Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 424 Transfer of Production Capacity
Being able to read means being able to understand warning signs, know what can be touched and what is dangerous—this is the most basic quality required of a modern factory worker.

Hughes' eyes lit up: "We can selectively recruit some of these people. They are originally members of the Secret Order and their loyalty to Castel is relatively high. They can fill the manpower gap on the island."

Castells sent more than a thousand people away at once. Although it will not have a fatal impact on production capacity, it will inevitably put them in a difficult position.

Moreover, the development of Gem Bay also requires manpower; otherwise, Hughes wouldn't have been in such a hurry to open literacy classes.

In retrospect, it's fortunate that Blood Harbor wasn't taken over as territory; otherwise, managing that city alone would have required countless people, including the civil officials we painstakingly trained.

"In addition, there are a large number of peripheral members who are not our formal believers, but have basically attached themselves to the secret order. We have a strong influence in this group, and most of them have joined the literacy class thanks to our propaganda this time."

How many people are in this group?

"Eight hundred? One thousand? I can't say for sure."

This group will likely be the first to enter the factory. With the secret society backing them, it shouldn't be a problem to let them be pioneers.

"By the way, how many people are still in Blood Harbor?"

The question caused a moment of silence in the meeting room. People exchanged glances and shook their heads, looking somewhat perplexed.

"Perhaps tens of thousands?"

"It's definitely less than 100,000."

"Nonsense! The Church of the Mother Goddess didn't even have 100,000 members before the rebellion!"

Population statistics in this era were generally inefficient and inaccurate. It was difficult for lords to send their men into the slums to make accurate counts, and most lords had no interest in doing so.

Especially since Blood Harbor has been quite chaotic recently, it's difficult to compile statistics using methods such as food consumption.

No one really knows how many people are left in Blood Harbor.

After some debate in the meeting room, the final conclusion was around 20,000 people, a figure that may be quite inaccurate.

However, the proportion of young and middle-aged people in this population is extremely high, and many of the elderly and children, who have even less ability to protect themselves, died in the chaos.

“The prince once said that we don’t need to worry about the population problem,” Zoe said.

“There’s really no need to worry. Whether he’s fighting the Empire or we’re going to fight in the North, there will be plenty of refugees,” Hughes sighed.

Human life is worthless during wartime, at least in the early stages of a war.

"For now, let's focus on education in Blood Harbor and simultaneously build factories. Does anyone have any questions? Gaia, what's wrong?"

Gaia raised her hand and said, "My lord, I would like to ask whether part of the nitroglycerin production line should be moved to Blood Harbor?"

These words immediately caused an uproar in the room:

"what?"

"How can we move this? What if they use explosives to attack us?"

"Putting everything else aside, does Blood Harbor have enough raw materials? There aren't any olive trees there!"

"And is it safe? The workers on the island are guaranteed, while those workers outside haven't even finished literacy classes."

Gaia remained unmoved: "Transporting explosives is troublesome. Although we have been as careful as possible, accidents have still occurred—the weather in the Storm Ocean is unpredictable, and besides, is nitroglycerin such an advanced thing?"

"All weapons and ammunition are products that require the cooperation of an entire industrial system; if you only have nitroglycerin..."

Gaia shrugged. "That only treats heart disease." Indeed, nitroglycerin is a qualified explosive, but for Castells, it's more like a raw material, just one link in the chemical system.

Hughes nodded: "I understand what you mean, Gaia. You're considering relocating the high-risk factory, right?"

Gaia nodded.

“That’s exactly what I was thinking. Castells does have some factories that are planning to move out, but the explosives production line still needs further discussion.” Hughes gestured for Connor to distribute a document to everyone. “Take a look at this, everyone.”

That was a report from a mining site.

“Castel has a rich variety of mineral deposits, and they are easy to mine, as everyone knows,” Hughes sighed. “But several deposits have already been dug underground from open-pit mines.”

The group looked at each other for a moment, then turned to look at Tata.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Tata couldn't help but turn her gaze away guiltily.

"So the underground iron ore can really be mined out? I thought it was endless."

"A lighthouse has been built in the northern port of Castel."

"It is said that some people can hear the mournful songs of the sunken ship at night."

"Yes, a ship spirit has been born!"

"People who don't know better might think we're reclaiming land from the sea. And let me tell you, it's really fast to do it by boat."

"Tata, are you really building a ship? I think you're building an island."

"Don't even mention it, I heard the newly designed ship is as big as an island, it'll probably hollow out Castells."

Tata's eyes widened: "How can you slander someone's innocence out of thin air?"

"What innocence? I saw the ship you built sink with my own eyes—I saw it three times!"

"I've seen it five times!"

"Seven times!"

Tata's face flushed red, and the veins on his forehead bulged as he argued, "This, this is a detour that must be taken in shipbuilding; there's no other way!"

The meeting room was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Hughes sighed: "Alright, alright, shipbuilding does involve learning from mistakes. We're all researchers, so I don't need to elaborate on these things. What I want to say is that Castells needs to relocate this part of the industry."

"Of course, it's only a part of it. We haven't finished mining the iron ore on our island yet, but we'll stop mining like this for now. We'll keep some as reserves and study how to import the rest."

After saying that, Hughes pointed to the mark on the document.

"These are several mines in Gem Bay. I took a look, and the variety is quite rich. In the future, some heavy industry will be moved here, and some will be moved to Blood Harbor, just as Gaia said."

"Why are we moving to Blood Harbor, Lord?" Nini asked curiously.

"First of all, Blood Harbor is a port, and sea transport is the lowest-cost mode of transportation. In the future, raw materials will be imported and exported from here. Secondly, there is our expedition to the North."

Castells' expedition to the north relied on the railway, and the amount of steel needed to lay the tracks along the way was enormous.

However, it would be much more convenient to build an ironworks directly in Blood Harbor, as the ironworks' production capacity would only need to cover the railway tracks.

Transferring outdated production capacity, accelerating the industrialization of Blood Harbor, and solving the problem of supplies for expeditions—a triple win!
(End of this chapter)