Above the mage

Chapter 792 A Pie Falling from the Sky

When Gaode entered the city, he noticed another newly built road extending out from the city gate.

This new road runs in the opposite direction to the already completed G318 highway, extending northeastward.

However, the road surface specifications and construction standards are completely in line with G318.

It was precisely because they had witnessed the remarkable achievements in infrastructure construction that Gaode took the initiative to specifically request the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to give priority to reporting their work.

"Before the formal report, I would like to express my sincere gratitude on behalf of the Ministry of Construction to the Ministry of Agriculture, Minister Flora, and Director Quentin for their full support of the Ministry of Construction's work." Minister of Construction, Peter, who was called upon by Gao De, first nodded to Flora and Quentin.

"The icefield armored rhinoceros and pack golem domesticated by the Animal Husbandry Office were prioritized for allocation to our department, forming the first leyline beast engineering team in the Northern Territory."

"These low-level superhuman creatures, adapted to highway operations, can undertake heavy physical labor such as roadbed excavation, heavy stone transportation, and building material transport, perfectly replacing a large amount of manual labor."

"It not only greatly reduced manpower consumption, but also accelerated the overall construction project by nearly 30%, which is the core driving force behind the completion of this road network," he explained.

Upon seeing this, Gao De couldn't help but secretly praise him.

As the first person from a small, impoverished tribe to rise to a high-ranking position in the city hall entirely through his own abilities, Peter was not only exceptionally capable, but also possessed remarkable interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence.

Quentin politely replied, "It's all what I should do. Everything is for the development of the North. Minister Pierre is too kind."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Pierre reached out and opened the sheepskin-making workbook he carried with him.

The paper was filled with neatly recorded ledgers.

He reviewed the detailed records and presented a progress report for each stage of the work.

The Ministry of Construction's greatest achievement during this phase was the completion of the main road from Phoenix to Ironforge.

This main road is built to the same specifications as the G318 highway, but it is more than twice the length of the G318 highway.

However, unlike the G318 highway, it does not have the Valar Mountains that block its path, requiring tunnel construction.

In addition, with the experience gained from the construction of the G318 highway, the overall construction period was actually much shorter than that of the G318 highway.

This speed can only be described as terrifying.

Gao De remained expressionless, but in his mind he silently compared the progress of highway construction with that of his previous life.

Although their standards and specifications are not comparable, and their levels of difficulty also differ.

However, considering the permafrost environment and technical conditions in the North, this efficiency already surpasses the mechanized construction of the previous life.

Just horrible.

This main road followed Gaode's naming strategy and was named G319 Highway.

To this day, no one knows why Gaode named the first main road 318 instead of starting from the beginning.

But the strong personality cult makes this problem non-issue.

Everyone tacitly followed this naming rule, turning this unique numbering system into an exclusive identifier for the Northern Road Network, which was then continued to be used.

Thus, the three core areas of the North were officially connected by two main roads.

Currently, the North has three core areas: Phoenix, Valar Bay, and Ironforge.

Phoenix, as the original home of the Zhenbing tribe, was the earliest developed, had the most concentrated resources, and the most complete system, making it the undisputed political center of the North.

The Vallar Bay, adjacent to the sea, boasts a natural deep-water harbor and is the only gateway for foreign trade and cross-border commerce in the North.

It is also the location of Flora Forest, which has been designated by the city hall as the future center for commerce, finance, and magic.

Ironforge, as Phoenix's first nominal branch city, was built on the original site of Winterhammer.

It inherited the workshops and earthfire resources of Winterhammer and is now the location of the Northern Mint, which has elevated its status accordingly.

According to the city hall's plan, Ironforge is to be developed into a northern industrial center.

Highways G318 and G319 stretch east to west, connecting Phoenix with Vallar Bay and linking Phoenix with Ironforge, allowing local products to reach the sea and foreign trade resources to enter smoothly.

Simultaneously, it enables efficient two-way flow of food resources, daily necessities, industrial ores, and forging consumables among the three regions.

Two main road networks form the framework for development in the North, enabling the three major centers of politics, commerce, and industry to work together and support each other.

This has laid an unshakable infrastructure foundation for the subsequent integrated development and resource coordination of the northern region.

To be rich, build roads first.

The reduction in transportation costs and the improvement in logistics efficiency will lead to a leap in the intensity of economic activity in the North.

The Ministry of Construction deserves great credit for this achievement alone.

In addition to the core road network projects, the Ministry of Construction also simultaneously implemented many infrastructure projects related to people's livelihoods.

They strictly followed the Ministry of Education's plan and completed the construction of eleven Phoenix General Education Colleges and two Ironforge General Education Colleges to a high standard.

Even with these remarkable achievements, the Ministry of Construction still has countless projects awaiting construction.

The construction of the University of Phoenix proposed by Gao Degang will certainly be handled by the Ministry of Construction for overall planning.

In addition, the foundation leveling and workshop construction work of the Northern First Pharmaceutical Factory, a subsidiary of the Quantitative Magical Medicine Research Institute, is progressing steadily.

