Above the mage

Chapter 793 Foreign Forces (Part Two)

After the Ministry of Construction finished its report, Gaode, having already set a precedent by naming names, decided to abandon the default sorting system.

His gaze swept past the faces in the middle of the long table and landed directly on the young woman sitting quietly at the far right, listening to the reports from others.

Leni Thornton.

She wore a simple green robe with a fluffy animal skin jacket over it.

The coat was clearly a size too big; it was probably taken out of the logistics warehouse at the last minute.

She was focused, with a small stack of neatly folded parchment on the table in front of her.

The edges and corners were pressed down meticulously, and the handwriting on it was neat and well-organized.

Leni looks completely different now compared to when she first arrived in the North.

It's hard to imagine that just over a year ago, she was a wandering sorcerer, constantly on the run and struggling to survive.

"Director Leni, please give a report on the progress of the quantitative potion research institute." Gao De spoke calmly, taking attendance at the opportune moment.

"ah?!"

The sudden roll call startled Leni slightly; she was clearly caught off guard.

She froze for half a second before hastily regaining her senses, her ears turning slightly red. She quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "Yes, Your Highness!"

Even though he has been the director of the Quantitative Potions Research Institute for some time now, he has shed the timidity and hesitation he had when he first entered the North, and his abilities and mindset have grown considerably.

But Leni Thornton still felt somewhat uncomfortable in the face of such a solemn and rigorous core meeting attended by all senior executives.

She didn't look up, but held the prepared parchment manuscript tightly in both hands. She lowered her head slightly, spoke softly but clearly, and buried herself in reporting the institute's progress item by item.

The meeting remained as quiet as ever, allowing her slightly soft voice to be clearly heard by everyone.

The Quantitative Magic Potion Research Institute, though seemingly a newly established institute with no power or troops, is not particularly prominent.

But in fact, in Gaode's vision of developing the northern region, it holds a very important position.

Its work is the core of supporting the northern foreign trade and commerce, extraordinary industrialization, and medical system reform, and its strategic position is no less than that of core departments such as agriculture, forestry, and construction.

Leni is a typical research-oriented talent. She is not good at socializing, but excels at focusing on in-depth research and hard work.

It is precisely because of her extreme focus and talent that the Quantitative Magic Potion Research Institute has made steady progress and accumulated extremely rich interim results since its establishment.

The main achievements are divided into three sections.

First, it is the core business of the research institute.

Deciphering Magic Elements and Writing Quantitative Reaction Formulas for Magic Elements.

Previously, Gaode had specifically drafted a priority list for the research institute, skipping those high-level rare magic potions with extremely high barriers to entry, and prioritizing the implementation of low-level general-purpose magic potions that are essential for people's livelihoods and have high accessibility.

Leni is required to decipher the corresponding magic element reaction formulas in sequence.

At the top of the list is the most basic and important primary healing potion.

This potion is unremarkable and has limited effects in the eyes of high-level mages.

It cannot assist in cultivation breakthroughs, nor can it amplify the power of spells; in fact, it is mostly ineffective against most extraordinary injuries.

But in the eyes of countless ordinary people, it is a real life-saving miracle drug.

Even impoverished farmers, when faced with special circumstances, are willing to grit their teeth and exhaust their savings of several years to buy a bottle of basic medicine to save their lives, which shows its importance.

Leni not only deciphered the magic element reaction formula for the weak healing potion, but also deciphered the corresponding magic element reaction formulas for the weak stamina potion, weak antidote potion, and weak magic potion in sequence.

Another aspect is the recruitment and training of researchers at the Quantitative Magic Potions Research Institute.

Previously, relying on the Ministry of Education's general education college system, Elsa publicly recruited promising students with talent and interest in quantitative potion science from graduating students, and selected more than 3,000 students with calm temperament and keen perception.

They also established a dedicated quantitative potion training class, which was entirely entrusted to Leni for instruction, teaching, and practical training.

Speaking of these young trainees, Leni's originally tense tone softened unconsciously, revealing genuine approval: "All the trainees have passed the final assessment I set and have now officially joined the institute as assistant researchers."

"Although they are young and inexperienced, they are down-to-earth, quick-witted and eager to learn. They pick things up very quickly and are already fully capable of handling daily auxiliary tasks independently. Their growth rate far exceeds expectations."

Gao De nodded slightly upon hearing this, his eyes filled with satisfaction.

The extraordinary compulsory education for all citizens, which he had painstakingly promoted, has finally begun to continuously supply professional talents to various industries in the North.

"However, the research institute currently faces a severe talent shortage. The soon-to-be-completed Northern First Pharmaceutical Factory and its supporting magical plant cultivation base will require on-the-job personnel to master systematic quantitative magical potion basics and standardized operating procedures."

"The current staff size is completely insufficient to support the demands of mass production."

