Volume 3 Chapter 133 Reinforced concrete city walls
No matter what angle it was from, Princess Caroline couldn’t be described as greedy or cruel. However, when Xu Yi led the motorcade into Sowell City, seeing the beautiful girl with the warm smile beside Count Sean, the smile on his face couldn’t help becoming awkward.
“Hey, dear chairman Xu, you’re finally here.” After Princess Caroline saw Xu Yi, her smile became even brighter as she waved towards him, “I’ve been waiting for some time now.”
Xu Yi calmed himself because he was slightly perturbed by what happened before. He said with a faint smile, “I made your highness wait, but constructing a production base in Sowell City is an important matter, so there are many things to prepare ahead of time. Naturally it will take some time.”
“Of course I know this.” Princess Caroline rolled her eyes at Xu Yi, “Only I’m very worried and wanted to see you again.”
Seeing the smile Count Sean had, Xu Yi gave a dry cough and gave a nod before turning to Count Sean, “Lord City Lord, how are your preparations here?”
Count Sean revealed a faint smile, “What? We haven’t seen each other in a year and you’re already doubting my skills?”
Xu Yi quickly waved his hand, “How could I dare. But I just want to understand the details and start planning the construction as soon as possible.”
“There’s no need to rush.” Count Sean looked over Xu Yi and fell onto the Magic Cars behind him, as he gave a satisfied nod, “You’ve just arrived today, so take a rest first and we can discuss work tomorrow. Moreover, Princess Caroline came a week early to wait for you, so she must have many things to tell you.”
Seeing the inviting and sweet smile on Princess Caroline’s face, Xu Yi resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Count Sean. He turned and waved to call the researchers into the city.
Compared to Banta City and the even smaller Basaru City, the first class Sowell City of the northeast province was much bigger.
Not mentioning anything else, just the walls of Sowell City was two times taller than Basaru city and was very taller than Banta City’s. The most shocking thing was that when walking through the city gates, Xu Yi saw that the walls by the gates were over five meters thick. Although it was impossible for the other parts to be this thick, it was still thicker than Banta City’s walls.
Seeing Xu Yi look over the walls, Count Sean who had been following beside him said with a faint smile, “Sowell City is close to the northern border, so we have to guard against the Sack Kingdom. That’s why it’s normal for us to have thicker walls.”
Xu Yi nodded before thinking of another question.
“In terms of being close to the borders, Banta City is less than hundred kilometers away from the kingdom’s southern borders, so why aren’t its walls as thick?”
“It’s because the Rudson Kingdom are old friends with our Lampuri Kingdom. Since the founding of the Lampuri Kingdom, the Rudson Kingdom have been our loyal allies. They’ve never betrayed us, so there’s no need to be that on guard.” Count Sean explained.”
Xu Yi gave a slight nod, but he still didn’t accept it in his heart.
Although based on history, the Rudson Kingdom had always been the Lampuri Kingdom’s allies, there were only benefits between kingdoms. Old friendships were not things that could be relied on.
To Xu Yi, Banta City choosing not to reinforce their walls was mainly because they had no money.
The Lampuri Kingdom’s finances weren’t good, so other than the funds needed to keep the kingdom running, most of their funds were used to defend against the Sack Kingdom, so naturally they wouldn’t guard against other places.
Even if Banta City had money now, in the renovation plan that Xu Yi and Count Sean came up with, they never considered improving the city wall.
Because Xu Yi had transmigrated from earth, he never considered the issue of strengthening the wall to deal with enemies. As for Count Sean, he just chose to ignore it.
“Actually, your Banta City’s walls are already higher than most city walls in our Drake Duchy and much thicker.” Princess Caroline walking on Xu Yi’s other side gave a sigh as she looked at Sowell City’s walls, “As for such thick city walls, I’m afraid you won’t find a similar one in all the cities of our Drake Duchy.”
Xu Yi looked at her. Your Drake Duchy being able to survive in between the Lampuri Kingdom and the Sack Kingdom was not relying on your walls.
After thinking of something, Xu Yi said to Princess Caroline, “Your highness, if you have thoughts of improving city walls, I have a very good method. As long as you change the walls according to my plan, I guarantee that unless an Arch Magus makes a move, there won’t be a problem with your city walls.”
