Chapter 116

Chapter 116: Achievement.

After sending off the empress,

Kim Kiwoo immersed himself in his work more than ever.

It was the only way he could forget the sorrow of losing his wife.

Among his many tasks, he focused on the Central Continent.

“Although the Central Continent has joined the empire, it still has a long way to go before it becomes fully integrated. It might happen naturally over time, but I want to speed up the process.”

His words were met with nods from the department heads.

The residents of the Central Continent were generally favorable to the empire.

Their lives were improving rapidly thanks to the imperial merchants.

But this was like a sandcastle that could collapse at any moment.

The residents had already experienced overthrowing their former elites with their own hands.

If any social conflict arose in this situation, there was no telling how they would react.

They might even start another revolution and break away from the empire to pursue their own path.

‘To prevent that, we need to instill in them a sense of being imperial citizens.’

And Kim Kiwoo knew very well what the most powerful tool for that was.

He had used it countless times on many natives, from the small Creek tribe to the huge empire he had built.

‘The most important thing for that is language.’

If there was no communication, misunderstandings would pile up, and this would eventually lead to severe conflicts.

It might have been fine if they had limited exchanges in the past, but now that they were unified as one country, this was a problem that needed to be solved as soon as possible.

To do this, Kim Kiwoo planned to establish the imperial standard language in the Central Continent as quickly as possible.

‘And we also need to develop industries in the Central Continent.’

If the income gap between the Northern and Central Continents persisted for a long time, this could also become a social problem.

They might be happy now, but they would soon notice the difference in living standards with the Northern Continent residents.

‘I can hear the sound of money pouring out again.’

Kim Kiwoo needed a huge amount of spending to achieve what he had in mind.

But thanks to the railroad, the transportation costs of raw materials such as coal had decreased significantly, and the demand for steel had exploded, bringing in a tremendous amount of revenue.

The government still had a monopoly on steel production and sales.

And he also benefited greatly from running the railroad business with the money of the imperial citizens.

“From now on, we will build many schools in various places in the Central Continent and recruit teachers to be sent there. Also, we will invest heavily and create various industries in that region.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

After that day, an astronomical budget was allocated and Kim Kiwoo’s order spread widely.

At this time, there were too many highly educated people in the empire.

But there were only so many jobs that required high education.

As a result, there were many people who were unemployed and only studying for exams.

The social atmosphere of admiring talented intellectuals also contributed to this situation.

“How long are you going to stay in your room and study? You should look for something else to do!”

Many parents said this to their children who remained jobless.

They could make a lot of money by doing anything in this prosperous era.

But those who had studied for a long time and nurtured their dreams could not easily change their course.

In this situation, the massive recruitment of teachers to send to schools in the Central Continent opened a lifeline for them.

They needed a lot of teachers to educate the enormous population of the Central Continent intensively.

Of course, there were many people who refused this offer.

“You want me to teach at some school in a faraway countryside? I’d rather look for something else to do!”

But more people thought positively about it.

“It’s better than just studying. I can make money while teaching. Teaching is not a bad job either.”

Teachers were well treated in the empire.

Thanks to that, the teacher recruitment was completed relatively smoothly.

This also reduced the unemployment rate of highly educated people significantly.

Not only them, but many others were recruited as well.

To develop the local industries, experts from various fields were needed.

As a result, the scale of the personnel dispatched to the central continent was very large.

***

“Haha! Welcome, everyone. This place still lacks many things, but I think it will develop quickly if you are here. Let’s work hard together.”

“Yes, Governor!”

The vast sky warmly welcomed the people who arrived at the central continent.

‘It’s really reassuring.’

Among these experts, there were quite a few craftsmen who were famous even in the empire.

Thanks to that, the vast sky couldn’t help but smile as he looked at the dispatch team.

“Well, let’s eat and drink as much as we want today. There is plenty of food and alcohol prepared.”

That day, the vast sky hosted a grand banquet for the dispatch team.

And a few days later, the dispatch team started to head to their assigned places.

“Sigh… There are so many underdeveloped places. It’s going to be a tough time.”

“Hahaha. I think development is just a matter of time. Just look at the budget assigned to us. It’s enormous. I thought I had made a mistake when I saw it for the first time.”

“Right. I doubted my eyes too. They’re pushing us so hard, it’s our fault if we delay.”

After exchanging various conversations, the experts finally arrived at their destination.

And from that day on, they began to recruit local workers on a large scale.

“Are you saying that you will pay me this much if I help you with your work?”

“Haha. Have you been cheated all this time? It will be paid accurately every month.”

“Every, every month? Gasp!”

