Today was the day to fire up the furnace, and Roman specially invited Lady Helaena of House Hoare and Scholar Tom to watch.
Lady Helaena of House Hoare did not understand iron smelting, but that blast furnace clearly looked extraordinary, and Scholar Tom had already begun taking notes.
The scholar questioned Roman on the details while writing down his understanding on paper.
"Lord Roman, if it is truly as you say, then with just this one blast furnace, we can match the output of an entire mining region belonging to those traditional iron-smelting lords!"
"Seven above, where do these ingenious ideas come from? Has your head been kissed by the Crone?"
"Scholar! Don't blow me up so high; let's see the output of molten iron first."
But Tom did not think so; he had served Harrenhal for so many years and had made considerable achievements in various fields.
He knew just how intense the White Flame of this blast furnace was based on the ambient temperature alone.
"Tsk, were this not related to Lord Roman's secrets, these records would definitely earn me a place in The Citadel."
The look in Scholar Tom's eyes when he gazed at Roman was full of affection; when he was first sent to Harrenhal, he had been filled with despair.
But the Seven had opened a window for him again, sending him Roman.
Over these few months of interaction, Scholar Tom was convinced that Roman was the one who could change the fate of Harrenhal.
And the Hean Family would also become the first family to shake off the curse of Harrenhal.
Composing himself, Scholar Tom began to explain the key points of iron smelting to Lady Helaena of House Hoare with great focus.
At the same time, he conveyed the knowledge Roman had mentioned—such as "coking," "reaction," and "impurity removal"—to Lady Helaena of House Hoare in an easy-to-understand way.
While the three were conversing, the first furnace of pig iron was finished.
Accompanied by the foreman's shout, the workers opened the hole at the bottom of the furnace.
A bright orange stream of heat gushed from the furnace opening. This molten iron was hotter and smoother than steel melted in a crucible, while the slag was discharged from a higher opening.
A layer of White Flame still burned on the surface of the molten iron, gradually extinguishing only after the iron entered the molds.
Because it was necessary to ensure the molten iron remained unaffected, a simple structure was built over the discharge opening, which Roman planned to upgrade later.
But even this drafty structure became scorching hot due to the flowing molten iron, forcing Roman and Scholar Tom to have Lady Helaena of House Hoare leave quickly.
The workers on site were sweating profusely, but they could not hide the smiles on their faces.
"Seven above! Look at this molten iron flowing like a stream; Lord Roman is simply the incarnation of the Smith!" (This refers to the Smith among the Seven, representing labor, creation, and craftsmanship.)
According to later records, the blast furnace smelted about 6 tons of pig iron at one time.
It is said that when this figure was tallied, everyone present was too astonished to speak, and it was only when Roman announced he would reward everyone that their thoughts were brought back.
With iron, everything was guaranteed.
Matters divided into two fronts; Roman was replacing the equipment for the Harrenhal garrison while simultaneously forging a large number of tools and farming implements.
At the same time, he began to set about dealing with the ruins of Harrenhal.
After Harrenhal was burned by Aegon, a large amount of ruins remained, and subsequent families who took over had no ability to repair Harrenhal.
When Harrenhal was built, Heren Hoare was the King of the Iron Islands and the Riverlands; at that time, he had the strength to fill the entire Harrenhal.
But now, the land owned by Harrenhal was limited to the Gods Eye and the plots near Harrenhal, and the population was even smaller.
Not to mention those notorious curses.
But Roman did not fear these curses; he ignited the White Flame and took soldiers and workers into the ruins.
These ruins were already overgrown with weeds, and moss clung to the dark, gloomy stonework.
This place had become a happy home for insects, snakes, rats, and ants, with bats flying out from time to time.
Roman closed his eyes and released the White Flame.
Through the flames, he felt the resentment of the weirwood and the young children.
Heren had cut down a large number of weirwoods to use as pillars back then, while also using the blood of young children mixed with mortar to create an adhesive.
Roman's White Flame burned through, and these resentments entered his brain once again, but with the experience from his previous confrontation with Heren, Roman was much calmer this time.
He methodically cleared away these grievances, and under the effect of the dragonflame, they dissipated completely just like Heren.
When Roman opened his eyes again, the originally chaotic ruins had turned snow-white, and the weeds and vermin had all been reduced to ash.
Under Roman's instruction, the workers confidently dismantled the intact stone bricks, which Roman had great use for next.
Vast rivers and streams flowed into the area near the Gods Eye; he hadn't noticed it while looking at the map before, but only upon arriving on-site did he realize these small watercourses would not be drawn on it.
These rivers physically partitioned the Riverlands, and the feudal system meant that individual lords in the Riverlands lacked the strength to build large-scale infrastructure.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have been the case that the Twins became the only cross-river bridge existing in Westeros.
Roman did not intend to build a massive bridge like the one the Frey family had; after all, it had taken them generations to build it.
He planned to first build stone bridges over the streams between various towns and villages that could accommodate pedestrians and armies.
"Everyone be careful; these stones are to be used as the foundation for building small bridges, so do not break them!"
Scholar Tom watched the workers carefully moving the giant stones and asked Roman in confusion:
"My lord, is it not a bit wasteful to take all these stones out to build roads and bridges?"
Roman smiled and shook his head: "Scholar, let me ask you, what use do these stones have staying here with us?"
"Uh... currently, no use."
"Then, can my building bridges for the territory speed up the allocation of supplies and the collection of taxes?"
"... Yes."
"That is it then! Since keeping these things is useless to us anyway, rather than letting them gather dust here, it is better to take them out and invest in the territory."
Following Roman's arrangements, the giant stones were transported all over Harrenhal; some were used to fill gaps in the city walls, and others were used as bridge piers for bridges in the river.
Regarding Roman's near-demolition-style transportation behavior, everyone in Harrenhal, including Lady Helaena of House Hoare, had no objections and, on the contrary, were happy to see it happen.
The previous ruins of Harrenhal were truly too terrifying; even though Roman was now sitting in Harrenhal and the surviving ghosts dared not appear, it was still creepy at night.
Now, after being burned by Roman's dragonflame, this ghost castle had instead become beautiful and full of vitality.
The stones, after being scorched by the dragonflame, presented a beautiful and warm milky white color, and even carried a faint fragrance.
The people living inside Harrenhal were the first to enjoy this benefit, as Roman used the smaller stone bricks to repair and build some new residences.
In the future, Roman would certainly recruit more people to enter Harrenhal, so these could be considered advance preparations.
In terms of infrastructure, sewers, water purification channels, stone-paved roads, and so on were all being updated.
The five giant towers that "Black Harren" had spent 40 years building were thus eaten away bit by bit by this young lad, Roman.
The blood tax originally stripped from the people of the Riverlands was also being returned to the local people bit by bit by Roman.