Rewards and Census
After discussing these business deals, Victor led the group on a brief tour of the factories in Riverside Village, excluding the cement and Steelworks. Alex was very interested in this business philosophy of bringing the Workshop together in one place.
During the visit, Victor was asked many questions, including some technical and industrial concepts. Victor handed them all over to Number One to answer, and Number One answered them perfectly, both allowing Alex and the others to learn something and concealing the key core content.
Afterwards, Victor led the group south by boat, arriving directly at Sea Song Town. By this time, Sea Song Town had been largely completed according to Plan Number One's construction plan. The seaside town had all its houses painted white, with a few buildings painted in lighter colors, such as light blue, to distinguish their functions.
Whether you're inside or looking at it from afar, it exudes tranquility and elegance. Alex was particularly impressed and praised it highly. When he learned that Victor had personally designed and planned it, he was even more full of praise and expressed his desire to build a villa here. Victor said no problem, as long as the town's design and planning were followed, he was willing to provide Alex with land free of charge.
Alex wanted to pay more money, but Victor refused outright. It was best for both parties to reach an agreement: Alex would not pay for the land, but the construction of the villa would be entirely outsourced to the engineering team in the Two Rivers Territory, including the design, which would be handled by Victor. The deal would be completed in the form of construction and design fees.
Victor treated a group of people to a seafood feast in Sea Song Town. He used some of his culinary philosophies from his previous life to train his chefs. Victor well-traveled Alex was very satisfied with some of the dishes he had never tried before and suggested that Victor must bring his kitchen team to Iron Birch Territory next spring so that his family could also taste the delicacies. Baron Brown simply said that he would come to Two Rivers Territory often in the future and that Victor should treat him to meals. Victor was naturally very happy to do so, as long as Baron Brown was willing to spend the money.
That evening, Victor took them directly back to Wood Fort Town. After all, traveling by water, there was still plenty of time to travel between Wood Fort Town and Sea Song Town in one day.
On the morning of November 1st, Victor personally saw Alex and Baron Brown off. This time, their entourage was twice the size of theirs. Victor had already packed up the weapons and blueprints that Alex had purchased, and even arranged for the accompanying craftsmen to provide guidance. They would all return to Iron Birch Territory with Alex.
Victor and Alex reluctantly said goodbye. This visit was very fruitful for both of them. Alex believed that he had won an important ally for Iron Birch Territory and also gained many weapons of war. Victor, on the other hand, believed that he had obtained a lot of resources from Iron Birch Territory and had also gained a lot of gold coins with cheap weapon blueprints, which would allow him to increase the territory's development budget by a whole level next year.
Victor watched the group until they disappeared into the distance.
James leaned closer. "My lord, I've put in a lot of effort this time, could you give me some reward for my hard work?"
"I don't have any money, but I can give you a squad of Bed Crossbow as a token of my appreciation." According to Victor's organization, a squad can be equipped with five Bed Crossbow and 50 Auxiliary Troops.
"Great! As expected of the Viscount." James was naturally very satisfied. He hadn't planned to ask for money anyway. Being able to get these advanced siege weapons from Victor for free was already a great gain.
Victor went straight to Riverside Village. After all, the Arms Factory had earned him so much money, and he wasn't a stingy person; he had to give out generous rewards.
Victor went directly to Bob and asked him to gather all the factory employees. Once everyone had arrived, Victor announced the rewards on the spot.
"Everyone has worked very hard during this period. It is thanks to your work that our Arms Factory has received a large number of orders and has also generated revenue for the territory. I am now going to reward everyone: Factory Manager Bob, 10 gold; Master Craftsmen, 5 gold each; First-Class Craftsmen, 1 gold; Second-Class Craftsmen, 2 Silver Maple; Apprentices and General Workers, 1 Silver Maple."
After Victor made the announcement, all the workers were overjoyed, and many shouted "Thank you, Lord!"
Victor waved his hand to quiet everyone down and continued, "As long as you keep doing your jobs well, I assure you this is just the beginning. I hope you will keep up the good work. I will not be stingy with any contribution anyone makes to the factory."
Victor asked Bob to buy some sheep so the workers could have a good meal, a celebration feast.
Victor also visited the Steelworks and found Rafam. This time, Victor gave Rafam a special reward for discovering the iron ore, which revitalized the territory's industry, and awarded him 20 gold coins.
After Victor left Riverside Village, Victor called out to Number One in his mind, "Number One, tell me, did I give these workers too little in rewards? Should I have been more generous?"
"Victor, this reward plan was calculated by the Calculation Module, and it is currently the most suitable plan. You may think that you are rewarding the army more and the workers too little. But you must understand that workers and industry are indeed very important in our future plans, but right now your most important force is still your army, and treating them well is more in your interest."
"You're right, Number One. Maybe I've received too much and given too little this time. I'm being a bit dramatic."
"There's nothing wrong with that, Victor. Your ideals of fairness and equality are indeed more valuable than your knowledge, but it will take a long time to achieve them. There's no need to rush."
Victor nodded and continued riding toward Wood Fort Town.
Although winter is coming and construction and production activities will soon come to a standstill, there is still a lot of work to be done. Victor plans to conduct a census in the Two Rivers Territory and Green Valley Territory this winter. With the experience of the previous census in the Golden Sunflower Territory, he believes that this winter will be enough to complete the task.
Most importantly, the army's literacy classes had been running for nearly a year. Although they were interrupted for a period of time due to the war, they finally completed the year's education program a little over a month after returning to the territory. Victor planned to send all officers, including the sergeant, and soldiers who had participated in the literacy classes to join the territory's census, which would also serve as a test of their learning outcomes.
Upon returning to Wood Fort Town, Victor immediately convened a deployment meeting, requiring all military commanders, including James, to attend. The meeting announced the census plan, demanding its completion before the following spring.
Even though everyone present was somewhat surprised, they had no objections to the work, because Victor had already proven his authority.