The current conditions in the territory were indeed limited; if circumstances allowed, Link had intended to use fired bricks to build heated brick beds (kang) in the simple wooden houses where the common people lived.
He knew that the kang's cold-resistance effect would likely be much better than a stove, providing the common people with more warmth during the cold winter days.
But as for the current situation, for these common people who had nothing, a stove was already the best option for keeping warm.
"Just this iron box, can it really warm up the room?"
Upon hearing the news, Sterula and Lucrezia, who happened to be free, came to the study together.
Lucrezia was full of doubt, her eyes filled with disbelief.
In her opinion, how could a small iron stove possibly make a cold room warm?
"If you don't believe it, how about a bet?" Link's lips curved slightly, revealing a confident smile.
"Bet what?" Lucrezia widened her beautiful golden eyes, looking directly at Link with a hint of curiosity.
"Hmm, there's still some prime meat left from the Ice Plains Wolf King. How about this: if I lose, I'll make you roasted meat tonight. If I win, Lucrezia, I have a beautiful set of clothes; how about you come to my room tonight to try them on?" Link said calmly, his tone relaxed.
"Okay, it's a deal." Before Lucrezia could speak, the frank and straightforward Sterula next to her had already agreed for her.
In Sterula's mind, it was just trying on clothes; what could be the harm?
Moreover, if they won, they could also enjoy a delicious roasted meat meal. This was simply a no-lose deal, so why not?
"I haven't agreed yet!"
Lucrezia looked at Sterula in front of her and said angrily.
She really couldn't understand how Sterula could make decisions for her so easily.
"Why refuse? It's just trying on clothes, and if we win, we get to eat roasted meat made by Lord Link, right?"
Sterula looked expectant, completely unaware of Lucrezia's concerns.
Lucrezia rubbed her forehead, finding her future colleague and partner's personality a bit troublesome.
She muttered to herself: This is too easy to fool, isn't she afraid that Lord Link might bring out some strange clothes for her to try on?
However, on second thought, she felt that Lord Link would certainly not harm her; at most, he would just bring out some embarrassing outfits for her to try on, and it wouldn't cause any physical harm.
So, at Sterula's urging, Lucrezia still tacitly accepted the bet proposed by Link.
Soon, some coal was brought up.
Link skillfully loaded coal and some wood into the stove, also adding some wood shavings for kindling.
His movements were practiced, as if he had done this countless times.
Immediately, Link lit the fire in the stove.
The heat generated by the burning wood shavings quickly ignited the wood below. As the fire grew larger, plumes of black coal smoke rose through the cast-iron chimney, expelled to the outside and ascending into the sky.
The black coal smoke, like a black ribbon, slowly dispersed in the air.
And as the coal and wood burned, waves of warm heat also radiated outwards through the stove.
The roaring flames roasted the stove, and eventually, the entire stove wall began to turn red, like a blazing small sun, emitting astonishing heat.
In the end, the temperature of the entire study, driven by this small stove, rose by several degrees.
The originally somewhat chilly study now became warm and pleasant.
Lucrezia and Sterula, who were closest to the stove, naturally also felt this warmth.
"It's really warm! Lord Link, you're amazing! With this thing and this coal, we don't have to worry about anyone freezing to death!"
Sterula reached out her hand, nearing the stove to enjoy the waves of heat emanating from it, a look of enjoyment on her face, as if she was completely immersed in this warmth, seemingly unaware that she had already "sold out" Lucrezia next to her.
Looking at the happy Sterula, Lucrezia was on the verge of tears.
She secretly grumbled: Darn it! This guy, just now she made her accept the bet, and now she immediately says the stove is warm.
Whose side is this guy on, anyway?
Link smiled and said to them, "This kind of stove can not only be used for heating but also for boiling water and cooking. After the iron plate on top of the stove heats up, placing a kettle or a frying pan on it will transfer the heat. This way, the burning heat can be utilized more effectively."
Sterula and Lucrezia nodded, a hint of approval in their eyes.
The stove in front of them was indeed a good thing. In wooden houses without fireplaces, having such a stove that could burn coal or wood for heating would definitely ensure a safe winter.
After confirming the stove's effectiveness, Link instructed the blacksmiths in the territory to work at full capacity to produce the stoves.
He knew how important stoves were to the common people in the territory.
With stoves, they would be able to survive the cold winter days.
At the same time, he also urged the people in Thorn City to accelerate the speed of coal mining.
What made Link happy was that the area was indeed an open-pit coal mine, with many coal seams exposed on the surface, and some buried areas were only one to two meters from the surface, allowing for the easy excavation of large quantities of coal with a little digging.
This was truly a gift from the heavens, Link secretly rejoiced.
They all said the northern lands were barren, but was that really true?
Link didn't think so now.
With iron ore mountains and open-pit coal mines, and such abundant mineral resources, this northern land was simply a treasure trove blessed by nature!
As long as it was properly developed and utilized, the territory's development would surely reach a higher level.
The urgent production of stoves was not difficult, but due to manufacturing process issues, the chimneys produced were fixed and could only go straight up and down, which could be considered its only drawback.
Considering the possibility of rainwater entering the chimney later, the common people would later have to make a cover on top of the chimney themselves using yellow mud and stones.
However, Link felt that this minor issue was irrelevant to the common people in the territory.
Being able to have a warm stove for heating and not having to endure the cold was already an incredibly fortunate thing; he imagined they wouldn't care about such small flaws.
With the manufacturing problem of the stoves solved, and the territory having an iron ore mountain that could continuously supply iron ore, mass production of stoves was now without difficulty.
And the collection of coal also went very smoothly.
Mining coal in an open-pit mine was simply effortless.
Pieces of black coal ore were transported over, piled together, forming small mountains.
The workers began to make honeycomb briquettes according to Link's method, mixing in yellow mud in the correct proportions.
After Link demonstrated once, the workers quickly learned, crushing the coal and thoroughly mixing it with yellow mud, then forming them into regular honeycomb briquettes.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.