Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 559: New Home
Jinglin County was less than twenty miles away from Fengyuan City, but because the railway tracks in the north had not yet been laid to the central region, the Jade Tribe and the Silver Moon Tribe that were allocated and resettled here could only walk there with their families.

Fortunately, the roads along the way were flat and the Fengyuan City Hall temporarily allocated a number of donkeys, horses and wheelbarrows, which allowed the newly arrived "rootless people" to finally arrive in the evening.

However, the scene before them was completely different from what they had expected - the endless fertile land was divided into hundreds or thousands of neatly arranged fields. Locals stood in groups of three or five on the narrow ridges, pointing at the alchemical vehicle that was slowly moving in the distance.

It was a new creation, different from the wheeled vehicle they were riding. It was larger than an erected cowhide tent, with six thick metal limbs deeply embedded in the ground. A bucket sled was hung behind its butt, which continuously and rapidly plowed the deep soil as it moved.

What fertile black soil it was, truly... fertile soil flowing with milk and honey. The dry and crushed sand in the desert oasis was completely incomparable to it. The tribesmen who witnessed this scene could not help but gleam in their eyes, and some even jumped off the carriage, prostrated themselves on the ground and prayed in a low voice.

The huge crowd and convoy walked forward for a few more miles and arrived at their final destination - a medium-sized settlement with a man-made irrigation ditch running through it. There were brand new two-story stone buildings on both sides of the river. A wooden and stone bridge spanned the two banks. Several tall water mills were erected beside the bridge, and the windmills were slowly rotating under the drive of the water flow.

The alchemical machinery technology from the north has not yet been fully popularized in the central region of the country. Except for administrative center cities such as Fengyuan City, the surrounding small towns cannot enjoy the modern facilities of alchemical mills and plumbing... But this is enough to shock the migrants of the tribe and make them stop and stare blankly.

His Majesty the Emperor not only graciously accepted their relocation, but even built tribal settlements and houses in advance, eliminating the need to start from scratch. This allowed the people from the remote borderlands who came from afar to spend the entire spring sitting in tents under the open sky.

"God of the mountains, rivers, and earth!" Chief Cho Ao's eyes filled with tears. He stumbled off the carriage and knelt heavily towards the north. "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your mercy and gifts! Thank you, the divine agent, for opening your arms to us! This is the oasis He promised, forever free of ice, snow, and drought. It is the new home for our rootless people!"

Edwin curled his lips imperceptibly, secretly cursing the Stoneheart Priory's smuggled missionary activities along the way. The rhetoric that His Majesty and the City Hall had originally used to "fool" this group of cult allies was spread among the rootless tribes with their solemn promises. It seemed that His Majesty's title of "Agent of the Evil God" would be stuck on his head for a short time.

Even more ridiculous was the large number of red banners hung by local administrative officials in front of the new houses, bearing slogans such as "Welcome new compatriots to settle here," "Create a better future with your hard-working hands," and "Once you come, you are a Varun!" These banners, in front of this group of completely illiterate tribal people, looked like flirting with a blind man.

Your Majesty is right...there is still a long way to go in achieving literacy education!

……

In order to successfully accommodate these new immigrants, the Construction Department of Fengyuan City Hall had already rushed to build seven or eight hundred sturdy and warm houses in the new settlement of Jinglin County a month ago. The officials in charge of receiving and resettling them held up a statistical list and quickly distributed the houses to each family.

The first group of Emerald Tribe people who arrived quickly moved in and lit a warm fire in the fireplace of their new home without any instruction. Streams of smoke suddenly floated over the sky above the settlement, creating a prosperous and peaceful scene.

The Silvermoon Tribe, which had few surviving members, took the initiative to choose a corner location on the other side of the river bank, but they did not sing and dance like the Emerald Tribe. Dozens of young warriors from the tribe surrounded Edwin, the resettlement director who was busy all the time, before they even had time to step into their newly assigned new homes.

"Sir, may I ask where the conscription office is?" Sai Ke, the young leader of the Silver Moon tribe, stepped forward and asked somewhat bewilderedly. "We want to enlist and become soldiers under His Majesty the Emperor!"

Edwin laughed and shook his head, saying helplessly, "Young men, Jinglin County is just a small town. How can it have a fixed recruitment office? Even if Your Majesty wanted to expand the army, Fengyuan City would have sent people down to post recruitment notices." Sek was completely confused, but he still stubbornly said, "Then please take us to the recruitment office in Fengyuan City!"

The placement director's assistant burst out laughing and interrupted, "You can't go to the Fengyuan City Recruitment Office right now. They're off duty after six!"

"What about tomorrow? We'll leave before daybreak tomorrow morning. We can still apply, right?"

"Oh... Tomorrow is a public holiday. The military and city hall will be closed all day."

"Besides, the conscription office doesn't always have recruitment quotas. I heard that Fengyuan City's recruitment quota is not as high as Jinhui City's..."

Seeing these aristocratic officials making various perfunctory refusals, Sek and the others grew increasingly anxious. They took the lead in stripping off their fur coats, revealing their dark, wiry muscles. They angrily demanded, "Does His Majesty think that the warriors of our borderland tribe are unworthy of fighting for him?"

"Your Majesty promised us to fight alongside the expeditionary forces and avenge our people who died at the hands of foreigners!"

As soon as these words that were not conducive to unity were uttered, several officials were stunned on the spot. It turned out that they were not clamoring to join the army because they heard that the treatment for soldiers was good... but to avenge their dead relatives.

Edwin sighed and soothed gently, "But our instructions were to properly resettle you, provide you with young cattle and sheep, grain, and seeds, and teach you how to cultivate the land with the help of agricultural machinery... The dead are gone, and the survivors must always look forward. Why must you risk death in battle and go north?"

"Captain Ralph, you don't understand..." Baler strode into the crowd, standing beside Zeke and speaking gravely, "Only by personally avenging our fallen kin and washing away the hatred and shame with the heads and blood of the lizardmen can we peacefully enjoy the land bestowed by His Majesty. Otherwise, in our dreams at night... the ghosts of the dead will linger before our eyes, unwilling to retreat."

As he spoke, he reached into his bosom and carefully pulled out a glittering Northern gem. He thrust it into Edwin's hand without further ado and pleaded in a low voice, "Please find a way to make things easier for us so we can join His Majesty's army!"

The young official's arm trembled, and he instantly withdrew it as if it had touched a hot coal. He screamed in shock, "What do you mean? Bribing government officials is a serious crime against His Majesty's laws!"

He took a few steps back as if he had seen a ghost, putting some distance between himself and this group of newly arrived "troublemakers." After a moment's hesitation, he said helplessly, "Alright, alright! I'll go check with the conscription office for you, but let's make it clear... only those who have successfully graduated from literacy school are eligible to enter the formal conscription selection process!"

"Sweep...sweep what?"

"Literacy training! This means you must first learn the most basic literacy. The Northern Army won't recruit illiterate people who can't even read a single word!"

(End of this chapter)