leonardwarren Chapter 94: Harvest Tower
Chapter 94: Harvest Tower
Ron decided to build a tower in the inner city that connects to the top of the canyon, and then build an arched bridge in the middle.
Sweet potatoes can be planted on both sides of the arched bridge, and just one section of the arched bridge can increase the planting area of sweet potatoes by about two acres.
Without further ado, Ron began construction.
First, a stable foundation was needed. The foundation was dug to a depth of about 8 meters, which made Hilden think that the lord was preparing to build another pit courtyard.
Subsequently, the foundation was reinforced with wooden piles, and more than a dozen blue brick foundations were built at the locations of the piles. These foundations were then connected by a 2-meter-wide blue brick foundation, making the entire foundation connected together. This was combined with ironwood that had been treated to prevent corrosion and insects and had been buried 20 meters underground, and then all of it was covered with volcanic ash lime mortar to maximize the bearing capacity of the foundation.
The underground construction left Hilden with a puzzled expression.
This construction method is definitely not the same as building a pit-style building.
As for building a ten-meter-tall structure, he couldn't understand it at all, because he had never seen such a strange building before.
Then construction began on the first floor, which was four meters high. The walls were designed to be thicker at the bottom and thinner at the top. The first and second floors were built entirely with large stone blocks. The third and fourth floors were built with small stone blocks, and the walls were thinner than those of the first and second floors. The fifth and sixth floors used blue bricks, and the seventh and eighth floors used red bricks. The design was based on the hardness and weight of each floor.
When the eight-story tower was completed, Hilden looked up at the tower, which was still slightly higher than the cliff. He thought he had seen a lot, having seen the walls and arrow towers of Harvest Town, but he was once again shocked.
"My lord, you are truly a god of architecture descended to earth." Hilden immediately knelt on one knee and bowed to the tower.
Ron has reached the top floor of the tower, along with a large amount of materials.
Thun, standing nearby, asked nervously, "Does the lord intend to build a tower taller than the canyon?"
He didn't understand architecture, but seeing such a tall building, he wondered how many people would suffer if it collapsed.
Hilden glanced at the fifteen-meter-high city wall, then at the tower, and immediately went to measure the distance between the two.
"Ten meters." Hilden's eyes lit up. These towers would be able to enhance the city wall's defenses during wartime. Eight-ox crossbows could be placed on the sixth, seventh, and eighth floors of the towers, or archers could be stationed there. Once the enemy climbed the city wall, they could be subjected to a barrage of attacks, letting the enemy know that even if they climbed the city wall, they would still be shot to death by arrows.
"Let's go up and take a look!"
Hilden pulled Thun up the tower. The tower occupied about 144 square meters. The walls on the first floor were 1.8 meters thick, so the interior space was only about 70 square meters. The walls on the second floor were 1.6 meters thick, so the space increased by 77 square meters. The walls on each floor were 0.2 meters thicker, so by the time they reached the last floor, the interior space had reached 120 square meters. Such a large single-level apartment was truly unique.
If Ron were to build using modern technology, he could create a much larger space, but this would inevitably involve steel reinforcement as a building material.
The territory is currently lacking steel, so it's impossible to waste it here; therefore, this is the only way to build it.
In fact, this type of tower construction appeared in Bologna, Italy in the 12th century. At that time, there were nearly a hundred stone towers in the city, the tallest of which, the Asinelli Tower, was 97 meters high, while his tower was only 32 meters high, which was considered short.
[Ding! The host has created a new building template, Harvest Tower, with reduced construction costs...]
Ron breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the cliff, which was more than 20 meters high, he used the wood that was being sent up to the rooftop to conjure two giant logs, which slowly extended up the cliff.
When Hilden and Thun came up, they saw that the giant tree had been wedged into the cliff, forming a makeshift wooden bridge, though it was rather rudimentary.
"You're here too! Let's go take a look!"
Hilden and Thun nodded in agreement, but as soon as they stepped onto the wooden bridge, they felt a strong wind blowing in their faces. Thun glanced down at the bridge and shuddered. His legs went weak, and he crawled back to the rooftop on his knees.
Hilden was dumbfounded; he couldn't understand why Thun would suddenly act this way.
Ron asked thoughtfully, "Thun, was it because you were so high up that you suddenly felt intense fear, even panic and confusion, worried that your legs would give way and you would fall, lose control and jump, and were extremely afraid that you would do something impulsive?"
Thun's face turned ashen, and he hurriedly cried out, "Yes, my lord, just a moment ago, I felt like I was going to die."
Ron thought for a moment and then shook his head: "You have a fear of heights. You wait for us to come back on the rooftop."
Thun nodded in shame, but still worried, he immediately ran downstairs to summon a squad of heavily armored Grimm guards to cross the bridge and protect the lord.
The strongest fighting force in the territory now consists of the Knight Guard and the Grimm's Heavy Guard. The former is composed of formal knights and knight apprentices, while the latter is composed of formal Grimm knights and knight apprentices. Both are the territory's elite armed forces.
The Heavy Guards are fully armored with wooden scales and consist of 75 men. They are stationed in Harvest Town. Hilden is currently the city's defense officer, and he only has a handful of knights in his Knight Guard, who mainly assist him with his daily work. When it comes to actual combat, he relies primarily on the Heavy Guards.
Once on the cliff, Hilden couldn't help but shield his eyes from the sun with his hand.
The temperature on the cliff is higher than at ground level, a stark contrast to the temperature inside the canyon.
Ron looked at the endless cliff, which was even more barren than the ground, but Ron was very interested.
"Send out a scout team as soon as possible to measure the area of this cliff. Maybe we can find other territories or tribes through this."
After Ron finished speaking, he went back to work.
He carved a stepped base into the cliff face and built the bridge abutment with large stone blocks. The abutment was more than 2 meters deep and anchored to the rock mass.
After the bridge platform was built, he built a ring of blue brick walls around it, along with watchtowers, to prevent the enemy from sneaking into the city from the cliff.
He would think of using the cliff to find other territories and tribes, so naturally he had to be careful that others would follow the path to find him.
Hilden immediately understood and prepared to arrange for a small militia squad to be stationed at the bridgehead after returning.
As the bridge abutments were completed, Ron began to transform the surrounding sand and gravel into wedge-shaped stones, each precisely cut and built layer by layer from the two arch feet to the arch top, with the massive timber in the center serving as the arch frame.
If a traditional stonemason were to use a stonemason, it would take a whole day to carve a wedge-shaped stone.
Ron's transformation spell takes only a few seconds, and the angle of each stone is precise to the millimeter.
As darkness fell, the temporary wooden bridge was dismantled, and the arched bridge stood steadily between the two banks. The granite arch was bluish-gray, and the flower beds on both sides had been filled with sand.
Hilden understood at a glance that the flowerbeds on both sides of the arched bridge were used to grow ground potatoes.
"Your Lordship is wise!" Hilden exclaimed in admiration.