Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 40 New Territory Construction Plan
Reiner opened the tent and walked in, holding a stack of drawings and paper materials.

"Sir, I'm here."

Harvey raised his head and pinched his eyebrows, breaking away from the practice of drawing the instant casting matrix.

These past few days have been extremely busy. We just moved to the new territory and have to start from scratch. We also have to take in a group of human slaves abducted by the evil orcs. Harvey has to worry about the food, drink, and defecation of nearly twenty people in the camp.

Harvey is not short of money now. The many paid items set up in the Magic Network Forum have made him earn a lot of money, and he has saved up nearly 30,000 gold pounds as start-up funds for territory construction.

The problem now is that even if he has money, it is not convenient for him to buy the supplies he needs.

As alchemical beings, Asdalen and Reiner have sensitive identities and cannot show their faces in public at will.

Although Pierce is alert and calm, he was just an ordinary hunter in the past. Although Asdalen treated him as a junior and taught him carefully, his cultural level is still not even at the level of elementary school graduation in Harvey's eyes.

Except Harvey himself, no one else could help him contact the outside world and open up the material trading network.

Harvey could only place his hopes on the newly recruited survivors. "Reiner, have all the identity registrations for this group of people been completed?"

Reiner straightened his back, flipped through the documents in his hand, and said seriously, "Sir, I have made inquiries clearly. Pierce and I conducted separate interrogations and then cross-examined their identities and backgrounds."

"These survivors don't come from any modern human nation. They've always lived in the wilderness. Their ancestors migrated there to evade taxes and avoid military service..."

Harvey was stunned. "Aren't they human civilians living south of the Divine Spine Mountains?"

Then he immediately recalled the history books he had read in college. Indeed, in the early stages of the war between humans and demons, the Federation and the Church were still fighting each other and did not pay much attention to this war between the two races that might affect the survival and reproduction of the human race.

As a result, most human kingdoms chose to fight on their own, using ancient ordinary knights to fight against the talented and powerful demon army, and for a time they fell into a huge disadvantage.

It was during that period that many kingdoms and fiefdoms were stretched thin in the face of war, leading to a large number of extortions and heavy taxes, causing countless civilians who lost their land and property to flee their homes.

Unexpectedly, there were so many such refugees who actually crossed the Shenji Mountains and fled to the northern wilderness, and even reproduced and survived in such a harsh environment.

……

"Will they be willing to work for me and stay in my new territory?"

Reiner nodded. "No one has chosen to leave. Their temporary settlement on the ice field has been completely occupied. If Your Excellency is willing to accept it, they are willing to cultivate the land themselves and pay tribute to the lord..."

Harvey shook his head and said, "No, I don't need them to grow food for me, nor do I need them to do heavy labor."

He pulled out a few pages of pre-prepared information from the documents on the desk and handed them to the somewhat confused Reiner.

"This is the employment contract. Please read it through first. I will explain anything you don't understand..."

Harvey thought clearly that his future territory would not need so many people engaged in low-level labor.

What he really needs are "technical workers" with a certain level of knowledge, culture and manufacturing skills.

This means that for a long time, this group of original laborers needed to build territory while completing literacy education.

The security and military strength of the territory can be guaranteed by the constantly transforming alchemical beasts.

In the short term, food and other daily necessities can be solved by "importing". Once the technology matures, using alchemical life to participate in agricultural production will be far more effective than manual labor.

"So we need to complete the territory's infrastructure first, and then we can proceed according to the previous construction plan."

Reiner nodded, then asked hesitantly, "So... where do we get the supplies and materials we need?" Harvey sighed, covering his face. "I'll go in person. Jackdaw Town, Grizzliburg, Daeus... wherever we can get them..."

No chamber of commerce is willing to undertake the business of transporting goods across national borders.

The large amount of purchased materials and supplies ultimately had to be transported to the territory bit by bit by his own alchemical camel.

“Everything is really difficult at the beginning!”

……

"Master Reiner, I don't quite understand... What do you mean by hiring us?"

Inside the tent that sheltered them from the wind and rain, several survivors sat cross-legged on the ground, surrounding Reiner and asking him questions.

"Doesn't the Lord need us to cultivate the land for him?"

"Then what will we eat? Are you going to make us work in the mines?"

Reiner held the document in his hand and felt his alchemical brain getting slightly hot.

"Stop! Everyone stop! Let me explain!"

Everyone was still very afraid of this strange spellcaster who looked kind but tall and terrifying in appearance. They all fell silent after hearing what he said.

"First, those who voluntarily join Lord Harvey's territory need to sign an employment contract. This means that you are willing to work for the lord, and the lord needs to be responsible for your personal safety and pay for your work..."

The middle-aged man leading the survivors was stunned when he heard this. He widened his eyes and asked in a trembling voice with some disbelief, "I... we don't have to be serfs? And... we don't have to pay taxes?"

Reiner nodded and continued reading expressionlessly, "Voluntarily sign the contract and you will become a free citizen of your lordship's territory. The wages paid to you for your work will have already been deducted from your taxes."

The half-orc Vaughn stammered, "So... what can you do with that salary?"

Reiner looked around and explained skillfully, "Of course it's your own property. You can use it to buy food, clothes, livestock, houses..."

Dave only heard the first half of the sentence before his eyes lit up and he asked in a low voice with a mouth full of fangs, "Can...can I buy a woman?"

"Human trafficking is not allowed in the territory!" Reiner secretly clenched his fists. "Don't interrupt me. Wait until I finish speaking before asking."

At this moment, Vaughn could no longer listen to Reiner's next words.

You no longer have to live as a slave in the lord's territory, and you can use your labor to earn wages to buy yourself enough food and warm clothes.

Once their salary accumulates to a certain level, they can buy their own house without having to worry about it being easily taken away. The lord also claims that he has the responsibility to ensure the safety of their lives and property.

I feel like I have never dreamed of such a beautiful prospect.

Although they still didn't know what kind of work they would do to serve the lord, the orcs could no longer wait for the strange wizard covered in metal to finish his long-winded talk.

He quietly bent his legs, supported himself with his hands, and slowly slid to Reiner's side, trying hard to put a smile on his ferocious face.

"Master Reiner, I am willing to sign that...contract and serve the Lord!"

(End of this chapter)