Chapter 178 A Dilemma
In the northern residential area, several city hall clerks were posting new notices on the bulletin board.
At this time, the workers had already finished work, and those who were preparing to go to night school had not yet had time to start. It was the busiest time, and the notice was soon surrounded by a crowd.
"The Lord's engineering team has started recruiting again."
"Still recruiting? Are there so many things to build? I think we should recruit soldiers first. Aren't we going to fight a war?"
"Indeed, why haven't they recruited many soldiers? What's this? Is the new church recruiting believers?"
"You must be between 18 and 40 years old, healthy, have no criminal record, and be physically strong. You also need to be able to read. Why are the requirements for believers so high?"
“Hey, look carefully, they are giving money to the believers!”
"Giving money? The church gives money to believers?"
"My uncle is a civil servant in the city hall. I heard him talk about this. He said he was recruiting believers, but in fact he was recruiting soldiers. This church was founded by the Earl and is called the Imperial Truth."
"Is this true? Can the Candlelight Society allow him to do this?"
The people around immediately cast angry glances at him, and the young man who had just spoken shrank his neck timidly.
"When people died of starvation during the storm two years ago, where would the candlelight be? The Earl has given us food and money, so we are willing to believe in him."
"Yes, has Candlelight ever distributed money to believers? They are always asking for money!"
"Besides, the Earl's church is named the Imperial Truth. I think there is no problem. It is for the sake of the Empire."
"We are willing to believe in the Earl!"
"Actually, Sister Chloe is pretty nice too. Besides always urging me to donate money, she also sent medicine to someone who was sick last time."
"That's not as good as the Earl's."
There was a chaotic discussion around the signboard, and everyone was arguing loudly.
Soon, these people dispersed, and most of them chose to go to night school. Night school now provides a free midnight snack. Although it is just ordinary porridge, many people are still attracted there.
These people had little interest in learning, they just wanted to drink porridge. But they didn't have anything to do after the porridge was distributed, so since they were already here, they might as well listen to the class. Gradually, the islanders got used to going to night school in the evening.
But today's night school was particularly noisy. People had not yet figured out the matter regarding the Imperial Truth, and finally they unanimously decided to ask Miss Zoe. She was always known for her kindness, and she always helped students enthusiastically. The porridge she cooked was also delicious, so people subconsciously thought of her when they had questions.
But Zoe couldn't refuse, and today's teaching ended up becoming an explanation of this new church.
After all, Miss Zoe had worked in the manor and was said to have some special information channels. She said that the so-called Imperial Truth was actually just an organization for exchanging knowledge and technology. The so-called believers were just another name for Castel soldiers and they were not required to believe in anything.
At the end, she secretly revealed to the students that Sister Chloe of the Candlelight Society seemed to be very interested in the Imperial Truth and had said that she was considering quitting the Candlelight Society.
People suddenly realized what was going on and promised to keep it a secret for her.
The next day, these people dispersed to various construction sites, factories, and shops. Gradually, everyone heard about the Imperial Church of Truth. When the City Hall came to recruit church believers that evening, everyone showed a tacit expression and came forward to sign up.
Everything went smoothly.
"So... this is the situation." Alexei closed the notebook in his hand, looked at Hughes behind the desk, and said with a strange look on his face.
He knew that he would not encounter too many obstacles. After all, the islanders of Castel were somewhat blindly obedient to their lords, but he really did not expect it to be so smooth.
After Miss Zoe's propaganda, people not only did not oppose it, but even took the initiative to promote the establishment of the Empire of Truth. The first batch of fifty believers he recruited was immediately full.
You should know that the selection of this group of people was extremely strict. As the first batch of troops formed on Castel, Alexei set very high requirements, and those with slightly weaker physical fitness were eliminated.
——Thanks to the abundance of food brought about by industrial development, the islanders can at least afford to eat since Nini's fishery began to operate. When Alexei was recruiting people, he could clearly feel that these people were no longer the ragged group of islanders when they first arrived. Their spirit and energy were completely different.
"Okay, the training of this group of people is now up to you. Once the holy book is written, we can start the training. We don't have much time, so we need to speed up the recruitment of soldiers and believers."
"How many people do you plan to recruit in total?"
"At most 300, but everyone must undergo certain military training, and all young and middle-aged men must have the minimum militia qualities." Hughes sighed, "Castel still has too few people."
Although Castel Island is not small in area, it actually has a small population. Hundreds of years ago, it was still a deserted island. Later, the first batch of immigrants came to settle here. At that time, there were only a few hundred people on the entire island, with one or two small fishing villages, and the number remained at this level for a long time.
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There have been constant wars on the continent in recent decades. The Principality of Tis in the eastern part of the empire was directly destroyed, and many refugees poured into Castel, which made this place more popular.
But even so, when Hughes took over here, the population was less than 10,000.
He didn't know the exact number either. Population statistics was a huge project. If one wanted to be slightly more accurate, it would take a lot of time and energy. This was what Xius lacked the most right now.
The population ceiling determines the industrial potential. When Hughes built a new steam factory, the first thing he did was to shut down the original soap workshop. It was not because soap was useless, but because there really were not so many people.
The proportion of young and middle-aged people in Castel is actually quite high, but it is still insufficient to support a complete industrial system. Zeus even had to let the Banshees take over.
This time, the desire to recruit off-duty soldiers gave Hughes a headache. Every additional soldier meant one less worker in the factory, which meant a decrease in the production capacity of steel and explosives.
Three hundred was the red line he set for Castel. Any more and the impact on production would be more than worth it.
"By the way, how is the recruitment for the engineering team going?"
"It's not that easy. Most people prefer to work in factories. After all, engineering teams are not that stable. They will be disbanded after completing a project. Working more in a factory may give you a chance to become a supervisor or something. This is still very tempting."
Xius nodded silently. These were all very realistic ideas, and he didn't plan to recruit more engineering teams. After all, the cement production capacity was limited and he was stuck here.
On the contrary, the banshees have enough manpower for underground construction and they can spare some people. But if the banshees are allowed to come to the ground to work, their existence must be made public.
Come to think of it, now is about the time.
(End of this chapter)