Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 746 "Once You're Here, You're a Citizen of the Capital"

A few days later, the first group of new immigrants from Eisengard arrived in Starfire City aboard the Magic Powered Train.

The entire Central Station was completely blocked by several trains, and even entering the station required queuing... On the other side of the mountain, at Crow Ridge and Grizzly Fort, there were still trains temporarily stopped and waiting for transfers.

The long station platform was teeming with people, and a dense crowd poured out of the train. Guided by police and government officials, they entered the station hall and formed an endless queue to have their identities checked. Back in the refugee reception area at the border, these people had already completed their identity registration, saving the capital's population management department a lot of work.

Harvey also learned of this news in his office and smiled at Reiner, who came to report: "I didn't expect that after being divided up by various municipalities, there would still be nearly three thousand people left in the capital. It seems that the refugee reception work in the border areas has progressed much more smoothly than expected."

“Of course, don’t be fooled by the fact that not many people were ultimately diverted to the capital…” Reiner’s tone seemed to carry a hint of worry, “In fact, the number of refugees accommodated throughout the kingdom exceeded 30,000. Your Majesty, we have practically emptied out Ironhill, the capital of Eisengard.”

He paused, then couldn't help but pull out a handwritten ledger from the folder, flipping through it while muttering to himself, "Your Majesty, I'm not worried about not meeting the population growth target by the end of autumn. What I'm worried about is whether our grain reserves and national treasury funds can meet the frequent requests for financial appropriations from various regions before this year's autumn harvest."

Building housing, providing relief food, and medical care are all urgent expenses in the short term. In the long run, the costs of education, skills training, and salary and benefits for new immigrants add another source of drain to the already saturated national treasury.

Harvey wasn't worried about the money at all, and reassured Reiner with a smile, "Then let the National Bank's mint start up a few more printing presses. At worst, we can have the mint workers work in three shifts."

“What about public security and healthcare?” Reiner was still very anxious. “After all, they are all new immigrants from foreign countries, and many of them don’t even speak the language. Officials in charge of the administrative capitals in various places have been suggesting to me that we designate a separate residential area for these foreign immigrants to facilitate isolation and management.”

“No way!” Harvey shook his head decisively and rejected the suggestion. “This completely contradicts the promises we made to them. Not only will it damage the credibility of the kingdom and myself, but they will also never be able to integrate into Saint Valentine… Tell the local governors that what I want are people who are fully integrated into the local community and have legal status, not slaves brought back from abroad that need to be quarantined and controlled.”

He paused, his tone becoming serious, "If they still don't understand, let the officials in various places see how the capital is doing it... If they can't even learn by copying, I don't think they need to stay in their positions at the city hall."

In terms of population growth rate and quantity, no city in the entire Southern Kingdom can compare with Starfire City.

The constant influx of migrants initially led to significant public disorder in the capital – numerous problems arose, including housing shortages, literacy education, and sanitation and disease prevention. However, these issues were promptly resolved by the Ministry of State through various policies and decrees, providing valuable policy guidance for other administrative capitals.

In short, all the negative issues caused by forced migration are insignificant compared to the many benefits of labor force growth.

Of the first batch of over 30,000 people who migrated to the kingdom from Eisengard, if 10,000 of them could be properly settled on state-run farms in various locations, they would be able to learn and master alchemical mechanized farming techniques and produce enough high-quality food to feed hundreds of thousands of people for the kingdom.

If another 10,000 people could be deployed to state-owned factories and manufacturing industries across the country, the scale of the existing logistics industry and military manufacturing would double. This would mean that more magical weapons and artillery ammunition could be produced, and the highly skilled workers who were replaced on the assembly line could be freed up to devote themselves to the research and development of new weapons and equipment.

Harvey's initial plan for the remaining 10,000 men wasn't greedy... Even if only one-fifth of them volunteered and passed the enlistment exams, they could supplement the Ministry of Defense with a corps of combat personnel. Subsequent deployment of them in the Eisengard counter-offensive would even give them an advantage over the Northern Army in cross-border operations, after all, it was their familiar homeland. ...

This is... the legendary "New City of Miracles" standing in the northern wasteland?
Wood held tightly to his nephew Jacob with one hand and carried a bulging bag of luggage with the other, somewhat dazed as he followed the flow of people off the train.

On the way there, his colleague Holmes, who was traveling with him on the return journey, had already been talking non-stop about many rumors and stories about the capital. Before the Wood uncle and nephew could even be amazed by the magical vehicle they were riding in, they were bombarded with Holmes's slightly exaggerated words.

When they arrived at Grizzly Fort for a layover, Holmes got off the train early... leaving a note with his address and instructing Wood to visit his home when he had time. Wood, who was new to this foreign country, was so touched that his eyes welled up with tears.

Colleagues who have faced life and death together in the border transport team, in a sense, share a bond more like that of trusted comrades-in-arms.

Unlike the refugees who were clearly forcibly relocated to the capital, Wood was immediately spotted by several men in blue who had been waiting on the platform as soon as he got off the train.

"Mr. Wood, your hometown is Steelrock City, right?" the man in blue asked him gently.

Seeing that the other party was wearing the same color uniform as the border officials, Wood naturally assumed they were government officials from Saint Valen and quickly nodded, replying sincerely, "Yes, sir, I am Wood from Steelrock City, and this is my nephew Jacob... We have both obtained official residency status in the capital, as you see..."

As he spoke, he took out a card from his fanny pack that emitted a faint, shimmering white light, held it in his hand, and handed it over.

Seeing that the other party smiled but did not take it, he hesitated for a moment... then took out a stack of gold dollar bills from his bag, picked out the two highest denomination bills, and casually added the two packs of cigarettes that Holmes had given him before parting.

According to Holmes, cigarettes produced by the state-owned cigarette factory were also a form of "hard currency" in the capital, used to establish good social relationships when necessary.

The man in blue's expression changed slightly. He pushed the hand holding the money back and shook his head with a wry smile, saying, "Mr. Wood, although your driving skills with the alchemy wheel are excellent, after arriving in the capital... I'm afraid you'll need to spend a lot of time learning the government's laws and regulations."

Another man in blue added with a laugh: "Government officials are absolutely prohibited from accepting bribes. Both giving and receiving bribes are serious violations of the law. If you don't want to be sent to the mines or forests to do hard labor, you'd better get rid of this bad habit of dealing with nobles in the past."

After they finished speaking, the two looked at each other, raised their hands and took the two packs of cigarettes from Wood's hand, and said in unison, "But if it's just a pack of cigarettes... it's still within the permitted scope of accepting gifts."

While Wood was still stunned, the man in blue winked at Jacob, who was timidly hiding behind his uncle. "The transportation department provides free housing for hired drivers. Although we can't bend the law for personal reasons, we can arrange a house for you closer to the public college. That way... it will be more convenient for the child to go to school every day, won't it?"

(End of this chapter)