Riverside Town

"Sir, that batch of copper ore has been completely smelted. It is indeed of very high purity, and a total of 970 kilograms of copper material was obtained."

Octavia reported to Victor.

Five days later, after dealing with some backlogged administrative matters, Victor returned to the research lab.

"Not bad, the copper content of this batch of ore is indeed very high. It's a pity we have very few tools on hand, otherwise we could have brought back more raw ore."

After this round of snowfall ends, we can send several exploration teams to Blue Lake to investigate the mineral deposits and to create a map of the entire Blue Lake Region.

Victor shared his thoughts with Veronica, who was standing nearby.

After he finished speaking, he turned to look at Octavia, "The copper is all over there, show me."

"Your Excellency, because we use the blowing refining method, the research lab does not have the smelting capacity, so everything is sent to the Steelworks for refining."

There's a small blast furnace there that we built before, based on your steelmaking furnace design, with some structural adjustments.

The new small blast furnace is equipped with a regenerator, making it ideal for smelting copper ore, and the produced copper can generally achieve a purity of 99% or higher.

Victor was surprised after hearing this. He knew that the steel furnace he had designed before was the Martin furnace from his previous life, which was very technologically advanced. He didn't expect that Octavia's team could optimize it in a targeted way, which made Victor very curious.

"Alright, it's been a while since I've been to the Steelworks, so you can come with me."

Victor took Veronica and Octavia directly to the Steelworks carriage.

Sitting in the car, Victor looked at the reserved Octavia and, wanting to ease her tension, asked her a question.

"Octavia, what are your main research projects now, and how is the progress?"

"Ah, are you asking me, Your Excellency?"

Octavia looked a little confused, but Veronica nudged her with her elbow to remind her to answer the question.

Victor nodded, signaling Octavia to answer the question.

Fortunately, although Octavia was a little nervous, she was still very dedicated to her work, and with her teacher Veronica by her side to help relieve the pressure, she was able to cope.

At first, I stumbled a bit, but I was soon able to give a very fluent presentation.

"... These are the projects I'm currently in charge of, mainly focusing on optimizing generators and telegraph machines due to the needs of the territory!"

Although he had met Octavia several times, Victor was still amazed by the little girl's learning ability and comprehension.

In just two years, she was able to complete at least high school level math, physics, and chemistry education using the simple textbooks provided by Victor, and her knowledge in some applied areas has surpassed that of college students.

But even more surprising than her learning ability is her comprehension and judgment. She is quite adept at demonstrating and applying technology, making her a capable engineer with research capabilities.

She contributed significantly to every project in the territory throughout the year. Although Victor provided some helpful ideas, it was already quite remarkable that she was able to bring them to fruition on her own.

Victor felt like he had struck gold. Veronica could also see that Victor was very happy, and she praised him, saying, "Octavia is my best student. Although everyone has made a lot of contributions, without Octavia, it would have taken at least two more months to perfect the photoelectric telegraph machine."

"Very good, Octavia. It's a pity that the territory's talent certification system has not yet been established, so we cannot give you the appropriate treatment and status."

However, I can give you sufficient rewards as a lord, since your family members are already Freemen.

"In that case, I'll award you an additional 30 mu of land, but you can only allow your family to use this land; you cannot sell it."

"Thank you, Your Excellency."

Octavia was very happy after hearing about Victor's reward; she wouldn't have been so happy if he had given her money.

Her monthly salary was already very high, plus overtime pay. Veronica frequently distributed periodic bonuses based on project progress. As one of only two team leaders, she received the most bonuses, exceeding 10 gold coins a year. This was arguably the highest income in the entire Two Rivers Territory, comparable to that of Regimental Commander in the army.

However, land resources in the Two Rivers Territory are limited. All the land belongs to Victor, and the Freemen who are allocated land only have the right to use it. They cannot buy or sell it, and even if they have money, they cannot buy land.

Octavia's family had already obtained Freemen citizenship and had some money, but who would complain about having more land? With these 30 acres of land, her family could live a good life, which was what Octavia wanted most.

This reward truly touched Octavia's heart.

Perhaps due to the continuous snowfall over the past few days, the carriage was moving very slowly, and it wasn't until the afternoon that we arrived at Riverside Village, which should now be called Riverside Town.

Because the permanent population of the entire Riverside Village has exceeded 8,000, and if you include the surrounding small settlements, the total population is well over 10,000.

Currently, Riverside Town is the second most populous administrative district in Two Rivers Territory County, after Wood Fort Town, and even has a larger population than Sea Song Town.

Therefore, at Powell's suggestion and with the consent of Government Affairs Office Victor, this place was officially upgraded to a town, becoming the third town in the Two Rivers Territory.

Currently, the town Town Mayor is Bob, the director of the Arms Factory, and the deputy Town Mayor is Ramsay of the Steelworks.

As for Jimmy, he set up a new Industrial Department in Wood Fort Town on Victor's orders, and the factories he used to be in charge of all had new heads.

In the future, Victor does not plan to continue adding factories in Riverside Town. Considering that the territory needs to be expanded northward, he plans to establish a new industrial base near Lime Wharf to support the expansion.