'

Although Leni was taciturn, she had a pretty good grasp of Gaode's needs and ideas and understood the current problems very well.

"As for personnel, I will have Elsa fully support you," Gao De said.

High-end scientific research and application-oriented talents are the core foundation for the industrialization and upgrading of the extraordinary system in the North, and naturally, the more the better.

Prioritize tilting.

Finally, there is the construction of the first pharmaceutical plant of the Northern Pharmaceutical Group. The main infrastructure project is fully undertaken by the Ministry of Construction. Previously, Peter had already completed the report, and the progress is steadily advancing.

However, the magical plant cultivation base that provides raw materials to pharmaceutical factories and is adapted to mass production standards is entirely the responsibility of the Quantitative Magical Medicine Research Institute, from site selection and layout to trial planting.

And in this area, Flora is naturally indispensable.

Therefore, just like Peter, Leni sincerely thanked Flora for her tremendous help in establishing the magic plant cultivation base.

Being thanked in public once again made the latter hum inwardly, his eyebrows curving into a smile, quite proud.

Overall, the development of the Quantitative Magic Potion Research Institute is progressing smoothly without any major setbacks.

The only core issues lie in the scarcity of talent and the over-concentration of core production capacity.

Currently, all the core work of the research institute, including the discovery of magic elements, the deciphering of magic element reaction formulas, and the optimization of formulas, still relies entirely on Leni alone.

The first batch of young researchers trained can only handle basic tasks such as material organization, data recording, auxiliary proportioning, and equipment cleaning, and cannot take on work independently.

In addition to this, Leni also has to juggle a massive amount of work, including teaching specialized classes, building a potion-related academic system, writing professional textbooks, and managing the daily operations of the research institute.

One person holds multiple positions, and the workload has long exceeded their capacity.

Without saying a word, Gao De wrote a few large characters on the parchment in front of him:

Special subsidies for high-level talents.

For top talents like Leni who make significant contributions and work extremely hard, a special resource allowance will be allocated separately.

It is used to provide high-level magical materials, potions, treasures and other resources to help them improve their mage level and enhance their physical fitness.

The two "inventions" that Gaode has high hopes for in the North are the quantitative potion and the breathing furnace.

These are all groundbreaking inventions that could revolutionize their respective fields.

However, Jaber couldn't leave.

.

The new version of the Gas Surge Furnace 3.0 is undergoing performance testing, which requires his supervision and debugging, so Jaber simply cannot spare the time to participate in this municipal meeting.

However, he still submitted a latest progress report through the spirit letter, which Elsa then compiled and handed to him.

Gaode had actually reviewed it before the meeting.

The overall development of the Gas Surge Furnace 3.0 is already more than halfway complete.

There are three major hurdles to overcome: heat dissipation, automated material filling, and cost control. In addition, there are two requirements put forward by Gaode Maps. Of these, heat dissipation and automated material filling have been successfully overcome. Now, Jaber is working hard to overcome the difficulty of cost control.

Meanwhile, following the innovative approach to power structure proposed by Gaode, Ironforge Workshop has undertaken the batch trial production of the new conversion structure, continuously producing experimental prototypes for Jabil to repeatedly test and iteratively optimize.

The overall progress appears to be steady and positive, and is under control as scheduled.

Based on the current progress, the 3.0 version of the gas furnace should be officially launched within the planned one-year construction period.

The 3.0 version of the gas furnace will be the generation that can be put into initial production.

Once it is fully deployed, put into production, and widely applied, it will inevitably bring about a revolutionary change in the North, ushering in the era of industrialization in the North.

However, Gaode discovered a fatal underlying hidden danger from the dense experimental data, prototype debugging records, and workshop trial production feedback.

Come to think of it, it was something he overlooked at the beginning.

This is because it is a blind spot in the thinking of traditional craftsmen, making it difficult for them to see the problem. It should have been pointed out by him in advance.

His gaze fell on Thorfinn, the chief engineer of Ironforge, the former chief craftsman of Winterhammer, and a fourth-tier alchemist, who was sitting opposite Leni.

"Jabil told me that his experimental prototype and corresponding conversion structure were all manufactured and supplied by the Ironforge workshop?" Gao De asked.

Thorfinn, taken aback by Gao De's sudden question, quickly nodded and said, "That's exactly right."

Gao De flipped through the report and said, "I found a problem. When Jabir was iterating the Gas Surge Furnace, whenever any part or structure had a problem, we could only report it to your Ironforge workshop, and you would have to manually replicate it and make new parts to replace it piece by piece."

"Yes." Thorfinn paused for a moment, not realizing what the problem was.

They have always done it this way.

Gao De continued, "Let me ask you, are the components of this batch of gas furnaces completely identical to the same components in the previous batch in terms of size, pitch, stroke, and module?"

