Chapter 423 Population of Blood Harbor
This number caused silence in the conference room for a moment.
The first literacy class enrolled several thousand people, which is almost the number of people in Castel's entire heavy industrial production line.
"You, how did you organize it? There are thousands of people here!?"
"Is it hard just to find a house?"
Zoe smiled and said, "The literacy classes are not held at the same time. There are classes during the day, afternoons, and evenings. People with regular jobs can also come to attend classes after work."
"And" she turned to look at Josh.
"Well, the Secret Order already has many organizations and gatherings. They are all ready-made channels and venues. We can just open literacy classes here."
Xiusi nodded with satisfaction. This was why he retained the entire organizational structure of the secret order and did not completely dismantle it and bring it back to Castel.
The influence of a religious organization that can reach deep into the grassroots level on Blood Harbor is unimaginable. The prince's executive order is difficult to issue to the slums, but the secret order can.
Moreover, with the endorsement of the Secret Society, the difficulty of Castel opening literacy classes has dropped sharply. Hughes has no foundation here, but Josh does.
“How many people do you think will eventually be transformed into workers?”
Zoe hesitated for a moment and spoke unconfidently: "Five hundred people?"
Xius raised an eyebrow: "So low?"
"The beginning was the most difficult. When we opened classes for the islanders, it was difficult for the factory to recruit workers. But when the first group of people entered the factory, everything was different."
"By then, everything that happens in the factory will spread throughout Blood Harbor, and people's mindsets will slowly change. More and more people will flock in, and they will take the initiative to learn to read and study."
These were all experiences that happened in Castel, but Xius had not come into direct contact with them, so he asked curiously, "Is our treatment not good enough?"
"No." Zoe shook her head. "The reason the factory couldn't recruit people at the beginning wasn't because of the salary, but because of fear."
"They are afraid of the factory. The tall factory buildings and rumbling machines are like monsters to people who have never been exposed to them. Only when the first batch of workers come back will people slowly accept the existence of such things."
I see.
When the train first appeared, many people regarded it as a huge monster. When the movie was first shown, people in front of the screen would subconsciously avoid the vehicles on the screen.
Even a supernatural being like Galahad who had been exposed to industry was frightened and lost control on Castel, not to mention ordinary people with little knowledge.
Human imagination is limited, and fear of the unknown is human nature.
"In fact, Leo is not the most attractive person in the factory." Zoe said suddenly.
"Then what's so attractive about it?" Xius was a little puzzled. The environment in factories is generally not very good. It is hot and noisy, and failure to comply with regulations can easily lead to injury or death.
Industrial beauty? How is that possible?
"fair."
"The system in the factory is quite strict. In addition to maintaining safety, it also brings fairness. This kind of thing is like poison to the lower-class people who have never enjoyed it. Once they are exposed to it, they can no longer leave it."
“People who are oppressed will get used to being oppressed, but if they experience respect and fairness, they will pursue it no matter what it takes.”
Everyone in the room looked at Zoe in surprise. They didn't know since when she had such a good understanding of the people at the bottom. Xius coughed lightly and brought the topic back: "Well, five hundred people are not a small number, especially for Castel. Although the population of Blood Harbor has decreased a lot, it is still far more than Castel. As long as we insist on popularizing education, the population in the factory will increase."
After saying that, he glanced at Connor and said, "Does the prince have any objections?"
"Not at all. He even supports us doing this. Currently, Blood Harbor's policy is basically to give priority to us."
Hughes nodded: "It's a wise move."
Of course, those who can enter the factory are young and middle-aged people. Generally speaking, no lord is willing to lose these valuable populations, but the prince thinks from a different perspective.
The Duchy of Tis is not short of people. If it were, the nobles in the north would not have strictly prohibited refugees from entering the country.
But the prince is short of educated people.
If you want to carry out industrialization, you can't do it without basic industrial workers. At the beginning, Hughes had the technology and resources, but he wanted to convert the factory to steam power, but he was blocked by qualified workers.
Fortunately, the Candlelight Society exiled a group of workers from the Rhine, which solved the urgent problem and allowed Hughes to develop while cultivating an industrial population.
If Hughes wants to attract workers from Blood Harbor, he must set up a large number of schools to popularize education. Perhaps the best students will leave the prince's territory and go to Castel, but many will definitely stay.
This group of people can support the most basic industrialization.
After visiting Castres, the prince gave up his previous plan without hesitation and instead fully embraced industrialization, which was a win-win situation for both parties.
"In addition to the literacy classes, we should also move some advanced education to Blood Harbor." Hughes turned and looked at Josh.
Josh was stunned for a moment before reacting and nodded suddenly.
The top leaders of the Secret Order are basically engineers from Castel, and spreading knowledge and technology is almost a subconscious behavior. Nowadays, primary education has been basically popularized in the Secret Order, and a lot of knowledge has been taught in advanced classes, but there is no systematic learning.
Now Xius is planning to make up for this shortcoming, so that the people of the secret society can become qualified workers with a little training.
"How many people are there in the secret society now?"
"There are nearly 200 senior believers. Most of them were brought in from the North by Captain Jeremiah, and some of them joined at the very beginning. These people have basically received advanced class education, and quite a few of them can stand on their own."
These people are the core members of the secret order. Their level is not much worse than that of the islanders of Castel. They may have less military training and the knowledge they have learned is not as systematic, but they are definitely capable of doing most jobs under the industrial system.
"Then there are the outer followers. There are more than 700 of them. Most of them joined after the first Mother Goddess rebellion. At that time, Blood Harbor was in chaos, and we opened the gates and provided shelter."
"The levels of these people vary. Some are no worse than senior believers, but most of them have just completed literacy classes."
After completing the literacy class, you can actually enter a basic processing plant, such as an olive oil factory. These have relatively low risks, relatively primitive processes, and low cognitive interference risks. The threshold for recruitment is completing the literacy class.
(End of this chapter)
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