Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 258: The "Blood Recognition" ID Card

Egno picked up a silver plant leaf and handed it to Harvey with a wry smile.

"Look, sir. This is the magical plant we brought back... It's completely useless."

Harvey took it curiously and found that the shape of the leaves of this plant was similar to mulberry leaves, but the color was bright silver like tinfoil. The thin leaves felt smooth in the hand and had a very strange texture.

"This plant has never been discovered or recorded in any alchemy text," Chris explained helplessly. "But I suspect it's not a completely new magical plant. It's because... it's so useless and has no medicinal properties. So even if it was discovered, no one would be willing to record it."

"Oh? It doesn't have medicinal properties? Then in what form does the magical substance it contains appear? How did you discover its existence? Is it just because its silver-white appearance is too conspicuous?" Harvey couldn't help but ask.

Egno picked up a leaf at random from the collection box, then took out a metal blood collection needle and gently pricked his fingertip, then squeezed out a drop of blood and smeared it on the leaf. After a while, the silver leaf emitted a faint white light.

"Luminous? Is this its magical property? How strange! But haven't you considered the possibility of using it to replace the illumination magic stone?" Harvey felt that the luminous property was not completely useless. Whether it was used to replace lighting or to extract fluorescent ingredients, it had practical value.

Egno chuckled bitterly again, then placed the leaf on the table. Harvey noticed that the leaf immediately lost all its light and turned back into a dull silver color.

"My lord, this is its uselessness... To make it emit a faint glow, the person who touches it must smear their own blood on it. However, it seems to have some kind of memory. From then on, it will only emit light when touched by the specific target of blood... Once contact is abandoned, the light immediately dissipates."

Harvey immediately understood what Egno was describing—this strange "blood recognition" feature...

Chris also followed Egno's method, piercing his fingertip to squeeze out a drop of blood and smearing it on a new leaf. The silver leaf reacted exactly the same way - it only glowed slightly when Chris touched it, and once it left his palm, the light immediately went out and it returned to its original ordinary appearance.

"A leaf can only record a person's blood information, and from then on it will only produce a luminous reaction when it comes into contact with the target... After we discovered this feature, we completely gave up the delusion of using it to replace the illuminating magic stone." Chris was a little depressed. Discovering a new magical plant was originally a very surprising gain, but after a lot of tedious experiments, this result was obtained, which was indeed a bit disappointing.

Egno muttered, "They're not as good as those sturdy reeds that grow in saline-alkali land and can extract concentrated brine. At least they can create huge value for the territory..."

Harvey stroked his chin and thought for a moment, but a strange idea flashed through his mind.

Since this plant has the seemingly useless "blood recognition" memory ability, if it is applied to the territorial administration work of population statistics and identity registration, wouldn't it be possible to create a nearly perfect and inimitable identity authentication system?
More than a year ago, when Harvey began to take in a large number of refugees from the wilderness and the southern border, he had a big headache about the population information registration issue.

In this magical world, where supernatural powers coexisted with feudal rule, there was no comprehensive and robust method for collecting population statistics. Most nobles and fiefdom lords relied on their own legions of tax collectors to collect taxes by counting households. These statistics only roughly recorded household population, farmland, livestock, and oxen, and at most, noted the occupation of the primary labor force, allowing the lord to more clearly select quotas when recruiting laborers.

However, the entire population census process cannot verify personal information 100%, which means that the judgment can only rely on the memory of the tax collector himself. Once the population moves due to migration and war recruitment, these subjects will immediately become unregistered residents whose true identities cannot be confirmed.

Harvey himself had seen more than once in his childhood some migrants who were originally free farmers, but were eventually convicted of tax evasion and hanged because their identities could not be confirmed.

Harvey first noticed this problem during the period when the territory's population was booming. When a refugee was registered, the city hall officials could only rely on verbal inquiries to learn about his past information and work experience. They would then be issued a "simple ID card" that simply recorded his age, height, occupation and place of origin.

As a result, a large number of criminal cases occurred, such as stealing other people's identity documents and using someone else's name to defraud wages. The situation was not alleviated until Harvey compiled a more complete territorial law and imposed heavier penalties and forced labor on these people.

During routine patrols and case handling, the Territorial Police Department often faces the problem of identity information not being 100% consistent with the criminals themselves, which inadvertently adds a lot of tedious work that requires visits, confirmations, and seeking evidence.

"With this unique plant that possesses blood memory, simply attaching it to a new ID card will create personal information that is absolutely impossible to forge or forge. This will significantly reduce the workload of the City Hall's demographic staff, and we will also have a clearer understanding of the territory's current population structure."

Harvey enthusiastically explained to Egno and Chris the importance of this new magical plant, and immediately found some white paper to draw out the new ID card style.

"Use printing technology to mass-produce these ID cards. Add a waterproof coating of rubber fruit to the surface to prevent them from being easily damaged or soaked in water, thus achieving a durable effect... Egno, immediately catalyze a batch of these magical plants. They will be perfect for the group of southern refugees we are about to release into the pioneering territory!"

After owning this magical leaf plant, Harvey had more ideas about the administration of the territory.

For example, there is a territory bank next to the city hall, which has never had any function. It is only used to facilitate the residents to apply for loans to buy houses and to exchange gold and yuan banknotes for metal coins. But in fact, no one is willing to go there to exchange them. After all, the coins are not circulated in the territory at all, and the residents who have already lived and worked in peace and contentment do not want to leave this increasingly prosperous and affluent new home.

With the magic ID card, the deserted territory bank becomes very useful. At least the people in the territory no longer have to hide their saved salaries at home. Instead, they can save them in the bank and withdraw them with their ID cards when they need to make large expenses.

In this way, the bank can truly play the role Harvey envisioned in regulating the currency circulation and commercial activities in the territory.

"From now on, the payment of salaries for all jobs in the territory can be handed over to the banking department..."

(End of this chapter)