Princess Caroline and Count Sean were both shocked as they asked at the same time, “Really? What kind of walls are these?”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile and turned to point at the road outside Sowell City.
“Your highness and Lord City Lord, you must know that the roads are mainly made of concrete. You should understand how firm the concrete roads are, right?”
Princess Caroline shook her head, “I have experienced the roads in your Lampuri Kingdom, but I don’t know about how the roads are laid.”
“Your highness, if you want to develop your Drake Duchy, my first suggestion to you is to build roads.” Xu Yi said with a serious look, “As long as you solve the problem of transport and guarantee easy and unobstructed transport, it will make it easier for your economy to develop.”
“Un, when I went to Banta City last time, I saw the roads in Banta City and the surrounding cities, as well as the countless horse carriages moving between them. I was completely shocked by what I saw then. If our Drake Duchy could become like this, it would mean that our duchy would be able to develop.” Princess Caroline said in an emotional voice.
“That day will definitely come.” Xu Yi said.
“Thank you.” Princess Caroline gave Xu Yi a sweet smile, “But chairman Xu, let’s not bring the topic that far yet. How about you tell me first what kind of city wall you have that a Great Magician can’t break through?”
Xu Yi didn’t immediately reply and turned to ask Count Sean, “Lord City Lord, the reinforced concrete use in the Sandy River bank construction, do you still have an impression of that?”
Count Sean’s eyes lit up, “I do. You mean…..using reinforced concrete to build a city wall? But can the structure support such a tall city wall?”
“Of course.” Xu Yi nodded, “In theory, as long as there are enough steel bars and concrete, the reinforced concrete can be constructed into the sky.”
Princess Caroline looked up at the sky above Sowell City and revealed a smile, “Chairman Xu, aren’t you boasting? How could it reach that high?”
“You don’t believe it?” Xu Yi revealed a smile. If you could see the hundreds of meters tall skyscrapers from earth that pierced the clouds, you might not even believe your eyes.
Moreover, since Xu Yi had mentioned it, the Amrit Chamber of Commerce’s chairman Cruise had been experimenting. He believed that it wouldn’t take long before a truly tall building that surpassed the architectural standards of the Sines Continent appeared.
“Alright, that is only in theory. But Xu Yi, since you said this, I assume that constructing something as tall as a city wall isn’t a problem, right?” Count Sean said with a nod, “But there’s another important question, how much would it cost?”
Hearing this, Princess Caroline’s beautiful eyes looked at Xu Yi with a look that said she cared very much about this.
“Lord City Lord, to construct such a city wall, how much does a hundred square meters cost?” Xu Yi pointed at the Sowell City that was getting further away and asked this question.
“For Sowell City……” Count Sean fell into thought before replying, “If we don’t count labour, it costs around thirty to fifty thousand for a hundred square meters.”
“That much?” Xu Yi was shocked.
Princess Caroline looked at Xu Yi with a surprised look, “Is this much?”
“Of course.” Xu Yi said, “If a hundred square meters costs thirty to fifty thousand, Sowell City’s wall is over ten kilometers, wouldn’t that cost three to five million gold coins? Could it be that isn’t much?”
“No, Sowell City’s wall cost around six million gold coins because you didn’t add in the archer towers and the city gate.” Count Sean added, “Xu Yi, if you think this costs too much, then a hundred square meters of reinforced concrete wall costs much less, right?”
Seeing the look of disbelief and hope on Princess Caroline’s face, Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, “Of course. The main part of the reinforced concrete is the steel bars and the concrete costs much less. According to the current estimates, if you want to build a hundred meter wide wall that is three meters deep and five meters tall, it wouldn’t cost more than ten thousand gold coins.”
“It’s this cheap?” Count Sean and Princess Caroline both had looks of disbelief.
But after a while, the two changed to looks of pleasant surprise.
Because the two knew that Xu Yi definitely wouldn’t joke about this matter with them.
Princess Caroline blinked her large eyes before asking, “Chairman Xu, the reinforced concrete you mentioned, do we have to buy it from your Frestech Chamber of Commerce?”
Xu Yi laughed, “What do you think I’m selling this reinforced concrete wall for?”
Princess Caroline looked at Xu Yi and gave a soft snort, “But you can’t just make us run all the way to Banta City to buy it, right?”
“You’re right. So after our company comes to Sowell City, the first thing we’re building is a cement factory and then a steel mill.”