A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 152 Workshop

"My lord."

Pierre came over to greet Jiang Shuzhou as soon as he saw him.

"Hmm, not bad. It seems you've managed Hamlet very well while I was away."

"Not at all, it's all thanks to you, my lord. If you hadn't shown me the way, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to manage Hamlet so well on my own."

Pierre dared not take all the credit for himself at this time.

"The number of Hamlet's people will increase in the future, and their territory will grow larger and larger. You'd better be prepared and don't let them down."

"Yes, I understand, my lord."

As Jiang Shuzhou walked, he talked to Pierre, followed by a group of people, all of whom were department heads and deputy heads. They remained silent because they were not qualified to speak to Jiang Shuzhou.

"Come, show me how the territory is developing."

Having been away for so long, Jiang Shuzhou had a general understanding of the territory's basic situation from the reports, but seeing is believing, and some things cannot be shown on paper alone.

"Please, my lord."

Pierre then led Jiang Shuzhou into the carriage, while the others stood aside and did not follow.

"My lord, I'll take you to see it."

Immediately afterwards, Pierre himself drove the car through the streets of Hamlet.

It must be said that Hamlet's appearance now is indeed completely different from before.

The once crowded narrow street has now been widened into a four-lane road, and even when riding in a horse-drawn carriage, it doesn't feel crowded at all.

The once dilapidated and uneven houses have become neat, beautiful and simple after Jiang Shuzhou's renovation plan.

There were even sheriffs on the road.

"very good."

Jiang Shuzhou gestured to the sheriff outside.

After a moment of surprise, the sheriff outside also saluted Jiang Shuzhou.

"Was he speeding? Why didn't you stop him?"

One of the young men said.

"Are you stupid?!"

"Did you see who the driver is?"

"Who?"

"That's Lord Pierre! Hamlet's political advisor! One word from him and you're out of a job!"

The speaker was a middle-aged man with more life experience, so he naturally understood the current situation.

"But didn't Lord Pierre say that even he himself couldn't exceed the speed limit?"

"Can't you guess who's in the carriage? Even Lord Pierre is acting as his coachman!"

Only after this point was made did the young man realize what was happening.

"Is that the Master Mage?"

"nonsense!"

"Use your brain! If this guy isn't satisfied, forget about your position, you might lose your head!"

The young man was already drenched in sweat, a testament to the immense pressure he was under.

Luckily I didn't dare to stop them, or I would have been in big trouble.

He began to feel glad he had made that choice.

Did Pierre realize he was speeding?

Of course he knew, but this was also to appease Jiang Shuzhou.

According to Hayes, his lord preferred fast carriages.

Moreover, if things are slow and the lord is bored and looking around, what if he sees a crime scene and it upsets him?

He certainly didn't dare to deceive his lord, but you have to understand that sometimes looking at numbers and looking at reality are two completely different things.

Although the lord will certainly not be frightened, he will definitely be in a bad mood.

He wasn't a follower like Chahara and Hayes who had close ties with their lord, nor was he a tech-savvy person like Dvalin, so all he could do was do everything perfectly.

"How much longer until we reach the alchemy workshop?"

"There are only a few minutes left."

Jiang Shuzhou nodded. If Hamlet in the past was a village, then Hamlet now finally has the beginnings of a city.

"As per your request, the industrial area and residential area have been separated."

Pierre spoke to Jiang Shuzhou as he drove the carriage.

"Good. Also, remember that the agricultural area and the magical plant cultivation area should be separated. I don't want them mixed together, as this could potentially lower the quality of the magical plants."

"Yes, my lord."

Pierre noted down the request, and then spoke.

"My lord, we have arrived."

A large number of horse-drawn wagons were parked here, waiting for the loaders to load and unload the goods.

Boxes of magic potion were unloaded, and the empty spaces were filled with boxes of other potions.

The soldiers, armed with weapons, scanned every loader and coachman with sharp eyes to ensure no one was embezzling money, while also guarding the area to ensure Jiang Shuzhou's property was not violated.

"My lord, these are mostly basic potions like satiety potions; there's not much profit to be made here."

"The truly profitable potions are all transported using space containers."

Jiang Shuzhou nodded; he naturally knew.

The advantage of this type of box over a space ring is that it is relatively cheaper, reusable, and more sturdy. It also has feather fall and levitation spell arrays on it, just like the ones Jiang Shuzhou had in Maha Brecha.

Another advantage is that it can be used by ordinary people.

After all, a one-cubic-meter space ring costs ten magic stones, and this is a defective product that has been subsidized by the Mage Alliance.

So Ralph is really generous, giving away a 20-cubic-meter space ring without hesitation.

"Let's go inside and take a look."

Jiang Shuzhou said as he went inside.

Compared to our bustling atmosphere, the workshop was much quieter, and Jiang Shuzhou even noticed that many positions were still vacant.

"What's going on?"

Jiang Shuzhou pointed to those positions and said.

"These people have been reassigned to other production lines; this one is for the satiety medicine."

Workers are involved in every step of the process, from boiling and stirring to crushing the raw materials and adding them.

Although it is difficult to do a whole process at once, it becomes much simpler when broken down into steps and with the help of machinery, and done by a few people.

Although the success rate is only 40% and the probability of producing excellent products is almost zero, only a small number of qualified products are produced to sell in volume.

"What's going on? There are over 2 people in the territory, how come they can't even gather a few hundred?"

"Are they unwilling to come to the workshop and earn higher wages?"

"No, that's not it."

Pierre shook his head awkwardly, then said.

"They are illiterate."

What the heck?

"Doesn't our Mage Alliance offer three years of free education?"

"Shouldn't they have learned to read by now, after three years?"

Pierre gave an awkward smile, and then said.

"Well, the North... it's a little different..."

"What's the difference?"

"Only urban residents can go to school; rural residents can't."

"After all, the wilderness in the North is a bit dangerous, and they don't have the motivation to learn to read. Even if they could read, they still wouldn't have enough to eat, and there would be one less laborer to work."

I'm speechless. These people have absolutely no ambition.

But then I thought about it again, and since life is uncertain, you can't expect anything from us.

What is the current literacy rate?

"Around 12%."

"Get ready, let's open a school."

We can't even fill all the workshop staff, how can this be okay?

I never imagined that someone like me, who didn't even finish college, would be opening a school.