After addressing this matter, Li De brought up the second purpose of his visit today.
The Dwarven Arms Factory.
Dwarves were different from goblins. Goblin alchemical bombs were still in a phase unfamiliar to him and carried significant risks, such as their instability, so it was too soon for factory production.
But what dangers could forging weapons possibly have? If being scolded for poor craftsmanship counted, then sure, it was dangerous.
So he planned to replicate the Crimson Mage Tower's magic factory model and industrialize the blacksmith workshops.
The production efficiency of modern factories had already been proven by magical scrolls.
The Crimson Mage Tower currently controlled 99% of Green City's magic scroll market. A metropolis of over a million people had no power to resist its incursion, an indication of how formidable modern production methods could be.
But to Li De's surprise, when he shared this idea with Valen, the dwarven forging master didn't show interest. Instead, he seemed hesitant.
"City Lord, if we use the factory method you described to forge weapons, it would undoubtedly strip the weapons of their soul.
In dwarven legend, every piece of ore is alive. Forging these lives into weapons is granting them souls.
Using factory production would make these weapons into dead things, their properties would become largely uniform."
Upon hearing this, Li De laughed heartily. This guy really was a grandmaster blacksmith, he saw the flaw in the idea at a glance.
Mass-produced items had one fatal flaw: uniformity.
When all equipment was forged using the same mold, the attributes were nearly identical.
To high-level professionals, this was simply unacceptable. What made high grade equipment so coveted was that each piece had unique attributes, each with its own strengths and specialties.
Factory production, however, erased that uniqueness.
Seeing that he hadn't convinced Li De, Valen continued, "Moreover, factory production has another major flaw, it cannot produce equipment above Perfect grade.
The higher the grade of equipment, the more it requires the skill of the blacksmith. If you only use Intermediate or even beginner blacksmiths, then no matter how many times they forge, they won't meet the standards for Perfect grade gear."
A key principle of factory production was that each worker handled only one step. But these workers weren't highly skilled. Some might be Beginner blacksmiths, others Intermediate.
Yet high grade equipment had extremely strict requirements across every phase. These blacksmiths simply couldn't meet the attribute standards for such gear.
Li De nodded in understanding. For instance, if a Perfect grade item required 5 tons of force to forge the steel, but the person handling that step could only muster 4 tons, the requirement wouldn't be met, and later stages would definitely suffer.
Not to mention the various technical skills involved, things that lower-level blacksmiths simply couldn't handle.
Even so, the arms factory still had to be built.
Li De's resolve did not waver in the slightest. "Mass-producing Rare grade equipment is enough."
Seeing that Valen was about to speak again, Li De gave him no chance. "No need to say more. Just follow my decision."
Seeing the dwarf's somewhat frustrated expression, Li De's tone softened slightly.
"Once the factory is built, I won't shut down the smithy.
Since the arms factory can't produce high grade gear, we'll split into two departments: one will be the arms factory, used for producing lower grade equipment.
The other will be the Advanced Forging Division, composed of high-level blacksmiths.
The arms factory will handle equipment below Rare grade, while the Advanced Forging Division will be responsible for forging gear at Perfect grade and above."
Valen's eyes lit up upon hearing this, nodding with great admiration.
"City Lord, your wisdom would earn the praise of the God of Forging."
Li De ignored the empty flattery and took a notebook from his pocket, handing it to Valen.
"This is the construction blueprint for the arms factory. Study it carefully. I believe with dwarven ingenuity, you'll have the factory up and running soon."
The notebook's contents had been gathered for him by Crimson Moon. It included detailed data on cold weapon forging techniques from various countries during their peak periods on Earth. He had copied them in himself.
Ever since becoming the Vampire Progenitor, perhaps due to his meditation, his memory had improved tremendously. Copying that data had been no problem.
After flipping through it for a moment, Valen immediately looked as if he'd found a treasure. His face was filled with excitement and exhilaration.
Though some of the methods differed from those in Glory, many of the novel forging techniques gave him great inspiration.
"City Lord, this material is far too precious. You…"
Li De smiled slightly at the excited Valen. "It's fine. Consider this your reward in advance.
Once the 800 sets of armor are complete, you'll personally oversee the construction of the arms factory. I need you to get it built and operational in the shortest possible time.
If nothing goes wrong, there's going to be a massive order coming from the centaurs."
Several million centaurs, none of them wouldn't want to wear battle armor.
But due to Green City's nearly unbreakable lockdown and the centaurs' irritable temperament, no human merchants were willing to trade with them. This resulted in the centaurs facing severe shortages in supplies and a scarcity of armor.
As long as he established the weapons factory, he wouldn't need to worry about finding buyers.
Those centaurs would excitedly trade with him, offering all kinds of magical beast hides, which they saw as worthless.
The profit margin here was enormous. Li De even estimated that it might not be any less lucrative than the Crimson Mage Tower's magic scroll business.
And later, he could scheme for even more.
Was such a vast stretch of land like the Dwarven Hills really only good for producing magical beast hides?
Didn't it yield anything else?
Like precious mineral veins, or magic crystals?
This untapped land might seem barren to the centaurs, but in his eyes, it brimmed with countless riches waiting to be unearthed.