Road to the Crown

Chapter 324: Changes to New Tarnow

18th November 1574

A week spent in the Tarnow exclusively allowed me to finally grasp the essential details that allowed for the insane growth of the city, despite my attention being directed in other places for most of the time.

It was just like Elia mentioned it some time ago. Even if unintentionally, all my project seemed to complement each other. 

With the growth of the beer industry, the northern side of the Town that even in the future would remain relatively empty was now bustling with activities. As the main source of the money that was slowly reaching the point of bringing nearly a tenth of all the money that would appear in my coffers, the area where all sorts of breweries were set up and working was insanely huge. It wouldn't be a mistake to say that it stretched all the way from the foothold of the Saint Martin's hill where my castle was located, to the outskirts of the town proper!

Filling in the spot, the groups carrying out the task of bringing the dinners to all the hard-working people of the city already turned into a more stationary form of meal-making. As long as one was able to see a single production or trading building in the proximity, the chances were that a cheap restaurant subsidised from my coffers directly would be somewhere close!

It was those small advantages that grew up on each other that created the current picture of Tarnow, being the financial centre of all my lands. Even though I would be far from calling it the development centre of the country, with how nearly all of the materials that travelled on the train between my colonies had to pay its respects to the merchants in Tarnow, the profits from the trade centre set up on the nearby river and outfitted with a huge cargo terminal for the trains already made up for up to the half of my total profits, turning this home city of mine into the most profitable piece of all the lands that I governed over!

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"To think that it all really started here"

As much as infatuated I was with the progress that Tarnow made, there was no denying that without the lands that Jan Bone offered to me in my wedding gift, I would be far from being able to accomplish as much as I did and at a pace that I did so.

Looking down from the elevated part of the train station in New Tarnow, I couldn't help but notice the changes that I orchestrated from the eastern outskirts of my land that were nearing its middle-point of work by the time I finally arrived in this industrial heart of the world.

The time that passed between the order to relocate the basic production to the outposts in the east and my visit in new Tarnow resulted in at least a third of the buildings already ending their production, with most of the machines that powered them up already being backed up on the train. 

Yet, instead of reusing the old structures, the entire plain where most of the small industry was located was now under the general demolition order. With the exception of the huge factories that would be either impossible or simply too costly to be moved, everything else was in the process of disappearing. Given how the entire plain would soon be rebuilt nearly from scratch according to a special city-planning formula that my officers came up with, the space that those small workshops took was just too precious to be wasted on the basic, heavy industry.

"And now it would be hard to even point out where your first steam engine stood That is, if not for the statue you ordered it to become"

The atmospheric steam engine, the very first machine that utilised the natural powers of the world to bring forth the first kind of mechanic energy was a grain of salt in my eye for a long time already. Taking up an insanely huge amount of space when compared to what it was responsible for, I would long get rid of it if not for the sentimental value it had both for me and for the people living and working in the colony.

It was the very first step that the pioneering first group made on our road to achieving what we had today. That's why, instead of just demolishing it and freeing up a huge chunk of space, I forced the idea of creating a huge plaza all the way around now stalled engine, turning this place into a social centre for all the future businesses that would open in the land around. 

"You know I'm not happy with that either. If anything, I would put the first real steam horse on the pedestal but we have to agree that its size would make the monument quite laughable."

Shaking my head in a clear disappointment, I looked at the area below me. With the prosperous city and the ruins of the old industrial area in the background, the vincity of the cargo terminal was truly magnificent. With no signs of unfinished or hurried work, the insane amount of goods that were already flowing down the train route to this place made a short work of all the rubble in the area. 

Thanks to my growing influence, there was no merchant or craftsman in the country that would turn a blind eye to the opportunities that my lands offered. With the order to rebuild the colony, nearly the entire area around the station outside of the special logistic lane I left reserved, was already occupied by various owners, supplying some kind of insane amount of money for the further development of the place!

As if some wildflowers, shops, workshops and small service areas were popping up like crazy everywhere that wasn't restricted for the industry. This process only accelerated once the first merchants started to invest in various projects set by my economical officers. While only a few, there were already some businesses operating on the imported materials to turn them into a valuable new product. 

Given how the entire problem of logistic was solved by the appearance of the cargo terminal, all that a craftsman would have to care for would be doing his part of the job!

The splurging growth of this place also leads to the resurrection of the two other parts of my economy that I failed to turn successful to that point. For the first time ever since I set up the market for the steam engines, those miraculous machines found the investors that were willing to make use of their incredible properties!

Thanks to the huge amounts of coal coming to the area nearly every-day, the problem of lack of fuel and receding tree-line was solved, allowing for even quicked growth of the place!

"I know, I know But how long are you going to stare into the distance? If you are that eager to see this place growth, why won't you go and put the bricks for the new buildings yourself!"

Poking my side with her finger, Elia pouted a bit. Given how this was the second and last week of our vacations before the second meeting at the senate would start, I could understand why she was unhappy with me focusing my entire attention at the mundane matters that busied us all the time!

"Don't worry dear. I will pay proper attention to you from now on as well!"