"Forget it then. After all, it's not that easy to hire a magic master."

"Lin, since we have already discussed everything that needs to be discussed, I will also go back to prepare for the beginning of next spring. I will not stay any longer and hope that our new Chamber of Commerce can earn us more gold coins."

"With something like this in hand, there's no reason not to make money, right?" Lin Xingchen smoothed out the wrinkles on the silk and said softly.

"Of course. With you constantly providing new sources of goods and me constantly opening up new opportunities, we will definitely make a fortune." After a burst of laughter, Owen left under the guidance of his servant.

"Young Master, why did you bring him to see the factory? Didn't you always say that every process in the factory needs to be strictly kept confidential?" Anasta was a little puzzled.

“In fact, many things cannot be kept secret, especially since he has something we urgently need. Since it is a collaboration, we naturally have to show some sincerity.

Do you think silk is my last resort? It's still early. I still have a lot of things that I just can't make. "Lin Xingchen shook his head helplessly.

Population and talent are the biggest obstacles restricting Lin Xingchen. Although Maple Leaf Territory has many mountains and little land, its geographical location is actually quite advantageous.

With his own kingdom behind him and the grassland a little further away, he had the Sharpnero Empire. However, the territory was mostly mountainous, which was too restrictive for the agricultural economy that could only dig for food in the fields.

Lin Xingchen's desire to do something big or even develop industry made him a little conflicted. Although industry was a way to reduce manpower and achieve high efficiency, it also required manpower and talents in the early stages of industry to lay a solid foundation.

Today, Maple Leaf has temporarily solved the problem of food and clothing by relying on high-quality seeds and large-scale planting, but it lacks the stamina for further development.

Later, the focus was shifted to the model of light industry and small workshops, but in the end it was just a small-scale operation. It looked good but still lacked some meaning.

"The young master looks unhappy?" Arnold, who came to pick him up, saw what Lin Xingchen was thinking.

"I can't be happy, can I? It's a bit helpless. Obviously, it can be faster and better, but the process is blocked by someone." Xingchen would not hide anything from Anolin. The old man has seen many ups and downs in his life and would have a different perspective on life.

"Actually! Little master, you are a little obsessed. As long as you let go of your mind, you will find that there are more solutions than problems." Arnold comforted Lin Xingchen happily.

"Grandpa Arnold, please tell me, I can't get out of the circle I have drawn now."

"Anastasia and Charles are both good talents, and Albert is also a capable person. These people were looked down upon by others before, but now they are all very important talents in your hands." Arnold stopped here. He thought that Lin Xingchen should understand what he meant.

"Grandpa Arnold is right to remind me that I should let go of my own ideas. Sometimes persistence is not necessarily a good thing." After Arnold opened his mouth, Lin Xingchen knew what he meant. After trying to understand the reason, Lin Xingchen couldn't help but open his mind and began to imagine frantically.

On the tenth day after returning to the territory, heavy snow began to fall from the sky which had been depressed for a long time, and the entire territory officially entered the winter period.

In previous years, the poor people who had no stored food would start praying at this time, but ever since Lin Xingchen launched the land reclamation order, there has been no news of anyone starving to death.

But news of people freezing to death still occurs every year. Cotton is a good warming crop, but unfortunately, except for the Maple Leaf Territory officials who will replant cotton after harvesting some crops, all other farmers are just planting some short-term and quick-return vegetables to subsidize themselves.

The promotion of cotton has come to a standstill, but Lin Xingchen is not discouraged and instead pays more attention to cotton. The weaving of cotton cloth has always been a problem, although his self in another time and space has seen the oldest methods and the most advanced machines.

But the former requires a large number of manpower and the latter requires an industrial foundation, and Lin Xingchen has neither of them now. In order to make the people in the territory rich quickly, Lin Xingchen has racked his brains.

In the past, women and the elderly had no way to earn money, so they were of low status and would be abandoned and sacrificed when they encountered extreme things.

In order to make use of these people, Lin Xingchen arranged for them to help with sowing, weeding and watering in the spring. In the summer, he arranged for them to pick and wash some fruits and then help in the winery. In the autumn, they were even busier harvesting grass to feed cattle and horses, and he let them help in various factories.