These are all considered small projects by the Ministry of Construction.

Their biggest projects at present are the construction of the new port city of Vallar Bay and the port expansion project.

"Since the opening of the ocean route between the Northern Territory and the Blue Flame Islands, trade has surged, with foreign merchant ships frequently coming and going, and the original temporary docks have long been overburdened."

Pierd reported solemnly, "The War Mother has personally ordered that the first phase of the new port city of Valar Bay must be completed within one year."

The construction of standardized deep-water ports, wharves, warehousing areas, and supporting urban blocks will support the northern border's gateway function for foreign trade.

.

"Thank you for your hard work." Gao De nodded slightly, his eyes showing approval.

Almost all the arduous, time-consuming, and labor-intensive construction projects in the northern region fell on the shoulders of the Ministry of Construction.

For this reason, the city hall has always given the Ministry of Construction a unique priority in terms of staffing, financial allocation, and resource allocation.

The substantial investment of resources has yielded tangible and significant results.

As a minister, Pierre oversaw infrastructure projects in the North, a position that placed him under constant pressure, the hardships of which are self-evident.

"My king, there is another important discovery." Pierre's report was not yet finished.

His expression turned serious, and he said in a deep voice, "During the construction of the G319 highway, we relied on the high-level mineral vein compass to conduct full-process surveying and mapping. Unexpectedly, in the middle section of the highway near Ironforge, under the permafrost on the left side, we discovered a super-large-scale primary magic crystal vein, which we named the Ironforge Magic Crystal Vein."

Pierre spoke with a solemn tone and clear enunciation, unable to conceal his excitement: "This mineral vein is endowed with unique natural advantages, and the conditions for mining are excellent."

"The overall burial is extremely shallow, with the shallowest ore layer less than five meters from the surface. Most areas can be directly stripped and mined in the open, without the need for deep excavation or underground support."

"At the same time, the rock strata structure of the entire mining area is stable, the soil is highly consolidated, there is no risk of collapse, and the mining difficulty is extremely low."

"The ore veins are distributed in continuous, layered patterns, and the estimated reserves are extremely staggering."

"Conservative estimates suggest it can support a large duchy, with all its alchemy workshops, magical machinery, protective arrays, and official mage towers operating at full capacity for over a century," Pierre continued.

Although Gaode is often not in the North, influenced by Elsa, Sunefa, and Flora, all the staff at the City Hall have now gotten used to using these Gaode-style terms in their work.

"Most importantly, the magic crystals produced by this mine are of extremely high purity."

Gao De remained silent for a few moments.

Everyone in the conference room remained silent, their eyes fixed on his face.

Magic crystals are like petroleum in the mage world; they are a hard currency of energy that is never unsold and is universally applicable throughout the entire plane.

Holding a magic crystal mine is like holding a continuous stream of wealth.

The discovery of the Iron Furnace Magic Crystal Mine is tantamount to discovering a gold mine of inexhaustible energy.

No wonder Peter, who had remained calm while reporting on the Ministry of Construction's achievements, was so excited at this moment.

In fact, when the city hall learned that the Ministry of Construction had discovered such a huge magic crystal vein, everyone was overjoyed.

For a long time, the northern border's foreign trade has remained at a low level.

They can only generate revenue by exporting local resources, including magical plants, ley line creatures, extraordinary materials, and rare ores.

Then they have to exchange for the technology, equipment and materials needed for development, putting them in an extremely passive position.

Among them, the magical plants need to be found, harvested, preserved, stored and transported, resulting in considerable losses;

Obtaining extraordinary materials from exotic beasts requires risky hunting, processing, and transportation, which carries the risk of injury or death.

Local rare minerals require extensive manual mining, layer-by-layer screening, purification and refining, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and has limited production capacity.

These industries are time-consuming and labor-intensive, and market demand is limited, often leading to the predicament of unsold inventory and foreign buyers pressuring for lower prices.

But magic crystals are completely different.

It is a highly sought-after commodity in the mage realm, and there is no worry about finding a market for it.

Any sale to the outside world would result in a stable, high-profit income with no unsold inventory.

Everyone assumed that this massive, high-purity magic crystal mine would revitalize the Northern Territory's finances, bring in massive revenue, accelerate infrastructure development across the entire region, and elevate the Northern Territory's development to a new level.

"The Iron Furnace Magic Crystal Mine is designated as an exclusive strategic restricted mining area. The magic crystals mined there are only for internal use within the Northern Territory and will be included in the strategic reserves. They will be permanently prohibited from being sold or circulated outside the territory." After pondering for a moment, Gao De made a decision that surprised everyone.

His tone was calm, yet incredibly firm.

The moment the words were spoken, the entire room fell silent.

Everyone's faces showed confusion and bewilderment:

Discovering such a large and high-quality magic crystal mine is like picking up money off the ground.

This revenue is enough to cover the development budget for the North for years to decades to come.

Why doesn't Gaode pick up the money it has?

Isn't this missing a tremendous development opportunity?

