Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 85 Those who have constant property have constant heart
Mai Sui, the team leader of the farm mill, has been very busy these days. Almost every day he goes out in the morning mist and returns home in the afterglow of the sunset.

A month ago, Wogua, who was burned by the high temperature of the mill alchemy beast, was forced to take compulsory leave and stayed at home all day to recuperate with a basic salary.

Mai Sui carefully peeled off several thin light green leaves from Wogua's severely burned face and chest, revealing the new pink healthy skin inside.

"Phew~ I'm almost recovered. This magical leaf dressing made by Master Egno is amazing at healing wounds!"

After Woggle was saved by Egno on the spot, Mai Sui originally thought that he would have to be a unlucky disfigured bachelor for the rest of his life. Unexpectedly, a few days later, Lord Egno came to his house in person and handed him a stack of strange fresh leaves, asking him to apply them to Woggle's burned area.

But there is a special requirement, that is, after applying the leaves, the squash must be exposed to the sun for a full six hours every day, otherwise the recovery effect will be greatly reduced.

The farm's management officer could only arrange a vacation for Wogua because it was an "accidental work injury." Therefore, the territory's chief administrative officer, Reiner, generously approved a note for a vacation with minimum pay, which touched Wogua and Mai Sui for a long time.

"I wonder if we can still make it to the harvest season...it should be in the next two days, right?" Wugua muttered softly, enduring the itching on his affected area. "I heard that farms are very busy during the harvest season, and if you work overtime, you can get extra overtime pay..."

Wheat Ear sneered, "The application period Lord Egno requested still has three days left. Just stay home and behave yourself. Even if you lose a bit of overtime pay, it won't cost you anything."

He knew that Wogua had been saving money. He received three months' salary and shared a two-bedroom house with him. Every day, he only bought some cheap bread and wheat cakes at the convenience market as his staple food. He was reluctant to even buy a piece of bacon to try.

The salary paid for farm work is not low in the entire territory. The basic salary is 80 gold yuan per month, and there is additional overtime allowance. It is rare for the income to be less than 100 yuan.

Mai Sui had heard privately that the ordinary soldiers in the lord's private army only received a salary of 120 yuan per month, and the only advantage they had over them was that they had free food and accommodation.

A gold dollar could buy two pounds of barley bread, and two pounds of bread a day was enough to feed a manual laborer.

Smoked pork leg costs two gold yuan per pound, and the prices of ordinary poultry and aquatic products such as chicken, duck, goose, and fish are also very affordable. Consuming them once a week is not a luxury at all.

As long as you don't consume the most expensive luxury processed foods in the convenience market every day, such as golden fried pork chops, honey-marinated venison, frozen wine, smoked lamb, etc., most people can live a comfortable life with only half of their salary each month.

"I've always rented a house, and I never feel at ease..." Wogua said hesitantly, "I still want to get married and start a family. I have to... I have to save up some permanent property of my own."

To rent a two-story cottage built by the lord for the common people, one only needs to pay a low rent ranging from ten to thirty dollars. The smallest two-bedroom house like the one where Wheat Ear and Wogua live has the lowest rent.

According to the latest announcement posted by the municipal government a few days ago, anyone who has joined the territory for more than six months can choose to purchase a house of their own.

The desire of most people for houses and farmland is very common in this era. After all, only those who have constant property can have perseverance.

Especially for people like Wogua and Mai Sui, who have been displaced and their lives hanging by a thread in the wilderness, the four words "live and work in peace and contentment" are more important than anything else.

However, Mai Sui does not have the urgent need to buy a house like Wogua. He is also a lucky man who crawled out of the pile of refugees and dead bodies. He has not enjoyed a good life for many days, so he does not want to treat himself badly with the salary he receives every month.

"I told you to go to night school and learn math, but you can't even calculate how long it will take you to save enough money to buy a house? Do you think you're one of those working-class families with four or five people in the family?"

Mai Sui complained angrily about Wogua's wild ideas, and took out the paper and charcoal pencils distributed free of charge by the night school from the chest of drawers next to the dining table, and started teaching Wogua an arithmetic lesson by writing and drawing.

"Even if you save as much as you can each month, you can only save 80 yuan at most. The cheapest houses listed in the notice, like the two-story, two-bedroom apartment we're living in now, start at 2400 yuan. Those in less desirable locations start at yuan. That means you'll need to save for nearly three years!"

Although Woggle's math brain wasn't as good as Wheat Ear's, no one doubted his elementary math skills. He immediately blushed and stammered, unable to utter a word in rebuttal.

...After resting for a few more days, Wogua finally returned to the farm and started working again just before the harvest season.

Dozens of large working alchemy beasts wandered in the golden wheat fields, waving their long metal arms made of two giant sickles to harvest the heavy ears of wheat, and then swallowed them all into their stomachs.

Farm workers, each consisting of three people, followed the alchemy beast steadily, and used linen bags to orderly fill the large, plump wheat grains that were spewed out from the alchemy beast's butt.

Seven or eight mills, driven by alchemy beasts, work around the clock to hull and grind the wheat grains into flour, which is then weighed and bagged, and then pulled by camels to be transported to the grain warehouse.

Reiner stood by the ridge holding a work manual, explaining the next stage of farming plan to Harvey in detail.

"The barley harvested in spring and summer will yield enough food to cover the territory's winter reserves. The improved wheat to be planted next is expected to yield even higher yields..."

After all, that was a high-quality wheat variety that had been enchanted and improved several times by the natural spellcaster Egno. Reiner set aside a separate experimental field for trial planting. Not only did it grow well, it was also quite cold-resistant and drought-resistant.

Harvey nodded and smiled with satisfaction as he watched the people busying around in the fields.

"How's the response to the housing purchase notice posted by the municipal government a few days ago?"

Reiner put away the farm's work records, skillfully took out a notebook from his bag, and began to report seriously.

"A total of 483 residents have proactively inquired about purchasing a home. All of them are families with six or more people, and they have an urgent need to improve their living environment."

"But this group of people accounts for less than one-tenth of the territory's total population. My lord, I believe that most of the people in the territory will not be able to afford to buy houses in the short term."

Harvey nodded in agreement. "Indeed, the price of the house I offer is not cheap considering their salary."

"Only those residents with large families, where all family members have stable jobs, are eligible to save enough money to buy a house in a short period of time."

It is actually unrealistic to rely solely on this group of people to achieve an economic benefit cycle within the territory.

After all, the vast majority of the territory's population consisted of civilians, who were originally lonely bachelors or small families of two or three. Even the highest-paid skilled workers and soldiers could not afford to buy a house with just half a year's income.

"I actually didn't intend for them to spend two or three years saving enough to buy a house." Harvey patiently explained, seeing Reiner's puzzled expression, "I announced the house sale simply to boost the confidence and morale of the civilians in the territory, giving them hope for a bright future."

"The next thing I want the city to do is publish a detailed announcement about buying a house, which will really entice them to spend their salary and savings."

"Any citizen in the territory with a work contract can purchase their desired home with only a 30% down payment..."

"The remaining 70% of the mortgage payment will be paid in monthly installments, automatically deducted from your salary, with no interest charged, until it is fully repaid..."

"All rent paid by residents for their previous rentals will be returned to the residents purchasing the new homes, serving as a partial down payment for their purchases."

Harvey looked at Reiner with a smile. "This is called the installment loan purchase policy."

(End of this chapter)