Before winter, it was basically an oil press. On the one hand, there was no need to worry about food, and on the other hand, one could make money. According to Barry, who was in charge of the population affairs of the territory, there was no idle person in the territory now.

He pulled anyone who could work to do it, and when the mountains were closed due to heavy snow, in addition to some oil pressing factories, there were also textile factories this year, and some girls in their teens who were on vacation came to work and earn money.

Although it is very hard in such an environment, everyone enjoys it. This is why those people are so generous when donating to the church. Everyone starts to tremble when they have money in their hands.

There is an old saying that poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people. Ever since Barry heard this from his young master, he has been thinking of ways to solve the problem all the time.

Thinking about how to transform those lazy and bullying hooligans into people who can really work.

After much deliberation, he finally found the guard officer Luke. With Luke's order, as long as three people came forward to prove that a certain person was a gangster, he would be arrested for disrupting the development of the territory.

After six months of physical labor, they will be released. If someone comes out later to accuse him of not changing, then this guy will be reformed again for up to a year.

This killed all the lazy men in the territory. They could get paid for working for them, but they would not get paid a penny after being captured. Some guys figured out the tricks and went to apply for jobs in factories.

After all, although factory work is tiring, the working hours are limited, while labor reform is different because the working hours are long and there is no pay.

Winter is these guys' favorite season. They can have a good rest for a few months, drinking beer every day at home and doing nothing.

Listening to Barry reporting on his work incessantly, Lin Xingchen rubbed his face hard.

Today is the annual summary report meeting of Maple Leaf Leader. The first person to come on stage is Barry. This guy introduced his work with saliva flying, and he couldn't help cursing when he was excited.

"My young master, in fact, I have always proposed to Ms. Anastasia that we should extend the working hours so that those guys can get more things done." This was Barry's final summary, implying that he did not have enough manpower and could only work overtime to exploit those lazy guys.

"Okay, extending the time is not realistic. We also need to give them time to rest. As for the manpower issue, I will come up with a solution in the end."

Next came Anasta's report. She was in charge of all the factories, small workshops and planting issues in the territory.

Anasta's report was similar. She simply described the situation and concluded that the limit had been reached and it would be best not to open new factories or plantations without adding more manpower.

Charles' report was simple. As the most downstream link, he said that he did not have any problems for the time being, but if he officially started cooperating with the duchies of George and Griffin next year, he would be short of manpower.

Although there are also manpower issues regarding taxation and the guard force, they are not the most urgent ones.

After listening to these people’s reports, Lin Xingchen highlighted one word: people.

The territory for 100,000 people has basically been arranged. The land occupies three-quarters of the population, and the remaining people are just the tallest ones among the short ones who have to be used.

"I have roughly figured out your problem. It is a manpower issue.

There are a lot of vacancies for plantations, farmers and various craftsmen. Factories and plantations also need people, and the Chamber of Commerce needs people who can read and have brains. "

"It's the same for all departments. Since you all said so, I will tell you the solution I thought of today. You can all refer to it. If you have a better solution, please feel free to add it later."

"First, Charles, go spread the news for me. Tell them that we in Maple Leaf Territory need a large number of people and welcome all kinds of talents to join our team.

Those who don't have any skills can go and farm. We provide them with land and seeds and teach them the skills. For those who have skills, we not only provide them with various jobs but also give them subsidies.

If you are a literate person who knows how to manage or do business, we welcome you even more. There are many positions here for them to choose from. In a word, as long as they have healthy limbs and can work, we want them.

The first three years are an observation period, during which you will receive all the necessary responsibilities but will pay slightly more tax each year. After three years, you can officially join our Maple Leaf Citizenship and receive the same treatment.

Based on the principle of putting people first, our territory will carry out a population census. This census is different from the previous registration method. Our census will be more comprehensive and detailed. This is your job, Barry, and the guard team will cooperate with you.

All the current indigenous people of the territory should be registered in detail, and the number of people in each household and the skills of each person should be recorded again to ensure that no one is missed.

Those who do not have household registration in our territory, such as the ones I brought back from Charles, and the slaves brought by Charles himself, are all included in the formal population. This is based on the premise that these people are working for the territory.

Those without jobs are classified as temporary residents and given a temporary residence permit. ”