Chapter 24 School and Factory

"We will also open a school where all our employees and their families can learn to read and write for free. The school will also teach some mechanical knowledge and other knowledge. Classes will be held during the day and at night after work."

Does this mean teaching common people to read?

Alexei looked up in surprise. Opening a school was certainly a good deed, but imparting knowledge for free? How could precious knowledge be imparted for free? How could people understand its importance? Even in an orphanage funded by the royal family, literacy was still a reward that required a lot of effort to obtain.

Besides, time is so tight now. We have to find a way to deal with the pirates within a month. How can we spare time to do such charity? "Lord, can you put off the opening of the school for a while? We don't have much time now."

"No, this matter cannot be delayed. It is much more important than you think. We must do it immediately." Houston paused and said, "Also remember to spread the news that I will personally go to the school to teach."

Although he was puzzled, Alexei nodded and wrote it down carefully in his notes.

Charity? Of course Hughes is not doing charity.

People of this era have not yet realized the importance of knowledge, and simply locked it in a box like gold coins.

But Hughes knew how important a qualified worker was to industrialization, and the most basic requirement for a qualified worker was literacy.

If you can read, you can understand all kinds of knowledge and learn on your own. Learning is the basis of qualitative change.

The foundation of industry has never been factories emitting black smoke, but workers who have a basic understanding of equipment, machinery, and assembly line production.

In modern blue planet, many people feel that working on the assembly line does not require any cultural knowledge at all, but that is because compulsory education has been popularized in this era, and the knowledge of compulsory education covers the most basic skill requirements of workers.

If a group of people who know nothing at all are allowed to enter the factory, it will only be a disaster.

Of course, this era has its own ways. The last time Hughes came, the factory owner did not provide much training to the workers, and the factory could still operate barely.

It's very simple. Just treat the workers as consumables. When more people die, people will naturally discover the danger here.

Of course, Hughes didn't intend to do this. He wanted to open a factory, which would not be limited to competing with the industrial products of this era. He wanted to change the world and set off an industrial boom. He wanted to achieve much more than this.

That would require a large number of engineers and skilled workers. These would not grow out of the ground, they could only be cultivated slowly.

And opening a school is the first step.

Zeus couldn't help but sigh when he thought of this. The process of this advent was really tortuous. It was only now that he finally began to plan and get on the right track.

"Alexei, I need you to organize some manpower to build a factory on the island."

Alexei had no idea about factories. He only knew that even in the Rhine, the capital of the empire, there were only a few such fashionable things, and they were generally run by the church. He had also seen notices of several factories recruiting workers - it was strange, it seemed that they were always recruiting people there.

“Yes, a factory. There are so many olives on the island. I plan to build an olive oil factory.”

"But who should we sell it to? There are no merchants here."

"You don't have to worry about that." Xius smiled.

Simple, he was going to sell it to pirates.

The pirates were not interested in olive oil, but that was not the only thing he wanted to sell. Olive oil was just the upstream link in his chemical industry chain, and once this industrial behemoth started operating, Castel's goods and money would soon pile up. It just so happened that he also knew a thing or two about the weapons manufacturing industry.

He has both goods and military power. Pirates? They will become the most docile merchants on the Storm Ocean.

The conditions on this island are even better than he thought, and Hughes has the confidence to quickly build a complete industrial system.

"You go back first. I will discuss the specific plan with you later. Organize the people first. We may be short of manpower next time."

There are not many residents on the island, which is actually the most worrying point for Zeus. No matter how hard he tries, he can't transform into a human.

We have to find a way to attract some immigrants here, Hughes frowned and thought, this is rather troublesome, people in this era rarely leave their own land, whether it is the empire or other places.

I heard that the White Crow Principality in the north is migrating to the south on a large scale, maybe we can think of a way.

".grown ups?"

"Hmm?" Hughes came back to his senses and found Alexi looking at him. "Anything else?"

"Well, there are indeed some things." Alexei looked a little embarrassed.

"What's wrong?"

“It seems that there is no money left in the City Hall’s account now.”

"ah?"

Hughes was a little dumbfounded.

"It's like this," Alexei sighed, took the account book and began to explain.

Although the manor where Zeus lived was not built by him, it was already a bit dilapidated when he arrived on the island. It took several months of repairs to become what it is now.

Renovating the manor was very expensive. Although most of the money was paid by Hughes himself, the city hall also cooperated and provided a lot of labor and building materials.

The island's output was already low, and the construction of the manor drew manpower away, making the situation even more stretched.

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But these are not the main reasons. Another reason is, "Every time the pirates come to collect sea taxes, they also collect a batch of sweet fruit wine?" Xius looked at Alexi in disbelief. "You don't mean to say..."

"Yes, sir." Alexei said with some difficulty: "Castel's main source of finance is actually the sweet wine that the pirates bought by the way."

Hughes held his forehead and closed his eyes. "I was wondering why all the books were about the payments to pirates. I thought the account books were kept separately. It turns out that the trade here is so small."

Are you kidding? There is no business here at all.

But this is not a big problem. Although Zeus cannot come up with the money at the moment, the lords of this era have their own way - to default on their debts.

Yes, refusing to pay debts is a very useful method. As long as you recruit the people in your territory to work and owe them their wages first, you can get the people in your territory moving.

After all, he was a lord, a noble lord, and no one dared to disobey him. Even if he clearly stated that he would not pay them, the people in the territory would still come to work for him with curses, even though they were nominally free people.

How can free folk be truly free?

But after thinking about it, Hughes gave up the idea of ​​defaulting on the debt. On the one hand, he didn't intend to overdraw his credit, and on the other hand -

"We cannot default on our debts. On the contrary, all salaries must be paid in full and on time. If we are in financial difficulties, we can set a lower salary, but we must never withhold it."

Alexei frowned and wanted to persuade him. Now was a critical period for the development of the territory. How could he waste precious wealth just to show kindness?

"Alexei, wealth can only show its true role when it is in motion. If it is piled in a box, it is no different from scrap metal!"

Xius stood up and paced quickly: "Castel's business activities are almost stagnant. If we just want to be the lord here for life and collect a few baskets of salted fish as taxes, then it doesn't matter. But if we want to mobilize the development of the entire territory, we must show our credibility!"

"We posted notices and sent people door to door to inform our employees that they would never be owed wages."

"If you have no money, go find Connor and withdraw it from my private vault. If you have money, you can take it. If you have no money, there are still some jewelry that can be exchanged for money."

Hughes said through gritted teeth.

Alexei looked at his lord in surprise, he was leaning on the table with both hands, the pain on his face didn't seem fake, but his eyes were burning and firm.

"See, Alexei, money has a magical effect once it starts flowing."

(End of this chapter)