Elsa frowned slightly. As the governor, she suppressed her surprise and voiced everyone's question on behalf of the assembly: "Your Highness, such high-quality, large-reserve magic crystal mines are enough to instantly increase the Northern Territory's finances several times over and accelerate the progress of construction across the entire region. Why then is the export of these mines completely prohibited?"

Gao De raised his eyes, his gaze slowly sweeping over the bewildered officials of each department... except for one particular little man.

"I ask you, what would happen if we opened up the mining and export of magic crystals?" He asked casually, as if he were just asking a question that didn't concern him.

The group exchanged glances, hesitated for a moment, and then Elsa spoke first: "Of course, it means a flood of wealth and abundant funds. We can purchase a large amount of high-level magical materials, alchemy equipment, and infrastructure materials to make up for the shortcomings of the North and accelerate its development."

Gao De shook his head slightly and continued to ask, "Then let me ask you again, once you dig out the magic crystals, you can exchange them for countless amounts of money. It's much easier and faster than doing any other industry."

"If it were you, would you still be willing to work hard for something else?"

Elsa paused, then instinctively shook her head.

"That's the logic. If you can earn more money mining for a day than farming for a year, why should you bother farming?" Gao De said.

"As a result, no one wanted to do those hard labor jobs anymore. Farmers didn't want to farm anymore; they only wanted to mine. Craftsmen didn't want to forge iron anymore..."

""

"Everyone's thinking about getting rich by mining magic crystals, who's willing to farm? Who's willing to work in a factory? Who's willing to brave the wind and snow to build roads and cities?"

After a series of follow-up questions, the entire room fell silent instantly, with no one responding.

Everyone had a vague sense of the problem.

Gao De continued, "This isn't a windfall; it's a hidden wealth trap, a curse capable of destroying a nation—the resource curse."

"When a city-state or a piece of land possesses a resource that allows one to become rich overnight without deep cultivation or accumulation, it will embark on a path of destruction through false prosperity if it is not restricted or restrained."

"The extreme profits of the magic crystal mining industry will instantly drain all the resources of the Northern Territory."

"Everyone will try their best to flock to the mining industry, while hard-working, inefficient but indispensable real industries, such as agriculture and manufacturing, will become neglected and gradually fall into disuse."

"At first, we will indeed make a fortune and become extremely wealthy."

"But problems soon followed: no one farmed the land, no one built the goods, but we made more and more money."

"When there is too much money and too little goods, prices will start to skyrocket. One silver coin might have been able to buy a bag of wheat before, but later it might not even be able to buy half a bag."

"By then, the magic crystal industry will be dominated by one company, and all other industries will be squeezed out. We may seem to have a lot of wealth, but in reality, we will have nothing."

"The day the magic crystal mines are exhausted, we will have abandoned our agricultural foundation and have no industrial system... Our former wealth and prosperity will collapse in an instant."

Elsa was deeply shaken, her brows furrowed, and she couldn't help but ask one last question, clinging to a sliver of hope: "Your Highness, if we strictly control production, ration our resources, limit exports, and only take what we need without seeking exorbitant profits, can we avoid these hidden dangers?"

Gao De sighed and continued, "The idea is good, but this box is Pandora's box. Once it's opened, it won't be easy to close it again."

"What stage are we at now? Agriculture has just gained a foothold and achieved self-sufficiency, industry is still climbing and has not yet taken shape, the education system has only just established its first-level framework, and trade routes have just tentatively begun to extend outwards."

"We are weak in many areas, and we need the whole nation to focus on developing real industries and consolidating our foundation."

"If we open up the sale of magic crystal mines at this time, allowing wealth to flood in like an avalanche, the extreme profits will only overwhelm people's hearts and disrupt order, and the rise of the North will be cut off."

These words sent a chill down everyone's spine, and all their greed and wishful thinking vanished.

They never imagined that such a coveted top-tier wealth mine harbored such a deadly, deep-seated crisis.

What appears to be a godsend opportunity that benefits the people and the nation could, if not handled carefully, become the biggest obstacle to the rise of the North.

"Besides, weak countries shouldn't flaunt their wealth." As Gao De spoke, he thought of those countries in his previous life that were constantly at war because of oil.

"The Northern Territory is still very weak. Magic crystals can easily attract the covetousness and spying of foreign forces, bringing disaster and exposing the Northern Territory prematurely."

With a determined look, Gao De continued, "Besides that, magic crystals are a genuine strategic resource."

"The North is still backward and primitive now, but in the future we will inevitably build mage towers, construct high-level large-scale rune arrays, and activate large-scale alchemical magic machines... The demand for magic crystals will increase exponentially."

"The magic crystal mines under our own control are our greatest source of confidence, which is not subject to the constraints of external forces or being held hostage by them."

"Keeping it for personal use is energy storage; selling it to others is mortgaging the future."

"Therefore, the Iron Furnace Magic Crystal Mine is sealed off and controlled, and its mining is limited for strategic reserves. It will never be exported."

"I understand." Elsa was silent for a moment, then nodded emphatically.