After finalizing the remuneration, Roland intended to tear down another wall on Great Development Road.
That was the establishment of standard units.
The popularization of education in Neverwinter City had already incorporated distance units such as millimeters, centimeters, meters, and kilometers into the textbooks to replace the original cun, chi, and zhang, which had been quite effective so far. Especially in the construction and industrial production sectors, measuring instruments made with the new unit system had gained wide recognition due to their greater precision.
And the benchmark prototype for one centimeter, a piece of iron bar equivalent to the width of Roland's fingernail, was stored in the castle vault.
What he was going to do next was to integrate other units as well and promote them throughout Graycastle.
The reason he was only doing this now was that the previous levels of production and education did not have an urgent need for other new units, and secondly, the technology was difficult to replicate.
After all, having standards alone was meaningless if measuring instruments could not be made, and people would not be able to use them in practical life.
But now, these difficulties were no longer problems.
For example, defining a one-cubic-decimeter container as one liter, and defining the weight of one liter of water as one kilogram; or defining the period of one swing of a one-meter-long pendulum as one second... The former could use the Hummingbird to precisely replicate the kilogram prototype of equal weight, while the latter could provide timing through pendulum clocks. With prototypes and models, Neverwinter City's factories could manufacture a large number of imitations.
Otherwise, relying on Anna alone to handle all the measuring tools would be both a waste of time and effort.
When industrial technology reached a certain level, popularizing more precise measuring units became a natural thing to do.
He wasn't worried that these standards weren't "pure" enough. In fact, the standard prototypes used in human history were constantly changing with the progress of the times.
……
Three days later, Tie'a finally led the Eastern Front Army back to Neverwinter City, and arriving at the same time was Echo, who had been staying in Clearwater Port for nearly half a year.
Roland looked at the two Sand People reporting to him in front of his desk, feeling a slight sense of emotion in his heart—both of them were originally criminals of exiled families, one hiding his name and living in the Border Town, making a living by hunting; the other was sold into slavery, living a life of suffering. But now, they were indispensable members of the upper echelons of Neverwinter City.
Having shouldered heavy responsibilities alone and been busy outside for several months, Tie'a's face did not show the slightest fatigue, but instead became radiant because of the war, and his gestures already had the air of a great general. And Echo's change was even more obvious, the shadow caused by her life as a slave gradually faded away, and a confident glint appeared in her blue-gray eyes, and her temperament became more and more consistent with her position as the chieftain of the Proud Sand Clan.
Indeed, experience is the best way to change a person.
Echo's report was very simple. The Blazing Flame Clan had fulfilled their agreement, and the first batch of migration teams had already settled in Clearwater Port. Influenced by the First Clan of Iron Sand City, several smaller clans had approached her, expressing their willingness to serve the Grand Chieftain. The entire plan could be described as very smooth. After receiving the clan chiefs from all sides, the migrant population of Clearwater Port was expected to reach 30,000 by the end of the year, which was comparable to the population of the old royal capital.
In addition, she also brought a personal letter from Sperl, the Lord of the Dragonfall Ridge. Without even looking at it, he knew it must be asking for people and food.
"Sperl said that she is just the manager of a small fief, and has no experience in taking care of so many people. She has been almost overwhelmed these days," Echo said, imitating the other party's tone. "Although the skilled people sent by the City Hall are useful, according to their advice, at least two to three hundred clerks are needed to settle so many migrants. If Your Majesty doesn't care more about her, she is tempted to drop her burden and become an ordinary witch in Neverwinter City."
Roland couldn't help but chuckle. An ordinary witch wasn't exactly idle either. Soroya and Leaf were watching you. If you don't exhaust your magic power every day, how can you live up to the magic power channel's usefulness. "I know. I'll allocate more of the next batch of newly approved officials to her. You've worked hard on this mission. Take a good rest for a few days."
"Yes." She bowed first, and then said expectantly, "By the way, Your Majesty, have you… composed any new songs recently?"
"
Uh, you can sing all the previous ones?"
"Yes… they are very effective, especially when inspiring crowds." Echo replied with a smile, "And when I am confused, I will sing the songs you taught me—if it weren't for those songs, I probably wouldn't have made it to this day."
It seemed that coordinating relations between clans and maintaining order in the Southern Territory wasn't as simple as she reported, but she had borne all the difficulties and setbacks alone.
"I see," Roland said slowly, "I will have someone transcribe the new songs and send them to your room."
Echo bowed deeply. "That's great, thank you!"
Even if he didn't know anything about music, he could go to the Dream World to find it. He couldn't refuse such a request.
After Echo left, Roland turned his gaze to Tie'a.
"You've worked hard too."
"No, Your Majesty," the latter quickly put his hand on his chest, "It is my duty to fight for you. I not only didn't feel tired, but I also enjoyed it."
"Is that so?" Roland smiled, noncommittal. "What happened to the nobles who fled to Sea Breeze County? You didn't burn them all to death again, did you?"
"I wanted to do that, but they ran too fast," Tie'a said sternly. "By the time the First Army arrived at Sea Breeze County after clearing Golden穗City, the suburbs had become a wasteland. Not only that, but several granaries in the city had also caught fire—obviously, they would rather destroy the town than hand it over to you intact."
This was probably the last revenge of the remnants of the rebellious king, he thought. If the Eastern Front Army hadn't made sufficient preparations and had dozens of cement transport ships providing supplies day and night, they would have had to retreat immediately after fighting here. Otherwise, the starving townspeople would have regarded the First Army as looters, and once they opened fire to suppress them, order would be difficult to restore.
"Where did they all escape to?"
"Some went to the Fjords, and some went to the other three kingdoms," Tie'a replied regretfully. "Unfortunately, the First Army doesn't have warships, otherwise I would never have let them go."
"Don't worry, as long as they dare to use their original surnames, I will deal with them sooner or later," Roland said slowly. At least the batch that fled to Dawn was no different from flying insects throwing themselves into the net. These people were probably Tiffee科's last loyalists. He wasn't worried that they could make a comeback, he just didn't like them getting in the way.
After asking about the aftermath measures in the Eastern Territory, Roland suddenly thought of a previous question.
"By the way, deceiving the nobles into prison and then disguising it as a fire… was that your idea?"
Tie'a's expression suddenly stiffened.