The residents were astonished by the sound of paying a lot of wages once a month.

It was a very low amount compared to the mainland, but even that was very large from the residents’ point of view.

Thanks to that, the reaction was explosive.

“I’ll do it! Please let me do it!”

Thanks to that, the recruitment of workers went very smoothly, and in no time they started digging for industrial development.

Of course, there were many difficulties in communication and they were still inexperienced, but thanks to the efforts of various experts, various industries were developed simultaneously.

Among them, schools were built first in many villages.

However, at first there was not much response to schools.

Everyone was busy with their livelihoods.

But this changed soon enough.

It was because of one policy regarding schools.

“What? Why do you pay me for studying? Don’t lie to me.”

“It’s true. If you don’t believe me, why don’t you go and see for yourself?”

“Hmm…”

The man tilted his head but moved his feet with a curious mind.

“Wow! It’s true!”

And he realized that unbelievable story was true.

Of course, not all students were paid.

They had to take a test according to a certain level while attending school, and only those who met the criteria were paid wages.

Also, the amount was less than doing actual work.

But it was still quite a decent amount compared to the effort they put in, and they didn’t have to attend school all day long.

The children received less money, but this also helped their families enough.

Thanks to that, the education system was quickly established.

In this series of processes, a lot of money was released to the residents.

Then the effect soon became apparent.

They started to buy various industrial products that had been burdensome to buy until then.

The enormous population of the central continent turned into consumers.

As a result, the demand for most products from necessities to tea, sugar, alcohol, and art works soared.

Thanks to that, the merchants screamed with happiness.

“Ha ha ha! This is a huge success! And as time goes by, they will buy more of our products, won’t they?”

They became more aggressive in expanding into the central continent after witnessing its infinite potential with their own eyes.

***

“Hmm…”

The situation in the central continent was also well known in the Andes region.

It started with the nobles being expelled by the people, followed by the absorption into the empire and the rapid revival of industry and economy afterwards.

Many factions trembled with anxiety when they heard this news.

“Oh, how can we deal with this?”

The leaders of each faction did not feel sorry for the nobles of the central continent.

They had also exploited the residents in their territories for a long time, and among them, more and more people began to believe in the spirit faith.

On top of that, rumors about the central continent spread widely.

Would there be no one among the residents who wanted to change the current situation?

They could not confidently say no.

And their anxiety was proven right.

“Look at the central continent! If we, the commoners, rise up, we can live happily as imperial citizens!”

“That’s right. We can do it too. I’m sure the empire will be on our side if we stick together.”

“We can be free from this miserable hunger!”

Voices like these began to emerge from various places in the Andes region.

Then, the faction leaders who were watching this realized.

“This is really turning into a central continent situation.”

And the Andes region was different from the central continent.

It was long and narrow along the coast, and unlike the central continent’s direct rule by the empire, there were many small direct rule areas in the Andes region.

That meant that it was much easier for the empire to supply weapons to the Andes residents if they wanted to.

“…So the only answer is to surrender if we don’t want to die.”

They did not want to miss the opportunity and face a disaster like the nobles of the central continent did by wasting time.

From then on, many factions began to discuss complete surrender to the empire.

***

Meanwhile, the changes in the mainland were no less than that.

Kim Ki-woo started planning earnestly when he had enough funds for railway investment.

First, he established a railway bureau that only managed railways, and produced standardized railways continuously.

He had already expanded the scale of the steel industry enough for this, so it was not too hard.

Moreover, thanks to some steam locomotives already operating in some sections, the price of raw materials went down, and so did the cost of railway construction.

As a result, railways began to be built around major areas as Kim Ki-woo had envisioned.

This coincided with the railway construction of huge corporations and made its effect even greater.

‘Steam locomotives are also improving.’

Sharp Teeth was still working hard on development.

Thanks to that, the first clumsy and slow steam locomotive had changed quite decently by now.

‘The steam locomotive production system is almost complete.’

Hot Anvil’s process had reached maturity by now.

In factories, precise steel parts were mass-produced every day.

Thanks to that, various machines made of iron became more accurate and abundant day by day.

‘And steamships are also becoming more popular.’

This was largely thanks to Delicate Glass’s efforts.

Steamships also increased transportation efficiency like steam locomotives did.

And as coal prices fell, it was not hard to see steamships on the empire’s rivers.

‘It’s natural that they are replaced by steamships because they are much faster than existing ships.’

Kim Ki-woo anticipated this and made plans to mass-produce steamships at many shipyards in the empire.

Thanks to that, he didn’t have to pay much attention to this area anymore.