Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 737 Labor Displacement

In the capital city of Xinghuo, the lights of the emperor's palace burned all night long.

Harvey leaned over the desk, squinting as he carefully read the statistical reports submitted by Reiner.

"In less than a month, the Langya Ridge border crossing had taken in and gathered nearly 15,000 refugees from Eisengard... Such remarkable results were something no one could have predicted."

Harvey was clearly pleased by this, and Reiner joined in with a loud laugh, “Indeed, Your Majesty, it seems that the chaos and harm caused by the Lizardmen in the Kingdom of the Cavalry has spread far and wide. In the entire north-central region of Eisengard, there is almost nowhere for civilians to settle down. The transport stations we built on the way to the border region receive a large number of refugees heading south almost every day.”

Harvey nodded in satisfaction. "At this rate, the State Department will be able to achieve the population growth target of 50,000 before the end of autumn."

Reiner leaned forward, reaching out to help Harvey flip through the thick stack of reports in front of him, but hesitated as he said, "But this population surge, which far exceeds expectations, is still causing the government departments some headaches in their reception and acceptance work, just like before."

It's impossible for all these foreign immigrants to move to the capital. On the one hand, the quality of the population is uneven, and the vast majority of the lower-class commoners have not received literacy education or have any factory work experience. If they were to rush into Xinghuo City in large numbers, it would definitely have a huge impact on the capital's administration and security management.

The United Kingdom is now in dire need of development in all sectors. State-owned factories are springing up everywhere, continuously absorbing the labor force from surrounding counties and towns. They are vying to offer generous wages and benefits, attracting a large number of free farmers who have broken free from the shackles of nobility and land to flock to the cities and quickly transform from agricultural workers into industrial workers.

In terms of working environment and salary and benefits, whether it was entering a state-owned manufacturing plant or being recruited by a joint venture between the aristocracy and the government, the conditions were significantly better than continuing to work hard in the fields... After all the comparisons, the number of people who preferred to work on state-owned farms was rather small.

Although mechanized farming has become widespread throughout the kingdom compared to the past when it relied solely on oxen, horses, and human labor for cultivation, the Ministry of Agriculture still complains and keeps asking the Ministry of State for more workers whenever skilled farmers are needed for farmland expansion.

On the contrary, the rootless people who were "brought in" from Eisengard obediently accepted the government's allocation and began to cultivate the land peacefully in the central Fengyuan City area, the most fertile part of the kingdom... This was something Harvey had not anticipated at all.

"Therefore, the Ministry of State's idea for this re-entry of refugees from Eisengard is to... try to place them under the jurisdiction of the agricultural sector and settle them in various grain production bases of the kingdom, so as to replenish the already scarce agricultural labor force."

“It’s a feasible solution…” Harvey nodded, then looked up at the kingdom map hanging on the wall. “We must not allow too many refugees to gather in the border areas. We can start resettling them in batches now… As for nearby, Green Pool County, which is closest to Wolf Fang Ridge, is a good place to go.”

Reiner chuckled smugly, clearly having guessed Harvey's thoughts once again.

“One of our planned resettlement locations is in Greenpool County…”

As early as when Harvey officially ascended the throne, Earl of Azurewater, whose fiefdom was in Greenpool County, assessed the situation and took the initiative to submit to Harvey. He not only decisively relieved Harvey of his already limited military power, but also personally led his family and vassals to the capital to swear allegiance to Harvey. Since then, he has lived a quiet and law-abiding life in Starfire City and is now one of the shareholders in the Kingdom's import and export company, responsible for the management of civilian armored cargo ships.

Meanwhile, a large number of citizens in Greenpool County who had been "abandoned" by their lords spontaneously migrated to the central part of the kingdom without any deliberate guidance, pouring into the area around Three Crossroads Town and Grizzly Bear Fortress, and naturally becoming a new batch of industrial workers.

This resulted in a large amount of farmland in the already sparsely populated Green Pond County being abandoned and left uncultivated. When government departments went to take over the land and property of Earl of Green Pond, they were shocked by the desolate scene.

"The land of Green Pond County is not barren, so why are the people of this country unwilling to stay in their hometowns and instead migrate en masse?" Harvey had never been to the eastern region of the kingdom before, so he had always been puzzled.

Reiner immediately explained patiently, "Has His Majesty ever consumed a fine wine called Azure Water with his daily meals?" "Oh? I hadn't noticed before... It sounds like this wine is named after Earl Azure Water himself?" Harvey raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued.

“Indeed… Greenpool County has always been famous for its high-quality wines!”

The Earl of Azurewater's family even owns a vast winery within their fiefdom, continuously supplying their fine wines to various parts of the southern region... This has allowed the family's wealth to accumulate rapidly.

Harvey suddenly realized, "Because of the abundance of wines that sell well in the South, successive Earls of Azurewater have always focused on the production and brewing of wine. As a result, the free people and tenant farmers in the surrounding area who originally grew grains have had no choice but to switch to growing grapes, whether by force or voluntarily. As a result, a large amount of farmland has been turned into vineyards?"

No wonder Greenpool County has always relied mainly on grain transported from other places... giving Harvey the misconception that the local land is barren and grain production is meager.

"The Ministry of Agriculture should quickly reorganize the land there, restore the vineyards to farmland, and then relocate people according to the size of the land. Corresponding support measures should also be provided... We cannot allow those refugees who have just escaped the poison of foreign races to have to endure the elements upon arriving in their own country."

Leiner quickly replied, "The Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Agriculture arrived in Greenpool County almost simultaneously a month and a half ago. All support work is underway and will at least ensure the smooth completion of the settlement in the short term, so that they won't be left without a place to stay."

Of course, in addition to Green Pond County, the area around Fengyuan City, the core grain-producing area of ​​the kingdom, also needs to be supplemented with a certain amount of agricultural population in a timely manner. The area around Black Mountain Port south of Sancha Town also has a large amount of fertile farmland that urgently needs to be developed and cultivated, and immigrants need to be dispatched to settle there.

The two discussed the matter back and forth in the office for a long time before finally coming up with a somewhat satisfactory reassignment plan.

……

"Yesterday, Asdaren casually mentioned that besides the busy population reception work, quite a few hilarious things have happened in Langya Ridge."

Having broken free from his absolutely rational work mode, Reiner began to chat with Harvey.

"A border nobleman from Eisengard, I think his name is Count Julian... actually dared to boast to the officials of the Population Management Department that he wanted to use his family's vast wealth to purchase an earl's estate in the capital, hahahaha!"

puff-

Harvey nearly spat his hot tea onto the table, raising an eyebrow and laughing, "Earl's Manor? How uncultured must this country bumpkin be to dare make such a boast?"

Although Starfire City has undergone three rounds of expansion, increasing its area several times compared to its former pioneering days, it still faces a severe shortage of land, with every inch of land being extremely valuable. Even Emperor Harvey is too embarrassed to take the initiative to request the expansion of the palace. The other high-ranking officials in various departments who are at the core of national power are even more low-key and simple in their style. They often live in a small, detached house in the inner city, which is enough to demonstrate their prominent status.

Not to mention how much money it would cost to buy a piece of land in Starfire City to build a manor, even if a foreign nobleman with no real power were allocated a piece of land, he probably wouldn't have the ability or the courage to act so ostentatiously.

He's just a border count... The former royal count of Golden Radiance City, the palace count of Hines Webster, is currently busy running factories in the capital, and every now and then he runs to the Ministry of Commerce looking disheveled, begging for some preferential policies for hiring workers...

(End of this chapter)