Jason Liu joked a few words about his tool man, then asked Boris to take out a pen and paper and start listing the various materials needed to build Harbor and Fort.
First was the accommodation for a large number of workers. Well, they had tents, which could suffice for a period of time.
However, it was still necessary to build proper houses for the workers as soon as possible. After all, although it was summer, it still got a little cold in the North at night.
Since the port and berth were to be built, and in order to speed up progress, Jason Liu intended to buy cement and steel bars from modern times and make them into reinforced concrete.
Fast and strong!
Anyway, the largest merchant ships in Westeros were only a few thousand tons, and the average ship was about a thousand tons.
Therefore, when the port and berth were built, the requirements wouldn't be too high, and using reinforced concrete would be more than enough.
Don't doubt the ability of the Westerosi masons—simple things like reinforced concrete, with a bit of explanation, they could understand. They might even do better than the average modern worker.
After all, these masons built magnificent stone castles without using reinforced concrete.
Their building technology was really amazing!
The main body of the port and castle could be built with reinforced concrete, but a lot of masonry was still needed.
Stones—there were no mountains along the shore of Lake Saylor, and not many large stones either.
But clay could be dug from the lake and used to build a brick kiln for firing bricks.
Yes, that would work!
As Jason Liu spoke, he asked Boris to write it down.
"By the way, Boris, are there any coal mines in the North?" Since he wanted to fire bricks, the first thing Jason Liu thought of was coal—it was better than using wood.
Hearing this, Boris was stunned, blinked, and couldn't help but ask, "Sir, what did you say?"
Seeing the puzzled expression on Boris's face, Jason Liu was also surprised and repeated, "I said, do you know if there are any coal mines in the North? Coal is a black, stone-like thing that can be used as firewood. We call this black flammable stone 'coal.' Do you know it?"
"Coal... coal?"
Boris repeated the unfamiliar word, reached out and scratched his smooth forehead, frowned and thought for a moment, then finally shook his head. "Sorry, I'm sorry. Maybe I don't know enough, but I've never heard of something called 'coal.'
"Yes, a black stone that can burn.
"I grew up in the Academy City and spent seven or eight years in Winterfell, and I've never seen the kind of stone you're talking about!"
"There's no coal in Westeros?"
Suddenly realizing something, Jason Liu's eyes widened, and he subconsciously slapped his thigh with one hand. He finally remembered that whether in the TV series or the original novel, coal had never appeared.
He'd even spent more than half a year in Winterfell and had seen people in the North cook and light fires, and blacksmiths forge iron. They all seemed to use wood or charcoal—he had never seen coal being burned.
What was going on?
Didn't Westeros—or rather, the world of Game of Thrones—have coal?
How could that be!
Logically, this was the world of A Song of Ice and Fire created by author George R. R. Martin based on Earth's standards. How could such an important resource like coal be missing?
Maybe there were fewer coal mines in Westeros—or maybe they were buried too deep underground and hadn't been discovered yet?
A little unwilling to accept it, Jason Liu stared at Boris and asked again, "Hey, think about it carefully, Boris. Have you really never seen that kind of black stone that can be burned like wood?"
Boris looked at Lord Jason with strange eyes and was almost unable to bear the pressure of being stared at so intensely.
But even if he racked his brains, he couldn't recall ever seeing or hearing of such a black stone used as firewood.
So, Boris answered again with a firm tone, "Yes, my lord, I'm sure. I really haven't seen the kind of coal you're talking about. In fact, I can say that even the Academy has no records of such a black stone.
"If it's not in the Academy's archives, then Westeros really may not have that kind of stone."
Hearing Boris's confirmation, Jason Liu had no choice but to accept the reality: there really were no coal mines in Westeros—or if there were, they were too rare and buried deep underground, unknown to anyone.
He had originally wanted to build a thermal power plant, but if there was no coal, what was the point?
What—you say wood?
If absolutely necessary, wood might barely be able to substitute.
Since Westeros didn't have coal, could it be that it also lacked other fossil fuels—like oil?
"Oil?" Boris repeated another unfamiliar word spoken by Lord Jason.
Jason Liu described the characteristics of oil again.
After thinking carefully, Boris replied uncertainly, "When I was in the Academy, I remember hearing that someone in the desert on the Dorne side dug into the ground and found a thick, black, ugly liquid. It could be ignited, but it smelled awful... It does sound like the oil you described, but I'm not sure."
"Yes, it must be oil! That's right—there are deserts in Dorne, and maybe oil deposits beneath them. Just like the deserts in the Middle East, right? Aren't they full of oil?" Jason Liu grew excited upon hearing that Dorne might have oil.
Boris looked at the excited Lord Jason in confusion, not understanding which "Middle East desert" he was referring to.
Jason Liu muttered to himself, "Looks like next time I meet a merchant from Dorne, I should ask them if they know anything about oil. If I can get oil, even without coal, I can still build a thermal power plant!"
Thermal power plant? Boris had no idea what that meant.
After writing down this idea, Jason Liu continued planning the construction of Spark Harbor and Spark Fort.
"My lord, since you're going to use tens of thousands of people to build a port and a castle, you'll need transportation. The four-wheeled freight carriage from the logging yard is very good—large capacity and fast speed!"
After saying this, Boris suggested, "You should get more of those freight carriages. And even if there are extras, you can sell them to merchants—they'd be happy to buy them."
Upon hearing this, Jason Liu nodded immediately. "Yes, you're right. We definitely need more of those freight carriages. Hmm, and we can sell them to merchants too. After all, these carriages can carry more goods than their wooden carts and save effort."
"Write that down, Boris!"
The two of them planned out one item after another, listing the materials needed to build the port and the castle.
In the end, Boris had filled several sheets of A4 paper.
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