle subordinates search for it.

“But you really found it. I should have come here too, but I couldn’t find it.”

“There was a heavy rain in this area three months ago. You told me that heavy rain makes landslides more likely, so I had them search this area thoroughly.”

He had a face that said, “You understand my hardships, right?” I understood his feelings.

“I understand. Let’s go to the Mulan Inn tonight for the first time in a while.”

“Alright! Everyone, it’s the Earl’s treat today. All you can drink!”

At that voice, his subordinates who had come with him clapped their hands in joy.

(Hey, hey, I said I was going to drink with Jim. But seeing how happy his subordinates are, I can’t correct him, can I?)

I was happy that the coal was found, but I was even happier to be able to exchange banter with my friend after a long time.

There were three things I wanted to do when I returned to Toriholi. The first was to dig a new tunnel in the Lean Ridge and run a waterway through the center of the Datar Desert. This is because there are concerns about water shortages in the future with the current waterway. The second was to build a bridge over the Mulan River. The village on the opposite bank of Toriholi became part of the Robertson family’s territory through negotiations with the former king, but it can only be accessed by boat. I wanted to build a bridge here to improve transportation. And the third was the development of coal. However, since I didn’t know if it could actually be mined, I was planning to put it off until later in the development order.

However, when a promising coal mine was actually found, it became the top priority.

“As a result of the geological survey, we were able to confirm a considerable amount of reserves.”

At the village executive meeting, I explained the area where the coal was located, its quantity, and the development plan.

“If we use that coal, will the world change?” Ricardo asked, his eyes shining.

“Yes, it can be used not only for daily life, but it is more valuable for melting iron.”

“How much do you estimate the development costs to be?” It was Eric who asked this. As the head of the accounting department, he wanted to confirm how much the development would cost. It was a natural question for someone in charge of accounting, but listening to his question made me think that really good people had come to the village.

“I think ○○ million Zeni will be needed.”

“Hmm, that’s a large amount. It’s not an amount that we can’t manage, but we can’t decide without estimating the effectiveness and cost,” said George. As the person in charge of overseeing the finances of Toriholi, it was a natural thing to say.

Anticipating this objection, I proposed a plan to reduce development costs by starting experimentally. Well, the first amount was a bluff, and the real intention was to give out the desired amount later.

“That’s fine,” the lord understood my proposal with that unspoken understanding.

Toriholi had expanded and become richer even while I was away.

During the turmoil of the Bawa Roma followers, a flood of refugees who had run out of food rushed in, and the village population swelled at once. Farmers were entering the desert development area one after another. Even after the turmoil subsided, the population continued to flow in. Many of them were craftsmen and merchants, and they came to Toriholi Village, seeing its development and thinking it was a good opportunity.

However, when the population flows in, various problems arise. There are concerns about shortages of housing and food, but in this regard, Toriholi Village has a large site and agricultural production is increasing, so there is no problem. However, fuel for cooking is necessary for human activities. In the vicinity of cities in the early modern period, forests had disappeared in both Japan and Europe. This was the result of cutting down trees from the forests, mostly as fuel.

Even so, Toriholi Village has little rain and not many forests. Eventually, the forests around the village will disappear without a trace.

I was afraid that the forests around the village would be cut down to obtain firewood.

If coal were used instead of firewood, the forests would remain.

Once the development costs were secured, I immediately called Ladapole.

“Toma, are you going to start something interesting again?” His nature of wanting to jump into new things had not changed.

This time, he brought two disciples with him. Both of them were from blacksmiths and were selected by Ladapole for their dexterity. They had graduated from the village school, but they hadn’t enrolled when I was teaching, so it was the first time I’d seen them.

They had been told by Ladapole that I was a person who devised new things, and they were listening to my explanation with shining eyes.

“If we dig up coal, we can use it for heating. In that case, we have to think about stoves too. Also, if we make briquettes, it will be easy to use for cooking. So, we have to think about making briquettes too,” I explained to them.

New words such as stoves and briquettes flew out, and they were bewildered. I put the explanation on hold and talked about the key points of coal development first.

“In that case, the first thing to do is to install rails to the coal mine and introduce trolleys,” as expected, it’s easy to talk to Ladapole.

“That’s right, and after that, we’ll use coal to melt iron. The construction of a blast furnace. Coal has a higher firepower than charcoal, and more than anything, there’s a lot of it. If we use this, we can produce a lot of iron at once, and we can make high-quality products.”

The reason I’m working on coal development is that there is a promising iron ore production area in the southern region, although not in Toriholi Village. If we purchase raw materials from there and make iron in a blast furnace in Toriholi Village, we can supply it nationwide using the Mulan River. That’s what I was planning.

“Wow, a blast furnace. That’s interesting,” Ladapole was already very enthusiastic even before I showed him the drawings.

“No, it’s not easy, and I myself am not familiar with it, so we won’t be able to do it without trial and error.”

“I’ll do it. Please let me do it,” Ladapole was already absorbed just by hearing that we would be doing trial and error.