Thorfinn paused slightly, then subconsciously shook his head: "Your Majesty, it is not entirely consistent. Each forging relies on the craftsman's experience and feel, and minor errors are inevitable, but as long as the final machine is fully functional, it is acceptable."

"Parts made by different batches and by different craftsmen will inevitably have slight variations in size. Our workshops have never pursued uniformity in the size of their parts."

"Just because it has always been this way, does that mean it's right?" Gao De asked softly.

Thorfinn was speechless for a moment, and after thinking about it carefully, he still couldn't grasp the key point: "Craftsmen rely on their skills and experience to create things, and it is impossible for them to be perfect. This is true of all workshops."

Gao De didn't refute: "Then let me ask you again, if the fixing bolt of the transmission device of a gas furnace is damaged today, and I want to replace the spare part immediately, do I have no choice but to wait for your workshop to handcraft a new one?"

"Yes, Your Highness, only a custom-made fit can ensure a perfect match," Thorfinn replied truthfully.

"If hundreds or thousands of gas furnaces are then deployed throughout the Northern Territory, and distributed across various fields via transmission devices, with each machine having non-interchangeable parts, a new one would have to be custom-made for each broken one." Gao De's gaze was calm.

"Do you know what this means? It means repair times will be significantly longer and repair costs will remain high!"

In the past, the value of gold-forged artifacts lay in their uniqueness.

However, the industrialization he wanted to promote was characterized by uniformity, universality, high efficiency, and mass production.

Different goals naturally lead to different requirements.

Thorfinn fell silent.

Upon careful consideration, if all parts are not interchangeable, the massive inventory of spare parts, maintenance costs, and difficulty of iteration for machinery would indeed become unbearable.

"My king..." Thorfinn looked ashamed.

Gao De nodded, without any intention of criticism: "From now on, the entire Northern Territory will implement standardized mechanical parts."

"All mechanical parts in the North must follow a unified standard. All bolts and nuts are numbered according to their pitch and diameter, and each grade has a unified specification."

"The gear module is divided into groups, and the piston stroke length is standardized to a certain value... From now on, any part produced in the North can be used anywhere and on any machine."

"A No. 1 nut removed from the gas furnace can be used to fit gas furnaces, pharmaceutical machinery, port cranes, and mining tunneling equipment. It can be plugged in and used perfectly."

"It's only because the No. 1 nut is always of the same specification and standard, regardless of machine model, workshop, or batch. That's how it should be."

"Do you know what I mean?" Gao De said, while continuing to take notes on the paper.

"Understood, Your Majesty," Thorfinn replied hastily.

Gao De put down his pen and looked up at Thorfen: "I'll have the office formally draft a document about this and form a standards-setting committee to work with experienced craftsmen in the country to quickly refine and finalize a complete draft of the technical specifications."

"From the date of promulgation of the regulations, all newly manufactured parts shall be manufactured in accordance with the standards. Old parts may be phased out gradually, but new parts shall no longer be made with different dimensions."

Thorfinn listened attentively and nodded repeatedly.

Although he was a veteran, he was not corrupt and immediately understood the convenience of it.

"Then, next up, Catherine," God continued, calling out names.

Catherine, clearly prepared, immediately reported, "Your Highness, the Security Bureau's main achievements are as follows:"

"After the unification of the North, Phoenix's order became more stable, and our original mission of eliminating spies from various races no longer needed."

"Therefore, the main task of our Public Security Bureau now is to promote tribal integration, maintain public security and stability, and mediate issues such as conflicts between different tribes, clashes of customs, and disputes over resources."

"We recruited members from various tribes into the security bureau and implemented a special management strategy. The mediation work went much more smoothly, and the resistance from various tribes also decreased a lot."

"In addition, based on the urban area and street planning, we have initially divided the urban area into patrol zones, established fixed gate guard posts, and implemented a shift patrol system, thus completing the initial construction of the urban security system..."

"Accumulate the first batch of intelligence files on security in the northern border, compile lists of remaining reactionary personnel from various tribes, and register habitual troublemakers, and focus on monitoring them..."

"But the police department is facing more problems than it has achieved so far."

Catherine did not shy away from asking questions and did not only report good news and hide the bad.

"One problem is that the Security Bureau can only barely cover the main city of Phoenix. Not to mention Ironforge and Valar Bay, it can barely even cover the farm areas outside Phoenix and the main city, creating a huge security blind spot."

"Another issue is that the Public Security Bureau currently has a relatively weak ability to enforce the law against sorcerers."

"Currently, no criminal incidents have occurred among the Northern Mage, but with the implementation of compulsory education for all mages, I think such incidents are inevitable, and we need to take preventative measures."

"Another major problem is that our public security bureau personnel basically hold multiple positions, without any division of labor or professional training."

"The law enforcement efficiency is not being fully utilized, and I think the internal system of the Public Security Bureau needs to be rebuilt."