I Turned Out To Be The King Behind The Scenes

13. Brick and Cement

The night is getting darker, and the moon and stars are shining in the night sky. The whole castle area. Apart from Arthur and Sarah's room which was lit up by the crystal of light. Other areas use torches.

Crystals of light were used as lighting by nobles. These crystals were made from the types of magic crystals that existed in this world, but magic crystals only came from two sources.

One is the magic crystal mine, where crystals can be good or bad, calculated by how much the crystal energy was contained.

If the crystals have a lot of energy, they can be used to power magic tools, if there is little energy, the crystals can only be used for lighting. And the magic crystals from the mines are all disposable items, once the crystal energy runs out the crystals become trash.

There is still another kind of magic crystal, which is born from the monster. Magic crystals like that are very difficult to obtain, maybe only one in 10 monsters had it.

Even though magic crystals like that didn't contain much energy, they were still very stable, helping when magic casters used magic. Most importantly, such magic crystals were reusable. Once exhausted, as long as it is given time, it can automatically absorb the natural energy of the same attribute from the world, slowly refilling it until it can be reused.

But no matter what kind of magic crystal, they were all very expensive. Mined crystals were slightly cheaper than those from the monster, but it was still not a price that ordinary people could afford.

After finishing the conversation, Arthur returned to his room, he filled a glass jar with water and poured the soil into it. He then stirred it vigorously, until all clumps of soil had dissolved. He then decided to place the glass jar by the window overnight.

Arthur decided in the future, he would teach the farmers everything he knew about farming. When during an undercover assignment in a village. Arthur had been disguised as a farmer for a year. And learn a little about agriculture.

(Knowledge is power), Arthur thought.

The more people that knew the right ways to farm, the better the crop yields in Arazka.

The next day.

After breakfast, he went to the window beside his bed and studied the soil in the glass jar. He took a spoon and carefully checked if the soil had any layers.

At the very bottom was sand, the middle layer had silt and the top layer had clay.

This was loamy soil. It was the perfect soil for agriculture. It was a mixture of sand, silt, and clay. If the problem wasn't with the soil itself, then there could only be one reason. Lack of nutrients and organic matter.

When Arthur looked into the glass jar, he noticed that the rest of the water was clear in color and not much organic sediment could be seen floating above it. This is a bad sign.

Usually, rich soil leaves the water a cloudy color with lots of organic sediment floating around it. The solution is simple. Soil needs fertilizer.

The most important thing to know is that the land is alive.

There are more species of organisms in the soil than above the soil surface. These organisms convert soil minerals and organic matter into vitamins and hormones that plants need.

So for over a decade, these people have been starving the land. These organisms will die or move away. As simple as that. Soil also needs food.

Actually, Arazka is not the only place where the land is said to be barren. There are so many small towns that have this problem. The reason Arazka was well known was that it was the third biggest city in the kingdom. And for more than 30 years, it had been barren.

Arthur also wanted to introduce Crop Rotation, doing so will improve soil fertility, soil nutrients, and crop yields.

Crop rotation will also reduce weed stress and soil pollution. It is a good method to maintain soil structure.

After Arthur found a solution, he took many bags and buckets, then he left with Sebas, Vergo, and three other knights.

On their way to the lower region, they stopped at the stables and got animal feces, and then got water from the wells.

They also picked up a lot of moss, grass, dead tree bark, fruits, vegetables, and vegetable peels that had been thrown into the bags.

Lower Region

Apart from Patrick and his two friends, some people came to help on the farm. Although not many people came. At least these people had believed in Arthur.

"Mix everything and put it on the soil," Arthur said.

Everyone looked at him as a madman.

'Wouldn't doing this make the soil rot?' They thought.

Although they think like that, they still did it.

"Water the farmland. Remember not to flood it, it will harden the soil." They immediately did what he said

"Now let's wait... In a few days, all of you will follow the same procedure. When you get the results, come and find me." Arthur said.

Everyone nodded as they were also curious to know the results of this little experiment. After everything is done on the farm. Arthur went to the castle and mine area.

The Warehouse Castle and Mine were previously guarded by a lion monster. The lion's food, Arthur bought it from the hunters.

Arthur used earth elemental magic to temporarily seal the cave entrance and took iron ore and other ores from the mansion in preparation for the upcoming merchant.

Arthur and his subordinates then continued their journey to the central region.

Yesterday he saw the worst residential area in the central region and today he wanted to check it out.

Their journey was not too far and soon arrived at the location.

Not many people live in this residential area.

Arthur ordered them to move to a better house, of course, they wouldn't refuse Arthur's orders.

They left escorted by knights when moving to their new residential area.

"Sebas, I want you to recruit workers, no need for an expert, as long as they are willing to work, you can recruit them" Arthur gave orders to Sebas.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty, I have a question. What job vacancies will be provided? How much does it pay? How many workers will you accept?" Sebas asked.

"Hm... To make bricks, dig channels and pipes for water and electricity, and construction workers. I want to build lots of windmills on that coastal cliff." Arthur pointed at the cliff.

"The pay is 1 Jewel for every brick they produce and the number is about 50 workers aged 18 to 45 years. For other pipeline work, you can recruit those who register. But to build a windmill there has to be an expert construction worker." Arthur said after thinking.

"What is a brick?"

"Hmm... Maybe... A clay that will be molded like a stone. Okay, don't ask too many questions."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Then, I shall go first." After saying that, Sebas turned to leave.

Making bricks can be said to be easy. Materials and tools can be obtained easily too; Clay, Sand, Ash, Husk, Water, Wood, Hoe, Mold, and Furnace.

After successful brick-making. Arthur plans to make cement. Limestone is now available, only the cement calcination process is a problem for him.

Arthur didn't remember the specific temperature needed to produce cement, even if he did, he didn't have the possibility to measure and control the temperature.

Whether it is a thermodetector or a thermocouple is not available, this will make cement production many times more difficult.

He only remembers that the temperature is almost the same as the melting point of iron, and the calcination process is also a difficulty in cement production.