Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 355 Population Strategy
"The combined forces of Grand Duke Saint Valen and the Church of Radiance have suffered repeated setbacks in small-scale skirmishes with Daeus..."

"Gorris has begun massively recruiting troops from surrounding vassal duchies in the name of the Papal State. The Glorious Spear Judgment Legion stationed on the border of Isengard seems to be planning to send troops to the central southern border..."

"The royal family of the Duchy of Barclay is divided over whether to respond to the Pope's call. Many of the nobles under its jurisdiction have decided to independently send troops to reinforce Saint Valen, which is tantamount to openly opposing the Federation."

"The Church has begun sending demon slayers in large numbers to attack the leaders of the spellcasting organizations in the Seven Wizarding Nations who openly opposed the resumption of the civil war and accused the Church of breaking the covenant. The number of leaders killed in the attacks is currently unknown..."

Harvey frowned, feeling increasingly heavy-hearted as he watched the endless stream of communication messages being sent out from members of various factions and small groups in the spellcaster forum.

The full-scale civil war between the Spellcasters' Union and the Church of Light is probably about to break out.

During this period, not only were there a lot of discussions in the forum, but even the large chambers of commerce that maintained close cooperation with Harvey seemed to have received news of the tense situation in the central southern border. They kept sending friendly reminders to Harvey and expressed concerns about subsequent business cooperation.

After all, apart from arms dealers and human traffickers, no business organization is happy to see war. It will not only destroy the commodity sales network they have worked so hard to build, but also cut off the freight routes that are not convenient and smooth to begin with.

"Sir, the secret police have sent back news from the southern part of Saint Valen." Asdalen held a stack of copied intelligence materials and reported in detail the results of the recent intelligence work.

"Except for the royal capital, Jinhui City, due to the aristocratic lords' rampant conscription and arbitrary tax increases, a large number of civilians in the southern region have been displaced due to evading military service and taxation..."

In addition, the neighboring country, Grand Duke Barclay, suddenly sent troops into the country and launched an expedition in the name of the church against the feudal nobles in the south of Saint Valen who had originally maintained a neutral attitude. Silverpine City and Black Mountain Port were destroyed in the war, and a large number of surrounding fields and farms were abandoned. It was also a cold winter, and the price of the already scarce food skyrocketed. The slave trade, which was originally strictly prohibited, became active again.

Although the intelligence network was not established for a long time and the experience and abilities of the secret police trained were uneven, the timeliness and accuracy of the transmission of intelligence information were greatly guaranteed after the magic brain instrument was installed.

Harvey knew the actions of those feudal nobles very well. Even if the war did not affect the surrounding areas of the territory, they would use the war as an excuse to levy heavy taxes and take the opportunity to settle all the new and old grudges with other neighboring lords, just using the name of conscription to settle personal grudges.

It can be said that before the civil war actually broke out, the friction and conflicts between the petty nobles had already tortured and harmed the local people beyond recognition.

"Relying solely on the secret police to secretly spread information and guide the people to flee to the border Grizzly Territory on their own is too inefficient..." Harvey muttered to himself while rubbing his fingers.

Asdalen coughed lightly and reminded them, "Our partner chambers of commerce are also trying their best to promote our recruitment policy, but with little success. Most people are unwilling to make such a long migration with their families in such a cold winter. The risks involved are too great."

Harvey nodded in agreement, stood up and walked to the wall where the map of Saint Valen's borders was hung. He raised his hand and quickly drew a curved black line with a thick charcoal pencil, which just overlapped with the Ralph River, which originated from the Divine Ridge Mountains and flowed through the entire Principality of Saint Valen.

Asdalen, with his sharp mind, immediately asked, "Using shipping to directly absorb the transferred population?" "Indeed, the source of the Ralph River is located on the border of Grizzli Territory, but the water is only deep enough for navigation from Grizzli Castle. The river widens as it flows downstream, flowing west through Sancha Town to Jinhui City and south to Black Mountain Port..."

Harvey drew a circle around Sancha Town with a charcoal pencil and said quietly, "It only takes a day and a half for troops to arrive here by boat from Grizzly Fort. If we establish a population transfer station here, we can completely open up the transportation channel to the south."

The section of the Ralph River north of Sancha Town is almost completely frozen in winter, making fishing and sailing almost impossible... unless you have a sturdy steel icebreaker like Harvey, which relies on magic power equipment to ensure high-speed travel even upstream.

Considering that Asdalen was a thorough "old northerner" and his understanding of the situation in the south was not as good as that of Harvey, a research geek, they immediately summoned Durt, who was familiar with the domestic situation in Saint Valen.

Durte was a man of decisive character. After understanding Harvey's intentions, he explained frankly, "My Lord, Sancha Town is located within the fiefdom of Grand Duke Ralph... That's right, the Ralph family that named the Ralph River. They're based in Fengyuan City, west of Sancha Town. Their fiefdom is several times larger than the Grizzlies Territory of the Fagan family."

Grand Duke Ralph was a die-hard follower of Grand Duke Saint Valen who founded his country over a hundred years ago. He was also one of the largest landed nobles in Saint Valen. Although his relationship with the Church of Light had always been lukewarm, he still sent a mixed force of nearly 2,000 regular knights and mercenaries to respond to the Grand Duke's call this time.

"With such a large-scale military deployment, wouldn't His Excellency the Grand Duke's rear be left empty?" Harvey asked curiously.

Durt smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Compared to the two or three hundred elite knights under Count Feigen, this Duke Ralph is no mere show-off. At least half of his Fengyuan Knights are extraordinary knights with bloodline talent. The family also supports a number of capable independent spellcasters and has formed a mage advisory group."

Most of these spellcasters employed by nobles and princes come from aristocratic families themselves. They will never stand on the side of the Federation because of their religious beliefs. It is considered a moderate attitude for them to remain neutral.

Harvey nodded and said calmly, "I've roughly understood. The Bloodline Knights and Spellcaster Advisors... the armed forces possessed by the nobles are truly identical in composition and structure. This is true for Earl Fagan and Duke Ralph."

He turned to Reiner, who had arrived late, and ordered, "Notify the Ministry of Industry and immediately send personnel to Grizzly Castle... Complete the construction of the barge dock and shipbuilding workshop within a week."

Durt already knew about the lord's plan to use steel icebreakers to sail south, but he was still a little confused when he heard him order the construction of docks and shipyards in Grizzly Castle only now.

"My Lord, you...are only now starting to build the docks and shipyards. Do you plan to take action against Duke Ralph after the spring?"

Harvey burst into laughter at the young spellcaster's question. Reiner and Asdalen exchanged a glance and explained in unison, "The cement dock can be built within a week. As for shipbuilding... all the ship components have been cast in advance. They just need to be transported and assembled and welded on site. With full operation, it can be launched in three days!"

Steel icebreakers have now achieved modular mass production, with all parts readily piled up in warehouses. Assembling a finished ship is not much more complicated than playing with building blocks.

(End of this chapter)