The monks acted swiftly. As soon as the funds for the "Twilight West Mutual Aid Society" arrived, preparations for the agricultural upgrade were already underway.
The procurement of seeds, livestock, and iron materials; confirmation of tool drawings; division of grazing areas; and measurement of land for sowing.
As the work progressed, the monks' leader, Joe Humphrey, approached Todd and raised the two problems they had encountered.
One problem was the shortage of manpower. The monks' agricultural plans required a large number of laborers, and even though Todd had transferred many farmers from the "Gospel Flower Workshop," it was still a drop in the ocean for the monks. On the other hand, the church's recruitment efforts were not ideal. The unemployment rate in Muxi Town was extremely low; everyone had plenty of work to do, and many industries in the town were in their early stages, requiring countless positions. Some workshop owners, facing labor shortages, even set their sights on the areas inhabited by non-human groups. Unbeknownst to them, they secretly contacted these non-humans and offered them attractive recruitment terms, but fortunately, Rachel stopped them in time.
Another issue is town planning. Livestock areas, farmland areas, and forest areas all require appropriate site planning. Currently, however, the town of Muxi lacks even a concrete plan for its internal layout; residential, industrial, commercial, and public building areas are mixed together in a chaotic mess. Residents are still building houses and using land arbitrarily. This is because Todd has little experience in urban planning and land use, and because Muxi lacks an effective administrative system to manage it. After understanding the situation, the monks discussed it and suggested that Todd borrow some urban plans and floor plans from the San Sidlow Monastery, intending to prioritize adjustments to the town's internal planning before focusing on agricultural area planning.
Regarding these two issues, after discussing the monks' opinions with Rachel and others, Todd not only borrowed books from the monastery on agriculture, town maps, and the history of the ancient city of Terro, but also adopted an outward-oriented approach to town expansion based on these books.
Regarding the population issue, Todd used low tax rates and free land as incentives, attracting a large influx of people from the surrounding villages and towns through channels within the church and by traveling merchants. This move attracted a large number of serfs and proletarians within just one month, who entered Muxi Town through various methods, both overt and covert. However, at the same time, Todd's relationship with the nobles of the surrounding territories deteriorated further.
Regarding the issue of urban planning, just before the monks formally presented Todd with the functional zoning and land use classification of Muxi Town, a fire broke out in the town. It was caused by a spark from a workshop falling into a neighbor's haystack, which then ignited a large fire. Because most of the houses in Muxi Town were wooden, and the roofs were connected, the fire quickly spread, burning down most of the street, ultimately resulting in three deaths, many injuries, and dozens of families being left homeless. Todd took money from the church's treasury to help the victims, an event that solidified his determination to adjust the town's planning.
At a sermon a week after the fire, Todd celebrated Mass and announced the monks' town plans.
The new town plan extends outward by nearly two kilometers from the original Muxi Town.
The monks referenced the city plan of the capital city at its peak, meticulously rearranging the originally scattered urban layout according to geometric principles and imbuing it with a strong religious character of the Father Church. The main streets were precisely designed according to north-south and east-west directions, intersecting in a cross shape, with the Church of Muxi located at the heart of the city. Using a primitive 'horizontal rangefinder' (also known as a gromah in ancient Rome), which they had created themselves, the monks were able to accurately determine the north-south direction of the midpoint of the cross, using this as the basis for defining the grid-like outline of the streets and the city.
At the insistence of Huggins and Alfonso, the main buildings along the crossroads of Twilight Town were designated for military purposes; for example, the plaza, the Knights' headquarters, and the Royal Guard barracks were located at the midpoint of the crossroads. Simultaneously, at the monks' request, Todd issued Twilight Town's first ordinance—the Planning Law. This ordinance, issued in the name of the Church and the Holy Son, clearly stipulated uniform building heights, street widths, paved roads, cleaning, maintenance, boundary adjustments, and more. It even detailed regulations to prevent traffic congestion, stipulating that heavy vehicles could only travel at night, and that equally bustling shops must be located on narrower streets.
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Good fortune never comes in pairs, but misfortunes never come singly.
Ten days after the fire, the most serious conflict in the town of Muxi occurred since its founding.
The incident began simply: a craftsman's apprentice, while smelting iron, inadvertently discovered that the iron ore he purchased as raw material, though dry on the surface, was much more moist inside than usual. Skeptical, he used a draining method on the iron ore and found that the moisture content reached one-fifth of its total weight. This meant that the iron ore merchant had overcharged him by 20%.
The apprentice reported the matter to the master craftsman, who was initially unsure whether it was a coincidence. He then told his friend about it. When the friend returned to his workshop, he checked the iron ore he had just purchased and discovered that his iron ore had also been mixed with water.
As more and more people discovered this deception, the angry craftsmen and apprentices, led by industry veteran Aiden Colm, held a three-hour negotiation with the town's mineral dealers.
Ultimately, the merchants' ugly faces and shameless words thoroughly enraged the craftsmen and apprentices. The argument escalated from verbal sparring to pushing and shoving, and finally turned into a brawl.
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